win200

Any tricks for snapping pics of the donor? Tough when you have some length back there.

 

Yeah I'd say similar. My forelock started peaking first and sides were lagging, now its reversed. But the forelock is what I obsess with in general so I have to acknowledge my peception may be off.

 

How is post op to date w Rahal compared to first procedure?

No tips on the donor pics--I need to snap one of the scar for Rahal to keep on file. I'm just going to have my boyfriend peel hair back from the scar with a comb and then take the picture with his other hand.

Yeah, it's funny how the growth rate varies by area. It's certainly not uniform. My sides are significantly further along than the forelock, for some reason.

Yeah, "involvement" is a VERY elastic term. If I arrange to have surgery with a certain doctor, I expect that he will be making the incisions. I would have no problem with Dr. B helping with donor extraction and even making some incisions with Dr. Feller's very close watchful eye, but I don't believe it's appropriate to have Dr. B doing the incision process without Dr. Feller in the room--unless, of course, this arrangement has been made to a patient and he/she has signed off on it.

There is already a lot of controversy surrounding the extent of the role that techs/doctors play in procedures, and I don't think it's prudent for a doctor to muddy those waters unnecessarily.

Sure:

 

FUT - Hasson, Ron Shapiro, Rahal. Feriduni, Konior

FUE - Feriduni, Lorenzo, Erdogan

 

Stick to the above and you will be golden

Super solid list, and I wouldn't have many quibbles. I'm really, really impressed with Jerry Cooley's work, although he doesn't have the same online presence as these names. Rahal's FUE results have been really stellar in the last year or two.

I don't think there's anything wrong with the setup and I have a lot of confidence in Dr. B.

The only question I'd ask is how this impacts the clinic's recommendation status on this site; Dr. Feller is a Coalition Member, but Dr. B is not recommended (yet) given that he's brand-new to practice.

Dr. K. He's extremely talented and is super honest/ethical.

A tiny bit of numbness in the donor, but going away quickly. My scar is not fantastic, but that's not Rahal's fault--my scar from the first procedure was just meh, so surprising. The part above my right ear is wider than the rest. The entire scar is pretty red still.

Is your growth looking pretty similar?

I took these on Wednesday, just one day shy of my thirteen week mark. The growth looks a little more extensive in person, and you can definitely see the hairline taking shape. The appearance changes very literally every day, and you can see lots of fine hairs sprouting. I'm really optimistic about how this progressing. I've definitely had some shock loss around the native hair, but it's relatively minor and should start recovering soon. Still some redness.

The growth is definitely starting at the sides--i.e., the slick areas in the temple corners--and is only now starting to creep inwards toward the tip of my widow's peak. Interesting that that's the growth pattern on both sides.

Ha! Sorry about that! But you're hitting that mark with better hair than nearly all of your friends.

This is an awesome result. You look phenomenal. We focus a lot of attention on the hairline results on younger guys because they're so "wow," but transformations like this are just incredible.

Interesting. Did not know that.

I've been a fan of his work, but I'd just be so leery of going to Turkey for a procedure. In the U.S./CA/EU there is some measure of consumer protection or legal remedy available, but Turkey just seems more like the wild west.

I think it's time to name the clinic, or at least give David the identity so he can investigate. Offhand, I don't know of any clinics that are recommended here, are known for very dense hairlines, AND only accept cash payments. I was concerned when you mentioned the reputation for high density hairlines that this could be a Rahal procedure, but a) I would be EXTREMELY shocked if a surgeon of Rahal's magnitude would ever stoop to something so unethical, and b) their clinic accepts wire transfer, credit cards, check and cash.

Your thoroughness is really an asset to the forum, and I think we need to get to the bottom of what's going on.

Love the video and that you take the time to do that. Photos are great, but videos are better at showing density and how the final product looks in the real world. The work, of course, looks awesome.

No, this is very, very good for 4,300 grafts. The baldness area was huge, and this is better than I would have expected. It's not a full head of hair, but it's not that sad, stringy mess that we frequently see when surgeons try to cover such a large area with so few grafts. An informed and educated patient should be extremely pleased with this result.

I don't want to get into a big back-and-forth about surgical skill, but please just remember that what matters isn't a resume or credentials, but the result that ends up attached to your scalp. There are lots of surgeons who have been doing this for a long time that have still never risen above producing mediocre outcomes. If Niedbalski was a consistently outstanding surgeon, he would be a member of the consumer advocate hair restoration organizations. You should never undergo cosmetic surgery without consulting with at least a few doctors, so you should talk to Hasson & Wong and Gabel no matter what.

