aaron1234

What would be worse? Telling her or her noticing you did something to your head without telling her.  

1 hour ago, digi23 said:

I agree with you, but to be honest I think most of the ones(possibly over 90%) who are thinking about a hair transplant would not pay 25,000 dollars for new hair. Personally I would rather shave and grow a beard if I were to pay that.

Very true.  And many men get their first HT in their 20's when they aren't exactly at the apex of their careers.  I certainly didn't have 25K sitting in my checking account when I was 27 (though I did end up spending over 50K for 7 HT's over the course of 13 years).  At the very least men shouldn't go to the cheapest clinic offering $2 a graft on a billboard or some hair mill in Turkey.  There are plenty of elite level docs within the mid-price point to seriously consider.  If the difference is around a few thousand bucks, then definitely don't let cost be the deciding factor. 

One of the truisms on this forum is to not let cost (or travel) be the deciding factor in who you have surgery with.  The irony is that if you do you might need to get repaired, making it more expensive than if you would have just went to the better (and likely pricier) surgeon in the first place.  

Looking great!  @Tao The HT journey does feel like 2 steps forward, 1.5 steps back at times don't it...

Better to have your beard/chest hair grown out a bit to determine its usefulness as a donor reserve.  

Definitely normal. 

Harvesting grafts from one side was not the approach Dr. K used with me for my FUE, but I certainly don't have the donor characteristics that @MagnificentAl has.  There's no one-size-fits-all approach in hair transplantation.  

Hair is looking good, just a few weak spots which can easily be addressed with another procedure.

You lucky bastard 😜

That's an unfortunate scar.  300 FUE grafts seem to be the best bet.  You could do a strip revision (I did and it turned out well) but the results of that would be unpredictable.

"Every NW7 has had their day in the sun." 😉

Cool, good luck @mustang! Man, what a journey...

You've definitely lost native hair since your procedure 10 years ago, but this is really not a surprise.  Your transplanted hair likely thinned out during that time as well.  This would be important to discuss with any prospective surgeon before round 2 in determining the cause - because if it happened to you before it could very well happen again.  Some patients do have inflammatory conditions that negatively impact graft yield/survival.  A scalp biopsy would help to determine if that's the case for you.

Check out Dr. Sahar Nadimi who does both hair transplantation and forehead reduction surgery.

@BJ47 You had a strong frontal tuft 13 years ago, so I assume Dr. Cooley transplanted around it at the time?  I would most certainly go with FUT again since you already have.  Do you believe the transplanted hair for your first procedure has thinned out?  You still have a strong bridge (between the frontal third and crown), so definitely stay on fin. 

8 hours ago, Z-- said:

I’m surprised everyone is against a transplant here. Zoomsters and Melvin had fairly high Norwood’s (each a 6 bordering on 7) and had stellar results

Advanced NW's can still have a stable donor supply.  Unfortunately it appears this case does not.

@JDEE0 Dr. Ron Shapiro and Dr. Wong also recently stated that transplants can thin over time.  Dr. Shapiro said we shouldn't refer to the donor region as the permanent zone anymore.  Dr. Wong even wondered out loud if there might be something in the bald area of the scalp that attacks transplanted follicles.  It appears there's been a shift in the conventional wisdom, and the speculation coming from reputable/ethical docs of late definitely got my attention.

Regarding the OP, we would need to see pictures of his results from 10 years ago and know the number of grafts he received to determine if his transplant thinned or if it was more native hair loss (or both).  If it did thin then he might want to get a scalp biopsy done to see if he has any scarring alopecia condition that might effect the transplant.  

Tell your hubby that you love him and to keep shaving his head.  😉  With a donor that spotty at a young age it won't be worth the $$$ and inevitable disappointment in the surgical outcome.  

7 minutes ago, bostonguy said:

A prior transplant even 10 years ago should hold up, but without understanding your specific situation I can only assume. 

Not necessarily.  Dr. Bisanga did recently say that if your transplant remains good for 10 years you should be happy. 

@BJ47 Was your first procedure FUT or FUE?  Depending on your laxity you might be able to have another strip megasession (2-4k grafts).  The more grafts you can harvest the more likely you can address both the frontal third and crown with your next procedure.  I would take a serious look at Hasson & Wong for round 2. 

Almost over the ugly duckling stage, just a few more weeks to go!

I agree with the above posters that you should be weary of getting a HT given the state of your donor region.  I can see the possibility for a small FUE procedure for the hairline followed by a SMP treatment, but forgot about transplanting the crown.  

Since your strip scar is undetectable at a 3 guard I assume you're content you went with FUT over FUE.  Incredible results!  

Why not get another HT to improve on what you already got?  

On 10/3/2021 at 5:14 AM, Rooter said:

A bit shocked how light this all looks (4000 FUE) and the stark contrast to native hair - the dark scabs of course gave an additional illusion of density

This is correct.  A follicle is nowhere close to the diameter of a graft scab.  Transplanted hair will always be thinner than native hair (if it hasn't thinned).  This is why a certain length is needed for the "illusion of density" to take effect.  Shave it down if you like, but the transplanted hair will not match the density of your lateral humps. 

11 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

To be honest, it seems to be a real problem. Very few new surgeons are learning strip.

Most definitely.  A new HT surgeon's perspective is likely, "Why learn strip when 95% of prospective patients are asking for FUE?"