NueFueGuy

Ok.. here's what might be my final post on this thread on this procedure. It's been over 15 months and I went back last month for my follow up with Dr Cooley. He provided me with photos he took the day of my procedure, and then took the ones recently.

So, here's the before/after shots. Obviously a big difference. While it's not "styled" my normal way, it shows the difference in coverage.

I'm sure you'll agree I should be happy with the results. I can't say how much hope I had for this, and doing my research I was still uncertain what to expect. Earlier in my threads, around the 2-5 months mark, I was really thinking nothing was going to happen, but my bottom line advice is to go to a good doctor with proven results (like Dr Cooley), and trust in the process.

You won't notice anything until you suddenly realize from the before/after. The 5 months mark is really when you can expect that to happen. Anything before that to see "buds" or improvements, is not really going to be worth constant examination.

Final thoughts:

- I will probably follow up with more PRP treatments in the coming year or so. And I'm using the hair shake (protein powder) for helping with growth and thickness, FWIW.

- I am still a bit concerned about the bald spot in my crown, which is something that I've been told is tough to address due to the nature of the hair direction. But might see about doing something about that in the next year or two.

- And finally, I am happy to say that my "donor" area is still very thick and full with plenty of hair left to tap into, which is a considerable advantage to all this. I might be looking at another transplant if I really want to take care of it more.

Good luck to all, and don't be concerned about doing this. It's something that will improve your life. If you have any further questions, feel free to ask.. I'll be happy to share more of my experience.

Thanks all... meant to respond to everyone the last time I posted. I'm at the 10 month mark now, and will post again when I hit my year. I'm still seeing things get better.

As I mentioned in PM, I think you're going to have an amazing result. Your before picts weren't all that bad (in relation to some really worse balding.. like mine was).

So, I'm summarize:

my before was worse than your before

your grafts yield, was more than mine

I'm extremely happy with my result, therefore you will have a great result.

Keep spraying those grafts and keeping the plastic wrap over it (and hat on top).

Apply the cream to the sutures for as long as possible.

You'll be good!

P.S. Sorry for the grainy picts. I wanted to get it with natural light, which is better than some of the other picts I had taken. But still need to work on better shots.

Hey all.. geesh, I've been away too long, and lots of progress to speak of. My last post at 5 1/2 months was to show the progress, but I just never got around to taking any good picts.

I'm now at 8 months, and things have continued to improve. I'm not quite sure if I should continue to expect any more growth or density, but for now, I'm pretty happy with where I'm at.

So, I would say that there is a concern now for the back/crown of my head. You'll see in picts. It's always been pretty thin, but considering the front of my head was the major problem area, the back crown wasn't such a concern before. Now that I've improved the front, I'm seeing the back now probably needing to be address.

However, I do have to say, the transplant from Dr Cooley has exceeded expectations at this point. I guess I was super stressed early on, like a lot of guys get. But even so, I was expecting I'd see specific "buds" growing before month 3, and certainly into month 4. But really what you need to realize is you WON'T see that (unless maybe, it's along a receding hairline with NO current hair). So it was hard for me to realize that something was happening, until I looked back at my before picts and then noticed that it was a little LESS noticeable seeing my scalp thru my hair.

The point is, at least for me, it was really not obvious until month 5-6 that I was transforming. It is such a very subtle change over time. I can't stress that enough to others, that it really does come down to philosophically closing your eyes for 5-6 months and then you'll realize what has happened.

So, I'm now at the point where only if my hair is a little crazy will I see a bit of scalp, but even so, for the most part, I don't worry about my hair anymore. It looks pretty good in any situation. I don't wear a hat, except out of convenience. Oh, and probably the best thing about my HT is that you CANNOT find a scar whatsoever. It's completely unnoticeable. You can attribute that to a great job by Dr. Cooley, but also guessing my skin tone helps. One other note on that, I did apply the cream providing for helping the scar heal, pretty religiously until I ran out and well after I got the sutures out. Maybe that is also it.

Now I'm wondering, do people notice improvements even after Month 8, or am I pretty much set where I'm at?

And on my crown, I think I am finally going to bite the bullet and try Rogaine back there. I can't do Propecia, but wondering if Rogaine will help fill it in a little more. Any thoughts on that?

What about looking into a second HT? Be honest, you think I could/should?

