Now this is weird...

[John M]

In the recent past, I posted questions on the black dots and hairs from the grafts that never fell out after 3.5 months. It is now 4 months, and decided to try something. I still have the blunt hairs that never grew, and they still slip out with a hook at the end where it goes into the scalp. I started grabbing those black dots with my nail and noticed that it changed from a black dot to a hair sprout. I got the tweezers, and pulled on it. It was like something out of a cartoon; the hair kept getting longer and longer until it came out of the scalp. The top and bottom of the hair was blunt; as if it was cut on both ends. There were quite a few that did this, all easily slipping out of the scalp while it kept getting longer. Obviously these are "dead" hairs, and I wonder what the deal is here?

[fixing-it]

Hey john m,

I noticed you had your procedure done with Dr Feller,Did you ask him what he thought of this,If he thought they were dead or still in resting fase?If not I would call him ASAP,take care.

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

I had about 5 of these.I finally pulled them with tweezers and they came out like butter. I know for sure that 2 of them ended up growing since they were in the hairline not sure about the other 3 ,but I wouldnt worry. It may not be normal but isnt unhesrd of Youll be alright.

[John M]

I did ask, but not about this. I asked about the hooked hair that just slips out. I wasnt able to speak with him, just his receptionist who told me to leave them alone. When I asked if it would hurt the follicle, she just said that at this point nothing would. I know Dr Feller reads these threads, and so hopefully he can shed some light on this subject.

[John M]

PGP, when you pulled on them, did they keep gettig longer before they came out?

[fixing-it]

If Dr Feller doesn't reply here{its easy to miss} try private messaging him,It worked for me when i had a ? for him.

[balody]

hi john,we have spoke privatly about this as i have had a few of these"hook hairs".but pgp,s reply seems quite reassuring,so dead hair may not mean dead follicle.

[Bill - Seemiller]

John M,

 

I think it was you, but I believe Dr. Beehner answered this question best on a recent thread when he said...

 

"You have to understand what is happening at the microscopic level under the skin after a hair transplant. After hair transplant surgery, approximately 95% of the hair follicles that have been moved to the recipient area are "shocked" into a 3-4 month telogen phase, during which the follicle structure "shrivels" up, shrinks, and takes a nap for a few months. While it does this, it totally disconnects from the little stub of hair above it, leaving it sitting in its little superficial hole. Often times, a shower, brushing, or rubbing your scalp will cause these to fall out of their tenuous hold in your scalp and cause panic. Don't worry.

 

The hair follicles that don't shock, which is usually a small percentage, but occasionally can be quite a few of them in some hair transplant patients, you can tell because the hair grows from the get-go and from week to week you can tell this is happening. In many cases, a lot of the short hair stubs will fall off along with the scab at the 1-2 week mark and cause alarm in hair restoration patients, thinking that they have lost the transplanted hair, when it is just a hair shedding of this detached hair, which is dead, just like a finger nail that has been separated from its bed but still sits in position at the end of your finger. Interestingly enough, when one uses multi-follicular unit grafts of 4-5 hairs each, almost all of the hair stubs DO fall off with the scab, whereas in areas where all follicular units are used, I find it common for the hair stubs to sit in place for many weeks as you have described. When the follicle finally comes out of its "slumber" and starts creating a new hair shaft, this new shaft quickly displaces the other one."

 

Honestly, this is what it sounds like is probably happening in your case. I would think that a new hair that is connected to the hair follicle should be growing through in the next few weeks/months.

 

You may however, want to discuss or consult with Dr. Feller to know for sure what is going on in your case since he was your physician.

 

Bill

[John M]

Yes, the Dr will clear things up for me. I PMed him, and still waiting for a reply. Hopefully he'll respond to this thread or my PM. Sending him email via his website results in speaking to his receptionist, but i'd much rather speak to him. Bill, maybe you can change the title to include his name so he can see this thread?