Leftwithrope

Hello I'm at close to 7 months now and am thrilled with my results (still thinking if I should post my results here). Although my results are good, there is a patch of hair behind the transplanted area which fell out around month 3 and is causing my overall result to suffer. I typically hear of patients encountering shock loss around a few weeks after the surgery but mine started rather late (3 months, when transplanted grafts were just beginning to awaken). Now, I am wondering if hair that comes back from shock loss (simply put, hairs that exited telogen and entered anagen) always emerges fine, colorless and wispy. I had assumed that only transplanted hairs would emerge out of our scalps with these characteristics, but seeing how no one has analysed how newly sprouted native anagen hair looks like, I figured it's a sound question to ask. If our healthy native hair does indeed start sprouting with these characteristics, I would be a lot more at ease as I'm seeing some recovery in the shock loss area (fine and wispy hairs). The hairs were healthy and actually continued growing as normal until the shock occurred.

Dude, talking to your doctor is the only thing that will give you any semblance of a peace of mind right now. Any helpful advice has been rehashed and repeated in other threads, so please send an email or make a call to his office.

I don't have balding in my crown, so I don't know. Most patients and doctors agree that the crown grows later than the frontal areas though.

Lmfao. I'm Asian and didn't start balding until I started weightlifting and going on bulk/cut cycles. I completely stopped shedding after I ended a pretty horrific cut cycle and my hair haa been the same then. It doesn't mean jackshit if you bench 2x bw in the gym bruh. Increasing PRs every week while being on a cut was a huge stressor on my body and I can see why it could have hastened the onset of MPB. If you want to confront your doctor about your issue, it's best if you have data to show you're healthy, no? Relatively inexpensive and potentially helpful, so why not?

Get bloodwork done to figure out if it's an issue with your body. It's not impossible that it's an issue of surgical skill, but if it's as bad as you said, then I'm highly inclined to think that it's not entirely his fault. Give it a month or two maximum and then the issue persists, you can consider more drastic measures.

Hey guys, Just yesterday, I visited a hair transplant surgeon in my country to check out the overall health of my scalp and native hairs, as well as to get her opinion on the progress of my transplant (done by another doctor in India). I was really delighted that she found it to be good work but was puzzled when she mentioned that the 2500 grafts surgery I had undergone was a rather large one, and that I should not undergo another procedure because I would risk depleting my donor (She estimated that I had roughly 1500 grafts left in my donor for FUE, and if I needed more, FUT would be the only way). From my experiences in trawling through patient results and clinic websites, 2500 grafts seems to be a moderate amount of grafts for the frontal third. Also, I have pretty darn thick donor hair (fat as fuck under those magnification tools) and simply find it incredulous that I have only such a limited amount of hairs left for FUE. Patients like JeanLDD undergo FUE sessions at 3k grafts each time with no problem, so being told this after going through only 1 session really confuses me. I am intending to get a second procedure with the same doctor mainly to beef up the area behind the hairline that wasn't as densely packed and estimate that about 500-1000 grafts will be needed to accomplish this. Did the doctor just say I blew more than half my donor to restore my hairline or could this be a mistake? Could my very thick donor hairs be the reason why I have such a limited availability of donor? Thanks in advance.

Unless your hair grew immediately after the transplant and shed around the 3 month mark, you should see sprouts coming in at the 3-4 months mark. The telogen phase of hair is about 3 months so there shouldn't be any reason why you aren't seeing sprouts at 6 months, unless it was like what I mentioned above. Seriously, talk to your doctor about this and consider making arrangements to salvage your situation. At 6 months, a good number of patients will have a majority of their hairs sprout, albeit still rather immature. From your previous posts, it seems like you've blown a considerable amount of donor on your procedure. I understand that you're desperate for assurance now but practically speaking, you should start planning as if your transplant is a failed one if you want to not go crazy over it. Either a second transplant or try hair systems (I'm wearing a clip-on system to tide me over till my transplanted hairs gain length, and it's phenomenal bruh). I feel your pain brother.

Thank you for your reply. I know this is too early for me to say but I am actually looking at a second procedure because I am aiming to approach native density even more. I take it that you have underwent a transplant yourself and would like to ask if you think having another 1000 grafts would be greatly beneficial in helping reach my goals. Also, would you mind sharing how the maturation process was like for you, if you've underwent a transplant of course.

Hey guys, It's almost 6 months and 2 weeks after my hair transplant(2500 grafts) At this point, I'm feeling mixed emotions. I can see that majority of the transplanted grafts survived and are now growing, but at their current length of 1 to 1.5 inches, I would say that it is unable to provide a cosmetically acceptable look. The hairs are short, kinky and of a duller colour than my original hair. I am wondering at what length does transplanted hair typically provide great coverage and whether transplanted hair starts to regain its donor characteristics (color, texture, and caliber) as it grows in length. This is causing me some distress as many 6 month progress pictures online show the patient having stylable hair that looks good enough to go outdoors with. I'm attaching a picture of my current progress to illustrate what I mean. Thanks a lot.

