aaron1234

Recovery will be quicker with FUE. But the doctor does need to shave down the donor area to make the extractions. Yield for FUE is generally slightly lower then for FUT (strip). This is because each graft undergoes much more trauma with each FUE extraction. If you have done two strip surgeries already then why not consider maxing out on strip before going to FUE? The down time sucks more for sure. But you probably have at least 2 or 3 thousand grafts left via strip now and that can get you a great result. I would go for the "sure thing" first (if you can call strip that) and then FUE for the future. But it's your call and I'm sure Dr. Rahal would do you well either way.

Ryan123, Well holy crap that's a huge plan!!!! I know Dr. Umar looks after his patients so I think you'll be fine. I do think you might want to space out the two procedures a bit more - even if you are just doing FUE and BHT. Give it closer to a year between procedures so you can really see what you need to address in the second op. Hair still continues to mature between 6 and 12 months post-op. Please please keep us posted with some pics. When are you going in for round #1?

Going to Dr. Paul Shapiro (Ron's brother, same clinic, SMG) was a 7 hour drive for me from Chicago. Not too bad at all and definitely worth the trip even just for a consult. They are extremely thorough in the consultations. But if you are in Canada you have some great docs up by you as well. Rahal, H@W, Cam Simmons. So I'd consult with them as well. You definitely seem like a good candidate especially since it appears your loss as stabilized. Staying on fin was a very very good call for you.

Hey Janna! God, I love this layout. Oh, and the results aren't half bad themselves either! He really had some great early growth at 6 months. The without flash picture is just stellar. Nice work Dr. Paul! btw, the youtube link isn't quite working yet but you probably figured that already.

Looking good hairtoday! The hair has matured quite a bit and it will more in the next few months. I like length best in these pics so far. I could see why if you wanted more work done in the future - especially since the first one with Dr. Umar turned out very well in my opinion. It looks as if there are some thin spots in the front and the crown. But again, I think another procedure might just do the trick for you. And then after that... some good ol' SMP! (Boy, I'm really preaching at you with that stuff ain't I? Sorry about that.) You've come along way in ten months! Well done.

I've been doing Walmart Fin for over a year and haven't noticed anything out of the ordinary. The $9 is part of a generic drug program they started a couple years back. God bless 'em.

The shaved look is good for you. Definitely get on fin and save that crown. No need to rush into a HT at this point. See where the fin takes you first.

Could use a little clearer photos but the work looks good from what I can tell!

The thing is that you are shedding but it is not entirely conclusive that Propecia is the cause. It probably would be at the 3-4 month marker but not necessarily at this point. You may just be experiencing a seasonal shed.... or worse your genetically predisposed balding is simply accelerating. But whose to say that the finasteride is not keeping you from losing even more hair. It's a tough call and a guessing game really. Definitely give it a year at least. But two years is when you'd typically see the best results from it.

If you have pretty minimal hair loss then I think all three of those clinics wouldn't have a problem dense packing your hairline. It just depends what you bring to the table.

Yes! Studies show the best benefits from the drug comes at the 2 year mark.

If you have a scar on the back of the head then you have FUT (strip). Talk with your doctor but I wouldn't go back to him even if he offered a free procedure to be honest. Yes, 1,300 grafts probably wouldn't have done the job in the first place but it doesn't look like that even grew.

You can try to get a full (or partial) refund but it probably won't happen. The best thing you can do is do a ton of research and get to know your stuff. After that start consulting with TOP surgeons, not just ones closest to you. You should look into surgeons who do good repair work. After one bad procedure you can't afford to have another. Be very smart this time around and start saving your money.

Getting multiple transplants at the age of 23 without taking finasteride is playing with fire in my opinion. I would most certainly question the ethics of the surgeon doing these procedures on you.

Yes, that is true. There have even been reports of men undergoing scalp to pubic area transplants. Why for the life of me I do not know!

Don't let travel and money affect your decision on which doctor should do your HT. If you live in the UK, then Farjo is the best. But I would look outside the UK for other opinions as well.

Yeah, you are definitely better off right now than you were pre-op. And you are just at the beginning of the growth period. Hang in there!

bonkerstonker, Your hair does seem better to me right now. Definitely not a finished product yet but I think you are on the right track. Your situation is different because of the diffuse thinning and you might have had some shock loss in the recipient region as well. So it will take some time for everything to stabilize. But I think come 7-8 months you will see a notable difference. Again, I'd say for 5 months you are looking mighty good.

orlhair1, Looks like you are ahead of the game. That's a lot of growth for two months. It also looks like the scar as healed very very well. You are about two weeks ahead of me so it'll be fun to follow our progress together! The next few months are going to be good for you!

First of, if you can download some pre-op and post-op pics. Also immediate post-op pics would be even more helpful. 1,320 grafts is not a large procedure so maybe you didn't understand that during your consultation. But I have no idea how much yield you got, or if the technique was flawed, etc., unless you show us some pics. I wouldn't go back to the doc for a second procedure if you think the first one was a failure.

What? Grey is a side-effect of transplantation?? :confused: I've never heard that one before. If anything, the discoloration that he is showing from........ CONCEALER!

Vincent, Looking very good for 5.5 months. And a lot more is yet to come! The toppik pics look great imo. Congrats on coming along so well thus far.

You'll get the smiley face scar with strip no matter type of closure the doctors use. Tricho is not necessarily the best type of closure. Each doctor has his own preference and it also depends a lot of what the patient's physiology brings to the table. That said, most good doctors will give you a scar that won't be recognizable with a #4 guard - maybe even a #3. Dr. Shapiro was not very pleased with how my scar turned out from my first procedure with him but I still could barely see it with a #4 guard.

Yeah, you're probably losing the hairs minox kept along with some native hair. Though it is possible that you could also be going through a seasonal shed. Definitely get on finasteride. I'm shocked that your surgeon didn't put you on it before your transplant since you are so young (23?)!

Definitely get on finasteride. It can work wonders for the crown in young men.