Frequently, patients leave the operation with very high expectations. Mainly because patients are not very informed about the hair follicles’ growing phases. Many expect that the transplanted hair will start growing right ahead. As if the grafted follicles were not moved from one place to another. 

Transplanted hair follicles indeed have a very high survival rate thanks to our modern methods. Though this process usually takes a certain time. Hair follicles have 3 different phases, and one of them plays an important role here. The phase we’re talking about is the telogen phase.

The Phases of Hair Growth

When hair-bearing skin faces mild trauma, such as a bruise or a scratch, hair follicles enter this phase to repair themselves. During this phase, your body tries to repair the follicle. Meanwhile, affected hair follicle stops producing hair temporarily. 

Hair transplantation process stresses the recipient tissue a bit too. During the canal opening phase, operators make very small cuts on the skin. These canals are a necessary part of the operation because these small cuts become the new living zone of the transplanted hair. 

The Shock Loss Phenomena

Sometimes, the body responds to this treatment with shedding some or all of the existing hair on transplanted follicles. This loss of hair may be sudden or progressive. At any rate, this is a natural part of the process. And of course, nothing you should worry about. Though, feel free to consult a doctor just in case. 

In the context of hair transplantation, we call this phenomenon a shock loss. Roughly 5-6 per cent of people experience this. Though, there is not much data comparing the rate of shock loss among different hair types or age groups. 

Conclusion

Apart from this, the hair follicles still take a certain amount of time to develop and start growing hair. At around 3 months mark, most patients will not see much hair growing out of their recipient area. Some hair starts showing up after the 6th month. Still, at this time, they won’t be able to provide much coverance. In order to reach the final results, patients have to wait 12-18 months, even longer for some. 

The growth speed of the grafted hair depends on several factors we can influence. There are things you can do to achieve the best possible growth rate. By doing things to keep your venous health well, you can eliminate some setbacks. 

First and foremost, you can help this process via not smoking. We have proven that tobacco consumption affects the regeneration of nearly every type of tissue negatively. Tobacco reduces blood’s capacity to carrying oxygen because of the carbon monoxide it contains. Less oxygen means slower ATP synthesis and in turn, less activity inside the cell.