Gettinold

Man, just my opinion but your HT looked pretty darn good. Much more natural than the piece. I think in time you will find that you will opt for letting YOUR hair be your hair. A little thinness will be no big deal in a few years, especially when you wear it right. The piece will become a ball and chain and you will feel a ton better. Not trying to sound negative, but I think your HT was a success.

Thanks for the replies, I really appreciate them. First off, congrats on moving past the "future" HT doc phase, Blake. I have considered SMP, and will look further into it, this may be the most cost effective and sensible solution. I would rather get a few more grafts there, but as mentioned, I don't want to throw all my available grafts at the crown if I may need them down the line if my front starts to go. I'm not in any hurry at this point and wondering if maybe a small BHT procedure would help, although the $$ issue is the main thing with that.at this point. I sent the pic to one of Dr. Charles's reps so maybe see hat happens with that too. Thanks again for all the help, this forum is a must for anyone considering a procedure of any kind.

I've had 2 crown HT's, totaling about 3200 grafts. Dr. Charles did a good job, but my hair is so fine it's had to really get great coverage. There's definitely more hair than when I started (see pics in my photo albums) but as you can see there is still a significant bald spot. The lighting in the pic sucks, but you can imagine what its like when there is full light. Still wearing a hat everywhere or using concealer if I have to look classy. With 3200 in the crown already, I don't think it would be wise to dedicate any more remaining grafts, just wondering what other options may exist...including maybe being happy with what I have, just hoped for a bit better coverage after all was said and done.

I'm 34, had my first HT at 32..I understand your view, but the thing is, when I had my first HT, my crown was not thin or thinning, it was BALD. Dead, shiny, smooth BALD. The crown was done and starting to move forward, other than some shed a few months after my 2nd HT, I haven't lost ant more hair. Propecia would have made no difference at all. The problem with another 2000 grafts in my crown (other than the extra $6-7k) would be that I'd have over 5000 grafts in my crown alone..doesn't leave much for the rest of my head, should I need it down the road.

Thought about that, was told my follicles were dead though....Not a fan of drugs or being on them for the rest of my life, may have to. If I don't have enough grafts, a BHT may be an option...my bank account would disagree though.

I already have over 3000 grafts in my crown, don't think it would be wise to put any more in when I will probably need them down the road...

I've tried a few different ones, different stylists trying to "add" coverage, over the past 2 years...no matter what, my crown is thin and frustrating...definitely not what I was expecting from my investment. I've seen several good results from Dr. Charles, just not sure what happened here, it's almost like the second transplant didn't yield..

Well, 11 months in here....no progress and last night my girlfriend of 9 months brought up my thinning crown and suggested a buzz in the future. It was a huge kick in the nuts after 2 transplants and 11 grand was spent to avoid that...can't tell her I can't because of the scar in the back of my head. Pretty frustrated at this point, I still have a sizeable bald spot and not expecting any miracles in the next few months. There's definitely more hair there than there was originally, but I'd really hoped for better coverage from 3200 grafts, especially since it would be unwise to put any more in the crown..

Get some Caboki in the meantime dude, it will help tons if you're worried about people noticing..a little shake and a little hairspray and you're good to go...

I'd keep a razor away from immature grafts....

Stop worrying and accept that YES it will happen, make peace with it, and realize that you are embarking on a "big picture" journey that will be worth it in the end. It's temporary and will be forgotten about within a few months. Easiest/best way to go. If it doesn't happen, you are one of the few lucky ones...but don't count on it.

Agreed-it's definitely a different technique, and I'd say that Dr. Charles has it down..if you look at the immediate post op photos, you can see the natural "spin" and angle a crown has. That seems like something that would take a lot of practice to achieve...but on the flip side, that same pattern makes the crown much more difficult to "fill in".

Thanks for the replies: Well aware of the fact that the 2nd transplant takes longer to come to fruition than the first, but I'm not going to kid myself into thinking that in the next 6 months I will have a 20 year old's crown with no skin showing at all...I've definitely come a long way, no doubt, and even if progress stopped here I know that the hair transplants were a success, just not exactly what I had really hoped for...it was mainly a general question of "how much is too much" and "what should the expectation be" for crown transplants.

Just my uneducated opinion: You already have the scar, it's done, why spend the extra $ and low yield risk for FUE? Not to mention that when you shave your donor area for FUE, your scar will be very noticeable for a few months. There are plenty of people here who know way more than me, but that's what I would say..