Failed transplant? 8 months so far - what to do

[ReesGill]

Hi all, first time posting here

i got a hair transplant October 18 2021 from hairgrowthcentre_ at their Manchester based clinic, since then I have been on oral minox 2.5mg daily and dust 0.5 mon/wed/fri since June 2021

i can style my hair well without giving away my not very full transplant however I’m worrying that it’s failed and that I might have to go down the route of a second one. Any advice would be amazing thank you

 

i had 2,200 grafts placed and no complications post surgery

[HappyMan2021]

IMO 2200 grafts was enough to work with given the area. Looks like the issue was that there was insufficient yield. 

Don't even bother interacting with this clinic anymore. Accept the loss and start consults at better clinics for a follow up procedure. 

This is an incredibly common situation for many people after their 1st HT unfortunately. 

[ITA]

Hi, do you also have some photos of the procedure where you can see the graft density of the graft?

[ReesGill]

1 minute ago, Egy said:

Hi, do you also have some photos of the procedure where you can see the graft density of the graft?

Here you go mate - this is two days after

[ReesGill]

3 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

IMO 2200 grafts was enough to work with given the area. Looks like the issue was that there was insufficient yield. 

Don't even bother interacting with this clinic anymore. Accept the loss and start consults at better clinics for a follow up procedure. 

This is an incredibly common situation for many people after their 1st HT unfortunately. 

Yeah I did have a feeling I would be wasting time chasing them up, just lost on what to do and where to go to and if to even do anything about it 🤷🏻‍♂️ Annoying

[HappyMan2021]

1 minute ago, ReesGill said:

Yeah I did have a feeling I would be wasting time chasing them up, just lost on what to do and where to go to and if to even do anything about it 🤷🏻‍♂️ Annoying

if it makes you feel any better it could definitely be worse. Looks like the hairline is not too low, and you have not complained of any of the grown graft angles being bad. In either of those situations you would need a true repair, which really adds a lot of complexity and drama. 

Your transplant may have failed, but it was not "botched".

[ReesGill]

6 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

if it makes you feel any better it could definitely be worse. Looks like the hairline is not too low, and you have not complained of any of the grown graft angles being bad. In either of those situations you would need a true repair, which really adds a lot of complexity and drama. 

Your transplant may have failed, but it was not "botched".

Yeah I’m more than happy with placement and everything, if all went well it would have been perfect in my eyes - going to look at a 2nd HT after the full 18 months of growth is completed I guess

[HappyMan2021]

Just now, ReesGill said:

going to look at a 2nd HT after the full 18 months of growth is completed I guess

you can start doing consults now if you want. 

[THE TRUTH]

Yes this does look like a failed hair transplant. It seems like a case of poor growth on the recipient area. 

Seems like the survival rate was very low. I speculate it is probably due to transection (poor extraction skills...)  or maybe some other uninow factors. 

As a hairloss sufferer myself, I am really sorry to hear about your experience and I know how hard it is to deal with this situation. 

What did the clinic say ?

 I'd try to get a refund. 

I don't think you have any scarring alopecia or lichen planopilaris but still getting a scalp biopsy before undergoing a 2nd surgery is recommended in order to eliminate these potential factors. 

Last but not least: 2000 have already been wasted and getting a 2nd surgery is always more compliacted on scarring tissue. You need to go with the best of the best this time. 

[ReesGill]

50 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

you can start doing consults now if you want. 

Yeah that’s a shout, new to this website so I have tons of stuff to read through and find what’s best - thank you

[RTC]

Rees I interacted with you on Reddit 

Your hair is not awful but definitely not a successful HT

I had a botch and I'm going to Dr Mwamba in Belgium.

Bisanga in Belgium is great too, they might be good starting points for consultations

 

 

[ReesGill]

18 minutes ago, Hairmills and homeruns said:

Yes this does look like a failed hair transplant. It seems like a case of poor growth on the recipient area. 

