azn_guy

I was wondering why I haven't seen you on these boards in a while,

Looks very good. The Donor Scar Information is really helpful too, knowing that a lot of hairs are growing out of it now.

Keep up the post Mega, look forward to Month 6

sounds suspicious. I would stay away

Today marks my fifth month and everything appears to be looking good. The only concern I have (which is minimal) is the donor strip scar, it's about 3mm wide which I'm not that happy with. With a 3mm wide scar it makes it difficult to keep my hair short especially with my asian hair characteristics.

Here are some notes to take out of the 5th month

- Recipient Growth is seen, especially in the hairline

- Donor Scar Redness continues to fade

- Donor Scar Pain ==> 1/10, I think mainly due to pimples

- Grafts that have not grown still present (I think)

Month 6 expectations

- Recipient Hair will continue to grow

- Donor Scar Redness will continue to fade

- Donor Scar Pain should be 0/10

My hair as of right now in my opinion resembles exactly what it looked like Pre-op (My hair in pre-op was jus a little longer). The only difference that I can personally see is the hairline growth.

Oh, and if anyone is wondering, I requested Dr. Cooley to shave my head, I didnt want him to have to deal with moving and removing my existing hair. I thought it would be more efficient for him to focus on placement of grafts than to deal with all my existing hair

Please note that the Doctors that do not shave use a Sagittal Slit Technique, while there are Doctors that REQUIRE shaving utilize the Lateral Slit Technique

Big difference in techniques. There have been many discussions on this forum on which is better.

Dr Cooley (who was my surgeon) does not require shaving and uses the sagittal method which he is most comfortable with.

I could be wrong here, so please correct me if I am mistaken. I know that H&W and Feller use Lateral Slit Technique thus require shaving

Can you should some photos of your hair before your surgery?

Looks nice and clean!

Well Done! I'm actually impressed...

It's recommended to take 1mb of Finasteride every day, but when I spoke with him, he said I could do a M-W-F regimen. I don't see any problem taking Finasteride so I never experienced any side effects.

I actually got a prescription from my family doctor and he actually said I could take 2.5mg M-W-F

So it's pretty subjective on what is recommended

2.5mg is pretty high, but my family doctor didn't seem to be worried by that.

I obviously told him I would cut it into quarters instead of halves

Good Luck with your decision

with that said, what about on the hairline? what happens when some are thick, some are fine, it would create an inconsistency. Most people that have a full head of hair, you'll notice that the hairline all the hairs are thick, not fine (obviously as it gradually goes to the temples, it does thin out by design)

How does a HT Doctor ensure he places the correct grafts in the correct location so there is consistency?

Hey Phil, I havent sent photos to Dr. Cooley yet, but I have shown them the link to my donor scar through this site, they say everything looks healthy. They want me to come and visit them one of these days so they can get a closer look.

Mega, thanks for the kind words, When you compare Month 3 to Month 4, it's difficult to compare simply because my existing hair is getting longer, I personally think all my hair is still thin and wispy, meaning we wont see any real results for another 2-3 months

Gynuine, As my hair gets longer, it'll look more slick and healthy. In general my hair is pretty dry. I'm growing the front out so you'll get a better indication of what it looks like compared to my Pre-op photos.

Mega,

Just taking a look at your 2nd and 3rd month, I can easily notice you've had really good growth in month 4. I can just imagine once the hair matures and thickens, boy oh boy, it'll look good.

Just comparing the HT Donor Scar to mine, yours seems to have healed very well, it's difficult to locate.

Good luck on the 5th month, I anticipate good things in month 5

Hey Everyone, it is time again for another post on my HT progression

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/journal.asp?CopyID=5622&WebID=1584

Some things to note

- Grafts that I complained about that has not shed are still present

- Hairline is now starting to form, Hair is sprouting

- Donor Scar Pain is now 0/10, I feel nothing.

- Donor Scar Redness is still present, this should go away in 4-6 months

- Donor Scar is Visible at Clipper #4, there is another thread where many of you think it is shockloss, I hope you guys are correct

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/showthread.php?t=156578

Expectations for Month 5

- Grafts that have not shed, will shed

- Hairline should really form and thicken (Overall transplanted hair should start doing its thing)

- Donor Scar Redness should start fading

I expect from now on, a lot of good things will happen in the next couple of months

do a search, you'll find a bunch of information on this.

