The Results to Expect After an FUE Hair Transplant
Waiting for your hair to grow back can be both exciting and frustrating—and we get a lot of questions from patients in the first months after their procedure. We stay in touch with all of our patients during this time, to help them understand what to expect.
It’s very common for our patients to get in touch after four or five months, worried that their new growth isn’t coming yet—or it’s coming in a bit patchy. At this stage, this is common and not a cause for worry.
The reality is that, although every patient is different, four, five, or even six months is often the very beginning of new hair growth. The full results of your FUE procedure may not be visible for as many as nine, twelve, or even eighteen months.
Again, every patient is different—and there is always some variation in new hair growth. But here’s a typical outline of the results you may expect at different stages.
First Week
In your first week, you’ll be healing. You may see some redness and irritation in the area where the implant was performed, but this heals quickly in the vast majority of patients.
Most of our patients are back to their normal lives within a few days.
One to Three Weeks
The redness and irritation should subside within this time. The immediate healing process goes more slowly for some patients than others.
By about 10 days in, all your grafts should be firmly in place and it will be safe to resume your normal showering and shampooing habits.
One to Three Months
During this time, it’s totally normal not to see any change at all—or even worse, to notice hair falling out at a faster rate than before. You may feel like your hair looks even thinner than before you had the procedure.
This can be alarming, but it’s all part of the process. What’s happening is that your hair follicles, after briefly going dormant during the extraction and re-implantation procedure, are coming back to life.
As they do, they’re pushing out old, pre-existing hairs so they can start growing new ones. That’s why you’re noticing some hair loss.
Three to Six Month
This is where the initial growth period usually starts. The first new hairs coming in may be unusually thin and fine, or might have a lighter color or no color at all—and again, this is not a cause for worry. Subsequent hair growth will be thicker and more substantial.
It’s also not unusual for hair growth to be patchy and uneven at first. This is because the follicles may have been implanted during different periods in their growth cycle, so they’ll heal and regrow at different rates.
During this period, you might notice some red spots on your scalp that look like acne. These might be unpleasant, but they’re actually a good sign—it means new hairs are trying to come through. Some new hairs may get stuck beneath your skin like an ingrown hair, causing the red spots.
Six to Nine Months
This is usually when you should start to notice more substantial results, with your hair follicles mostly healed and the growth starting to become fuller, thicker, and closer to their normal color.
The rate of growth can depend on the technique your surgeon used, and how successful they were in placing each graft. This is why Dr. Daniel A. Danyo performs each graft by hand—to ensure the best results for every patient.
At our clinic, we usually see approximately 60% to 80% of new hair growth around the beginning of this period—starting at about the six-month mark. However, this can vary widely depending on the patient and the technique used to implant the grafts.
Nine to Twelve Months
On average, most patients see approximately 90% of their new regrowth during this period.
Twelve to 18 months
For some patients, new hair may still be coming in during this time. In addition, the texture and color of your hair may continue to change as your hair follicles find their new rhythm.
It’s extremely common for hair to fall out at first, grow in patchy, and take a year or even more to see your full results. The experience you have depends on your follicles, and no two patients are exactly the same.
Got Questions about FUE or Shave-Less FUE?
Talk to one of the foremost hair restoration surgeons in the field.
Schedule a confidential consultation today—either in person or online. Dr. Daniel A. Danyo would be happy to evaluate your hair loss and make a custom recommendation for restoring your natural hair growth.
