If you are planning to undergo a hair transplant in Mumbai, it’s normal to have many questions about what results you can expect – and when you can expect them. Here, we have outlined a comprehensive timeline of what patients may expect to see and when.
What is the process of hair growth?
A brief explanation of how hair grows is necessary to understand the hair transplant timeline completely. Hair grows in four stages: anagen, catagen, telogen, and exogen.
Anagen
Also known as the growth phase, this is when the hairs emerge from the scalp and begin to grow. It is estimated that 85-90% of scalp hairs are in anagen at any given time.
- Catagen
Hair follicles shrink during catagen and detach from their blood supply. Typically, this phase lasts about two weeks and only affects about 1% of hairs at a time.
- Telogen
This is known as the resting phase, in which the hairs sit relatively loosely on the scalp and remain dormant for approximately four months. The resting phase typically accounts for 10-15% of hair at any given time.
- Exogen
Eventually, new hairs grow, and the dormant hair is shed. The loss of 50-100 hairs a day is expected during this phase.
In some patients with pattern baldness (androgenetic alopecia), the hair follicles in particular parts of the scalp stop entering anagen, preventing new hair growth. In a DHI or FUE hair transplant, healthy hair follicles are removed from an area unaffected by this balding (typically at the back of the head) before being implanted one by one into the recipient area.
Hair Transplant Timeline
- 1 Week
It is normal to experience swelling, itching, and/or burning at the recipient and/or donor sites following your hair transplant procedure. The recipient area will be quite red during the operation due to the large number of channels created.
Donor areas usually recover within a few days, while recipient areas may take up to two weeks.
- 2 Weeks
Swelling and redness should have subsided largely after approximately 6-10 days. The recipient area will then start to scab over. During this phase, you should avoid scratching or picking the healing site. You will receive detailed instructions for hair care during this phase from your hair transplant doctors.
- 1 Month
After a hair transplant surgery, new hairs will begin to fall out between the third and fourth week. Known as “shock loss”, this is an expected part of the healing process. A hair transplant procedure is traumatizing to the hair follicles and triggers the catagen phase, followed shortly by telogen and exogen.
- 2 Months
The newly transplanted hair is now healthy and securely embedded in the scalp. Now the hairs enter a resting phase that can last up to two months. At this point, you will look like you did before surgery.
- 4-6 Months
Hair will enter the anagen phase during this period, and new hair will grow. At first, the new hairs will be thin, but they will become thicker as they grow.
- 9 Months
The donor area should be fully healed at this time. You can groom the newly transplanted hairs once they are up to 3″ long. This is the time when the hair will change to a final texture and become thicker.
- 12-18 Months
After a hair transplant surgery, final results will be visible within 12-18 months. This varies from patient to patient.