Graft Survival Indicators?

[LordBaldwin]

I just had my FUE transplant 12 days ago and was curious about graft survival.  Is there a way to know if your grafts survived before the regrowth that starts around month 3?  For example, if the hairs that were transplanted grow well for the first few weeks following the transplant, is it relatively safe to assume they'll grow back again after they shed, or is there no correlation between early growth and regrowth later on?

[LonelyGraft]

I researched this a lot because I was wondering the same thing. Unfortunately I didn’t find a good answer. I’ll be subscribing to this thread to see what others say.

 

As a note, what I learned about the “growth” of the hairs immediately following surgery, in a lot of cases is just the hair entering catagen and resulting in the hair being pushed out. For most people most of the transplanted hair will shed but for a lucky minority it can grow right after the op.

[bman3082]

would also like to know

[LordBaldwin]

13 hours ago, jj51702 said:

As a note, what I learned about the “growth” of the hairs immediately following surgery, in a lot of cases is just the hair entering catagen and resulting in the hair being pushed out. For most people most of the transplanted hair will shed but for a lucky minority it can grow right after the op.

Hmmm...is it known how much they "move up" during the catagen phase (like 4mm, 6mm, etc.)?

From what I've found, the base of the follicles are about 4 mm beneath the surface of the scalp, on average...so I'm assuming they could move upward that amount.  

Edited December 30, 2018 by LordBaldwin

[LonelyGraft]

Catagen then to telogen while being pushed out and the DP moves away from the hair. There’s really no way of telling what’s going on under the skin. Maybe your doc knows?

[gillenator]

Honestly, there's really no way of knowing until the regrowth manifests.

[LordBaldwin]

Ok, so let's say, hypothetically, that a graft did not survive after it was transplanted.  Are we saying, then, that it would go through the same catogen/telogen phases of pushing the hair upward that it would if it survived?

Edited January 2, 2019 by LordBaldwin

[VicTNYC]

8 minutes ago, LordBaldwin said:

Ok, so let's say, hypothetically, that a graft did not survive after it was transplanted.  Are we saying, then, that it would go through the same catogen/telogen phases of pushing the hair upward that it would if it survived?

I would think that a good indicator of a graft not surviving after being transplanted is if it remains as stubble and does not grow nor shed and remains stubble for weeks or months, given a lack of blood supply for nourishment and growth.

[LordBaldwin]

Alright, so based on a conversation I had with the clinic where I had my procedure, plus a bunch of internet research, it seems that a newly transplanted hair pushing out of the head about 4 mm and then shedding is not necessarily indicative of graft survival, as the follicle might not go into anagen again (and this is true for up to 10% of the grafts, even with perfect extraction and implantation).  I've noticed that my transplanted hair, which has mostly shed, is all about 4-7 mm long, which seems to corroborate the idea that this isn't new growing hair, but rather the part of the hair that was beneath the scalp pushing upward as the follicles go into the catagen and telogen stages.

[Kiwi Guy]

Good question and intriguing to learn that there isn't actually a definitive answer to this.

[purple18]

8 weeks out and just keep telling myself to trust the process.  I don't think there are any indicators they survived.  I think it's a manage by exception thing...if you didn't notice something wrong, then it's probably OK.  The waiting really is the hardest part of this!

Edited January 18, 2019 by purple18

[gillenator]

The waiting is definitely the most challenging part of the process but definitely worth it in the end....