My Grafts Started Growing a Month After My Transplant, Then Stopped

Dear Dr. Rassman/other doctors at Balding Blog,

I have gone through a FUE hair transplant 2 months ago and I have some concerns. I appreciate and look forward to your answers. (I have directed them to my surgeon already and just want to get a second opinion from a reputable source)

Around 1100 grafts were transplanted to my temporal area (to fill up the balding area in my left and right front part of my head). A few days after the FUE surgery, I noticed that all my grafts were around 2mm long. It has been 2 months since the surgery, and I noticed that around 5% of the grafts kept growing (at 2 months now, they are around 2cm long). At the 4-week mark, around 85% of the grafts have grown to 5-6 mm long but have stopped growing since then (so they experienced no growths since 4 weeks ago) and 10% of the grafts never grow at all since the surgery (still at their original transplanted 2 mm length).

Would you please tell me if the above situation normal or not? Assuming the 5% that keep growing will still continue to grow, for the rest of the transplanted hairs, after they shred, will they come back? I am a bit concerned that for the 10% that experienced no growth at all since the surgery, they will never come back after shredding. And is it normal for around 85% of the transplanted hairs to grow from around 2mm to 5mm after a month, then stop growing at the 1-month mark and begin their shredding phase and then come back a few months later?

Thanks.

Sometimes after a hair transplant surgery it may seem like the hairs are growing a few millimeters, but they are usually just hairs being pushed out before they fall out (since a hair shaft can be as long as 5mm beneath your scalp). If you gently tug on those hairs you may notice how easily they come out. Otherwise, I suppose anything is possible.

With regard to your observations on the rate of growth, I would wait another 2-3 months and then reassess your situation, hopefully with your doctor. At that time, please feel free to send me a follow-up if you’d like to update our readers.