Parasol

Agreed. Would love to see some photos.

I don’t talk about my hair transplants too much in real life. For me, putting my face to my profile, and showing my face here was an important step for accepting myself. But, along with that, I also wanted others to feel welcome to comment to me, or even PM me if needed (which I get now that my face is shown) so having my face for the whole world to see added a bit of a human element to my internet element.

I decided to share my story here to help inform people about the reality of transplants, and show the truth of one man’s journey.

When I decided to post my pictures, gradually revealing more of myself, I realized it was possible others could take them and post them anywhere they want.

I don’t necessarily think Redditors posting images from here is a bad thing. In fact, referencing examples of what can go right, or what can go wrong, is invaluable information for someone researching what transplants are capable of (or capable of doing to you).

What I hope for is that each forum that encourages photos, has a good ground work in place to make users feel safe to share. This places a lot of responsibility on Mods. 

My thought is, if a user is using examples of good and bad work, that’s ok; regardless of the source. Users need to see the truth. But if users are humiliating people, and insulting them, then I don’t think they should have any place to participate on any of these forums. 

Let’s take my transplant as an example. It changed my life and I am thrilled with it! But, as I’ve said before, I have the completely bald spot from some bad healing, and the left half of my hairline is much less dense than the right.

If someone used my photo and critiqued the result in any way they wanted, that’s fine to me and I think should be fine for Mods. But, if someone used my photo and insulted me, I would hope any Moderator would do the right thing and ban them instantaneously!

I also post on another forum, a UK one. The Mod there is awesome just like Melvin! A very good dude that will do anything he can for you! I’ve seen him link my original thread (before my last transplant with HDC), and use it as an educational tool for what can go wrong if you stop using meds after a successful transplant.

He linked it not only on his own site, but I’ve seen it linked on other platforms as well.

And you know what? Thank goodness for that! If my story can help educate someone, and prevent even one disaster, I want them to share it anywhere and everywhere!!! Like I said, this mod is a GREAT guy and he shared my story graciously and with tact and with the hope of helping people.

But if, let’s imagine, someone used it to harass or belittle me? I’d feel much differently and would hope any decent Moderators on all sites related would can the user on the spot. 
 

Awesome! 

I hope you’re well, @Aristos ! It was a pleasure to have you working on me during my surgery, and am so thrilled for you that your surgery has turned out so great too!

Happy healing! You look great and I look forward to seeing the final result on this surgery too!

Sorry to hear that you didn’t find your conversation with Dr. Sethi very productive, Tony. 

Did he offer any explanation on his opinion about possible reasons for the substandard growth? Or does he want to wait another month to give his final assessment and delve into that specific topic?

What did he say it is that you wanted from him or the clinic? I guess I’m confused on this whole part of the call as you described it. Is he accusing you of wanting a refund, or a free surgery or what exactly? Have you specifically asked for anything (if you have, it’s totally understandable, just looking for clarification)?

I like Eugenix a lot as a clinic, and still do. They were number 2 on my list when I had my last surgery. Though, how clinics handle cases such as this one matters a lot, so I do hope you and them can find a solution you both feel good about, along with an explanation as to what happened here.

Appreciate the update, and try to hang in there.

26 minutes ago, Tony711 said:

At least he’s looking into this, but the first time he said he was busy because he had to take care of some issue at their office in Mumbai, now it’s the school so he wanted to wait till March.  But Melvin recommended to have someone else look into it and Dr Sethi managed to get another person involved. 

I guess only you can decide if you feel comfortable with this. 
 

Without knowing who the person stepping in for him is, and whether or not they’re intimately knowledgeable in matters such as these (or whether or not they’ll be relaying information directly from Dr. Sethi), I can’t say whether I would be or not.
 

Though this whole thing really makes  me sad and bummed out, and I just want to say, I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. I really hope you can figure out what happened and not just have it left as a mystery. 

My personal opinion is, something went wrong here. No one other than the surgeon, especially one as knowledgeable as Dr. Sethi, would have a better understanding as to what could have happened. I don’t think a substitute is appropriate here.

Clearly Dr. Sethi cares, so please don’t take me the wrong way. He said he needed to think this case over and I believe that’s exactly what he did. He also tried calling, so I’m not pointing any fingers here.

But if this was me, an in-person sit down, or a video call needs to happen as soon as possible. OP and Dr. Sethi need to pick a time that’s convenient for both of them and commit to that time, rather than wait this out until some time in March.

My understanding is, they do inject a substance that expands the tissue in the implantation zone. This makes it easier to place grafts closer together.

