Hi

Everyone is not capable of 5k sessions.. No way I could get over 3000 without going out of the safe zone.. My scalp is tight as many others are as well.

9 months is still a bit early.. Doctors do say it can take up to 2 years for some people to 100% mature.. Personally, I think my peak was 14 months .. 2500 grafts is not going to give Elvis hair to a N5.. From my experience , I think minimum is 5k for an illusion of density and that is not even considering hair type, head size, etc..

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JOBI

1417 FUT - Dr. True
1476 FUT - Dr. True
2124 FUT - Dr. True
604 FUE - Dr. True







My views are based on my personal experiences, research and objective observations. I am not a doctor.

Total - 5621 FU's uncut!

I hope you do start to grow and get a mad rush of growth but i can see why you are concerned.

Maybe the doctor can post your pictures he took of you.

ttds,
Let us know what dr. E says. He's very good and will take care of you. W/ your next HT you really should go for max grafts. 2 or 3 smaller sessions will produce alot of down time and ultimatly cost alot more.

TTDS
There are a few in here who say that even full growth at 2500 will not make a difference.

I mean how carried away are we getting? 2500 was a mega session not too long ago, and people were raving on this site. Now it's nothing?

Go to Epsteins website. Most of his patients are in the 2-3K range.

Did you discuss your goals with Epstein?

Did you leave it up to Epstein to dictate grafts re: goals?

Did Epstein tell you this will make little difference in your look?

Did Epstein tell you you had a limited number of available grafts?

I'm in your exact situation, at 6 months, and I'll be damned if I'm going to be told AFTER the expense and long wait that "oh... by the way you actually wont get an illusion of density" unless you have a certain amount of grafts.

If that's the case, then this should be fully disclosed prior to surgery.

Keep us informed on your progress with growth and what doc says. I will do same. I really hope we are just slow growers.
-KK

KevKristy is right, I do not think 2500 is a small session by any means. I had a 1625 session which made a very nice change.

Doctors/patients who say wait longer than a year to see final results are only partially correct.

A 9-12 months, you should have seen most of the growth come in and have some idea of what things will look like and wha kind of coverage you can expect. After that, hair may grow longer, become softer but most all of those grafts should have sprouted at least by 9-12.

TTDS, your hair looks pretty thick on the sides, you should be a prety good candidate and get good results, I would not go back for round 2 until you see this final result from round 1. Keep us posted.

I know I still have some growth coming but right now at nine months I'm basically still bald in the front and would not take off my hairpiece. If I had to judge the procedure on the results I see today I would say it was a failure. However, I'm staying positive because I know Dr. Epstein will help me if it comes to that.

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NW5
Dr. Epstein July 4, 2007
2520 grafts
471 one hair grafts
1540 two hair grafts
505 three hair grafts
5070 Total hair count

Dr. Epstein August 4, 2008
2384 grafts
870 one hair grafts
1150 two hair grafts
364 three and four hair grafts
4262 Total hair count

Dr. Ron Shapiro November 18, 2009
1896 grafts
760 one hair grafts
852 two hair grafts
288 three hair grafts
46 four hair grafts
3362 total hair count

Dr. Ron Shapiro July 1, 2011
1191 grafts
447 one hair grafts
580 two hair grafts
150 three hair grafts
14 four hair grafts
2113 total hair count

Kevkristy-You bring up excellent points. I did discuss my goals in detail with Dr. Epstein and he decided which route we were going to take. He did tell me on the second procedure I could decide if I wanted the next grafts to go in the front, on the crown or a combination of both. Never was it mentioned that 2500 grafts in the front third would leave me still looking bald. Dr. Epstein told me I had enough grafts for a third procedure if I wanted one. I am really feeling discourage after waiting this long and seeing basically nothing. I have been very careful not to come on the forum bitching and complaining about my lack of growth because I wanted to give it time. From every post I've read on here in the past year almost everyone says by this point in time I should be working with new hairstyles. Well, that ain't happenin here!

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NW5
Dr. Epstein July 4, 2007
2520 grafts
471 one hair grafts
1540 two hair grafts
505 three hair grafts
5070 Total hair count

Dr. Epstein August 4, 2008
2384 grafts
870 one hair grafts
1150 two hair grafts
364 three and four hair grafts
4262 Total hair count

Dr. Ron Shapiro November 18, 2009
1896 grafts
760 one hair grafts
852 two hair grafts
288 three hair grafts
46 four hair grafts
3362 total hair count

Dr. Ron Shapiro July 1, 2011
1191 grafts
447 one hair grafts
580 two hair grafts
150 three hair grafts
14 four hair grafts
2113 total hair count

TTDS
I agree. The bottomline is you went in for cosmetic surgery. By definition it is supposed to improve your appearance.

Would you (or anyone else) have gone through with the procedure if you were told pre surgery that this was the end result?

I know I would not have -- not for 10 grand and 9 months of down time.

Again, I'm in the same boat, and I'm getting fed up with the goal post changers. 6 months with no growth (for me) and 9 months with little cosmetic change (for you) is way out of the norm.

-KK

For all of those toying with this notion, let me say that 2500 grafts packed into the frontal third of a scalp (like in TTDS' case) should make a huge difference. If it was spread out all over the scalp on a completely bald area, I would argue otherwise.

I too would be very concerned if at 9 months I had very little hair growth in the area.

I know we are all trying to help make TTDS feel better, but let's be honest, wouldn't you all be concerned if you were in his shoes?

Now it IS possible that he is an extremely early grower and a lot still COULD happen. I'm not going to negate this, but the call to be concerned certainly is valid in my opinion.

TTDS may have to visit with Dr. Epstein (if possible) so he can evaluate his scalp to see what may or may not be going on.

A "failed hair transplant" procedure can occur for a number of reasons including the improper handling and care of the grafts, but also physiological reasons.

Before making a judgement however, I recommend that we hold off until we hear from Dr. Epstein.

Best wishes,

Bill

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To learn about how I restored my hair, view my my hair loss website.

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I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

"Bill states that the average at 9 months 90% growth."

kev,
that is an average. it does not mean everyone will experience 90% growth. also, just because all of his hair may have grown does not mean it's fully thickened and matured.

i am speaking from experience here, whereas you are speaking from 6 months growth of your first ht. plus, you are already a bit panicked yourself. my point is, should he be concerned--of course! it's only natural to feel that way. hell, i'm concerned and i'm only at 4 months. but the reality is that you cannot come to a full conclusion until 12 months time. every single ht doc will tell you that as will many experienced posters here.

p.s. spex has posted a few times an example of a patient and his thickening between 8-9-12-18 months. the difference is dramatic.

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HT #1: Karamikian Unknown # of grafts Sept.2006

HT#2 Nov.23rd, 2007
Dr.Feller
Almost 3200 grafts via strip

HT#3 April 2010
Fue 200/side into temple points

HT#4 February 2011

My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Feller