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Hi Quillum! I do think there's a chance that even the donor area will continue to improve over the next several months. It seems you're at the 6-7 month mark, and while it's a substantial amount of time post-op, it's still relatively early with plenty of time for things to turn around. Unfortunately, at this stage, there's nothing you can do but wait and hope for the best. The good news is that you chose a great surgeon and they seem to be on top of things in terms of helping you navigate this process and communicating with you in a professional manner. Fingers crossed this turns around for you - and we'll be looking forward to a (hopefully) positive update in the months to come.

If the surgeon is already unethical enough to do this sort of blatantly awful work, I highly doubt they'll be ethical enough to try to resolve this and compensate you in any way. If you're willing to share the name, it'd be great to see if this was a fluke (?) or if this is pretty standard. You say he's supposed to be one of the best surgeons, but it's hard to know what's good marketing and what's actually true. This is one of the reasons this forum exists so as to help people avoid surgeons like this with some community vetting and accountability. It's unfortunate, but the best thing to do now may be to cut your losses and start looking into a repair procedure.

Mid-late 20s for me. It was primarily in the hairline, which had really started receding by the time I was 28 or so - and the panic immediately set in. Lol. Fortunately for me, my hair loss seemed to stabilize soon after that and I haven't had any noticeable further loss since getting my hairline restored. I'm 38 now and things still seem to be in great shape!

While there are pros and cons to each, it's simply not accurate to say with such confidence that FUT is a "perfect procedure" and that any doctor who values FUE over FUT is unethical. That's a huge leap and quite dishonest and misleading... As has been pointed out in many of the comments already.

Here's a thread for you to read which might give you some insight. The name comes up from time to time, and every time it's recommended to stay away from them. Do a forum search of "Smile Hair Clinic" if you want to look through other posts as well. Glad you found the forum and were able to ask.

These results are incredible and very impressive. Welcome to the forum!

At 4 months, you've only had a month's worth of potential growth, so "something happening" is actually pretty good! Stay patient.

I had the same experience. I went out of my way to keep it a secret for the first 6-8 months or so because I was so embarrassed... But when I finally got over it and started being upfront about it, I found people were so intrigued and supportive - especially other men who were losing their hair and the girlfriends/wives of men that were losing their hair. I could've saved myself a lot of stress during that recovery period had I not been so hellbent on keeping it a secret, but you don't know until you know! Lol. Glad you're taking this route early on.

I'm not in a position to give a full recommendation, but I have a few thoughts to consider: One advantage of splitting the procedures up with some time in between is to see how you respond to a hair transplant in the first place. If it were me, I'd want to be careful not to shoot my entire shot all at once - especially if I had advanced hair loss with limited donor. Getting a home run result would be tricky and not guaranteed - so I would rather be conservative and take my time making sure I get it right. And Goli is correct that it isn't ideal to use beard/body hair as a primary source of donor hair. They can really help you get more mileage out of a procedure, but due to the texture, it's best used as filler and to add density to the crown. It's important that you use actual scalp hair for the hairline/front portion, so make sure that's also a priority. I also think it's important for you to make sure you have realistic expectations for what you can achieve. That's one of the most important factors when it comes to having a positive hair transplant experience. We're all able to achieve different levels of coverage and density based on our own unique situation - and so you'll likely have to be okay with have a conservative, mature hairline. If you go into with that sort of mindset and don't rush the process, you could likely end up with a really satisfying result. Hope you get some other input as well! Best of luck.

Yep! As Sean stated, they can have more than one hair - with some grafts having up to 4 hairs. Almost half of my grafts were actually doubles, to give you some perspective.

