Since21

Congrats, Matt. Your result is a testament to doing your research and not letting travel or money be the deciding factors in choosing your surgeon.

Is there a 'general rule of thumb' as to how much growth you should be seeing by month? i.e. 40% at 4 months, 50% at five, etc.?

This is exactly what happened to me. Started using Rogaine for the first time 9-10 days post-op (as recommended by doctor) and started shedding behind my recipient area. I quit after 10 days of use because it felt like one step forward, two steps back. Seeing that kind of hair loss before you see any gains is hard psychologically.

You've come a long way since you removed your cap two weeks post-op and allowed me to inspect the work. TIme flies. Congrats. Only going to thicken up from here on out.

There is no way I could have gone to work without a hat two weeks post-op. It would have been too obvious that I had work done. My recipient area was still very pink (I had it shaved per Dr. K's recommendation) and I would have had to shave down the rest of my native hair to match it, which would have exposed the scar. I think Matt's approach of taking 5 weeks off is more realistic in terms of healing sufficiently. But even then, my skin characteristics would have still made it obvious I had work done. It took a couple of months for the redness to fade and there's still some patchy spots from where I had acne. That said, your case and several others on here are what inspired me to consult with Dr. K. And I had the opportunity to meet with one of his patients 2 weeks after he had his procedure. That was the final push I needed to book a date. 4 months post-op and I am cautiously optimistic.

What an amazing read. I'm ecstatic for you that you've come so far and are making the best of a difficult situation, but part of me can't help but be angry at the surgeon who disfigured your scalp. Wishing you the best in your recovery from this experience, both cosmetically and mentally. Must have been exhausting.

Here are the names that consistently come up on here as the very best surgeons for FUT. They also consistently post great results: - Raymond Konior - H&W - Ron Shapiro There are other very good doctors but that's who I would start with and go from there. I had consultations with all three.

3,000 grafts seems to be pretty standard for FUE over two days. And I've seen some nice results from the docs I mentioned with more grafts than that. Here's a guy who had 3,553 grafts with Lorenzo. He's almost 5 months out. You might try contacting him. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/172880-3-553-fue-dr-jose-lorenzo.html

I thought he meant 'F' as in Dr. Frank. Fin wouldn't help with the hairline. It'd be great to see immediate post-op pics if they're available to see the distribution of grafts.

After consultations with several clinics, I only seriously considered Konior and Ron Shapiro for FUT - I ended up going to Konior. For FUE, I would consider Lorenzo, Bisanga and Feriduni.

This has nothing to do with 'the current state of hair transplantation.' Obviously 3200 grafts distributed over the entire head of a NW6 is not going to be enough. Another procedure of 2,000-3,000 grafts will produce a nice result.

rab, I went to Konior as well and scheduled my procedure during what is normally a slow period for me. As luck would have it, I suddenly got busy and was working 8 days after my procedure. I am fortunate that I can wear a hat in my line of work, but it was pretty uncomfortable. I would suggest taking two or more weeks off from work.

I'm only 4 months out from a FUT procedure with Dr. Konior and my hairstylist can't find the scar.

Nice result. I think he could add some density. 3,000 grafts would have been ideal. Does he have adequate donor supply?

Much improved. And thanks for not showing the strip, doc.

Fan-dabby-dozy-tastic.

As someone advised earlier on here, I wouldn't wear a wig or a system so soon after surgery. Your recipient site needs time to heal and breathe and I wouldn't risk damaging the grafts.

Not sure what you mean by this, but some surgeons take a more 'jagged' approach, while others take a more 'straight' approach. Natural results have been achieved with both.

You have shock loss in almost the exact same area on your donor scar as I did. I fixated on it for a couple of weeks then chose to ignore it. That was 2 months ago. I ran my comb upward over the area last night and couldn't detect shock loss or the scar. So I wouldn't worry about for now.

Here's a result recently posted by a doctor on here for a high Norwood level with limited donor: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174252-thin-donor-hair-transplant-steven-gabel-md-facs.html

Fortunately I can wear a hat in my line of work, but believe it or not, after a prolonged period you will get comments and questions as to why you're always wearing a hat. One poster on here took five weeks off from work because he couldn't wear a hat to work either. Right before he returned he trimmed down his native hair as much as possible to even it out. You can read about his journey here: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171968-raymond-konior-md-4-320-fut-grafts-august-2013-a-9.html Figuring out what works for you just comes with the territory, unfortunately. Everyone seems to have to deal with it in one way or another.

Here it comes!

Your transplanted hair started to thin? Is that common? I would think it would be DHT resistant if taken from the safe zone. I don't think the increase in oil on your forehead is due to the Fin. I've experienced the same thing since my procedure. I attribute it to the hair follicles that weren't previously there that are now producing oil.

I could be wrong, but it seems Dr. Konior offers a flat rate - whether you have 3,000 or 4,000 grafts. You are paying for his time, in my opinion, and he pretty much does it all - from harvesting the grafts to placing them. You paid $15,300 for 3,300 grafts, Matt paid $16,500 for 4,320 grafts. He came from across the pond for his procedure, so naturally that's going to add significantly to the overall cost.

Yes, I forgot how effective they were with swelling and numbing the pain in my donor area (I had FUT). I would lie on a large ice pack for 10-15 minutes several times a day. It is one of the best defenses against pain and inflammation.