FUE Failure - 9 months post op

[Welchy]

My hair is suddenly falling out 9 months post op (2000 graphs in front). My surgeon, whom I talked to over the phone said it’s nearly impossible that it’s the graphs and that it has to be my original hair that’s falling out. He asked me if my diet has changed, if I’m adding different stresses in my life, etc. seemingly dodging the issue. I’m also not a doctor, but I’m also no idiot. Over the last 3 weeks, my hair has begun falling out and it’s getting worse. I just counted 82 hairs in the sink from just combing through it tonight; obnoxious! My hair has noticeably gotten thinner and now almost looks like it did pre-op. Is it possible that my hair is falling out due to the season changing i.e. summer to fall, cooler temps, dryer air, etc? Google never gives a straight answer. Is my hair going through another shed cycle? Is this normal 9 months post op? Shouldnt it be thick and full? I have so many questions right now. Also, I should note that the my surgeon did not do the hair transplant, he had a technician do it and saw me before and after the operation. Attached is the photo of my hair in the sink. Hard to capture the hair in the sink with my iphone (zoom in). I also attached a preop pic and pic from tonight. Am I going crazy? 

[John1991]

It seems odd and unlikely that transplanted hair would fall out.  It also seems unlikely that your native hair - given that your loss wasn't severe - would start rapidly falling out this quickly.  I think to better judge this situation we'd need to see better pre and post op (graft placement) pictures to really get a sense for where the transplanted hair is vs where the native hair is.  Just judging from the two pictures you've posted, it would seem the 2,000 grafts hasn't done much and that the current and pre-op pics are nearly identical.  That is to say that it doesn't appear you've lost any native hair.

[Welchy]

[mafpe]

most likely stress or life factor, or you came into contact with something.

had that much shed when i was younger daily, especially after stress periods. There might be some of the transplanted hair falling out but most likely mixed with native, probably more native than transplanted one.

[Welchy]

Then, what should I do? I’m tempted to start minoxidil or try a serum. Need help and guidance l..

[Welchy]

Need help and guidance*

[Xanadu]

53 minutes ago, Welchy said:

Need help and guidance*

It's normal that after 9-12 months about 20% falls out because they go into that phase as they start cycle through the phases. So it is a known fact that the max density is sometimes around the 9-12 month period just before this happens. This is normal.

[BaldDude]

How old are you? Are you on finasteride? Transplanted hair is DHT resistant but not immune from DHT effects. 

[John1991]

1 hour ago, Xanadu said:

It's normal that after 9-12 months about 20% falls out because they go into that phase as they start cycle through the phases. So it is a known fact that the max density is sometimes around the 9-12 month period just before this happens. This is normal.

I've never heard anything remotely like that.  Not saying you're wrong, but it seems most say things just keep improving or stay the same at that period.

[Welchy]

Right?! First I’ve heard of this!! Would also love for this to be true. 

[Yan bio]

This has nothing to do with the surgeon’s work.

Edited October 22, 2022 by Yan bio

[StillAlive]

In all likelihood, you are seeing a native hair shed, particularly if you are experiencing traumatic stress (relationship falling out, had a child and you got turned into a manny overnight, lost your job or any disaster of choice). If you don't want to marry fin+ minox, you can try going on 320mg of Saw Palmetto and using Nizoral 2% once per week to see if that helps but as the colleagues have mentioned, there's very little chance that these are your grafts.

It's sadly common that if you are a NW3 with a strong forelock and get a transplant, without stabilizing the loss, to actually see the native hair of your forelock all disappear over time, leaving only the transplanted ones in, for a look similar to what you had pre-op. 

[ITA]

Man, I had the same bad experience after nine months, just like you, after I washed my hair and combed it, I saw a lot of hair sticking out of my comb and then I dropped it in the sink.  Here the members, they said that they were my native capellj, but I knew it was not so, the hair was the transplanted ones because they were thicker than the natives, they said that it is normal to lose up to 100 hairs a day, that would grow back, but it was not so.  I don’t think it was a bad procedure either, because otherwise the hair wouldn’t grow back at all, but mine would.

[thetdog666]

Are you on any meds?

[Welchy]

Lots of different opinions here. And no, not on any meds. If it’s stress related, what is the solution? There is a serum a friend recommended called Divi, has anyone heard of it?

[Xanadu]

11 hours ago, John1991 said:

I've never heard anything remotely like that.  Not saying you're wrong, but it seems most say things just keep improving or stay the same at that period.

I am a researcher by trade, so I think I have researched all there is to know about HT, medications etc. 

This phenomenon I talked about is called 'desynchronization'. It can happen 9-15 months depending on how quickly the person's hair go through the phases.

Here you go - an example where they mention around 15 months, but others mentions anything from 9 to 15 months:

 

 

Edited October 22, 2022 by Xanadu

[Dillpickle123]

You not being on meds seems to fit the most, your hairloss is increasing because your not taking anything to lower dht 

[Xanadu]

5 minutes ago, Dillpickle123 said:

You not being on meds seems to fit the most, your hairloss is increasing because your not taking anything to lower dht 

That's probably a major reason.