So, I'm at 5 1/2 months now, and despite me feeling like nothing was happening, my appearance has been changing under my nose. My issue had been looking every once in a while, and expecting to see small peach fuzz or something indicating growth had started. Or stubble maybe. But now I know I'm not going to see that. Instead, I have reassessed what my overall appearance is, and it has definitely changed.

I started noticing things had been changing in just the last few weeks. As some peace of mind, I was offered to get a checkup with Dr. Cooley, which reassured me. We looked at initial before picts (obviously I have some of my own up here), and then looking at myself in the mirror. It's filling in more and hiding the scalp much more. He examined my scalp and said he can definitely see all the little hairs growing in well.

As suspected, I was being a bit overly paranoid or impatient, and I think I'm really finally in a good place. I don't wear a hat now at all, since my hair looks "good enough" at this stage that I don't worry about my bald front spot. I'm still a long ways away from where I want to be, but things progressing.

Meanwhile, I hadn't really bothered to look at my donor scar in months (not as big a concern), but I went ahead and sought it out today. I CANNOT find it. When I say that, I mean, it looks like there's nothing there! No pencil thin line, no slight red mark, nothing! I may have seen a small mark in some places, but I almost feel like if I shaved down to a 1-2 guard, no one would notice. I'm not gonna try it, but seems like that is really as good as a donor scar can get.

I'll post picts soon when I get back in some good light, but happy to say, my extreme impatience, as expected, would turn a 180 and I'd be remarking of the results.

Yeah, that's excellent. I don't think you'll need a second one anytime soon.

Amazing... I hope to be there in another 4 months.

I think it has a lot to do with what I perceived in the post-op information and what other people said that things start happening at 3 months. Now it seems that people are saying 4 months to see some traces, and then 5-6 months to notice any difference.

So I'll be patient. And as I mentioned in your thread, I'm wondering if I should start on Rogaine.

Can't wait to see where you're at with your picts. Have you thought about Rogaine as well, or instead of Propecia. I can speak from experience that Propecia f'd me up in many of the wrong ways. Just be careful.

I'm thinking Rogaine, but trying to figure out if it's worth it to help things along and if it will improve on top of the HT. It seems like a hassle twice a day, depending on how your hair needs to be to apply it out of the shower, and how soon it dries (i.e. when you can apply hair product). Any thoughts there?

Thanks both.. it's reassuring to hear this. I definitely didn't think I would turn into Wolverine starting at month 3 or 4, but I guess I thought it would be more like seeing faint traces starting at month 3, and then just improvement from there on. Maybe it's just what I expected in how it would start coming in. I figured it would be very light/thin hairs but feeling some "stubble."

Regardless, my post-op information says that it's at month 3 that you can expect some new growth with faint hairs starting to show.

I also don't think at all that it would be a bad job by Dr Cooley. I would just attribute it to something wrong with me, like it JUST isn't gonna work. Again, I went to Dr. Cooley for a reason, and I have faith in what you say.

So, I was told that I should buy Hair Surge (caffeinated shampoo) and MSM (supplement for hair, nail growth). And I have thought about adding Rogaine, but what can I expect with that, and what's the best method for keeping up with it daily? I WON'T do Propecia. I did it for years and it affected me BADLY in the ways that it warns it could for the SMALLEST percentage. I'd tell everyone to stay away from it based on my experience.

Anyways, thoughts on all of the above? And here's the 4 month-ish picts. It looks a little better than it did due to my haircut (first in 7 months since I originally shaved it). The bare spot is still about the same.

4 month update:

I'll post some picts this week. But I'm just OVER the 4 month mark. I haven't seen anything happening up there. I look as closely as I possibly can with a mirror. Every time I think I maybe see one little hair starting to grow, it's just the root of an already existing hair.

I know I'm supposed to continue being patient, and I'm doing my best to forget about it for a while and not look. But I'm now getting even more concerned that I don't see even the faintest start of new growth.

I sent a note to Dr. Cooley's office to see if it would be worth at least coming in for them to see if/what is going on, but they assure me that sometimes it takes even longer to see gains. I was kinda looking forward to going into the holidays with some obvious changes.. at least seeing the start of it.

More than anything, I just want to see super slight faint hairs to pop out. At least I'd know that something was there, and could then wait out the thickening. Just still having doubts right now. I hope I can eat my words soon.

I do not blame you at all. And good for you. Obviously the reason all of us are considering (or have done a HT) is to make ourselves feel better. Some people don't really care and allow themselves to go bald. Others shave their head, and that's a look they like or makes them feel comfortable. Other people.. like us.. would like to still have our hair. So whatever makes us feel better about ourselves, more confident, less stressed. I'm right there with you.

