One thing I never really understood is when people say that the hairline will soften during the period 6-18 months after a HT.

I thought that hairs initially grew thin and thickened up during this same period. If hairs are getting thicker how can the hairline get softer? What does softening of the hairline actually mean?

Imissthebarber,

This is a great question.

When transplanted hair starts to grow, it's usually thin, wispy, and colorless and in time, the hair thickens, darkens, and matures. During this maturation process, transplanted hair will eventually reach it's full thickness, but have not yet fully acquired all the other characteristics of your natural hair. Sometimes transplanted hair will be coarse, straggly, off-color, and seemingly hard to tame.

As a result, your hairline may appear "harder", rather than soft and natural looking. It's during the later months of a hair transplant that transplanted hair acquires all the characteristics of your natural hair, causing it to blend in naturally.

I hope this helps.

Bill

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To learn about how I restored my hair, view my my hair loss website.

Remember, true beauty radiates from within, not from the skin.

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

Thanks Bill. That does make sense. Yet again you have provided a helpful explanation.

I think one thing you said could be misinterpreted out of context. One characteristic the transplanted hair won't acquire is the susceptibility to DHT that causes MPB (assuming it was taken from the safe zone.) Obviously you know this already, but just wanted to clarify this.

Bill, how does transplanted hair acquire the characteristics of the hair in the recipient area? I was under the impression its resistance to doing so, the retain its own nature, is what permits it to continue to grow once re-located.

I have to disagree here. I think transplanted hair aquiring the characteristics of native hair is a bit of myth. In my expereince, it is growing out the hair that makes it look more 'blended in' or natural and people mistake it for the hair actually changing. Try cutting the transplanted hair really short again and you are back where you started - that wirey texture.

Let me clarify my post...

I'm not saying donor hair acquires the characteristics of previous recipient area hair. I'm saying it acquires the characteristics of itself over time because it doesn't start growing that way.

The hair on the sides and back of your scalp is going to be similar to your natural hair on top of your head prior to being susceptible to DHT. But once it's transplanted and starts to grow, it grows in thin and colorless, very unlike it's previous characteristics.

What I'm saying is that as the transplanted hair matures, the follicle produces thicker hair and eventually will appear like it once did before it was moved.

Does that make sense?

Bill

__________________
Managing Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog and the Hair Loss Forum and Social Community

Follow us on Facebook | Twitter | YouTube

Subscribe to our Newsletters | How We Recommend Physicians

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To learn about how I restored my hair, view my my hair loss website.

Remember, true beauty radiates from within, not from the skin.

I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

"Does that make sense?"

Yes.

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2008 Dr. G – presumably 1,000 grafts / 2,142 hairs
2009 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 2,348 grafts / 4,258 hairs
2011 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 1,999 grafts / 3,624 hairs

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

"The hair resembles its original calibre" - Yep, totally makes sense Bill. We have to keep in mind that hair from the rump of the donor is pretty thick and when planted at new angles in the recipient area can really stand out when short.I think that clinics often spin the line that the transplanted hair will 'soften up' and 'settle down' naturally after six months or so. It doesn't 'soften up' it is just growing the hair out make sit blend in better.

Yes, that makes sense.

Unfortunately, it also indicates hair transplanted to the temple region will always be of a different quality and texture from that native to the region.

by softmimg of the hairline means two things
1) as Bill have pointed out that the coarse hair will gain back its character in aboiut 18 months to 2 years, that softning of hair due to the reactivation of pilosebacious glands which cease to work after surgery for about 9 to 12 months.

2) The softning of hair line is due to proper placing of grafts , the single hair grafts and the soft hairs as oppose to the thick caliber hairs, with an acute angle of exit from skin, the curvature showing proper orientation of the hair growth, in short if you cannot recognise a hair transplant even with a close up view its a soft hair line.

On the other hand if you can see the hair as an unnatural growth and in one line and can be recognised from a couple of feet away or close up, I call it not a soft hair transplant.

my way of looking towards the softness of hair line is not a physical aspect of the hair but the accumulative effect of the hair line.

With respect to the recepient area growth effect, it has been shown that there is some thing called recepient rea dominence just like donor area dominence, and the hair transplanted on an area will behave to some extent like the recepient area original hairs. A graft from the body was planted on scalp and then the growth was checked and that hair grew to about 15 cm long and none of the graft from where it was taken grew that long ever, the donor area was chest and receipient area was scalp.

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I am a medical advisor to Lexington International and Hairmax. What ever I say is my personal opinion.

Dr. Mohmand is recommended on the Hair Transplant Network