Since21

Time devours us all, especially our hairlines. Alda is 82 years old. He still had a pretty decent head of hair in Flirting With Disaster when he was 60.

I thought your first results with Wong were fine. Not spectacular, but it wasn't a high graft count and for what it was, it looked natural. But no sense in dwelling on the past. It doesn't address your present concerns. I tend to agree with the person who suggested harvesting what you can from the new 'hairline' and use it to boost the hairline work done by Wong. I would consult with a top surgeon about it (maybe even see what Wong says) but I wouldn't go back to the surgeon who did this last procedure. Good luck.

Who was the surgeon? They should be ashamed of themselves for performing the procedure on you. You didn't need it. Did he/she try to dissuade you from doing it?

Like I said, just going by the few that I've seen since I've revisited the forum. Ultimately patterns emerge and I've seen others comment on Diep's donor sites as well, likely based on other procedures I haven't seen. Old saying, If 10 people say you have a tail, sooner or later you have to turn around and take a look. Meaning, there must be some truth to it. Glad yours isn't an issue though.

I've been away from the forum for several years between HTs, and coming back I'm a little shocked at a few of the donor sites I've seen of Diep's FUE patients.

He rode off into the sunset and is enjoying life with a new head of hair, like a lot of the worrywarts on here do after getting a great result... 😆

Fantastic result. Always been a fan of Dr. Bisanga. I had consulted with him before I had my first HT and narrowed it down between him and Konior. All things being equal with regard to the quality of their work, I ultimately went with Konior because he was in the states and I didn’t want to travel overseas for a HT. I was also able to consult with him in person, which was important to me. Where did you travel from for your procedure with Bisanga?

I had my first procedure 5 years ago and did a lot of research before then. I wasn't crazy about Diep's work then. After I had my transplant, I stuck around the forum for a bit then rode off into the sunset. Got a second procedure this month and revisited the forum. It had appeared Diep's stature had risen in the past 5 years. But when I see what he did to this patient's donor site, I'm appalled. Just a completely irresponsible approach to harvesting.

That looks like some really nice density. Harder to judge the hairline but looks well designed from what I can tell. Nice result. The reason your original post came off like an ad is because most of the people that initially come to this forum are researching doctors who already have some credibility by being affiliated with this site, and don't 'hard sell' because they simply post results. People who have had a HT or who are seriously considering having one, tend to have highly critical eyes and express their opinions. Patients share their results and the experiences they had with a doctor as well. So no real selling going on. So when someone comes on here and shills for a doctor or a clinic out of the blue, it comes off like an ad. I lurked on this site for over a year researching doctors and reading about patients' experiences before taking the plunge. If I had seen your post then, it would have turned me off from the clinic because great HT surgeons don't need to hard sell, or need patients to hard sell for them. They only need to post results and let the work speak for itself. This community is mostly made up of a very discerning (but welcoming) group of people.

I can see the long wait time and cost being a reason. But dang, how does one mess up Konior's work? Hope it all works out for you, man.

No need to get defensive. Your original post came off like an ad. And people want to see hairlines to evaluate results, not comb forwards, which cover the hairline. It looks like you're hiding something. And not sure why after getting a good result, you'd want to sweep the hair forward and hide the hairline. Show it off, man. Btw, who was the surgeon at this clinic?

Pull back that mop and let's see the hairline.

You didn't have your second procedure with Dr. Konior? If I may ask, why not? And what happened with the second procedure?

Not sure why you think it's common sense not to use a blow dryer on your hair post-op. In each of my three visits following my recent FUE procedure with Dr. Konior, they blow-dried my hair in the recipient area after spraying with saline. If the grafts are surgically placed well, after a few days they should be fairly secure and would require a more forceful 'blow' for displacement than a blow dryer used on the cool setting. And this is from his post-op instructions: SHOWERING and SHAMPOO Your scalp can be very gently shampooed beginning 48-72 hours following your procedure. The following instructions are for the first week after your procedure: 1. You may use any NON-MEDICATED shampoo. 2. Use cool to warm water. DO NOT USE HOT WATER for the first week. 3. Use a GENTLE shower stream or a shower mist spray for the first week following the procedure. 4. DO NOT directly massage the graft sites for the first week following the procedure. Gently massage a generous amount of shampoo/conditioner into the hair on the back and sides of your head. Tilt your head down and let the shampoo run over the transplant site. You can also apply hands full of shampoo foam to sit on the grafted areas. The shampoo is rinsed off by directing the shower stream onto an area of the scalp that has NOT been grafted and then letting the fresh water run over the transplanted scalp. Alternatively, bring a large plastic cup into the shower to help in gently rinsing the shampoo from the graft sites, scalp, and hair. Allow a stream of water to directly rinse the staples/sutures each day for approximately 5 minutes. After the shower, your hair can be blow-dried using a cool setting.

Fun times. That's when mine really started to fill in, around the 6 month mark. By the 7th month, I was thrilled, and it continued to thicken until the 9th month, when it pretty much peaked.

