Wondering how successful will be your hair transplant surgery? Or, thinking about the hair growth post-treatment? We have agreed that the most difficult part of a hair transplantation procedure comes after the surgery is done. Most of us frequently look in the mirror to find the results or see changes and this can be very distressing sometimes. Hair transplantation surgery whether done using Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) or Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) technique, is an extremely successful surgery in the majority of people. The catch, obviously, is that one must wait for a few months to get the final desired result.
Generally, the hair growth cycle is normal post hair transplantation, every hair follicle goes through its own cycle. Depending on the position in its cycle, once it is planted it will go through its cycle and grow accordingly. So, gradually hair begins to grow. Although it is very hard to predict the hair growth pattern after transplant operation for every individual patient, an approximate timeline is provided in this write-up for you to understand and get an idea of how hair grows and when it would grow.
Hair ‘growth’ after the hair transplant and the results actually depends on two major factors- ‘popping’ and other is ‘maturation’. Popping means new, transplanted hairs penetrating through the scalp; while maturation refers to the darkening, thickening and naturalization of the new hairs. Thus, we can say that the hair transplant has reached its final stage when all new hairs have popped out of the scalp and every hair has matured in thickness, darkness and normalized texture.
After hair being transplanted, the follicles go into their natural resting phase. The tiny hairs in the follicles fall off within the next 2 to 4 weeks after the surgery, and no new hair is seen until the next 3 months when the hair follicles awake. The newer follicles wake and start growing hairs at the third month, changes are seen till the 12th month and many times even up to the 18th-month post-surgery. Thus, the full hair growth and appearance of hair transplantation is not complete till a year, or sometimes even a year and a half.
Let us see in detail how the popping of new hair transplanted progresses monthly:
By the 3rd month, the new hair starts ‘popping’ through the scalp. By the time the 3rd month ends, nearly 30% of the hairs are penetrated through the scalp. By month 4, 40% come through and by month 5, 50% come through. Likewise, by 6 months, about 60 to 70% of the hairs are fully popped through the scalp. By the time it’s 9 months, 90 to 100% of hairs are penetrated through the scalp, and most of the hair transplant changes from that point are because of maturation.
Maturation like mentioned earlier refers to, thickening, darkening and normalizing of the new hair that is transplanted. When the new hairs penetrate through the scalp around 3 to 5 months, they are very short, thin, transparent and wispy. This is also referred to as an “immature” phase or appearance. By month 6, the result is considered to be 40 to 50% matured. At this time, many patients are happy to see the real surgery effect. However, the new hair is still in the immature phase. Still, the hairs are thinner than the native hair, and also they appear somewhat kinky and wiry- though this is a temporary texture that will normalize with time.
While most patients are quite happy with the 6 monthly results, they must note that this is only “halfway” to the overall final results. Only about 70% of new hairs have penetrated the scalp, and those also are very thin and frizzy as compared to the native hair. Even at the 8th month, hairs tend to look thin and wiry. Later, between the 9th to 12th months, the final maturation of hair begins. At this stage, almost all hairs are penetrated through the scalp, and they also look thick, dark and the texture is also normalised to match the rest of the native hair.
So, most patients see full-grown hair after 12 months of a hair transplant surgery. 100% of the hairs are penetrated through the scalp and they look fully thickened, darkened and smoothen-out. However, make a note, that this lifecycle and time of hair growth is just a rough calculation. Few patients grow hair quicker, while few may grow slowly. Simply because you find yourself behind or ahead of the curve does not mean your results are good or bad. It simply means few may take more time or less time to get the final effect. Since every patient has different anatomy, the hair growth will be different in each patient. This is the reason why hair most transplant doctors wait till the 18th month to make a final analysis of results.
A lot of patients do see changes up to 18 months, so do not get disheartened if your doctor believes that your hair is still “immature” and that they have room to grow even beyond 12 months. This is specifically in the case of patients who undergo hair transplants in the centre or crown area of the scalp. These areas of the scalp show slower growth and maturation than those in the frontline, and many experts believe that it takes complete 18n months to see fully-grown hair in these regions.
Patients must remember that this is just a rough guideline and this write-up is just to give you a hint of what to expect if you are thinking of having a hair transplant done or already going through the recovery process post-surgery. All patients are different and will grow differently, and it is the final result that matters and not the journey of hair transplantation. You need to just hang on, trust the doctor, trust the procedure and wait for the magic to unveil. Wish you luck with your hair transplant surgery!