When you’ve had hair transplant surgery, it’s natural to be eager to see results. But the hair transplant timeline often takes a year or more, so you’ll need to be patient when waiting for your hair transplant results to kick in.
Sustained new hair growth can take anywhere from 6 months to more than a year [1]. But that said, most hair transplant patients see more than half of their new transplanted hair grafts start to grow after 6 to 9 months, leading to visibly thicker hair [2].
When your hair transplant surgery is complete and your grafts have settled in, you’ll soon notice some changes around your new hairline.
Find out how long it takes to see new hair growth after hair restoration surgery in our hair transplant growth chart. Learn what to expect month by month and how to speed up the hair growth process post-transplant.
Hair follicles go through 4 distinct stages as they grow new hair. This is known as the hair growth cycle. The stages are as follows:
Each cycle usually takes around 3-7 years to complete, with your hair in the anagen phase for most of this time. The transition phase lasts around 10 days, and telogen/exogen typically lasts around 3-5 months [3].
In a hair transplant operation, healthy hair follicles that are still part of the growth cycle are used to replace follicles that no longer produce hair. Learn more about how hair transplants work.
This hair transplant growth chart shows how much new hair growth you can expect to see at each stage of your post-hair transplant recovery. Be aware that everyone’s hair grows at different rates. While the hair transplant timeline given here is typical, you may see faster or slower growth of new hair after your own hair transplant.
In addition to the hair transplant growth chart above, these images will help you know what to expect in the days, weeks, and months after your hair transplant.
Image credit: We Grow Hair Indy; Nashville Hair Doctor
The day after surgery, your hair grafts will look similar to the day before, although they should have begun to form hair transplant scabs.
FUE patients will find that their donor wounds heal much more quickly than those with FUT. FUE patients can remove the gauze covering their donor area by dampening it and peeling it away from the skin, being careful not to get the hair grafts wet.
You may see slight differences depending on the medication you’re taking to promote healing. These FUE hair transplant close-up photos give an indication of a healthy-looking donor area the day after surgery [4]:
FUT patients will have stitches in the donor area. These will dissolve by themselves after a few weeks, leaving a small but visible scar.
It’s essential to take care of your new grafts from day 1 to give them the best chance of taking root. That means taking any medications as prescribed and avoiding vigorous exercise. Find out when you can work out after a hair transplant.
It’s important to take some downtime this week. Avoid strenuous exercise, get plenty of rest, and eat healthily to promote fast recovery. Continue following your surgeon’s aftercare advice:
A couple of weeks to a month after your procedure, you may start to see your hair grafts falling out. This can be alarming if you’re not expecting it but try not to worry! Post-transplant shock hair loss occurs in almost all hair transplant patients around this time. It happens as a result of the trauma to your transplanted hair follicles during surgery.
Hair graft shedding is a normal part of the post-transplant hair regrowth process. You may notice individual grafts (pictured below) or small clumps coming away in the shower or on your pillow.
Shedding is part of the hair growth cycle. Many people with healthy hair lose up to 100 hairs per day — so while it can be alarming to see your grafts fall out, this is nothing to worry about. Find out more about what to expect after a hair transplant and prepare yourself for the next few months.
Some hair transplant patients feel a little despondent during this stage of the hair transplant timeline. You may not see much hair growth, and you might even wonder if the transplant has worked. Most patients only see up to 5 mm of new growth within the first 8 weeks.
Everyone’s hair grows at different rates, so even if you see less than this, your newly transplanted hair should start to grow and thicken soon. While it’s still early days, it won’t be long before you start to see sustained permanent growth from your transplanted follicles.
Take a look at some of the early hair growth seen by previous Wimpole Clinic patients in these before and after hair transplant photos:
Around 4 months after your hair transplant, you should start to see some real progress. Patients will see improvements in hair density after their hair transplant, and your new hairline or crown coverage should start to become clearly visible.
Before crown hair transplant and 5 months after surgery (FUE, 1800 grafts) — results start to be visible, though the patient can expect to see thicker coverage than this over the next few months
This is just the beginning. Most patients are only starting to see results around this time, so the hair may look and feel frizzy, thin, or soft. As the hair matures, it will gain the same texture as the rest of your hair, helping it blend in for a natural finish.
