13 months after hair transplant. The results are not what I was hoping for. Advice on what to do is appreciated.

[Wolfy19]

Dear all,

It's been 13 months since I had 1500 grafts transplanted. 5 years prior to that I had 1450 grafts transplanted while not on hair loss medication. Native hairs kept faling out and I wasn't able to enjoy the results back then.

I started finasteride about 2.5 years before my last hair transplantation and I am grateful for how that has been going. This time everything felt right. I did my research and followed all the steps as one is supposed to do. It is clear that the density does not match the density of the hair behind it at all. I know a hair transplantation is not going to give the same density but it should not be this obvious in my opinion. What I do notice is that when I pull my hair back I actually see quite a few very thin white hairs (vellus hairs) in the recipient area. An area where there was previously no hair so these must be transplanted hairs.

At the moment I am not really considering another hair transplant since I would be using more grafts and based on my experiences the results are not always guaranteed.

The questions that I have that you might be able to answer for me:

1. Should I start applying Minoxidil and will that help to possibly strenghten and thicken those vellus hairs?
2. If the answer to question number 1 is yes, can I and is it useful to only apply minoxidil on the recipient area (the frontal area) or do I need to apply it all over the scalp?
3. Would you advice using a dermaroller? Will I be able to strenghten and thicken the vellus hair by using a dermaroller alone?
4. Are there any other ways to possibly get more out of the last hair transplant?

Out of curiosity I might see how a concealer will make it look but no experience with that.

I have added 3 before and 3 after photos. You might be able to tell the difference due to a few marks on the scalp. I tried to keep the same angles as much as possible.

I appreciate your time.

Thank you.

 

[trialAcc]

It looks like you lost some of the native density since the transplant, which is making the results look worse. If you're already on finasteride then yeah I guess minoxidil and rolling would be your next weapon.

Also, far from an expert or anything but I think 1500 grafts in the area where the line is drawn is cutting it very thin. I've seen a lot of people pack that front band with 2k+

 

[Wolfy19]

It looks like you lost some of the native density since the transplant, which is making the results look worse. If you're already on finasteride then yeah I guess minoxidil and rolling would be your next weapon.

Also, far from an expert or anything but I think 1500 grafts in the area where the line is drawn is cutting it very thin. I've seen a lot of people pack that front band with 2k+

Hi, thanks a lot for your reply. Yes, I actually wondered as well if some of the native hairs were lost in the process. It might actually look like it cause of the lighting since I did not specifically notice it myself. If indeed some of the native hairs were lost, is this something that can be caused by the hair transplant? Since the overall situation seems to have been stable since using finasteride. That’s why I feel even more hesitant to go for another hair transplant.

I also do agree with you that 1500 grafts might not have been enough for that area. Do you think that dermarolling alone would help? Also, if I would consider going for another hair transplant session how many grafts do you think will be sufficient to fill up the area and create a natural look?

Thanks again!