What happens when transplanted hair fall at some point (old age) - will there also be dotted scars at the recipient area ?

[Rooter]

As the title says thats my question. I have a HT coming up soon and still some remaining doubts I couldnt really get a clear picture on.

My biggest fear is what will happen / how will I look in 15 - 20 years time from now as a: native hair will obvioulsly continue to fall and b.: even the donor hair that got transplanted might eventually fall as well at some point (at least some of it maybe, even dudes with perfect hair will experience some thinning at higher age). What will happen if you had a FUE in the spots at the front - will you have similar dotted scars at the recipient area like the pictures post op shows at the donor ?

I know this thought is far ahead and its literally impossible to get pictures from patients who had a FUE like 15 - 20 years ago (they simply wont log in to a HT forum, Reddit or wherever, why should they as these forums are more for people pre-op having questions or showing results 1-2 years after)

Am 40, waited that long for a HT to sit out pattern development but am worried now as the HT date approaches very soon. Am not on Fin and will not, please no discussion about this understand its highly controversial but I made my decission on not taking anything and go with another stratgie. (i dont mind "thinner" hair moving on as long as the "face framing" is restored again)

 

[Britanium]

What Norwood level are you at present ? Actually we do have some members who have had a ht +10 years ago. Here is the OG Bobmans for example:

 

[Britanium]

I had my first Ht over 10 years ago and all my transplanted hair remains. We do all continue to lose hair as we get older, to what extent depends on the individual. 
Which Clinic/Dr have you chosen ? 

[Rooter]

thanks for the link to Bob, thats interesting and exactly what I was after. I am going to Hattingen, did a couple of consultations the past years and from the personal connection and gut feeling, as well as the results comparing to others they appealed the most to me. (i dig the conservative / natural looking styles they do)

Dont get me wrong I know transplanted hair will likley stay I am talking about the grafts from the donor which where destined to go at some point as at higher age. Everyone loses hair even in their donor area at some point.

What happens if these - even if few - folikels fall. Will you have dotted scars at the recipient area as well ? I guess so, although the scars from extraction are eventually more "severe" to the skin then the placement spots but I am not sure.

 

Gonna post some pics in another thread to listen to some views, currently quoted 3500 FUE but I think 4000 would be better so discussing this at the day of the surgery. (maybe I dont open another thread as this will spark again the discussion of the necessety to take Fin which is will not and I have no nerve to go through this again

[Britanium]

Hattingen do really good work. Be really nice seeing another one of their results here on the forum ! Pretty sure they would be open to discussion about more grafts. Could depend on your laxity/donor area. They will advise better. 
I have had 5 hts, no fin either. Been on the forum for 10+ years and can’t remember seeing any posts where transplanted hair has fallen and scars are now showing. 

[Rooter]

Thanks man, really appreciate to hear this. I am just nervous before the big day and think a lot about "what ifs". Yes Hattingen have great results, pretty pricey and long,Ong waiting time but that's the wrong end to save money or be impatient per my view 

[Britanium]

Yup 👍🏽 totally agreed. Nobody should be in a rush, decent Drs/Clinics have waiting lists. Pre ht nerves are very common ! Good luck 😉 

[Al - Moderator]

If it's just a general thinning after 20 or more years because you are getting old then you won't notice any scars because you will still have most of the transplanted hair. The transplanted areas will just be thinner than they were at the beginning.

If you completely lose hair past some of the donor area then you will have dot scars in that area of your donor. How bad they are depends on a lot of factors, so it's impossible to say what it will look like. The recipient area will probably not have a defined area of balding (unless you really lose a lot of the original donor area) because the grafts taken from the donor area will be spread out throughout the recipient area. What I mean is you won't have grafts from one specific donor spot all placed in one specific recipient spot, so you will still have a general overall thinning in the recipient area, although it will be more thinning at this point and may not look very good as far as trying to get coverage.

In extreme cases where nearly all of the hair eventually falls out, the recipient area scars are less visible than donor area scars and probably will not ever be noticeable if you even have them at all. They are so minor as it's just a small slit or poke hole that was made.

 

[gillenator]

Ok my friend, here’s my reply:

I had my first HT procedure at age 40…coincidental that you are presently 40…I had 4 FUT procedures for a grand total of approximately 6900 grafts.

I am now 65 years old so my original grafts were done 25 years ago and they are still growing; so are the rest of my grafts…I know this because my restored appearance has not changed, visually speaking…I know that low dose finasteride has played a factor in maintaining my native hair for more than several decades and I am not advising you to take it as you stated your preference not to…it’s just that it’s made a huge positive difference for me.

In addition, I had lung cancer 12 years ago and lost 100 percent of my hair due to chemotherapy…BUT IT ALL GREW BACK!…so, obviously physiology also is a factor.

Having shared my personal story, please allow me to offer some thoughts…I cannot emphasize enough the critical importance of having your entire donor areas (zones) microscopically examined because as long as your surgeon selects donor grafts that are DHT resistant, you have a great probability that you won’t lose that hair after its transplanted for many years…oh sure, there are no guarantees however at age 40, if you have any miniaturization in the donor, it should show signs at your age…and because you want FUE, your surgeon can cherry pick only terminal hair grafts.

Ideally, the surgeon will use custom size blades to create the recipient sites which can make a huge difference in minimizing any visible scarring…most of my sites were done this way and there is absolutely no visible scarring in my recipient areas, NONE…and I am thankful for that.

I mentioned physiology… as long as you have a decent auto-immune system and you heal well, my premonition is that you are low risk with upside potential.

