HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

Dr. Cole published a new article about Acell healing with FUE, click here:
Healing with CIT FUE Hair Transplant and Acell

How long would it take after surgery to know if ACELL had positive results because one side of my head is thinner then the other at I'm 6 months post op.

Acell plus PRP might induce more native hair growth. They also might speed up the rate of regrowth.

How long does it take for grafts to grow? Usually, they begin growing at about the 3rd month. Then they gradually come in. Typically, you will see about 10% more each month, but every person has their own growth clock.

There are may reasons why one side might have more growth than the other side. One reason is that more grafts might be placed on one side. This is sometimes done when you start with more hair on one side. If you have more hair on one side to begin with, you might not need as many grafts on that side. Unfortunately, you might begin loosing hair on the side you had more to begin with. Then one side might wind up with more hair. The only rational reason to do this is when you are trying to budget a transplant such that you do only what is necessary when you have the procedure done. In addition, hair loss is usually greater on one side than the other typically. Nature almost always causes more hair loss on one side over the other. You might have hair on both sides before a transplant that is native. This native hair might then begin to thin out more on one side. This could result in one side having more hair than the other after everything grows in. The most obvious reason is simply that hair grafts seem to have their own internal clocks. They begin to grow when they want to. It is one of those mysteries.

Of course it is always possible that one side might come in faster than the other side. No one knows why this occurs, but it does occur. As long as an equal number of grafts were placed on both sides, eventually, the sides should be equal.

Acell is used with grafts to improve the survival of the grafts. It also acts as an extracellular matrix that probably helps the concentrated growth factors in PRP have a longer duration of benefit by giving the growth factors a scaffold to set up on.

The bottom line is that the hair is going to grow when it has a mind to grow. If you had more hair placed on one side over the other, this would be the obvious answer. This is why i try to document what I do. I've had patients come back to me wondering why no hair grew on one side of the head. When I check the chart, i've found that we did all the work on the other side. I've even had patients tell me that we did almost all the work on the left side, but all the hair grew on the right. When i show them their post-op photos, they have been surprised to find that almost all the work was done on the right side, or where I said the work was done. In other words, it helps to know the particulars in any case by reviewing the chart and the photos.

With regard to growth rates and Acell, it is still too early to make any predictions on whether Acell improves the rate of growth of grafts. If the ACell was put in the donor area, it will have an affect only in the donor area. Acell would have no affect on the recipient area in such a case.

Thanks for your response Dr.Cole but to your very last paragraph is what I was referring to I meant that left side of my donor area was thinner then the right I did have ACELL put in but the right side is much thicker not sure if it has anything to do with ACELL but I could probably take what u were saying about the recipient area and use your respone towards my donor area problem and just wait it out and see if it gets fuller.

Also my hairline was done and at 6 months everything looks positive just hoping for more thickness. Sorry I didn't clarify it was my donor area I was talking about.

Based on what i've seen with Acell thus far, i would venture to say that the Acell does have an influence on donor area hair regrowth. it is too early to say yet, but i've seen one donor area that was pristine following Acell application. I've definitely seen Acell induce new hair growth in the donor area. I do not know how common this occurrence will be, however. Thus far, it has been truly amazing.

Dr. Cole, is it common for Acell and PRP needling to influence hair growth in the crown area without any grafts being place in the area?