Steeeve

17 hours ago, A_4_Archan said:

Hello, brother, I'm truly impressed by the thoroughness of your update and the details with which you are presenting your case. Your journey, considering the initial pre-op situation, has been nothing short of amazing. The soft appearance of your current hairline is quite promising, and once the newly implanted hair starts growing, it's expected to enhance the overall density.

The observation of the transplanted area darkening, especially under soft light, is a positive indicator of progress. Additionally, your plan to address the stretched scar with a small FUE in the future is a proactive step.

As you enter the phase where the real transformation occurs, with hair growth expected in the coming months, it's an exciting time. I eagerly anticipate closely following your journey and witnessing the continued success. Wishing you a fantastic journey ahead with abundant hair growth. Happy growing, brother!

Thanks @A_4_Archan I really appreciate your support! Looking forward to the future!

Yesterday was 13 weeks post-op.

Today is 3 months.

Right after I posted my last monthly update I almost immediately started getting acne in my crown. Growth has been slow and steady. I‘m seeing sprouts already popping up in the hairline and in my crown. Of course there is a difference in what the hairline looks like under different lights. It’s thinner looking under harsher lights and stronger looking under softer lights.

First and foremost. Here’s what I looked like before any operation.

Here I am now 3 months post op my 2nd procedure.

Same bathroom and technically the same lighting, however, my camera is different and it takes in light differently.

All of the next photos are under harsh light with no product or concealer in my hair.

As I said, under a softer light my hair looks stronger. No product is in my hair.

here are some close ups, again, with no product.When I go out I typically still put a little dermmatch in my hairline. Here’s the difference that it makes.

Without

With

Without

With

and with

it makes a huge difference. My goal, of course, is to go out with the use of any product in my hair. This is working for me right now

Here is the current situation with my crown.

Really fuzzy but lacking in bulk which is to be expected around this time.

Here is how my hair covers up the scar.The scar looks like a scar but my hair easily covers it up. Here’s the scar.

The pictures won’t load correctly but you can see that it’s stretched. I mean, I say it with every update but it doesn’t bother me. I’m going to throw some FUE into it and I’ll probably put some SMP into it, as well.

So all in all I’m making progress but my journey is FAR from over.

That’s pretty much all for now. If anything happens I’ll hop back on but otherwise I’ll update again at 4 months.

✌🏻

On 1/18/2024 at 5:47 PM, austx said:

2 Weeks:

Scabs are off. Had itching around 1 week mark. Applying Olive oil as per Nader's suggested relieved the itch. Back of head is still little sore when I touch it. Especially while sleeping on my back. Is it normal? 

My response is 2 weeks later so I don’t know if you’re still having some pain back there but even if you are it’s extremely normal for most guys to report pain back there during this time. I can only speak to pain from strip. But a lot of accounts on the forum report pain in the donor sometimes upwards of 3 to 4 months post-op.

@mojonesFrom the photos you posted it doesn’t look as though the doctor spread the grafts out enough. It looks like he targeted the hairline with 2000 grafts and then spread 500 grafts throughout your frontal third/mid scalp. If your goal was to rebuild your hairline and bulk up a little behind it then that would be a good approach. If you wanted to build up the entire body of your frontal third overall then this may not serve you well in the future especially if you’re not able to tolerate finasteride. You’re going to continue to chase the loss with more transplants. This isn’t bad, necessarily, but it can be a hassle.

To answer your question, It’s pretty common for doctors to place grafts in between existing hairs in order to bulk up the density. I don’t think it’s ever a bad approach for people with diffuse loss as long as the doctor performing the procedure has experience doing this and consistently gets good results doing it.

All that you can do at this point is wait it out and see how everything grows out. I do feel strongly that you should reach out to your doctor and at least one other reputable surgeon, if not more, to get everyone’s input.

@Faisal Alsubaie, everything looks great so far! This is a very interesting case and will be hugely beneficial in helping others both avoid mistakes and choosing a good doctor to help with repairs.

I was scrolling through your threads trying to see if you had already said but I didn’t come across it-maybe you did say it already? But I was wondering if you were planning to lower those corners back down at all with the repair or if you were just going to strengthen the hairline, as is(I saw that you were planning on putting singles back in there)

Looking at your pre-op pics, your hairline was great but was lacking strength. I understand how clinics mess with your head, though. The unethical clinics always play the worst psychological games to get you in their chairs.

Bisanga, as others have stated, was an excellent choice to move forward with for a repair. Again, I was just wondering if your plan was to strengthen your existing hairline by placing a bunch of singles in there to camouflage those bulkier grafts or if you were going to lower it at all? Or even a combination? Slightly lowering it to help hide those multis? Did the doctor mention that during your consultation? Apologies if you did, in fact, already go over this.

Massive Improvement!! Thanks for the continued updates! It’s looking great!

@SavemyhairlineBro, by summertime you’ll be out by the pool and not even thinking about hair loss!

This is where you’re at by 5 months!?   You are correct. This is above baseline. You got this.

