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  1. #1
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    Default growth of the new transplants Q

    It's been just over 3 months since my last HT and I know I shouldn't be expecting to see any difference at this point but I was wondering, would it be possible to feel any new transplants once they break through the skin? I mean like you can feel the hairs on the face a day or so after a shave? I can't really remember what it was like after the previous HTs but I'm kind of worried.

  2. #2
    Senior Member gillenator's Avatar
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    Victim,

    You are one of those guys that I hope and wish the very best outcome because of your past experiences.

    Yes, when the transplanted hair breaks the surface of the scalp, it will tend to feel like new facial stubble. Transplanted hair for the most part is terminal hair meaning, not DHT receptive.

    The hair shaft diameter of the new transplated hair is more coarse generally speaking as compared to diffusing hair that is re-cycling. This is why it can have more hair caliber when it breaks scalp and why it is more noticable to the touch.

    Best wishes to you Victim as always my friend.
    "Gillenator"
    Independent Patient Advocate
    more.hair@verizon.net

    NOTE: I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice nor are they the opinions of the following endorsing physicians: Dr. Bob True & Dr. Bob Dorin

  3. #3
    Doctor Representative mattj's Avatar
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    Are you worried because you aren't feeling any hairs coming through yet? As gillenator said, you will be able to feel the new hairs once they appear, but it's still early in the growth timeline so don't expect too much yet.
    I am a patient and representative of Dr Rahal

    My FUE With Dr Rahal - Awesome Hairline Result

    I can be contacted for advice: matt@rahalhairline.com

  4. #4
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    Quote Originally Posted by gillenator View Post
    Victim,

    You are one of those guys that I hope and wish the very best outcome because of your past experiences.

    Yes, when the transplanted hair breaks the surface of the scalp, it will tend to feel like new facial stubble. Transplanted hair for the most part is terminal hair meaning, not DHT receptive.

    The hair shaft diameter of the new transplated hair is more coarse generally speaking as compared to diffusing hair that is re-cycling. This is why it can have more hair caliber when it breaks scalp and why it is more noticable to the touch.

    Best wishes to you Victim as always my friend.
    Thank you, gillenator. I appreciate that.
    It's been more than 3 1/2 months since my HT now and I still don't feel like there are any new hairs coming out (I don't feel any stubble...). I'm really worried and I'm beginning to think my problem all those years is bad or low growth of transplanted hairs. It was the same thing after my HT 3 years ago -never felt there were a lot of new hairs (if any at all) breaking through. It's the same thing now too. I doubt there will be much if any growth this time either. I should be feeling at least some new hairs popping out but NOTHING so far. I know it's still early but not that early to be feeling something. I hope I'm wrong and hope I will see or feel new hairs but like I said, I'm beginning to doubt that's going to happen. After 5 (FIVE) -not mentioning the small HT at Bosley- god damn HTs I'd expect really good density in the area but the fact that the density isn't all that is telling (of some problem). Looks like another HT gone to waste, along with the expenses.

    What sucks even more is that my hair is getting thinner all over. For the first time in my life I can see my scalp CLEARLY (on the crown) after a shower. It's devastating. No growth after another HT and the hair is getting worse and worse all over.

    BTW, sorry about the late reply. Been really stressed out and haven't been coming here often like I used to.



    Thanks for the reply, mattj.

  5. #5
    Senior Member gillenator's Avatar
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    Victim,

    How many grafts did you do on this last procedure? It's very possible with the previous procedures that your recipient area has some level of scar tissue which can equate to the later blooming.

    And I trust you went to a top notch doc this time because you are so much more informed these days. I am sorry my friend, you may have mentioned the doc already and I do not remember.

    My fourth procedure took longer to manifest and definitely not like the yield from previous ones. I too associated it with a compromised scalp from prior surgeries.

    At least most of it grew back after having gone through extensive chemotherapy in 2009. It's very humbling. Behind every sunset awaits a new sunrise.

    Feel free to email me if you ever want to chat on the phone and I'll reply with my phone number. Call me anytime my friend.
    "Gillenator"
    Independent Patient Advocate
    more.hair@verizon.net

    NOTE: I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice nor are they the opinions of the following endorsing physicians: Dr. Bob True & Dr. Bob Dorin

  6. #6
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    Gillenator, thank you again for writing and offering to help. I really appreciate that.

    This last HT was around 750 grafts and it was done by doctor Wong (H&W). This is my third HT by him (consecutively).

    I don't know what it is but I really don't think the growth of my transplants is what it should be. Only my first HT with dr. Wong ( I mean first to be done at H&W but not my first HT) about 9 years ago yielded good results that I was really happy with.

