18 months post procedure, stunted growth of some grafts. Help and advice needed please

[Technoir]

Hello everyone

I had 3500 grafts implanted 18 months ago. 1300 to the crown, 1950 to temples towards mid scalp and around 150 on each temporal point.

So, first the good. Everything that was implanted into the crown seems to have grown and I'm very happy with the result.

Both temporal points grew perfectly and im very happy with the result.

 

Now, the bad. I would say that the grafts that were implanted on the temples/hairline/towards mid scalp have all grown however many of them seem to be stunted in their growth, infact it is only the right side of my hairline that has fully growing, long hair. Everything else just wont grow beyond 3/4 of an inch and many shorter than that.

I currently take finasteride, oral minoxidil and topical minoxidil in conjuntion with dermarolling. I have grafts left in the donor area but I would be reluctant to use them up if the same thing were to occur again.

So my question is, what is going on here and is there anything I can do to help give them a kick?

Is this something that is relatively common?

 

Would it be an idea to experiment on a couple of grafts by plucking them out and seeing whether they grow back longer?

 

any advice greatly appreciated

 

thankyou

 

Edited October 13, 2020 by Technoir

[Britanium]

Would you be able to provide some pics please? 

[Technoir]

35 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Would you be able to provide some pics please? 

Hey there, here are some pics.

 

For reference, I cut my hair with clippers that had a 2 inch guard on them. every hair on my head is 2 inches long except the short grafts that dont seem to be growing longer.

 

As you can see the hair on my left temple (pics 1 and 2) are a mixture of short hairs and my right temple (pic 3) are again the short hairs but the very front ones have grown.

 

I know the density is not great but it was obvious immediately post op that even if I had a great graft survival rate, it would still be thin. I do believe that all the grafts or close to have grown, it's just the short ones that I need help with.

 

Many thanks

Edited October 13, 2020 by Technoir
typo

[Britanium]

Have you got any pics of pre transplant? Also who was the clinic you chose? 
 

[Technoir]

11 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Have you got any pics of pre transplant? Also who was the clinic you chose? 
 

This is pre procedure.

 

My surgeon was Dr Bhatti which is why the density whilst not great was ultimately to be expected, even though I voiced my concerns to him about sub par density of results id seen on this very forum. I'm not too concerned as I do believe what grafts were implanted have grown but if only they would grow longer it would make using concealers a lot easier until I get a 2nd procedure at a better clinic.

 

Basically, is there any reason why a portion of my grafts arent growing like normal hair, to a normal length and can anything be done before I get a 2nd procedure?

 

Thanks for your reply. most appreciated.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Technoir

[Britanium]

It’s a shame that those particular grafts that were placed have not grown. Maybe a consultation and examination would shed some light on it. I think another Ht like you said with a decent clinic would give you the result your looking for. If those non growing grafts are a issue they could be removed. 

[Technoir]

5 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

It’s a shame that those particular grafts that were placed have not grown. Maybe a consultation and examination would shed some light on it. I think another Ht like you said with a decent clinic would give you the result your looking for. If those non growing grafts are a issue they could be removed. 

The thing is, they have grown.

 

They just havent grown beyond their current length.

 

 Im hopeful someone might know whether it's possible they might kick into gear still or maybe if i plucked them they might grow longer once they get going again.

 

Anyone else have any ideas?

[Britanium]

Pluck some out and see if they do regrow. But what I think has happened is that these are dead grafts and won’t ever be revived or regrow. They have not survived the transplant process. 
 

[Technoir]

46 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Pluck some out and see if they do regrow. But what I think has happened is that these are dead grafts and won’t ever be revived or regrow. They have not survived the transplant process. 
 

Do you think they may well be dead, despite initially growing and growing to a certain length?

[ciaus]

Interesting, I've never heard of grafts hanging around this long and growing, but only growing so much, like its converted from a terminal hair to something between a vellus body hair and the normal terminal hair.

