Nick153452

That means a lot coming from you.

I'm still an ugly duckling, but for different reasons now it seems. :-)

Sorry about being a little absentminded with my updates. I have great intentions, but my schedule has been a little hectic these last few months. I was in Europe from June 24th-September 14th, so I've had quite a few things occupying the relatively small amount of brain power I am capable of producing. That said, here is my update: Since month three I have experience an explosion of growth. If you look at my pre-op photos compared to my 4 month photos, it's a little ridiculous. To be faire, I'm not exactly sure that the hair lengths are similar, or the lighting used in this set for month four. Nevertheless, I am quite happy with the coverage on the top of my head. I hope you all agree. Now, my hairline. I am a little nervous about it. The density is severely lacking and there is quite a large difference in density between the right and left side (with the left side being significantly morem dense than the left. There are also other regions of my frontal 1/3rd thath have uneven growth compared to surrounding areas. I know it's still early in the transplant, but I'm starting to get nervous since the whole point was to reinforce the hairline and establish density elsewhere. I feel like so far, the results are turning into opposite of what I was hoping to happen. I'm staying positive though. I am cognizant that I am pulling the trigger too early. The photo update consists of lighting from my bedroom and photos taken by me. I will maybe see if I can't get someone else to take a few pictures in more harsh lighting. All in all, I feel as though the lighting is fair; not too bright, not too dim. Nevertheless, the real results must be able to stand up to bright lights. Let me know what you guys think of the photos and the overall progress of the transplant. Feel free to comment on the unevenness of the densities between the right and left.

I'm not seeing the problem. 4-6 hairs in your hand is completely normal, even for people with no alopecia. As far as finasteride is concerned, most people on this forum are on finasteride, and most have absolutely no side effects. I was on finasteride for 2 years, then I went off of it for a year, now I"m back on it. I don't really feel any side effects, or at least any that I can notice. I'm not sure whether or not it's working because I had a hair transplant, but I don't think it's hurting!!

Dr. Konior is the obvious exception ^^. As you said so yourself, the guy is a ball of energy!! During my surgery I was in and out of consciousness, so I can't recall whether or not Dr. Paul was in the room for a good part of it. I do remember him coming in a few times to look how things were going. But yes, Dr. Konior seems to be the exception

I guess that's a good point. I am quite certain that as long as the tools are available by qualified surgeons in Europe, such as Mwamba, most Americans would be willing to travel. That is where FUE techniques are in their prime, so even if it were available in the USA, most would opt for Europe, myself included.

I think it's kind of weird how some people are trying to guess what NW level you will become. Based on your photo, we can only tell that you have lost a good amount of the frontal third. As far as becoming an advanced NW (5-7) I think we would have to see more photos. For all we know, your crown and the rest of your head is stable. The reason you won't get native density is because hair transplantation works on the premise of an illusion of density. That is, doctors create an illusion that you have full density whereas it is around half of what normal density is. Truth be told, most patients don't have enough donor to dense pack to normal density as they must prepare for later hair loss. That isn't to say that you can't comb your hair forward. I've seen many patients who have combed their hair forward after their hair transplant and they look fine. However, don't go into your hair transplant with a particular haircut in mind as you may be let down when it doesn't look like it would in your dreams. Also, just because your family history doesn't have male pattern baldness doesn't mean that you won't be advanced. My family history is clear of balding for the last couple hundred years. I have many cousins, uncles, etc, and they all have great hair, except me who is expected to be a high NW patient. My dad has significantly more hair than I do and he is 30 years older than me. Hope for the best and prepare for the worst.

Money is always an issue, unfortunately. Hopefully, Dr. Mwamba will have promising results in the coming year or two to where Donor isn't an issue. and you can undergo 50000 graft FUE sessions without thinning donor. That was, when you win the lottery, you will be able to get back up to native density.

I always ask myself the question, "Why doesn't that person log on anymore" after I notice that such or such person posted 2,000+ posts between 2006-2008. Were they completely content with their results and want to put that part of their life behind them? Were they completely disappointed? Did something drastic happen? There are many users whose story I am curious about. That said, I'm glad that you're happy with your results. That's the whole point of this community; we're all preoccupied with our hair and sometimes we're the only people who understand each other. Once you no longer have that problem, and are content with your current situation, it is natural that you may want to move on (what's the point in worrying about hairloss when you can be out there enjoying your hair). Now, go out there and enjoy your life!! Most people I know already know that I had a transplant. There are some people who I didn't tell just to see whether or not they would notice. My cousin (who was my hair-cutter for the last 6 years until I pretty much had no hair for her to cut, still hasn't noticed), albeit I have significantly more hair after four months.

