What if a Hair Transplant fails?

[Ranketkul]

How do you know if your hair transplant has failed? Fourteen months ago I had 2500 grafts placed to the frontal third of my head to create a stronger hairline and add density to the area behind. I seem to have experienced a non stop shed from the time I had my surgery, its as though my hair is constantly in a state of Telogen effluvium. The improvement to my existing hair is 50% maximum, not what I was expecting at all. Some newly transplanted grafts grew and have since fallen out.

I`m not sure what to make of it all. Have 50% of my transplanted grafts been rejected by my body? If they have will I need to get a scalp biopsy? Should I have another surgery to see if the grafts will grow?



At this point I think its safe to assume I wont get further growth. The doctor has asked that I go back for a final evaluation as he believes I may have lost a lot more native hair. This may be true but I can see bald area`s where I had new grafts transplanted.



Not sure what my next move is as its a long haul to go back for check up.

 

[janna]

It would be really nice to see some before and after pics to determine if we're seeing what you're seeing. Good pictures to compare properly would be great. Thanks.

 

[Ranketkul]

The clinic did not take pictures and I never kept any records as I put my trust in this doctor.

 

[Bigmac]

Hi there and welcome to the forum. Sorry to hear you feel your expectations have not been met and all your grafts never grew. Sometimes a surgery can fail for lots of reasons, this is why a biopsy is a good idea to rule out any underlying issues. Was it FUT or FUE you had. With you having o pictures it's hard to give an opinion on what may have happened to your grafts. Have you taken any pictures yourself to compare.
Take care.

Bm.

 

[Ranketkul]

I'm waiting for the doctor to reply to my last email to see what he is prepared to do to help my situation.

 

[Prohairclinic]

Probably all top clinics take before pics as standard routine. Certainly our clinic does.
How else to compare the results in a meaninfull way.

 

[topccat29]

Ranketkul a clinic not taking pre op photos is going to be a red flag. Doesn €™t mean your result will turn out poorly but it certainly does not sound right. Any company regardless of the business will have systems in place that are always followed to maintain quality and consistency and with hair transplantation taking photos and having a small area considered a photo studio would be part of quality system in my opinion and from my own experiences.

In fact you can also tell by the size and the quality of pictures submitted online by clinics much about their confidence in their ability. Some are very large, up close with great definition while others do not meet that same standard.


It's not really your fault. How would anyone know to ask the clinic if they are going to take photos, it is just assumed by most.

Sounds like you might have lost some native hairs. Could be too large of a procedure, unskilled doctor making recipient sites, shock loss, etc..................or just weak hairs that are not going to come back and part of the risk of having a hair transplant and part of what should have been revealed to you during the consultation process.

 

[Ranketkul]

I was very unhappy with my appearance, my confidence was low and I thought having a hair transplant would make me happy. Unfortunately I never researched and went with the first doctor I came across. In hindisght I made some serious errors after reading up on everything. Now I've got to try to have my situation rectified.

 

[topccat29]

Best to try and learn as much as possible before moving forward. It seems like a simple procedure to many but it is not. I have had my own experiences with skills that appeared simple but when I tried them myself I realized the hand and eye coordination required was just not there and in some cases it took years and years to develop those skills. Now add the skill of being able to visualize the result beforehand while performing the procedure and you add yet another layer of difficulty to it all in many cases some will not be very good regardless of the time spent learning.

It does become like an artist and his painting. Which brush do you pick up next, which subtle tone of color from the pallet goes where, etc. Most in ht have only mastered applying paint to the canvas and not so much what goes where and why and they do this with no vision because the simply do not have the talent through no fault of their own. Some can get by with just plopping the globs of paint on to the canvas but for most patients it simply is not enough to meet their expectations.

Looking for high quality pictures is only one factor among many. You can learn much from pictures though as the quality of photography itself does vary. Having no pictures would be a red flag but then low to medium quality pictures kind of says this is the best we can do. This is our best effort and we feel it €™s good enough. That then becomes that particular clinic €™s philosophy €¦ €¦ €¦good enough €¦ €¦..let €™s call it a day and go home. This can easily transfer over to the procedure itself as it is their philosophy. You often see very low quality photography or at least that has been my experience with hair tattooing €¦ €¦ €¦ €¦..that is telling you something and the same applies to hair transplantation. Everything matters so go slow.

Unfortunately there are many dishonest people in this business €¦ €¦ €¦ €¦ €¦ €¦ €¦.GO SLOW

 

[Ranketkul]

It's definately a harsh lesson I've learnt. These are people who most look upto in a trusting manner, I never thought for a moment anything could go wrong or that I'd be in a worse situation now.
However I will remain positive. I have good health, I've learnt a hard lesson in life but so t make the same mistake again.

 

[topccat29]

Ranketkul you do have something going for you and that is a positive attitude so don €™t let it get you down. If you do then that guy that might have taken advantage of you wins. Try to assemble a small group of patients that after time and observation you feel you can trust and obtain opinions as you also pursue consultations with those that are actually qualified.


Remember this €¦ €¦ €¦.. the forums can sometimes be like one big family. We probably all have a singer or some kind of artist in the family. When they sing we always tell them how great they are along with the other family members doing the same. But maybe in reality they are not so great and we just don €™t want to make them feel bad. It can sometimes be kind of like that so always keep that in mind.

Some of the best lessons are the hard lessons and are actually blessings. Just consider what has happened to you a blessing in some way and as you have written learn from it.

 

[Ranketkul]

I certainly have learnt my lesson. Once I have my situation rectified I will post my full story so others who read it won't make the same mistakes.