Paulwasbald

I am a 45 year old male, good shape, office worker, married, two kids. Six months ago I began to seriously consider getting a hair transplant (FUE). While researching and debating my decision I found this website and read posts virtually every night. I found the stories and guidance to be incredibly helpful and as a result I got the procedure done in March. It is now 6 months later and I am writing this in the event that there is anyone looking for advice, has similar reservations, and is looking to this site for some friendly counsel. It is my turn to contribute here because I feel like it is worthwhile to share. I can only recount my experience and cannot speak to what others have gone through. So what follows is an accurate personal account, my individual experience and others may have completely opposite views on their own procedure. Procedure Does Not "Hurt" The procedure is exactly like you see in the videos and hear described within this website. The incision and transplant process is not painful. The best equivilent I can think of is a filling at the dentist. Your head will be numb, you will feel a few pulls, pinches, and pricks, but they are not what I would call "painful". More annoying than painful but not even that after a while. My procedure transplanted 1,800 grafts and took about 4 1/2 hours. I watched movies the entire time and talked to the ladies doing the implants. There were three ladies working simultaneously and I did on several occassions wonder how balanced the result would be given one of the ladies seemed very dilligent and focused, another seemed distracted, and the third seemed like she wanted to be anywhere else. At the end of the procedure I bacame very nervous. No Going Back When I looked in the mirror, I realized that no matter what the outcome I was going to have to live with what just happened, good or bad. And it didnt look good. My head was red and scabbing and it did not look like it would return to normal any time soon. Note - I had enough hair on my head to cover the scabs - thank goodness. If you are bald and decide to get this everyone will know ... there is no way to hide the fact that you have 2,000 holes in your head no matter what anyone says. Your head is going to be traumatised so make sure you buy a couple of good hats. First Week.. Ok I can see how it may be possible to hide this big red head. After about a week there was still no pain. I washed and applied the topical treatments and started working the scabs off. At the end of the first week, with some thinking shampoo and a tan, the head started to look better. My advice - if you have hair now grow it out before the procedure. Do Not get the procedure after a short cut. You will regret it. Also.. get a tan. It does wonders to hide the red. Second Week.. Stitches out... cross finger and wait. The stitches came out, I could feel the little hairs that were transplanted and all seemed fine. I could hide the redness and scabs and no one looked at me funny or even paused when I spoke to them. Whether its true or not, I do not think anyone detected a hair transplant when I went out. By week 4, I stopped wearing hats and did not feel self concious. Months One through Five This is the period serious regret set in for me. I lost a significant amount of hair to shock loss. My hair seemed thin, brittle and lifeless. My head was pissed at me for what I had done to it. I had numerous bumps/pimples on my head, ingrown hairs and itching. A lot of itching by month 5. I read the posts on this site and people said it was normal. If it is normal, I was hoping for abnormal, cause it sucked. Several times in months 3-5 I seriosuly regreted having the procedure done. I would see handsome guys with shaved heads, or close cropped hair and they seemed happy, healthy, and most importantly confident and attractive. The same emotions I was searching for when I decided to get the plugs. I felt very bad about not just accepting the baldness that nature had planned for me. I longed for a short hair cut again. I wanted to shave my head. At this point if a Genie had popped up and said I could erase the decision I would have. It was equivIent to tatoo regret. started searching videos on line, reading more stories, and everything looking for some hope that my decision was not in vain. I gave up and just accepted that the procedure was a farce and that these blogs had misled me. Pretty organized conspiracy I thought. It was bad. I had lost a lot more hair and looked more bald than at any point in my life. It sucked. Month Six 'What's This!?!" I was traveling and took a shower at the hotel I was staying. I got out of the shower and blew dry my hair and looked in the mirror. Something seemed different. For the past three years when I dried my hair there was a distinct view of scalp across my head. A white no-mans-land of barron scalp that drew my eyes everytime I looked in the mirror. But this time I could not see it. The hair on the front of my head (that had been transplanted) was now thick and long enough that when I combed it, that barron spot disappeared. The top of my head seemed thicker too. I actually could SEE the hair that came in. It was odd and spellbinding. The hair transplant that I had recently cursed and mocked was coming in. Over the next week I washed scrubbed and pulled my hair. It was definitely there and it was coming in strong. The baldness on the top of my head appears gone. My scalp is not red or scabbed. There are still occassional ingrown hairs but I guess I can live with that since they are indeed hairs. My scar line is 80% undetectable. The end of the cut (where the final separation cut is made) is giving me issues. The "flap" overlaps and it is still red and gets bumps. But no one can see it. I get my hair cut with a "5" clipper and no one can tell I had the procedure. My wife cannot find the scar at all on half of my head. I have hair... about 30% more than when I started and have cofidence that it will get to the 50% the doctor estimated. I found good reason to renew my patience. What Next? I am sure, based upon all of my research that I will have to go through this again. My hair loss will continue and half a hair transplant wont make sense in about 3-4 years. But next time I will be prepared to accpeted the six months of anxiety and helplessness. Or I will just give up and shave it, either way I bet on the chance I could beat this hair loss thing and so far I feel good about it. $4,000 lighter in the wallet but I would have just spent that money on better food, wine, or vacations, none of which would have made me feel as good as I do now... staring at a head of hair I did not have before but now have to manage. If this helps anyone out there it was worth it. thanks to those who posted their experiences as well.. they truely did help me in a time of need.