transplanted hairs falling out 12 months post HT

[hrvoje14]

has anybody heard of a case like mine?

 

i was pretty happy with my result until about 10-11 months post HT, when my TRANSPLANTED hairs started to fall out and have continued to fall out gradually ever since, now i'm at 14 months post HT and i have new gaps in my transplanted areas, which weren't there at 5-10 months post-op...

 

i am 100% sure it is TRANSPLANTED hairs because they are from areas right in the front and corners where i had NO native hair pre-op... and they are not miniturized thin little hairs, they are normal thick fully grown hairs...

 

i have no idea what is going on - i have no health issues... any advice/help/opinions?

 

thanks!

[Thehairupthere]

First thing I would do is contact your surgeon and try and get a check up with him. If the transplants were from the correct "safe zone" donor region, that hair should be permanent, otherwise if they weren't they could fall out since they are not resistant to DHT. Another possible reason is a skin condition, some form of alopecia has developed and can destroy the grafts. So if you can see your surgeon that would be the first thing to do, and if it's not go see your dermatologist to see if it's a skin condition.

[hrvoje14]

thanks for your reply!

 

the hairs i see in the sink that have fallen out are not thin miniaturized hairs, like the ones that fall out due to MPB... they look like normal thick fully mature hairs... so i don't think it can be due to being taken from the 'unsafe' donor zone...

 

i guess seeing a dermatologist can't do any harm.

[Spanker]

is there any way to update your website? I would like to see where you are at. Thanks.

[hair_me_out]

Spanker speaks the truth!

[waveskier]

Have you added any kind of drugs to your routine in the last couple of months? What you are experiencing seems very odd. Couldn't it perhaps just be a natural cycle of shedding?

 

We need some of the vets to chime in here.

[hespeler]

Could be the transplanted hairs are going through their shedding period.

[RCWest]

So you had a transplant, the hairs shed, grew in normal, and are now shedding again? I don't think I've ever heard of that before. How long has this been going on? It's strange to shed in that pattern. I figure since the hairs just went through the resting phase because of transplantation shock, they should grow for several years before they go into the resting phase again. It would be nice if you posted a picture of the position of your donor scar.

[gillenator]

I concur. Once the transplanted hair has shed and rested, it re-enters the growing (anagen) phase again and that is done in a 3-4 month time frame for most. Once in the growing phase, the average cycle period is six years before the hair will again rest.

 

My thoughts are also possibly there has been a change in your profile that has caused or promoted some shedding. Under any large levels of stress lately? Very stressful times can cause some shedding.

 

I also recommend that you see your doctor.

[mabbers]

I have what seems to be the exact same problem right now. I had great results 6 months ago and I now have big gaps as well and hair is coming out fast. The hairs are just as you describe too, thick and just come out. My head tingles a lot too. Has your loss continued to persist? I hope this stops soon.

[tacolinowest]

this is a terrible thing to have happen to you,, really hope you figure it out, if you werent stressed out be4 you deff are now

[blkblk]

I think I am experiencing the same. 10 months post op I couldn't be happier. My hair was looking great and I felt that I was just one more procedure from a full head of hair.

 

I am now 14 months post op and am seeing about 50-100 hairs in sink when I brush my hair instead of the previous 3-4 a few months earlier. This is really scaring me and I'm not sure I can handle the emotional roller coaster of losing it all. I now have less hair on top than I did before my 3300 graft FUT.

[Mickey85]

I'm pretty sure Sugarhighs had this this strange occurrence happen... Strange that you two are both Rahal patients as I have never heard of this before with any other Doctors. I hope it's just a coincidence or shed phase...

[blkblk]

I actually had mine done with Feller. He was quite conservative so I do not think it is caused by the surgery itself.

[Mickey85]

I actually had mine done with Feller. He was quite conservative so I do not think it is caused by the surgery itself.

 

Ahh I was referring to the OP and Sugarhighs having their procedures with Rahal. Yeh could be something to do with your physiology instead of the surgeon procedure for sure. Or a shedding phase.

[JimmyJ90]

Hi there, I've just been reading your posts about how you had an ht, got great growth only to have it falling out around a year post op. this is he exact thing happening to me. I was just wondering if you'd be able to help me at all, did you ever find out what caused this, or recovered from it? It would mean a lot to me of you could reply as its causing me a lot of grief. I hope you are well and if you could get in touch it would be most appreciated. Thank you

[Spanker]

I have what seems to be the exact same problem right now. I had great results 6 months ago and I now have big gaps as well and hair is coming out fast. The hairs are just as you describe too, thick and just come out. My head tingles a lot too. Has your loss continued to persist? I hope this stops soon.

 

 

This guy has not been online in 2 years. Probably best to PM him as it will send him an email.