JT has a video on this on YouTube, using a balloon and a marker (in the video, he puts dots with the marker on the balloon without blowing it up, as closely as he can. Then, he blows air in the balloon, and you can clearly see how much closer he can place dots to one another with the ballon expanded).

I have no idea if all surgeons do this in all cases though!

EDIT: I tried to type “JT’s” full name, and it automatically uses his initials instead when posting? Are we not allowed to type his full name here? He’s an excellent resource.

15 hours ago, UnbaldEagle said:

Hey @Redhead. It's been a while since I posted here. I just read your post and felt like I'd share my own experience with these issues. Know that there's hope and treatment options, but those are not called Aloe Vera, topical steroids or pretty much any ointment that your dermatologist might prescribe. Dermatologists who do not operate lasers can offer little help apart from telling you what's typically advised here: just wait a little bit more, it will fade. Even though from what I understood, it's been years in your case. The problem is, especially considering scar redness is that if it didn't fade in 7 months, it is pretty much a permanent condition. In some rare cases it would fade until 1 year, but it just stops improving after that. First of all, it is not your skin that is red per se, nor is it postoperative redness (i.e. erythema) as it was offered by someone above. That's a normal stage of wound healing, whilst having this amount of redness 9 months post op is simply not. As I said, when it comes to redness it's not really your skin that needs to be healed, but rather the capillaries which were ruptured by the thousands of incisions. So it's the broken capillaries that are causing the redness (they are not actually broken, but remain more dilated than before), hence it's a 3D problem rather than 2D. 

As far as treatment options are concerned, yes, dermatologists would sometimes prescribe a topical steroid, as they are anti-inflammatory, and some of the stronger ones, such as clobetasol propionate, are vasoconstrictive, so in theory they would constrict these dilated capillaries which are causing your redness. However the blood is still pulsing under pressure from the heart, so it would require long term use to see a noticeable reduction in redness, which is a problem because steroids would thin the skin, potentially leading to skin atrophy, which is irreversible and would make telangiectasia even more visible. So it's best to avoid topical steroids, or use them sparingly. I've tried a few myself and haven't seen any improvement. If you really want to try out any topical, there's tacrolimus which acts just like a steroid, but without causing any thin skinning, or silicone sheets, for which there are some studies showing they could reduce the appearance of hypertrophic scars, including redness and cobblestoning. The only problem is it's difficult to apply them on a hairy area. But of course do consult with a dermatologist, maybe they will tell you something new.

The gold standard for treating redness are lasers, which would also cause permanent hair loss, apart from one pulse dye laser called Vbeam. It is generally used to treat rosacea, but they're equally effective with other vascular issues. Vbeam targets dilated surface capillaries, causing them to shrink, or with purpuric settings (more Joules and different spotsize), causing them to effectively burst and disappear. The blood vessels feeding your follicles are much deeper and at a wave length of only 595 nm, Vbeam wouldn't reach them (the other pulse dye laser, Nd:YAG most likely would). I've had a total of 4 Vbeam treatments thus far and the redness is much better these days. I would say mine was comparable to yours at around the year mark. I didn't shave my hair for the first 3 treatments so it's possible that my hair has absorbed the energy from the laser and that's why my forth treatment, for which I shaved my hair, appeared to be more effective. I'm planning to do 2 more treatments and then hopefully move on with my life and try to forget I ever had this dreadful HT. 

Lastly, for the cobblestone appearance of your skin, there's microneedling, but again, that would require a few sessions. I would recommend going to a professional rather than buy the dermaroller or dermastamp and DIY. A forum member here, @harryforrealhad some great success in treating his own plucked chicken skin.

All the best and I hope you find a way. If it's any consolation, I think your hair looks great otherwise.

 

Hi, my friend! I hope you are doing ok and that life is well. How are you?

I’m really happy for you, Adrian! Thanks for all you do for this community and happy healing!

I see your concern and wouldn’t be happy with this result either. Sorry you’re dealing with this!

I’m not sure how easy it would be for you to consult with other surgeons, but you’d be doing yourself a disservice not getting opinions from other reputable docs.

Personally, I’m not sure if 200 grafts would resolve this. And I’m also not sure I’d return even if it was free unless I really really respected my doctor and trusted their opinion wholeheartedly.

You have to ask yourself, did your surgeon do everything they could to ensure a result you both would be happy with. Seems like you had doubts on density in the beginning. If so, I think you should go elsewhere but that’s just my two cents. You don’t want to have to get a third surgery if 200 grafts won’t cut it!

Though perhaps, maybe 200 will. This is why you need other opinions from other docs.

If this is the post, I don’t think it’s his account.

