Category: Post-Operative

Dear Dr. Rassman,
Well we have emailed one another before and I thank you for the answers.It has now been almost 5 months since my transplant and I am pleased with the development of the hairline-still a little sparse, however I was assured the hair will get thicker and make a bigger impact than I think it will. I have seen other’s and see the same thing happening the hair gets thicker at the 9th month and since i am5 months I still have a ways to go. Some people claim that it takes a full 14 months to fully appreciate the entire effect. Is that true?

My main question is, do the hairs grow in stages or by the time 6 months rolls around, is that all the hairs that will actually grow in? My hairstylist who had it done told me he had hairs growing from a full year-sprouting at different times.

I will tell you this, my confidence with the result so far and the reaction of people I tell who never met me, tell me if I had not told them they never would have known. I will keep you posted via photography privately. Please let me know what to reasonably expect as far as a time frame.Just a reminder, I had 2500 grafts totaling about 3500 hairs- that is 1450 grafts in hair line the balance on the top. Looking forward to your answers to my questions

Yes, it will take somewhere between 7-14 months after your hair transplant to see the end result. Hair does grow in stages, not all equal. The sleep cycle for hair varies between 3-8 months easily and that is why I tell patients to wait at least 7 months to see 80-90% of the growth.

I just saw a man I performed surgery on 4 months ago and all of his hair never went into telogen, presenting to me with a full head of hair in just 3 months! I wish I could command this speed of growth for the rest of my patients, but I do see it in maybe 5% of patients.

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Dr. Rassman,

Your website has been quite helpful. I had a quick question regarding a hair transplant I got almost 3 weeks ago now. I got 1000 grafts mainly in the vertex area and I grew my hair long to cover up the area until it healed. Since I can cover it up well I have been extremely careful with washing and letting the scabs try to come off by themselves. I wash the area as if I was still in the first few days as I try not to rub the area or pull on the grafts. My question is, letting the scabs take longer to heal and fall off, even at week 3 now, is it bad for the grafts to still have the scabs, or if im comfortable how it looks, is it safe to remain careful. Anytime I do try to break up some scabs I feel like they are pulling grafts out so Id rather just wait it out if that is safe for the grafts. One last thing is that I am not sure if you would consider what I have at this point scabbing, as it is just mostly white crusts covering the grafts. Thanks so much Dr. Rassman.

Once you allow the scabs to form after a hair transplant, they can take weeks to come off by themselves. This will not damage your grafts, just give you a cosmetic problem you would not have had had you washed them off as they formed.

I had a hair transplant 5 months ago. I have been looking after the hair with regard to shampooing, cleaning the scalp well. I have also been using Minoxidil in the form of Rogain in the recipient area the front of my head. Lately the recipient area has begun to itch. I have avoided scratching it…but noticed some pimples. Then while shampooing I scratched a lot, and some pimples burst. There was slight bleeding, maybe pus for the first and only time. It does not itch now, but could this cause a graft to get damaged and lost? thank you for all your help

No, pimples do not harm grafts, especially after 5 months if they are infrequent. You should read your post-operative instruction sheet (if it was provided for you) as pimples can be a common nuisance after a hair transplant surgery. You should have your doctor look at your scalp to make sure that you do not have a spreading infection.

Hi Dr. Rassman,

I had my hair transplant 3 days ago and I was told that i’m a bleeder. so my head was wrapped for 2 days and after washing off the wrap i looked swollen but after the 3rd day after waking up my eye is swollen and bruised is this normal?

The bruising is rare, but it is normal to have swelling after a hair transplant procedure if your surgeon did not use large dose steroids to prevent it. It should be found in the pre-operative or post-operative handout you hopefully received — and more importantly in your operative consent form. Most of the swelling should be gone by the 5th day.

Part of me is honored that you would be turning to me for hair transplant aftercare advice, but the other part of me is shocked that you would not be asking this question to the doctor you trusted to performed your surgery. You really should have an open line of communication with your surgeon. I really can’t stress enough how a good doctor/patient relationship is so very important.

Hello Doctor

What is the use of the sterile solution that one is supposed to spray his head with for three days after a HT? Is it just to hydrate the skalp or is it vital to transplanted graft surviving ? What happens if someone , for some reason , doesnt spray his head for several hours ? And how many hours could jeopardise the survival of the grafts ?

thanks for your time

I’ve never recommend sterile spray for patients after a hair transplant, so if you miss your spray, I would doubt it will cause you any harm. I wouldn’t even know what the spray contains. Ask your doctor about it, as he/she seems to believe in it.

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