[mabbers]

I have had many people contact me about my HT hairs falling out about a year post op. Apparently this is a very common thing that I really hope gets recognized as people should know the total scale of the risk involved.

 

Unfortunately, I am still losing thick hairs just as before. Again, I had 6000 total grafts and i estimate that I have around 3K still on top. My scalp still tingles a lot, itches can almost feel sore and to be honest completely uncomfortable. Its really irritating when I work out or run as well. The hairs that fall out often have a small white bulb at the end and are rarely miniaturized which usually clues me i that its a HT hair.

 

I have not logged on for a while bc I am simply trying not to think too much about it bc it can make you go crazy but obviously it bothers me. I have been going to Dr. Umar to get grafts in my scar as to prepare incase I lose everything on top.. Dr. Umar has been great and has seen me many times and even sent me to get a blood test to make sure there isn't some health reason that I am losing again.

 

My original doctor that performed my original procedure has been extremely shady and has been avoiding my calls and has canceled our scheduled meetings 4 or 5 times now.... always some lame excuse.

 

Anyways, I hope this answers some questions and if anyone reading this has any answers or ideas i'm open to hearing them. But just to be clear this has been going on for over a year now and is not a seasonal shed. I wish it was... but it is not.

 

Mabbers

[blkblk2]

I've had a couple of people contact me regarding my hair loss about ~1.5 years after my HT and unfortunately I couldn't log in to my previous account (blkblk) as I have forgotten the password and the reset feature does not work.

 

To the people asking whether this is the same as their loss of transplanted hairs 1-2 months after surgery, no it isn't. What you are experiencing is expected "shockloss". That happens to a large number of people and some/most of the hair typically grows back after a couple of months.

 

To people wondering about my situation - it appears to have stabalized now. I had about 2 months where it was falling out very quickly. I switched to brand name propecia (instead of generics) and paid more attention to my sleeping patterns and general stress levels. It has stopped falling out, I am not sure if it has started growing back - perhaps.

[Guest lumigan]

.

hello i am rose martin so i have happy your forum post site that inform me!

 

had a hair transplant of about 2,600 follicular unit extraction (FUE) grafts Nov 08. ... one month after surgery- the transplanted hair falls out and you can't tell anything ... around 6 months and a few will see growth in the 9-12 month time frame

[JimmyJ90]

Mabbers - sorry to hear you still have this problem going on - have you taken serious thought into your diet or work out plan? I'm starting to feel as though I may not be eating enough carbs or something, or even exercising too much. I may be wrong but it's the only thing I can think of that sort of coincides with the time I noticed serious shedding. I'm going to lay off the weights for a while and just eat balanced diet instead of high protein and low carbs, and see if anything changes. Been reading about biotin supplement too which may be of some use. As you mentioned its easy to tell whether its a transplanted hair that falls out over a normal one, but what mine are doing is turning colorless and shedding. Not all but most. It's really odd. If anyone knows why this could be happening please get in touch.

 

Blkblk2 - glad you have managed to stabilise your shedding and all the best with the regrowth

[JimmyJ90]

Might just add that I'm not in anyway gray and as soon as I see a hair that looks gray/white, which I know was previously a dark transplanted hair, literally 2-3 days later it won't be there any more as it has shed.

Really odd and very upsetting. :-(

[aguafria]

I'm at ten months and am experiencing something similar.

The region of transplanted hair, which was hairless for a long period of time has started to itch and tingle incessantly and have noticed a thinning that wasn't visible a month or two ago.

 

I did start escitalopram for anxiety a month ago, which I have now stopped as I half thought it could be the reason.

 

It's kind of appalling the lack of knowledge doctors have regarding this kind of problem.

[mikeey]

hi ,

something very similar has been reported by my friends also , they had stellar results till around 14-15 months post op. they had both been very happy , but suddenly after 16-18 months post Op , they started loosing hair that were Transplanted neat the front and midscalp , they had both opted for 3000 + grafts . and till today they have no clue as to what happened? they still Lack density but both have opted out of another roller coaster Hair Transplant .

ONE MOst Important thing to take note is :

Both said they experienced quiet a bit of Itching before the Transplanted hair started thinning , and both were very sure about the hair being of a Transplant , as Both had absolutely Barren front and Midscalps .

 

If anyone here has any answers to this , Please inform us , so that we can take the necessary action , after all Money that goes in the drain is infact our Hard earned .

[chris39]

Can any surgeons chime in on this subject ?

 

The no. of patients I've come across who have had this problem is concerning , and it really is a topic that should be addressed .

 

I can only speculate as to the reasons why it seems hushed up , but brushing it under the carpet wont make the problem disappear.

 

One of the possible reasons I've seen mentioned relates to a reduction or cessation of blood supply to the scalp , for whatever reason , and would at least provide some form of logic to the possible reasons .