One last comment:  Because of your decision to avoid taking finasteride, you want to plan your restoration on a lifetime basis considering how your progression of MPB will go based on family history…in other words, it’s imperative that your surgeon’s grafting pattern considers future loss and that includes density…you don’t want to have islands of hair as you continue to lose native hair that adjoins your grafts…actually, it’s important to have your entire scalp microscopically examined to know for sure how much of your native hair is diffusing and where…especially the hair that adjoins the proposed recipient area(s).

Best wishes to you Rooter!

[TorontoMan]

4 hours ago, gillenator said:

Ok my friend, here’s my reply:

I had my first HT procedure at age 40…coincidental that you are presently 40…I had 4 FUT procedures for a grand total of approximately 6900 grafts.

I am now 65 years old so my original grafts were done 25 years ago and they are still growing; so are the rest of my grafts…I know this because my restored appearance has not changed, visually speaking…I know that low dose finasteride has played a factor in maintaining my native hair for more than several decades and I am not advising you to take it as you stated your preference not to…it’s just that it’s made a huge positive difference for me.

In addition, I had lung cancer 12 years ago and lost 100 percent of my hair due to chemotherapy…BUT IT ALL GREW BACK!…so, obviously physiology also is a factor.

Having shared my personal story, please allow me to offer some thoughts…I cannot emphasize enough the critical importance of having your entire donor areas (zones) microscopically examined because as long as your surgeon selects donor grafts that are DHT resistant, you have a great probability that you won’t lose that hair after its transplanted for many years…oh sure, there are no guarantees however at age 40, if you have any miniaturization in the donor, it should show signs at your age…and because you want FUE, your surgeon can cherry pick only terminal hair grafts.

Ideally, the surgeon will use custom size blades to create the recipient sites which can make a huge difference in minimizing any visible scarring…most of my sites were done this way and there is absolutely no visible scarring in my recipient areas, NONE…and I am thankful for that.

I mentioned physiology… as long as you have a decent auto-immune system and you heal well, my premonition is that you are low risk with upside potential.

One last comment:  Because of your decision to avoid taking finasteride, you want to plan your restoration on a lifetime basis considering how your progression of MPB will go based on family history…in other words, it’s imperative that your surgeon’s grafting pattern considers future loss and that includes density…you don’t want to have islands of hair as you continue to lose native hair that adjoins your grafts…actually, it’s important to have your entire scalp microscopically examined to know for sure how much of your native hair is diffusing and where…especially the hair that adjoins the proposed recipient area(s).

Best wishes to you Rooter!

wow amazing input. How many years in total have you been on finasteride? 

 

I hope you''re recovering well from chemo. 

[gillenator]

Thanks for the kind words and glad you got something good out of it…let’s see, I started low dose finasteride around 1997 and been on it ever since…I do have PSA tests done routinely through my PCP over the years as well.

[Rooter]

On 8/22/2021 at 10:31 PM, gillenator said:

Ok my friend, here’s my reply:

I had my first HT procedure at age 40…coincidental that you are presently 40…I had 4 FUT procedures for a grand total of approximately 6900 grafts.

I am now 65 years old so my original grafts were done 25 years ago and they are still growing; so are the rest of my grafts…I know this because my restored appearance has not changed, visually speaking…I know that low dose finasteride has played a factor in maintaining my native hair for more than several decades and I am not advising you to take it as you stated your preference not to…it’s just that it’s made a huge positive difference for me.

In addition, I had lung cancer 12 years ago and lost 100 percent of my hair due to chemotherapy…BUT IT ALL GREW BACK!…so, obviously physiology also is a factor.

Having shared my personal story, please allow me to offer some thoughts…I cannot emphasize enough the critical importance of having your entire donor areas (zones) microscopically examined because as long as your surgeon selects donor grafts that are DHT resistant, you have a great probability that you won’t lose that hair after its transplanted for many years…oh sure, there are no guarantees however at age 40, if you have any miniaturization in the donor, it should show signs at your age…and because you want FUE, your surgeon can cherry pick only terminal hair grafts.

Ideally, the surgeon will use custom size blades to create the recipient sites which can make a huge difference in minimizing any visible scarring…most of my sites were done this way and there is absolutely no visible scarring in my recipient areas, NONE…and I am thankful for that.

I mentioned physiology… as long as you have a decent auto-immune system and you heal well, my premonition is that you are low risk with upside potential.

One last comment:  Because of your decision to avoid taking finasteride, you want to plan your restoration on a lifetime basis considering how your progression of MPB will go based on family history…in other words, it’s imperative that your surgeon’s grafting pattern considers future loss and that includes density…you don’t want to have islands of hair as you continue to lose native hair that adjoins your grafts…actually, it’s important to have your entire scalp microscopically examined to know for sure how much of your native hair is diffusing and where…especially the hair that adjoins the proposed recipient area(s).

Best wishes to you Rooter!

Thanks for the kind Response this really calms the pre op anxiety. All the best fit you as well !

[Rooter]

On 8/22/2021 at 6:45 PM, BeHappy said:

If it's just a general thinning after 20 or more years because you are getting old then you won't notice any scars because you will still have most of the transplanted hair. The transplanted areas will just be thinner than they were at the beginning.

If you completely lose hair past some of the donor area then you will have dot scars in that area of your donor. How bad they are depends on a lot of factors, so it's impossible to say what it will look like. The recipient area will probably not have a defined area of balding (unless you really lose a lot of the original donor area) because the grafts taken from the donor area will be spread out throughout the recipient area. What I mean is you won't have grafts from one specific donor spot all placed in one specific recipient spot, so you will still have a general overall thinning in the recipient area, although it will be more thinning at this point and may not look very good as far as trying to get coverage.

In extreme cases where nearly all of the hair eventually falls out, the recipient area scars are less visible than donor area scars and probably will not ever be noticeable if you even have them at all. They are so minor as it's just a small slit or poke hole that was made.

 

Thank fir this, really appreciate ! All the best for you as well