    Two things scare the hell out of me and making me constantly extremely worried - the fact that I still see a lot of miniaturizing hairs in the transplanted area even after 5 HTs (not counting that small one). I don't get it. I've had about 5000 grafts (over the years) all in the frontal area ONLY and I still see miniaturizing hairs ! I doubt there is still native hair left there. The only explanation I can think of is that the transplanted hairs are dying just like the native ones. I don't see any other explanation.
    The other thing that scares and worries me sick, where the hell am I going to get all the needed hair to cover the rest of my head as this curse (hair loss) progresses? I've already used 5000 grafts. My hair density (in the donor site) isn't bad and my hair is naturally thick and dr. Wong thinks I shouldn't worry about that but still..

    I hope I'm wrong about the transplants not growing but as I enter my 4th month without seeing or feeling any signs of growth I'm afraid I am right and it really is making me sick.

    Once again gillenator, thank you very much for caring to write and for your support.
    I'll wait a little longer and let you know.

  7. #7
    Senior Member gillenator's Avatar
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    Sounds good Victim, and always commend you for your transparency and for sharing your case with us.

    I had no idea that Dr. Wong was your doctor for your last three procedures.

    Did he give you an opinion of why your transplanted hair is miniturizing or losing caliber? Are they by chance examining changes in transplanted hair shaft diameter between your procedures? And just as important, noting any changes in hair shaft diameter in your donor hair?

    You can always do this yourself by simply taking samples of hair shafts from your donor zone, tape them to small sections of white paper like print paper. Then, every six months, take a new sample from the same area, and compare them to the sample you took six months earlier, twelve months earlier, etc. If you note decreases in hair shaft diameter over time, then this IMHO would confirm that your donor zone has areas of hair that is DHT receptive, and not suitable for transplantation and should not be considered as terminal hair.

    You can use something as simple as a magnifying glass or if you have a scope, that would be the most ideal. Radio Shack sells one with a USB connection for about $40 US and then you can download the images and really blow up the shafts for comparison purposes. I do it myself and have done it for a number of guys that mail me their hair samples every six months. One thing that I have observed is that some guys do not show miniturization in their donor zones under the age of thirty or so, but in some cases show up later (post 40) and it is many times also manifested by a corresponding decrease in donor density or what is commonly called donor zone thinning.

    You also can take samples of regrown transplants from the recipient area and compare to samples from the donor zone over the same time intervals. If your transplants show diffusion/miniturization over time, you have the scientific proof and that would be a potential confirmation to your suspicions.

    I am reading about more and more success with beard hair although I do not recommend it in creating a new hairline but more as a blend like other BHT. It is still in its infancy but wow when I read about some guys having 5,000 grafts extracted from their beards, it is indeed eye opening. I am waiting to see if beard hair is consistent with yield, length in the hair shafts, changes with the growth cycles especially the anagen phase, and aesthetic appeal. Unfortunately, there are not many if any follow-up threads with pics. Possibly we will see more results with the proof of consistency.

    Not sure if you have beard donor available but undoubtely you are watching for those results closely as well.
    "Gillenator"
    Independent Patient Advocate
    more.hair@verizon.net

    NOTE: I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice nor are they the opinions of the following endorsing physicians: Dr. Bob True & Dr. Bob Dorin

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by gillenator View Post
    Sounds good Victim, and always commend you for your transparency and for sharing your case with us.

    I had no idea that Dr. Wong was your doctor for your last three procedures.

    Did he give you an opinion of why your transplanted hair is miniturizing or losing caliber? Are they by chance examining changes in transplanted hair shaft diameter between your procedures? And just as important, noting any changes in hair shaft diameter in your donor hair?

    You can always do this yourself by simply taking samples of hair shafts from your donor zone, tape them to small sections of white paper like print paper. Then, every six months, take a new sample from the same area, and compare them to the sample you took six months earlier, twelve months earlier, etc. If you note decreases in hair shaft diameter over time, then this IMHO would confirm that your donor zone has areas of hair that is DHT receptive, and not suitable for transplantation and should not be considered as terminal hair.

    You can use something as simple as a magnifying glass or if you have a scope, that would be the most ideal. Radio Shack sells one with a USB connection for about $40 US and then you can download the images and really blow up the shafts for comparison purposes. I do it myself and have done it for a number of guys that mail me their hair samples every six months. One thing that I have observed is that some guys do not show miniturization in their donor zones under the age of thirty or so, but in some cases show up later (post 40) and it is many times also manifested by a corresponding decrease in donor density or what is commonly called donor zone thinning.

