At 4 1/2 monthes after HT, my wife says, If all those 2500 FU's are put in on the same day,why do they all grow back at different rates? some hairs are now 1 1/2 inches long some are just poping up and some are still waiting to sprout, Whats up with that, why aren't they all growing like wild bastards?

Eugene,

I'm honestly not sure I can answer the question of "why", but it is perfectly normal for this to happen. My best guess is that it has something to do with the phase the hair follicle was in before it was transplanted, taking into consideration the scalp trauma from the surgery, the needed blood supply to nourish the hairs in the transplanted area, etc.

There may be some other people who know more about the "why" than me...I just simply accepted that it happens and haven't bothered looking into the techincal aspect. Shame on me!

Falc

I think falc is correct in stating that the regrowth has everything to do with the genetic growth stage that particular follicle was in before it was extracted and implanted in another area of your scalp. At any given point of each day, about 90% of normal scalp hair is in fact growing and about 10% is resting. So it makes perfect sense that not all newly implanted follicles will grow at the same time simply because they were implanted at the same time.

There are a couple different reasons as to why the hair will grow back at different rates. Firstly, as stated already, your native hair itself doesn't all grow at the same rate as it is. There is what is known as the resting stage and that is a factor with the transplanted hair.

As also alluded to, the circulation and blood supply is a factor. Even though it seems as though all the hairs are transplanted at the same time, in fact they are not. Those that are inserted first are the "lucky" ones that get a head start on attracting the blood supply to make sure all goes well. They will tend to be the first to mature.

You also have to look at the fact that it is a pretty traumatic event for the little follicle. Some of them might have a harder time with adapting to their new home. Ofcourse this day and age the new technology is so much better but the hair follicles can still be injurred or damaged slightly and they need a little healing time themselves.

There are ofcourse other factors but for the most part that is why the hairs will grow at different rates.

Hope that helps.

Falc, NN...

All excellent explanations of the "whys" some follicles grow before while others take longer. Let me add my 2 cents to the explanation.

In addition to all that has been pointed out, the number of hairs in the follicular unit also has a bearing on this. Usually the 1's and 2's grow before the 3's and 4's hair grafts. Another aspect touched on is the damaged incurred during the excision of the follicles, some become somewhat damaged in the process and take longer to heal before they start to grow.

Let me make an analogy to clarify this. Let say we have a bus load of people (follicles). Now we have an accident (surgery). Everyone ends up in the hospital. There are those that have no injuries or very minor and are released immediately (first to grow), there are those that have some injuries and need to recuperate a bit before being release (next to grow), next are the ones that need a prolonged stay due to the more tramatic injuries (last to grow). Finally there are those that do not make it (RIP)

Lots of variables involved, but these are the most significant ones without get too technical.

quote:

Usually the 1's and 2's grow before the 3's and 4's hair grafts.

Is this really the case? I haven't heard this before. Sure would explain a lot with my regrowth...

I haven't heard of the 3's & 4's sprouting slow than the 1's & 2's but it does make sense due to crownwork taking longer to sprout than front/midscalp work. That was definitely the case with my most recent HT.

Cousin_It,

I too haven't heard that 1s and 2s grow faster, but it DOES make sense, I admit. Any scientific documentation on this?

Falc

I too have never heard of this (1 & 2's growing before 3 & 4's). Nor the idea that the first planted grafts grows before the last planted grafts. Feel free to correct me if my understanding is incorrect. Follicles have different cycle patterns of resting and growing phases. That is a given for everyone (surgery or no surgery). Now, you add surgery, and the stress placed on the follicles. After surgery, the shedding phase does not occur immediately or all at once. The speed of shedding varies, correct? Thus, the re-growth varies as well. There are many factors and variances that determine the viability of a follicle (stress, damage, blood supply, natural cycle, etc.). I believe there was a good explanation above about predetermined stages of a follicle before surgery. I guess it’s good that the follicles are on different cycles instead of just one cycle, or we would all be bald while the follicles were resting.

Any comment Cousin?