Crown Growth Timeline Help

[HappyMan2021]

Hi all,

October 2020 I got 1600 grafts in the front and 400 in my crown. The front grafts started growing in around month 4 - exactly as scheduled. Ive had 2 previous HTs in the front, and for all 3 the grafts started to pop through around month 4. 

However, I am unsure if any growth has occurred in the crown yet, and it has been over 6 months. Honestly, some of this may just be because the crown is harder to examine up close, but on face value I can't see any difference pre-HT. This is the 1st time I've had work done on the crown, so not sure if I should be concerned.

My doctor was pretty hesitant to put any grafts in the crown, as my crown balding -while significant- is not THAT bad, and he was concerned with future loss. He agreed to 400 grafts selectively placed, and said my crown would be improved, but would not be perfect. I am totally fine with this....but my concern is I can't see any real growth yet.

I am very aware crown growth is often slower than frontal growth, but I am wondering if someone can give me some benchmarks of growth for the crown? If my frontal grafts always start growing around month 4, when can I expect crown growth?

So I am wondering - if it is normal for frontal growth to appear around month 4, when does crown growth normally start appearing? At what month should I be concerned of no growth in the crown? Can anyone provide a "standard" timeline of crown growth and/or share their own experience with crown growth?

Thanks. I don't have pictures, fyi. 

Edited May 2, 2021 by SadMan2021

[makehairgreatagain]

It's perfectly normal. The crown takes up to 18 months to mature. We can't tell your crown without pictures but it's typically referred to as the "black hole" since it typically uses the most the most amount of grafts to achieve density. My own crown growth was above average and by 1 year I had achieved the desired density so it does vary but up to 18 months is realistic. Who was your doctor? Would you be willing to post pictures?

[HappyMan2021]

@makehairgreatagain at what month did you notice growth? the doc is James Harris in Denver. I've attached 3 pics post that are 5 days post op. Again just stating the 400 grafts was agreed upon to improve the crown, not make it perfect, as Dr. Harris was concerned that trying to make the crown perfect could lead to a negative outcome. I am a NW 3 now, and Dr. Harris explained if he was to give me "perfect" crown coverage, it could look unnatural if I were to move into more worse crown loss. He also explained he normally doesn't work on the crown on people under 40 (I am 31). I appreciated his honesty and was fine with only doing 400. Plus I've had great success with concealer and don't mind using it as needed. 

The crown is super tricky to observe. While I can obsessively monitor frontal growth on a meticulous, individual graft level, its just really hard to monitor progress and I can only rely on cell phone pics. Perhaps there has been crown growth, but its just hard to monitor. It's hard too bc the end-goal is improvement, not perfection. 

I do trust the crown was done correctly. I talked to the tech who was putting the grafts in and she had been working with Dr. Harris for over 10 years. And the front has been growing fine. From months 2-4 when I touched the crown it was crusty, so I know something  is going on back there. 

Any additional thoughts? Thanks 

 

 

 

Edited May 3, 2021 by SadMan2021

[makehairgreatagain]

Here's my story you can take a look at attached. 

Do you have preop photos of your crown? I ask because your loss in the crown looks minimal so 400 grafts could be suitable to give a decent look of illusion. He's right in the regard of wanting to see if things have stabilized as you don't want to end up with an island of hair where you once had loss and then a surrounding are of baldness which would look extremely unnatural and obvious you had a transplant. How is it looking today?

Edited May 3, 2021 by makehairgreatagain