5 months very little growth

[taza]

It's been nearly 5 months and I have hardly any growth. Is there still any chance of my transplant being successful? 

[BaldReaper]

Yes, give it 3 more months

[THE TRUTH]

I'd second what JimKan said. 

Having no growth at 5 months is not a good sign BUT it's not over yet. There is still hope. 

Things can still improve between month 5 and month 8. I've seen it. It can happen. 

After month 8 highly unlikely...especially if there was no change from month 5. 

[taza]

I feel depressed. I spent ages in research and travelled a long way but still my results don't look good.  I don't know what went wrong.

[Ryan Daniel]

4 minutes ago, taza said:

I feel depressed. I spent ages in research and travelled a long way but still my results don't look good.  I don't know what went wrong.

Show photos before surgery, and exactly after it was complete 

[THE TRUTH]

4 minutes ago, taza said:

I feel depressed. I spent ages in research and travelled a long way but still my results don't look good.  I don't know what went wrong.

I totally understand you. 

It's an extremely exhausting and expensive process (financially, mentally, physically...) 

But at 5 months there is still hope. There is no need to jump to conclusions at this stage. Improvements can still happen like I told you. 

[BaldReaper]

9 minutes ago, taza said:

I feel depressed. I spent ages in research and travelled a long way but still my results don't look good.  I don't know what went wrong.

It would be really helpfull if you told us which was the clinic, how many grafts you put and in which area

[taza]

My surgeon is a great guy. His answers to all my concerns but my results are not great 😢.I'm still hoping my surgeon is right and everything will get better in a few months. Below i have attached photos of pre surgery and just after surgery. 

Edited July 16, 2022 by taza

[Ryan Daniel]

 

Hi,

I took some time to sit and understand your situation

In the red highlighted area, it is where your new transplant has been implanted. Even though it's barely 5 month, there should be some growth given how the density is looking! The patchy growth seems concerning to me and to you, but I would definitely give it 3 months more and see a more clear outcome

In the green highlighted area, it is basically an area of concern towards the next few months / year. It is heavily thinning and on the way of being bald. It would be wise to be on medication, i dont know if you are, and may end up requiring even more transplant!

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Taza,

to be honest, I really wouldn’t be concerned at only 5 months postop. Frankly, too many patients seem to believe that new hair growth will start promptly at 3 months when in reality, new growth starts between 3 to 5 months. It’s obvious by your photos that new growth is already underway. In my opinion, give it another two months and I suspect you’ll be much further along.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

[taza]

I'm just hoping it will improve. I will update on here.

[pkipling]

I agree that it's a little too early to panic or be disappointed. In order to see significant results at 5 months, the growth would need to start promptly at the 3 month mark, which is the absolute earliest it could start anyway. So growth not starting at the earliest possible time isn't indicative of a bad end result. 

That said, I understand why you'd be concerned and start to panic. I was an early grower, so it's easy for me to tell you not to worry about it (when I would likely be concerned too if I were in your shoes  ) - but from an objective, outside perspective, I would hang tight a bit longer before imagining the worst case scenario. You seem very confident in your surgeon and the research you did to lead you to choose him, so put your trust in that. Keep your chin up and keep us posted. 

[MachoVato]

5 months is super early. It's clear you have new hair in an area where there was none. Really, I wouldn't be disappointed until month 8 or 9 when the new hairs are long enough to see.

Why didn't the doctor add grafts to the mid-scalp? Who was the doctor?

[Melvin- Admin]

5 months is very early. I see the outline, be patient. Growth will come.

[NARMAK]

I completely understand your concern about it being 5 months but some people are genuinely slow growers too and they can take a while to kick off more growth. You could try using topical Minoxodil on the transplanted area to promote faster growth. Given those hairs are DHT resistant and not hair that's miniaturised or falling out, once you stop use, it should still have that great growth. 

Also, as Ryan said, i hope you are on Finasteride to help you keep the existing hair and strengthen it. 

[taza]

I'm on both topical minoxidil and finasteride.

[Gatsby]

I know it’s frustrating but never compare yourself to cherry picked early growers. It really takes a year of commitment post op. At five months it’s still early days. Trust in your surgeon and the process. 👌

[taza]

I got hundreds of stubbles which are neither growing or shedding and are exactly the same size as the day they were planted. Can these be dead grafts?

[taza]

This is my 5.5 month update. Should I worry?

[Melvin- Admin]

5.5 months is too soon to worry.

It's improving for sure. 

[A Fue Good Men]

I’m gonna guess that this is Dr. Barghouthis work. He seems like a great guy and I suspect he won’t leave you hanging. What’s his response to your concerns?

[taza]

The doctor is a nice guy and he responds to my questions very quickly.

His response is that not everyone gets results at 5 or 6 months. He said I should wait and not worry. But i can't stop worrying because my slow progress.

[Al - Moderator]

It looks like it improved over the last few weeks.

[ITA]

8 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

5.5 months is too soon to worry.

It's improving for sure. 

Agree that the doctor Barghouthis is a good guy and certainly will not abandon @taza, but @Melvin- Moderator, you cannot compare these two photos, they have completely different lighting, you yourself, you have always said that the photos must be taken at different times , but in the same corners and with the same lighting.

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Taza,

In my opinion, it’s far too early to worry. The truth is most hair transplant patients don’t start experiencing signed of new growth until 3 to 5 months post-op.

There’s a reason why I always say 3 to 5 months as opposed to just 3. A lot of people think that by the third months, new growth will start immediately and by 5 months, they will have sprouted every single hair that they will have by the time 1 year or 18 months past. But this simply isn’t the case.

Some early starters won’t even see signs of new growth until 5 months which may very well be your case. This is not uncommon.

I know you are concerns and I know you all very likely be looking in the mirror multiple times a day wondering why your hair doesn’t seem to look any different every time you look in the mirror. But hang in there and be patient.  Give it another three months and he will very likely see a significant difference between the way your hair looks now and the way your hair looks then. That doesn’t mean that you’ll be done growing at eight months either. Your hair transplant won’t be considered fully mature until between 12 to 18 months.

Well I’m sure you’ll be taking ton to photos and comparing all of them side-by-side seeing essentially very minimal if any difference each day, trying to avoid that and instead, don’t do a side-by-side comparison until you reach 7 to 8 months.

Then, compare your 5 month photos to your 8 month photos and evaluate your progress at that point.

Best Wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant