Hair transplant long term view

[DBMTT]

Hello everyone,

I am relatively new here in the forum and would perspectively like to have hair on my head again (10 years stable Norwood 6). 🙂 That is why I have been researching the topic of hair transplantation for some time. 
 

It is said that the hair from the donor area is rather insensitive to DHT. But on the internet I have read about a few cases where after a few years the transplanted hairs allegedly fell out anyway. On the other hand, there are examples with still full hair years after the transplantation. 
 

What do you think about this topic? Are you safe with a good hair transplant? Will the transplanted hair remain for a lifetime without taking medication? The medication should actually only protect the already existing hair, right? 
 

Unfortunately, I could not find so many proper long-term studies on this subject. 
 

Thank you very much.

[TorontoMan]

Hey man, 

Donor hair is simply more resistant to DHT than the rest of the scalp, but unfortunately it is susceptible to loss as well. There is a risk long term that transplanted hairs (donor hairs) will miniaturize the same as any hair would and especially without medication. However, it varies person to person, my father as an example is 67 and is I would say approaching NW5 diffuse, but his donor hair is still in tact and very thick. So if he did a hair transplant say 10 years ago, judging by the state of his donor now he would have likely not had issues. At the same time, we've seen some guys on here who's donor areas drop quite significantly towards their nape and also thin throughout. I think the best course of action for anyone is to get a few in person consultation with the best hair transplant surgeons or even dermatologists, as they will have the best idea of what you can expect long term. 

As well, please don't rush into a decision with a hair transplant as you are NW6 you need to understand your expectations very well. Any surgery will leave you scars and still have a chance of not giving satisfactory results. 

[Rafael Manelli]

It lasts as long as it would have lasted in the donor zone. The FUT donor is in the middle of the nw7 area. It is the safest. The expanded donor used for FUE includes the whole nw7 zone and possibly the nw6 zone. It is less safe as a nw6 can recede into a nw7.

it is also possible for hair to thin with age, even among people without androgenic alopecia. It just thins over decades. Usually not by too much.

[WhereIsMyMind]

20 minutes ago, Rafael Manelli said:

It lasts as long as it would have lasted in the donor zone.

This is the answer basically (minus the graft that die in the proccedure)

[DBMTT]

22 hours ago, TorontoMan said:

Hey man, 

Donor hair is simply more resistant to DHT than the rest of the scalp, but unfortunately it is susceptible to loss as well. There is a risk long term that transplanted hairs (donor hairs) will miniaturize the same as any …

Thank you for the detailed explanation. No matter how you do it, you have to swallow some pill I guess.😊 Whether you take medication or play poker that the hair from the donor area does not get worse (and so the transplant). It hasn't gotten any worse on my dad since he went bald either. The donor has remained the same for decades. Once Norwood 6 always NW 6. 😀

Some results here with NW 6 have given me hope. Let's see what else happens for me in the future.

Even if it‘s only online, great to have the opportunity to share my thoughts here.

[Gatsby]

@DBMTT by using medication you are effectively stopping further hair loss in its tracks. That’s the goal. As a Norwood 7 and having had my second repair surgery 6 weeks ago my donor improved dramatically from oral minoxidil. I would definitely recommend starting medication a year before any surgery to see how your hair responds/stabilizes. All the best. 

[Rafael Manelli]

On 3/10/2023 at 12:53 PM, Gatsby said:

@DBMTT by using medication you are effectively stopping further hair loss in its tracks. That’s the goal. As a Norwood 7 and having had my second repair surgery 6 weeks ago my donor improved dramatically from oral minoxidil. I would definitely recommend starting medication a year before any surgery to see how your hair responds/stabilizes. All the best. 

Most of the time it will not stop it in its tracks but merely slow it to a crawl sadly.

[Mike10]

 

On 4/13/2023 at 6:29 PM, Rafael Manelli said:

Most of the time it will not stop it in its tracks but merely slow it to a crawl sadly.

Generally hair loss will progress even with medication in the long run. will one reach his destined NW status despite medication? we do not know. The HT  has not been around for that long. there is not that much long term experience. 

There is also no such thing as a safe donor. For person destined to higher NWs, it is best to get on medication to preserve the donor

[Rafael Manelli]

5 minutes ago, Mike10 said:

 

Generally hair loss will progress even with medication in the long run. will one reach his destined NW status despite medication? we do not know. The HT  has not been around for that long. there is not that much long term experience. 

There is also no such thing as a safe donor. For person destined to higher NWs, it is best to get on medication to preserve the donor

HT has been around for decades now.

[Mike10]

8 minutes ago, Rafael Manelli said:

HT has been around for decades now.

for 2-3 decades. With the FUE only for about 2 decades. And HT has picked up mainstream not that long ago. when guy gets a HT at 30, he lives for 5 more decades. in my opinion there is a a bit of a lakc of experience in the long run

[Mike10]

to illustrate, HT Drs have only recently backed up from the safe donor theory. most do now recognize that such hair may not last for life. they have only realized that now

[Rafael Manelli]

It lasts as long as it would last in the back, so you don’t lose anything by moving it

[Melvin- Admin]

There are no long term studies, but there are plenty of cases. @Pat - Community Publisher got his first HT over 20 years ago and it’s still going strong.

[Al - Moderator]

Hair transplants have been around for at least 50 years. I had my first one in 1989, but the place I went to was in business since 1976 or 1977. One of the founders of the place I went to had his first hair transplant in 1974 and one of the consultants had his in 1976. Joe Biden had his first hair transplant around 1976/1977.

 

 

[Al - Moderator]

A lot of the older or now retired Drs in the USA who performed hair transplants for 30 plus years had a hair transplant themselves when they were young and that's what made them get into hair transplants as it was a new and upcoming field back then without much competition. You can look around for those Drs and see that their hair transplant is still holding up. One example is Dr Allen Feller. He had his hair transplant over 20 years ago, maybe even more than 25 years ago.