Question about not loosing many transplanted grafts with my 1st ht

[djdennis]

I have not lost many grafts from my 1st ht. I AM 1 MONTH POST OP. I Have read that its good to loose grafts because this is a sign that something is happening. Whats the case if you dont loose to many new grafts? I have had no shockloss which im thankful for also.

[djdennis]

I have not lost many grafts from my 1st ht. I AM 1 MONTH POST OP. I Have read that its good to loose grafts because this is a sign that something is happening. Whats the case if you dont loose to many new grafts? I have had no shockloss which im thankful for also.

[Pompadore-2009]

This is almost the same question I logged on te ask. My question is this, which hopefully can also be answered in this thread...

 

Do some people retain most of their grafts? Or does everyone lose most of them?

[Janna]

There's still plenty of time to shed the transplanted hairs. It's a gradual process. The shedding phase goes for 2 to 3 months post op on the average.

 

The feedback I get from our patients is that majority tend to shed most of their transplanted hairs. But there are few who say they retained partial to most of the grafts and felt the hairs just continued to grow without shedding. Eventually those hairs will shed but may be difficult to tell when it occured. Growth rate of ht hairs vary, so does retaining ht hairs hinder growth speed? It seems the growth rate seems the same either way and if you look at the big picture of waiting for the full results at about the one year mark, you wouldn't be able to tell who shed early and who shed late. Both also seem to start seeing new growth at the same mark of 3 1/2 to 4 months post op. The difference is the really late shedding patients get to enjoy their transplanted hairs without feeling like they took a step backwards before seeing new growth. I would be nice to eliminate shedding phase of transplanted hairs altogether.

[djdennis]

pompadore 2009 from my understanding most people loose there grafts and that is a good sign.

[Pompadore-2009]

I am almost at three weeks and I just started to lose the new hair at a pretty rapid rate. I was reading a book last night and kept noticing the grafted hairs on my pages. Then, this morning, I rubbed my head on a white T shirt and there were a ton of hairs left on it. I did it three or four more times in a row and each time there were about 25 or 30 more hairs on the shirt (yes, I have to admit, I counted them).

 

I've been doing various things to determine if the hairs were falling out, and this is the first day I've noticed any significant loss.

 

I think I'll start the MSM this weekend. I've been waiting until my new hairs fell our before starting (don't ask me for my reasoning because it probably makes no sense).

 

djdennis, try leaning over and rubbing your hair on a white shirt. If the hairs are shedding, this will let you know. Good luck. I'm following your progress because I am just over a week behind you. I had my surgery on 2-20-8.

[djdennis]

Thats great you are right on target with 3 weeks in loosing the grafts. That seems the time that most guys loose the. You will see them back in 3 months up to 6 months. What norwood where you? Did you have frontal work or both frontal and crown. I just had frontal!!! yeah keep me posted on how you are doing. I talked to some guys and they said its still normal to have my grafts and that Im a late bloomer. There where some guys that started loosing there grafts at 3 to 5 months. Hopefully my jump ship sooner!!!

[Pompadore-2009]

I am a NW5. I had 2700 grafts in the front/middle. I'll have a second procedure for the back, probably later this year. Since it takes so long for the new hair to grow in, I want to go ahead and get the second procedure over with.

 

My new hairs are really going fast. At this rate, it may only take a three or four more days for them to be mostly gone. I'll be updating my blog tomorrow, which marks three weeks.

[agentHarley]

fellas, if it speaks to ya'll, it would be great if you guys could include the link to your blogs in your signature so that i can follow along with what you guys are experiencing.

 

i had my HT on 2/29/08 and have included the blog link in my signature.

 

cheers,

 

aH

[djdennis]

Great read agentharley on your weblog. I think mine is all set now. my weblog should of been atttached I dont why,but it should be up now.

 

Pompodore2009 1 shake of the head and 30 transplanted hairs are falling out? WE NEED TO FIND OUT IF THATS HOW THE PROCESS OF LOOSING GRAFTS HAPPEN? IF ANY VETS ON THE SITE READ THIS POST COULD YOU ANSWER US ON HOW FAST WITH AMOUNT OF HAIRS SHOULD COME OUT WITH A SHAKING OF THE HEAD. POMPORDORE IS LOOSING 30 HAIRS IN A SHAKE!!! Is that normal.

 

Hows about you agentharley keep us updated on your graft loss?

