Since21

Your picture may be blurry, but it's clear that your HT was not a success. Who was the surgeon? Has he seen the final result?

And how many grafts did you receive?

Thanks for sharing. Heal and grow well.

Thanks gillenator. I was in fact aware that some of it had to do with 'shock loss' to already miniaturizing existing hair immediately behind the recipient site - hair that was on its way out anyway. Do you think the skill of the surgeon has any impact on minimizing this? And can an experienced surgeon tell by examining a patient's hair if they are currently experiencing or are at risk of experiencing loss to hair shaft diameter?

You mention 'the chase,' but that seems to be the case with a lot of notable successes on here. Maybe not the chase part, but getting back into the chair for multiple procedures to achieve desired results. Now I know you're not talking about them - you're referring to the diffuse thinners who end up frustrated and broke, but it seems very few people, diffuse or otherwise, are one and done.*

*Except for maybe 1978Matt

It's really uncommon for transplanted grafts to grow in unevenly.

Actually it's not that uncommon at all.

He said it wasn't worth continuing Propecia? I'd ask him again about that because that goes against conventional wisdom - it's a surgeon's little helper.

Why did you stop at 5 months post-op? Were you experiencing side effects? You said it looked thicker at 5 months than it did at 7. Why not try using them again and see what happens. I don't think you'll get a definitive answer until you do.

Best of luck! Let us know how it goes.

Make a difference to the density of the transplanted hair or to the native hair that was lost because you're not on meds?

You have to understand, MPB is progressive, and at the moment Propecia and Minoxidil are your two best weapons against it. Propecia helps retain existing native hair and Rogiane stimulates and strengthens (from my understanding both native and transplanted hair). Nether is a cure and have limited effectiveness. They just slow down mother nature.

A lot of doctors encourage you to take Rogaine after a HT because it can lead to early growth. Unfortunately it caused me to shed excessively in my mid-scalp and crown behind the recipient area and I wasn't okay with that. Now that it's stabilized and I'm 5 months post-op I won't risk it and go back to using it.

I won't stop taking Propecia because I have seen the effect its had on preserving my hair for the past 17 years. I don't know if this info helps or not, but that is my experience with meds. People respond to them differently and each person ultimately finds what works for them after weighing the risks and benefits of each.

When I stopped taking Propecia several years ago for a couple of months, I noticed I started thinning considerably and got right back on it.

Bisanga was at the top of my list when I was researching HT docs and if I ever do any follow-up work, I'd seriously consider him again. Always like seeing his work. Thanks for posting.

HT surgery at this point in time can also advance the rate of MPB so by the time you begin to make some visual gains, more loss occurs and they often wonder why they are not getting ahead.

I've never heard of this, gillenator. Can you explain? Thanks.

Looking good, mrluissantos.

I have a few questions about your previous work. Did the grafts you have removed from your hairline look unnatural, or did you just not like how low they were placed? Where did Dr. Bhatti replant them and what did he say about the survivability of re-transplanted grafts? Will there be noticeable scarring where the grafts were removed?

I'm trying to imagine the kind of work you do and the kind of person your boss is that your work would suffer for declining a dinner invite and I just can't. My advice? Use the 3 weeks you took off for this to send out resumes.

I don't know how you're going to hide the fact that you had a HT without seeing pics. Did you shave down in the recipient area? Cutting your hair after a HT is tricky business and from everything I read shouldn't be done until at least 3 weeks post-op. That's when I had my first haircut and my stylist was very careful not to cut too much to reveal the donor scar.

Nice result and documentation. I like the pre and post-op sequence of photos from each angle.

There are certain things you want to leave to as little chance as possible and your cosmetic appearance is one of them. You want to maximize your chances of a favorable outcome and that starts by doing your research and selecting a top surgeon. It's too important to put in the hands of someone who 'has to start somewhere.' You came on here seeking advice, so obviously you have some concerns. Trust your gut. Always.

