Can I expect new hair growth past 8/9 months following FUE?..

[Lukey13]

Ok so I just wanted to ask what you guys out there real experiences have been following having an FUE procedure with regards to regrowth time frames..

Most material I have found online is suggesting that by about 9 months you would have sprouted almost all your implanted FU's and pretty much already have the bulk of your total yield, that there will be very minimal change onwards towards 12 months as far as density numbers, mainly just maturing.

I'm asking this as I'm approaching 9 months and I'm a quite worried about my overall yield, even more so as I know that I have a limited donor area to use for a high Norwood case, probably a NW6
I had planned to work back towards my crown in a 2nd procedure as part my initial 2 stage plan from the start, now I'm worried about not reaching anywhere near my goals...

So I'd be very interested to hear genuine experiences and educated opinions on regrowth time frames...

Thanks everyone.

 

[Bigmac]

Hello Lukey.
A large percentage of patients will have an idea of their overall result at 9-10 months post op. However, I have been around for a long time, I`ve seen patients who experienced a lot more growth after 12 months, they are not the norm but they do exist and if you fall into this category it can be quite worrying for you.
How many grafts did you receive?
If we could see some pictures before, immediately after and now we could provide a better opinion.

 

[Lukey13]

Hi Bigmac thanks for the reply, I will indeed upload some pictures shortly, I had 3622 grafts placed into my frontal half.

 

[Bigmac]

No problem. I`ll wait for your pictures.

 

[bullitnut]

My transplanted hair continued growing and improving after 12 months. If you`re looking at it every day it is hard to notice the changes, it is not until you look back at pictures from the previous months you see the difference.
High Norwoods are challenging if the donor supply is limited, concentrating on the front half is usually the best option, then after 12 months, see how you feel about the result and where you want grafts from a 2nd transplant placed, that's if you opt for a 2nd.

 

[Bigmac]

This topic may be useful to read.

Slow growers?????

This whole thing with slow growers well...has me doubting the concept,i would love to see photos or a link to a thread where someone had very very little or no growth at 6 or 7months and 12-18 months later they had a great result,even if someone provides photos/links would these be the rule or...

www.hairlossexperiences.com

 

[Lukey13]

Here are my photos showing pre-op and immediately after.
I understand the possible advice on trying to grow it longer to try and help with the look of layering, except my hairline right in the centre and on my left side just doesn’t seem to have enough substance yet to look enough even from front on.

Obviously my crown will stand out even more during growing out but my initial plan was to grown the hair outto be able to layer, shave the back and sides short, and sweep everything straight back regardless of crown area being visible.

Im hoping there will be enough further improvement to allow me to do this.


Total FU’s :
3622
D1, D2, Total, Hairs.
1 Hair 116 300 416 416
2 Hairs 669 1103 1772 3544
3 Hairs 666 574 1240 3720
4 Hairs 127 61 188 752
5 Hairs 6 6 30
Total FU’s 1584 2038 3622 8462


Before surgery

Immediately after surgery

 

[Lukey13]

Here are some photos in as honest a lighting condition as I can take, tbh I think these photos actually make it look slightly better than it currently is. I’m bang on 8 months and 2 weeks post op today.

 

[Lukey13]

I was initially expecting a density of about 40fu per sq cm, although when I arrived at the clinic this was touched on and explained it will be best about 40 in the frontal curve portion of the hairline, and then distributed at a lower rate going back for added coverage.
Tbh I find it impossible trying to count them right now either in pictures or in person in the mirror

 

[Bigmac]

It does not look like 40 FU/Cm2 in your hairline but I'm just counting what I can see on your immediate post op pictures, there may be grafts planted without tissue making them harder to see. The right side of your hairline looks slightly denser than everywhere else. It is common for one side to grow in quicker than the other. To achieve the density levels along the hairline you may need more growth, hopefully, they grow in for you.
Some hairs look coarser in the midsection. Over time they may be less obvious once the surrounding hairs grow in. Hair characteristics go through different growth phases, changing in calibre and texture before eventually returning to their normal state.
Are you using any hair loss medications? Even though the hair is taken from the donor zone, it`s not guaranteed that it won`t be susceptible to MPB. This is something a lot of people don`t realise.
I do hope you get more growth and end up happy with the result.