 

Im over 1 month since my ht and pretty much have all my grafts? I see like one or 2 in the shower and today I washed my hair real good and there where not any grafts that fell out!!! GO FIGURE

[djdennis]

POMPADORE DID YOU START A WEBLOG JOURNAL TO KEEP TRACK OF YOUR HT

[Pompadore-2009]

Yeah, I have a blog set up. I put a link to it in my signature earlier today after AgentHarley mentioned it. You should be able to access the blog from any of my post.

 

AgentHarley,

 

I've been following your blog. If I'm not mistaken, I had my surgery 9 days after djdennis, and you had yours 9 days after me. I guess we're all in the same boat together, and will be progressing pretty close to one another.

[TheEmperor]

My transplanted hairs were mostly gone by 3 3-1/2 weeks if I remember. They were all there up til about 10 days at which point the doctor had instructed me to begine gently working off the scabs in the shower.

 

I would say that over the course of the following two weeks as the scabs slowly went away, that also the grafted hair went away. I remember seeing the loose hairs (like eyelashes) on the washcloth and towel after showers. They had said that since the grafts were firmly in place, I did not need to baby them.

 

I suspect the grafts would have stayed in longer if I continuted to be gentle with them after two weeks.

 

I was concerned that they departed too quickly, that maybe the early departures never really took well?

 

Anyway I saw some tiny new stubs at the 7 week mark and this small scale new growth has continued as I approach 3 months. However, the vast majority of grafts have not sprouted.

[agentHarley]

Hey Fellas, thanks for responding with your blog links. I'll be checking these out soon.

 

Cool, so we're all kinda 9 days apart each.

 

I would like to clarify what "losing grafts" means, because I was freaking out about this too.

 

It turns out, as I was told by Bill and another member, that the grafts themselves are there in place. What is falling out, and sometimes attached to the scabs/crusts, are the hair shafts. These were alarming to me at first because I thought I was losing my little guys. However, I was told that if one is losing "grafts", then one would bleed.

 

Since I wasn't bleeding, and it sounds like you guys weren't/aren't either, then it is just the hair shafts falling and maybe some temporary shock happening. Or, it could also be that the hair follicle, which is deep inside the skin surface at this point, could be starting its natural "telogen phase".

 

Check this link out:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hair_follicle

[djdennis]

Agentharley what you wrote is what I believe also. Hair shaft falling out and I did not bleed either!!! The hair foliicle that is deep inside is attached and secure after 10 days they say. So the hair that we are losing in the shaft is a great sign that the new follicleis like pushing out the old for the new.

 

Its strange how some guys loose there grafts fast and other guys it takes some time. Are you gents putting rogaine foam or minox on your transplanted area. My doc suggested after 2 weeks post op to start applying the med to my ht area for faster growth

 

I wonder if this is the reason my new hts are not falling out because its making my hair stronger. The meds really worked for me before my ht. Just look on my blog pics using the meds alone for 2 months prior to my hairtransplant.

 

Thats great that we are 9 days apart from our procedures. We can get some sort of idea where we stand in our happy hair growth. I will be watching your guys progress.

[djdennis]

I just pm notgoing2bald and he told me that its rare not to loose new ht hairs and im one of the lucky ones. Im getting a little confused because jana says they will leave in 3 to 5 months probobley. Whats the real deal Bill,joetronic or spex

[notgoing2gobald]

Hey DJ,

just wanted to clarify. In both your email to me and in this thread you sounded a bit FREAKED out that you had not shed grafts as of yet, and your tone was as though it was a *negative* sign...Im sure this is a very difficult process to undertake w/all of the questions and paranoia, but I just wanted to clarify and re-itterate what I was trying to say:

-the fact that you have NOT shed grafts is NOT an alarming condition. Your grafts are perm. in place 7-10 days post-op, so there is NO reason of alarm/worry about you NOT "losing" your grafts during this time frame. The way you expressed your question to me in the pm made it sound as if your worried that something has gone terribly WRONG w/your transplant because you have NOT shed your grafts yet; when in fact that is NOT the case. Your grafts are permanently in place on your noggin and you have NOTHING to worry about w/respect to PERMANENTLY losing your grafts because you have NOT as of yet shed ANY.

-you being one of the "lucky one's" sometimes, although be it RARE, some individuals do NOT experience a sig. amount of shedding of the newly transplanted hairs. What I was getting at was, the fact that you have not shed is in no way a sign of alarm, and perhaps you will be one of the LUCKY one's, whom will NOT shed a sig. % of your grafts...

Janna and others are in a much better position to answer your questions than myself, but I just wanted to clarify that you COULD indeed still shed the grafts, but my bottom-line point was that the fact that you have NOT is not a negative or alarming sign, in ANY respect...

