graft survival

[johng]

ive recently had a ht with a reputable clinic. on about day 4, i noticed what apppears to be a disappearance of grafts from an isolated area in one part of the recipient site. maybe 50-100 or so grafts. anybody have similar experiences? when is it safe for grafts to fall out? im a bit worried. any replies gratefully appreciated

[johng]

ive recently had a ht with a reputable clinic. on about day 4, i noticed what apppears to be a disappearance of grafts from an isolated area in one part of the recipient site. maybe 50-100 or so grafts. anybody have similar experiences? when is it safe for grafts to fall out? im a bit worried. any replies gratefully appreciated

[JacobS]

I had the exact same experience, 50-60 grafts about 3 to 4 days after surgery from an isolated area, right temple. I'd also be curious to hear other experiences and opinions.

[Robert_]

johng,

 

Let me just get this straight for my own assurance; you are speaking of HAIRS lost at day 4 and not GRAFTS, correct?

 

If you are losing hairs, that is still a bit early but not unheard of. If you are losing grafts, well that is a problem.

 

If the area bleeds from where they are coming out and they look like little grains of rice (the best way I have heard to describe it) then those are grafts. Like I said, if it is just the hairs, then you should have nothing to worry about.

 

-Robert

[johng]

thanks mod,

 

well it seems that its hairs as opposed to graft. the problem has continued overnight (day 6). on looking at my pillow ive foung maybe an additional 10 hairs or so, but on examination in the mirror it seems more may have fallen last night.

 

what fell was just individual hairs. what continues to worry me however, is that it is developing in set patterns from specific area, as if those particular areas were not planted correctly or something - as opposed to a general random shed? again, any further info/experiences would be gratefully accepted as im freakin out a bit here!

 

but thanks for the info so far, i guess its good news that theres no blood or grains.

[johng]

also, there is a good deal of flakiness in the affected areas.

[Robert_]

johng,

 

It sounds as if everything is ok. The hairs jumping ship is normal, albeit it does sound a bit early.

 

Why not give your doc a quick call or email just for reassurance?

 

-Robert

[arfy]

I agree with robert to call your clinic (and maybe have your doctor look at you).

 

The hairs in the grafts will go dormant, this takes a few days or even a few weeks to happen, but the grafted hairs begin growing at approximately 12 weeks later (remember you're really transplanting hair roots, the follicles themselves are a product of the root structure, so to speak).

 

Some guys can lose some of their 'existing" (non transplanted) hair, sometimes a little or sometimes a lot in the worst cases. This all depends on the individual guy, some guys have no problems with this happening (sometimes referred to 'shock loss' and not to be confused with the normal dormant phase). Shock loss is not totally understood, but typically it seems to happen to any "at risk" hairs. So the conventional wisdom is that guys should try to halt or slow their hair loss down, before getting any surgery. That typically means using Propecia or maybe Avodart. You don't want to be in a hair loss "free fall" at the time of your surgery, to minimize the risk of shock loss.

 

As far as losing an actual graft, sometimes they may not be seated properly, or tension or friction can cause a new graft to come out. As Robert said, it looks sort of like a grain of rice only smaller, and it is dry (unless you lose it the first night or so, then there may be a wee spot of blood). I've heard it is normal to lose one graft per every thousand, of course some guys may lose more than that and still be considered normal. What you don't want is a whole bunch of lost grafts, and I've never heard of that happening, certainly not at a reputable clinic.

 

Hope that added some grist to the mill.

[hairbank]

I'm on day 9 of my HT of 1400. I haven't really noticed many lost "hairs" yet but have started combing out what appears as dandruff in the morning after showering. I spoke with the doc yesterday about it and he said it was how the scabs shed.

 

I think someone already mentioned this but best case is to call the surgeon and ask the question to him.

 

Good luck!