Clipper #2, I doubt it, unless you heal amazingly well (which is NOT the norm)

great! I'm a patient of Dr. Cooley's too and when I had my HT done, it was a phenomenal experience.

Was the density from the first 1500 not enough? How was the growth from the first? Was it below expectations?

Thanks for the follow up guys, I would go see Dr. Cooley but he's across the nation

As far as Dermamatch, no need, I'll just grow out my hair a tad, my hair grows pretty quickly, it's hardly noticeable already after one week

I think next time I'll ask the hair stylist to do a clipper #5 instead.

I'll definitely take photos of the exact same thing again in 4-5 months, I'll ask for a clipper #4 and we can use this as reference for those that are curious.

I have the same situation, I'm going on my 4th month and I still have grafts in my hair. Each passing month seems to resolve this issue, so like me, just wait for it and hopefully things will be just fine

hey all, wow that's reassuring, I went ahead and assumed it was scar widening, this is awesome news if you all are correct. I'll leave it to the ones that have gone through this before

Wow, you guys just made my weekend

Problem now, you all just raised my expectations damn you all, :-p

Coligen, yes, that is why I think the donor scar stretched, I can visibly see it

As far as scalp, I had good laxity, and even after the HT procedure, I still had laxity. 3000 grafts, the strip taken out was longer, not wider.

I believe it has something to do with how my body heals to be honest. Maybe I have stretchy skin...

Please note everything, I do have Asian hair, the way our hair is angled, it could be a drawback since it is more prevalent for the scalp to be seen through the hair.

Interestingly enough, even after getting the procedure done (the day of). I touched the sutured area and I told myself "this area may stretch", It was a weird thought at the time

Here are some close up shots...

Hey Bill,

I hope you're right But I think it may be donor scar stretching

When I fingers through the scar, it actually feels like a scar stretch, I can't really explain it. I'll try to take a photo of it of up close and post it on here

Hey Everyone, Many folks wonder how short you could have your hair before your Donor Scar is noticeable. I had the misfortune of being too aggressive and asked the hairstylist to use a clipper #4 on the back and the sides. I then realized it was a bit too short. Whoops...

Here are some photos. As you can see It's definitely noticeable. I think next time I'll be asking for just a trim around.

Looking good Mega, As far as the acne goes, everything is starting to really looking up for you. What I can say is that it's pretty amazing to see so much sprouting, in addition to finely thin hair. I personally havent encountered your positive results at month 3. One thing I notice is when a hair does sprout, it's pretty thick in diameter.

Hey Mega, I didn't experience much shock loss to be honest. As far as sporadic growth it is difficult to see especially at the temple region, all I can do is wait and see. I am trying to pay close attention to the hairline because this is the best and easiest way for me to see if hair grows or not, unfortunately I havent even seen any hair pops sprout as of yet.

i will continue to wait and see looking forward to Month 4

much appreciated Panama

3rd month post op photos

you can find them on my weblog (see my signature)

A few notes from the 3rd Month

- Donor Scar is a pain/annoying feeling of 1/10, I had thought the pain would go away on my 3rd month, but it continues to be a 1/10, just like my 2nd month

- Pimples have been seen around the hairline, I am also getting them in my Donor Scar, very minimal though, pretty much the same as the 2nd month

- Recipient Growth is minimal, nothing spectacular and still awaiting recipient growth

- Donor Scar in my opinion has stretched, there is a ridge, and I can feel hair growing out of the donor scar

- Majority of placed hair in the recipient area has not shed (this was a concern of mine in Month 2 as well)

My expectations for Month 4 post op

- The hair that has not shed, they BETTER SHED this month

- Donor Scar should feel no pain

- Recipient Growth should blossom (being optimistic)

- Donor Scar Redness to fade (I didn't see much on my 3rd month, so I have raised expectations)

As you can see, I have very high expectations for month 4. I know I shouldn't, but I can't help but do it. So we shall see what happens in the next 30/31 days