This patient has sustained, natural-looking growth across the temples 9 months after his hair transplant procedure.
Image credit: Med J Armed Forces India
More and more of your transplanted hairs are now beginning to grow, creating a thicker head of hair that’s indistinguishable from your original growth.
If you wear your hair long, it will take some time for these new hairs to catch up with the rest. But people with shorter hair should now start to see their new hair blending seamlessly with their existing hair.
Between 6 and 12 months after your transplant, your hair is still settling and growing. But after a year, you should have a good idea of what your final results will look like. Take a look at what to expect from your hair transplant after 1 year.
Here are some of the results we’ve achieved at the Wimpole Clinic approximately one year after the FUE procedure.
Not all patients will see final results after a year. For some, it can take up to 18 months after surgery to see hair transplant growth. By this point in the transplant timeline you’ll have the hair you’ve been dreaming of, so it will be worth the wait.
To maximise the chances of achieving great results (and potentially speeding up the hair transplant recovery process), there are certain precautions and recommendations you should follow.
The first few days are the most important for giving your new grafts the best chance of survival. You’ll be encouraged to take a few days off work to recover from surgery, and minimise the risk of dislodging your grafts. You may also be prescribed antibiotics to prevent hair transplant infection and pain medication to manage any discomfort.
Finasteride is a hair loss prevention drug that is often prescribed to men before or after hair transplantation surgery. It can help prevent you from losing more hair and stimulate growth in both transplanted and non-transplanted hair. Research shows that Finasteride can visibly enhance hair growth after a hair transplant in a huge 94% of patients [4].
Minoxidil is another popular hair loss treatment — but it’s also been shown to encourage post-transplant hair growth while minimising graft shedding [5]. That means your transplanted hair may appear thicker, even in the early days and weeks after your transplant. Using topical Minoxidil after a FUT or FUE hair transplant can also increase hair density and accelerate regrowth [6].
The best way to ensure good, speedy results is to work with a reputable hair transplant clinic. Follicle overharvesting, unskilled surgeons, aggressive hairline design, poor patient selection, and inadequate graft storage are among the most common reasons that hair transplants fail [7]. You can avoid these by choosing a clinic with a qualified, experienced surgeon and an excellent track record of providing quality hair transplants.
If you’re worried that your hair isn’t growing as quickly as it should be, talk to your hair transplant consultant. They’ll be able to examine your current rate of growth and determine if you need additional treatment. If you’re not taking Finasteride or Minoxidil, they may be able to prescribe this to stimulate hair growth.
They can also check you’re not being affected by other types of sudden or temporary hair loss, such as telogen effluvium.
Bath Rugby centre Jonathan Joseph’s hair transplant
Restore your hair with a hair transplant from the Wimpole Clinic. See how we’ve helped our patients achieve a hairline that makes them look and feel confident.
Learn more about the hair transplant timeline and when to expect growth in these frequently asked questions.
The most important aftercare takes place the first 10 days post-surgery. During this time, it’s really important to take it easy and protect your grafts from damage or dislodgement. You should also take steps to sleep in a safe position, wash your hair closely following your clinic’s instructions, and avoid moderate and rigorous exercise.
If everything looks fine with your hair transplant after 10 days, you should be able to return to your normal routine. If you have concerns, talk to the clinic for advice.
Scabs normally disappear 7-10 days post-transplant, while redness can linger a bit longer. Your scalp should look relatively normal around 2 weeks after surgery.
Transplanted follicles grow after hair transplantation because of donor site dominance. Hair at the back and sides of the scalp — which are usually used as donor hair follicles — retain the original texture, growth rate, and period of anagen throughout your life [3].
As a result, transplanted hair isn’t susceptible to the effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), so these follicles won’t be affected by androgenetic alopecia in the same way as follicles at the temples or on the crown of the head.
Yes, itching is very common in the early stages of the hair transplant timeline. It’s very important not to scratch your grafts. You can manage itchiness with over-the-counter antihistamines.
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