[djdennis]

No I was not freaked,just concerned that my chickens where not flying the coupe.From all the posts ive been reading most guys loose them in the 1st month. So me being a rare case of having 97% of my hairs still at 35 days post op was very significant compared to the others.

 

I think the closest guy who posted about not shedding said after 2months he still had 50% of his ht hairs still in place and that was the last of him chatting about it. So I have 25 days to loose 47% of my new hairs and then I will be tied with that guy as the longest non-shedder on the site. I do believe I will be the new world champion in non-shedding contest or how can I say it freaken mutant ht non shedder. Thanks for trying ngtg2b. Not freakin just thinking why???? Sounds a little abnormal. lets ask this??? is it possible and ever heard of to keep 97% of transplanted hairs with non shedding of 2953 ht grafts. My only thought was that I responded well to the rogaine and proscar and this might be possible that those new hairs got stronger and they would all just keep growing without shedding at all and I would not go through that phase at all. Just thoughts since Im a Newbie

[agentHarley]

I hear DJ's point: the rogaine helped most of the hairs that were newly transplanted stay put and grow "right as they were growing before" in the donor area.

 

At some point, like all human hair, these will have to fall away, go into a dormant phase, and return as vellous hairs that then become course when we cut them (as part of a haircut).

 

It's a cycle.

 

And I get comfort knowing that those hairs that did fall away these past few days were just going on that cycle ahead of the others that are still there.

 

What all these posts highlight is how we, as HT patients, all hope for more hair and for that hair to remain there when replanted. It is an impatient habit we have to want results, like, yesterday.

 

But let's be grateful for the process, certainly reminds me of those dog boys or wolf boys in the circus (mexico) that I read on this site somewhere. Their cheeks and eyelids even, are covered in hair and it is not a photoshop trick. Bet they wish their hairs were falling out.

 

[notgoing2gobald]

I do believe I will be the new world champion in non-shedding contest or how can I say it freaken mutant ht non shedder.

(din'G,--din'G, din'G)

anD noOW IN THE LEFT CORNER,

weIGHING IN AT 2,953 UNSHED GRAFTS STRONG,

----THE DJ--AY, WHOSE GRAFTS

--------JUST WON'T GO A'---WAY....

---------DENNIS, grrRRRAFTA 'A MENACE

--------------DA' WORLDZ A' HAIRIEST CHAMPION!!!

[djdennis]

Yes ng2g2b you clarified everything from your post and thanks for your input. From all the info I gathered its not bad to loose grafts and its not bad to keep grafts. Its all the same in the long run. So yes I am the world champion graft keeper as we speak. One correction Djdennis weighing in at 2945 grafts not 2953 I did loose 8 or so grafts!!! Im not undisputed yet we still have a couple of more months to shed. I did write to my doc and I will copy and paste his reply to this topic on non shedders

[notgoing2gobald]

Ahhhh yes...'non-shedders'...such a RARE breed...

a rare breed indeed...

[Pompadore-2009]

djdennis,

 

I have to say that your pictures looked extremely good. I don't know if it was the camera, or the lighting, but it looked like you didn't even have a surgery soon after your procedure. My head was purple for about a week after surgery, while your's looked great in the 2-11 posted on your blog. Was that taken just after the procedure?

 

Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones, and will keep most of the new hairs. Time will tell, and I'll be following along.

 

My new hairs are going fast. In the past two days I've probably lost about 60% or 70% of them; and I had probably lost another 10% during the previous week. I'd say I'm down to about 20% or 30% of the grafts at this point.

 

The funny thing is, on Sunday (2 days ago) I had not lost many hairs at all and was wondering if I was going to be one of the few who keep most of them. Big change in two days.

 

Now I'm just hoping I don't have any shock loss. Does anyone know when the shock loss sets in? I'm three weeks post op, does that mean I am in the clear?

[djdennis]

Pompadore Thanks for the kind words. Yes my Ht did not even look like I had one. The ht area was a little pink. My wife was amazed and said you cant really tell.

 

Those pics where the 4th day when I came home from Miami.

 

This thread gave me alot of good info on shedders and non-shedders. But im good with the info I received. You will be ok pomp you will see those new beauties growing back in shortly. Are you using rogaine foam/minox on the transplanted area? That will speed up the process from what my doc says

 

I did not have shockloss,so I would have to say that im not sure.maybe someone can answer that ??? for you when they read this message.

[agentHarley]

well, i haven't seen your pics, DJ, but i would also be interested in having less of a pink scalp. i CAN'T WAIT to get a haircut and get rid of this japanese shogun/samurai look. but i know i'm going to look funny with the pink patch on top.

 

anyone have any positive experiences with helping reduce the redness??