I'm now 11 months post op in my hairline restoration and feel I've got a good feel for how this thing is going to turn out. Pat asked me to let it mature before posting more on my results. I think I'm now ready

History: I'm 42 years old and had 1620 grafts placed in the frontal 1/3rd (47 cm2) on November 18 2004 by Dr. DeYarman in San Diego. I was a NW3a before and am now kind of a thin NW2. Also had a small HT of 309 micrografts in 1994 by John Lenhart in FL and by all accounts it was done pretty good. My skin is average caucasian brown and hair is thin, straight, and dark brown. I have tight skin. Not just on my head but over my whole body. I was concerned about donor laxity, but DeYarman checked me over well and felt it was not a problem.

So what are my results? Mixed; on a good day I give it a C-. I've had fair general growth of the recipient hair. That is the good news. The bad news has been the donor area, certain aspects of the hairline, and a somewhat thin and weak appearance of the general recipient area.

Immediately after surgery I had a lot of pain, swelling, and numbness of the center left of the back of head around and above the suture line. It was a specific area only. As the weeks progressed I had a friend take pictures of the donor area. I had a scar that ranges between 2 and 2.5mm in width along it's length with significant shock loss around the suture line. Most of this shock loss was temporary. But the real problem is the two mysterious 0.7 cm diameter shock loss areas in the numb center left region above the suture line. At 10 months none of this hair has come back. Dr. Deyarman has been concerned about this from the start, but has no definitive explanation for it. I believe they are suture hole areas that caused pain, swelling, and permanent shock loss. Ultimately they will require some grafts to fill in. I keep my hair at least 3/4" long so it can only be seen if my hair is wet. Sorry, no good pics.

The other item that I feel is of mixed result is my recipient hair. It was planted at about 30 grafts/cm2 in the front line and 30 to 40 elsewhere. At this point the transplants do not match or blend in well with the surrounding hair of the sides and mid scalp. The entire recipient hair has a weird texture and curliness to it. It starts out straight but as it gets near the ends it abruptly curls toward the back. It just plain looks funny. Because of this I must keep my hair less than 1 inch to minimize the effect. It's noticeable when viewed from the top. I totally avoid situations where I might bend my head down or people might view me from up high. Pics enclosed.

Lastly, the grafts on the left side in and near the left temple did not grow. As you come forward along the hairline, about 2 cm out of the apex, that's when the transplants start growing. It creates a asymmetry that really bothers me. Why did it happen? Did the techs damage this group of grafts? Did I sleep on them hard under the influence of heavy pain killers? Another mystery neither of us can explain. Pics enclosed.

Over the last 10 months I've been back to Dr. DeYarman several times to discuss my results. He has tried to offer some explanations, but for the most part can't explain any of it. I believe he is an honest, ethical, and caring doctor. However, I believe he gets mixed results with his patients. I know another person who went to him and got similar number of grafts in the same areas. He is very happy with his results.

Moving forward I'm scheduled to do refinement work an FUE doctor in Atlanta in December. I'm targeting 1800 FUE. I won't do strip again! Way too painful for me and I believe my donor laxity won't allow it. Will concentrate on the left temple area, hairline in general, and improve density in the front 1/2 (extending about 2cm farther back than last time). May put a few into my two donor shock loss areas too.

I am no expert, but that does not look good after 11 months brother. Did the doc offer any money back or corrective work? Perhaps he will foot the bill for FUE at another facility? Your immediate post op pics look awesome. I cannot believe you are not very dense in front. Please keep us all posted as to how all of this is handled.

__________________
Go Cubs!

6721 transplanted grafts
13,906 hairs
Performed by Dr. Ron Shapiro

Dr. Ron Shapiro and Dr. Paul Shapiro are members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.

hey man, thats too bad about your procedure. Best of luck in your repair. Same thing happened to me with my 1st doc. a lot of success stories, but no doctor is 100% perfect and I was in the minority in the resulting damage the doc inflicted.

i went to deyarman and I am hoping I fall in the majority. so far so good.

__________________
____________________________
630 FUT - 8/27/03
2200 FUT - 5/20/05
2000 FUT - 12/15/07


"i haven't been this bald since.... well... since I was born!"

