Hair Transplant Regrowth Stages
Several thousands men and women in India suffer from androgenetic alopecia or pattern baldness. It takes a real toll on their appearance as well as their confidence along with their social skills.
But with the help of procedures like FUE or Follicular Unit Extraction and other transplantation methods, the patients can have a natural and seamless appearance with their hair slowly starting to grow again.
In this article, we will describe the stages of hair growth following a transplantation procedure.
First Telogen
Now, it could come as a surprise, but the first of the hair transplant phases is for your hair to start shedding. In the transplantation process, the surgeon extracts short hair follicles from one part of your head or other donor area and implants them onto your scalp.
During this process, the strands come under a lot of stress, due to which they start shedding. But don’t worry, the shedding is just these follicles making way for healthy hair regrowth.
Depending on your health and personal hair growth speed, this stage usually lasts for around two weeks. But in some cases, the patient would experience this stage for even four months.
Anagen
Then among the hair transplant recovery stages is the Anagen stage, or as it is commonly known, the growth stage. During this stage, you will start seeing hair growth.
Also, your surgeon would be able to understand at this point whether you require more hair grafts or not. After the telogen stage ends, your hair follicles will start producing hair, which will grow at the rate your normal hair typically grows.
Although the growth rate for everyone is different depending on several factors, the typical rate at which they tend to grow is around half an inch to 2 centimetres every month. The anagen stage of hair transplant lasts for around 2 to 6 years, depending on the particular patient.
Catagen
Then among the hair transplant hair growth stages is the catagen stage. In this stage, your hair growth will stop. Although your hair follicles will become dormant and effectively reach a standstill in this stage, you won’t experience hair loss.
It will last for roughly around two weeks, and then you’ll move on to the next and the last of the hair transplant growth stages.
Second Telogen
Last among the stages after a hair transplant is the second telogen. Depending on the patient, it will last for around 3 to 4 months. In this period, you will experience some shedding.
But don’t worry, it’s relatively common and not going to be noticeable. Only a tiny amount of your hair will be at this stage. Others will either be in their growth phase or the catagen phase.
It will then lead to an extension of the telogen phase, also known as the exogen phase, where your old hair will be shedding, and new hair will simultaneously be growing.
If you are looking to regain your lost confidence due to hair loss and understand the stages of hair growth after a hair transplant, you might want to consult with the experts at ALCS India.
First 3 Months In Your Hair Transplant Procedure
The first few months can be highly frustrating, as you expect, but you don’t see your desired results. But there is a silver lining, and to show you, we’ll look at the recipient and donor areas separately.
- Recipient Area Growth: The hair in your recipient area will start shedding 4 to 5 days after the hair transplantation. The doctor might alarm you about this phase during the consultation or before the start of the procedure. So you might want to expect it rather than being alarmed. If you are thinking, “Oh my god! why is my hair falling even after having a hair transplant?” don’t worry. Your hair goes through a cycle of shedding and growing. The hair transplantation induces what the experts call “shock loss”, where your hair follicles shed, and your hair enters an inactive phase. It doesn’t mean that you have hair loss. The follicles shed to start the hair growth after the end of the dormant cycle. After that, it will take your hair about 2 to 2.5 months to enter the telogen resting stage.
- Donor Area Growth: Since your donor area doesn’t experience any shock loss, it starts growing again almost immediately after the transplant. So there will be hair growth in your donor area in just about a week.
The hair growth rate in donor and recipient areas differs from person to person, depending on several factors.
After 9 To 12 Months Of Hair Transplant
Your hair will start and continue to thicken through this phase, so it might be a good time to start hair styling. But you might not want to use a trimmer or buzz-cut machine on the donor area for at least 12 months after the procedure. But using a scissor for the haircut would be alright after around a month.
When it comes to the donor area, you can style it in around a week to a week and a half. In most cases, the recovery completes after around 12 months. So the follow-ups are scheduled after that. But as mentioned earlier, your hair growth might differ in the timeline.
Also, older patients usually see the results slower than younger ones.
If you have any other queries regarding the post hair transplant stages, you might want to consult with the experts at ALCS India. So book your appointment for a consultation with Dr Sunil Arora today!