When you’ve had hair transplant surgery, it’s natural to be eager to see results. Hair transplant recovery and hair regrowth is a slow process, so you’ll need to be patient. It’s important to keep in mind that sustained new hair growth can take anywhere from 6 months to more than a year [1]. 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 how to speed up the hair growth process and ensure great results.
Hair follicles go through 4 distinct stages. 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 [2].
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.
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.
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.
Transplanted hair grafts begin to shed — your hair may look like it did before your transplant (this is expected and completely normal!)
Final results —hair that has been transplanted is now full, thick, and natural-looking
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
You will see some scabbing along your new hairline in the first few days after your hair transplant. Learn more about how to deal with hair transplant scabs.
It’s essential to take care of your new grafts at this time 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.
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.
This patient has sustained, natural-looking growth across the temples 9 months after his hair transplant procedure.
Image credit: Med J Armed Forces India
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.
Here are some of the results we’ve achieved at the Wimpole Clinic approximately one year after the FUE procedure.
To maximise the chances of achieving great results (and potentially speeding up the 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.
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