Aftermath

And another surgery is out. I mean 1700 grafts for low hairline that looks this bad. Your right for 2cm and mine is more on the sides I'd need double that. And though my hair is thick im.still clearly receding. I think ideally if I did go again I'd like half the grafts removed and put higher in the temples for density and do it doesn't look ridiculous. In saying that even if it is possible surely a surgeon capable of that is going to cost and it's something I just can't afford.

I don't think it's going 2b anywhere near as bad as u imagine mate! Also remember with the amount of hair u have your in a better position than 99% of people on here! Wait for it to grow in before stressing so much, at 2weeks it's gonna look shitty, it does with everyone! Plus at 2 weeks I'd shed a lot! As far as hiding it, get topik like I said b4 (probably medium brown) and get the pump applicator, this makes it easier to apply more precisely, u can use this safely in the recipient area after 2 weeks as long as you wash it off at night, get next day delivery from amazon and call in a sick day in work tomorrow, then you can say the redness was a bad reaction from hair dye, then u can reduce the amount of topik u use per day and say some hair fell out from the dye... Fairly convincing excuse! Then if in a year density does turn out to be a problem a surgeon such as dr koray erdogan in Turkey can provide dense packing at 2€ a graft for FUE, even if u need another 1700 grafts it's only 3500 Australian dollars! Bottom line is that your not in a bad position, and every1 on this forum including myself have had to go back to work with a red scalp! My first HT wasn't great but after that I did see a really great surgeon who sorted me out with a nice result!

Both surgeries performed in Pakistan first surgery performed by local surgeon Dr Imran from Jhelum, not very well known.

 

Second surgery performed by Dr Naveed from Cosmetic surgery Pakistan also known as Dubai Hair Transplant Islamabad.

After a failed HT in the past didn't you consider moving outta Pakistan for a recommended surgeon? I really hope it works out for you mate but that's a lot of wasted grafts if it doesn't

Yes thats what he said because i have very good density donor area so he said 4000 grafts would be enough to give good result with decent hair line but after surgery he said that he managed to get more than 4000 grafts from strip + fue so results should be great if i do proper care after surgery.

who performed the first and who performed the second surgery??

Then im in trouble aftermath because id guess it's 2 cm lower and more at the very temples. But why would my surgeon who is well regarded say no to 3000 and 1700 was enough?

 

Cheers hairshopping for the suggestion. Im wearing it real short but looks like im going to have to go to pretty much nothing just stubble to get it at least not so bad. Dermatitis is good I actually think I do have that anyway as areas outside the recipient area are red and blotchy. The hairline is just a sraight bar or red with very see through hair so that's gonna take some excuse. I'll try to think.

 

Question though, shouldn't the hairs already be mature if they haven't shed??

 

I do have pretty thick hair and even though I was receding and the temples were thinner i still got told by every hair dresser and the surgeon how thick it was and would probably never have to worry about it. Trouble is now ive buzzed it again 15 days after the op the native hair does look alot thinner which I recog ise as shockloss. Do you know if sbock loss can happen all over the scalp or away from the sites as well?

The 2000 for 1cm is very generalised mate, maybe u have very thick calibre hair and the right hair characteristics to pull off a lower number, I am surprised he lowered a hairline over 2cm with under 2000 grafts though, even if you don't get the desired outcome though mate it's very fixable, you have great hair and adding density in a year would be pretty straight forward if needed, and in the meantime combing your hair forward when it grows would hide the difference in density if there even is a difference in a year

Isn't a rough estimate for graft counts 2000 grafts to lower a hairline 1cm? How much was yours lowered? If it's 1cm or less you should be absolutely fine IMO

By 2weeks quite a few of the grafts have shed so no that's not an accurate representation of the final result! As far as hiding it... If the rest of the grafts stay put u may have a chance to camouflage it with topik, although for the hairline you'll probably wanna buy the pump applicator as well, if the rest of the grafts shed there's really no way 2 hide it. You'll just have to come up with an excuse for the redness that'll be there... Sunburn, allergic reaction to hair dye etc

I agree with Mickey here, scar does appear quite wide when hair is combed off it, looks great at short length with hair covering it though... I do think any shorter it will look pretty bad though judging by the width! Of course at 4 months this could just be shock loss and may grow back

Choose wisely. This isnt a game and you can not go by with what any advertisement or agency says.

 

FUE is skilled in the hands of those who put more labor and effort into it. Remember these words.

 

Erdogan is excellent. So is Lorenzo. So is Keser. So is Umar. There are more but do analyze them carefully. You dont want to get screwed over by spending triple the amount and having a half ass hair transplant job right? You dont want to have a crooked hairline right? You dont want to request temple closures and lowering the hairline only to have the opposite done right? You dont want to have high density and then get see through density right? You dont want to have strange facial framing and have people look at your forehead or front of your hairline right? You dont want to have to come back repeatadly to correct and fix issues right? Then choose wisely. I know numerous folks that arent happy and remain quiet. So, pick only from the proven and from the best across forums. Everyone else, their results should tell you the real story. These forums should serve as a platform for tranparency more than marketing since this surgery plays on the emotions of the suffering. So you should find ample info across these forums.