I sometimes feel like I'm the king of instant gratification, so I totally get this. But to the best of your ability, try to keep that in check and think about the long game. You want to make sure you're choosing the right surgeon for you, and if you're choosing someone who has a long waiting list, then it's likely because they consistently deliver top quality results. If you do want a safer way to mitigate the wait time that doesn't involve going to a hair mill or an under qualified surgeon, two options come to mind... Ask any of the surgeons you're interested in if there's a waiting list you could get on for when people cancel OR look into some newer up-and-coming surgeons who partner with any of the elite ones. Dr. Mohebi is now partnering with Dr. Pan and Dr. G, and their wait times aren't as long as Dr. Mohebi's are, for example. It's worth looking into - but even then, just make sure you're not choosing a surgeon you don't feel that good about just because they can see you sooner. Patience really is a virtue.

I can see why you'd be concerned - and your concerns may very well be valid, buuuut... I wouldn't jump to any conclusions or have another procedure until you reach the 12 month mark. While 7 months is a significant amount of time to get a solid idea of how your hair transplant is going to turn out, there's always a possibility that things really kick up over the next 3-5 months. I know it may be a frustrating answer, but waiting is really all you can do right now. And as HappyMan mentioned above, even if you do need a 2nd procedure, keep in mind that that's fairly typical, though not ideal to have to have one so soon after the 1st one. I hope this turns around for you. Keep us posted.

Hi Sydney! So glad you found this forum to help you navigate what can be quite a daunting process. It's a game changing resource. @Parsa Mohebi, MD has offices in both LA and SF. Dr. Mohebi and one of his partners, Dr. Pan, operate out of the Los Angeles office, and his other partner, Dr. Gujrati, operates out of San Francisco. The best way to schedule a consultation with them is directly through their website. I'll send it to you privately - and I can also help you get that sorted personally if you'd like. Medication is something you'd discuss with the surgeons, and there are different schools of thought on how imperative it is. It really varies from person to person, but most surgeons would agree that if you're open to medication and respond well to it without side effects, then it's worth taking. Since most MPB is progressive, medication can slow it down quite considerably and potentially keep you from needing subsequent procedures in the future. Travel/schedule: If it were up to me and I had the extra time, I'd love to get to my destination at least 2 days prior to the procedure, hopefully see the surgeon in person before the procedure, and then have 3-5 days of downtime after the procedure before flying back. That said, you could probably fly back even sooner than that if necessary, but that's something you can discuss with your surgeon as well once you start solidifying a game plan. I'd be happy to help answer any questions you have about our offices! Best of luck.

Happy to chime in and provide some insight! Dr. Mohebi has continued to expand Parsa Mohebi Hair Restoration over the past few years as it has grown beyond what he's able to achieve alone. In addition to bringing Dr. G on board as the medical director of the San Francisco office, he's also brought Dr. Pan on to join him at his brand new Los Angeles facility. While Dr. Pan is a fellowship trained hair transplant surgeon in his own right, he and Dr. G were both trained extensively under Dr. Mohebi so that they exclusively use the same techniques and instruments that Dr. Mohebi does. They each operate in the same way so as to provide the same standards and quality of care that Dr. Mohebi is known for. The three of them consistently collaborate and work together to ensure that choosing any of the surgeons at the facility is something that Dr. Mohebi endorses and stands by. Feel free to message me if you have any other questions! Would be happy to help any way I can.

The thing with lighting playing a factor in how a hair transplant looks is that it can really be applied to any physical trait - not just hair/hair transplants. So while yes, a hair transplant is about the "illusion of density", and it will look better or worse in certain conditions, the same thing can be said for our skin, eyes, etc. I think we're so used to seeing images of people in magazines, movies, and even our every day friends on social media where we are all using optimal lighting to make ourselves look the best we can, that we forget that none of us walk around the world properly lit from every direction at all times to make us look our best. Believe me, I wish that was the case - but it's not reality.

Adding my voice to the echo chamber and saying that YOUR HAIR LOOKS INCREDIBLE! 😂 I know we can be our own worst critics, but I recommend doing whatever you can do to shift your perspective on this so that it's no longer something your eye even latches on to. I promise you nobody is looking at you and thinking "Man, this poor chumps hairline isn't symmetrical." If anything, it actually draws more attention to it when it looks "too perfect" - so this is likely the ideal outcome for you regardless.