I just hope I can say all the things you're saying now. Now at 3 1/2 months and just not seeing much action up there. I know you said 4 months it still sucked. But did you see anything popping up .. little tiny hairs... or similar to post transplant where you had a slight stubbly look starting to happen? Continue to be skeptical that what I've done is going to get me to where you are... happy with the results, and only thinking greedily for any more than received.

Question: How do you decide on getting a second HT? I mean, obviously if you think you need more hair up top, but...

Technically for my consultation (and what I paid for) was his recommended 2500 grafts. I asked him before the procedure if we should bump that up to 3000, and he said he didn't think I needed it. He ended up yielding 3200 grafts anyways, which is amazing of course.

But then theoretically why would I (or you) need to go for a second one unless I lose a lot more over the next year or so? Why wouldn't he have gone for 4000 the first time?

And I guess more to your own situation, why didn't you get more if you now think you need a second trip?

I guess I'm just wondering why they wouldn't try to harvest much more on the 1st HT if it's expected you might need a 2nd? I sort of feel like I might still need more/2nd procedure (too early to tell), but then would've liked to get that 4000 the first go around.

Since we're so close together in timing, I'll be checking in on your progress/photos. I'm surprised you flew back right after your appointment. I would have expected an overnight stay just to stay relaxed, and especially if any problems came up the next day. I stayed 2 days in Charlotte after mine with Dr. Cooley. Was kinda nice to isolate myself while allowing some time to heal. I also was able to go in the next day and have them clean me up.

However, thinking back to my post-op, I was feeling pretty normal and with a hat (and plastic over the transplants for keeping the spray nice and moist on the grafts) I probably was fine to travel too.

I noticed you said you saw some hairs after 1 month. I'm not sure I see much of anything... maybe a couple very short ones (and I'm at 3 months now). So I think that's amazing. Do you still see those same hairs? Wondering if they kinda popped up quickly but shed again. I think I heard the early hairs will still shed until they get really strong after a few cycles.

Thanks guys... I'm staying positive, and like a lot of people say.. just forget about it for awhile. I am now trying to NOT closely examine my head for any signs of growth. I figure I need to leave it alone for the next month and then maybe start peeking again.

Meanwhile, I did get a haircut, and I think it looks good, gotten mad props from my gf, and seems to make my balding much less noticeable. This was the first haircut since I shaved my head in March (for the original FUE I was planning on doing and then aborted on to go for FUT with Cooley). Pretty funny how long my hair was getting (aside from on top

Also good to see how dense the back of my hair is still, like I didn't take anything from there. I can see me going for a 2nd if/when I need one. No problem with plenty of donor hair!

With the haircut (got a wedding to go to today) I'm much more comfortable NOT wearing a hat now too. Definitely getting positive. Gonna go check on your threads now to see how you guys are doing!

Here I am at the 3 month mark. I don't think I'm looking great at all, haven't seen anything really that positive at this point, but I'm hoping it's all normal. Yeah, I know everyone says it's not going to show anything until AFTER 3 months, but I have serious doubts of where I'm at right now.

I guess I can see/feel a little tiny stubble. But it's really faint and the ones I can see look spread around a lot, where I can't imagine it will fill in much to make any noticeable change in my appearance. I know I'm being a serious doubter, and hope to provide a big turnaround in the next 2 months.

The one thing I continue to experience, especially noticeable when I sneeze, is a bit of tingling in the transplanted area. I expect that means something's there, and maybe something is going on still. Referring to my last posts, I've been feeling this prickly/tingly sensation when I sneeze or if I sort of get chills or sensation (like taking a sip of a hot coffee unexpectedly). Has anyone else experienced this during this stage?

I'll also mention that my donor scar is not fully healed yet. I felt I was beyond that point and it was going to just keep getting better. But in a little area on my left and also on my right sides, it seemed to return with a little red bump, slightly raw/sensitive area. I have reapplied my cream and it's getting better. But I thought it was strange that it hasn't fully closed up or healed 3 months in.

Yeah, that's really my concern. I don't see anything that looks like little pinheads, stubble, or dots that would make it seem like anything was there. In losing all the transplanted hairs (after about 1 month), it's gone back to looking like I haven't even had anything done. Even when looking closely.