I think you can tell because there’s no blue checkmark and that it says Chris Burke underneath it. I think this is a parody account but I could be wrong (don’t have Twitter myself, just see all the drama on Reddit).

I think Elon has an absolutely incredible transplant. One of the best results I’ve seen on a famous public figure.

14 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

Do you have pictures of both your rosacea and your degree of baldness?

Having very bright, red rosy cheeks may arguably be a hell of a lot worse to live with than a minor degree of hair recession. You may need to prioritize. But....hopefully Accutance has zero effect on hairloss and this is a non-issue. 

 

I have a thread detailing my journey, which includes some photos of my face towards the end:

Without my hair transplants, my Norwood level would be a solid 5, with signs of a 6 somewhere in the future.

Overall, I have made some big improvements regarding my face over the last year, through medication, exercise and diet changes. My face is much less “bloated” now.

But I still deal with this cystic acne, and get these strange red bumps too, that never really fully form into whitehead acne, and are embedded what feels like deep beneath the surface.

Overall, my redness isn’t as bad as some people with rosacea. It varies depending on the day for me, but overall, you can see the red forehead, cheeks, nose (with spider-veins forming along the edge of my nose on my cheeks), and for some reason, some persistent redness at the very top of my chin. 

I realize Accutane won’t help with the rosacea or redness specifically, but cutting down on the acne and extreme oiliness would be a much welcome improvement. 

Hi, everyone! I’m looking to get some insight from the community about going on accutane, and the risk of hairloss associated with the drug.

Over the last couple of years, I’ve built a relationship with two dermatologists. One last year in the US where I’m from, and another here in Guatemala where I spend most of my time recently.

Both doctors independently think I have acne-rosacea, and both put me on courses of anti-biotics (to help with the cystic acne), along with topicals and basic face care routines.

The anti-biotics work great! I mean, they don’t really help with the redness, or my EXTREME oily-ness (I cannot overstate how crazy my oily-ness is. Within a couple hours of washing my face, it’s like someone put olive oil all over it! So, so oily. Gross I know), but they keep the acne and cystic acne away mostly.

Both doctors, however, absolutely will not keep me on oral antibiotics more than a month or so here and there. And when I stop the antibiotics, the acne and cystic acne always comes back and, although I make some progress, I’m always eventually back closer to square one.

Both doctors want me to go on Accutane, and have said they think it could actually cure this acne and this oily-ness forever. However, I am really worried about the reported side-effects of hairloss with Accutane and hate to ruin this successful transplant! Although it’s a close one, my hair means more to me than fixing the skin issue, but if possible, I’d like to have both!

After my first dermatologist suggested accutane, I did ask my hair clinic HDC what they thought about the drug, and they thought it was ok for me to use. That the side-effects are rare and it should be fine. But, I’d love to get a wider range of opinions on this, and see if the community thinks the risks could outweigh the benefits!

If it matters, my hair gets very oily too. I have to wash it daily. So I’m pretty sure the Accutane will effect my scalp too, for better or for worse.

What do you guys think? Have any of you gone on Accutane? What was your experience?

I like everything I’ve seen. Seems ethical and honest and puts out some great work.

I support it.

15 hours ago, Giuseppe-HDC said:

It is now our standard procedures to reach and extent the 5000 grafts in one visit in 2 days and if we can even approach the 6000 Grafts mark, we can add a third day for patient with normal to good donors.

Can you clarify this section? 

Is this a different protocol than your previous internal procedures? And if so, how is it different (perhaps, offering the 3rd day is the “new” part?)?

Excellent work, by the way. The patient must be thrilled!

Interesting topic.

Even though I have a result I am very happy with, I dealt with some rough scabbing (have no clue if it was necrosis) and to this day still wonder what caused it and how it could have been prevented.

I don’t often see topics such as this one here and like seeing it. It’s an unfortunate possibility from hair restoration surgery, and I think it’s important for all potential patients to be aware of it (and for all surgeons to continue to work to be better at avoiding it).

@Tony711 Thanks for updating so quickly. I’m happy Dr. Sethi has reached out!

Please keep us updated. It’s very important to know what went wrong here before committing to any future transplants.

Could you post some better pictures? Perhaps in naturally lit areas? 

I find photos with the light directly behind oneself to be very deceiving, and the last has flash, which is almost always unflattering.

I just want to reach out and say I’m sorry you’re dealing with this. I know the emotional struggle getting prepared for surgery is, and how difficult it is to wait for the result (or lack thereof) to come in.

I do hope Dr. Sethi can figure out what’s going on here, and whether this was a failure on their end or if something is going on with you (which caused the grafts to fail, or hopefully, just delayed the grafts in growing).