Sounds very similar to Dr Konior's post-op care. First week use non-medicated shampoo on the donor area and tilt your head forward and let the water you pour over it run through the recipient site. Around 5-7 days, pat suds onto the recipient site and let the water run over it. The second week you can start gentle massage of the graft site. I usually wait a little longer on the massaging part—until around the 10-14 day mark. Spraying with saline isn't really necessary at this point, but it isn't going to hurt either. It's just a very harmless sterile solution to clean wounds. I went for three follow-up visits on my recent surgery and they didn't spray with saline the last day I was there, said it didn't need it. I've sprayed with saline a couple of times in the past 2 days because I feel gross after airline travel and wanted to make sure everything was sterile, but won't be doing it anymore. All doctor's are different. Some are overly cautious, and some are more laid back. Dr. Konior is a perfectionist when it comes to surgery, but not an alarmist with aftercare. My fourth night after surgery I slid down my elevated pillows and slept against the grafts on my crown and his response was, "The grafts should be fairly secure at this time and would require a more forceful blow for displacement. No worries."

Every clinic is different, but here are Dr. Konior's instructions for shampooing: SHOWERING and SHAMPOO Your scalp can be very gently shampooed beginning 48-72 hours following your procedure. The following instructions are for the first week after your procedure: 1. You may use any NON-MEDICATED shampoo. 2. Use cool to warm water. DO NOT USE HOT WATER! Do not use hot water for the first week. 3. Use a GENTLE shower stream or a shower mist spray for the first week following the procedure. 4. DO NOT directly massage the graft sites for the first week following the procedure. Gently massage a generous amount of shampoo/conditioner into the hair on the back and sides of your head. Tilt your head down and let the shampoo run over the transplant site. You can also apply hands full of shampoo foam to sit on the grafted areas. The shampoo is rinsed off by directing the shower stream onto an area of the scalp that has NOT been grafted and then letting the fresh water run over the transplanted scalp. Alternatively, bring a large plastic cup into the shower to help in gently rinsing the shampoo from the graft sites, scalp, and hair. Allow a stream of water to directly rinse the staples/sutures each day for approximately 5 minutes. After the shower, your hair can be blow-dried using a cool setting. AFTER THE FIRST WEEK: The transplanted area can be directly shampooed using gentle pressure beginning one week after surgery. The shower stream can directly hit the transplanted area with a stronger force at this time also. The transplanted area should be washed daily and directly using a very light and gentle massaging motion. The tiny scabs will fall off completely over a period of days. Ointment should be applied liberally to the donor area after showering to keep that skin moist and to prevent drying.

I've been taking Propecia since it was introduced in the US in 1997. Here's my experience with it: I had significant thinning in my hairline at the time I started taking it. Within a few months I noticed some slight regrowth in the frontal area and overall my hair got a little bushier. It significantly stunted the hair loss in the first several years I took it (1mg/day). Around the 4-5 year mark, it had seemed to reach its peak effectiveness and my hairline started to miniaturize in waves—I'd notice a miniaturization period about once a year, and I knew all the Propecia was doing at that point was slowing down the inevitable. At one point in 2006 I said, screw it, and stopped taking it for a few months. The hair loss I experienced was pretty dramatic and I started taking it again. It regrew most of what I had lost in that three month period, but the waves of miniaturization continued until I finally had to do something about it and began researching hair transplantation. This was around 2012. By 2013, after meeting with numerous surgeons and patients, I finally pulled the trigger (I'm so glad I didn't get it done in the 1990s during the plug era). About a year ago, I started taking a 1/2mg/4x week and 1mg/3x week. I've since cut that to 1/2mg 5x week and 1mg/2x week. I haven't noticed any significant difference in its effectiveness and I've been thinking about reducing it to even further to 1/2mg/6x week and 1mg/1x week. I've read articles that have said a 1/2mg is just as effective as 1mg so I don't think upping the dosage is going to strengthen your crown. My crown has weakened over time and I had Dr Konior hit it with this second procedure I just had with him. But I focused primarily on refining the hairline and boosting the mid-region.

Work looks nice. I just had a 1,600 FUE procedure with Konior earlier this week and met briefly with Nadimi yesterday during a follow up. Konior was off for the day. You're right, she's 'all business,' whereas Dr K is a little more engaging. She came in, said it looked great and that was pretty much it. I had FUT with Dr K five years ago and this is like day and night. If FUE had been as far along as it is now when I had FUT, I would have done FUE, but I definitely needed the grafts as I had more hair loss than you. Looking forward to seeing your results. You're going to be happy.

Dr K definitely prefers to do a shave down on the recipient area. I know because I just had a 1,600 FUE no shave procedure with him and he groused about it a few times during the procedure. In retrospect, I should have just done the shave down because my hair looks pretty jacked up right now even with the no shave. His assistant gave me a pretty clean cut, but Dr K came in and took care of that. Haha

I just had a session with him yesterday, Dec 18. He put in a 15 hour day on a 1,600 graft FUE session. My first session was FUT 5 years ago for 3,425 grafts. The wait time then was 2 months. This time? 12.5 months. Might even be longer now.

I just had my second session with Dr. Konior yesterday (Dec 18). First time was FUT so I was out of it the whole time, but this time it was FUE and I was pretty aware during the placement. Dr. K did most of the heavy-lifting with the placement of grafts but worked in conjunction with his assistant, instructing her about the angle and depth of grafts, etc.

Wow Scott. Congrats brother. Amazing transformation.

I don't have one.

I don't use Rogaine, only Propecia.