Seems like the survival rate was very low. I speculate it is probably due to transection (poor extraction skills...)  or maybe some other uninow factors. 

As a hairloss sufferer myself, I am really sorry to hear about your experience and I know how hard it is to deal with this situation. 

What did the clinic say ?

 I'd try to get a refund. 

I don't think you have any scarring alopecia or lichen planopilaris but still getting a scalp biopsy before undergoing a 2nd surgery is recommended in order to eliminate these potential factors. 

Last but not least: 2000 have already been wasted and getting a 2nd surgery is always more compliacted on scarring tissue. You need to go with the best of the best this time. 

I’m not sure what’s normal but the extraction wasn’t done by the dr in charge it was done by “technicians”. My surgeon only did the incisions then went off again. I have a video check up with them next Thursday so I’ll keep everything updated on what they say but I can already tell what it will be. “Wait wait wait all looks perfect and on course”

[FUT4000]

19 minutes ago, Hairmills and homeruns said:

Yes this does look like a failed hair transplant. It seems like a case of poor growth on the recipient area. 

Seems like the survival rate was very low. I speculate it is probably due to transection (poor extraction skills...)  or maybe some other uninow factors. 

As a hairloss sufferer myself, I am really sorry to hear about your experience and I know how hard it is to deal with this situation. 

What did the clinic say ?

 I'd try to get a refund. 

I don't think you have any scarring alopecia or lichen planopilaris but still getting a scalp biopsy before undergoing a 2nd surgery is recommended in order to eliminate these potential factors. 

Last but not least: 2000 have already been wasted and getting a 2nd surgery is always more compliacted on scarring tissue. You need to go with the best of the best this time. 

I've seen you post on two cases about the cases being failed, well before the full 12-18 months for that person. I really think you need to chill on diagnosing transplant results. This is a marathon not a race, lets give him the full recovery time before jumping to these conclusions. 

[ReesGill]

1 minute ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

Rees I interacted with you on Reddit 

Your hair is not awful but definitely not a successful HT

I had a botch and I'm going to Dr Mwamba in Belgium.

Bisanga in Belgium is great too, they might be good starting points for consultations

 

 

Linked me the video you made on YouTube correct? I’ll definitely give those two a look at, if you don’t mind me asking how much is it going to set you back??

[RTC]

Just now, ReesGill said:

Linked me the video you made on YouTube correct? I’ll definitely give those two a look at, if you don’t mind me asking how much is it going to set you back??

Yep.

I'll PM

 

 

 

 

[THE TRUTH]

7 minutes ago, FUT4000 said:

I've seen you post on two cases about the cases being failed, well before the full 12-18 months for that person. I really think you need to chill on diagnosing transplant results. This is a marathon not a race, lets give him the full recovery time before jumping to these conclusions. 

And I think you need to be objective and realistic. I have made a detailed post the other day about this particular topic. Check it out. 

[ITA]

the graft density does not seem low, as I feared, maybe they did something wrong in grafting, I have seen much "cleaner" transplants than yours, in any case, as you say @HappyMan2021 it's not a mess, there aren't any, apparently multiple grafts to be extracted in the hairline, and this is already a big advantage.  But I would also follow the advice of @Hairmills and homeruns, I would do a scalp biopsy before undergoing the second transplant, there are diseases that are not visible to the naked eye and not even the surgeons during the procedure are able to notice.  Last advice (but not least) is to rely on one of the best surgeons, there are many, use the forum link to ask for as many consultations as possible and if you can do consultations in person it's even better.

[pkipling]

You seem to have the right outlook here: It's not completely "botched", but it also doesn't seem like it's shaping up to be a very successful hair transplant. Even if it does improve over the next 4 months, I think it's safe to say it probably won't be to the extent that you'll be completely happy with it. (Hopefully I'm wrong!) The later stages of growth (especially 12 months and beyond) are more for refinement, improving hair quality, etc. - and not so much about significant new amounts of coverage. 

