Almost 9 months after my second hair transplant. Should I be worried about my current results? (Photo)

Question

Are these results adequate? This is my second operation and I still feel like I have a thinning like appearance. I'm almost 9 months into the second procedure.

John Diep, MD · Answer

Full hair density 12-18th months. If not improvement by the 18th months, then you might consider another hair transplant surgery.

George Abrahamian, MD · Answer

Hello, Dr. George Abrahamian MD here, from La FUE Hair Clinic in Pasadena, CA. One of the most frequent questions I encounter from my patients after FUE Hair Transplants, is "are my results normal?", whether it is 2 months or 12 months after procedure. There are many factors that can impact the final result of a hair transplant procedure, ranging from internal (such as overall health, diabetes, hypertension, etc), external factors (such as the after care for the transplanted grafts, nicotine consumption, recreational drug use, etc), and technique/density/angles used at the time of transplant. 
Approximately 15% of transplanted growth is seen at around 3 months, 50% growth is seen around 6 months, and 80% growth is seen at the 1 year mark. It can take up to 14-16 months to see the full extent of your hair transplant results. That being said, many patients require multiple transplants to achieve the density they want. 
The density with which the clinic implants the grafts is one of the biggest factors that impacts the final density of the transplant. On average, there are approximately 100-200 hairs per centimeter square, which translates to approximately 70-100 follicular units per centimeter square. If natural density starts at approximately 70 grafts per cm square, and the clinic uses a number lower than that (35-50 grafts/cm square for example), the results may not appears dense as the natural non transplanted hair surrounding the area worked on. In these cases, a second transplant may be appropriate to add density to the area that is mismatched with the surrounding area.
The best time to evaluate your hair transplant results is at the 1 year mark. At this point you should see the majority of your results, and have a much clearer idea of whether or not you need a supplementary transplant to improve the overall density. You are currently near your 8 month mark, so you have another 30-35% density that should still come through. If after 1 year the density is not where you want it, then reevaluation and supplementary grafts can be considered at that time. 
I hope this helps, and best of luck on your hair restoration journey!

Matt Tahsini, MD · Answer

Hello and thank you for your question. Your results don't look too bad to me. One thing you need to be aware of is if you are considering another transplant you need to think about your donor area. Another thing to think about is you won't really see final results for up to 18 months after the transplant so you might need to be patient a while longer. I hope this helps. Best of luck to you.

Dr. T

Dr. T

John Peter Cole, MD · Answer

The photos of your parts are overexposed making it difficult to determine the true densities in these photos. What is concern is your hairline design. In these photos, you appear to be Caucasian. Your current hairline design is that of an Asian, African American, or female. The problem with this design is it is very aggressive. As you continue to lose more hair, you will constantly be chasing this low broad hairline. My major concern is not the appearance now, but the appearance 30 years from now. If your hair loss picks up substantially, you will eventually run out of donor and could possibly end up with a Joe Biden appearance. He has a low hairline and nothing behind it. You can avoid this by getting on medication like topical finasteride or pursuing a regenerative medicine protocol.

Audrey G. Bauer, MD · Answer

This question is nearly impossible to answer without the following information:  Preop photos from both case #1 and #2, number of grafts used in each procedure.

Overall though, you have a very nice looking result and to the untrained eye, I doubt most people would think you had anything done.  Its important to understand (and I emphasize preop to all my patients) that there is almost always some "density mismatch" in transplanted areas.  It's very difficult to get the same high density in the area of the new grafts that the patient has in their donor or native hair.  But the fact that you have to part the hair to see scalp bodes well for your final results. I hope this helps.

Almost 9 months after my second hair transplant. Should I be worried about my current results? (Photo)

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Answers (5)

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