RockZ

Congratulations and that is great to hear. I also had a very good experience exactly five weeks ago. The SMG staff were great. I hope you have a good recovery.

some people are not rational

 

maybe he was trying to see how firm they were and tested them only to end up pulling them out

Lol. I wonder why he'd pull out more than one or a few if any in that case!

I appreciate the insight. It was my own post-op paranoia that prompted my question (I had a transplant two and half weeks ago at SMG). I think I followed the instructions very closely and hope things turn out well. Sounds like it'll be fine.

Has anyone ever heard or experienced subpar results (FUE in particular) as of result of not following the post-op directions by a clinic correctly or potentially starting to be active a little too early? I've heard some people undergoing FUT may have had their scar stretched for participating in something active too early but not for FUT. I haven't seen any posts about losing a lot of grafts or not seeing grafts growing because of potential post-op issues like that.

Hair Transplant Crust/Scab Removal | Hair Loss Q & A

I soaked it in a bath for about fifteen minutes. The first few days before that I spent a fair amount of time massaging off the scabs for awhile. You have to put some pressure toward the bottom where the grafts are.

Okay, on day 12 / 13 a large amount of shedding occurred after I showered from a workout session where I was lifting weights. Today I experienced a fair amount of shedding. I would day at least 50% of grafts have shed. Is that normal to shed that fast???? I just thought it would be a little more gradual. The left side of my hairline had noticeably shed more grafts. Now it's just getting through this buzzcut growing out with a receding hairline. Ugh...

No problem man and best of luck. I'll post two week photos tomorrow on my website. I went to work today and no one noticed anything other than the fact I had a buzzed haircut. I experienced some noticeable shedding yesterday after lifting weights (I hope there wasn't a correlation as I was told I should be fine being this close to the two week mark).

Between days 8-11 I spent a fair amount of time soaking my hair and / or gently massaging off the scabs.

I went to work two weeks post-op from my first surgery day and had some minor redness (noticeable between hairs that were shedding). Nobody noticed or commented other than the fact I have a buzz. Case closed for something I was agonizing over off and on for several months.

Anybody out there have a FUE procedure (hairline case) done with a buzz cut?

I had a procedure at SMG almost a few weeks ago and I think only a few of the grafts (1's) toward one part of my hairline may have shed around day eight, perhaps coming off when I was massaging the scabs off. The grafts are definitely growing at this point, although a little slower than my native hair but they blend in very well to the point of being virtually undetectable.

Since I don't have any native hair to cover up the work at this point, I'm curious how others in a similar situation faired and how drastic the change in appearance was during this phase. I'm just trying to manage my expectations as I definitely don't anticipate being in the small percentage of patients that does not shed most of my grafts:).

Alright, just to provide an update I'm around eleven days post-op after having a FUE procedure at SMG. I went out to some bars to meet up with friends and nobody could detect the work. They just thought I had a short buzz cut. Even a coworker who would comment on about my hairline in the past frequently (in good fun of course) did not even give it a second look. He was the only other person I mentioned it to. Needless to say I don't think I'm worried about going back to work on Monday an having people notice.

Day ten pictures after a touch up haircut. Pleased how things are blending in especially without the scabs present at this point.

I'm sure with the movie role and your profession looks are an important element so I wish you good luck man!

I had an excellent FUE experience with Shapiro Medical Group (Dr. Paul Shapiro performed the surgery) about ten days ago. From what I understand though, if you're undergoing a FUE procedure at SMG, I believe the upper limit is 2000 grafts. I had 1578 (most of the work was done the first day). I'm fortunate enough to live only 20 minutes from the clinic. I can't say that factor wasn't considered.

Mine was similar to that when I was your age and I just got an HT at 28. I didn't start on meds until I was about 24 so it progressed a little after that. I stayed on them for about four years before undergoing the procedure. I'd probably give it a few more years at least if I was in your position

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Good. The swelling subsided completely a few days ago. The grafts are starting to blend in really well and the redness is almost gone already in the recipient area. I would say things in the donor area visually are almost undetectable. I'm pretty surprised how fast the recovery is going. There's still scabs obviously but I'll get to those in the next few days as I'm trying to err on the side of caution. On that note, however, I did some light lifting for about a half hour at about 60% of my normal capacity (perhaps I was pushing it starting this soon at about a week) but one of the techs said it was okay to do this. He just mentioned to use common sense. I'm going to post day six photos on my site here in a sec.

Its bad to get singles in the front hairline so im assuming you got all of your 2's and 3's in the temples right? sorry for the newbie question.

 

it looks like you had minimal loss to begin with so was your plan to get your old hairline back? is that even possible? I rarely see photos of people getting a flawless hairline so hopefully your one of those guys.

Thanks and good question. Though if I recall I thought the 1's and 2's are placed in the front of the hairline and the 3's and 4's are placed farther back. If this incorrect please (anyone) feel free to chime in.