I'd be concerned about the surgeon not doing the extractions. In the US, it's actually illegal for anyone but the surgeon to do the extractions. It's one of the most important aspects of the procedure, so that could explain why the results aren't optimal. If that's a misunderstanding and the surgeon did do the work - and he's known for delivering high quality results - you may want to look into what physiological factors could be at play that would cause the grafts not to grow in a satisfactory way. 

Either way, this is likely something that can be resolved in the hands of the right surgeon - especially if they're able to figure out why the first one wasn't successful. So take your time researching other surgeons and exploring what your next steps are. And best case, you'll see significant improvement over the next few months that will make a 2nd procedure even easier and more straightforward! Fingers crossed. 

[NARMAK]

OP, i think the clinic were simply not good enough for your case. 

They have imo had poor yield of grafts surviving based on those images at 8 months and imo, the more egregious thing is your temple point closures. They have used very thick looking grafts which do not blend at all with the native hair there before and the angles look very wrong. 

Now, at 8 months, the hairline and rest of the hair can be a bit wiry and the next 4 months will probably be the hair becoming more refined and not as wiry. However, you are going to need an additional hair transplant for both density and imo, sorting some areas out that do appear poorly angled on temple points and thick. 

Don't return to the same place, but try to get some money back. Unfortunately a lot of people think staying in the UK will mean much more reliable quality results. The reality is that its a sham and they talk the talk, but less than a few fingers worth of UK places could even be counted as moderately reliable and worth looking at. 

For now, manage the hair like you said when you can style it and it should mean with fibres you can manage till you find the right place to go to for a proper 2nd pass and slight repair imo. 

[ReesGill]

14 hours ago, Egy said:

the graft density does not seem low, as I feared, maybe they did something wrong in grafting, I have seen much "cleaner" transplants than yours, in any case, as you say @HappyMan2021 it's not a mess, there aren't any, apparently multiple grafts to be extracted in the hairline, and this is already a big advantage.  But I would also follow the advice of @Hairmills and homeruns, I would do a scalp biopsy before undergoing the second transplant, there are diseases that are not visible to the naked eye and not even the surgeons during the procedure are able to notice.  Last advice (but not least) is to rely on one of the best surgeons, there are many, use the forum link to ask for as many consultations as possible and if you can do consultations in person it's even better.

I think a scalp biopsy is a very good call and this is the first time hearing about such a thing, naive of me to think this process would just be straight forward and simple. Lesson learnt - I’m going to have a scout through the forum today and see the recommendations as well as look into some good recommendations I have gotten on this post. You’re not the first person who believes the grafting was done incorrectly 

 

thank you

[ReesGill]

14 hours ago, pkipling said:

You seem to have the right outlook here: It's not completely "botched", but it also doesn't seem like it's shaping up to be a very successful hair transplant. Even if it does improve over the next 4 months, I think it's safe to say it probably won't be to the extent that you'll be completely happy with it. (Hopefully I'm wrong!) The later stages of growth (especially 12 months and beyond) are more for refinement, improving hair quality, etc. - and not so much about significant new amounts of coverage. 

I'd be concerned about the surgeon not doing the extractions. In the US, it's actually illegal for anyone but the surgeon to do the extractions. It's one of the most important aspects of the procedure, so that could explain why the results aren't optimal. If that's a misunderstanding and the surgeon did do the work - and he's known for delivering high quality results - you may want to look into what physiological factors could be at play that would cause the grafts not to grow in a satisfactory way. 

Either way, this is likely something that can be resolved in the hands of the right surgeon - especially if they're able to figure out why the first one wasn't successful. So take your time researching other surgeons and exploring what your next steps are. And best case, you'll see significant improvement over the next few months that will make a 2nd procedure even easier and more straightforward! Fingers crossed. 

