Hair Transplant Results 2, 4, 8 Years Later?

[Hair, my old friend]

I was listening to this Video on whether hair transplants last, and most places I read about donor dominance and that HTs last. This video has some interesting data on the site of the transplant having an impact on the transplanted follicles. In other words, the location can impact the follicles, and thus lead to thinning of transplanted hair. 
 

Are there folks on here who have had their transplants for years that would be willing to speak to this?
 

I’ve been told I have a narrow donor area, but that I can do a 3000 fut procedure, and then a year later fill in with fue, but am concerned about doing that and then having it all be for not years later. 
 

thanks for your thoughts!

Edited August 26, 2022 by Melvin- Moderator
Removed link

[Melvin- Admin]

Nonsense from a guy who never had a hair transplant and honestly doesn’t even suffer from hair loss. His whole blood flow theory is garbage. 

[mafpe]

The video is true, but is not the person himself doesn't usually present himself as 100% true. He does alot of grounded research, but do mind that he sells massaging technique for hair regrowth with a somewhat mock probability of success and that it "might not wotk for you".

I do believe that HT hair does get miniaturised over time like he said though, as well as many of his video since most of them have good basis, logic and isn't just speculations.

Melvin had (or have) a video before this which he talks to 2 doctors, which both did say they see thinning of HT hair in a decade in many many patient. I don't remember the video title nor can i find it atm, so take what i say with a grain of salt.

Still, many would reject the possibility and ground in the donor dominance theory. One, because some people do never lose their HT hair. Two, because we see HT as a "permanent" solution, and believing otherwise is just painful. We have no idea of how the thinning progress nor the factor of who will keep the hair and who won't (or maybe we do but it isn't published).

[Hair, my old friend]

7 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Nonsense from a guy who never had a hair transplant and honestly doesn’t even suffer from hair loss. His whole blood flow theory is garbage. 

I mean someone doesn’t have to have a hair transplant or hair loss or understand research. And the guy, who I don’t follow or know at all, doesn’t come out against hair transplants all together. He does seem to have some solid research here that he’s quoting.
 

But it’s worth noting, as the guy who made the prior post which I include here noted, that hair transplants may not actually last forever. And that thinning may actually occur over time. 
 

I’m just curious whether any members have individual experiences to share about how their HTs are faring years later. 

[Gatsby]

In all fairness there is no science to 'blood flow' theory. I have a couple of grafts that remained after all of the others were cut out of my scalp from 1987. That's 35 years ago. These few hairs that the scalpel missed just refused to die and still prosper. All the best.

[Hair, my old friend]

15 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

In all fairness there is no science to 'blood flow' theory. I have a couple of grafts that remained after all of the others were cut out of my scalp from 1987. That's 35 years ago. These few hairs that the scalpel missed just refused to die and still prosper. All the best.

That’s fair. I wasn’t watching the video for the blood flow theory or whatever. I was more wondering about HTs being impacted by the location in which they are transplanted. And what that looks like years later.
 

Interestingly, he suggested that some research suggests that the larger punch grafts, larger than 2 centimeters as done back in the day may be more resilient than individual follicle transfers because of the impact of transferring more tissue and more follicles together. I don’t anything about that, but I’m curious, have you had another hair transplant since 87? How has that gone for you? 
 

thanks for your time your prior response!

[Gatsby]

I had a hair transplant seven months ago with Dr Sethi. So far so good. ☺️

[shadowcast]

1 hour ago, Hair, my old friend said:

 

I love how this guy mentions in passing that he dropped all medication, as if it's a minor detail. This is an example of someone who is in denial about why they are in their current state.

[mafpe]

27 minutes ago, shadowcast said:

I love how this guy mentions in passing that he dropped all medication, as if it's a minor detail. This is an example of someone who is in denial about why they are in their current state.

If that's the conjecture we're going with, it also means that people who have HT but won't take meds would likely lose their transplanted hair.

[shadowcast]

19 minutes ago, mafpe said:

If that's the conjecture we're going with, it also means that people who have HT but won't take meds would likely lose their transplanted hair.

Well, yeah. I mean this is pretty well known, isn't it? By the way, I've been taking minoxidil for years, way before I had surgery, and used to see this same sort of denial in minoxidil threads where guys would get great regrowth from minoxidil, then get lazy, quit, and lose their hair. No one EVER ADMITS they screwed up by quitting meds. I also wonder how many people return to their doctor for more surgery years later and lie about having continued their medication. It's like when your dentist asks if you've been flossing every day - "of course I have!". Meds are part of the deal with hair transplants. I take dutasteride and loniten every day and don't plan on ever quitting, even when I start to take my hair for granted.

Edited August 26, 2022 by shadowcast

[Hair, my old friend]

11 minutes ago, shadowcast said:

Well, yeah. I mean this is pretty well known, isn't it? By the way, I've been taking minoxidil for years, way before I had surgery, and used to see this same sort of denial in minoxidil threads where guys would get great regrowth from minoxidil, then get lazy, quit, and lose their hair. No one EVER ADMITS they screwed up by quitting meds. I also wonder how many people return to their doctor for more surgery years later and lie about having continued their medication. It's like when your dentist asks if you've been flossing every day - "of course I have!". Meds are part of the deal with hair transplants. I take dutasteride and loniten every day and don't plan on ever quitting, even when I start to take my hair for granted.

