The Hair Transplant Process & Hair Attrition
Just as there are a lot of good reasons for submitting to and success with any surgical procedure, there are several other factors to consider. Hair attrition is one such condition that we evaluate and concern ourselves with before and during the hair transplant procedure. Hair attrition is a situation where a percentage of the hair that has been prepared to be transplanted “dies-off”. This attrition occurs before the hair is transplanted back into the scalp, but has been removed from the donor site. Typically, procedures lasting longer than 6 hours result in a higher percent of hair attrition compared to procedures running less than 6 hours. Because the hair is removed for such a long period of time, the nutrients and oxygen the body provides the hair runs out and the hair dies.
For this reason, it is always important for the surgical team to understand their patient and the patient to understand the procedure. This hair attrition occurs before transplanting is complete and shouldn’t be confused with the natural shedding that happens after a hair transplant procedure.
Transplanted hair generally sheds in 90% of people and a patient may not see any ‘new’ growth for about 3 – 6 months after the hair transplant surgery; depending on his or her’s own physiology. Most however, start seeing the transplanted hair start to grow after two to three months. This growth will be visibly apparent for those individuals who do not have any hair at all or have a a hair style where the hair is cut low.
It can be hard to stay patient and not get too anxious to see the final result, but the body works at it’s own pace – no one can rush the growth of hair grafts.