I guess I'm wondering if that is even normal...that you can't see anything that might represent the grafts anymore.

FYI: Dr. Cooley was about $4/graft

Not sure what happened to this post from yesterday, but trying again.

Here's some picts from my 2 month + 1 week mark.

As you can see, it's pretty sparse up there. All the little stubbly hairs I had from the first month after the surgery are gone. It's pretty much back to normal... maybe even looking a bit worse. Maybe my imagination.

Anyways, I'm hopeful things make a miraculous change in the coming months, and that the concern and worry is all worth it. Right now, it feels it's such a long-shot that this is going to look any better. I look pretty bad right now (hat is almost always on).

I included several extreme close ups with flash and without. I wonder if it's even possible to make out anything that would suggest things are looking good. Or if an HT Doc would know what to look for. I know I can't tell what anything looks like on there except SPARSELY POPULATED still.

2 Month Update:

Last Wednesday marked my 2 month anniversary since my procedure. I would say I'm in that doldrums area that everyone talks about. Where you're back to the old look, nothing is noticeably different, and feeling a little paranoid that something isn't going to happen as it should.

So, at the 3 week mark, when I was getting the sutures out, I did talk to Dr. Cooley about playing soccer again. He felt the grafts had fully taken root and looked good. That I shouldn't have any issue with playing competitively and exercising. But the obvious two main concerns I had (and asked him about):

1) Heading the soccer ball

2) Being out in the sun playing (not able to wear a hat playing

He agreed that I should shy away from heading the ball for another month (i.e 7 weeks), which I have done for the most part. And that sunscreen is fine to protect the top of the head. So I've loaded up on sunscreen when I have been out there.

However, I guess I still feel like I've done some things a bit too roughly, and thus has led to being concerned in this low-time.

I did head the ball once or twice, nothing major, maybe around the one month mark. I've been playing pretty competitively again where I have headed it several more times (3-4 total) in the last couple weeks (6-8 week mark). After doing it, I've sort of felt I shouldn't have. No other reason than maybe I should be more protective?

I also have actually felt concerned about using TOO much sunscreen, and wondering about the safety of spray lotion. Sounds paranoid, I know. It seems to have protected well, but....

Also, last weekend (2 months) I forgot to apply any and I may have gotten a little cooked. I grew very concerned again about that. Nothing really hurt, nor any peeling or flaking. And seemed normal after a couple days.

So now, I'm in that period where nothing looks very good, and worried that it's not going to work out because I've not been overly-protective of my head.

Last things to mention is that even now, at 2 months, I do feel a little soreness on top of the head. Wondering if that's the sun at times (even when using a lot of lotion) or if it's normal to still feel something. On a side note, when I sneeze, I can kinda feel my head tingle on top where the grafts are. Anyone have had that sensation?

Does anyone have thoughts on all of this? And obviously I should be careful, but am I still in the safe-zone of what I can/should be doing? I just got a sense that once things take root and are said to look in good shape, 1 month to 2 months is mostly fine to be back to normal activity (within reason and protecting from TOO much of anything).

3 Week-ish Update (23 days):

Well.. I'm pretty much over the moon!!

I got back from Dr. Cooley's a couple days ago from getting my sutures removed. What a relief that is. It does feel a lot better, although still a tinge of soreness on the back of my head. But now I feel it's pretty much unnoticeable if any suture could be seen thru some disheveled hair.

They said everything looked great. The scar looks good and will only get better over the year. The grafts are well secured and in place, and I shouldn't worry at all about dislodging them. I can proceed to take normal showers, scrub away (although I always err on the safe side).

I'm good to start playing soccer again, and regular exercise. Although I'm trying to limit my contact and head movement to prevent stretching. The thing I am really looking out for too is shying away from any ball in the air. I fielded a ball from going out of bounds last night sort of by the back of my head. I DID NOT want to do that, and really should have stayed away. I need to come up with a way to feign tripping or something to simply NOT touch a ball in the air to my head.

I asked Dr Cooley a good bit about this, and he feels that a month from now, I'm good with headers and normal heavy contact soccer. But also good to play, if I want to play conservatively.

NOW.. here's the amazing news.. I got my numbers.

Here it is:

1's: 573

2's: 1480

3's: 1063

4's: 94

--

Total: 3210 Grafts

So that was going for only 2500! I kinda need to change this post title to "3200 with Dr Cooley" since it's such a significant amount more.