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@Welchy,

honestly, I would like to see some before photos of your scalp which might help further help us provide you with some information. What you’re saying just doesn’t sound right. At nine months, most patients are singing with joy about their new head of hair coming in quite nicely even though there’s still more growth to come. It’s also not true that 20% of your New hair will fall out around nine months as hair all goes through cycles or different times.

honestly, the best bet is to visit your hair transplant surgeon in person if that’s possible and have him or her evaluate scout. I agree that transplanted hair falling out at nine months is not common or not likely but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. There may be something going on. But that said, I think a full evaluation from your surgeon and possibly dermatologist may be appropriate.

if for some reason your particular hair transplant surgeon is too far and you can’t get there for an in person valuation, I suggest doing a virtual consultation through video but make sure it’s high DEF. If that’s not good enough you may have to visit a local hair transplant surgeon for more of an assessment.  Any hair transplant surgeon should be able to tell under magnification which hair have been transplanted and which ones are natural.

either way, I hope everything works out for you.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

[arthurSam]

2 hours ago, Xanadu said:

I am a researcher by trade, so I think I have researched all there is to know about HT, medications etc. 

This phenomenon I talked about is called 'desynchronization'. It can happen 9-15 months depending on how quickly the person's hair go through the phases.

Here you go - an example where they mention around 15 months, but others mentions anything from 9 to 15 months:

 

 

Thank you very informative! 

Edited October 22, 2022 by arthurSam

[arthurSam]

57 minutes ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

@Welchy,

honestly, I would like to see some before photos of your scalp which might help further help us provide you with some information. What you’re saying just doesn’t sound right. At nine months, most patients are singing with joy about their new head of hair coming in quite nicely even though there’s still more growth to come. It’s also not true that 20% of your New hair will fall out around nine months as hair all goes through cycles or different times.

honestly, the best bet is to visit your hair transplant surgeon in person if that’s possible and have him or her evaluate scout. I agree that transplanted hair falling out at nine months is not common or not likely but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. There may be something going on. But that said, I think a full evaluation from your surgeon and possibly dermatologist may be appropriate.

if for some reason your particular hair transplant surgeon is too far and you can’t get there for an in person valuation, I suggest doing a virtual consultation through video but make sure it’s high DEF. If that’s not good enough you may have to visit a local hair transplant surgeon for more of an assessment.  Any hair transplant surgeon should be able to tell under magnification which hair have been transplanted and which ones are natural.

either way, I hope everything works out for you.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

So Eugenix clinics are liars?  

Edited October 22, 2022 by arthurSam

[John1991]

1 hour ago, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

@Welchy,

honestly, I would like to see some before photos of your scalp which might help further help us provide you with some information. What you’re saying just doesn’t sound right. At nine months, most patients are singing with joy about their new head of hair coming in quite nicely even though there’s still more growth to come. It’s also not true that 20% of your New hair will fall out around nine months as hair all goes through cycles or different times.

honestly, the best bet is to visit your hair transplant surgeon in person if that’s possible and have him or her evaluate scout. I agree that transplanted hair falling out at nine months is not common or not likely but that doesn’t mean it’s impossible. There may be something going on. But that said, I think a full evaluation from your surgeon and possibly dermatologist may be appropriate.

if for some reason your particular hair transplant surgeon is too far and you can’t get there for an in person valuation, I suggest doing a virtual consultation through video but make sure it’s high DEF. If that’s not good enough you may have to visit a local hair transplant surgeon for more of an assessment.  Any hair transplant surgeon should be able to tell under magnification which hair have been transplanted and which ones are natural.

either way, I hope everything works out for you.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

So you don't buy into the Eugenix explanation as a possible answer to this?  I don't. Given their explanation, it would seem that the desynchronization phase would impact appearance in a fairly minor way - and only for a couple months - since the anagen phase lasts way longer than either other phase.  It wouldn't explain a huge loss in volume that the OP seems to be describing.  The notion that you get to the best possible result (all hair growing) only to lose 20% volume and have that 20% reduced volume be the real "final result" - if that's what they're saying and it seems to be - just doesn't pass the basic common sense test.  If that were the case loads of people would be describing there results worsening from the 10-12 month mark onwards.  Whereas it's pretty universally subscribed to that results only improve as time goes on.

Edited October 22, 2022 by John1991

[arthurSam]

They say impact is minor only with 45 graft/cm2 which is not always the case ...

And the desynchronizing is not always present 

Edited October 23, 2022 by arthurSam

[Welchy]

Update:

I am continuing to lose hair. This is not normal, yet my surgeon says it is. This is a post shower comb-through tonight! Even for someone who is losing their hair this amount of hair lost is NOT normal. Still looking for answers. 
 

I’ve purchased Divi and Nulastin and am currently using both.

Has this happened to anyone?

Does anyone have any more advice?

 

 

[Spring15]

Well according to some Doctors, losing 100 hairs a day is normal for non-balders. So that doesn't seem so excessive.