NoTakeBacks

You touched on most of the answers yourself! Most transplanted hairlines will fall into the more conservative side, because if progression and donor area allows, one can always lower it in the future. Whereas, if someone goes for a way too aggressive hairline, one might be chasing it for the rest of their life and run out of the oh so finite donor hair in the process.

As to the illusion and transformation of a hairline... you are correct that immediately post op can look a bit higher vs 9 months+ Aside from the gents who slick their hair straight back, the volume you speak of does indeed help make the hairline appear slightly lower, thanks to that "puff" effect as Dr. Feller would put it. Whether or not a patient changes their mind about a hairline being too high or not, depends entirely on how much they get bit by the Hair Greed Bug, and what prospects their donor area has.

I know personally I'll probably want a slight touch up of my temple points/slight lowering at some point (considering all holds up), but I refuse to make a decision until I'm 14 months out. At that point I'll know if I can justify another session or not. IMHO. :]

Cool, your donor is certainly making progress. It still is noticeable, but a lot of that is due to redness. It doesn't look like it's been widening, so that's something to be thankful for. Yeah, you'd be surprised at how many natives survive when the colonial transplants get dropped in. For me, it was a sobering experience to see the state of my natural hair so clearly and come to realize "Well...this would be me give or take a year if I just let my hair ride."

Excellent post-operative scar!

And how!

That truly is exceptional, he's a lucky guy. Genetics + doc = excellence.

Very nice! Like the density and design, it holds up real well even with the hair to skin contrast. Very solid and natural!

Do you have your own razor + guard? If so, I'd suggest starting at Guard #5/6 and working your way down if you think you can manage.

Personally, I just let it grow wild until recently. But I let it grow quite long pre-op in anticipation, and just went full on scruffy mode.

Terrible post. Only on a HL forum would he be considered balding.

Yeah...I wouldn't say it's a "terrible" post, as I see the good intention, but KO's totally right concerning the latter. Guys hairline is strong as fark and only has very minor temple recession. Hell not everyone is BORN with a perfectly straight hairline, and I can only hope (and wait) that my end result will be similar to what he has naturally. HL sufferers are some of the few people that will scrutinize and dissect anyone else's hairline to the extreme extent. I know I wasn't paying attention to any other guys hair when I had an impenetrable wall of hair lol.

Dude has good facial thirds, strong forelock, good bone structure, a strong jawline, and looks to be a big guy all around. With that said, just having temple recession isn't going to hurt him unless his entire hairline falls out...

Not saying there's no hope for hair loss sufferers(no woe is us lol), just pointing out Miss Universe isn't marrying some short, out of shape guy with a completely thinning hairline. THAT would be a story. ;D

Looking good! You'll now have a variety of styling options if you wish. Glad that you did the research and didn't try pushing for a low juvenile hairline because of your age.

Happy growing!

Annnnd I'm back with some updates for y'all! It's been a little over a month since my last post, and I'm now sitting at 102 days post-op. No earth shattering progress, but there's definitely been some! At this point I think I've seen most of my native hairs surface, or rather the one's that survived miniaturization & the procedure. It's still nerve wracking not knowing which are transplants, which are natives and how it'll all look in the end. The thought of me doing something to cause lost grafts is always creeping in the back of my mind.

What I can say is this process is almost like looking at my hair(time)line in reverse. At this point, the hair that has grown in the newly designed hairline, is an approximate of where I was one year pre-op. Obviously back 2 years ago it had more density, but I was already exhibiting that diffuse "M" pattern and I started noticing a defined concave dip where my forelock once was. It was at that point I really started worrying, and a year later I committed myself to research and pulled the trigger.

Anyway on to my regimen:

Spectral DNC every night before bed; on days where I wear a hat I'll spritz some in the morning.

5000 mcg of Biotin daily

1000 mg of MSM daily.

Vitamin E, Strontium/Calcium, D2, Fish Oil and Multi-Vitamin daily.

Pics @ 3 Months:

And as always (cause I'm too lazy to write in the actual blog) more comments and pics in ze photo album.

