baldtoo

Just to be clear, this is not typical during shedding correct? This is my first transplant so I don't know if I'm supposed to be seeing shedding like the picture i attached or shedding of just individual hair shafts

Yes I saw a lot of these within the first month to 1.5 months during shedding. I would say at least half of my 1800 grafts were shed in this way (although it could be more or less, I couldn't really keep exact count since I would mostly shed during showers) Never did I notice any bleeding though.

I posted this in another section but didn't get much of a response: I believe I am in the post hair transplant stage where I am worried about a lot of things. Anyways, about 1 week after my procedure I started noticing loss of what seems to be transplanted grafts. I am now just past the 1.5 month post op mark and I'm a little concerned because throughout this month I have noticed this until now. I know that the transplanted hairs will fall out but I believe what I am losing is more than just the hair; it seems the whole graft is falling out in many instances. I am afraid because my doctor made incisions in the donor area the day BEFORE my transplant claiming that this is a "new technique" they are trying in order to save time the day of the transplant. He went back and opened the incisions the day of the transplant with a needle. Could this have affected the binding of the transplanted grafts? I have attached a picture of what I'm referring to as fallen grafts (sorry if it's not very clear). So my questions are: 1) Are these fallen grafts? 2) If so, is this the fault of my doctor doing the incisions the day before? Just as a side note: I did not experience any bleeding when these hairs fell out which I heard is a good sign. Also, the little piece of flesh connecting the multiple hairs is translucent (not as dark as it seems in the picture)

I believe I am in the post hair transplant stage where I am worried about a lot of things. Anyways, about 1 week after my procedure I started noticing loss of what seems to be transplanted grafts. I am now just past the 1.5 month post op mark and I'm a little concerned because throughout this month I have noticed this until now. I know that the transplanted hairs will fall out but I believe what I am losing is more than just the hair; it seems the whole graft is falling out in many instances. I am afraid because my doctor made incisions in the donor area the day BEFORE my transplant claiming that this is a "new technique" they are trying in order to save time the day of the transplant. He went back and opened the incisions the day of the transplant with a needle. Could this have affected the binding of the transplanted grafts? I have attached a picture of what I'm referring to as fallen grafts (sorry if it's not very clear). So my questions are: 1) Are these fallen grafts? 2) If so, is this the fault of my doctor doing the incisions the day before? Just as a side note: I did not experience any bleeding when these hairs fell out which I heard is a good sign. Also, the little piece of flesh connecting the multiple hairs is translucent (not as dark as it seems in the picture)

Ok great, finally some good news! Also can someone maybe provide me with some insight on Propecia. I know it is a very debated topic, and there are people who swear by it and people who swear against it. My hair transplant doctor recommended that I start taking it but the fact that he has samples in his office to distribute makes me believe that he is getting paid to promote it. I think I am prone to developing prostate cancer in the future because I already have a crazy amount of DHT causing my alopecia at such a young age and this DHT is also acting my prostate cells. Would something like Propeica therfore decrease my chances of developing prostate cancer or prostatic hyperplasia in the future? Or are they unrelated? Because if that is the case, that means the benefits of propecia, 1) decrease chance of developing prostate cancer and 2) possibility of regrowing hair, far outweigh the reversible risks of potential impotence. Can anyone confirm whether or not my thinking is correct?

Thanks again for the advice everyone. You all may not realize how big of an effect your reassurance/advice has on others but you're doing a great service in this community and it is very appreciated. I have a question about keeping the donor and recipient area clean. As I said earlier, I have to use toppik on the donor and recipient otherwise I will look strange to all my friends and family. So my question is, is it ok that I am using a light layer of toppik or will that affect my results in any way?

