Patience is said to be a virtue. However, a lot of patients would have mixed emotions of excitement and even worries about how the hair transplant would turn out.
Well, the hardest part of any cosmetic surgery like a hair transplant is after the surgery is done.
This is the time where you have to wait and see what happens next. Well, there are no instant results with hair transplants.
It’s a relief to know that any hair transplant procedure – FUE or DIH – has a 90% success rate. However, you would really have to wait for several months to see the final results.
The Hair Growth Process Following Hair Transplant
Your hair grows in so-called follicular units. Each one would grow typically around 1 to 3 hair strands. Each graft would usually include small amounts of hair.
Shedding Phase
After the transplant procedure, these small hairs would eventually fall out in the course of the week. This is the shedding phase.
This usually happens because the follicular units experience shock or are stunned right after transplantation. These transplanted hairs would shed within 3 weeks following a hair transplant.
Telogen Phase
After that, the transplanted hair would go into sleep or snooze mode and would not continue producing hair. This sleep period would usually differ from one person to another.
Anagen Phase
Given some time, the follicular unit will gain familiarity with the new region of the scalp and would start new hair growth. This would usually take around 3 to 6 months to produce new hair.
The first hair would usually be very fine or like a baby’s hair and then that would be replaced by a much thicker and fully mature hair.
Your hair will show up in as early as 2 to 3 months following the procedure. However, full hair growth is achieved after 9 to 12 months.
The first two weeks following the hair transplant procedure are considered critical phases. Scabbing may appear. You would see dried up skin or crusts, which means the incisions have healed completely.
A crew-cut or thin type of hair would appear by the end of the second week. In the 6th month, the anagen phase begins. This would continue until the 9th month.
The hair would undergo changes in texture and would be thicker than normal. This clearly shows that everything is going as planned.
Patients would normally see around 80% of the hair transplant results in the 10th month. After 1 year, you will now get to see full results in terms of density and volume.
Knowing the hair growth phase and the postoperative course of hair transplant procedures would help you grasp the entire process. While the waiting game can be pretty tedious, you really have to patient to see the complete results.
There is no overnight success or magic when it comes to hair transplants. Talking to the right surgeon would definitely help you be more comfortable and confident in the entire process and phases following a hair transplant.