After reading about it and all associated content there’s likely still one major question you more likely have: ‘Does hair transplants actually work?’

The answer is: Yes, hair transplant works. And they also have a higher success rate than other treatments and medications.

Successful hair transplants will result in 10% to 80% of the grafted follicles growing back as thick as regular hair three months after the fact.

This rate of success varies widely due to a couple of factors that you should be mindful about, so your expectations closely match the reality of the procedure and its results.

These factors are:

The state of your hair

A hair transplant procedure removes sets of follicles from somewhere on your body and grafts it into the desired area affected by hair loss. 

The state of the hair removed for transplant is crucial to the procedure and its ultimate chances of success.

• Balding and extensive thinning of the rest of the hair around your body can severely affect the quality of the extracted follicles, and therefore, the chances of growth.
• Presence of deep scar tissue around the scalp due to injuries could prevent the proper grafting of the extracted follicles on the desired area.
• Hair loss due to chemical treatments such as cancer treatment thins the hair so much it reduces its effectiveness greatly as grafts.
• The size of the area to cover will be determinant to the quality of the growth. More area means more grafts that have to be thick enough to sustain a healthy look.
• Presence of dormant hair follicles – follicles that no longer produce any hair of their own – in the area also prevent growth from taking place.

Your Age

Baldness is associated with increased age. It follows then that changes in the growth of hair by transplant are greater for younger patients.

Young patients naturally heal faster, thanks to their more active metabolism. Their robust cardiovascular system also plays a role in hair growth.

Younger patients with healthy cardio have overall the best chances of growing back thicker hair three months after the procedure.

That said, only patients of 25 years of age and above should consider a hair transplant. As younger ages’ hair still hasn’t reached its natural point of initial decay.

Patients over 60 years of age have very little chances of succeeding. The procedure is generally not recommended for them.

Any Unrealistic Expectations

Has very little to do with the procedure but much to do with the patients themselves.

Balding patients that wear hairpieces and wigs tend to expect that the grafted hair will look identical when grown. That is never going to be the case.

Resulting hair grown from the transplant will cover the selected area and look thicker, but never at the level of younger sets of hair.

This is something patients will have to come to terms with, on their own. Going with realistic expectations will provide a happier feeling with the results.