BaltoBill

Here are pictures of the first day of my procedure with Dr. Jerry Cooley. All pictures with the blue background show my pre-surgery look. The one with the black background shaved portion where my strip was taken shows the open donor scarring (mostly removed from the procedure) and the other picture with the black background shows how my hair looked after the plug removal and recycling and transplant from the donor area (3300 grafts).

This shows how my head looked on September 5, 2011, only 6 days after the procedure. I was using the spray Dr. Cooley gave me and by this time was back at work under a normal schedule.

Photos were taken on September 11, 2011. These photos are better lit, and show the healing of the plug removal sites. The sutured strip removal site is also healing well and is undetectable (as basically is the procedure) at this point, although I still have some small scabs in the front. All of the pinpoint scabs have already come out during showering as instructed by Dr. Cooley's office.

These are photos on day 22, when I had my stitches taken out by a friend. Dr. Cooley says that all looks good (based on the pictures). Note that in this repair, you can see some of the hairs that are left over in the front (in clumps (maybe 4 or 5 hair grafts) after the plug reduction. Dr. Cooley said I could trim these down and, at six months, after my new hair grows in, hopefully all will be camouflaged and, if not, hairs that stand out can be removed by FUE or electrolysis. It really is not noticeable when I am outside and I don't notice people looking at my head. The redness from the scar may be from the ACell, but my friend who is a doctor who removed the stitches said all looks good and Dr. Cooley said it looks great. The back of my head feels 1000% percent (that's right, one thousand percent, if not more) than when I had all the scarring from the open donor procedure, nearly all of which was removed.

These show how my hair looks two months from surgery. As you can see, the redness/discoloration from the plug removal have pretty much gone away and the areas have healed nicely. I also am waiting for growth so my head now looks like it did before the surgery, with some of the pluggy look removed. I'm posting those so those considering HT repair will have a good place to turn. When I walk around, I look much better than in these pictures, which were taken before showering and in which I did not try to cover the recipient area.

Attached are pictures at the three month mark. No hairs have started growing yet, but the plug reduction sites have healed remarkably well in my opinion. I am able to walk around without having to worry about my hair and it is great to be able to be in the wind or rain without serious worry. I know I have a long way to go, but am posting these pictures so that everyone with a pluggy appearance can see what can be done with plug reduction in one session. I hope that I'll start seeing growth soon and understand that since this is a repair case, my new hair may start growing a little later than in a new case. You can see my other photos on my album. Also, note that these pictures were taken in relatively bright light and that the picture from the front is the one that shows how I look to others who are not focusing on my head. I don't know how to straighten the photos on this post but they will be straightened on my album. Also, my donor scar is healing nicely.