Prof101

On 7/4/2023 at 6:32 PM, BaldingEye said:

By the way, could you update your evolution since you are almost at 10 months now? And this time, could you post some updated donor, side and frontal photos?

I am going through a shed. This is the first time in maybe 6 years. I will upload my pictures, but basically I did not gain any ground transplant wise since my last post 2 months ago. I think it is due to this shed. 

I have no idea why. Does this happen after a transplant? Never hear of it. 

I promised everyone an update after my visit to Dr. Zarev. I will re-upload my pictures soon, which I took down momentarily. 

Dr Zarev has  a beautiful and fancy clinic. Spotless. Cleaner than a surgery room and fancier than a beverly hills clinic. I am happy for his success as he clearly deserves it. 

As for him, he is a kind person, energetic, friendly, and professional. Also he is *sharp*, super intelligent. You can tell. He explained to me a bit his technique, as how he manages to do more with less, technically, and it makes a lot of sense. However, I cannot claim I understood it fully, and I do not know how wide he wants to advertise it, so I will only keep it at that. 

The consultation was very long and very thorough, exceeding my expectations. Maybe his generosity had to do with me flying all the way for that only purpoe. He started showing me some of his results with people with thin donor. Impressive stuff. Some are even more impressive than what we have seen.  

He went on to take measurements, which again exceeded my expectations. You probably have seen a video of his mapping of the scalp. What I did not know was that in order to assess the density in each area he took many samples from each small area. He in fact showed me that in the same area I have a lot of variation in density. This took an hour. The most scientific mapping one can get/

Imagine the gap between him and the industry. It seems the industry standard is to look at your scalp, while his standard is to map your entire scalp based on density, hair thickness, etc. 

I was shocked when he told me I have at least 3,500 FUEs, and maybe up to 5K. Others estimated 1500. Having said this, we agreed that I am willing to have a thinner look than the standard HT. Not abnormally thin but something along the top of my head where the new HT is.  

He did not criticize Couto in any way. His is more classy than this. He understood that something went wrong and he is just trying to help. He said that based on the # of grafts Couto's output was very good, and natural. 

Anyway, if you want to see how A Zarev approach is different from the rest, you might want to check updates next year. 

Everyone is impressed with his post op n of the donor area, I wonder whether the recepient area stays as read as with other transplants. Makes a big difference work wise. If anyone knows anything about this let me know. O/W I could probably text him. 

@Dr. Felipe Pittella 

This is an impressive result. Congrats. 

I cannot help but ask: Usually body and bear hair does not look great on scalp, I have seen only very few exceptions.  Did you feel comfortable with him doing so because of specific characteristics of his body/bear hair? 

He beard hair looks relatively straight. 

Thanks 

I am trying to prepare what to say to Dr. Zarev. 

I am not aiming for perfect coverage, I do not have the grafts for that. I am now looking to claw my way back to have a naturally thinning hair. 

I wonder whether just taking care of the top/sides/ridges would make the crown look less unnatural? 

Thanks @shadowcast. While the points made by others regarding the edges being thinner is correct, I just wonder whether they are saying this from a coverage aspect of naturaleness aspect.  

I am trying to assess the naturalness of the results so as to know whether to wear a hat during next semester when I will be teaching a large class. 

I see that he placed grafts homogeneously, spread evenly.. so I am not sure what went wrong. at some point it looked like it was growing strongly arond the swirl. Is it possible for transplanted hair to grow once (4 months post op) and then fall after? 

Hoping so. His work is super impressive, but I don't want to get my hopes up. I just don't have the grafts. If he is willing to work with BH then maybe there is some hope. 

What I am confused about, is that at the 5 months mark, I did not see problems with the edges, it looked like it was growing all the way back to the top of the crown 

or maybe I am missing something 

it never worked for me... Also I don't like the idea of someone touching my hair and finding fibers on their hand... 

OK I did not know it is that bad. 

I was going to meet a woman in a few weeks for a trip. If it is that obvious what should I do? You think a hair cut will make it less obvious? 

And this is before and after facing direct sunlight (opened shades facing window) 

Regarding Duta mesotherapy, for a second I got excited reading on one page that it is side effect free, then I see on another website. (bauman medical) saying this: 

What are the Possible Side Effects of Dutasteride Mesotherapy?

Aside from the temporary numbness or soreness from the treatment, systemic effects from 5AR inhibitors include mild and temporary decrease of libido (sex drive) or mild, temporary erectile dysfunction. For those who experience side effects from Dutasteride Mesotherapy, it may take weeks to months for these side effects to resolve.
While there are some reports that Dutasteride Mesotherapy may have fewer side effects than oral finasteride or oral dutasteride, you should discuss any previous sensitivities to 5AR medications with your doctor.

Disappointing. 

On 5/26/2023 at 12:23 AM, mustang said:

It does not but you definitely need another 500-600 grafts to blend it in with surrounding hair.

I think Dutasteride Mesotherapy would suit you well. You will be getting the growth factors plus dermarolling and localized 5AR suppression much higher than with Finasteride which people continue to take using Mesotherapy.

I had over harvesting with Couto on my right side (they went quite high as well). It was extremely obvious and it was only a 1200 surgery and had it repaired with 200 BHT. Not it's not noticeable.

