Category: Post-Operative

I was wondering if you could expand on your entry “Could Transplanted Hair Fall Out Months After a Successful Procedure?”

Does all of the transplanted hair fall out or just some of it? How long after the HT have you seen this occur? From what you’ve seen does it happen in younger or older patients? Most importantly can you re-transplant new grafts into the area? Would the same thing happen again or could there have been a mistake made during procedure?

I am not sure about your question. The newly transplanted hair usually falls out in a month or so after the surgery and it comes back 2-5 months after in waves of hair growth. Once you’re past the 7th month, everything should be stable and your transplanted hair should be there for the rest of your life. If transplanted hair falls out, it may reflect hair that was not taken from the permanent zone and in that case it may reflect an error from the surgeon.

Hi,

I had a hair transplant about 7 months ago and I really have not seen any major improvement. I had the transplant of the hair line. What has happened is that some of the transplanted hair never fell out and has continued to grow but I have seen no regrowth where the transplants shed.

Is this a failure or will it still grow.

My hairline is still a little red.

Thank you

At 7 months, you should see growth from the transplants. It sounds like it’s possible that your transplants grew in right away (seen in 5% of patients), but you may have experienced shock loss in the surrounding hair, leaving you no better off than before you started. As for redness, it should’ve subsided months ago. I don’t know enough about your procedure (number of grafts, hair type, technique used) or your skin type to be able to reflect on the persistent redness or if the transplant was a failure or not. I would discuss your concerns with the physician that performed the surgery and use the pre-operative photographs when you discuss this with him/her.

Hi,
I had a hair transplant about 7 months ago. What I noticed is that the transplanted hair which never shed has remained but I have yet to see any other growth. The hairline looks sparse and not what I was told that they would achieve, which is thickness. Can the transplants still develop or will I expect to see no more improvements.

Thank you

At 7 months after surgery, I would expect to see most of the growth. Wait a few more months and if there’s still nothing, then ask your doctor what went wrong (I am taking what you said at face value).

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hello doc, I have to questions

i recently had a HT via FUE on thursday, today is tuesday so it has been 5 days so far. I have been wearing a hat and realized that it was breaking off a few transplanted grafts. When I look closely the stub of transplanted hair is still in my scalp but the rest of it has broken off. Do you think I killed my grafts this way?

Another Question. I washed my hair on friday night (next day after ht procedure) but then i read some where that I wasn’t suppose to wash it for 3 days. Could washing my grafts with a sponge and water next day after HT damage the grafts completely?

Thank you for your time

I suppose if you see stubs of hair follicles out of your body with bulbs on them, it could reflect grafts and if that’s the case, what you lost will never grow. I’m really not sure what you’re seeing. A tight hat can pull out grafts, though the grafts should’ve been secured by the 5 day mark. I don’t know enough about your surgery — like where you had your hair transplant or what was really done.

You can wash your hair 12 hours after the surgery. As always, I am happy to answer all questions, but sometimes questions like these bother me. Why are you not asking this to your doctor? Why haven’t you got instruction on how to wash your hair after a hair transplant? Special instructions should’ve been supplied to you for the washing technique.

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Hello,

I’m a 30 year old male who had my first hair transplant when I was 26. I flew to Thailand and had a 2000 graft strip excision procedure done. The first week was hell but the transplant turned out to be good, but in need of obvious density. I decided to return 4 years later and get another procedure. I was thinking of going to another doctor but the last time he provided great service even though I suspected the 2000 grafts could have looked better.

Fast forward to now, I thought I needed between 1000-1500 and he immediately said 2000. I didn’t think about until after the procedure that this is too much. After the 2nd procedure which I am currently 15 days after the healing process is not going as well as the first time. I will run down the issues and you can tell me if I’m royally screwed or not.

1. My whole scalp is super tight. I can feel a constant tension ring from ear to ear and even my temples. When I lift my eyebrows all the way up I can even feel it. The most disturbing thing is every time I walk slowly up a flight of stairs I get a throbbing headache/pain which feels as if I’m going to pass out.
2. The scar (trychophyic closure) is not healing. On the right side there is a indentation with a huge scab (I think that gauze stuff?) which is surrounded by inflammation.
3. I have this dull ache in my throat when I swallow. It has never happened ever before and started after this procedure.

My questions are:

1. Will this throbbing pain while walking up stairs go away?
2. Is the dent and bump in my head going to heal? Is it swelling and or skin just pulled together from the wrong angle?
3. Is there anything I can do to help the wound heal?

I’ve been using propecia for 4 years now, and just started 5 sprays of minoxidil on recipient area. Please help this is extremely disconcerting because I’m a triathlete who routinely has 3 hour workouts in the gym, and I fear I will never be able to compete again. I would try to talk to the doc thailand but his English isn’t very good and kind of sent me packing without letting me know if I have a normal future. Thanks for reading, I will also try to send pictures although it may be a few weeks (moving, camera packed, etc.)

From what you described, there are clearly problems. Over time things should get better, but you should get an assessment for baseline purposes to plot progress or lack of progress (objectively) over time. It would be best that you be seen by me if you want a better assessment. The exam will be free, but I’m in Los Angeles, so you’ll likely need to do some more traveling. Drugs like minoxidil and Propecia will help prevent further hair loss, but not reverse what has already occurred.

Without knowing more I’m just able to give general info, but here’s a try at your questions:

1. Pain from damaged nerves may or may not get better depending upon whether or not the nerve was cut.
2. Dents in wounds, may or may not get better as more healing goes on.
3. Generally, there is nothing to do to help wound healing. Some readers will likely argue that, so please feel free to leave comments with your wound-healing advice.