I guess patience for the next 3-4 months is all I've got. I'm in the same camp as those who believe that no new sprouts occur after the 9th-10th month mark. How drastic of a change did you undergo between your 6th to 12th month?

Thank you for your response. Yes, I've noticed that the doctor has implanted at a lower density behind the hairline. Thank you for reminding me of that. Would it be advisable to go for a second surgery to thicken up that area? I know hair transplants are about creating an illusion of density but I would really like to have the closest I can get to natural density.

Hello, I am at 6 months now and my hairline has really come through rather thick now. However, I've noticed that the hairs transplanted behind my hairline seem to be coming in slower. Do hair transplant results usually come in a front-to-back fashion? Thanks.

Hey guys, I'm approaching my 6 month mark in 2 weeks and have a few questions in mind. 1. From months 6-12, how drastic of an improvement can one notice? I know that one will see improvements in maturation, but what about popping/sprouting of new hair? Some people seem to believe that sprouting of new hairs generally end at month 6, and the only improvement from there is maturation. 2. What can a second hair transplant do for you if you have a dense result (say a previously norwood 3A patient getting to a Norwood 1 after his first transplant). The general concern with hair greed is the possibility of blowing precious donor hair on trying to achieve natural density, and also that not more than 50% of native density is needed to provide an illusion of density. Will a second smaller pass on an already dense result make for an undetectable result?

Thanks for the insight Postdoc. I'm lucky to have you around for my system queries.

@Postdoc So I went for servicing of my piece today and found out that the tape used on the front actually got attached to about 0.5 inch of my hairline. Naturally, I was quite pissed, but no hairs came off with the tape and they appeared to be for lack of a better word, fine. You mentioned in one of your earlier posts that hair grows whatever you do to it, so I'm wondering what about tape you were concerned about. I also have a nagging worry that the tape could be suffocating the hairs, but you'd know better. Thanks!

I agree. I definitely won't be able to stand the constant maintenance and low-level anxiety of wearing a system. Here's hoping that my grafts grow!

It's a combination of lace and a thin skin membrane according to my stylist. Are certain bases superior to others?

Hey Postdoc, It's day 2 of wearing the system. There is no discomfort at all and really feels like I'm not wearing anything. With the concerns about traction alopecia and tape having been resolved, I'm curious as to whether the base of a hair system allows space for the hairs beneath it. This might not be the case for systems that are bonded with glue, but since you used to wear clip-ons as well, do you have any knowledge about this? I'm assuming that clip-on systems have a looser fit and will not lie smack right on top of the scalp.

I was under the impression that sunlight was good for our hair, given how our bodies get vitamin D from the sun. Looks like I'm all set!

The two things you've mentioned have been taken care of. The only thing worrying me now is whether the grafts are safe when being covered by the system's base. Your thoughts?

Thanks PostDoc, I'm feeling amazing! So you definitely think I'll be fine to wear the system for 3-4 months?

Alright, I've finally got the system fitted today. Definitely looking like a million bucks! Surprisingly, my stylist wasn't too stumped about how to deal with my front. She simply used tape below my transplanted hairline. Now, I tend to wear bangs so this means I won't need to expose my new ultra-low hairline. The rest of the system is held together by clips. Surprisingly, I don't feel like there's any tug or discomfort from the clips. Would this be different if I was using a bigger piece?

Thank you so much for the advice PostDoc, I really appreciate it. It's a relief to hear that a partial will do less damage to my grafts. In your opinion, would wearing a clip-on system for an entire month cause traction alopecia? Both you and Gillenator seem to have suffered damage, but that could likely be attributed to your long-term usage. Did you notice at what point of wearing your system did traction alopecia set in? As mentioned above, I'll likely only wear the system when I have events that I need to look my best for. So in a month, I'll probably wear the system for 4-5 days on week 1, remove the system for 2 weeks, and then don it again for 4-5 days on week 4. I'm taking a hiatus from work so I've got the luxury to dictate when I want to look my best and when I can afford to go without the system. Graft care is the priority here, which explains my plan for going without the system for 2 weeks. Do let me know what you think of my plan, even if it may sound a little tedious to implement. Thanks!

Hey Gillenator, What kind of damage did you experience with wearing a hair system? Would damage caused by wearing one be likely to occur even in the span of a few months? I too am extremely concerned for the well-being of my grafts, but would like to seek a compromise that will allow me to look my best at events but also to offer the best care for my grafts. I've outlined my plan for the next 5 months in the reply above. Would love to hear what an experienced hair system user has to say about it.

Alright guys, Thanks for all your advice and sharing of experiences. I've decided that I want to go ahead with the hair system but with a few conditions to protect my grafts: 1. I'll only wear them when I have events that I want to look good in (2-3 days in a month?) 2. My stylist said she'll be able to attach the system without trimming the transplanted hairs. I'm not sure how she's going to do it, but most of my hair is 5-6 inches in length, so maybe she could work with my native hair. I did tell her I was not going to wear any styles exposing my hairline. Instead, I'll go for a bangs hairstyle very much like korean idols (I'm 23 lol). With these considerations in mind, would the idea of a hair system be feasible at least?