Louisjams

Could be persistent crusting combined with some folliculitis or other superficial infection. Good skin hygiene is key and you should call your doc about if they think you need oral or topical antibiotics.

Nothing beats a hat if you can wear it. After 2-3 weeks you can go hatless, but you will likely still look a bit odd. Also, the ugly duckling phase can last quite a while and, IMHO, is one of the hardest parts of the entire process. You are dealing with healing at the donor and recipient sites, you will likely lose hair due to shock loss (no way around it for most people), and you are dealing with the emotional strain of waiting for the grafts to grow.

As you can see, you are not alone!

I am sorry you are not happy with your result. IMHO, you should have had a more mature hairline created and not such a forceful front line. Most advanced NW patients cannot pull off the kind of hairline you have. That having been said, I do not think it looks too bad at all, especially from the front. I think you have an important option to consider that you have not mentioned: Do nothing. You are only 1 year out, you may get increased density over the next 6 months. Dry, you have a good look and you are not bald now. If you are very upset this may not be the time to make any big decisions.

It looks very much to me like the results from a Fleming-Mayer flap or a similar flap surgery. He has a dense front hairline and his hair seems to grow in the wrong direction at times.

I understand it bothers you but, IMHO, your scar really does not look that bad. Your hair above and below the scar looks very dense and should really make this pretty invisible. Have people commented on it to you? I suspect that unless you are absolutely dead set on a very short haircut you may be better off just leaving it alone.

I think that shock loss is one of the hardest things about the whole process, regardless of whether it is your first procedure or a subsequent procedure. First, there is the stress and anxiety leading up to the procedure, then the procedure itself (which is many ways is relatively easy), then the immediate healing period of a few weeks when you have to deal with donor and recipient area scars/crusting/sutures/staples/what have you. Then, just as you are getting your footing again, shock loss sets in. It can be a real kick in the teeth! Many people look worse than they did before the transplant for a time. It can be very, very tough to go through this. VERY TOUGH. Sadly, there is really nothing to do except wait at this point. Time heals all wounds, even HT wounds, but I wish sometimes we could make it go faster.

The first month is just tough, tough, tough. Most people look pretty rough during that time. Even up to 3 months you may not really look presentable, IMHO.

Honestly, it looks fine. Just give it time. I suspect it will be undetectable or close to it.

Bernstein himself has written that miniaturized hair that is shed due to shock loss may never come back and I believe it. Do not count on miniaturized hair in the recipient area being around after HT.

I think that the period from 0-90 days is very hard after any HT. Whether you have FUT or FUE, it is difficult to fully conceal that you had something done, you will have an odd look, potentially visible scars, crusting, swelling, etc. The first 30 days are the worst, when people clearly look like they had something done. After that it gets better, but shock loss is real and affects your appearance and takes time to go away. The good news is that all of these things get better with time, but time passes slowly when you are waiting for hair to grow.

I think if one doc says no it is ok to get a second opinion. Maybe the first doc has too focused a niche you did not fit into, or thought you would be too challenging a case, or thought you might be a difficult patient and they just did not want to take the risk. Doctors have very different comfort levels and risk tolerances. Sometimes what one doc says is impossible is doable for another. That having been said, if they both tell you "no" it is probably worth taking very seriously.

This is a tough question. Any topic involving finasteride is bound to arouse strong feelings. IMHO, if you can take fin you should after HT, but the reality is that many people simply don't and do fine. If you have sides or just do not want to, that is OK as well. Fin may help pts earlier in their hair loss more but if you are a high NW to start off with you are likely to derive less benefit from it.

Some surgeons give copper peptide shampoos after HT, and this combined with frequent showers for the first week or so helps keep everything moist.

Also, already miniaturized hair that you lose to shock loss may never come back.

I think a lot of people use Minoxidil after HT (on the surface it seems like a good idea to potentially promote blood flow) but I do not know if there is any hard evidence that it really does anything either way. Many HT docs say avoid minoxidil for a few weeks after surgery, but beyond that I suspect at the worst it would do nothing.

Others will disagree but I am not so impressed with PRP and I do not think you need to do it at all to have a great HT result. If you want to by all means, but if you do not or your doctor does not offer it I do not think you are short changing yourself.

I think the satisfaction rate is much, much higher. Docs these days seem, at least to me, more careful about how they word things and setting realistic expectations and I see more comments about docs turning down people who are wildly unrealistic. Forums like this and others also help a lot of people to really understand what they are buying and can reasonably accomplish. I suspect that about 80+% of pts are satisfied with their final results, recognizing that many patients undergo more than one HT to get to where they are satisfied.

It definitely true that some of the grafts can never fall out and, after a hiatus, just start growing. Usually this is a very small percent of the grafts but it does happen.

Yes. Hard to go that long without a bathroom break for sure.

I think you can learn a lot from an online consultation and a phone call. I think, in all fairness, that is enough to warrant getting on a plane if you feel confident in the doctor. That having been said, recognize that even if the online consult and call go well, you may get turned down in person when they have a chance to more thoroughly examine you. Better to waste some time and money and be turned down than have a procedure you should have avoided.

I have said before that many NW5-6 can have a good result if they focus on the frontal hairline and top and basically forget about the crown (ever!). Get a mature hairline and you can look very good.

If movies like waterworld (I know, I know...) you can see he has lost a ton of hair. He either had a HT or is wearing a hairpiece, although I think it was a HT. I think he has a pretty good result.

I have heard a few times that minoxidil can help the grafts grow a little faster besides what you suggest. Thoughts r.e. true versus baloney?

I have watched this several times. Well thought out and interesting for a network piece.