Question:
I had a hair transplant with Dr. Wong of Hasson and Wong to fix my hairline. It's been only 8 days and it seems like 80% of the hairs are already growing. Is this normal? And will they just grow and then fall out? I was shocked that I had very minor swelling. I swelled big time after the first 2 hair transplants I had. I'm wondering if Dr. Wong's great work was so gentle and carefully done that I barely swelled?
Answer:
Transplanted hair typically starts growing the day they're implanted into the scalp. However, after 2 to 4 weeks, the majority of the growing transplanted hairs separate from the hair follicle and fall out (shed) while the follicles go dormant for several months. This phenomenon isn't fully understood however, it's believed to be related to the trauma of being surgically moved from one location of the scalp to the other.
Since you are only 7 to 8 days out from your hair transplant procedure, your transplanted hairs simply haven't entered the shedding (telogen) phase yet. If you're lucky, you will keep some of it, but the majority will most likely fall out and begin to regrow between 3 to 5 months again.
Dr. Wong uses minimally invasive techniques which significantly minimize trauma to the scalp. However, swelling is typically the result of the amount of fluid injected into the scalp and the patient's reaction to it. That's why I never really understood by some physicians suggest icing the area. Thankfully, even the worst cases of swelling typically only last a few days. However, it's certainly a bonus when swelling is minimal or nonexistant :-).