    You also can take samples of regrown transplants from the recipient area and compare to samples from the donor zone over the same time intervals. If your transplants show diffusion/miniturization over time, you have the scientific proof and that would be a potential confirmation to your suspicions.

    I am reading about more and more success with beard hair although I do not recommend it in creating a new hairline but more as a blend like other BHT. It is still in its infancy but wow when I read about some guys having 5,000 grafts extracted from their beards, it is indeed eye opening. I am waiting to see if beard hair is consistent with yield, length in the hair shafts, changes with the growth cycles especially the anagen phase, and aesthetic appeal. Unfortunately, there are not many if any follow-up threads with pics. Possibly we will see more results with the proof of consistency.

    Not sure if you have beard donor available but undoubtely you are watching for those results closely as well.
    Thanks Gillenator, and thank you for always writing back.

    I thought you already knew Dr. Wong was my doctor (for the last 3 HTs).
    I actually never discussed the miniaturization of the hair in the transplanted area with Dr. Wong but I'm going to bring up the subject when I see him on the 22nd of this month. They've never examined the transplanted hair or the donor hair but about a year ago I had a biopsy done (from the recipient site) because the doctor thought something was causing the hair to fall out but the biopsy didn't show anything abnormal and that's why I went ahead with my last HT. I don't know but sometimes I tell myself the miniaturizing hairs are native not transplanted but some other times I think that would impossible because if it weren't for the 5 HTs I've had I'd probably be completely bald in the front which means those dying hairs I see must be transplanted.

    What you suggested about taking samples of the transplanted and donor site hairs all sound good but to be honest I'm too scared to do that because if what I suspect turns out to be reality god knows what that might do to me. I'd be terrified and devastated to know that there's a good possibility I'll be losing those 5000 grafts in the coming years. Can you imagine? Right now I can tell myself it's suspicions, although in reality I do know there seems to be a lot of truth to those suspicions (from what I see happening) but ...

    Now, I'm still concerned about not seeing or feeling any new hairs from the last HT. It's been 4 months and still nothing. One thing however, after an HT I know the new grafted hairs fall out within a couple of weeks but I know some of my grafts stayed in their place for a month or even more and they got a little longer but I kinda lost track of them after. I don't know if they continued to grow and never fell out or what. Sometimes I tell myself they probably never fell out and that's why I'm not feeling any new hairs coming out but then where is the density (if they actually continued to grow and never fell out) ??? I don't know but this is eating away at my brain.

    One thing I'm thinking about asking Dr. Wong to do to see if my transplanted hairs actually grow or not is to see if he'd be willing to do a small HT of about 30 hairs or so in a specific area that would be easy to monitor and see what happens.

    Anyway, like I said I'm going to see Dr Wong again on the 22nd and I'll see what he says.

    Oh yeah, I have beard hair and the hairs are not too thick (in diameter) which I think would be good for transplanting into scalp but I know there's no way in hell I can afford that unless I when the lottery or something but I was told by doctor Wong body hair is even better than head hair for transplantation.

    Thanks again, Gillenator. Always appreciated.

  9. #9
    Doctor Representative 35YrsAfter's Avatar
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    When I was younger, I had hair transplants via the 4mm plug extraction method. I followed the clinic's recommendation that began with a scalp reduction followed by 4 surgeries spaced several months apart. I noticed diminishing growth with each subsequent surgery. I personally believe it had something to do with a reduction of blood supply in my scalp.

    At the appropriate time consider scalp massage, Rogaine and exercise. Avoid medications that list hair loss as a side effect. In a recent article written by a respected hair restoration physician, a study of identical twins revealed that excessive sun exposure, cigarette smoking and stress are three major enemies of good hair growth. On the positive side, coffee of all things has been determined to be beneficial to hair growth.

    You should definitely check with your doctor regarding scalp massage. It should be of comfort to you to know that Dr. Wong is respected in his field as a top strip surgeon.

    35YrsAfter works at Dr. Cole's office

  10. #10
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    Thanks for the reply, 35yrsAfter.I don't know what the reason could be.

    I never had any scalp reduction done. So, the blood supply can't be an issue here.
    I do use Rogaine and have been using it for a very long time.
    My hair is almost never exposed to the sun. Where I live there's hardly any sun and I always wear a hat. I know that can be bad too.

    I don't smoke and I do drink coffee twice a day.

    Stress, that's my problem. Always stressed but I don't think it can affect the growth of new transplants.

    I'm thinking about using derma rollers on my scalp.

    I have no doubt Dr. Wong is a good doctor.

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