ILikeMyHair

Is it possible to go for an FUE after an FUT? Does it affect the FUE procedure at all if you have had an FUT before?

Hi guys, I had my HT at age 23 because of traction alopecia. I'm 25 now and I have some MPB in my family. Basically half of them have it and half don't from both sides. My dad has it and he's NW5V. My older brother has no hair loss at age 28. I seem to not have hair loss from MPB yet, but I think it will start for me for sure because I take after my dad more than my brother in terms of looks and hair. I naturally have fine hair just like my dad did and I am taking Proscar 1/4 tablet every other day as Dr. Wong suggested to me after my HT.

Anyways, I'm writing today to find out if I can thicken my hair using shampoos/other products because I see that some of my hair that fall out(3/10) are weaker than others. Some(1/10) are very weak as in barely visible even though they are long. This scares me as it makes me think that those are MPB hair even though the volume and overall thickness of my hair seems to have remained same up until now and I used to see these very thin hair since two years back when I started caring more. Now i'm not sure what's going on since sometimes when I scratch my head even at the back where there shouldn't be any DHT related miniaturization, I see some some(1/10) hair thinner than others. So I can't tell if I have MPB at this time or not. I think I will have diffuse hair pattern when I do start to thin as my dad had. I don't want to wait till that happens before I take action. So what do you guys suggest I should do?

So far all I do is take proscar 1/4 tablet every other day.

That's about it.

I was hoping my hair could get a little thicker by use of shampoos and such.

I don't want to try some product that would be $30 per month yet as I am still a student.

What do you guys recommend?

Also I would like to find out if MPB has started for me already. Is there a way to do that other than by losing your hairline or seeing visible baldness?

Wish I had your hair. Have to agree with hsrp10, the last pics look like cosmetic improvement was achieved.

I never said cosmetic improvement wasn't achieved. I called this a poor result not a failure. I'm still really disappointed in the result because it's nowhere close to what it should be for the amount of grafts that were placed in such a small area. The graft yield was way too low. And if I knew I was going to achieve 'cosmetic improvement' like this I wouldn't have gone with the surgery. No sane person would want 'cosmetic improvement' like this for the cost involved. This result was nowhere good enough to warrant a lifelong scar on the back of my head.

And my hair will only get worse in the future. I'm only 24 right now.

I would argue that you are far too young to say you don't have MPB genes, so I would not go crazy with the grafting as you may need them in the future.

 

It doesn't look that bad in the pics but I can see the spots you are concerned about.

 

I wonder if you could have permanent blood flow issues from the traction alopecia?

 

I you are still pretty young, so I would take solace in the fact that you have time to fix it and that as you age, if you don't have MPB, your friends will keep getting balder and this is the worst it will get for you, and as you age, you'll have more hair than most people you know.

I'm sure I will have MPB in the future as my dad has a receded hairline and so do my uncles on my mom's side. I can already see miniaturization in the hair that fall out. The hair thickness in the hair that fall out ranges from very thin to normal. It's been happening for 3 years now, but I haven't noticed much of change in the appearance of my hair overall. I'm becoming more convinced as I do more research that my hair fall isn't normal and I do shed a bit more than normal people. My hairline on the left side hasn't receded and the hair looks good overall. I think it'll be a slow loss since my dad is probably NW 3-4 and seems to have stopped there with some hair loss in the crown. His hair looks weak everywhere though so he shaves it which I don't have the option to do anymore.

I don't think it'll be a good idea to get more hair planted into the right side even from a different doctor because if I do have MPB I might need the grafts for other places which makes me despair that I can't get this hairline fixed anymore because of the uncertainty of the future. I think I only have 3-4k grafts left.

Hopefully jotronic can chime in.

 

The good news is that you don't have mpb and still have a boatload of grafts left to fix this if it bothers you still.

 

After two failed surgeries in your words with the same doctor I'm not sure why you thought the third time would be different. H&W have a great reputation but I have also seem some less than stellar results from them from time to time.

 

Maybe go see a different doctor next time around?

If it was any other doctor I wouldn't have even gone for the 2nd surgery, but the reputation of H&W on this site was a factor. Also the fact that I can't afford a surgery for another 2 years since I'm a student so I decided to get the free touch up they offered until I can afford to go to a different doctor which will probably be thousands of km away. The possibility of getting a refund in cases like this seems to be close to 0% so I figured I might take what I can get.

the last pics with your hair styled look like a cosmetic improvement was achieved, and you say you're still around 3 months post-op second touchup so it's too early at all to make a judgement there.

still time for more growth.

 

I wouldn't overly chase a 100% perfectly symmetrical hairline either, asymmetrical hairlines are quite common and natural.

That pic doesn't look too bad. The lighting and the angle makes it look good. I realize it's only 3 months, but I'm not expecting too much from a 250 graft touch up when 450 graft touch up before didn't do much. I am only expecting the 50% grafts to grow just like before which will make things only slightly more bearable. I would be satisfied with a slightly asymmetrical hairline, but the difference is too great for it to look natural.