It's hard to say based on the photos alone, especially without having proper photos from earlier years to compare them to. I notice the redness in your scalp. Is that something that's always there, or does that come and go? It'd be worth looking into to seeing if you have some sort of dermatitis that's effecting your scalp health, which could also impact your hair. I've dealt with dermatitis on and off my entire life, and I always have considerable more hair fall when it acts up. The best thing to do would be to see a dermatologist or hair loss specialist and get their professional input. And regardless, I don't think this is anything that should cause you to be too alarmed! Whatever it is (if anything), you're catching it early.

Hi Marty! While taking Fin every other day can definitely be effective and is a very viable strategy, it seems like you're also wondering if you're experiencing hair loss or not... It's hard to say definitively, and the best thing to do may be to see a hair loss specialist in person if you're concerned about it, buuuut - it looks to my unprofessional eye that what you're seeing is the result of a few different things: You seem to have a prominent whorl while also having fair skin/lighter hair so that when your scalp even gets the slightest bit red/irritated, it's more noticeable than it would be on someone with a different hair/scalp type. And on top of that, you may be in the very early stages of MPB, which is what you may be picking up on. It doesn't seem super aggressive at the moment, so starting off on fin now would be a great way to get out ahead of it. I don't think you should panic, but also would recommend getting some professional input sometime soon so you can start the medication accordingly should you so wish!

As mentioned above, I think many of us find a "sweet spot" or two when it comes to the length that works best for us, but it will vary from person to person. There's no reason you won't be able to grow your hair out as long as you want - and there's definitely no cap on it! If ya need an example, @voxman is the resident poster child for sporting a longer hair transplant style around here... So check him out if ya need some inspiration! 😎

I think how you style your hair and the products you use depends more on each individual's situation and particular hair type/quality than it does with whether or not they had a hair transplant. My hair is super straight and on the finer side, and styling it was just as much of a challenge before my hair loss as it is now with my hairline restored. I tend to have about 1 good hair day out of every 5, as I've always been challenged in that department. Lol. The only difference is that now I don't have to put focus on disguising my receding hairline. Also, I need different products depending on how short my hair is, so that's also something to consider for yourself.

So glad you found the forum to help you navigate this. While I don't think a successful HT is impossible for you, your particular case will require even more careful consideration than your average person. You're still quite young, the hair loss is advanced, and as pointed out above, the hair loss does seem to be creeping into what is considered the "safe zone" for most people. These aren't necessarily reasons to be discouraged, but are reasons to be extra mindful and cautious before jumping into anything. You'll likely need a carefully formulated game plan and a conservative approach. At this point, I think you're gonna get the most insight from having professional one-on-one consultations with some top rated surgeons. Once you get a few of those under your belt, you'll be able to compare their suggestions and input, and have soooo much more info at your disposal to use to make your final decision. Managing expectations will be key for you, which is seems like you're already well-equipped to do. Hopefully this leads you down a path to a very positive experience and outcome! Keep us posted on how this continues to unfold.

It's standard practice to help prevent swelling in the face/forehead, and helps promote better and faster healing overall. It can be a difficult position to stay in, hence why we have these little hacks to make it easier.

I'm bummed to hear this didn't turn out to be a positive experience for you. Since you seem pretty set on staying fairly local, you could still go see Dr. Gujrati in SF for a consultation and get his professional input on the matter. It might be helpful just to have another opinion on what your options are should this be something you want to resolve. Message me if that's something you're interested in, and I can tell the office to be on the lookout for your call! Wishing you the best.

I don't know how we definitively determine the "Best Hairline Ever Created", but this is no doubt a home run! Lol. Combined with the beard, this is quite the dramatic transformation/makeover. No wonder he seems so thrilled.

Yaaay! You're well on the other side of the ugly duckling phase, and it's nice that you're able to get a better glimpse of things to come and how it will eventually unfold. It's looking great.