Question: When is the earliest that you would return for a second HT?

[corvettester]

How soon after your first HT can you safely go back for a second? I've asked four HT doctors so far. Three said eight months, the other one said that he liked to wait until month nine, but that it was safe to go back after eight. So I wanted to get the communities opinion on the matter.

 

I'll be going back for my second HT this week, just over eight months since my first. I have noticed virtually no new growth since month six—plenty of maturing, just not growth. I estimate that 80% of my current growth all took place between month three and five.

 

Here is a breakdown of my growth cycle estimate so far:

 

Month 0-2: 10%

Month 2-4: 65% I had a huge growth spurt the month before my 4 month update. I feel like my photo blog confirms this.

Month 4-5: 15%

Month 5-6: 10%

Month 6-8: ??? I imagine there must have been some growth between 6-8 months, I just can't tell because it was so minor.

 

 

I’ve known from the beginning that I would need to go back for a second pass for density. I wanted to take the conservative route with my first HT. I’m still glad that I did. However, I want the end result of my hairline and temples to be at least 65% of native density, which is somewhere between 80-100 FU/cm2. I reckon that my first HT achieved about 25-35 FU/cm2, depending on which area. Thus, the second HT should easily double that, thereby achieving 65% of native density or approximately 50-60 FU/cm2.

 

 

 

Corvettester

Edited June 21, 2011 by corvettester

[joeyz400]

Good luck.

[Dr. Michael Beehner]

Corvetteser,

I generally tell my patients that 10-12 months is the earliest I would recommend a second procedure.

The reasons are four:

1) It allows time for the blood supply to return near normal to support the next surgery.

2) It allows the donor area to become lax once again, so that a second strip can be taken out without undue tension on the closure and the possibility of a wide scar.

3) You want all of the hair to be growing at the time of the subsequent surgery, so you don't puncture a new recipient site right on a previously placed graft.

4) You want the patient to see some concrete evidence that is relatively impressive that the hair indeed grows, so he/she will be motivated to go through and pay for another procedure.

 

For women and men with a fair amount of native hair still on top who have one procedure, I will usually recommend waiting 18 months if they want to see the "full flowering" of the most recent procedure, so as I best make a determination as to whether they need another session.

 

Mike Beehner, M.D.

[orlhair1]

If I were wanting a 2nd surgery I would wait the longest recommended period so that I would be comfortable that I had the best chance for an optimal outcome. No reason to push it in my opinion.