OK I think nothing is going to give me density I need and make both my sides look even. I had traction alopecia mostly on my right side from wearing a turban and went to Dr. Wong for my first surgery in Mar 2012. I had 1550 grafts put into my hairline mostly on the right side because that's where I had most of my hair loss. I thought that would be enough to cover it up because the area wasn't too large. Unfortunately the first surgery gave pretty decent result on the left side, but my right side lagged behind considerably. At first I thought I was a late grower because by 6 month the result looked very weak, but I can confidently say there was no improvement from 6 month onwards. I think only 50-60% grafts that were placed grew. The density was too low and gave a see through look on the right side. So I went to Dr. Wong after a year and he offered to do a free touch up of 450 grafts. So I got my 2nd surgery in Feb 2013 and hair growth was slow just like in my first surgery. Again only 50-60% grafts seemed to grow. A year after the 2nd surgery, the right side was still see through and there was still considerable difference between the right and left side. The 2nd surgery improved things only slightly. So went back to Dr. Wong again in Jan 2014. He said "We put in hair there. The right side just won't take." He offered to do a 3rd and final touch up of 250 grafts. It's been 3 months and 1 week now since my 2nd touch up and the future looks as bleak as the first two surgeries. I think I experienced some shock loss after 3rd surgery and the area looks pretty bad right now. Worse than it looked before the touchup. I am surprised because the shock loss hair came back within 3 months for the first two surgeries. This time it seems like most of it came back, but the hair still looks worse than after the 2nd surgery. I have pretty much given up any hope of getting a good result now and regret my decision to get the HTs done and put my life on standstill for >2 years. Should've just shaved it. It's distressing to see other people here with much more advanced hair loss getting great results whereas after putting 2000 grafts in a small area for me still gives me a see through look. I don't know what went wrong and why the grafts won't grow. Don't even know what my options are at this point. Can't shave it anymore. I don't know if I should go to any other doctor for an HT since H&W are supposed to be top notch and are put on a pedestal on this site. Anyways here are some pictures. The last 10 pictures are taken today 3 months and 1 week after the 2nd touchup.

Please comment and let me know what you guys think of the result.

Does the 2nd HT grow slower than the first? I had 1550 grafts placed at hairline in my first HT. One side didn't grow too well. The doctor decided to do a touchup for free and placed another 450 grafts on that side. I am 4 months past my 2nd HT and I don't see even a single graft growing. In my first HT I saw hair starting to sprout at 3 months and 2 weeks. I'm really worried since I have seen that most late growers don't get good results. It was such a small area to cover and I have put 2000 grafts in it by now but the it still looks sparse. Please help.

Hi guys,

I went for my 2nd round of HT and got a touch up done of about 450 grafts. The first round didn't give really good results and left one side uneven. It's been 3 months and 3 weeks now since the second HT and I don't see any new hair sprouting at all and I'm pretty worried. The first round I had started seeing some hair growth at 3 months and 2 weeks. This time I can't even see a single new hair growing. Is this normal that two different HT's could have two different timelines? I don't know what to make of it.

Dr. Wong did shave my hair where the transplant was done. He didn't shave the whole head. The part that you see as dark red in img 4 and 5 was shaved. I had long hair so I was able to cover it up and I didn't have a large are to transplant on. However, on my second time I went back to Dr. wong for a touch up and he placed 450 grafts near my temple and this time he didn't shave. He needs to shave the area so he can better figure out how to place the grafts so they look natural. You can talk to him and see if he'll need to shave it for you. If it's >1500 grafts I think he'll probably shave.

I'm 23 years old.

I have been using Proscar 1/4 of a tablet around 3 times a week (every other day).

I have been on it for about 3 months now.

I did not see any shedding/thinning in the first 2 weeks of me taking it. It seemed like my hair wasn't even falling in the first 2 weeks. However, around 3rd week to 2.5 months I started noticing my hair to be thinning a lot. They weren't really shedding more than normal, but just thinning a lot.

I have heard that propecia/fin/proscar can make your hair shed, but can it also make your hair thinner? Some hair are so thin that that are even hard to see when they fall. Typically the thinner hair are also the short ones. Does this mean something?

I stopped using Proscar after 2.5 months becase I got scared, but started it again now at 3 months.

Is this normal? When will they stop thinning and start getting thicker?

Also I'm only taking proscar at the moment and no other topical or oral drug. I started propecia just in case I had mpb. I had a hard time telling whether or not I have mpb or not. My hair sometimes used to shed for 2 weeks a lot and then it would stop shedding. However, I couldn't see any cosmetic difference to it for the last 3 years. It seemed to be stable. I had an HT with Dr. Wong 9 months ago because I used to have a turban before which caused traction alopecia, but I couldn't figure out whether I also have mpb or not. Dr. Wong advised me to take proscar just in case.

I wish you best of luck.

Had my surgery done On March 7, 2012 with Dr. Wong.

Finally reached the 6 month mark.

