Approaching 10 Months - Slow Growth King?

[Born2Shine]

So I am less than a week away from 10 months and there are a load of new hairs in my hairline. Some of them are fine hairs that have become longer and some of them are just sprouting through the surface. There are far too many to count.

 

I have to say that I have mixed feelings. Of course, I am happy to see all the new growth. I was just expecting to be closer to final outcome at this point.

 

With all the activity... I would say that it is impossible to know what the final outcome will be. There is no way to know how much of a cosmetic impact all these hairs will have when they mature. I think it will take well beyond 12 months to really gauge the results.

 

In the past, I have been concerned about the left side lagging behind. The left side is still behind the right, but there appears to be a lot of activity on that side right now.

 

I have already had a very significant improvement from where I first started and am looking forward to what will happen in the months ahead.

 

From all the research I have done... my situation seems to be pretty rare. Perhaps I am the slow growth king?

 

Also... I had been thinking that perhaps the reason I am able to detect all the new growth is because most of my work was concentrated on the hairline. If the grafts were more spread out all over my head, maybe this new growth would not be as noticeable.

[Dr. Scott Alexander MD]

I recommend to all my patients to put clear before pictures next to their current situation and compare the actual growth. Often they are pleasantly surprised as forget where they were at the start of the process. Have you tried this ?

 

Dr. Scott Alexander

[Born2Shine]

Yes I have some photos. However the point of my post is more the fact that I am seeing a lot of new growth at near the 10 month mark.

 

I have read many posts from people (and even doctors) that seem to think that there is not much new growth that happens around the 9 month mark and beyond. Maybe my case is somewhat of an anomaly?

 

I just don't understand why these grafts have stayed dormant for so long...

[YouOnlyLiveOnce]

I gave you advice last time you posted growth questions and I'll quote it.

 

'There's general timelines that we can follow, but reality says everyone grows at their own pace. You have plenty of months ahead for things to happen.'

 

Hair growth goes through phases. You're about half way to your final result. Patience is a virtue.

[ontop]

I seen your 6/ 7 post op pictures & to me you look like your made some good progress , for 2500 grafts.

 

Please post some pictures before you had surgery to present day so members can take a good look of how far you came more or less of what the good Dr was saying in puting them next to each other more often than not people dont do that for whatever reasons but it kinda puts you in Check of how far you have come.

Edited June 13, 2016 by ontop
edit

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Shine,

 

You could be a "late grower." You may also be a late "mature-r" -- meaning that the hairs "popped" through the scalp in a normal time period, but took longer to thicken, darken, and naturalize. Sometimes this maturation can be mistaken for new growth in general. The reality, however, is that these hairs were there before, but they were too thin or transparent to make much of a cosmetic difference.

[Born2Shine]

Shine,

 

You could be a "late grower." You may also be a late "mature-r" -- meaning that the hairs "popped" through the scalp in a normal time period, but took longer to thicken, darken, and naturalize. Sometimes this maturation can be mistaken for new growth in general. The reality, however, is that these hairs were there before, but they were too thin or transparent to make much of a cosmetic difference.

 

Thanks for the replies... I guess I was judging by the length of the hairs. There are so many and they vary in length. I would say a good percentage of them are only a few centimeters while there are others that appear to be just emerging from the scalp.

 

In some lighting... it is very difficult to see. However with bright overhead light at the right angle... I can see many of them as I run a comb through the hair.

 

What is strange is that a lot of these hairs are at the very front of the hairline. It seems to be a lot of late activity in this area specifically. Further into the hairline and the temples... there has already been a significant amount of growth and filling in from early on.

 

Something else strange is that I did seem to have quite a bit of early growth. So... it is as if I had some good early growth and yet seem to have a lot of late growth at the same time.

 

I used to wear hats quite a bit. I haven't really worn a hat since around month 6 or 7.

 

Whatever is happening... i hope to see a lot more and it just keeps coming. Haha

[gillenator]

I tend to agree with Dr. Blake. Maturation also involves the development of hair shaft diameter or what we commonly call "hair caliber". The more caliber improves in each hair strand, the more visual coverage is attained.

 

After all, surgical hair restoration is the art of attaining the illusion of coverage, not attaining original levels of density that once was there before our hair loss manifested.

 

I think you will continue to see improvement beyond the 12 month mark as well.