Thanks for your words of hope everyone, it's really appreciated. I think the main reason for my negativity now is the fact that I'm so young, and I didn't do enough research before going through with it. I kind of just listened to my doctor and trusted that I am a good candidate. Doing more research here, I realized that I am not a good candidate. But you're right, I should be more hopeful and maybe I will be pleasantly surprised. Johnboy, yeah my donor area pattern is unusual. 1 month out now it's growing back very patchy and there is a large patch of thin hair on the right side of my head where more density of grafts were taken. It was expensive but I got a "deal". The point of the procedure was not to get back a full head of hair, but just a shadow of a hair that I could wear relatively short and give me somewhat of a hairline..since i didn't really have one to begin with. I'm happy I didn't do anymore grafts since I'm so young and my hairloss will probably progress further. At least this way I won't have a thick patch of hair on top and a bald circle around it in the future. I took rogaine for a year which didn't do anything. I considered propecia but I am scared of starting a "life-long" medicine at my age. Magnumpi, thank you! I hope it ends up being better than I'm making it out to be now. Jameslondon, I will definitely continue posting here and keep you updated. Thanks for your motivation. Another, I'm praying I will have the same experience you had and be happy in a couple months. I guess now all I can do is be hopeful and try to reduce my stress. Thanks for your support guys

Immediate post op

Thanks for your reply mickey I know it too early for results, but I'm regretting making the decision in the first place because it seems that the general consensus is that I am a terrible candidate for a HT because of my diffuse thinning alopecia, unless I want to do multiple procedures throughout my life..which I really don't. I wish my doctor had told me that earlier. I don't want to mention my doctor, since he is a great doctor and this is generally a negative post. It was with the ARTAS. Do you happen to know if I'll be able to eventually shave my head in the future without the 1 mm punches being visible?

post op day 5 1800 grafts FUE robot I opted to go very conservative with the hair line since I am very young. I was hoping to just grow it out and brush it forward to bring my "hair line" down to its natural area.

I've never felt so horrible about a decision in my life. I am only in my early 20's and have diffuse thinning all over the top of my head and the anterior 1/2 of my scalp was almost completely hairless (very few thin hairs). I had been using Toppik to cover that area and although I still lived life as the "extremely premature bald kid", I had somewhat of an outline to my face with this artificial hairline (very very light layer of Toppik). I was so sick of peoples comments and the fact that I had the appearance of a 70 year old man that I rushed into a hair transplant with a robotic system for 1800 grafts to try to cover that anterior half of my scalp with diffuse hair (rather than completely hairless) so it could match the posterior 1/2. I am now realizing that this was an immature decision that will probably affect the rest of my life. It has been a little over a month since my transplant, all the transplanted hairs have fallen out and I am struggling to use Toppik to cover the transplanted area because it seems like the small amount of natural hair that used to be there has fallen out due to the aggressiveness of this procedure. Not only that, but my donor area strangely has an outline of where the grafts were taken out (see my other post) and I am now learning that the robotic system leaves larger scars than traditional FUE..bad news for a diffuse thinner like me. So now I have to cover both my recipient and donor with Toppik. I don't want to be in the hair transplant game for the long run..I thought I could just have and equal diffuse look over the top by doing this procedure. I don't think my results will show that in the long run. I think I am going to be completely bald on the top with this patch of transplant hair on the top. And I've lost the option of shaving my head now due to the donor scars. I hate the idea of having to get several transplants in the future just to make myself look normal. I sincerely need the help of people on this forum because I have no one to talk to. I know I made a rash, immature, stupid decision that will affect the rest of my life. I guess I'm just hoping that someone out there may have good news for me someway, so that this nightmare can be more tolerable.

It's more noticeable in real life. I don't think this is normal for 1 month post op

I underwent an FUE procedure 1 month ago that left me with a donor area that seems like I have had shock loss. I was looking through these forums and found someone who had a similar case (here's the link): http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/165074-recent-fue-procedure-450-grafts-not-happy-resulting-donor-area.html I have almost an identical scenario. I tried PMing this poster to see if his situation got better but he hasn't replied and I'm not sure if he is an active member of this site anymore. Can any of the experienced members give me some advice, and maybe some hope that my donor area will not continue to look like this? I know I need to give it "more time to grow" but I'm wondering if anyone knows if this situation does in fact resolve itself in the future.