Continuous thinning of grafts 3 years post-op

[Aleko]

Hi,

I did a 2600 graft hairtransplant to restore my hairline in 2017. 7 months later i had achieved excellent results. I looked 15 years younger and my hairline was thick and solid. 
Every year that has passed my hair has got worse and worse. My native hairs all over my scalp have thinned but also my transplanted grafts have thinned out a lot. I know this because most of my grafts were placed to cover the temporal recession where i was completely bald (no native hairs). 7 months post op this area was fully covered with hair and I was very happy with the result. Fast forward 3 years and the area is very thin. Why is this happening? Is it the surgeon or whats the reason? 
Its so disappointing.

 

Im not on any meds nor have I been. 

thank you for your answers. 

Edited October 30, 2020 by Aleko

[Britanium]

Who was the Dr/Clinic? Do you have any pics? Is it possible they took grafts outside what they thought was your safe zone.? 
 

[TorontoMan]

Are you on meds/have you been? Could potentially be the natural life cycle of a hair. Even your donor hair goes through resting and growth periods

[Aleko]

Hi, 

Im not on any meds. They did take grafts from a fairly large donor area but I would say the majority if not all were from the safe zone. 

Do all of the hairs cycle at the same time? How long would this take before it start thickening up if its due to this?

 

[mcr7777]

Do you have any pics before the surgery?  

Have you noticed any eyebrown thinning?  If yes, you might want to consider if it could be a scarring alopecia like frontal fibrosing (mainly affects women but men get this too- it can easy to misdiagnose as MBP).  I believe these types of alopecias can cause grafts to fall out. Have been reading a lot about it myself recently....

 

[deitel130]

The pics you attached were they after your HT or prior? Do you have pics showing exactly where the grafts were placed? Could it be that you have lost all your native hair in the front but if the pics you posted were after your HT that would be some very aggressive thinning as your front seemed very full.

Is there a reason you are not on meds? You may want to get on Finasteride and Minoxidil to prevent further loss. Another recommendation may be to see a dermatologist and perhaps get a scalp biopsy to rule out auto immune factors.

[pradeepbr]

I am taking medication (finasteride and minoxidil). I myself feel that 25% of grafts  have shed. So i agree with your assessment, hair from safe donor is also affected by bald gene to some extent. I plan to do acell or prp every year to maintain the hair, apart from medication.

[mcr7777]

9 hours ago, pradeepbr said:

I am taking medication (finasteride and minoxidil). I myself feel that 25% of grafts  have shed. So i agree with your assessment, hair from safe donor is also affected by bald gene to some extent. I plan to do acell or prp every year to maintain the hair, apart from medication.

Do you have any pigmentation/skin discoloration on your forehead - is part of your forehead more pale (usually towards the hariline)? This is a sign of frontal fibrosing alopecia/lichen planopilaris.  Also have your eyebrows thinned over the past 5 years- another sign? 

[jolly]

On 10/30/2020 at 1:52 AM, Aleko said:

Hi,

I did a 2600 graft hairtransplant to restore my hairline in 2017. 7 months later i had achieved excellent results. I looked 15 years younger and my hairline was thick and solid. 
Every year that has passed my hair has got worse and worse. My native hairs all over my scalp have thinned but also my transplanted grafts have thinned out a lot. I know this because most of my grafts were placed to cover the temporal recession where i was completely bald (no native hairs). 7 months post op this area was fully covered with hair and I was very happy with the result. Fast forward 3 years and the area is very thin. Why is this happening? Is it the surgeon or whats the reason? 
Its so disappointing.

 

Im not on any meds nor have I been. 

thank you for your answers. 

 

Edited December 23, 2020 by jolly

[UnbaldEagle]

17 minutes ago, jolly said:

unfortunately I cannot give you my experience as a few members get irked whenever I document my opinion , good or bad .

I suggest a few very elite members here who are gods on here they will help you  on this subject .... try contacting Richie888 ,  ciaus , Chris32 , AB2000 , 

Every single post of yours is either trying to debunk the donor dominance theory and replace it with recipient dominance, suggesting that's the end outcome for everyone eventually. 

Also you never miss a chance to discourage anyone from taking finasteride. 