Just be careful about overuse of Nizoral. It has been known to cause shedding of transplanted grafts. hsrp10 can weigh in more on this. I'd recommend you contact him.

hsrp10 is right, in my opinion. I've used the harsher stuff on my native hair in the donor area due to a severe case of dandruff I developed 3 months post-op. I continued to use a very mild SLS-free baby shampoo on my graft site because I didn't develop dandruff there and don't want to take any unnecessary risks. My doctor recommended a regiment of T/Gel, T/Sal and Nizoral (I used Regenepure DR instead), using them alternately 6 days a week until the problem was under control. It has since cleared up considerably so I am going to try a milder approach using the T/Sal and Regenepure DR back-to-back days once a week.

From what I gathered from one of Dr. Cooley's earlier posts, the noticeable difference is purely observational. I'm not refuting that, but until there are some conclusive clinical studies and numbers akin to your liver transplant comparison, that might explain why some docs call it 'mumbo jumbo.' They are men of science, after all.

Imagine that you are going to receive a liver transplant and you inquired as to how the procedure was going to be conducted. You learn that the transplant team has decided to cut-costs and instead of using say University of Wisconsin (UW) Solution (ViaSpan) that they were going to isolate and transport your donor liver in normal saline. You do a little research and you find out that UW solution, when compared to saline preservation, yields a 90%+ successful liver transplant rate while the saline preserved livers have a 10% success rate. You do a little more research to find out why UW is superior to saline and you find out that it boils down to mainly maintaining intracellular ATP levels and preventing reactive oxygen species formation. Needless to say you are disturbed as to why the transplant team wants to use saline..

So there are conclusive (percentage) rates of survival for grafts when ATP is used as opposed to when it is not? Because that is basically what you're saying by using this comparison.

Here's a case I saw recently where the patient doesn't use meds - "I stay away from drugs whenever possible, so I'm not into taking drugs for hairloss (long-term effects?). I try to maintain a good diet and use JASON Biotin shampoo daily."

He has included his 6 year post-op results:

Hair Restoration Site for biscuit

bad HT, one of the worst in Hollywood

wish he'd have a touchup with one of the recommended docs here, I liked some of his earlier movies

Probably exhausted his donor supply trying to make up for multiple bad procedures.

Nic Cage is one that has definitely had something done to his hair...

I think the poor guy had something done back when it wasn't so wise to do so. Like Elton John.

You will not have a low hairline. It's likely to be high to very high, but it's more than enough to give you a decently framed face (which is what you should be aiming for)

 

What was your hairline height set at, Baldietwo?

I expect to be able to wear my hair relatively short (1 cm on the sides, 3 cm on top).

Here is what one surgeon said about styling to help with the illusion of density:

Hair is deliberately transplanted at lower than naturally-occurring densities and so we depend on some illusion to make it look fuller than it actually is. Transplanted hair will always look fuller when 2-3 inches long, dry, separated, and styled to layer like shingles on a roof. It will always look thinner when cut short, spiked up, parted through, wet or clumped with product.

So your expectations might be a little unrealistic in terms of how you envision styling it. Hell, I'm almost 5 months from my first HT out and I have Ryan Gosling's hairstyle in mind, so we all do it. As Joe said, he doesn't try hair styles that are meant for those with more hair than he has and stays within the boundaries of his situation.

Here's a case with similar hair characteristic as yours with 4,278 grafts:

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174636-eman%92s-hair-transplant-journey-5-5-years-after-hair-transplant-dr-rahal.html

Should I let the transplanted hair grow much longer to give a better illusion of density ? What's the optimal length that thin hair needs to make it look dense ?

Here is something I read from a HT surgeon once: Hair is deliberately transplanted at lower than naturally-occurring densities and so we depend on some illusion to make it look fuller than it actually is. Transplanted hair will always look fuller when 2-3 inches long, dry, separated, and styled to layer like shingles on a roof. It will always look thinner when cut short, spiked up, parted through, wet or clumped with product.

That said, I think you needed at least 3,000 grafts for that area to achieve decent coverage and density. That seems to be a pretty standard minimum number of grafts for a full frontal third hairline restoration.