msh89

I had my hair transplant about a year and one month ago, and it didn't turn out how i would have imagined at all. however, i still have a good amount of native hair, just thinning, and enough hair on my crown to pull off a buzz cut and dermmatch unnoticed. i want to get SMP to fill in the thinning spots, and if i keep my hair buzzed, i think it would turn out really well! i read that a HT takes around 16 months to fully see the end results though, so i was wondering if should hold off until that mark, or if it doesn't matter. not sure if i am expected to see a lot more growth, or if what i see so far is as good as it will get. i don't want to prematurely get SMP, and then have more hair grow and it look too dense in spots. thanks!

i just entered my 7th month post op. had 3200 grafts transplanted in the forelock and crown areas. i had quite a bit of native hair, just thinning, but my crown had two nickel sized areas that were pretty barren. not exactly sure how the grafts were split, but there was work done on both areas. i've noticed a slight difference in the forelock area. still a little weak, but i know the hairs have to strengthen up over time. however, i've seen very little, if any, progress in the crown area. i gently touch the area, and it feels like there are very small prickly hairs, so maybe that's something? otherwise, i'm getting increasingly paranoid that there will be no difference, since i'm so far along already and nothing new has shown. anyone have experience with no growth on crown, and suddenly it showed up way late? taking fina+minox. also, i use dermmatch everyday, take it off right after work. maybe 9-10 hours tops everyday except weekends, not sure if that affects anything. thanks!

i decided to give emu oil a shot for its numerous benefits, mainly it's enhanced absorption qualities. i would be applying minoxidil first, letting it partially dry, and then adding the emu oil on top of it. my question is, once the emu oil is dry, does it STOP enhancing the absorption rate of other products? reason being is, i've been using a combination of dermmatch, hairspray, and baby powder on my head to conceal any thin spots and my scar. having buzzed hair, i've came up with a method that works almost flawlessly, and have never had an issue besides maybe an itchy scalp once in a while. with the addition of emu oil on my scalp, after it is dry, will it still increase the absorption rate of the ingredients/chemicals from the dermmatch/hairspray/babypowder? i'd hate to think of all the nasty crap that would be pushed deeper into my scalp, mainly from the hairspray. also, anyone have any experience using emu oil and then dermmatch? i understand if you use too much it gets a bit greasy, but assuming you use just the right amount and it dries fine, does dermmatch still apply normally? thanks!

not to worry at all. 3 months is the earliest you will start seeing growth, and everything will probably grow in differently. best bet is to get some concealer/fibers and ride it out, unfortunately.

i know it's much too early to tell how my scar will look once the appropriate time has passed, but of course i look at it as often as i walk into the bathroom, and worry about it stretching. for some reason, the left side has more noticeable skin showing than the right side. i can only hope it's shock, but just to be extra careful and preventative, is it possible to try and do skin stretches for the nape of the neck to ease some tension? sort of like the laxity exercises where you grab the back of the head and pull it up and down, but instead of pulling it down, just push it up, hold, then gently let it go back into it's normal place. not directly on the scar of course, but pressing half an inch to an inch right below it, pressing firmly into the skin. thoughts? i tried doing a few, and it actually made my scar feel better, so no pain there. just a matter of will this actually be beneficial to keep doing or not.

thanks for the responses everyone! unfortunately i can't keep my hair buzzed anymore because i have already underwent one surgery. guess i'll just have to wait a year and see how things look once it grows out and hope for the best!

this might be the answer to my prayers! i'm trying so hard not to itch, and it's driving me crazy! i've been patting gently and that kind of helps, otherwise i just sit there and scream on the inside. the only thing that i wonder about is if its healthy for the grafts? i know olive oil is great to condition the actual hair shaft, but would the thick oil on the scalp prevent the pore from breathing?

10 days post op, buzzed native hair so it was the same length of the transplanted hair and all my problem spots look really good given the condition, so i'm really excited/happy. however, the one thing i hoped to sort as a last option was my receding hairline, but the grafts were used elsewhere, and i'm okay with that being my first surgery. i'm completely fine with where my center hairline stands on my forehead, kind of makes it look large, but not too bad. however, it begins to recede into the corners further back, and that's the part that kind of bothers me. i hope to grow my hair out longer/shaggy, and my hair gets curly as well, which would help with looking more dense, but not sure if it will help with hiding my receding corners. anyone with the same hairline as me and longer hair able to share what their current style looks like? or any predictions? tried googling "receding hair lines" and looked at celebrity pictures and such, but i'm hyper critical of my hairline and don't really know where i would stand with longer hair. also on a side note, how many grafts would you think be needed to sort out the corners? it's such a small area, like 1inchx1.5inch on each side, if that. i'd probably go FUE since i don't think i'd need much. thanks!