Incredible transformation. Those temples are top notch👌🏻👌🏻

You are in excellent shape right now. 5 months in and your donor and recipient are looking amazing. It looks to me as though both your transplanted hairs and hairs from previous transplants are growing. There’s a lot of body in both your mid-scalp and crown. Topping up your hairline was also a good idea because the last transplant left it with some multis right in the front. Hairline is much stronger now.

I think you’ll be happy before the 12 month mark!

Are you circling areas in blue because these are areas of concern to you or are you just marking them to watch for progression over time?

Again, I think you are in great shape for only 5 months! Congrats and Happy Growing!!

1 hour ago, Needhelpwithscar said:

Sorry to tell you, your scar is not going to get much better, I think most of the people on this forum are nice and try to be optimistic. it will be less red eventually for sure but it won’t change much in terms of width, it might even stretch more until 6 months mark. Asian hair does not lay flat like Caucasian hair when it grows, and has lower density, making it a lot harder to hide a fut scar and Asian are more prone to produce collagen hence the scar stretching happens. Asian should not have an fut procure, period. It’s hard to know but it’s true.

 

 

 

 

True, the scar will not get smaller and if you exercise the wrong way or do a lot of heavy lifting, yes, it can stretch. Sleeping on your side also provides the potential for stretching, however, while the scar is maturing in the first months after the procedure the scar will go through a period where the hair around the scar is shocked out due to the trauma and then will grow back in, this regrowth period can happen from month 4 to month 12. Regardless of one’s ethnicity once the hair grows back in it will help to conceal the scar. That is generally what myself, and I believe others, are referring to.

In my case during my first procedure the hair didn’t grow back causing the scar to look even worse than it was. I’m now 2 months post my 2nd FUT and my scar already looks better due to my being more regimented about taking the right steps to keep it from stretching. 

No one here is trying to be nice as much as advising others based on what we have seen/I have seen in the last decade+ on this forum. 

The research does suggest that Asians don’t scar as well as caucasians, however, a lot should still be put on the individual’s genetics. I have never seen a case where FUE was put into the scar and it didn’t grow well unless the patient had some sort of underlying health condition which doesn’t actually occur all that often (at least as far as anybody posts) As far as I can tell that also still seems to be based on the individual’s genetics. I’ve seen cases where not enough grafts were used and a second pass was needed which provided successful concealment.

If you went through FUT and your scar stretched and you’re unhappy about that then there are options for you to enhance that. Don’t let anybody tell you different and I truly wish you the best of luck moving forward.

3 hours ago, Anon94 said:

You should expect the scar to become less noticeable over the coming months. There is almost certainly some shock loss around it making it more prominent than it should be. 

It really shouldn't be this noticeable at that hair length. 

My sentiments exactly! I dealt with shock loss around the scar during my first procedure and I’m dealing with it 2 months into my second now. I’m sure it’ll continue for a few more months. I keep my hair around an inch to keep it concealed while the shock loss resolves itself but I understand the want to shave it to have everything on top uniform.

I never shaved it down to a 4 that I can currently recall but I have cut it down to a 5 and there was no evidence of the scar whatsoever.

@TimeForAChangeAnd like you I also plan to throw some FUE into it anyway to help with concealment. I think you’re in a great position!

Hello everyone.

Yesterday, was 10 weeks post-op and I cut my hair. I was trying to hold out and let it grow but my crown just isn’t dense enough yet for the kind of length that I was going for.

I’ve got pictures taken just after I cut it and before I showered (so I’m covered in hair) and there’s no concealer in it. I’ve also got pics with a little concealer in my hairline so you can see how I’m going out into the world. I’ve also got some pictures of how my hair covers my scar.

So I shaved everything down to an 8 guard, or 1inch all over and then I cut the sides down to a 5 and “faded” that up to the 8 guard.

Here is immediately after the cut.Right after the cut I noticed immediately that the scar was invisible and I was very pleased. During the course of the year after my first transplant I had really terrible shock loss up until around 5 months. I feel the state of my hair is extremely healthy looking due to the PRP.

After sleeping on it I woke up the next morning and wanted to get some pictures under the ring light. My hair was very oily and I thought that the scar might be more noticeable and once the hair gets oily it tends to clump together. I was right. Those hairs definitely clumped together and exposed my scar.

So I washed it and got ready for work. As I said earlier I applied a little concealer which I honestly don’t think I need to do at this point. I think I am fine to go without it but I’m just too mentally attached to it right now. I took these pictures back under the light of my bathroom.

These next photos are in direct sunlight just outside my window at work.

As you can see the scar is again fully covered after being washed. The wavy texture of my hair really helps it out, as well. I’ll continue to pull my hair back until my crown closes in some more. The body of the entire frontal 3rd really suits the shape of my face and head right now when not pulled back but pulling it back really lends to the illusion that there’s a full head of hair here.

I guess that’s all for now. Be good people. ✌🏻

13 hours ago, mojones said:

Would you say the grafts implanted in rows is okay?