4700 grafts from Bisanga. Your results will be killer. I think FUT is pretty standard as far as procedure. FUE is the only one that has some variance.

Congrats man! You have a solid frontal region now. I am not really seeing a significant difference between month 6 and 9 though. But your 6 month results were very good.

Dr. Paul Shapiro; strip - Extraction=Shapiro (duh), incisions- Shapiro. Placement- techs.

I'm a huge fan of Doganay. I'm sure your results will be great. To echo previous requests, I would also love to see pre-op vs. post-op photos to see his work.

I was starting to wonder the same thing!! Haha. I hope we answered it!!! I had a thoroughly fun time reading the debate though. I find nothing wrong with a good debate as long as both sides are willing to listen and be reasonable. I am neither pro/con strip/fue. My goal is just to get hair back and help others achieve the same thing. If I find out that my advice was poorly given, I will adjust it accordingly.

As long as the density on your hairline is uniform, it's not very unusual to have a crooked hairline. I see people whose hairline is crooked on a daily basis, even more than the 1/8" that you said that you have. maybe a photo would give us a better idea as to what you are experiencing? However, I don't really think that should be one of your concerns as you move forward (personal opinion). I am a little confused as to your problem with your thickness of your hair. Are you claiming that the hair shaft diameter is too thick? or the density? In either case, that's a very good advantage for you. Dr. Diep has some promising results that he has posted. And he is from California. If I were you, I would avoid Dr. Umar, as I don't feel like his results are consistent or even aesthetically pleasing. I agree with Mickey; if you want a great FUE result, it's best to head across the pond to Europe. Unlike Mickey, I would advise only a couple of the doctors that he listed due to personal preference and price. For the quality price ratio, I don't think there is any better doctor in the world than Erdogan or Doganay. There are some great FUE surgeons in Belgium; Mwamba, Feriduni, Bisanga; but they are significantly more expensive and I don't even believe they produce better results.

Personally, I'd like to see more photos. Front shots don't really give too much of an idea. Do you have any photos of the top and crown pre/post-op?

I believe that's a bit of an exaggeration. There are still benefits to having a strip procedure that FUE cannot deliver.

And even a smaller number had significantly less hair. (THIS GUY). A question has always boggled my mind. That question is, what's the difference in a guy who started balding at age 40 and gets a hair transplant at age 45 as compared to a patient who started balding at 20 and decides to get a transplant at age of 25. In both cases, the patient was losing hair for five years. In both cases, shouldn't the same approach be used in hair transplantation, regardless of age? In both cases, it is highly likely that both patients will continue to lose hair in very similar ways (assuming that they have similar family histories). Why do we give the green light to the 45 year old and the red light to the 25 year old??

Yeah I agree. There are a lot of scapegoating techniques used in the HT industry. When in doubt, blame the patient. However, I do believe that scars are in large part due to patient error. Numbness is a completely different story.

You can find out by going to a dermatologist to evaluate your scalp; especially the occipital region of your head (the safe zone), where most people have DHT resistant hair follicles. Usually donor miniaturization occurs later on in life. As far as people complaining about transplanted hair falling out 3-4 years down the road, I'm not entirely sure about. Theoretically, the transplanted hairs should be permanent and should not fall out in 3-4 years. Unfortunately, most follow-ups photos are taken after 1 year post op and then we rarely hear from the patient. There are also numerous examples of patients after 3-10 years also who have retained their results. Moreover, there are many patients on this forum who have had transplants for many years who still have retained their results.

Dude. Your hair is a dream. Live the dream. If you really feel as though you're in your crown, get on finaseride and minoxidil. But seriously. Your hair is awesome!!

Dr. Bhatti charges 1$/graft.. 2500$ is not really that expensive compared to pretty much every other doctor in the world. However, some people aren't a fan of his hairline work. If you're really going for the female hairline, I wouldn't hold back to make sure you get the result the first time around

He's got some pretty nice results. However, I don't like the deception in the photography.

Also, Dr, Nigam just magically appeared not that long ago onto the forums to share his findings. There has been quite a bit of interest and skepticism ever since. However, as all good science, results are all that matters, and if it proves reproducible under the same circumstances elsewhere, it will prove to be something that we NW 5+ have been craving for the longest time. Dr. Mwamba, I have a question to ask. If this does show promising results, can you give us an idea about how the prices will compare to normal FUE?

Where are you from? Why are you keen on going to India?