Photos of Long-Term Results?

[Gossamer]

Most of the photos show final results a year or two after a procedure, but are there any photos after more time has passed? I am really curious how natural the transplants look 10 to 20 years later, after transplanted and donor hair have thinned out more. I recognize that there will not be many representative photos on the longer end, since the current techniques were not widely used back then.

[mahhong]

I don't think there are many (if any) photos of patients with modern transplant techniques and their results 10+ years after the procedure, primarily because the most modern surgical techniques are relatively new (as you suggested) and thorough long-term evaluation is difficult unless undertaken by the patient; and it's only really in the last 5-7 years that the internet and digital camera technology has made taking and uploading photographs very commonplace.

 

I've seen a few people at 4-6 years follow up and they have looked fine. The transplants themselves shouldn't really change over time as if they're done successfully they should be permanent. The main change might come from continued hairloss, which hairloss drugs help battle. If a patient feels their hairloss has continued (which is possible with or without the drugs) most will opt for a second procedure (or more) to deal with that. As a result the transplants should continue to look fine for the lifetime of the patient.

 

I think a good doctor will always try and make each transplant look natural on its own, so if the worst case scenario was that a patient lost everything except the donor and transplanted hair it would still look 'natural' (though obviously not as dense or with as much coverage). In short, good doctors these days don't just patch in thinning hair with a transplant and their plan with the patients will always aim to leave the patient with a natural looking transplant even if they elect to have no future work done. This is all part of the master plan for the patient; no doctor will leave a patient "half finished" - every procedure should be able to stand up on its own unless its planned and executed in combination with future procedures or goals.

 

I've yet to see a transplant "turn bad" and don't think it's really a concern. The only changes I can see happening to transplanted hair are greying (in line with donor area it came from) and maybe slight thinng into old age. This thinning, however, will blend naturally with the rest of the natural thinning (and is not like MPB). If a man does experience that thinning its usually well into old age and the transplant should continue to function and look natural on the person at that age. Apart from that, a transplant should act permanently like the donor region it came from and I haven't seen anything to suggest that wouldn't be the case!