Transplanted hair is now darker, coarse, thick and frizzy. (photo)

Thank you for your question. You submitted a photo of your frontal hairline, and another photo of some hairs. You state it’s been about 2 years since your hair transplant, and you’re concerned the transplanted hair has a significantly different quality in terms of texture and kink compared to your softer native hair. Your doctor explained the hair that was transplanted is actually healthier, but this is clearly an area of concern for you.
I can give you some of my perspective based on just the limitations of the question, the history provided, and the photos. A little background: I’m a Board-certified cosmetic surgeon and Fellowship-trained oculofacial plastic and reconstructive surgeon. I have been in practice in Manhattan and Long Island for over 20 years. Hair transplant has been a very significant part of my practice. I’m also the founder of TrichoStem™ Hair Regeneration Centers, a system we developed for non-surgical solutions for hair loss using regenerative medicine technology combining Acellular matrix for wound healing, and platelet-rich plasma (PRP). This has helped a lot of people with hair thinning who come to us from around the world. For a sense of my perspective on a problem like this, I do have a lot of experience in this area.
I would first want to learn what the indication was for your transplant to give me a sense of how I would guide you. If the indication for hair transplant was a hairline lowering procedure or to bring the hairline forward, and you weren’t suffering from a genetic pattern loss or androgenetic alopecia, then you are looking at the behavior of grafted hair which can have a textural difference, even if it was harvested from the donor area where the texture was similar.
There are a variety of potential explanations for this based on medical and physiologic grounds, but the one thing to understand is hair growth cycles have a certain length of time. A growth cycle referred to as the anagen phase which is the active growing phase can last anywhere from 2-6 years. Often, when people have their hair growth cycles for the transplanted complete, it sheds, then it may grow in a little softer as the original hair. It’s something I certainly have observed in my practice where initially, it looked a little strange, then after a few years, it seemed to look okay. The explanation is at the end of the growth cycle or the anagen phase, the hair sheds, goes into a resting phase called telogen, then comes back. It goes back to the anagen phase, then it regrows in a way that is more naturally contiguous or continuous with your existing hair. In this case, just waiting makes the most sense.
If you had androgenetic alopecia or hair thinning, then it could be the contrast of transplanted hair with your native hair, which may be a bit of challenge. We see this when we do any transplant, especially in a male with thinning hair. If they have very thin hair, then thicker hair grafts are placed in a way to try to blend in. In that situation, I would recommend a treatment like Hair Regeneration. Hair Regeneration helps people with thinning hair by stopping the progression of their hair loss, regrowing hair that’s not growing, and thickening hair that is thinning. So if your hair is thinning, then Hair Regeneration can help the thinning hair grow a bit thicker and blend with the hair that has this textural difference. This may not be the only or best solution, but it is a strategy of what can happen as you’re waiting for your transplanted hair to blend in a little better.
A lot of our patients come after having a transplant and unfortunately, they’re still thinning  2-3 years later, and they’re looking for an option as an alternative to transplant. For those patients, Hair Regeneration fulfills a very important role so they’re actually able to avoid a second transplant, but it depends on a case-by-case basis.
That said, in your situation, if it’s not about hair thinning, to summarize, you can just wait this out and maybe work with your stylist about managing the hair in way that can optimally blend. Understand that it’s not necessarily permanent. Often, once that hair sheds out through its completion of its natural growth cycle, it may come back looking more like your normal natural hair. Beyond that, if it were an issue of hair thinning, then a strategy to help strengthen your existing hair with a technology like Hair Regeneration will help avoid more contrast with the transplanted hair and your native hair is worth considering. I hope that was helpful, I wish you the best of luck, and thank you for your question.This personalized video answer to your question is posted on RealSelf and on YouTube. To provide you with a personal and expert response, we use the image(s) you submitted on RealSelf in the video, but with respect to your privacy, we only show the body feature in question so you are not personally identifiable. If you prefer not to have your video question visible on YouTube, please contact us.

Sometimes transplanted hair can grow out very frizzy or curly.  It is not common but it can happen.  You need to follow up with your doctor.

It is not unusual for the initial hair growth to come out weird as you have observed. It tends to normalize over time.