 

[Lukey13]

Quite hard feedback to take on board but much appreciated Bigmac..
I agree the right side of my hairline is appearing denser and has so for a couple on months.. this had me pleased and I’ve been assuming the rest of the hairline would catch up to this over time, along with progress in the midscalp, however I do still happen to be waiting...
What do you think the hairline appears to have been planted at in the immediate post op photos?
Do you think all the implanted grafts in the photos have sprouted or not yet?
It’s a worrying time right now as before I had time on my side thinking, there are still 6,5,4 months to go yet... now I’m down to almost 3 months until a year and still not much appears to have been happening over this last month or two...
I’m not on any meds like fin or minoxidil as tbh, I never really had anything left up top to “hang on to”, plus I’m not keen on the idea of relying on them for my lifetime or suffering the side effects from finasteride, losing my hair has been bad enough tbh without worrying about any erectile problems and then losing hair if I stopped the meds .
The clinic also never suggested them for me.
I’ve just been taking biotin tablets regularly, and MSM tablets up until recently.
I think the MSM tablets made it harder for me to go to the toilet...
Really got my fingers crossed for something more to happen....

 

[Bigmac]

Your hair does have time to improve. You can take a sheet of paper, cut out a 1cm square, place on your head and count the grafts in the square. A little crude but it will give you an approximate number.
It is too hard to tell what has grown. A clinic with high magnification could give you an idea and tell you what density your transplanted area is.
Meds are a personal choice, especially with the possible sides but they do work in maintaining your hair. Oral Finasteride may be an option.
Biotin and MSM only promote existing hair growth.
I think you should speak to your clinic with your concerns, ask them to confirm the density planted and work with them.
As in any type of surgery, sometimes they don`t turn out as well as they should.
It`s tough for anyone who finds themselves in this type of situation. All you can do now is wait, see your clinic or send updates and maybe consult a few others.
It could be that in the next few months you get more growth and end up happy with it. If the hair was longer you would see better coverage because right now you can see a lot of scalp due to the short hair.

 

[Bigmac]

Could you post a picture from a couple of feet away to see what it looks like? Block your face out or send it to me and I`ll block it out.

 

[Lukey13]

Thought it might just be worth posting these up, first shots of my donor area are just screenshots taken from movie stills on my phone, not the greatest angles but they show my donor area with 16 days of growth.

Taken 2 days ago

 

[Lukey13]

These show my donor immediately after shaving down to zero, no guard fitted with open blade.. so very very short.

These were also taken 2 days ago, that same evening.

On a positive note no-one at my work has seemed to notice nor ever mentioned anything about my donor area even with it being this short.
If they did they would most certainly say so, which I know for a fact as people at my work are just ruthless with each other to be honest.

So that’s been a good thing.

 

[Bigmac]

Your donor has recovered well with very little sign of missing hair, you could have another procedure if that`s what you decide but you run the risk of losing more hair in the future because you're not using hair loss meds. Your hair loss pattern could progress to a Norwood 6-7. Did your doctor give you an idea about the health of your donor area, signs of miniturisation?

On a positive, your hair looks good shaved down, from what I can see of the transplanted area in these pictures the uniformity makes it look a lot better.
All you can do now is wait it out, hope you get more new hair growth and see what it looks like with some length to it or shaved down.

 

[bullitnut]

Your donor looks good grown out but thin above the ears and bottom of your crown when shaved down.... Ideally, you want it checked by a doctor...
Are you planning on letting it grow? See what difference it makes.

 

[Bigmac]

Hi Lukey. When you next speak with the clinic could you ask them what your hair count/graft ratio was? Looking at your pictures again I believe you have slightly below average hair characteristics, not as many 3 and 4 hair graft units, with shorter hair, this doesn´t work to show the transplant in the best light.

 

[Lukey13]

BigMac, My graft total numbers are back on the first page and I believe my hair per graft average worked out at 2.38.

Hi Bullitnut no I haven’t counted the hairs in a cm2 as I do find it very hard to focus on these in a mirror, but also which cm2 would I choose? As right now I can see that if I pick a cm slightly to the right in my hairline I’m going to find more than further back in the middle of my head...
The doc stated he would plant at a denser rate around the hairline and front, then lessen the rate going back..

My plan was to grow the hair out on top and wear it straight back once it’s long enough, if the transplanted hair can pull that off.
I’l keep the back and sides of my donor area as short as possible, it would of course be nice to have options but I’m thinking that most of the time I will carry on buzzing them down to a zero on a regular basis, every week or two.
For me to grow the back and sides was purely going to depend on what sort of result I got in the end, and wether my crown being visible could be moderately hidden by either implanting FU’s, or hair being grown and combed back, or of course both.

 

[bullitnut]

Hello Lukey....How did your growth turn out.