What's better is that he said that generally the average yield is 1.8 hairs per graft for the average male. Mine comes in about 2.2.

So not only more grafts than expected (and by a lot), but also more hairs per graft.

Needless to say, I am VERY happy with hearing that and hoping beyond all hope that they are well in-tact and that it will really show when things start growing in.

Here's some shots of my scar without sutures. The left side is a little more red than the right. Let me know what you think. I am very interested in knowing opinions on concern of it stretching or opening up (I think he said there's no chance of opening back up tho).

Thanks!

Smooth sailing for you here on out. Gonna be great at the one year mark to see how big a difference. I'm hoping for the same happy feelings in a few months.

Well, I was going to go with FUE with someone more local to me that does JUST FUE. After shaving my head days before the operation, the doctor cancelled on me for "personal reasons" with his family. I was told I would have to wait another 3 months. I won't name the doctor as I'm sure it was something personal and I don't blame him for it. But I had wished he had handled it differently by finding a way to do my surgery sooner than bumping me to the end of the line. Again, no big deal since my hair is not as important as a Doctor's personal issues.

ANYWAYS, it made me open my eyes and I came on here to do more research. I found Dr. Cooley, among other great Doctors. I found all sorts of stories and results. I decided to go for a consultation. I wish I had done that long ago.

From what I was told (and Dr Cooley DOES do both FUE and FUT), that a much higher percentage of grafts will transplant and "live" with a FUT strip vs. the FUE. I also, didn't realize it until I did much more research, that I wouldn't have even had to shave my head for FUT. Which became an issue of itself for me. I've never had my head shaved and I felt pretty unusual around friends and family. I then also had to wait long enough for it to grow out to THEN do the FUT.

Needless to say, I chose FUT since most people say you get more yield from it. But yeah, it may have worked just fine and without a scar/strip taken out.

What are your thoughts on FUT vs. FUE? And what exactly constitutes a "good" donor for FUE?

Thanks

In the past week or so, things have gotten mainly back to normal in terms of not having to be super careful in the shower. I don't scrub, but have gently rubbed and gotten all the scabs off.

I'm still wearing a hat in public since my hair is so thin on top, I feel like you can easily see the little stubbly hairs. Although they have gotten much less noticeable (as in scabs have been rubbed off) and feel like I started losing a few of them now (normal from what I know at week 2-3).

I'm a couple days away from getting my sutures removed, which I'm happy about since I've been very conscious of whether people can ever see it, and including my gf trying to put her hands thru my hair (and not knowing about what's back there).

During the past week or more, the back of my head has still be fairly sore and NUMB. The upper left part of my head, NOT on the actual scar, it just feels like nothing when you touch it. No sensitivity... like it's "asleep." Sleeping on the back of my head is still a little sore as well, but it doesn't affect my sleep. Just sometimes has me moving around or laying on my side to get comfortable.

BUT in recent days the numbness seems to be going away. It has come and gone. From what I had read, this can happen for a long time while nerves grow back (which I never knew nerves grow back?) or may lose it's feeling indefinitely to some degree.

I expect a different feeling once I get the sutures out in a couple days. Looking at my scar, it does seem fairly detectable when lifting up my hair. That may sound obvious but I mean, it does look pretty large. I suppose it remains to be seen once removed, how tight/clean it looks. Fingers crossed. It does feel pretty flat aside from the "ribbed" feel running over the sutures, sand I can feel hair growing in around it. Any thoughts in comparison to others?

Thanks man.. So remind me, when did you start seeing the hairs fall out initially. Everything is nice and solid on top, and although they are small and stubbly little hairs, I don't think I've seen any come out yet. I'm at Day 11 and feeling like I've done a good job keeping them intact. I can feel some of the scabs when running the pads of my fingers across it in the shower. And just now definitely felt some coming off (scabs).

I'm just wondering when to expect to see the donor hairs starting to fall out? It'd be good to see them stay a bit longer, and would be slightly concerned seeing them come out sooner. But also think that once that happens, I'm at least looking my "old" normal as in no one would suspect anything when not wearing a hat.

I can relate on your pool story. I go out on my boat with friends, and although they are friends, I've definitely gotten the balding jokes over the last couple years. It's much more apparent when wet. At the same time, since I've been planning/scheduled to do the procedure, and while I'm in the process, I sort of think in my mind "yeah, well it's all gonna be fixed soon." And I think eventually, when I see it's worked great for me, I'll let others know that could use it too (in person).