How long do transplanted hairs last?

[Aleko]

•  
• Members
•  0
• 2 posts

•  

Posted October 29 (edited)

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. 

[Britanium]

Who was the clinic? Do you have any immediate post op pics? Thanks 🙏 

[aaron1234]

Did I read correctly that you aren't on fin?  I think this can happen when not on meds.

Edited November 8, 2020 by aaron1234

[Chris32]

56 minutes ago, aaron1234 said:

Did I read correctly that you aren't on fin?  I think this can happen when not on meds.

Even if he's not on fin, wouldn't it only be the native, non-transplanted hair that continues to progressively thin? Shouldn't the transplanted hair from the safe zone (assuming it was taken from there) not be undergoing miniaturization, especially this short time later?

I would be curious to see what his donor area looks like, specifically around the area where the grafts were harvested. Are those areas thinning or miniaturizing as well?

[Sean]

If the hairs were taken from safe zone they should last forever.  Within a period of 3 years it would be a drastic change.  Are your Vitamin d levels good? 

[asterix0]

54 minutes ago, Sean said:

If the hairs were taken from safe zone they should last forever.  Within a period of 3 years it would be a drastic change.  Are your Vitamin d levels good? 

Would you mind providing a source(s) for this? I was looking for a research article or publication to confirm that, but I could not find it. It seems to be more of a "in theory" rule of thumb, but I've found more and more cases that indicate the contrary. 

[aaron1234]

3 hours ago, Chris32 said:

Even if he's not on fin, wouldn't it only be the native, non-transplanted hair that continues to progressively thin? 

In an ideal world, yes the transplanted hair would never progressively thin.  And I think for the vast majority of patients this is the case.  But I've noticed more than a few cases where recipient regions have noticeably thinned.  It's happened to me, which is why I still address gaps in my frontal third,  7 transplants later.  Again, I don't think this happens to every transplant patient, but it can happen.  

[Sean]

3 hours ago, asterix0 said:

Would you mind providing a source(s) for this? I was looking for a research article or publication to confirm that, but I could not find it. It seems to be more of a "in theory" rule of thumb, but I've found more and more cases that indicate the contrary. 

https://www.drcarloswesley.com/follicular-unit-extraction/
There are many other articles where it mentions lifetime hairs from safe zone after I did a search on google.

 

https://haircenter.com/2018/11/07/vitamin-deficiency-hair-loss/
 

 

also, i feel from my own experiences, excessive freezing of scalp and excess liquid saline injections to numb the scalp, could cause tissue damage and that hairs may fall later or thin out.  I feel extra scarring to the scalp and dense packing can also harm hairs.  Too many factors.

but to see your 2017 to 2020 look, it has noticeably changed.  Were you prone to have further hairloss on norwood scale in future?  Most hairloss is somewhat stable by 35-40 to a degree that you can predict where it is headed.  
 

best wishes to you

[deitel130]

Transplanted hairs from the safe zone should be permanent. Do you have clear pre-op pics showing the area you refer to has thinned and that it only contained transplanted hairs. What is your norwood family history? If high on norwood scale is there a reason you are not on meds? Did you have a FUE or FUT procedure? Some non reputable clinics may end up taking grafts from non perm zone during a FUE.

[asterix0]

27 minutes ago, Sean said:

https://www.drcarloswesley.com/follicular-unit-extraction/
There are many other articles where it mentions lifetime hairs from safe zone after I did a search on google.

 

https://haircenter.com/2018/11/07/vitamin-deficiency-hair-loss/
 

 

also, i feel from my own experiences, excessive freezing of scalp and excess liquid saline injections to numb the scalp, could cause tissue damage and that hairs may fall later or thin out.  I feel extra scarring to the scalp and dense packing can also harm hairs.  Too many factors.

but to see your 2017 to 2020 look, it has noticeably changed.  Were you prone to have further hairloss on norwood scale in future?  Most hairloss is somewhat stable by 35-40 to a degree that you can predict where it is headed.  
 

best wishes to you

With all due respect, those articles do not count as evidence.