So no hair transplants, no treatment. May I ask what's your purpose being here? Are you trying to make us all lose hope? 😕 

[jolly]

22 minutes ago, UnbaldEagle said:

Every single post of yours is either trying to debunk the donor dominance theory and replace it with recipient dominance, suggesting that's the end outcome for everyone eventually. 

Also you never miss a chance to discourage anyone from taking finasteride. 

So no hair transplants, no treatment. May I ask what's your purpose being here? Are you trying to make us all lose hope? 😕 

you are getting me wrong , Im not debunking any science because im not qualified to that extent , im just saying that many guys like me are complaining about grafts falling out after some years and the tribe of such guys is growing , we need to investigate why its happening because it is happening for sure , so in a way im letting people know that this thing is happening and these are my experiences ,  Im not debating anything as correct or incorrect as im  myself trying to find the answer to my problem , as I have , like all of you , invested my time and effort to overcome this hair problem  .  No one looses hope , its a battle against hair loss ,  and a forum is created to share personal experience  in order to win the battle together ... no one lives a isolated life we all co-exist because each one exists for the other one .

Hair transplants are a wonderful thing as they change human liife ..... but sometimes on patient info,  we need to tweak our skills for better results OR outright reject a patient if he is not a candidate due to various skin / hair issues .

Eventually I think we are not discussing we are debating , so its time we stop and focus on our goal, that unites us , have a great season buddy .

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, jolly said:

unfortunately I cannot give you my experience as a few members get irked whenever I document my opinion , good or bad .

I suggest a few very elite members here who are gods on here they will help you  on this subject .... try contacting Richie888 ,  ciaus , Chris32 , AB2000 , 

Jolly,

Your posts have been reported, donor dominance has been proven. Now, if your sole purpose here is to try and ‘de-bunk’ or ‘persuade’ others to lose hope, this community isn’t for you. 

[jolly]

1 minute ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Jolly,

Your posts have been reported, donor dominance has been proven. Now, if your sole purpose here is to try and ‘de-bunk’ or ‘persuade’ others to lose hope, this community isn’t for you. 

never meant  to debunk as im not qualified ,  anyways i'll take note of this in future thanks

[DenverBuff1989]

its actually quite common for doctors to take donor hair from outside the classic NW 7 "safe zone". The reason being your doctor may predict you may never reach NW7, so they work outside of this area because it gives them more options to work with in terms of donor hair. 

Do you have pics of your donor areas(s) immediately post-op? My guess is you are experiencing natural hairloss progression + the doctor was way too aggressive in selecting the donor hair. 

[Richie888]

On 12/22/2020 at 7:46 PM, jolly said:

never meant  to debunk as im not qualified ,  anyways i'll take note of this in future thanks

Have you considered maybe your follicles are not failing, but jumping off to escape your pessimism. 

There's an old saying, 'if you've got nothing good to say, don't say it'. As I've said people come on this site looking for helpful advice when they've had nowhere else to turn - me included. There's no pleasure to be gained from kicking people when they're down and dressing it up as help. It's a true reflection of someone's personality.

Merry Christmas 🎅

 

[mcr7777]

On 10/30/2020 at 7:23 AM, Aleko said:

Hi, 

Im not on any meds. They did take grafts from a fairly large donor area but I would say the majority if not all were from the safe zone. 

Do all of the hairs cycle at the same time? How long would this take before it start thickening up if its due to this?

 

Have you seen a dermatologist?   They can examine for any signs of a scalp biopsy (e.g. scarring alopecia Lichen Planopilaris, Fibrosing Alopecia etc).  These conditions normally cause transplanted grafts to shed after 15 months- 2+ years. They can sometimes be mistaken for MPB.

Definitely worth doing especially if you're considering another procedure.

[asterix0]

On 12/22/2020 at 2:41 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

Jolly,

Your posts have been reported, donor dominance has been proven. Now, if your sole purpose here is to try and ‘de-bunk’ or ‘persuade’ others to lose hope, this community isn’t for you. 

Hi Melvin,

There are some studies which dispute the donor dominance theory, what is your opinion on these?

Here is an example: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16931898/

Specifically, I would claim donor dominance is more a theory rather than a scientific fact, can you provide an example where it is proven as you've stated?

Even Dr. Bernstein, a respected surgeon, raises suspicions about it with evidence:

https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/research/donor-dominance-revisited/

 

Edited December 26, 2020 by asterix0