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Hi Dr Rassman

I was just wondering if you could explain why grafts enter a dormant phase immediately after being transplanted, and only start recovering after 8-10 months?

I’d also be interested to know why they initially grow back much finer, and then thicken up later. Essentially the follicle itself hasn’t changed, so why does the hair diameter it produces fluctuate in this way?

Many thanks

I do not know why there is a dormant phase after a hair transplant. To put it simply, when you have hair transplant surgery, your follicle was removed from your body, handled, cut, manipulated, put in solutions, manipulated some more, and put back into another new location on your body. If I was that follicle and I survived all of that, I’d be traumatized and go dormant for awhile. In all seriousness though, I do not have a professorial explanation.

The simple fact is that most follicles go dormant (telogen) and start to regrow in a period of 3 to 12 months. Most patients see results starting on the 6th month to 12th month. Some lucky minority of patients (< 5%) see results within a month! This is what we have observed over the last 20 years in thousands of patients.

It’s been 2.5 month after my hair transplant but i got the habit of scratching my scalp during the night and i have bought a hand glove just to prevent it, however sometimes it still happen, i got blood in the morning

is it possible for me to lost the graft at 2.5 month with scratching? i have encounter this at least 8 times and i really scare i will ruined all the transplanted graft starting 1 month post op

please advice

In general, I doubt you would lose grafts after 2.5 months (or even 1 month). In fact, it’s rather strange to hear you have bleeding that far out from surgery! Follow up with your surgeon for an examination if you are concerned.

Greetings Doctor,

I recently had an FUE procedure that involved 2,500 grafts, about two months ago. I’m a bit concerned as I went through some personal matters that caused high levels of depression; all within the same week I had the procedure.

No grafts popped and the scalp healed well, however is it possible that due to the depression, that it could affect the outcome? Is it a possibility, that I developed Telogen effluvium and caused some of the grafts to become void?

I’m just concerned as this procedure costed a pretty penny. Thank you for your time and patience, Doctor.

Why are you not asking this question to your surgeon? Have an open line of communication with your doctor, especially in the months following your surgery.

An FUE procedure of 2500 grafts is a very high number of grafts for anyone and I am always cautious when I hear patients having those numbers. In the end, only time will tell how your outcome will be. At least take some comfort in the fact that depression and emotional stress will not impact the growth or outcome.

This is a patient only a few months following surgery of 1622 grafts. He had grafts transplanted to the hairline and sideburns, and while it is unusual to have this much growth at only 4 months, I expect it will get even fuller over the next 4 months. I’m often asked what a hair transplant will look like at various monthly intervals until it is fully grown in, so I wanted to show a unique case.

After only 4 months (1 procedure of 1622 grafts):

Before:

How long after a HT do you think i would have to wait before i could climb 14,000 feet mountains again?

Give it a week or so, then whenever you feel ready after that should be fine! I generally tell people that they could even run a marathon a week after a hair transplant. One man thought that was great, because he never was able to run a marathon before he had a hair transplant.

Is it safe to use minoxigel 5% after hair transplantation? my transplanted hair falling down. its just second month after my transplantation.

It’s very common for transplanted hair to fall out after the surgery and go through a dormant phase. It will regrow in a few months. Talk to your surgeon about aftercare. I’m surprised your doctor didn’t explain what to expect following your hair transplant.

I’m not familiar with minoxigel (unless you mean minoxidil), but if you’re two months out of surgery it should be safe.

My question is about coping with hair transplants. It seems like one of the biggest challenges/inconvenience of transplants is for patients to go out in public and resume their daily responsibilities after surgery because of the physical appearance of the scalp and how it initially is red, scabby, and punctured after surgery. I find this a very unappealing aspect about transplants and Im wondering how do patients cope considering the gruesome appearance of the scalp after surgery- do they take time off work and just lock themselves in their house until their scalp starts healing?

The scabbing can be easily addressed with good techniques and small wounds by the surgeon. Add good daily washes and most patients will have no significant crusting after the surgery. Everyone is different, but in regards to redness, only a few patients develop this. You can usually find out if you are one of them by performing a scratch test on the skin of your forehead. If it turns red 2-5 minutes after the scratch is performed, then you run a high risk of redness after surgery. The scratch incites histamine release at the skin level.

Remember, no matter how you want to look at it, a hair transplant is a cosmetic surgery. Just like any nose job, face lift, etc, there will be healing time needed. Some patients might get permission to wear a hat to work, others might adopt a new styling method to cover any initial redness from the surgery. Many of our patients go back to work fairly quickly after surgery (usually 2-5 days).

Hi there,
Im 8 weeks post op…I had 4200 grafts done…Everything went well and i seem to have had no problems at all really other than my head feels like i have sunburn…It only stings for a few second if i touch it,other than that its not sore….Just wanted to see if thats normal? Would greatly appreciate your advice on this…Thanks

At 8 weeks after your hair transplant, you should feel normal without pain. I suggest that you see your surgeon and get his opinion.

I just had a hair transplant procedure performed on 12-06-11. I was given one of those surgical caps to wear on my head to help shield my scalp, but my scalp was still bleeding a little. I went to sleep with the cap on and woke up the next day trying to remove the cap. I could not remove the front part of the cap because the blood had dried up and become stuck to some of the areas where the grafts had been put in. I tried pulling gently on the cap that was stuck to the area where some of my grafts where placed and managed to pull it off but it came off with a good amount of scab and what I believe to be a single hair follicle.

Now I am worried that I ruined my hair line and the surgeon may not be able to do anything about it. Is it possible to have another hair follicle out in to replace the one that i accidently removed?

A surgical cap should never be worn to cover the grafts, for as you said, this could be a problem.

You should ask your doctor about the loss of grafts. If you only lost one graft, then consider yourself lucky.

When is it ok to have hot baths after a hair transplant without effecting new hair growth?

Always ask your doctor about post operative instructions, as certain doctors are particular about their post operative regimen. If you want to have a hot bath a couple of days after a hair transplant, go for it… just do not submerge your head.