[Britanium]

Pluck or shave those hairs and I’m nearly 100% sure they will not actually grow at all. It seems they did not survive the transplant in my opinion. It happens but yours isn’t a failed transplant as you do have growth on the crown and upfront as I can see. 
Are you saying they have actually grown at all since the HT? Or have they just stayed at that length ever since? If so they either never shed or it’s a dead follicle. 

[Technoir]

Just now, JohnAC71 said:

Pluck or shave those hairs and I’m nearly 100% sure they will not actually grow at all. It seems they did not survive the transplant in my opinion. It happens but yours isn’t a failed transplant as you do have growth on the crown and upfront as I can see. 
Are you saying they have actually grown at all since the HT? Or have they just stayed at that length ever since? If so they either never shed or it’s a dead follicle. 

Theyve definitely grown as i shed almost all my grafts at around the 2-3 week mark. I had relatively early growth at about 2.5 months including these ones that just wont grow any longer in length! Weird.

[Britanium]

Pluck some or shave them right down. And please report back 😌

[Technoir]

8 minutes ago, ciaus said:

Interesting, I've never heard of grafts hanging around this long and growing, but only growing so much, like its converted from a terminal hair to something between a vellus body hair and the normal terminal hair.

That was my thought too, it's as if they are stuck inbetween being miniaturised and being terminal, Very odd.

[Melvin- Admin]

I’ve heard of this phenomenon before, but I’m not sure the appropriate remedy. Hopefully some of our surgeons can chime in.

[Technoir]

16 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I’ve heard of this phenomenon before, but I’m not sure the appropriate remedy. Hopefully some of our surgeons can chime in.

Haha, well it's nice to know im not a complete anomaly. I'd be delighted if some experts could indeed, chime in.

Edited October 13, 2020 by Technoir

[1978matt]

Did he take a lot of hair from your nape area?  Just a theory but I believe hair grows slower in this area, for men at least.

[Technoir]

1 hour ago, 1978matt said:

Did he take a lot of hair from your nape area?  Just a theory but I believe hair grows slower in this area, for men at least.

No, none whatsoever.

I'd be delighted if I knew these hairs were just growing slower and would fall in line with the rest of my hair eventually.

 

[TorontoMan]

^ I was going to ask the same, some hairs on the nape seem to only grow a certain length for me, and much slower than the rest 

[Britanium]

3500 grafts taken, 1st FUE I’m guessing they didn’t take from your nape hair? Have you got a Pic of the donor area? 

[Technoir]

3 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

3500 grafts taken, 1st FUE I’m guessing they didn’t take from your nape hair? Have you got a Pic of the donor area? 

I actually didnt keep any pictures that I took, I got sick of looking at them, taking them etc. Just wanted to let my hair grow and get on with it.

 

Im 99% sure no hairs were taken from my nape. It was what looked to be a very standard harvested donor area, not too high up and not too low down.

 

[Melvin- Admin]

@Technoir 

I really need to get to the bottom of this, because every few years someone comes on the forum asking about this, i'm gonna put the bat signal out to some of our surgeons and see if we can come up with an explanation. Stay tuned!

[Technoir]

2 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

@Technoir 

I really need to get to the bottom of this, because every few years someone comes on the forum asking about this, i'm gonna put the bat signal out to some of our surgeons and see if we can come up with an explanation. Stay tuned!

That would be great, thankyou Melvin.

[ciaus]

[Gabreille Nelson Mukhia]

15 hours ago, Technoir said:

Hey there, here are some pics.

 

For reference, I cut my hair with clippers that had a 2 inch guard on them. every hair on my head is 2 inches long except the short grafts that dont seem to be growing longer.

 

As you can see the hair on my left temple (pics 1 and 2) are a mixture of short hairs and my right temple (pic 3) are again the short hairs but the very front ones have grown.

 

I know the density is not great but it was obvious immediately post op that even if I had a great graft survival rate, it would still be thin. I do believe that all the grafts or close to have grown, it's just the short ones that I need help with.

 

Many thanks

You can get the grafts extracted using a fine punch. That way there will be no scarring.