5 months after FUE--no growth!

[HairSuit]

Yes...I know this comes up from time to time. I guess I just need some reassurance or something.

 

I had an FUE transplant of 1200 grafts a little over 5 months ago. My hair loss wasn't really that bad. I literally have barely thought about the HT until today. I just didn't even really think about it. I just assumed hairs were growing. Well, I decided to take a picture today. And it looks slightly WORSE than it did just before my HT. I am able to compare two pictures with hair at same length under same exact light. There has literally been no growth. None. I looked in the mirror under a bright light, and I can not see any short hairs. I will post more information (doc, pics) in the future perhaps. But I don't want to talk about that know. Just trust me: hair looks slightly worse. I am not being paranoid. I e-mailed the doc today with pictures. I don't know. It does not look good right now.

 

Is it possible that the hair I see is the transplanted hair and I have shock loss in same area that makes it seem like I have no transplanted hair when in fact I do have transplanted hair? I had a hair cut about a week ago, and all the hair up front seems to be the same length. I don't know what is going on. Just hard to believe I have literally no growth.

[HARIRI]

Hair Suit, Who was your surgeon?

[s2thoudriver]

Hi Hairsuit,

 

Best thing to so is get the before and after pictures up here. Few other factors to consider...

 

How old are you?

What is your general health/diet?

Is this the first HT you've had or 2nd...3rd...?

What medication are you taking to combat hair loss?

What other products are you using to help?

Was your hair shaved for the surgery or left long?

How strong would you say your native hairs are/were around the recipient site?

How rapid was your hair loss prior to your HT?

 

Some people have early growth and some later, it depends on many things. 5 months is still quite early so don't panic yet.

 

Rob

[HairSuit]

Hi Hairsuit,

 

Best thing to so is get the before and after pictures up here. Few other factors to consider...

 

How old are you?

What is your general health/diet?

Is this the first HT you've had or 2nd...3rd...?

What medication are you taking to combat hair loss?

What other products are you using to help?

Was your hair shaved for the surgery or left long?

How strong would you say your native hairs are/were around the recipient site?

How rapid was your hair loss prior to your HT?

 

Some people have early growth and some later, it depends on many things. 5 months is still quite early so don't panic yet.

 

Rob

 

34 years old.

Health is perfect. I don't smoke. I don't drink alcohol or soda. I exercise every single day. Diet fruits, veggies, no red meat, little processed food.

First HT.

Occasionally I take minoxidil or saw palmetto.

Hair was shaved for surgery.

Native hairs seemed strong around recipient area.

I had been slowly thinning steadily for approx 10 years.

 

I had 1200 grafts put into hairline. Some grafts were 3 hairs. Some were 1. Most were 2. So around 2500 hairs. There was one area toward the front/middle area which was kind of thin in which no grafts were placed. I thought, "no big deal because the hairline will be nice and thick so I can accomodate this."

 

I had my head shaved for surgery. So the first few weeks after surgery, I was not used to having my hair cut that short, but I thought it looked kinda bad ass. By the second month, I didn't think I looked that good. I felt that this was normal ugly duckling phase or whatever. My hair was at an awkward length and I assumed that the grafts were falling out.

 

By month 3, I felt good because my hair got back to a length that I consider "normal" for me. I felt great going anywhere without a hat. I figured that maybe I had kept some of the grafts and that I would just start growing. My hair was looking pretty good at this time, but I am not sure if it was all native hair or if some of the grafts were growing. I'm still not sure. I got my first haircut around this time.

 

By month 4, I was still questioning whether I had grown any hair. But I just told myself it was still early. My hair looked OK at this point. I actually feel that my hair looked better at month 3-4 than it did at month 5.

 

I got another haircut at month 5. And I started thinking, "hmmm....this haircut looks exactly like it did pre-op." Then I had a picture taken a few days later, and my hair looked very thin up front. Then, I started taking some pictures at home and comparing them to pre-op pictures. They look exactly the same! Actually, pre-op look slightly better. But difference is negligible.

 

So I have been patient all this time. Like I said ealier, I haven't even been thinking about my hair for the past few months...aside from an occasional passing thought. I have not completely given up hope yet as I understand that 5 months+ is still a bit early. But I am just concerned because how can I have NO noticeable growth at this point. None. If I don't see something by month 6, I am hitting the panic button. I can't tell any difference in my hair at all. If this is what 1200 grafts look like, what a huge waste of money!!

[chrisdav]

Who was your surgeon?

[s2thoudriver]

hmmm, thanks for the replies to the questions.

 

Sounds like you are doing everything right, are in good shape and haven't had rapid hair loss, so on that side there should be nothing to be concerned about.

 

The fact that you have no growth yet makes me think that it's just slow awakening of the dormant follicles. If it was poor yield due to bad surgery, you would have at least seen some come through and then a slow down/no change later on in the year.

 

As you say, i would give it another month and see how you are, don't panic yet or let it get you down.

 

Did all the transplanted grafts shed, or did some remain along the hairline and grow? Did you notice anything out of the ordinary in the 2 weeks post op?

 

Rob

[HairSuit]

Well, I just got e-mail back from the doc's office. Of course, they said that 5 months is still early as expected. It's actually about 5 months and one week at this point.

 

There was nothing abnormal in the first couple weeks. Everything seemed to be fine. The problem is that I can't tell if any transplanted hairs stayed in or have grown or what. This is because I did have hair in the recipient area. The hair was just thinning. So...it makes it difficult to tell what is native hair, what is transplanted hair, what is going on.

 

I can tell you that in looking at the front of my head, I do not see any short hairs. All the hair seems to be about the same length (a couple inches). And, as I stated, the pictues show no difference. It is so disappointing because everybody else seems to have marked improvement at 5 months. A lot of people have something that looks like a final result. I would be happy if I had anything.

 

I do not want to mention the doctor now because I think it would be unfair if I later grow hair and someone sees this thread today and thinks the doctor sucks. I hope to update later. Honestly, I am not optimistic at this point because I have nothing.

[s2thoudriver]

Any further updates on this since the last messages? You are almost up to 6 months now so should be seeing some sort of growth.

 

Fingers crossed for you.

 

Rob

[hairshopeing]

Hope its growing for you m8!

[HairSuit]

Thanks for inquiring further about this situation, fellas.

 

It has been 5 months and 2 weeks since my procedure. I was really freaking out when I started this thread. But then I really started looking at my hairline, and I did notice some thin, colorless hairs of various lengths coming in. I just had to angle my head the right way to see them. They were hard to detect because of the fact that I do have some hair so they kind of blend in.

 

So I am feeling better about my HT than I was 2 weeks ago. I now feel that my hairline will look pretty good. But there is an area in the mid scalp that is pretty thin where I did not get any grafts. I only received 1200 grafts. I really feel that I should have received at least 1500, but the doc told me that I would be fine with 1200. I guess my hairline and the hair behind the mid scalp will have to disguise that thin area. But eventually, I will have to go back for mid scalp and probably the crown.

 

For now, I hope to see some major progress in next couple months. I will keep this updated and perhaps create a thread on my doc and my complete experience.

[hairshopeing]

Good to hear that pal!

[TakingThePlunge]

HairSuit,

 

Good to hear! I'm very happy that your results are now on the upswing. Keep us posted.

[s2thoudriver]

Superb!

 

From what you said in earlier posts, you've done everything right, so you must just be a late starter.

 

Keep us posted

[HARIRI]

Give it more time. I had mine with Top class Rahal but my results started by month 6. If you reach to month 8 and there were no changes then you can call it a failure.