I'm strongly considering Dr. Robert Niedbalski for a hair transplant next year. I've spoken to him a few times now and he's always been patient with me even though I sometimes ask the same questions over and over again. He seems really articulate and knowledgeable. He has 25+ years of experience and is chairman of the ISHRS and he facilitates workshops as well. The only thing that I'm vary of is the fact even with 25+ years of experience, there isn't many reviews about him at all? Why is that??? Has anyone had a transplant with him before?? I would love to hear about your experiences with him.

Dr. Niedbalski did my transplant three years ago, and it turned out well. It's true that he is patient and response, and that he has been doing hair restoration for a long time. (He is not chairman of the ISHRS--he's a member of a subcommittee.) The truth is that the reason there are not many reviews of him on the various forums is that none of the hair transplant consumer groups--including HRN--recommend him. I won't disparage him because he did a very nice job on me, but his results have been extremely inconsistent. I've talked to other doctors/patient reps (who shall remain nameless) who have had to repair his work many times.

The bottom line is that even experience and the best of intentions are no replacement for raw skill. There are plenty of docs that have been doing this for decades put still post only poor or marginal results. I assume that you're in the Seattle area if you're considering Dr. Niedbalski--if that's the case, I very, very strongly encourage you to consult with Hasson & Wong in Vancouver or Steve Gabel in Portland. I've met Dr. Hasson and Dr. Gabel, and both are outstanding surgeons and highly ethical guys. Portland and Vancouver are very easy drives from Seattle, and driving a day or two after a transplant is no big deal, especially when it's only a few hours. I flew home from my second transplant and driving would have been much easier.

Let us know how it turns out.

I think folks with darker skin--especially Southeast Asians--tend to see very little redness shortly after surgery. But I agree, lighter skinned folks really do have lingering redness for quite awhile. I'm about ten weeks post op now, and it's sort of light pink; not that noticeable and I don't really care, but not "back to normal."

Its a pretty extreme social experiment when you think about it.....

 

"Let's take a thousand men who care about their appearance and suffer from hair loss and provide them with a solution to a problem they've been consumed by for 10 or more years. Now let's draw lines on their head to show them exactly how awesome they will look in 12 months once the surgery is completed, but not before warning them that before they achieve this desired new look they'll have to suffer though pimples, shock loss, swelling, scarring, and potentially more social anxiety for 3-6 months before looking human or remotely desireable again. Oh yeah, and for good measure, we recommend you keep a good eye on your d*ck bc we're going to throw a bottle of pills at you that may or may not make you permanently limp".

 

This process is no joke. Everyone on here is a champ in my book.

Exactly. I can't quantify how much time and anxiety I've expended on my hair loss--and I'm one of the LUCKY ones; I'm only a NW2 at age 33, and I responded to meds very well. I honestly don't know how some of the folks around here with advanced loss, especially at an early age, do it.

Its still too early mate, the 4.5 month mark was when things started to happen for me. 2.5 months is really where the ugly duckling phase starts to wind down. We all like to believe that we are early growers. Just try avoid staring at the mirror.

Thanks--really appreciate it. Despite having been through this before, it's so easy to get sucked into the paranoia vortex. It's funny--I've had a few different cosmetic procedures, and hair transplantation is BY FAR the most emotionally challenging. A rhinoplasty is much more major surgery, but at two months you have 80-90% of the final result.

From everything I've been told (by SMG) and seen (I'm 10 days ahead of you) there's a ton variability.

 

It think its just as likely to see growth at month-2 as month-4, and just as likely to see nothing at month-2 as month-4. The avgs are just that.

 

I saw some hairs peak through early and now its crickets again. Purposely holding off with pics until month 3 bc my month 2 was a non-update like yours.

Yeah, I know. It's just that seeing the few folks with REALLY strong early growth makes you paranoid that something's wrong.

And, it's not like I have *zero* growth--there are hairs growing and plenty of black dots in follicles where hair is just starting to emerge.

This actually look pretty good for four months.

Who was your surgeon?

Ugh, don't know why the pics are coming in upside down. I think it's an iPhone issue, because it happens all the time on this site. I'll see if I can correct later, but you can see what growth there is pretty clearly.

Just had a glance at your website and last time you were convinced you were going to have a bad result as late as 5 months in and by month 7/8 it looked awesome! Obviously I'm no authority but i think significant growth by week 10 is the exception, not the rule.

Thanks, and you're right. I swore I wouldn't by hysterical this time around, but once you start getting into the stage where people experience growth it's so tough to convince yourself that something isn't amiss.

...and the right.

Here's the left side.