Is a hair transplant permanent?
Yes — the transplanted follicles are permanent, but the untransplanted hair around them is not.
Follicles taken from the safe donor zone at the back and sides of the head are genetically insensitive to DHT, the hormone that drives pattern baldness. They keep that insensitivity after they are moved, a property called donor dominance, and they go on producing hair for decades.
What is not permanent is everything else. Native hair surrounding the grafts carries the same genetic sensitivity it always did and continues to miniaturise on its own schedule. This is why a technically excellent transplant can look worse at year five — not because the grafts failed, but because the hair around them thinned.
It is also why a medical plan normally runs alongside surgery. A transplant that is not paired with a strategy for protecting native hair is a plan for a result that ages badly.
Reviewed by Dr Jawdat Abboud, MD. Educational content — not a diagnosis, and not a substitute for examination by a physician. Individual results vary.
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