You still have 1.500-2000 grafts on your donor if managed properly and BHT would certainly help you.

Couto is awesome but he does use a big punch and

Out of my 15 surgeries it was by far (and probably the only) the most painful post op one. My donor hurt for a month.

 

Did you mean to say (when referring to your BHT) as : Now it is not noticeable? Or you indeed meant, "not" meaning that your BHT did not turn out as subtle as you wished? 

Also when you say I need to blend it with the surrounding hair, I understand what you mean, and to me it looks visible in the picture I took with my head back and facing the sun. But does it look the case in the other pictures? I do not mind critique at all, as it is hard for me to be objective. Yesterday the ppictures I uploaded were taken in bright light, as you can see my shirt is overexposed. I attached two more, one with combined hair. 

I actually thought the problem was no longer the crown but the front which is now looking odd when I com my hair I think

Amen.

Does my hair currently look unnatural? 

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Looks like good growth for less than 2k grafts. Are you considering getting another HT?

I agree. 

Yes considering another HT. But I have a limited donor. So I am going for consultations to see what's possible. I am not looking to gain ground, just improve hairline, density, and make sure I won't have an island in few years. I don't think this will be possible wihout BHT. So far I can't think of another way other than Fit farming. Which is a big step to take. Only few have tried it. 

I would love to be done with this soon. 

1 hour ago, Vann said:

Are you currently taking on medications? Oral minox, fin/dut, etc?

Yes. Fin but balding continues at a slow pace. Minox did not workout. Adding more fin or dut is no possible. 

Sorry for the delay. Here are some before and after. 8 months post op. Crown only. 

it's in june 

13 hours ago, hairman22 said:

I saw a great repair case in person when I saw Zarev last month. Brillant hairline repair.

He also had some amazing cases on 60 year old NW7's with bad donor.

The only thing is you may need to accept a thin donor rather than fit farming into the donor 

Good luck with your consult. when is it?

If anyone can repair you it is Zarev. In most cases he doesnt like using body hair but i think in your case he can find a solution.

I hope so man. But I do not see how I can get a repair without BHT involved.

Here is what Mwamba told me: 

"You have 9000 FU, of which 40% can be used for hair transplant (+/-1800
to 3000 grafts)."

Couto used 1800, for the crown, now I am left with 1200+, maybe 1500. 

But anyway this is the very reason I am going to Zarev with the hope he can find someone. 

My belly hair is as soft and as thick as my head hair... 

I have to more things I will explore: 

I am going to see Zarev soon. I will have to see if he thinks my body hair is something he can work with and blend in the back. 

If not 

I go to Mwamba and go for an aggressive Fit Farmin 

Anyone has seen an aggressive fit farming on here? By that I mean, the sides are almost all BHT, and are buzz cut. Which is what Mwamba is telling me

How many month post op you usually reach 90% of final result, for the crown? 

I owe you all a picture. And should upload it soon.  

It is growing no doubt. I hope it grows more. But this HT calls for another HT for front otherwise it is already starting to look weird. 

As for donor loss. I grew my hair long, it is not clear, and would need to take a picture. 

To avoid depression and stress, I am currently not taking any pictures nor trying to check the recipient or donor area. Donor area still feels much thinner than before, but I am trying to give it some time before I start taking pictures. Even when I look at the mirror I see the thinness. I am really surprised that they extracted all the way to the gutter, which is making the gutter looks worse. I don't understand why they had to go that high! 

As you can see from the picture I posted, the density of punches is higher toward the top... weird.. 

Also I wanted to ask people here on the forum: 

Anyone knows a reputable doc in the US who does body to scalp? I am really interested in a test procedure to see how that pans out. To make sure that my beard and body heal without marks, and whether that hair grows. 

I think if I ever want to get good coverage, I have eventually to do fit farming. 

20 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

 

to clarify, so you literally flew to Canada, Belgium, Spain, and LA to see all these docs in person? This seems like a massive investment just for consults.

 

Also, sorry you are in this situation. It's very depressing when someone seemingly does all the research, makes all the right decisions, chooses an elite doctor, and things still go sideways. 

Yep, I flew to all these. I did all the research I can, reading this forum and even spanish forum (re Couto). I even asked a few local docs if they are willing to do a test surgery on me to see whether I am a good responder (i.e. no issues with my follicles or scalp). Both said this is unnecessary in that in this day and age everyone is a good responder (i.e., follicles grow). 

I wish I insisted on this. But otherwise as you can see did all I can/ 

My next trip is to Bulgaria to see Dr. Zarev.  

Here is the side pot op. I was really surprised how high they went, since apparently I am heading to NW6, to me it seems that area close to the top does not qualify as donor

Comments appreciated 

he only extracted from the sides, which was surprising to me, because the back is much thicker and the sides weren't the thickest (but were NOT see through, coverage was perfectly normal). 

So you guys think this is shock loss? If so, how long should I wait for it to grow back 

I would also be surprised if such a top surgeon over-extracted, but for now I have a weird situation, both uncommon, and is hard to tell which is which. I have not seen many cases of shock loss in donor on here, nor have I see over extraction by top docs. 

worried 

looking for helpful comments not abuse and self-contradictory criticism like yours. I thought this was the point of this forum. Please move on and let others shim in. I did see a dermatologist and no issue with my scalp.