=D

Just by lookin at your pics I can say it's between 7-7.5cm

Yup. 7.1cm at the prospective forelock & 7.7cm at corners. While I was at it, I updated my pics for the 3 month review lol. Dropping a single cm would be great, but I'll be waiting a full 14 months before I make any decisions.

I've always had a high forehead, so I'm kinda used to it, but this also makes me curious to see how I measure. I'm going to check it out later, I'm probably between 4 and 5 fingers high but I want an exact CM measurement.

Either way, I'd rather start off higher and donor/doctor approved, I can consider lowering it by 1 CM down the road. I'd only consider that if I can manage good density and preserve some for future transplants if my crown ever needs it. Actually I'm gonna go measure now...

@1978matt: The blue hairline looks pretty good, I think any Doc should be comfortable with what you've planned out, even in between blue & red.

I haven't been here for too long, but I totally understand what you're saying. The mark of an absolutely great transplant would be the fact that it is unidentifiable. I've felt the same exact way as you put in your closing sentence. For me this is in regards to ANY cosmetic procedure, if you can tell something's been done then it wasn't a grand slam. With cosmetic procedures I think people strive way too hard for perfection, and as we know nature isn't perfect. Even the most beautiful people have some irregularities, but that's what makes them unique and attractive in the first point.

Considering you made it to 4 months, with no mention of any sexual side-effects, it's my opinion that you should consider staying on Fin, maybe at a lower dose. Realize this is coming from someone who's not all "RA! RA! FINASTERIDE!" 4 months concerning the hair production phase is not really giving enough time to allow for the shed hairs to grow back.When it comes to combating hair loss, it often takes 4+ months to see any results. Even hair transplants it's a waiting game, same goes for Minoxidil.

In the end it's your body and you have to do what feels right, especially when dealing with hormones. I can respect. I'm curious though, did you get it prescribed or did you buy it from some online pharmacy?

I'd check out Dr. DeYarman as he's posted some great hairlines and is also in Cali. Dr. Umar is a fine choice as well, but like Nick said I really wouldn't limit it to the immediate area. With that said, I can understand your hesitation to fly overseas. Just do your due diligence and research before jumping in. I know you're ready ASAP, but you really want to make an informed decision.

In your situation I would stick with FUE (Follicular Unit Extraction), however that's where the limiting factor begins. Not all Dr's offer FUE, let alone are well versed in the method. Then on top of that you're limiting yourself to only the Toronto area which shrinks that Dr. pool down even more.

I know Dr. Quatela operates out of Rochester,NY which is right across the border from Toronto and is a shorter drive than Ottawa, but my initial recommendation would've been Dr. Rahal. There are quite a few recommended Docs that would be great for your case, they just might not be located in Toronto. Even if this is a minimally invasive operation for a small recipient area, it still is an operation. This is permanent for life, don't let a few miles sway your decision.

Great to see you're active on the forums again Doc. Your older posts were a major factor in my final decision to pull the hair trigger(lol) and take the plunge. Nearly 3 months out and raring to see what's in store for my follicles and I!

Heyo! Since there's tons of topical options around now, I wanted to get the consensus from my fellow hair loss heroes.

I know it's been claimed that Azelaic Acid has shown signs of inhibiting DHT, but I was wondering if anyone had anecdotal or legitimate evidence proving so. Anyone use it, and get favorable results? Not so favorable results?

Concerning the Spectral DNC line of Minoxidil, I had heard it was great, bought some a year or so ago, but now there's been some commotion with the formulation changes at DS labs. Is it still worth checking out? Does anyone actively use this "new" formula, and if so how's it been? Reason I'm asking is I'm nearing the end of my last bottle, and will need to buy some form of Minox in the near future. I just want to make the most informed purchase I can at this point, as this will be the first full month I've completed of Minox POST transplant. Should I make the jump to foam? Should I just stick with generic liquid Minox? Or buy into Spectral DNC again?

Any perspective/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Looks like some solid progress! You wouldn't think so at first, but time flies doesn't it? I'm still kinda scared to do any lifts just yet myself though.

Any links for those studies HK? My curiosity is piqued; I don't plan on taking finasteride anytime soon but I like reading medical studies nevertheless.

Agreed!

Iamx121, your results (even at 7 months) are probably more than I can ever hope for when I hit 40 lol. Excellent look, basically what my dream hairline and styling option would be

:cool:Grats!

^ For informative SCIENCE.

I personally used American Crew Fiber/Pomade all through High School. Back then my hair was ridiculously thick and using the product never changed it's density, texture or coarseness during that period. It's great for a more rigid hold. If you want a more flexible matte finish I'd recommend Garnier Surf Hair.

Like greatjob said, the only real "loss" I could foresee is hair that's already prone to breakage and will shed during any normal activity light showering, ruffling your hair etc.

I thought rogaine was only for the back of your head...

Yeah I'm curious about this as well. I had read that Minox has little effect on native forelock loss, but does a bangup job for the vertex. What I always pondered is since FUs have different genetic characteristics than native hairline follicles, do they also respond to Minox better? That would make sense to me, but I always wanted evidence.

Either way I apply it every night lol!

The actual linear scar looks pretty good! When the redness and puncture marks heal from the staples, and any shockloss recovers, you should be in good shape. :cool:

Heyo all! So I never posted a thread dedicated to my HT immediately post-op, as I made the decision to gather some pics documenting my journey first. But now that I'm 2 Months out, it's time to get this show on the road!

My hair story is probably like many others before me. I used to have a perfectly straight immature hairline that was dense and coarse as a mofo. I NEVER thought I'd have MPB, as my Mother's side is pretty set with hair, and while my Father is about a NW4, HIS father died with a full head of hair (NW2 max). Add the fact my hair characteristics are completely different from my pops (his hair is very fine, straight and oily), I was totally blindsided by Mother Nature.

At first it started off maturing normally at the temples, and I'm cool with that, I think certain hairstyles look badass with a slight widows peak/forelock. But then I started getting diffuse miniaturization across my frontal third. At that point I was all "Hell no Mother Nature, no take backs!" So I researched for about 7 Months and I finally joined forces with Dr. Feller to help bolster my retreating troops.

The Op itself was pretty easy, the anticipation and waiting was the worst part. Maybe it's just me, and I don't think I'm particularly tough, but I've honestly had worse pain from dentists doing a routine filling. And even then I usually just power through it. Anyway, the staff was friendly and talkative, and Feller walked me through what steps he was taking during the process (the cauterization laser is cool), except for when he got in the zone to make all the recipient incisions/slits. Like I said before, the process as my tiny little hair buddies were dropped into their comfy head holes wasn't painful, but the waiting game was! Anyhoo, after lunch from a local deli and my post-op briefing I was set to go!

On the drive home, the local anesthesia wore off and my forehead felt like I had crazy sunburn, but that was the worst of it. Sure the staples were kinda uncomfortable, but that's to be expected when you have metal keeping your skin from flapping around. I slept sitting up right, popped the Vicodin and went to work the next day.

Overall it's been a great Adventure, and I'm comfortable with the idea of doing it again in the future. Now what most people are probably waiting for: PICTURES!

Pre-Op

Post-Op: Day 1

Post-Op: 2 Months

There are more pics in my photo-album with descriptions and whatnot!

Currently I'm taking Biotin, Strontium/Calcium, Multivitamin, Vitamin E and D2. Also applying 5% Minox spray/liquid before bed.

Cheers!

So I washed my hair normally tonight for the first time. A LOT of scabs and grafts came off. I'll continue to shampoo regularly from here on out.

 

Lets hope that leaving the scabs on this long won't negatively affect my hair/grafts/scalp.

Hahaha! Yeah, I'd try not to worry about it; but that's easier said then done. Our mind and imagination are our worst enemies. With 'em we're damned if we do, and damned if we don't. It's pretty natural to keep second guessing and worrying. I was in the same boat as you but on the opposite spectrum. I started gently massaging the recipient area when the tiny little white scabs started appearing at approx 7 days post, per my Dr's. instructions. Ever since then I keep wondering if I started too early, too rough, not rough enough, etc.etc

Even if we're told explicitly to do this, it's perfectly normal if X happens, blah blah blah... we'll probably end up worrying that we're the exception to the rule anyway.

Keep your head and follicles up!