As far as my pre-op situation, my loss was isolated to my hairline and as you mentioned perhaps relatively minimal compared to other cases. One side was receding more than the other resulting in an uneven looking hairline. I couldn't do a side part or comb it back at all without the recession being very noticeable. In addition, the area behind my hairline had a lower density and had been thinning a little.

Yeah, my goal (in collaboration with SMG of course) was to regain an even hairline and bring down the temples as well as reinforce the area behind my hairline slightly as a preventative measure. I don't see it as being 'flawless' in the sense that it'll look like it did when I was 18 (probably not realistic for one to have those expectations) nor would I ever want it to be like that anyway. The consensus seems to be that there is a hesitation to ever do that (as far as being that aggressive, especially with younger patients).

I'm extremely happy as to the design and how the grafts were placed (though they'll likely start shedding soon) as in my opinion it's made a significant cosmetic difference in how my face is framed. I think I would've looked like sh*t man with a shaved head pre-op but I actually like the way it looks right now .

I was worried about that too but I'm in my late 20's and have been taking it for about four years with no problems at all. I know for a fact it's had a positive effect on my hair with some of the regrowth and stability going on (I noticed this especially looking at some photos before I took Propecia).

I started adding this to my regimen a few days ago after having a FUE HT earlier this week on advice that in summary was basically 'it can't hurt.' This is after I inquired and asked someone in the HT industry. I am going to continue to take these for now but does anyone know of any substantiated studies or empirical evidence suggesting this helps with hair growing faster or perhaps mitigating hair loss (assume it would be more applicable to the former)? Truthfully, I am taking this based on anecdotal evidence only.

I started experiencing some swelling in my face yesterday and it's progressed down my face a little more today. It's not as bad as it was last night but it sort of looks I got my ass kicked by some UFC dude. The staff at SMG were funny and joked that the techs shouldn't beat up their FUE patients . I followed all the post-op procedures but I just seem to be more prone to swelling I guess.

Here are a few pictures I took a moment ago. I just got back from a shampoo cleaning and the staff said the grafts looked well. This is technically my second day post-op.

How old are you? You seemed to have really great hair in the first place.

I'm 28. Thanks Spanker and I would agree in general although my hairline was been slowly eroding for over ten years and one side was noticeably uneven (to me at least when it was combed back). The frontal core area behind my hairline was becoming progressively thin too but Propecia began stabilizing this and my hairline loss when I added it to my regimen about four years ago. I experienced some minor regrowth in a few areas after taking it.

I'd like to give special thanks to forum member Levrais. He has been extremely helpful in answering questions and helping prepare for my transplant pre-op. Thanks again!

Congrats! Things appear to look great so far!

I am one day post-op myself having had a FUE and am relaxing in a hotel here in MN.

Thanks Starkid. As far as density, from a quantitative standpoint, I don't recall the specifics but we did not get ultra aggressive as it was not deemed to be necessary or optimal to go that route in my particular situation. My personal stance on this whole procedure was to basically let the artist (Dr. Paul) work his magic and allow the techs to execute upon that vision. Of course I had input and I did give feedback accordingly which was very much welcomed.

Thank you for sending over the pictures Janna! These ones below are pre-op (taken three or four months ago I believe) and post-op (today) and show a side by side comparison. These were all taken by patient counselor Matt Zupan.

If you look at the second photo in particular, you'll notice how I was thinning on top at the frontal core (forelock I believe it's called) which is something I didn't really notice much until I went in for a consultation. Since I did comb over with my hair style around the temple areas, I felt the pre-op pictures may look better than they really are since they sort of hid my recession slightly. It got a little annoying styling my hair like that every morning for the last decade so needless to say I am very excited with the new hairline design and the placement of the grafts. With ACell fine particles being used in my case, we are all hoping for great growth!

Thank you everyone! Here are a few pictures I took myself in the hotel a moment ago. I just got back from a shampoo session and will probably go back in Friday or Monday for another one. I'll post some of the official pre-op pictures taken at the SMG in my blog as well as some more Matt Zupan (patient counselor) took about a half hour ago after my wash was completed by Tom (surgical tech). Tom also gave me a quick touch up haircut.

I'm happy how clean the donor area is (as technically I was still actually being extracted yesterday) and how fast it's healing (ACell being a contributing factor perhaps). I started swelling a little in the forehead last night as expected but it seems to be decreasing. I'm icing it every two hours and of course using the GraftCyte (Copper Peptide spray) on the donor and recipient areas every half hour which seems to be working great.

The staff at SMG were great as usual today and it certainly feels like I've know them a lot longer than a few days (besides Matt)! Dr. Paul's design of the hairline was exceptional and the only thing I'll be sad about it is when these new grafts start to shed!!

Thanks again Janna! I look forward to seeing you and the SMG staff tomorrow!