I feel for you. Even thogh it seems like doc put more than 1600 grafts and you would get decent coverage and density, 11 month post op looks very thin... I would say no more than 500 grafts grew. I would recommend that you go see some really experienced HT surgeons and see if they have seen anything like this before with their patients. Because I think you should be concerned about how your next HT will come out.

I had a same problem with my sutures. On the right end where they tie the knot, I had minor shockloss which never grew back! I don't know if staples is better way to close the donor site, but FUE is the way to go if you don't have a huge bald spot to cover. In your case, you only need to recover frontal 1/3, so I think FUE should would best for you. Which doc are you planning on going to for your repair procedure? There are only several quality docs who perform quality FUE, so be careful who you goto.

KG

I agree, very disappointing results - doesn't look close to 34 grafts/cm2... I hope my HT turns out better than that After reading all the success stories, this is disturbing.

PB

Is there any chance of a refund? Obviously the doctor can't refund your strip of scalp but financially...

I agree, your warning about Minoxidil should be taken seriously. Unfortunately I didn't find out that previously good healthy hair can become minoxidil dependant before I started using it. I stopped using Minoxidil about 7 weeks ago, not because I had any scalp irritation, but because it didn't work. I used it for almost a year. I am now terrified that my hair is going to shed. So far I haven't noticed anything dramatic but I'm going to get some new photos done to compare to photos I had taken this summer for the HT doctor.

PB

Spock-

I agree with you. I don't encourage anybody to use Minox. I had used it for 2 yrs, eventually got sick of it and stopped. Within just few weeks, my crown looked worse than what I had started with! I regret that desicion. Although, I don't recommend it to anybody to use Minox, I think it is safe to use for 2 months post-op to give boost to new grafts without having your natural hair be depedant on minox. Any opinions on this thought?

KG

I'm pasting this response back, minus the reference to my next doctor in Atlanta...

"Yeah, the results are not great. To say I'm disappointed would be an understatement.

One other thing I forgot to mention was my withdrawal from minox. I was on it for 6 months post op, but had to stop. I was not tolerating well at all. Lots of redness and itching. I tried a couple times to stop for a week to let it calm down. But every time I restarted, it immediately turned bright red again.

6 weeks after stopping minox I took a set of pics and was horrified how much natural hair just behind the transplant line I had lost. I believe I lost more hair by the shock of stopping minox than if I had never used it. Let that be a warning to diffuse thinners who cavalierly think using minox post op to help the grafts is a good idea.

Having said that, I still think the yield rate on this HT was low. Maybe ~ 50% in general and zero in the left temple.

FYI, post op I used a healthy dose of vitamins, MSM, even graftcyte spray

I'm not looking for any refunds. I don't consider it a botch job. Besides, there are no guarantees in life."

KG
In reference to your question on 2 months use. I feel if your on it long enough to get any benifit you will be on it long enough to suffer it's withdrawl. Don't get the minox monkey on your back!

Spock,

I appreciate you giving it over ten months to evaluate your procedure with the benefit of time. Based on the description of your hair texture, your transplanted hair has not fully grown in or matured at this time.

Some patients on rare occasions do experience delayed growth and not all their new hair growth appears until 12 to even 18 months. The immature hair characteristics "wierd texture" you describe are symtomatic of this.

I think your heavy use of Rogaine, which was then halted several months after your hair transplant, may also be a factor in disrupting your new hair growth cycle.

While your currrent growth is clearly sub optimal, I believe you will see continued improvement as new hair grows in and the existing transplanted hair matures into healthy terminal hairs.

I would like to discuss your case directly with Dr. DeYarman if that is ok with you.

Please keep us posted.

Thanks, Pat

__________________
Never Forget - It's what radiates from within, not from your skin, that really matters!

My Hair Loss Blog

View some of the Leading Hair Transplant Clinics that I have visited.

Sharing is what keeps this community vital. Please join in. To learn how I restored my hair and started this community, click here.

Follow our Community on Twitter.

I don't really know if the use of minox affected the growth of the transplants. Without a control group it's not possible to know.

Many people report using minox for a few months post op, so if it did have a strong negative effect on the transplants than I must be unusual. I"ve not heard of others reporting this type of problem.

I'm now speculating, but I'm guessing that the transplants are slowly thinning out. I see less hair now than 2 months ago. I hope it's a temporary situation and that they just cycle through it.