i don't know if this works for scalp sweating, but i know you can get botox injections in your armpits if you have excessive sweating in that area. maybe look into it for your head? kind of expensive, but if possible, a sure shot solution.

about 8 days post op, and i can't help but look at my head everytime i walk into the bathroom however, there is something that i wondered, and then there was something that bothered me. i know the transplanted hairs will fall out eventually, but do they grow in the mean time? i can see my hair getting longer in the grafted area, but i just assumed it was my native hair growing in after being shaved. and aside from that, i look at my crown area and it looks like there are spots that don't have any visible hair, but the pores look like they have little black dots in them. is that hair/follicle? or just clogged from blood? i'm not sure if the hair had already fallen out and the follicle still remained, or if that spot just didn't get any grafts. my scabbing/redness is going great. i'd say i only have 10% redness and just flakey skin, that's it. no bleeding at all. only thing now is donor area itches like crazy! and so do the grafts, but i don't itch them. maybe sometimes gently pat, but that's it. thanks for the input!

i skimmed the forums a bit and could only find topics about scar revision or camouflaging, however my question is a bit about preemptive care, is there anything i could do to help my scar heal better, and possible smaller? i'm 4 days post op, and ive been washing my hair very gently everyday. my post-op instructions say i can be more aggressive with cleaning the donor area vs the recipient area. with the shampoo i was provided, i first mildly rub my scar area to loosen and wash away any crusts/scabs, then i rinse and apply shampoo again, and let it sit while i wash the recipient area. afterwards, i apply a thin layer of the antibacterial cream i was given, then apply it again at night, without washing my hair again. my scalp is pretty tight in the back, and i've had some significant swelling, so i just started icing the back because this is the first day it doesn't hurt. anything else i should be doing? or once the staples are removed? i understand scarring is inevitable, but i hope to minimize it as much as possible while i still have the chance. thank you!

it's been about 4 days since i had my surgery. i'd say my graft area redness has decreased almost 60% and there is almost no scabs on my head. everything is lookin' pretty good! everything except the stupid hat they gave me to wear after surgery :mad: it's pretty much a very large, loose fitting truckers hat. my question is, would it cause problems if i were to start wearing a different hat? i have a slightly tighter but more visually pleasing snap-back truckers hat that i'd be wearing backwards and really loose. as far as i can tell, there seems to be very little to no pressure on my grafts, and i dont think there's a chance they're get caught on the cap and be pulled out. i have orientation for college and frankly the other hat made me look like i was about to start shooting people up at any given second ;/

also, if you're self conscious right now, you could get some bangs, or even use toppik or dermmatch, both are great products. hairspray will enhance their effectiveness even more

hi! don't despair, hair will grow for up to 12 months to see your final results. how many grafts did you actually get? it looks like there was a significant amount of grafting put in your hairline. it will take a while for the ones that have already sprouted to strengthen up as well. are you taking any supplements for hair growth? a lot of people recommend taking MSM or Biotin to help with speeding things up and keeping hair healthy. i've also heard good reviews about something called Biosil. all three of those will help strengthen hair and increase follicle diameter, meaning you're hair will look thicker. good luck to you! here i sit with fresh grafts on my head worrying about the same things as you, so i can relate.

i was told by my hair transplant doctor to take only name-brand proscar instead of getting generic 5mg finasterides and cutting them up. i thought that was a little weird considering generics are usually just as good, but upon further research i read people claiming they hit a wall with taking generics for a while and started losing hair again, only to halt it by switching to name brand proscar. the price difference isnt really an issue for me. i'm already in this deep, i'd rather pay more for a medication that is going to work than save a few bucks and hope that the generics won't give up on me. my problem is, would the sides be worse if i switched to name brand? i've been taking finasteride for about 3 or so years, and never really had any sexual problems until recently. my "solo libido" went to zero, so i experimented a little to see if i could perform with another person. i could, but it felt like if there was any sort of pause/distraction, or if anything "unattractive" were to happen, i'd start to go limp, and never fully got to 100% except for a few moments here and there. also the longer we went, i felt like it started to go numb/just didn't feel good anymore, but that might be different issue. anyone experience worse sides from switching from generic to name brand?