I think the work looks good. If everything grows out then that wouldn’t be an issue whatsoever.

7 hours ago, austx said:

Go Austin!!

Thank you. I wanted to fill up the corners and temples.

 

Ah, I got ya. 👍🏻 Yeah, if the meds don’t resolve that then Dr. Nader most surely would be able to. 

Like others, I would love to see more patient documented cases but it’s a yes from me.

The detail in which his patients write about him, his thoroughness, and his love for what he does is enough for me.

I’m also not one to rely on social media all too much when it comes to giving a thumbs up to a doctor but his IG is full of really well documented cases. I know that many would make the argument that clinics pick and choose their best cases to present on social media, however, his cases that he chooses to represent himself look to be very honest reviews of his work.

I also greatly enjoyed the podcast.

So…again, Yes.

@jjalay I would actually omit the word “expert” 🤣 he does indeed have a YouTube channel! 😂🤣

@BabaYaga-666 Awesome write up! Congrats on the procedure and congrats on the impending marriage! This is going to be a big year for you!!

Looking forward to following along with your journey!

Fellow Austinite here.

Excellent write up and the work looks great! Dr. Nader is a champion! Always love his designs. Looking forward to following along with your journey!

From your pictures your hairline looks totally solid! Were you planning to lower it or is there some diffuse loss in there?

Congrats on taking the big step! You put yourself in excellent hands! 🙌🏻 

It looks amazing! The micro irregularities in your hairline👌🏻👌🏻

Congratulations because you still have so much time left for further progression!

Your result so far has been nothing short of stunning. Really looking forward to following along with your crown! 

37 minutes ago, SLA said:

Keep it long!!!! Looks INCREDIBLE!!!!!

Agree with this!

Don’t cut it!!

It’s PERFECT!!!

It’s very hard to tell if you suffered with diffused thinning pre-transplant from the pictures you shared. It’s just too difficult to tell if the loss existed with your hair cut so close to your scalp. We would need to see a top down with your longer hair styled so as not to hide the extent or the loss. If those pictures exist then they would be a huge help for anyone here to help guide you.

As far as the work goes; It looks good but did the clinic lower your hairline with that many grafts? 2000 grafts are a lot and your hairline looked great as it was. It’s hard to tell what that many grafts were used for in the front by the pictures posted.

I’m really not trying to stoke any flames but I, personally, would be very upset if I went in for a diffused frontal third and then received the majority of my grafts in my hairline with a few thrown in to the area with diffuse loss.

At 5 months that’s about what you would expect to see whether you were on meds or off. That’s really dependent on the individual’s healing process. I think it looks pretty good-I’m just not sure what all the grafts in the front were used for.

You could reach out to the clinic and doctor to get their take on it, though I don’t know that it would give you any clarity…but it might give you clarity. You could also reach out to a reputable clinic recommended by the community here, share your story, pictures, and overall feelings about what’s going on and see if they could provide any guidance.

This is just my 2 cents. I actually would love to see how this turns out at 12 months. I hope you get it figured out! ✌🏻

@Chetman2112this has been an amazing journey. Dr. Nadimi nailed your hairline design! Even if you don’t come back to share your post 12 month result, your 10 month was literally the best one could hope for at any point during their HT journey!

Congratulations! This is a home run. 

@TimeForAChangeThis is a really interesting case. Very rarely do you see, with your level of loss coupled with where you’re scalp is headed on the Norwood scale, work done in the crown, mid scalp, and frontal third without any hairline work being done first. I understand the doctor’s logic (I think the post-op work looks great) and I agree with you that the remaining hair in the front shouldn’t fall out anytime soon. I’m really interested in seeing how the strength of what was implanted blends with your natural hairline. I feel like it would make for a very natural looking, very full head of hair until that hair decides to retreat. Even then it should still look pretty strong.

Very interested in following this. It looks like your implanted hair is just at the beginning of taking off.

How does your scar look with a grade 4 buzz? Is it evident or is it already concealed?

4 hours ago, LRiv91_ said:

Little update. For the new year. Almost coming up on the 4 month mark. I’m not seeing any crazy growth or changes yet I know it’s still early to tell but I’m hoping for the best. I feel like others have had much better growth by this time but i still have hope. Here’s pics under harsh bathroom light and some at regular distance. Thoughts?

Like you said, it’s still too early…but that being said, your new hairline design is totally on display. Even though it hasn’t filled in just yet it most definitely is better suited for the frame of your face than the previous clinic’s design. The darker bathroom pics really show it off.

It is, of course, still going to look pretty rough in much harsher light but you are absolutely on the right track.

Looking forward to the end of this journey for you.

Happy growing! ✌🏻

2 hours ago, Doron Harati said:

Actually on my 1st repair of my frontal area I had that "ugly duck" season go through, the 2nd repair was easier, and now I felt from the start like I have no trauma at all.

BTW, your transformation is superb 👍🏻

Thank you so much.