Here is one that states the opposite:

https://nyhairloss.com/limitations-hair-transplants/

"Since hair transplants do not have any effect on hormones or the cells and signals that trigger hair growth, they do not treat the cause of thinning hair that leads to hair loss. Unfortunately this means the benefits of a hair transplant can be limited depending on the pattern of your hair loss. If a hair transplant is not supplemented by appropriate medical therapy such as:

 

• Finasteride (DHT protector, pill – limited to a percentage of males)
• Minoxidil (topical, hair growth cycle extender topical)
• Hair Regeneration (stem cell catalyst, injection)

Your hair will continue to thin until it’s lost altogether. This means a hair transplant procedure will need to be repeated for sustained hair coverage, but this can only be done if there is hair available for transplant in your donor area."

[asterix0]

You can find more anecdotal evidence online:

https://nationalhairlossassoc.com/bald-after-hair-transplant/

"

February 7, 2020

reply

Ken Miller

I had a hair transplant about 6 years ago. Everything looked great for about 3 years….. Then I started to lose the transplanted hair. Now 6 years later I only have about 25% of my transplanted hair left. I look bald again.
What do I do?"

 

[Sean]

39 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

With all due respect, those articles do not count as evidence.

Here is one that states the opposite:

https://nyhairloss.com/limitations-hair-transplants/

"Since hair transplants do not have any effect on hormones or the cells and signals that trigger hair growth, they do not treat the cause of thinning hair that leads to hair loss. Unfortunately this means the benefits of a hair transplant can be limited depending on the pattern of your hair loss. If a hair transplant is not supplemented by appropriate medical therapy such as:

 

• Finasteride (DHT protector, pill – limited to a percentage of males)
• Minoxidil (topical, hair growth cycle extender topical)
• Hair Regeneration (stem cell catalyst, injection)

Your hair will continue to thin until it’s lost altogether. This means a hair transplant procedure will need to be repeated for sustained hair coverage, but this can only be done if there is hair available for transplant in your donor area."

I hear you.  I am hoping some doctors can chime in and answer for you.  

i mean other health conditions can play a factor, scarring alopecia, fungal infections, low vitamin d or other blood related issues. Heavy folliculitus and scratching scalp causing scarring.  Too many things.  Now, if you hair extracted from safe zone, it could be that diffuse hairs could be present in safe zone as well.  Some medications can accelerate or cause hair loss issues as well.  In any case, the doctor that worked on you should be able to forecast and see issues or miniaturization issues with the scalp.  What did the doc that worked on you say?  Did the doc say what could be the cause?  
 

dht resistent hair shouldnt normally shed like that so quick (if it was from dht resistent area). It is surprising.   

[TorontoMan]

7 hours ago, Aleko said:

•  
• Members
•  0
• 2 posts

 

•  

Posted October 29 (edited)

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. 

Look up Anagen synchronization. Eugenix has a video on YouTube explaining it. In short, forcing your implanted grafts into a resting phase post surgery, synchronizes their new growth cycle. And since hair goes through different cycles of growth, rest and fall, even in your donor, you’re seeing a normal shed but experiencing it at the same time. I’m just suggesting this as a possibility. Growth phases could last abojt to 4 years , so you could have at any point since your surgery entered a resting phase 

[Aleko]

I follow a healthy diet and supplement with vitamins and minerals (incl vitamin D).

I am 34 years old and I expect my hair to continue to recede at a slow pace. So the fact that native hairs continue to miniaturize is totally normal since I am not on any medication. (Why no medication? I don't like taking medication for fear of side effects). My only concern is that the transplanted hair has noticeably thinned. 
regarding anagen synchronization, this should only affect 20% of the volume and for a temporary period of time. I have lost at least 50% of the volume of transplanted hairs and its been getting gradually worse for the last 2 years. So this does not sound like anagen synchronization to me. 

I will wait for feedback from my surgeon. (Don't want to give his name at this stage as I don't want to bring bad publicity in case this is an isolated case and not a result of the surgeon). 

Thanks

 

[deitel130]

It may be native hair thinning and not the transplanted hair as your donor area still looks thick. Maybe give meds a try, it's a minor percentage of people who get side effects and if you do you can stop. But see what you doctor says about the shedding.