Question about grafts...

[HairIzGood]

Hi all fellow hair loss dudes,

I had a HT done several months ago, and I had a concern about some of my grafts. I believe the majority of the hair shed, however a fair number still remained(didn't shed) and aren't growing either. Some of them, I just pulled on slightly and the hair came out pretty easily, sometimes with a bulb and sometimes not(I know I'm not pulling on native hair btw, as there wasn't any hair in these places before the surgery).

HOWEVER, much of the transplanted hair is "in between" existing hairs, so it is hard to tell where the grafts may not have shed and are just chillin on my scalp without doing anything. I had read from another thread that grafts/hairs that just sit on the scalp can inhibit growth of the new hairs.

My question is: how the hell can I tell if there are grafts sitting between my existing hair that never shed, and which could be inhibiting growth of new hairs?

I know there's the microscope that could be used to see my scalp up close and take a look to see if there's any grafts that never fell out. I'm sure you all understand that I want to get every graft I can get out of the procedure. There could be hundreds of bucks just chillin on my head not doing anything if you know what I mean!

Any ideas?

[JoeTillman]

My first question to you is, how vigorous have you been washing your hair? If you are babying your hair and not being thorough and vigorous with washing then the transplanted hairs can remain without shedding. These hairs can just sit in the scalp and even cause an inflammatory response that *could* a lower growth rate. If you can slightly tug on these hairs and they come out easily then this may be what is going on. Wash your hair once a day, wash vigorously with the pads of your finger tips (not the nails) and get these hairs out.

[HairIzGood]

Thanks Joe,

I wouldn't say I've been babying my hair, but not necessarily vigorously washing it either. I'll be more vigorous.

When you say inflammatory response, how would that manifest on my scalp? I have had a few pimples on my scalp that I just popped, but I thought that was normal.

To clarify, when you say "*could* lower growth rate", you're talking about how soon the hair will sprout, and not that the graft itself is compromised, correct?

I've also read that new transplanted hair growing in can push the hair graft out if not shedded. Is that true?

The only reason I'm concerned is that I guess I'll never be certain that the transplanted hairs that did not shed actually have fallen and made room for new ones - due to the fact that much of the transplanted hair is in between existing hairs.

Would it be an unreasonable idea to go in to a local clinic and get under their microscope to see if there are any hairs that did not shed, and get them out if any are found? It has been several months since HT.

Thanks.

[WHTC Clinic]

@Hairizgood,

Hello there. Thanks for sharing your information. Where did you have the procedure? Have you contacted your clinic about your post-op concerns? Would you happen to have any photos from the surgery that you could share? Are you experiencing any discomfort in the recipient area? Did you take any dietary supplements, faster healing products or products to expedite regrowth?

Seems as if you might need to have a follow-up appointment to examine your scalp. You won't see transplanted hair grow until 26 weeks after surgery. You may have some hairs that seem to be intact but are only hair fragments that should be removed. There is also a chance that you may be seeing early growth as well.

I look forward to hearing from you, Hairizgood.

[HairIzGood]

Hi,

Yes, I've contacted the clinic and they basically said the same thing JoeTillman said. So I've been washing with shampoo more vigorously with the pads of my fingers. Hopefully that works, but I guess I won't know for sure due to the fact that the transplanted hair is amongst existing hair, and thus very hard to see.

I've been on finasteride for about a year now, but that's it. I have a relatively good diet, and exercise pretty regularly. No discomfort at all. I'll see if I can post photos later.

I thought it may be early growth too, until the hair so easily came out when I tugged, and there wasn't a bulb either mostly. I do see little tiny hairs along the hairline but in the later months of being on fin, it seemed like they were starting to sprout too. So I can't tell what is from what lol. I think they could be the transplanted hairs though(I hope!)

I don't really want to fly out to the clinic(took 3 flights last time). I just don't know if a local clinic would think it was a weird request to come in and have us take a look at things under a microscope, from some other clinic's procedure...

Thanks.

[WHTC Clinic]

Thanks, Hairizgood. It is likely that these questionable hairs are merely a percentage of telogen hairs from the transplanted grafts that are greatly on your conscience. I'd definitely like to see some photos, if at all possible. Post-op photos showing the newly transplanted grafts and pre-op photos showing the volume and quality of the native hair will do well. What I do want to see and hope to conclude from the photos is the benefit of any regrowth. You are at the stage where the grafts can be visible, especially if you keep your hair lengthy. Please keep up the good work with your finasteride.