Knowing what and when to expect after hair transplant surgery can help set your expectations. After all, you don’t get instant results. Your hair undergoes many phases before achieving optimal growth, requiring maximum patience (and proper aftercare).
The following hair transplant growth chart will help you understand your recovery progress. You’ll learn when follicles fall out, when new hair starts growing, and when you’ll have a full head of hair.
Here’s a complete hair transplant timeline, from one week to 12 months, when your hair will return to its former glory.
Hair Transplant After 1 Week
The first week after your surgery is critical because you must be careful not to dislodge transplanted grafts. They take 8–10 days to settle, so follow your surgeon’s aftercare instructions to protect all grafts and ensure they take root.
A week after the procedure is about healing. It’s when your hair transplant recovery starts. Post-operative swelling and redness may still be visible, and you may experience mild discomfort and itching around the transplanted areas (donor and recipient sites). That means your scalp is healing from trauma.
The scabs around the hair grafts will start falling off because they served their purpose. They protected the grafts and can now allow new hair to grow.
Hair Transplant After 4 Weeks
A month after a hair transplant is a phase every patient dreads because they experience shock loss. The transplanted hair falls out, leaving patches on the scalp, while mild redness and swelling may still be visible.
This shedding phase is a normal part of the hair growth cycle. Here are its four phases to better understand the process:
- Anagen – About 80–90% of your hair follicles are in this phase, actively growing for 2–3 years.
- Catagen – Approximately 3–5% of your hair follicles are always in the catagen phase, which lasts 2–3 weeks. It’s a transitional period when those hairs don’t get blood supply, meaning they stop growing and shrink.
- Telogen – Lasting about 3–4 months, this phase is when your hair is at rest. About 10–15% of your hair follicles are always in telogen.
- Exogen – The hair follicles that stopped growing fall out in this shedding phase, but new hairs grow, continuing the cycle.
After your surgery, your transplanted hair enters the resting phase (telogen). At about a one-month mark the transplanted hair falls out because it reaches the exogen stage.
However, since some follicles are in the anagen phase, you’ll notice uneven growth, with your hair growing in patches.
Hair Transplant After 3 Months
This stage marks visible changes. New hair grows from transplanted follicles because the resting and shedding phases are over.
However, some follicles remain in the telogen phase, meaning some patches remain. Still, your new hairline starts taking shape, with healthy hair in the anagen phase emerging from the donor and recipient areas.
This initial hair growth is slow, so don’t expect an immediate density boost. Your new follicles will be thin and wispy, but their thickening is inevitable over the following months.
Hair Transplant After 6 Months
The six-month mark after a hair transplant is when you’ll appreciate the procedure because the patches will be gone. The hair growth will be even, and your follicles will be thicker.
Your hair thickens and strengthens noticeably during this period, becoming denser and longer. Its density may reach 40–50%, depending on the patient. It will gradually increase over the following months.
Hair Transplant After 8 Months
Eight months after the surgery marks considerable hair transplant growth. Your hair enters the maturation period, when all follicles actively grow after healing.
Your hair density reaches 60–70%, with your follicles being significantly thicker. It’s when you start noticing natural-looking results. That rapid growth continues over the following three months.
Hair Transplant After 12 Months
A year after your hair transplant is when your transformation is complete. You witness the final results, boasting healthy, luscious locks with optimal density.
The growth cycle continues, including the exogen phase (when everyone loses up to 100 hairs daily), but hair transplan results are permanent.
What to Expect From a Hair Transplant With Dr. Serkan Aygin
Dr. Serkan Aygın is a hair loss specialist with 25+ years of experience. He has performed 10,000+ hair restoration procedures with a 98% growth rate at his eponymous, award-winning clinic in Istanbul, Turkey. Transplanting your hair with his expert team means getting top-notch hair transplant before and after results.
Dr. Serkan Aygın specializes in DHI (Direct Hair Implantation) and Sapphire FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction) methods. Both are minimally invasive outpatient procedures for minimum scalp trauma, fast healing, and maximum growth.
Here’s how a Sapphire FUE hair transplant works:
- Follicular extraction – A hair restoration specialist uses a motorized tool to make tiny round punches (0.6–0.8 mm in diameter) in the donor area. They extract individual follicles using forceps and place them in a liquid solution for preservation.
- Microchannel opening – The second stage involves making precise slits in the recipient area using a sapphire-tipped blade to make room for the harvested hair grafts.
- Follicular implantation – The final stage includes implanting the hair grafts into the microchannels using forceps, ensuring they match the natural hair’s growth angle and direction.
Dr. Serkan Aygın Clinic offers extensive aftercare, regularly following up after your hair transplant in Turkey procedure until you see the one-year results. Dr. Serkan Aygın is always available for every patient’s questions and concerns, providing support throughout the process.
Schedule your free consultation to discuss your expectations and see if Dr. Serkan Aygın Clinic is your perfect fit.
