Taken4Granted

By the way, I made little effort to embellish the pictures before. To more fairly represent the value I’m getting already, here it is with a moderate dose of Toppik (used to use a lot more) in that harsh light: My biggest cosmetic concern these days is not hair. It’s the dang blemishes around my hair line. They’ve been out of control since shortly after the surgery. I assume it has to do with the healing tissue in the recipient, or maybe oil from the new follicles.

Hey @aaron1234 @deitel130, thanks for dropping in. Yes, I plan to grow it out at least a couple more inches. I did always buzz it very close for years and years, but I only keep it short these days to keep a close eye on the progress. That bare spot in the front was hard to isolate before my last cut. I was relieved to see those sprouts, finally. I wonder what set them back.

@hairlossPA Yes, I’ve been in public without a hat for 3-4 weeks now. It’s slightly visible on a buzz, but the bigger giveaway is really the contour on the back where there’s still swelling above the incision. Do you have that? Not a big deal, but I’m hoping that clears up too.

A little over 5 months: front in harsh light, combed: uncombed: You can see a pretty rough patch there, but it’s filling in (see below). Sides in harsh light, combed: The right is still behind the left, but it’s also looking much better than before. cut in normal light: Still some shock loss, but it’s getting hard to detect even in buzzed hair. front in normal light, combed: with Toppik: Here are close-ups of that bad spot in the front: There are plenty of sprouts in there, so it looks like that spot is just on a different schedule for some reason.

Agree with @Louisjams. Even if you have the donor to cover all that, it’s at least 2-3 sessions, and it would be risky to go over 3-4K grafts without knowing how you respond. A lot of guys here only need the front and part of the mid-scalp done, so they choose to dense-pack their donor in that smaller recipient area for a thicker result. I seriously doubt you can or should aim for that much density right out of that gate. Lower-density coverage can look fantastic, though. I think a good surgeon could do a lot for your front and middle with 3k grafts. Maybe see how that goes before you try to address the back.

Very nice

Go to the best. Do not roll the dice on this.

I feel bad for him. It’s tricky, this whole HT business, and any of us could end up looking weird, fake or whatever. I hope he can refine that without wasting too many grafts.

That’s gonna be a nice result. I think it’s good that you shed so fast. Keep us posted.

What’s the scoop, man? Looks like I missed it too. From what I’ve seen, the problems usually arise with who’s the best doc and how old is old enough for HT.

@Hairgain22 People were debating his talent last I checked, so I’m relieved if there’s finally a consensus on the forum. He doesn’t promote himself like most of his peers, so I usually come out of the woodwork in his defense. You in the market for a procedure yourself? There isn’t one perfect doctor for everyone, but there are very few docs I would consider after Dr. K.

@JohnAC71 The doc was Konior. I feel better saying it a page or two into the thread now, just didn’t want to call it out right away without knowing how the initial content would look. I’ll do a more concise thread later when the case is closed. I’m planning an open letter thanking Dr. K himself, so I might do it then. But yeah, should be a fair number of grafts in the weak spots, so I’m expecting lots of improvement. Such a slow process! You don’t wake up and go “wow, look at the hair”. On the other hand, it’s only 3.5 months and I could already work with what I got if the cut were less noticeable. My advice to other guys would be to ignore it for like 4 months and don’t torture yourself waiting for those early sprouts.

Gentlemen, Forgive me for the delay. Just dropping in to update anyone watching this. It’s about 3.5 months. It’s too bad i didn’t document at about 1.5-2 months bc I was looking rough. To summarize, I appear to be turning the corner, but there’s def a really thin spot I’m watching (red circle), and I’ve still got visible shock loss around the donor. Overall, feeling good. I’m confident the thin spot(s) will fill in and the cut will be less visible with time.

This^ @Mat16 There are things you can do to slow it down, but ultimately you’ll have to learn how to be more than a hairdo. Try to think bigger than now. When people tell you that you’re a terrible candidate for surgery, there are two possibilities: a) everyone just maliciously wants you to be unhappy, or b) everyone’s genuinely horrified by the typical outcome for candidates like you. Hang in there, man. Forget the club/party scene (or whatever), focus on real relationships, and start building a life for yourself. And chill out. So you lost a little hair on your temples? What, did you want to be a little Justin Bieber for the rest of your life? Embrace your manhood.

That’s a tough one every man has to figure out for himself. Me, I do live with limitations, and the cost/graft for FUT on my first procedure made it the obvious choice, considering the coverage and density I was going for. With docs like Konior, FUE may not harvest that much less than FUT, but the strip is a nice, fat harvest. I needed less work than you and still felt FUT was the way to go. With the room you need to cover, I would def make choices that maximize harvest and yield. That means top docs and maybe even 2 strips before switching to FUE.