One month today and doldrums begin

[blkblk]

So, it has been exactly 31 days since my HT with Dr Feller and I have now reached the doldrums stage which many others talk about on here.

 

Almost all of the transplanted hairs have fallen out as expected, I have quite noticeable shockloss along my scar line in the middle and one side and my scalp is still redder than normal.

 

For my procedure, we put hair into my temples which were completely bald, and used the remaining hair for the top of my scalp which was getting quite thin.

 

Now that the hair on my scalp has grown back to around a #3 on the clippers, it seems to be noticeably thinner than I thought it was prior to the transplant (I am searching for photos to confirm if this is true).

 

I know that people talk about possible shock loss in the recipient area, but haven't really seen what that would look like. Is it common/likely that the hair on my recipient area is much thinner now due to shock loss? If so, how long does it usually take to grow back?

[NEWHAIRPLEASE]

So, it has been exactly 31 days since my HT with Dr Feller and I have now reached the doldrums stage which many others talk about on here.

 

Almost all of the transplanted hairs have fallen out as expected, I have quite noticeable shockloss along my scar line in the middle and one side and my scalp is still redder than normal.

 

For my procedure, we put hair into my temples which were completely bald, and used the remaining hair for the top of my scalp which was getting quite thin.

 

Now that the hair on my scalp has grown back to around a #3 on the clippers, it seems to be noticeably thinner than I thought it was prior to the transplant (I am searching for photos to confirm if this is true).

 

I know that people talk about possible shock loss in the recipient area, but haven't really seen what that would look like. Is it common/likely that the hair on my recipient area is much thinner now due to shock loss? If so, how long does it usually take to grow back?

 

I would certainly say its possible...however, I hope for your sake and mine its not that common!!! I know that is one of the reasons that Feller, Rahal, etc...shave the recipient area is to try and avoid transection!!

[irishsailor]

Hi congrats on your procedure with Dr Feller. Im only 10 weeks out with my procedure with Dr Feller and the first 3 or 4 weeks i thought my hair was a little thinner however im now 2 and 1/2 months out and would say my hair is back to pre-op . When i think about it now i think i probably just got used to the stubble of new implanted hairs for 3 weeks then when as expected it dropped out and made me think i had less than when i started.

I'm sure by the 2 month point you will be back to where you started pre-op

 

Best wishes

[blkblk]

I am quite confident that my HT was performed very well, and I'm also confident that the end result will be a much better situation than I would have been in without having done anything - I'm just suprised that I feel my hair is much thinner now where the native hair was 'thickened' than before anything was done to it.

 

Prior to the HT, I used to have a lot of difficultly telling where my hairline would end up as I couldn't see where the thinning started and ended - I knew it was thin on top and thick on the sides, but the point at which it changed was hard for me to see. Now that I'm 1 month out from the HT it is very very easy to see where the thin on top meets the thick on the sides - the difference is as plain as day and night.

 

This is why I suspect that the HT has somehow dramatically thinned what was on top (for the moment at least)

[cool525]

I was curious about when did you lose a significant amount of grafted hairs, like 3rd week or 2nd ...

(I need to prep for that eventuality, its my 15th day and all grafts are there)

 

I am quite confident that my HT was performed very well, and I'm also confident that the end result will be a much better situation than I would have been in without having done anything - I'm just suprised that I feel my hair is much thinner now where the native hair was 'thickened' than before anything was done to it.

 

Prior to the HT, I used to have a lot of difficultly telling where my hairline would end up as I couldn't see where the thinning started and ended - I knew it was thin on top and thick on the sides, but the point at which it changed was hard for me to see. Now that I'm 1 month out from the HT it is very very easy to see where the thin on top meets the thick on the sides - the difference is as plain as day and night.

 

This is why I suspect that the HT has somehow dramatically thinned what was on top (for the moment at least)

[blkblk]

It was a fairly continual shedding of transplanted hair from about day 3. I'd guess that I have about 5% remaining now.

[Jaymanji]

I'm 22 days in and have noticed about a 50% shed. Check out my photo blog. I'm not really concerned, as this is exactly what was predicted. Short term setbacks for long term gains.

[Dutch]

The scalp shedded by maybe 50% by week 4. Between weeks 2-4. The hairs that didn't shed grew from day 1. Perhaps propecia contributed a lot to reduced the shedding. Shock loss on scar wasn't too severe. Use nanogen aqua match for that a few weeks post op. Scalp healed very quickly, by about day 7 the pinkness was completely gone.

[cool525]

Dutch: that is very interesting, so you retained 50% of your grafts by week4. And how long ago did you have the surgery? Are you saying the grafts that did not fell are the ones that grew longer from day1, and the ones that did fell had not grown long ... but that'd be difficult to tell

[hairthere]

You just underwent surgery, your native hair was shaved all the way down, and your scalp has been traumatized by thousands of incisions and having hair follicles re-routed. Seriously, think about how invasive--and amazing--that is! Just trust the process, and understand it's a very long one (hair grows approximately .5 inch/month, plus you have hair that is essentially baby hair, and it's in various stages of regrowth). I am almost 11 months out from my HT and still see big changes every day.

 

As you already stated you are in the doldrums and this will last for approximately 3-4 months. Then the HT hairs will start to grow in and your native hairs will have lengthened, the redness will start to dissipate, and it will begin to look better. Be patient brother, and good growing.

Edited January 13, 2012 by hairthere

[Dutch]

Dutch: that is very interesting, so you retained 50% of your grafts by week4. And how long ago did you have the surgery? Are you saying the grafts that did not fell are the ones that grew longer from day1, and the ones that did fell had not grown long ... but that'd be difficult to tell

 

That sounds about right, I didn't have a hairline before surgery day. I've had one since the op, I underwent surgery end of Sept 2011 with Dr. Hasson. The grafts that did no fall out continued to grow & some of these hairs are easily 1.5-2cm long already. The ones that fell out do not appear to be coming through yet or not much that I can see them, but I'm only at the beginning of the journey anyway.

Patience is paramount. I will create a blog soon & you'll be able to see month by month.

 

So everyone must be different, happy growing blkblk!

Edited January 13, 2012 by Dutch