Here’s the thing: we’re talking about thinning of hair transplants being impacted by the location into which the hair is transplanted. There are separate blog sections for non surgery related options, including the use of medications. So you are confirming that hair transplants don’t last a lifetime and do in fact thin. It may be worth it to get a hair transplant with the knowledge that it may thin. What I’m trying to do is gather as much information as possible. 
 

also, people thing while using medication, so isn’t it possible to thin in the transplant region while also medicating? Also curious about low dose minoxidil: what dosage are you on? I’m considering trying low dose 2.5 mg and micro-needling which has shown efficacy in early studies. 

[Al - Moderator]

I don't understand. The man in the thread posted had a front hairline transplant. Years later his native hair receded back further. Here are two of his photos. The first is the post transplant and the second is years later. It looks like all the transplanted hair is still growing. What am I missing?

 

 

 

[mafpe]

Even with meds, depending on how severe it is, it could still thin. Minox as a revitalizing agent as it increase bloodflow and thus oxygen as well, finas as the stopgap measure. If the balding is aggresive, it would only slow it down, not stop them. But maybe if the donor is dht resistant, it would mean that it can handle the dht remainder from the amount that finas blocked.

Many people here adopts the donor dht resistance theory, as in donor hair would not be lost. What i found is mixed though, as some people don't experience any loss of their HT hair. 

[mafpe]

1 minute ago, BeHappy said:

I don't understand. The man in the thread posted had a front hairline transplant. Years later his native hair receded back further. Here are two of his photos. The first is the post transplant and the second is years later. It looks like all the transplanted hair is still growing. What am I missing?

Miniaturisation and hair loss takes time, a thick hair normally don't just dissapear in 1 cycle unless there's a shock to it. Most hair are lost by miniaturisation, as in it slowly get smaller and thinner, until it doesn't grow anymore. Usually this happen cycle to cycle, which each cycle weakening the hair

[GoliGoliGoli]

8 hours ago, BeHappy said:

I don't understand. The man in the thread posted had a front hairline transplant. Years later his native hair receded back further. Here are two of his photos. The first is the post transplant and the second is years later. It looks like all the transplanted hair is still growing. What am I missing?

 

 

 

This was my thought too. Although I also don't doubt that hairs even from very safe donor areas could theoretically thin and militarize over time as well. 

[Melvin- Admin]

9 hours ago, BeHappy said:

I don't understand. The man in the thread posted had a front hairline transplant. Years later his native hair receded back further. Here are two of his photos. The first is the post transplant and the second is years later. It looks like all the transplanted hair is still growing. What am I missing?

 

 

 

Clearly native hair thinned and the hair in the front transplanted remained.

[GoliGoliGoli]

5 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Clearly native hair thinned and the hair in the front transplanted remained.

As a counterpoint, if the stuff in front was transplanted hair that remained, that is a VERY thin recipient area. 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Hairmyoldfriend,

Hair transplant surgery is as permanent as the hair on the sides and back of the scalp where the transplanted hair was taken.  Because of donor dominance, transplanted hair retains its original properties.  And because the hair on the sides and back of your scalp (in the universal safe zone area) is resistant to DHT, male pattern baldness won’t affect your hair transplant.   Keep in mind however, that there are areas of the sides and back of your scalp that can be susceptible to DHT which is why the universal safe zone is more narrow than the entire area of the sides and back.

Also, there are other non-genetic causes of hair loss that might impact hair on the sides and back of the scalp throughout the course of one’s lifetime. Moreover, hair does tend to thin out even just a little as one ages.  The same individual  who’s 75 may have thinner hair than they did when they were 45 even though they were not impacted by genetic hair loss.

Long story short, transplanted hair is pretty permanent but there are things that can affect one’s overall natural and transplanted hair density over the years.

Personally, I’ve had 4 hair transplants and the last one I had was in 2007. So 15 years later, my hair is still quite thick and looks about the same as a did in 2007.

i hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant

[Melvin- Admin]

44 minutes ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

As a counterpoint, if the stuff in front was transplanted hair that remained, that is a VERY thin recipient area. 

Donor isn’t DHT proof, it’s DHT resistant. That’s why taking medication is important. Do hair hair transplants last forever? No. Nothing lasts forever. But hair transplants last decades with medication, without, it’ll still last but will thin out, as will the donor.

[mrshikadance]

Was on minox and propecia from 23 to 30 and progressively lost hair (went from norwood 3 to 5). Went off drugs and continued to lose hair. Ended up a Norwood 6 by 38 when I had a very successful HT. Stuck with topical minox post surgery but started thinning 2 years out. I'm 4 years out now and the thinning seems to have stabilized. My donor area hasn't changed that much in the last 5 years.

My bottom line is that there's a large distribution of outcomes, including people who have close to "forever" outcomes without drugs and others that thin while on drugs. Can't really generalize our n=1 to others, but good for prospective HTers to know the possible outcomes.

[mr_peanutbutter]

guys, look at old peoples donor..even old folks who still have a intakt norwood 2 hairline have a rather thin donor. and that process starts decades earlier. nobody has a dense donor with 50 as he had with 20, even people who dont really bald at all. except ronald reagan and some unknown indios in the peru mountains who maintain like they teenage density until their 90s.

 

the hair gets thinner as we age including the donor zone and on top of that maybe a certain percentage of hairs will go even in the safe zone. 

 

so hairtransplant are in way temporary; but not because they are transplanted in dht / lack of bloodflow dead zone but because for facts mentioned above

Edited June 20, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter