HairNeeded

@HTHope @Taken4Granted Yes, He is booked up till next year. I believe someone (probably an international patient due to the current situation) had to re-arrange their scheduled date and I was available with very short notice for any date. Otherwise, I would have gotten a date in March next year. Yes, it is is a flat fee normally I believe.

Hello there, sorry, things got busy with the whole Covid thing. I have my surgery scheduled mid next-week and I will start a new thread for the same. My results were decent for the last time. As many have said - large area coverage, not many good quality donors from the strip etc did not help me much. I also had all my native hairs in the recipient area fall due to shock loss as they were prone to loss eventually anyway. It's still pretty good I would say. I will post some pictures soon. This time I feel good because I met Dr. Konior for a consultation this time prior to the surgery. He confirmed that I have got good quality donors that can be handpicked for FUE, and we are only targeting a relatively small area in the frontal section to really thicken it up, which is what I want. I still have a bit of a concern with pimples due to my body type. Dr.Konior said he can prevent it by using a specific antibiotic this time. Hoping for the best result! Pray for me! If everything goes well as expected this time, something tells me that I will be back soon for another.

I'm trying to get the 2000 for lowering the frontal hairline and blend may be a little bit into the transplanted hair on the current hairline area behind it. I think the donor from the previous surgery is healed well. I will try to go in for a consultation because I'm not 100% sure of my donor hair quality at the moment.

Hey Guys, Its been a long time. I'm planning to get another HT to thicken up the frontal hair line. This time planning for FUE, maybe around 2000 grafts but boy, it has gotten pricey!!!!!

Hello everyone, I'm sorry I have been away for long without updates. It is just that I was getting very nervous about my growth (I didn't have much until like 7 months) and several people advised me to stay away from the forum for a while. Seeing others grow well didn't help my anxiety and the stress isn't good for growth. Then I kind of lost the touch. But its been 15 months and I think its time for an update. I have got good news. One thing I want to mention is that transplanting is a technique that depends on many factors. The skill of the doctor, the quality of the donor hair, the post care (not doing stupid stuff), medications - all are important for a great result. If you happen to have all of them, then you become one of those miracle patients. Unfortunately not everyone can have those. In my case, I had a great doctor and good post care, but I lack the other two. So my results are good but not miraculous. It may be miraculous considering the quality of my donor hair with no propecia and I'm happy which is what matters. My frontal hair line is good and I look much better in pics and videos. If I can keep this for a while, I should be good. First of all, let me say that Dr.Konior is wonderful. In every profession, there are experts and then there are super experts. The reason you don't hear about a bad result from Dr. Konior is because he doesn't have any - that I am convinced of now. His hairline design is extremely natural. If I didn't have those donor scars, no one could tell I had a transplant. I have seen some transplanted hair in person before by some other doctors and they looked equidistant, somewhat unnatural. This is extremely important. His attention to detail and the quality of work is unparalleled. Another thing is his response time and patience answering questions. I can assure you that in my thirty six years of life I have not seen anybody like him in that respect. I have sent him hundreds of emails with stupid and repetitive questions and he has answered all of them patiently within the hour or worse the same day. Thats just ridiculous. It is very important to get this kind of support to keep you calm and guide you through difficult times if you need it. He genuinely cares about your growth as much as you do. I'm writing all this for the people who are having a hard time deciding on HT. Here is my advice. If you have money and decent quality donor hair, go for it. How do you know if you have good quality hair? honestly I don't know, may be ask the doctor if your donor hair is mostly 1s or 3s etc. Do your research. HT is not magic. You are going to reap what you sow. Any HT doctor can give you hair. They are basically moving hair from one place to another. But how many will survive and how its going to look all will depend on the doctor and the quality of your hair. It is also important to know what kind of support you will get from the doctor if something goes wrong. It costs money to pick a good doctor but it will be worth it. If you want safe results, I would pick Dr. Konior or Ron Shapiro. I can only tell you about my experience with Dr. Konior and trust me, you won't be disappointed. It is not easy to get a good certificate from me. But Dr. Konior gets it because he is that good and there is no room for any complaint. I believe all my transplanted hair has grown. Now the overall density may look a bit thin but thats because I have covered a large area with only 3500 grafts (most of them 1s). The result is still pretty good. Nobody looks up at my forehead anymore. At this point, I do not regret doing HT. It could have been better but I got the best out of what I have. Attaching some photos - all taken indoors without flash. I didn't get that many grafts in my crown area. I just hope things look this way for next few years. I'll update if there are any changes.

I had staples and stitches too. Staples were removed on day 4 or 5 (probably a bit early as I had to leave the area), and stitches at the 2 week mark. As for the closure method, I wouldn't know, Spanker probably would.

Not posting any pictures right now as it hasn't thickened up much. Healing is coming along good. Its been a very busy couple of weeks. I will post pictures at 6 months.

Thanks HairICome. I'll definitely cut my hair short in the next month or so. I already clipped it a bit. That definitely will show better.

Thanks Spanker. I'm feeling good overall. I like the sound of that. Here is to better hair days!

Attached are the 4 month pictures. There is definitely growth, waiting for more thickening to happen. This time all pictures but one are without flash. The scar at the back is really thin and it is difficult to take a picture with all that hair around it. I tried, but didn't get a clear one. Next month, i'll try and do pictures outdoors. Now i'm realizing how much hair it takes to show up thick on camera. All those people that can't see their scalp with the newgrown hair must be really happy. I'm sure it looks so much better in person if camera shows it that well. Hopefully I get at least 80% of that.

whoa! my thread has been jacked. Fellas, peace! @Jingle, I have nothing against you or anyone else. I just want all of us to have more hair. As a recent HT candidate, I understand how difficult it is trying to find the 'best' HT doctor there is. Every time I thought I had it, I was wrong. I kept moving on from better to better and at the end, there are a cream of doctors that you probably won't go wrong with. For everyone, there is a top 3 or 5, whatever that number is. It is up to you to make your pick from that list. I understand it can be frustrating when you are researching a doctor and you come across threads that don't offer what you are looking for. But what can you do. You have to make the best use of the available information. I'm in touch with a Konior patient that had his HT a couple of months ahead of me. He did not post any threads or photos but just PMed me recently that he was happy at 4 months. I cannot make him post his pictures (even hinted it) and i'm sure there are a lot of them like that. Nobody is doing anyone a favor by getting an HT. This forum does not owe anybody anything, it is just trying to help (and of course it is okay to make a profit while doing a good deed). I'm not against you or anybody, I'm just stating my views based on what I feel. Most people when they do research, they look for the bad reviews. Good reviews can be stacked, but not the bad ones. One of my main criteria for picking the doctors was the same. I could be wrong, but if someone does not have a satisfying result after spending a fortune, wouldn't they want to vent or do something about it. So, a lot of good results and rare bad results is a good combination in my opinion. When I started my research, I wasn't sure if the forum had real people or what the deal actually is. You kind of follow people's threads for a long time and make a judgement on whether they have an agenda or not. Anybody can be outsmarted, but you can only do the best to your abilities. The rest is fate/luck or whatever you want to call it. I also want to take a moment to thank all the doctors for what they do. In the first couple of months post HT, I realized how demanding their job is. They just can't afford to have a bad day. There is no way to correct a mistake. Every day they are putting their whole career at risk. Until I had this surgery, I was always kinda *jealous/upset* at the money they charge, but they deserve every penny of it. I dont know why, I just cant seem to summarize anything in a concise manner. I always have a lot to say. I want to be done but I realized I have a little bit more to add. @Jingle, I can understand how others might have reacted to you saying mine was the first candid Konior thread. I'm not really sure what you mean by that. I know there are some other patients that have posted as well. Now, if you are thinking I'm more genuine because I'm having problems, that is not correct. They may just have had good results and are really happy. I understand that may sound suspicious but that goes back to what I was saying before. If there were many unhappy people, wouldn't they post more and with the really really happy ones, most of them won't post because it was a breeze for them, but some of them do. Anyway, i unfortunately am not the best candidate. Even doing all the research, picking the best doctor, is only going to help you so much if the luck is not with you. A very rare percentage of people get as many pustules as I did. I was getting 4,5 a day and had to take antibiotics to control them for at least 2 months or more. Every time I take care of a pustule, it will bleed. I have no idea if that killed the graft or not. I also don't have very dense hair and was pretty bald to begin with. I'm not also on any medications nor am I taking any MSM or biotine or anything like that. So I wouldn't base your decisions on my result, but I'm hoping to get a good result. There won't be anymore debates after that esp now people feel that i'm candid. All I can tell you is that I'm still highly pleased that I picked Dr. Konior regardless of my outcome. I have had a lot of problems, with pimples and antibiotics etc and the support he gave me was amazing. He replied to all my concerns/questions within the hour every time for 100s of times. I'm pretty sure anyone else would have lost patience. In my experience, most people love their HT doctor if they have had a good experience and will be defensive. I have checked with numerous patients of different doctors. Everyone said they were thrilled with their doctors and results, except of course the ones that didn't have so great an experience. That you don't need to check with them, they will post. I'm hoping for a great outcome. I would have been 100% sure if I didn't have the pustules situation but at this point it is a wait and see. I'll post my pictures this weekend at 4 months and will continue to do so monthly. I hope I get a very satisfying result and it will be a tribute to a great surgeon. I have been writing for almost an hour now and I apologize if I may have been incoherent or offensive in parts. It is all unintentional, I only wish the best for everyone. I believe in accepting people as they are, well, for the most part

Hi Sam, thank you for your kind words. The pimples are now very less. I'm glad that battle is over. About the flash, you could be right. I don't think it is that bad in a realistic setting. I will just have to avoid flash going forward. Anyway, i'm not uploading any 3 month pics as there is not much to report. Everything is healing well. I don't have any numbness anywhere. I can say i'm back to 95% of preop. There is definitely some growth but nothing that a camera can show well. Lets see how 4 months will look. i'll upload the journal in the end when I have a good perspective of things.

@samspade, Thank you for the reassurance. I'm hoping I can say the same things to someone in future as well. In my case, the only thing is my scalp seems to be very thick and hair is having a tough time coming out.. I seem to have a predisposition to scalp pimples and there are a lot of pustules. Its not very clear in the pictures but I get a few daily. I really really hope it won't have any impact on the final growth. As for propecia, the cost-benefit ratio (not the money) is not good for me considering the potential sides. I have lost 80% of the hair in the area where it would have made a difference. May be 5 years ago it was a good option for me, but not at this point. In any case, i'm not considering messing with my hormones right now. With my luck, it is probably not going to work out very well. We'll see what the future holds.

Hi Matt, Thank you for your comments. Yes, everything is healing well. I see that you have a procedure scheduled with Dr. Konior. Congrats. I'm sure you will get the best result possible for you. Good luck.

ok, technically the pictures are from two months 2 days, for the purists. Not much growth as expected at this stage, though I see hairs sprouting in many places. Horseshoe look continues for now. One of the issues I'm experiencing is the attack of the pimples/pustules. General consensus is that it doesn't affect the growth. I think this period (two months post op) is one's lowest point in the whole HT saga, and mine is compounded by the unnecessary tension from the pimples. I'm on antibiotics to possibly control them but they keep coming out (so far) only to be decapitated by me. Now when I look at my pictures, the sides kind of scare me. I hadn't realized how much less hair I have in that area. I have to applaud Dr. Konior for extracting 3500 grafts for me. I hope the sides grow more and hide the scar well. It is still a bit reddish for me in the recipient and scar areas. My body hasn't had a very kind reaction to all this. I will create a site to report my progress, but I need something to cheer me up first, may be some growth. we'll see.

nothing much to report. Scar is getting better though the right side is still more reddish than the left. Takes time. The recipient area pinkness is almost gone. Most of the grafts have shed I believe. Some are still there, seems to have grown too. Scalp is a little dry and is getting some pimples. Based on Dr. Konior's recommendation, about to aggressively shampoo and exfoliate. Going to use a shampoo daily that contains salicylic acid for exfoliation. This is where i'm at currently. will post more at 2, 3 months.

That son of a scar!.. though felt much better after sutures are gone!! Almost had some growth there, but they are shedding .. its normal, nothing to worry.

pics of scar, thats the only scary part of this .. donor area gods were not kind to me.

6 days' pictures. Sorry I forgot to take a camera with me when I left to take 2, 3 days pics.

Background I'm currently 35 and started losing hair around 10 years ago. By the time I was 29, it was pretty noticeable. Its funny how things change. When I look at my pictures at 22, my hair looks as big as my head. So, In around 10 years, my hair loss went from a 0 to NW5A. So did my confidence, but towards 0. HT Research A couple of years ago, I checked out a chain clinic, but the price was prohibitive at that time. I was lucky I didn't proceed with them. Last year, I decided to give HT some more serious thought as I was in a better position financially than in the past. I luckily found this forum. After some initial research, I went on to do a couple of consultations locally. I would have made mistakes as I didn't know enough to make a wise decision at that point, like any newbie. I just wanted hair and was very interested in getting something done locally. Luckily some good people in this forum provided the guidance I needed. Forum and people This forum is a life saver and so are a few people who are dedicated to helping others. I particularly want to thank "Spanker" for guiding and mentoring me. Without him, I would definitely have made mistakes. God bless him for being who he is and I hope he gets to keep all his amazing hair forever And without this forum, nothing would have been possible. So thank you to the people who maintain it. For people who think there are advertising/marketing here, yes, you cannot avoid/control it just like in any other forum. There will be good and bad in everything. It is up to you to do the required research, contact people via PM and recognize who is who based on their previous posts/activities. I suggest you spent a lot of hours as this is a life changing decision. I probably have spent 6 months' worth person hours on HT and it was all worth it at the end. Doctor selection I have had 3 in person consultations and numerous online consultations with a lot of well known doctors. With the help of this forum and members, I grew wiser with each experience and had a good idea of what I should expect from HT and what I will need. Now it was down to picking from the very best. One thing, as everyone says, do not let money or travel be a factor in your decision. HT is not a joke. As someone who went through it recently, I can tell you that you better take it very seriously otherwise A) you wont meet your expectations which can be even more depressing B) you could potentially damage yourself C) Its not just getting HT from the best of doctors, Post OP instructions are as important too. So read as much as you can, compare post op instructions from the best doctors and do everything right. Some small things like exposing to sunburns can make or break your HT. Dr. Konior - doubts What can I say. Any patient of his just sounds thrilled, too thrilled. I was skeptical initially. I have come across occasional sub par results from pretty much every surgeon but not him. Initially I was wondering how this is possible. There has to be someone, because if someone gets a bad result, thats when they come online and write about it. I tried and tried to find anything, but found none. Talked to his patients and everyone seemed to be very happy. Of course, it is not possible to talk to everyone of them and most of his patients do not post either. But i'm sure if someone got a bad result, they would post. So I came to this conclusion. Either he meets/sets everyone's expectations correctly, or he takes care of any problems that they may have. After my experience, i believe it is the former. Also initially I was skeptical about someone's ability to place all the grafts by himself. But after seeing him in person, I have no doubts he can probably complete a triathlon pretty easily. . Dr. Konior - Final opinion One word - Yes, they were right. He is really really good. I didn't go for a consultation in person, went straight for the surgery. After my many consultations, I knew what to expect and after my research, I was comfortable with my decision about him. In my consultation before the surgery, he pretty much said everything the way I wanted it to be done. I really didn't have to change or discuss much. Then I knew I had made the right decision. His surgery was smooth, scalp was extremely clean compared to the pics that I had seen online. I don't know what he does, but it was so clean in a day and scabbing was very minimal. My recipient area was just perfect in placement and coverage based on my permissible donor. Also, I don't believe anyone can match his patience and response time to your questions, both pre and post OP. In fact, i'm amazed that how detail and prompt his responses are. He makes you feel you are his only patient. There is no nonsense about him, very professional. Surgery I'm not going to too much detail as many people have already described this to the T. All HT surgeries go pretty much the same way. You take pain killers/valium and some sleep, some don't. Dr. Konior said he wanted me to be pretty still and I guess I was since he said I was a good patient at the end. I barely remember anything about the surgery as I was half asleep, kind of like in a dream. I only took one break for lunch. Surgery is the easiest part of the HT process, trust me. That should be your least concern and no, it is not painful. Dr. Konior was able to do 3525 grafts for me. My donor density is not all that great. He did the best that is possible which I don't think can be bettered. I honestly don't think anywhere else I would have got the same numbers and placement that he did. Again, it is just not about density, it is about what works for me. He put around 3000 grafts in my hairline and frontal third and around 500 towards the crown to make it appear as thinning. I'm happy with what I got, now yield is another story. I can't speak for it yet, but based on what I see so far, i'm happy. I'm also Asian, so my hair caliber is probably different and hence the distribution too. Post Surgery Initially I was very nervous. This was the most worrysome part for me about HT. What if I can't follow post op instructions correctly, what if I make a mistake etc. I have an advice for future HTers. Its really not a big deal. If I did good (i'm very paranoid), so will you. There is not all that much to do to be honest. The least you do, the better. Even if you make a mistake, you will survive. Just be careful with the recipient area. I took two weeks off and only time I wore a hat was one time on the forth day for half an hour. I didn't even wear a hat back to the hotel. If you choose to wear a hat, be careful to wear one thats loose. I didn't understand the concept of icing. I only applied it for like 2 minutes at a time. I don't have much experience with injuries/doctors (thank god) for last 15 years or so. Since I didn't ice correctly, I got some swelling, but it will pass. Donor area was painful for me post op. For some it is, for some it is not. It also doesnt help that I stopped all pain medications after day 4. Also, know that the scar will take at least a month to heal. I'm writing all this for future HTers. If you already have had one, you know. Since my scar was so tender, i was very worried about removing the sutures. I got my staples out the forth day as I had to go back home. That was painful but not too bad. Good thing is it is over in less than 10 minutes. Now back to sutures. I was expecting the worst for it and was really scared. But it was under 10 minutes or so and wasn't as bad as I thought. If you are in the DC area, i recommend going to the Patient First in Sterling, VA. Only cost me $15 and 30 minutes, and a doctor does it. And that place is just too good, for other things too. 5 stars from me and thats difficult to get. Post HT impressions Its been a month at the time of this writing. I'm very happy with my doctor and his office. Also, forgot to mention Lisa and Tom. Both really good in what they do and good human beings who care for you. I'm wearing a hat to work after 2 weeks of staying home. I am not comfortable exposing myself in this condition. Some people are, and some are not. Luckily i can wear a hat to work. I have cut my hair really short to make it even with the ht area. Even though I was an NW5, I was doing a massive comb over to hide all that. You can see that in my first pic. This is from just a couple of weeks before the surgery. Hopefully in a couple of months I see growth and can go without hat. It is safe to wear a hat after 2 weeks. I'm not on prepecia or rogaine. I am just not comfortable with the sides of propecia and not sure if rogaine will help or hurt me. Have read too many conflicting opinions on it. In any case, if the transplanted hairs grow well, i'm much much better off than what I was before. I am not hair greedy, i'm hair needy . In a way, i may not be doing 100% justice to Dr. Konior's work as I would probably have gotten a stellar result with them, than without them. But i'm hoping it is still going to be good. Expectations I haven't lost any graft and have been very careful in every aspect post HT. So I hope I get good yield. i'm happy with my placement and will be ecstatic if I get growth for what I got. Keep an eye on my hair journey! Advice HT is not a joke. It is a REAL surgery. For some, it doesn't sink in until you get one, like me. Be prepared to spend a month being uncomfortable, painful (if you take medications, you will be better off) and worried for a while until the growth happens. Do your research. You probably won't go wrong with any of the top 5 doctors. I don't want to name anyone as it varies for people. All I can say is based on my experience, Dr. Konior is top notch and up there. You won't go wrong with him. I don't think he gets enough credit as most of his patients do not post as much. I have no idea why. Just wanted to post a helpful link from Spex. It summarizes things pretty well for newbies. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/145591-hair-transplant-tips-info.html I'll be posting my progress pictures soon. I also want to give back to the community as others have done for me.

Hi, I have been doing a lot of research lately on HT. Almost making up my mind to get one towards the end of this year. I'm a NW 5A at 35 years old. I'm planning to get around 3500-4000 grafts. Lets say this covers most of my bald spots and I don't lose further hair in a large scale. Will I need another surgery in that case? I have read many posts that says once you do one HT, you will have to follow up with 1 or more surgeries later on. What is the reasoning behind that. Is it that further hair loss will occur which will force you to have another HT at least? Thanks for your time.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I'm still deciding!!

Do HT surgeons usually let their old patients talk to you? I would feel much more comfortable if I can talk to couple of patients who are at around 1 year of growth. Is it against hippa regulations?. from your experience, do doctors let you contact (or have them contact you) their patients for references?

Hi Adam, Thank you for your response. Any particular reason why you vote for Dr. Lindsey?

Hi, I'm a new member to this community. I have decided to undergo hair transplant surgery (FUT most likely) as soon as possible. I live in Maryland and I have two great surgeons close by, Dr James Vogel and Dr. William Lindsey. I'm having a tough time deciding which doctor to go with. Both doctors have great reviews and seem like a good choice. One thing I noticed is that Dr. Lindsey is a member of IAHRS. I'm not sure why Dr. Vogel is not a member of it and would like to know if that matters. I have done extensive research on these two and both seem good, as I mentioned before. I have seen their pictures/threads on this site as well. Any input to narrow down my choice will be greatly appreciated.