sr0d,

I feel for you. My first procedure was with a doc recommended on this site and it was shoddy work at best. There is always a chance that a procedure will not grow out as hoped no matter who your doctor is. But let's face it, some docs on this site are better than others - a recommendation by the HTN does not guarantee equality in skill, talent, and technical support.

Now it is still early in the game. The only thing you can do right now is wait it out the full year. Your growth looks more like three or four months post-op rather than six. You could be a slow grower. However, you probably needed at least 3,000 grafts in the front to get respectable density. 1800 grafts simply won't cut it even if you end up achieving 100 percent yield. Stay in touch with your clinic throughout the remainder of the year, but if you are not happy with the results then go elsewhere (as I did) for round 2.

__________________
2008 Dr. G – presumably 1,000 grafts / 2,142 hairs
2009 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 2,348 grafts / 4,258 hairs
2011 Dr. Paul Shapiro – 1,999 grafts / 3,624 hairs

My Hair Transplant Journey with Shapiro Medical Group

sr0d,

I'm sorry to hear that your results are not meeting your expectations at this point. In looking at what's been said so far, I first want to say (speaking from experience) it's really best to reserve judgement until one full year has passed. At only 6 months you should be seeing roughly 50% of your final result.

Take a look at my own 6 month results after 2500 grafts. At one year, it was still pretty thing but I do believe it continued to thicken up to four months after. Even still, I needed a second procedure to get the results I wanted and I ended up with over 4000 grafts. I do think that your procedure should have been bigger from the start.

Have you forwarded your photos to Dr. Keene yet or discussed your concerns? She is truly top notch and genuinely cares about her patients. I'm sure she will work with you to ensure that you get the head of hair you deserve.

__________________
David (TakingThePlunge)
Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant

I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice.

View my Hair Loss Website

Dear sr0d,

I checked with Dr. Keene regarding your concerns. As David pointed out, it is too soon to assess your final results or success of your surgery at 6 months post operatively. Though Dr. Keene generally advises patients that it will take 6 months for the grafts to erupt, this is not a hard and fast rule, as each patient is different in their growth rates. In addition to varying genetic rates of the hair growth cycle, there are other things, such as medical and environmental factors, that may impact hair growth in general, including things like smoking, exposure to sunlight, stress, any direct trauma—and many other factors that can influence and sometimes slow the rates of growth. It is this reason why patients are advised not to anticipate the final results to be evident before a year after surgery, and this advice is part of the postoperative instructions you received. Your full period of maturation could be even longer than a year depending on these factors. Therefore, the amount of growth at 6 months is unique from patient to patient, with some patients having a lot of growth at that time, and some who have much more to come.

You were interested in FUE as a less invasive procedure because of wound healing concerns. However, Dr. Keene felt that almost two thousand open round holes in the scalp, left exposed to the environment at the end of surgery, was not less invasive in terms of wound healing compared to an incision sutured closed immediately at the time of surgery. The amount of open wounding at the conclusion of surgery is greater with FUE compared to strip surgery, which was why she advised you to have a strip procedure. Dr. Keene will be happy to see you for a follow up appointment, to help address any concerns specific to your clinical circumstances, and she may also have some additional suggestions to see if your graft growth can be accelerated, as well as to take care of any cosmetic concerns in the interim. Please call the office to schedule a follow up appointment.

__________________
I am a medical assistant and hair transplant surgical assistant employed by Dr. Keene

Dr. Keene is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

hey Srod, sorry to hear about the poor results. I hope it works out for you in the end. To be honest this is my nightmare. I haven't had a HT yet (still researching) and am really quiet afraid of getting results/scars that I cant turn back from. I really hope you get more growth over the next few months. Please keep us posted. Its important for all of us to have as much honest information as possible. Thanks.

Thanks for the response hair technician. I appreciate the professionalism of Dr. Keene and her staff and have an appointment scheduled to discuss. My concern really springs from a slight linear area right above my left hairline. In this area, there is a very noticable lack of hair growth that even my wife has pointed out as looking strange. I agree and understand that seeing the full results of the transplant will not be seen until at least a year so I am remaining optimistic.

I am not in disagreement about Dr. Keene's choice in going FUT vs FUE. After having a good discussion with her on this we were in agreement that this was the best choice. My only regret was that we didn't go a little more agressive on the graft count. I was in no way under a budget so I would have been open for more graft if she felt that would accomplish my goals. Now as it stands I probably will most likely need a second procedure which I really wanted to avoid. In this second procedure I will probably want to go FUE because I do not want to put my scalp under additional trauma of a scar.

I am sure we will discuss this further in my appointment.

Thank you.

Hi all...quick update. I met with Dr. Keene last week and she offered to do 100 FUD grafts to fill in some areas above the hairline. I think I might ask her if I can do 200 and I will pay for the additional 100. I figure if I am going to do it I might as well go for more.

Anyone have experiences with mini FUE sessions?

you should get how many grafts as it takes for optimal density in this next surgery...don't hold back

100???
Wow...somebody call the National Board of Philanthropic Surgeons.

I would not even think about getting cut open for 100 grafts. It is still early and I hope you get better yield, but it really seems like poor planning to do 1800 on that area, but it should look much better, and it may get better.

Sorry for your experience so far.

__________________
2110 FUT grafts by DR. Raymond Konior on July 30th, 2012

Best HT advice I have ever heard: "Find a doctor that you need more than they need you." Author Unknown

Click Here to View Spanker's Website

Thanks for the reply. Just to be clear she was going to do FUE and not strip. I agree and would never get cut open for only 100. With that said, I know everyone said to give it more time but there are clearly places in my transplant that are noticeably lacking in growth that Dr Keene even recognized and thus she offered up the 100 FUEs. I do see myself getting another major transplant sometime down the road but for now to make my transplant look presentable I think the 100 to 200 grafts would help. Does anyone have a similar experience? Would doing a small number of grafts abrupt growth for the other transplanted hairs?

I think I have heard most people say to wait at least 8 or 9 months before getting worked on again but could be wrong.