Unless I get drastic growth and density I also don’t think I’ll be happy with the outcome but keeping optimistic but in the mean time I will be looking how to rectify the issue, how do I even go about looking for a partial refund? Didn’t think it would be an option.

yeah I’m very confused that the whole procedure wasn’t carried out by the doctor, without putting age as a factor but my extraction and implantation was done by two girls who couldn’t have been older than 22 but I could just be being rude but given the procedure I just assumed. 
 

yeah I won’t be rushing into the next procedure, I only went to this one head first because two people I know were successful with the same clinic. Just unfortunate

 

thank you for taking the time to message

[ReesGill]

10 hours ago, NARMAK said:

OP, i think the clinic were simply not good enough for your case. 

They have imo had poor yield of grafts surviving based on those images at 8 months and imo, the more egregious thing is your temple point closures. They have used very thick looking grafts which do not blend at all with the native hair there before and the angles look very wrong. 

Now, at 8 months, the hairline and rest of the hair can be a bit wiry and the next 4 months will probably be the hair becoming more refined and not as wiry. However, you are going to need an additional hair transplant for both density and imo, sorting some areas out that do appear poorly angled on temple points and thick. 

Don't return to the same place, but try to get some money back. Unfortunately a lot of people think staying in the UK will mean much more reliable quality results. The reality is that its a sham and they talk the talk, but less than a few fingers worth of UK places could even be counted as moderately reliable and worth looking at. 

For now, manage the hair like you said when you can style it and it should mean with fibres you can manage till you find the right place to go to for a proper 2nd pass and slight repair imo. 

I could just be the latest bloomer ever but that’s just wishful thinking, even if the clinic offer a rectify transplant I don’t think it would be worth going with however I don’t think a refund or partial refund would be an option would it? Signed a disclosure basically saying transplants don’t work for everyone blah blah and thought that was standard. 
 

yeah I’ll continue using a spray to help hide it until I manage to sort something. Fingers crossed and thank you for the message

[NARMAK]

13 minutes ago, ReesGill said:

I could just be the latest bloomer ever but that’s just wishful thinking, even if the clinic offer a rectify transplant I don’t think it would be worth going with however I don’t think a refund or partial refund would be an option would it? Signed a disclosure basically saying transplants don’t work for everyone blah blah and thought that was standard. 
 

yeah I’ll continue using a spray to help hide it until I manage to sort something. Fingers crossed and thank you for the message

You're welcome, and honestly i don't like giving negative news to anybody regardless of where they go. It's just that you also have come to a place where people want to help you and sometimes that means being honest and constructive in feedback. 

There's a few red spots on the corners where it looked like a few hair might be trying to sprout but overall, just manage it as best as you can. Get to 12 months and update us with pictures to see how things lool then. 

The disclosure form is usually the standard BS but it's still worth asking them if you at 12 months can clearly see the yield has not met expectations. 

Luckily you have a beard should you need it in the future but if you are on medication, hopefully Finasteride will keep your hair. 

[Gatsby]

@ReesGill you are doing all the right things medically being on minoxidil and dutasteride to stabilize your hair loss. 👌On a positive note, as has been noted, I wouldn't call this a complete 'botch' that we see regularly on this forum (mostly from Turkish shills). I would definitely be telling this clinic what you think about this when you are in touch with them next, but I know already what they are going to say (wait until 12 months, wait until 18 months, etc). To be honest it doesn't even look like 1,100 grafts were utilized, let alone 2,200 grafts. My best guess is that your transection rate was high due to poor quality techs extracting and handling the grafts. It could even be the holding solution, etc. Be that as it may, if you do a search on here, you will find a ton of repair cases for the exact situation you are in right now. Spend lots of time researching on here and there is no such this as a stupid question. I'm a repair case myself of the highest order so I know how you must be feeling. Wishing you all the best mate and thanks for sharing!

[Spring15]

That's poor - although UK isn't know for a great transplant destination. Ask for at least a partial refund, if they refuse threaten to smear their name all over the internet