Hair looks OK, but density is lacking on the right side. Left side looks good.

More hair were transplanted on the right side than on the left side because I was missing more hair on the right side.

I really hope by 11 month mark the right side will become as dense as the left side and hairline will look more natural.

The pictures below are the ones before HT, Right after HT, 4 months after HT, and 6 months after HT.

The last picture shows the scar after 4 month. It's very thin and barely visible. I'm very happy about the scar.

I would rank the surgery 7/10 at the moment because of lack of density. Hopefully after 10 months to a year, it will be 10/10

Go to my profile to see more pictures.

you got any 7 month updates?

You are still getting pimples at 6 months so i guess you still getting a lot of new hair at 6 months. I can't tell from your pictures but can you see lot of new hair that are shorter than the rest of your hair?

Had my surgery done On March 7, 2012. After what seemed a long long time, I have finally reached 3 month mark. Here are a few pictures. Can't really tell if I am out of the doldrums or not. What do you guys think? I trimmed my hair 2 days ago so I could easily see any newer sprouts as the long native hair in that region was making it hard to notice anything new.

Go to my profile to see more pictures.

Hi guys,

I'm 2 months and 3 weeks post op. I think I see very few sprouts of new smaller hair, which are thin, growing. Some are individual hair some are in pairs of 2. I don't know whether it's my shock loss hair coming back or is it the transplanted hair growing. I think it might be both.

Is there a way to tell the difference between both? I think the fact that they are thin indicates that they are transplanted hair? Would the shock loss hair have normal thickness when they come back or would they also start out thin and mature with time?

Is this too early for at least some HT hair to start growing?

any pics or updates

He doesn't want to post pics.

latest pics will be appreciated

To whoever says "You are losing hair dude."

Just say "Thank you, Captain Obvious." (You can say it snidely, humorously or any way you want)

It works well and is not too out of line for you. You can make it funny or vile or somewhere in the middle.

Anyways I think it's also a cultural thing. I'm glad to be living in Vancouver, Canada, the politest country in the world and haven't been pointed out by anyone that I'm losing hair or why I hair a cap so much or that my hair looks funny. I know since I am originally from India and if I was currently living there, I would be a big goat for any one to poke fun at me. They make fun of everybody there and I guess since they make fun of everyone's faults and laugh it off, it kinda helps the person become strong inside since birth and can get ahead in life despite his faults. They have names for disable people. For example, if somebody lost one eye, 'one-eyed' would become his new name among the children and teens and even some adults. Names like baldy, four eyes, shorty, boils (for acne) are pretty common and get stuck to you if you have any of these traits. Everyone makes fun of everyone else. Lucky few don't have anything to be made fun of. This usually goes on till you are about 40. Obviously you hate it when someone makes fun of you, but it's acceptable for you to make fun of them back.

Hilarious post Shane

I had my surgery done a week before you from Dr. Wong as well. While my experience was not as adventurous as yours (since I live in Vancouver, same city as the clinic), it was just as pleasant.

I look forward to following your progress and hope you post some pictures soon.

And I hope you were talking about the people on this forum when you mentioned partying with 2500 new buddies of yours. Lol I know you meant your new hair, but technically they are your old buddies who just live somewhere else now.

Who here thinks (not hopes) that we will have better transplant methods than what we have available at the moment a few years down the road?

I am asking people that do a lot of research into this kind of thing or have a good science background and are aware of the cutting edge technologies being developed at the moment.

And by better I mean not just a fine tuning of the technology already being used in terms of transplants, I mean a technology that will allow even someone with a NW7 to have full head of hair. So for example, I believe that technology like stem cell research and cloning would be able to do that since there would be an unlimited supply of donor hair. The technology could even be just a better understanding of how hair loss occurs and being able to stop if not reverse hair loss in its tracks (in this case no future generation will have to suffer hair loss).

And by timeline I'm concerned with 5-10, 10-15, 15-20, 20-25 years. Not more than that. Also it should be a method accessible by most of the population, so it should be not ridiculously expensive (< $20,000 should bring permanent cure).

Is there a way to search for the people that have had their hair transplant done in a specific period of time? like people that had their HT done in Jan-March of 2012?

Holy Smokes! A PACK A DAY FOR 8 YEARS? WOW. Dude you need to quit or at least decrease it to maybe 1 a day regardless of the hair loss.

By the way I couldn't really figure out what you were asking.

Are you asking if smokers are able to get prescriptions for Fin?

Or whether smokers can get HTs?

Or if smoking and taking Fin at the same time will have unwanted side effects?

I don't know any of those answers, but just wondering if that's what you are asking so that someone else can answer.

My post op instructions said that it was safe to go back to lifting weights and excersizing after 1 week, when the grafts are fully secure. I did, so hopefully it's alright.

I don't know when you had your HT, but if it's only been 2-3 weeks, you might want to call them and ask them again specifically if moderate weights or high weights are allowed. Besides I don't know if FUE or FUT makes a difference. Just confirm with your clinic again.