Patchy growth 157 days post op. Is it too early to tell whether my FUE hair transplant was a failure? (Photo)

Hello,

At 160 days post-op, it’s still too early to judge the final results of your hair transplant. While some people see significant growth by 6 months, it’s important to remember that hair growth timelines vary. Many patients don’t see fuller results until 9–12 months, with some even taking up to 18 months for complete maturity.

It sounds like you’ve been following post-op instructions well, which is excellent. I recommend being patient and monitoring your progress. If concerns persist after the 12-month mark, consult your surgeon for an evaluation.

Best regards,
Dr. Marco Barusco

Cheerful101843 -- Sounds like you are around the 6 month mark after your FUE restoration surgery. It can take up to 12, and in some cases 15 months for all the hair to grow in after a hair transplant. As you probably know, many of the follicles that are transplanted will shed their hairs in the first few weeks following the procedure and essentially stay "dormant" for a few months before growing their new hairs. The follicles come out of the resting phase and start growing their new hairs asynchronously. For this reason I always counsel patients that it may take up to 15 months to know what the final result is going to be. The majority of patients see significant results by 12 months but in some cases it can be a bit longer. So in the middle months of that year, many patients' recipient area can look about the same as before the transplant; this is not uncommon.All of that is to say that at the 6 month mark, its definitely too early to say that the transplant did not work. Hang in there and keep doing your hair loss prevention!

At 160 days after your FUE, some growth should normally be visible — even if partial. The fact that your recipient area is still very patchy might indicate a slower growth cycle, but in some cases it can also suggest a problem with graft survival or direction.

It’s still a bit early to make a final judgment, as some patients experience delayed growth until month 7 or 8. However, if there’s almost no visible improvement by that time, it’s worth investigating whether the grafts were implanted too deep, too shallow, or suffered trauma during healing.

A proper evaluation with high-resolution photos will help determine if this is a case of delayed growth or low graft survival, and how we can plan a correction if necessary.

Dr. Arslan Musbeh
Hair Transplant Surgeon – Founder of Hairmedico
17+ years of experience in FUE, Sapphire FUE, and DHI

This answer has been approved by Dr. Arslan Musbeh. It is not a medical advice.

Hello, Dr. George Abrahamian MD here, La FUE Hair Clinic, Pasadena, CA. Evaluating a transplant 160 days (approximately 5 months) after is still far too early to appropriately gauge results! At 3 months, most people see approximately 15% growth, 50% is seen around 6 months, 80% at one year, and it can take up to 14-16 months to see 100% of your results! It is recommended to wait between 9 months to 1 year before evaluating success of a transplant, and making a decision on whether or not a second transplant is needed.
A few of the most important considerations to make prior to hair transplant include the surface area requiring restoration, and the density the clinic that is performing your transplant is using to restore the surface area that needs restoration. If the same surface area receives, for example, 500 grafts vs 1500 grafts, the difference between the outcome of the two transplants will be quite obvious. In this example, the 500 grafts may be an improvement to the area, but may not necessarily be natural or near-perfect.
It is generally best to reevaluate your results at the 9 month to 1 year mark, and come up with an appropriate plan at that time. I hope this helps, best of luck with your hair restoration journey!

Hello and thank you for your question. Every case is different but it typically takes close to a year before you see good results. I know you want to see results quickly but this takes time and patience. Hang in there and IM sure your results will be good. Best of luck to you.

Dr. T

Every patient is different but we will not assess our post op results before 250 days. At about 8 months you can expect to be at about 80% of results but for 100% final eval you really do need to wait a year. The natural hair cycle is LONG and it takes a lot of patience but will be worth it.

Hello I'm Dr. Wipawan Vathananai, a co-worker of Dr. Kulakarn Amonpattana, from BHI Clinic, Bangkok, Thailand.
Regarding your concern, I would recommend you to consult with the doctor who did the hair transplantation for you to see if what he/she suggests. Normally, it takes 10-12 months to see full result of the hair transplantation.

It takes 1 full year to see the results of a hair transplant procedure. While some patients can see growth earlier, most patients will only start to see results at months 6-9. You're still very early on in your hair restoration journey. It's not uncommon for some patients to start seeing results closer to the 12 month mark and you can have great results irrespective of when the follicles begin to emerge. Please give it some more time.