Existing hair loss after hair transplant. Does it stop?

Existing hair loss after hair transplant, will it stop?

I have some good news and I have some bad news. The good news is, although you will experience hair loss in the existing hair grafts after your hair transplant, this is only temporary. 

These hair follicle grafts will grow back and they will in fact grow back just as thick and full as they had in the areas they were extracted from. 

The bad news is that your current hair loss, including your existing hair loss in areas that have not had a hair transplant, will continue to experience hair loss in those areas.

Let’s look into this further as well as answer some additional questions related to existing hair loss after a transplant.

What is shock loss after hair transplant?

Shock loss after a hair transplant is when there are some complications that occur in either the recipient and/or donor areas of a hair transplant. 

These complications include hair loss not only in the extracted and replanted hair follicle grafts, but also in the surrounding areas as well.

Is hair falling out with scabs after a hair transplant normal?

If you’re noticing your hair falling out along with the scabs after a hair transplant, then this is a perfectly normal occurrence. In fact, it’s a great sign that the hair transplant has taken well to the recipient areas. 

The reason why the hair is falling out with scabs after your transplant is because the scabs are healing. Just like when you scrape your knee or your elbow, scabbing is a part of the healing process. 

Whenever there is an incision into the skin, part of the healing process is scabbing, regardless of how small or wide that incision is. 

Hair falling out after a hair transplant along with the scabbing means that the transplanted hair follicles have lost their original blood supply. 

As new blood vessels reattach themselves during the healing process, they will also deliver blood to the newly transplanted hair follicles. 

Once the hair transplant grafts have healed and the blood supplies are reattached, they will also begin to grow again.

Is transplanted hair affected by DHT?

Transplanted hair is not affected by either DHT or male pattern baldness in general. This is why choosing your donor hair is very important. 

You see, donor hair is normally taken from the back and sides of your scalp that aren’t affected by male pattern baldness, nor the effects of DHT. 

Therefore, when those hair follicles are transplanted into the balding areas of your scalp, they too are not affected by male pattern baldness nor DHT as well.

Does hair regrow in the donor area?

Hair does not regrow in the areas where the donor grafts have been taken. That is because the donor hair is taken along with the hair follicles. 

Unfortunately, hair follicles do not replicate themselves once they are taken. You are simply left with scar tissue in the donor areas. And no hair can grow from them.

Will my balding continue after my hair transplant?

Your balding will continue after your hair transplant just as it had before. 

However, it will only continue in the areas that are still susceptible to male pattern baldness and have not been replanted with donor hair from the back or sides of your head. 

Having a hair transplant does not prevent further balding from continuing even after the procedures are done.

How can I prevent hair loss after hair transplant?

Unfortunately, at this time there is very little you can do to prevent hair loss even after a hair transplant. 

However, there are hair loss treatments that you can continue using like minoxidil and propecia that are the only two FDA approved drugs to treat male pattern baldness.

You must realize that these two drugs also have their limitations as well. 

But those are the only two treatments that you have as of right now that have been proven to regrow hair and to slow down hair loss.

How can I hide my head after a hair transplant?

You can hide your head after a hair transplant by simply wearing a hat. 

Many hair transplant clinics will actually give you a hat to put over any bandaging you may have. 

However, with the more modern and newer techniques like the FUE hair transplants, they are becoming less and less invasive. 

This means that once you remove the bandaging you pretty much can come over the recipient and donor areas with your existing hair. If that fails to cover those areas sufficiently, you may be able to use some styling products like sprays or even hair fibers.

Though I would refrain from using hair fibers over areas that are still in the process of healing. 

It’s always best to consult your hair transplant surgeon as far as your options for covering your head after a hair transplant procedure.

Existing hair loss after hair transplant summary.

Although hair transplantation has improved greatly over the last 15 years, they still don’t prevent existing hair loss from continuing after your hair transplant has been performed. 

Your hair loss and male pattern baldness will continue as it was programmed into your DNA from the moment of your conception. 

How far it goes, like the spinning of a roulette wheel, nobody knows. 

So my best advice on getting a hair transplant is wait until you’re a little older, perhaps in your late 30s or early 40s.

I know if you’re young, perhaps you’re in your early twenties and you’re balding, a hair transplant seems like the best option, but it really isn’t. 

Because your existing hair loss will continue even after your hair transplant. This means further down the road you will not have enough donor hair available to sufficiently cover your future balding areas. 

It’s better to let your hair recede as far back as you can until you’re old enough to see a reputable hair transplant surgeon. They will then have much more donor hair to work with on top of your age.

Your age will be an asset and a real benefit if you wait until you are older because you will have a more mature hairline, which is normally further back than someone in their 20s. 

With a hairline that is naturally further back it will give the hair transplant surgeon much more flexibility to recreate not only your frontal hairline, but better fullness and thickness up top. 

So if you can guys, wait. Because your existing hair loss will continue even after your hair transplant.