Transplant longevity and expectations.

[bonkling]

Hi all,

Pretty close to taking the plunge, just trying to find time in which I can fit in a HT.

I was wondering what everyone's perspective is on the longevity of the transplant.

I've seen lots of people (not on this forum) discuss how it's pointless, as the hair will fall out eventually, or you will only get a couple of good years out of the HT, and so on.

I know that this isn't the case, but I was wondering what is a realistic expectation for post-transplant? 

For instance, I am a NW 2/3, 28 year old, whose father/older brother are pretty bald. I am on Min/Fin, and have been for a couple of years, which has seemed to slow the progression considerably. 

Is it unreasonable for someone like myself, to have follicles implanted that would essentially last as long as I am on medication? I haven't seen too many stories online of people 3, 4, or 5 years after a transplant - so I'm not sure how it ends up. 

Thanks all.

[txtransplant]

Everything respectable that I have read states that hairs taken from the "safe zone" on the back of the head are physiologically different from hairs on the top of your head in that they are very resistant to the process that causes balding. The same goes for hairs in your beard.  So it is not that the top of your head is toxic to hair. It is the fact that the hair that naturally grows there is susceptible to DHT attacking it.  Plug some beard hairs on top of your noggen and they will grow forever and never wither and die.  What you have been hearing, it sounds like the thought is you gather some fresh soldiers from the back....throw them into battle on top and they fight a good fight for a couple of years before they fall to the inevitable?   

I think the reality is closer to what I wrote than what you have been hearing. HOWEVER.  As we age, lots of our parts don't function as well.  My father, who was pretty much a NW 6 by 30 has had a horseshoe of hair now for 40 years.  But now in his mid 70's even the hair in his safe zone is fairy thin. Our hair, just like our nails tends to thin as we get older. By thin I mean not be as strong or thick. It is pretty natural. But in my father's case, I am pretty sure even the safe zone hairs have been partly picked off by male pattern baldness. So I think the truth is everyone is different and those really sensitive to male pattern baldess probably won't keep every transplanted hair for their entire lives. But I think it is realistically expected that they will keep the majority of it.  

So let's say you have a receding hairline. You get hairs transplanted from from the safe zone to the front of your head to create a new hairline. If the hair loss continues badly...you will be left with a horseshoe in back and a patch of the transplanted hair still there in front.  We have sen this where HT patients have had an area done...then the balding continues behind it. The new hair stays, but the original hairs behind it vanish as the hairline moves back. They are left with an "island" of hair where the transplanted ones survived. 

 

Simply put. IF the grafts are taken from the true safe zone in the back. Then you will keep "most" of the transplanted hairs for the rest if your life.  That is why it can be risky to use a lot of grafts on a front  part of a hairline. If you go mostly bald afterwards,,,,you will look like you're wearing a hairy headband on your forehead and bald top. Not a good look! 

Edited March 9, 2019 by txtransplant

[Pete-from-Farjo]

I had my first transplant over twenty years ago, and that hair is still going strong. There are no guarantees of course, but providing you choose a reputable surgeon who takes the hair only from within the safe zone, there's every chance you'll maintain that hair long term.