Try to stay strong and please keep us updated on how your meeting with Dr. Sethi goes.

Going back to the first page, it does seem to me that the growth is less in the areas that struggled to heal, including the empty spot where the worst of the scabbing was.

I realize it’s too early to make a final assessment, but have you been in contact with the clinic at all?

57 minutes ago, Yan bio said:

Hi parasol - I relly appreciate your reply.
Yes, I know 6 months isn't the end-result, but regarding the term you're using - "maturing" - I really feel it's less a question of maturation and more of follicles who didn't grow?

I know Doron and he's a great guy, so does the rest of HDC team and of course Dr. Maras who is a true gentleman and I really felt he and the team caring for me. I must say my 'fear' is not whether I'm going to get a good result in the end - because If needed I'll do a touch-up, it's just that I felt "almost there" after months of waiting which as we know is difficult, and now I feel like I have 6 more months to wait for final results, and then after a 2'nd HT wait another 6 months for it to grow to some degree. I feel like all of a sudden my 'remaining waiting time' for nice results is going to change from 1-2 months in the near future to 1 year, and this feels heart sinking..

I totally understand. The waiting is painful and emotionally draining. We all have this surgery because we want to feel like ourselves again, and it’s a horrible feeling putting our lives on hold (even if just a little bit) while we wait for this hair to grow or find out it’s not going to grow.

It’s hard to say how your result will turn out. But I do hope you can find some comfort in the fact that you chose a clinic that will stand behind you. 

Lots of people go to hairmills that don’t care about you once they get your money. Then, if the result turns out sub-par (if they’re lucky, and not butchered!), these patients have nowhere to turn to and have to start the process of finding and paying for a clinic all over again (if their donors aren’t depleted!).

HDC I’m sure will have your back no matter what. 

Feel free to PM me if you ever want to talk. I obviously can’t do anything about getting your hair to grow but I’m a good listener

And definitely keep in contact with Doron and HDC so they can track your progress and come up with a game plan if eventually it is necessary.

3 hours ago, Yan bio said:

this is an image (taken from the above video) - hairline really looks like it's coming out as it should..? 

6 months is still very early. You have a lot of maturation coming, so your transplant can’t be judged at this point.

Just make sure to keep in close contact with HDC. They are an extremely ethical and honorable clinic. If you remember when we spoke, I have a thin area (mine due to scabbing), and @Doron Harati assured me that if I ever wanted them to touch it up, they would do it for free without question. HDC stands behind their work and their patients.

My result came out amazing otherwise, and I can hide my area with how I comb my hair, so I haven’t taken them up on it. But have peace of mind knowing that if needed, they will take care of you. 

Keep in contact with them and give it a few more months. Try not to worry just yet (I know it’s easy to say, but please try not to worry yet).

Hi, Waterworld. Thanks for pinging me and providing some additional photos.

I agree with what everyone is saying above: That it’s hard to say unless we can know for certain the transplanted area was completely bald or not, and that if it was bald, this doesn’t appear to be enough density to match the native hair behind it.

It does look like you have coarse hair, so it’s possible you’ll be pleasantly surprised over the course of the next 8 months. You’re still in the worst stage, after all! I know it’s hard, but try your best to patient!

But I think it’s also important to be realistic, and to have a backup plan if this doesn’t become what you had desired. 

Hang in there, buddy. 4 months is still very early.

Have you stated who your surgeon was? Have you kept in contact with your clinic at all?

40 minutes ago, sr1486 said:

Hey Dr…. Any interest on trying Verteporfin on a keloid FUT scar? I got one that makes me keep my hair longer and use hair fibers over it. I had 6 sessions of smp into that did nothing (did not stick). It’s kind of got my romantic life on hold for a while 

Hey, definitely off topic, but I had a FUT scar that really bummed me out too. Dr. Maras at HDC put 300 FUE grafts into it and it came out great! 

Again, we probably shouldn’t discuss this further here because it’s related to the verteporfin study (PM me if you want or comment on my thread) but hearing you’re putting your romantic life on hold over this (which I sympathize with) made me want to reach out and say there are some options that you haven’t tried that can work (not for everyone though, obviously, because scars are different than virgin skin, but it did wonders for me).

7 hours ago, MachoVato said:

Since I got dragged into this... I don't like those temples at all. They remind me of my temples a lot!

Look at how my temples have different directions...

 

 

Don’t temples naturally grow in opposite directions? At least in some (or a lot) of people? My left side grows forward and my right side grows backward, and I’ve never had any temple work done.