Sean, how was your final result with Rahal for FUE? Would you recommend him? I know he's primarily a strip surgeon so I was unsure about his FUE? I heard he used a motorised punch and doesn't do the extractions? What's your final verdict? How did yours turn out in the end?

Lorenzo caps his sessions off at circa 3,000 grafts per day. He doesn't do multi-day sessions and prefers to wait an entire year or more for the result to manifest and the donor to heal before performing subsequent work. Guys like Bisanga do 1,500 grafts per day and do perform multi-day sessions if the patient needs something up to 3,000 grafts etc. The Turkish surgeons are generally much more aggressive and do sometimes 4,000-4,500 grafts in one day! Granted they have techs assisting with the punching, extracting and implanting but I personally believe it is too much for the patient.

I wasn't aware of that with Lorenzo, thought I'd heard a couple of people mention they'd had two consecutive day sessions with Lorenzo? I agree that mega sessions aren't the best of ideas with FUE. What are your thoughts to the original question posed by the OP?

I've heard of others trying this but never seen any results. In theory, there is no reason why it shouldn't work. The main concern here is skin irritation.

I use it twice daily on my head, no irritation at dll, think m skin is pretty tough!lol there wouldn't be any negotiable long term affects to the skin that you're aware of? May give it a try! My patchy beard irritates me... I have the beard of a teenager!l

any1 know if its ok to use rogaine on their beard to encourage growth? any1 tried it? does it work??

The only surgeon I'd be willing to see in the UK is Dr Lorenzo at Farjo for FUE! as for strip if u want a mega session the best place to go is probably Hasson and wong in vancouver! there are other great strip surgeons that'll offer megasessions Rahal, Konior, Feller etc all of these are great, I wouldn't really recommend any british strip surgeons... In my experience they're light years behind the ones I've mentioned!

Stay away from places like the hospital group, or any big faceless companies... never a good idea to trust these with your scalp IMO

Oh thats new. I know they shed, but I thought they grow using some of the transplanted tissue and whatever bloodflow is around diffusely. I've seen this in a video where someone was arguing about transplanting more or less surrounding tissue in order to feed the initial growth. Your theory also makes sense to me, since even transected hairs come with the white pulp which will glue them in for a while and then shed with no FU surviving. Now i feel a little worse about my progress. Oh well... :eek:

I wouldn't worry mate, as long as u went 2 a good clinic you'll get good results

I'd love to see some expert opinion here as well. I did a lot of research and here is what I think.

 

Once you are at 10 days post op you should see the hairs growing a little bit. This is a 100% guarantee the growing FUs survived and they weren't transected. However there are a few more risks after that which apply equally for FUE and FUT- if the FUs were implanted at suboptimal depth/angle they may fail to get proper blood supply later on. Sometimes you will see grafts that pop too high, which implies that they are positioned somewhat higher than their original depth. This can be adjusted with the angle or it might not matter at all. I think only grafts that are too deep are in danger, so most of the time it's not an issue. Even if depth wasn't a problem, sometimes they might not grow for various reasons such as infection (preventable) or inadequate healing physiology.

 

I am 3 weeks post op. Pretty happy with the number of grafts that grew initially (survived), but still very anxious about the end result. If everything that grew initially makes it to the final result it will be awesome.

i don't think that thing about the growing hairs is true, some appear to be growing when they're infact pushing out as they shed, which is in fact not growth! who'd u get your FUE with mate?

the answer to this all depends on the surgeon IMO, if you have an excellent surgeon chances are you will get 95-100% growth of grafts so it can be a good indication... although the redness can make it look slightly more dense IMO.

The problem is when u get these guys having FUE with surgeons that aren't that experienced in FUE (or even a poor strip procedure with an inadequate doc). FUE is technically a lot more difficult and in megasessions (above 2000 in 1 day) is never a good idea IMO, guys like Lorenzo may well do mega sessions but they stage them over a couple of days, which gives a much more predictable result as fatigue in large 1 day sessions can be a real issue.

Some guys on here go to Timbuctoo and have like 4-5k grafts done in 1 day because its $1 per graft and they think all surgeons are the same... unfortunately they aren't! These type of cases end up getting 40-50% growth at best and a vastly depleted donor area! They look great post op then 12 months later they look more like the pre-op pic, this is why u have to be so careful with doctor selection FUE or FUT, IMO though theres a much shorter list of good surgeons for FUE and there aren't many docs i'd personally trust... Lorenzo and Bisanga are two I'd personally trust with maybe a couple more from Europe... the list is short though!

Thanks for the replies! No those scars are genuine enough. The pictures are after I've showered and shampooed the hair for some days.

 

This is what the doctor wrote: "When applying the FUE method (Follicular Unit Extraction) we use a stitch to close the area from where the grafts where taken."

 

So basically they mean that they having taken FUE hairs from those places, and these are the scars. How does that sound? Never heard of anyone who got those kind of scars from FUEs..

