Hair Loss after Hair Transplant Surgery: Where Did All My Grafts Go?

I had a hair transplant almost one and a half months ago. I took extreme care, however all the hairs shed away within the first month. Now I look pretty much as before. After one month I also had a few cigarettes (1 per day). Kindly suggest whether I will get visible results or not as it is really depressing for me.

I’m always surprised when recent hair restoration patients request information about the hair growth timeline after surgery. Your hair restoration physician should have discussed with you when to expect visible results. One and half months is much too early to be looking for new hair growth.

In the first weeks after surgery, it is perfectly normal and expected for the newly transplanted follicles to shed. Given that some patients also experience additional shock loss, it’s common for some to appear even balder during this time than they did prior to the procedure. But, I assure that this hair loss is temporary.

New hair growth should begin to appear between the third and fourth month post-op. However, all of your grafts will not begin to grow at the same time. Instead, the new growth may appear fine and uneven. Don’t worry. It will eventually fill in but the final results will take one full year to materialize.

While smoking can have a negative impact on the healing process, I highly doubt that one cigarette per day beginning one math post-op will affect your results.

Try to keep your mind off of your transplant as much as possible during this early phase. You’ll be surprised how fast time will fly and, before you know it, you’ll have a nice new head of hair.

David (TakingThePlunge)
Editorial Assistant and Forum Co-Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q & A Blog.
To share ideas with other hair loss sufferers visit the hair loss forum and social community

Technorati Tags: hair transplant, hair restoration, hair growth, hair loss