Do Hair Transplant Results Hold Up Over Time?

The following response to a question from the Hair Restoration Social Community and Discussion Forums, was written by forum member “Gillenator”.

I don’t see a lot posts from guys who had their hair transplants 5 or more years ago. I’ve read a lot of info online about guys seem to be unhappy after 5 years post post hair transplant. I know a lot of that is because of not seeing a good hair restoration physician but is it because of unhappiness?

The toughest thing to do is to predict one’s future hair loss and how extensive it may become over time. Yes we have family history yet there are variations person to person.

One thing I have noticed over the past four decades is that one’s so-called safe zone can change over time, meaning, the phenomenon of donor zone thinning. Yet this is not always associated with DHT related loss for everyone.

For example, an individual in their twenties can have their donor zone microscopically examined and the doctor may typically find little to no miniaturization confirming a broad safe zone. Yet once the same individual reaches their forties, there can be changes to their safe zone. Miniaturization shows up in areas where it did not before. So yes, in my opinion, the so-called safe zone can reduce over time as the individual ages.

Does this happen to everyone? No. In fact, take the time over the next several weeks to observe men over the age of fifty and you will see that roughly 65% of them if not more have overall thinning to some degree. Yet there are some who never have any thinning whatsoever. I know of some men in their sixties who lost all color (pigmentation) but still have a strong head of hair both in terms of density and hair caliber.

We do know that DHT deposits in the scalp. Does the DHT enriched sebum move to the donor area (occipital zone) over time? Possibly.

Also, in my own case, my overall density is not what it was 30 years ago. My father never had male pattern baldness (MPB) and he had the most dense head of hair without any recession to his hairline until he reached his mid-sixties. Although he retained his hairline, his overall density thinned out quite a bit and then in his seventies, considerably more.

I am keeping an eye on my older brother who is 62 and has the head of hair that my father had. However, my brother’s hair has not thinned out at all and still looks like he did in his thirties.

I can clearly see that my past grafts (6900) have lost some degree of caliber over time but not much in terms of density.

Yet having my first procedure in 1996, I have to say that I have no regrets and am still thankful for having decent coverage at age 60. There is no doubt in my mind that I would have no hairline at all and would probably be a true Norwood Scale 6 if not for the four hair restoration procedures along with taking low dose Propecia (finasteride) for the past 19 years.

Gillenator
Supporting Hair Restoration Physicians: Dr. Glenn Charles, Boca Raton, FL – Dr. Jerry Cooley, Charlotte, NC – Dr. Jim Harris, Denver, CO – Dr. Robert True & Dr. Robert Dorin, New York, NY

—-
David
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.

Technorati Tags: hair transplants, hair transplant, hair loss, DHT, male pattern baldness, MPB, Norwood Scale, hair restoration, Propecia, finasteride