Generally, no. This is another one of the most frequently asked questions Dr. Armani receives during patient consultations. Hair follicles transplanted from the resilient donor area—typically located in the back and sides of the scalp—generally retain their original genetic characteristics. Because these follicles are naturally more resilient to the effects of dihydrotestosterone (DHT), the primary hormone responsible for androgenetic hair loss, they generally continue to grow in their new location for many years and, in most patients, throughout life.
Dr. Armani often explains this concept using the following analogy. Imagine a small creek separating two flower gardens. On one side of the creek are white tulips that are genetically susceptible to a particular pest. On the other side of the creek are red tulips that are naturally resistant to that same pest. If the red tulips are carefully removed with their roots intact and transplanted to the opposite side of the creek, they do not suddenly become white tulips simply because they are growing in a different garden. They remain red tulips because changing their location does not change their genetics.
Hair transplantation works in much the same way. Hair follicles moved from the resilient donor area retain their original genetic characteristics, regardless of their new location. As a result, they are typically far more resilient to hair loss than the native hairs that originally occupied the recipient area.
Dr. Armani often explains to his patients that the difference is largely one of time. In adults experiencing androgenetic hair loss, the native hairs in the thinning areas are generally lost over a period of months to years. In contrast, transplanted hairs from the resilient donor area typically continue to grow for years to decades and, in many patients, throughout life.
Although transplanted follicles largely retain their original genetic characteristics, they continue to age naturally just like the rest of the body’s tissues. Dr. Armani also explains to his patients that a simple way to understand this concept is to compare the same individual at different ages. If you look at a 20-year-old man, for example, he will almost always have excellent hair density in the back and sides of the scalp. If you look at that same individual at age 70, he will almost always still have hair in those areas, but the density is usually no longer the same. In other words, even the resilient donor area undergoes some gradual thinning over the course of years and decades, but at a much slower pace than the genetically susceptible hairs on the top of the scalp. Because transplanted follicles retain these same genetic characteristics, they generally age in the same gradual manner as the hair remaining in the resilient donor area.
Although transplanted hair should not be considered absolutely permanent, it is generally far more resilient to hair loss than the native hairs that originally occupied the recipient area. This remarkable long-term resilience is one of the fundamental biological principles that makes modern hair transplantation a reliable and predictable treatment for androgenetic hair loss.
