Hair growth cycle after FUE Hair Transplantation
With modern techniques, a Hair Transplant procedure can be performed in as little as a day. But, for most of our patients, it’s not the treatment itself that’s the hard part…it’s waiting for the results afterwards.
After a FUE Hair Transplant treatment you’ll be able to see your new hair line immediately, but it will take a little while longer for you to reap the benefits of your final results. Everyone’s hair is different, meaning the exact process you’ll go through to see your results, will vary massively from everyone else.
Your hair will still grow at its normal rate so it’s crucial to remember that undergoing a transplant treatment will not change this and there’s no magic button to speed up the frustrating process.
Our Surgeons at The Private Clinic are experts in hair growth and will be able to explain the process to you in detail and we are available 24/7 should you have any concerns about your hair growth during your recovery period.
What is your hair growth cycle?
To understand how your hair might grow after a FUE hair transplant, you need to first of all understand your hair growth cycle and how, exactly, each strand grows.
Anagen Phase
A hair’s active growth period is known as the anagen phase. This is where cells in the follicle’s bulb (the place where growth occurs) rapidly divide, causing the hair to grow an average of 1cm every four weeks. When your hair is healthy and not experiencing thinning, 90% of it will be in this phase at any one time where it will remain for around 2-7 years.
Telogen Phase
After its active growth period, hair will then enter the catagen phase (a transitional period where growth begins to stop), followed by the telogen phase in which your hair is released and falls out. Hair loss and thinning occurs when this cycle is disrupted, meaning hairs spend less time in the anagen phase.
Will my hair growth cycle change after a hair transplant?
After a Hair Transplant, your hair will continue this exact cycle – meaning it will grow at the same rate it did prior to being transplanted. Most patients will find they shed some of the newly transplanted hairs a few weeks after treatment, which is completely normal and nothing to worry about. This is usually due to the follicle being starved of its blood supply for a brief period. The follicle and graft will still be intact, and most patients tend to notice new hair growing around 3-4 months after any loss has occurred.
When will I see results after Hair Transplant Surgery?
The time until your final outcome shows will be entirely individual. It is important to remember that hairs are asynchronous which means they grow out of sync with one another and will always be in different stages at any one time, meaning there’ll be no huge rush of hair.
Results can begin to show themselves as early as four to six weeks after the treatment, but your final result won’t be noticeable until at least five to six months after. Some patients will take as much as 18 months, depending on their natural hair, to see the results they were striving for.
While it can feel frustrating, key to making sure everything is coming along as it should is staying in close contact with your clinic and surgeon. They should explain to you what to expect from your recovery and invite you to post-procedure check ups to make sure everything is coming along as intended.
Find out more about FUE Hair Transplant aftercare here.
As an (extremely rough) timeline, you might expect:
Day One after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
You’ll usually be asked to wash your hair extremely gently to get rid of any blood remaining and you should normally expect some soreness, numbness and oozing from the recipient area.
https://youtube.com/shorts/xY_S4oLFvXY
Day 2 after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
You may feel tenderness in the donor area and tightness in the area treated. It is recommended that you remain sleeping upright and continue to spray the transplanted area at regular intervals.
5 Days after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
After 5 days, you can gently wash your hair using warm water and mild shampoo (e.g baby shampoo).
Week one after FUE Hair Transplant surgery
Any swelling or redness should now have reduced. Scabbing may still be present but will begin to subside.
Week two after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
By the tenth day after treatment your transplanted hair grafts should be firmly in place, meaning any residual crusting can be gently rubbed off. You may also notice the transplanted hairs beginning to shed – this is completely normal. You can return to your usual shampoo, brushing and combing regime and can get a hair cut if you wish.
Week three to four after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
Transplanted hair will often continue to shed during this period, and you may look very similar to your pre-procedure self.
See more hair transplant before and after photos after 3 months here.
One to five months after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
The transplanted hair will begin to grow again, normally more fine than usual but it will begin to get thicker as the months go on.
Six to twelve months after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
Your hair will continue to grow and thicken during this time, often undergoing texture changes. Most patients will begin to see something that resembles their final result during this period.
Watch patient Douglas McAdams talk about his results 6 months after treatment:
One to two years after FUE Hair Transplant Surgery
Your final results will be visible. Some patients can take up to 18 months to notice the real changes they wanted, and hair may continue to change after this.
See patient’s Douglas McAdams’ results 1 year after treatment below:
See more HT before and after photos after 1 year here.
It’s a cliché, but patience is a virtue when it comes to hair transplantation. While the treatment only takes a day, the one thing the skill of a surgeon can’t change is how quickly results will show through, meaning you should expect to wait several months until you see the final outcome. We can’t change how quickly your hair grows, but we can be there with you every step of the way to ensure you’re informed, happy and confident you’ll achieve precisely what we promised.
Hair Transplant Surgery at The Private Clinic
The Private Clinic prides itself on ensuring you have the best quality and most comprehensive care:
- You will be treated by highly experienced Doctors who are highly skilled in FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) and treat hundreds of patients every year.
- FUE is a minimally invasive treatment (meaning there is no cutting of a strip), and carried out under local anaesthetic – many patients either watch TV, or even fall asleep during the procedure.
- You won’t require any stitches after your treatment. This means that the recovery time is also reduced when compared to the Strip surgery (FUT).
- We use the finest instruments, resulting in as minimal trauma to your scalp as possible.
- Thanks to our advanced skills and techniques, our team ensure that the donor looks intact after the hair transplant procedure and you can keep your hair really short if you prefer without any obvious scarring.
- Following treatment, there will be no linear scarring across the back of your head as seen with the strip method (FUT) – you’ll be free to wear your hair long or short.
- We choose the best follicular unit (a group of hairs), this ensures that only the strongest, healthiest grafts are used for your hair transplant procedure. See our Hair Transplant videos here.
- Your results will look natural, with denser packing – the hair is implanted in the direction that matches your hair growth.
- We are one of the very few clinics able to offer the Unshaven Hair Transplant (U-FUE) (the long-hair hair transplant), to those who prefer not to shave beforehand. At your consultation, we will be able to advise you on whether an unshaven procedure is suitable for you.
- Scars resulting from injuries or previous surgeries can also be corrected. In fact 30% of all patients that come to us have been somewhere before and need further work to improve on a disappointing result. This could be a previous bad hair transplant or we can cover linear scars caused from FUT hair transplants. Find out more here.
- We treat Afro-Caribbean hair loss, as well as eyebrows, beard and facial hair.
- At The Private Clinic, we work with our partnered finance provider ‘Chrysalis Finance’ to offer 0% finance* to our patients. Get in touch to find out more.
Helpful Links
- View our FUE Hair Transplant before and after photo gallery
- Read our extensive hair transplant FAQs
- Find out more from our informative Hair Transplant blogs
- Hear from previous hair transplant patients
Hair Restoration Surgeons
- Mr Michael Mouzakis, MD, MSc. GMC Number: 7237640
- Dr Ismail Ughratdar, MB ChB. GMC Number: 6103427
- Dr Luca de Fazio, MD, BSc, Msc. GMC Number: 7095123
