How Long Should You Wait Between Hair Transplants?

[Melvin- Admin]

For those of you who have had multiple hair transplants how long did you wait? Personally, I waited 18 months each time.

How Long Should You Wait Between Hair Transplants

[HLPToronto]

I think 12 months is good 

Also, if you look at it another way, most large sessions are done in consecutive 2 days or sometimes, 3 days with a day in between as a gap. that should be also considered 2 HT " surgical sessions"  in a row. i mean donor just bled and it bleeds again next day. I just can't do 2 days in a row 

[Melvin- Admin]

Great point!

[LaserCap]

Back in the day we could offer to do a 2nd procedure as soon as 4 months later.  Back then it was professed that a certain separation between grafts was required to safeguard the survival of grafts, (grafts competing for blood supply).  This was appealing for the patient that knew he wanted as much density as possible in the shortest amount of time.  The fact that we also allowed a 10% reduction in fees helped promote the idea. The problem with this approach, in my opinion, is the fact that you are going back to a tender wound in the donor. Why not let things heal before moving forward?  2nd, many believe not all grafts come in at the same time.  At 4 months the doctor, inadvertently, could damage some of the grafts that were implanted during the first procedure.  Why not allow everything to mature to then repeat?

A 2 day procedure is NOT considered 2 procedures, unless the doctor harvests from the entire donor area on the first go-round.  Say he is doing FUE, he should do 1/2 of the back and complete the next 1/2 the next day.  Or, FUT one day and a small FUE the next day.  The idea is to harvest from a different area.

But in most recent years I've found true geniuses.  They can achieve unbelievable density in a single procedure.  I call it the 3D effect.  It has something to do with the way the incisions are made and grafts placed.  By allowing a shingling effect, the results are fantastic.

Hair restoration sure is evolving.  Things keep improving...We'll see what the next few years bring.

[HLPToronto]

On 6/11/2019 at 5:58 PM, LaserCap said:

Back in the day we could offer to do a 2nd procedure as soon as 4 months later.  Back then it was professed that a certain separation between grafts was required to safeguard the survival of grafts, (grafts competing for blood supply).  This was appealing for the patient that knew he wanted as much density as possible in the shortest amount of time.  The fact that we also allowed a 10% reduction in fees helped promote the idea. The problem with this approach, in my opinion, is the fact that you are going back to a tender wound in the donor. Why not let things heal before moving forward?  2nd, many believe not all grafts come in at the same time.  At 4 months the doctor, inadvertently, could damage some of the grafts that were implanted during the first procedure.  Why not allow everything to mature to then repeat?

A 2 day procedure is NOT considered 2 procedures, unless the doctor harvests from the entire donor area on the first go-round.  Say he is doing FUE, he should do 1/2 of the back and complete the next 1/2 the next day.  Or, FUT one day and a small FUE the next day.  The idea is to harvest from a different area.

But in most recent years I've found true geniuses.  They can achieve unbelievable density in a single procedure.  I call it the 3D effect.  It has something to do with the way the incisions are made and grafts placed.  By allowing a shingling effect, the results are fantastic.

Hair restoration sure is evolving.  Things keep improving...We'll see what the next few years bring.

good points Lasercap but I still feel  a surgery is a surgery and for 2 days in one go,   one after the next its inevitable that you do end up touching those sensitive areas again as its just one head a man got  

IMHO,  Like Melvin asked - 12 months should be the minimum gap between 2 HT sessions but like I said, it makes sense to consider those 2 day sessions also in the same relevance ( to some extent)

[sl]

A second day is not a second procedure as such but considered part of the whole surgery.

If one has a truly second procedure distinct from the first sitting then best to wait a good 8 to 12 months because if you are covering behind the first surgery, i.e if the frontal third has been done in the first surgery,  the surgeon will taper off the density to not create a sudden wall of hair stopping, and then in the next one, go back into this area and continue to then address further back. So, you do ideally want this crossover area to have come in well before then placing in and amongst it to avoid wasting grafts and why a waiting phase is needed. If this is done on day 2, then we see where we have placed and do not need to have growth, so why it is not a second procedure in terms of growth and then the need to see what grows in then place among.

 

So let the first one truly grow in and then go for a subsequent procedure if having surgery that is a follow on from the first one.  I talk from personal experience of this.

Hope helps.

Take care.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

I encourage patients to wait 12 months. Sometimes they are very anxious to address another area of the scalp and you can go in a little sooner. I typically require 6 months at the least in these situations. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Great responses guys, this thread will help countless guys 😊