When true FUE is done no sutures are needed as the punches are below 1 mm and close on their own! Looks like he's punched out groupies of follicles ("plugs") calling it FUE which it most certainly isn't! Not sure what kind of scarring that could produce! One things for sure, when u get repaired, do some research and don't stray outside the recommended HT docs! The good news is u still have a fair amount of native hair and the situation your in is very likely fixable! No reputable doc would've done thus 2 u though!

Yeah he does offer it, I've seen at least 1 case where he's done this

Thanks for the complement.

 

The big muscle in front of and above your ear is your main chewing muscle...don't weaken that one. There are 3 little muscles around the ear that allow some people to wiggle their ears but they won't stretch a scar.

 

You are exactly right, density goes down in the donor region with successive strips/ or fues. That is why I tell people at their second case we'll get 500 or so few grafts than at the first case.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

No problem... A compliment that I sincerely meant! So my best option at this point would probably be a small amount of grafts placed around the scar taken via FUE (beard/scalp) rather than a revision as this would further decrease the density? And yeah I was talking about the muscles that move my ears, as I get this when I smile and following a strip it can cause some discomfort so I assumed it'd be stretching if there was discomfort

A standard strip would not involve any of the surrounding muscles, so no point in putting in a couple of hundred dollars of botox, which could of course diffuse and cause your head to cant forward. I do however suggest folks not try and stretch my scars for a while...meaning no bench press arching on my scars, no behind the neck lat pull downs, and limit neck flexion with abdominal crunches.

 

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

Thank you for taking the time to reply, IMHO you are probably the top doc for strip scar revisions in the entire world, so I couldn't ask for a more educated response! For me I have always noticed pain and stretching when I smiled following a strip, so I was alluding to the minor muscles just above the ears more than anything, would there be no benefit at all in relaxing these muscles? Also slightly off topic... When you stretch the area below the strip scar from continual strip procedures I have noticed a thinner appearance in the density, especially at the sides below the scar, is this something that can improve with revision or will it further worsen? I have this to some extent and I wondered if revision or FUE around the strip scar would be a better option? I'd really appreciate your input

Docs say that this is diffuse thinning and happens in people with this pattern. And the doctor who performed FUT made a mistake. They are not sure if FUE into scar works. If not FUE into scar, I was wondering if I should go for beard/BHT above the scar and sides to help conceal the scar. I am not sure again for how long those transplanted hairs will be permanent.

 

Do you think Dr. Umar might help here. But read bad reviews about the doctor, since he is not recommended here.

The results with even very large numbers of grafts with body hair never tends to look great IMO and the amount needed to cover the whole head would be astronomical in price! If u were to just cover the scar and the hair around that dropped out it could look a little strange, as you said SMP may be a viable option, or possibly a good hair system. It's a shame the doc who performed the op on you didn't recognise diffuse thinning in the donar area as there must've been some signs of it pre-op! Unfortunately with this type of hair loss transplantation options are pretty limited! If you are gonna go down the BHT route it'd be worth contacting umar and bisanga! Lorenzo may be an option as he performs top level FUE but I'm unsure how much work he does with BHT! I think the 2 top Turkish docs work with body hair and their prices may be quite a bit cheaper!

Hi Aftermath,

 

There was a little stress in past 2 months and I had a PRP (using micro-needling) 4 months back. I was wondering if this shedding is due to that shock loss. And yeah, I ve started with Min 10% (as suggested by my transplant doctor), initially I was using tugain 2%. Surprisingly, the transplanted hairs on the top are not affected as of now. But the hairs on sides and back are shedding.

 

I contacted a few transplant surgeons. Since this is diffused pattern, they are not sure if FUE into scar works for me. Haven`t tried Dr. Umar. I am not sure if he can really fix it. So my option would be SMP. I am trying to retain the hairs by Fin 1 mg and minox 10% . But I see extensive shedding and very soon the scar might be visible clearly. So looking for ways to hide the scar in advance.

What do the transplant docs think it's related to, as they're far more qualified to comment then any1 on this forum, I did remember reading a post off here about PRP at one point though, here's the link if u wanna check it out, not sure how much truth there is in the post but thought it may be of interest

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/160493-prp-injections-dont-do-its-potentially-negligent-criminal-activity.html

Why don't people get Botox in and around the strip scar in the first 1-2 months post op? It relaxes the muscles around the scar meaning less tension and also has an affect on fibroblasts to assist with the healing! There is a lot of research going into the use of Botox around areas of potential scarring! Anyone head of this/had this? Thoughts?

Almost 6000 grafts in a hairline?! WTF! If his native hair holds up thats 1 thing, but if he ends up on a high NW scale he's screwed!

Yes, I guess diffuse pattern. But this happened in just last 2 months. What are the options left for me now?

Have u started any new medication or have u been under a lot of stress the last 2 months? I'd start by contacting a trichologist to see what their thoughts are, a transplant would be pointless if it continues 2 thin

That is indeed pretty strange, what were the sides and back like before the operation? do u have pics? also what is your age? as for a doc in NYC, Dr feller is world class and does FUE and FUT may be worth sending him an email. I wouldn't have thought this far post op you'd have shock loss, although they do say u should wait a year to evaluate the scar... this thinning however seems diffuse! (i checked out the pics in your other thread)