Do all transplanted grafts (from FUE method) produce hair?

Question

I got a hair transplant of 2500 grafts(in late December 2014) by FUE method. As i was highly conscious about counting the no.of grafts which fall after the procedure(which is quite normal as guided by my surgeon), i found that till now not more than 20 grafts fall out. So i need to ask, can i expect from my rest of the grafts to produce hair and give their effect. Or there is still some possibility that some of them wont turn in to produce hair? thanks

Ken Anderson, MD, FISHRS · Answer

Dear Mojo Jojo,I believe you're talking about survival rate of the grafts transplanted.  Typically the shedding takes place from week 2 through week 6 or 8 following the procedure.  You're well outside this window, so I would not expect you to experience a great deal of shedding of the transplanted grafts at this point.  At about 4 months, where you are now, I would expect the grafts to be coming out of their dormant phase and producing a new hair.  The hairs will arise from the dormant phase asynchronously, and a such, the transplanted area will thicken up over the next 6 months or so.Graft survival, on the other hand is a different issue.  The % survival rate depends on a number of factors:1) experience of the surgeon performing your surgery2) experience of the technicians who will help to place the grafts3) graft temperature while outside your body4) graft hydration while outside the body5) the holding solution you grafts are stored in (many use normal saline, which is just salt water, but we are big believers in "bio-enhanced" hair restoration; we use Hypothermasol infused with Liposomal ATP)6) how the grafts are handled when outside your body7) the length of time your grafts spend outside your body8) etc.Clearly there are many, many factors that combine for maximal graft survival.  No two hair transplants are the same, and no two hair restoration surgeons are the same.  Best bet is to meet with a surgeon and ask about how he or she maximizes the yield of the grafts.

Jae Pak, MD · Answer

The transplanted hairs will shed it's hair (not graft) in about one month.  The grafts (the tissue) will remain and become a part of your body to start producing hairs from scratch.  These grafts will start producing hair and you will see some results in 6 to 12 months.

Michael Vories, MD · Answer

By four months post-op, the shock out phase of the grafts should have come and gone. Any grafts that are currently growing are in the anagen cycle and should be producing permanent hair.

Jeff Donovan, MD, PhD · Answer

All transplanted grafts do not survive to produce hair. We'd like to think they do but current scientific research says absolutely not. For strip methods (FUSS), about 5-10 % of grafts never make it and die. For FUE, it's likely a bit lower. In a typical 2500 graft procedure, it's normal to expect a few hundred grafts to never grow. Despite this, nice results are still possible and routinely achieved.

William Rassman, MD (retired) · Answer

This is usual shedding and it occurs in most people between 7-26 days after the surgery. Never be concerns as this is a normal shedding process. The new hair will eventually grow out in 5-7 months.

Michael Meshkin, MD - Account Suspended · Answer

Usually hair goes through a cycle of growth, and after hair transplantation it will continue its cycle of growth.  So depending on where it is on its cycle, it will start to grow in after three months and continue up until 18 months after the procedure. This is assuming that all the meticulous steps of hair transplant procedure is done correctly.  In the hands of a experience hair transplant surgeon you should have a very high growth rate. However, if the surgeon is not specialized and surgical steps are not done correctly then the rate decrease. So it's of utmost important to research the doctor, the clinic and his staff to make sure you get the best result.

Brian Goertz, MD (retired) · Answer

Graft survival is dependent on a number of factors.  Graft survival is most dependent on how grafts are dissected, manipulated and cared for prior to and during re-implantation. In general grafts removed by FUE will have a survival rate of 90% when done by an experienced surgeon  and surgical team. FUT survival is closer to 99% when done by an experienced surgeon and surgical team. I perform both procedures and inform patients of expected outcomes. Both FUT and FUE are highly technical procedures and very difficult to master. In my experience hair grafts subject to trauma by machines such as Neograft will result in much greater hair transplant failure. I hope this helps. You should expect the hair to begin awakening shortly.

Do all transplanted grafts (from FUE method) produce hair?

Answers (7)

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