JustJax

Thanks KingD2, glad your finding it helpful. I didn't take any proper pictures today and the lighting at home isn't great at this time of night, so here are some pics from yesterday just after I had my first haircut (only cut the back and the sides, didn't go near recipient area). As you can see, it does look a little patchy in the last picture (right side) but I think thats because I had them cut it a little too short on the donor area. Even though I think its a little patchy looking, most people say it looks fine. Should also add that my hair tends to swirl in odd directions at times (including my crown) so that crates slightly odd patterns. I also think the regrowth at the donor sites is a little slower, at least from what I can see. Anyway. I will try and take some better pictures of the back tomorrow.

What a cow (sorry ), can't believe she dumped you the day you landed after surgery. I've just hit the ugly phase so was dreading work today but my team have said it doesn't look too bad. I kinda hoping the top (not transplanted hair) will be long enough by the end of Dec that it starts to cover up the recipient area and redness, but I might be deluding myself. Oh well, I had upper eye lid surgery and then sat on the flight back from Glasgow with blood dripping down my face (wound was seeping) so use to looking like a freak ocassionally so I'm sure I'll survive. Wow, 70s/80s is huge, I thought the norm was 50-55. I believe Erdogan was aiming for 55 FU/cm2 with mine. No wonder yours is looking so good. I do worry that I may need to go back and get another 600-800 hairs in the front to get the density. I guess time will tell. Anyway, congrats again, not sure it can look any better, but will definately be looking out for your future updates.

This a million times. I am 4 weeks tomorrow/or one month on Friday (had it done 11th Oct) and the mental side of post HT surgery messes with you big time. Prior to the surgery all I really thought about what the surgery itself, would it be painful, I was worried a little about swelling on flight home and redness etc, but the reality is (certainly for me) the biggest and most stressful part has been the post surgery care and subsquent shed. The stress of washing it the first week post surgery wondering if you are washing hairs away, then when the shed kicks in, the worry that maybe its not just regular shed and that it could be lost grafts etc. I am now quite similar to your one month pics with most of the hair shed. It started middle of last week over the last 3-4 days its really shed, I reckon I'm probably down to about 20-30% max. Anyway, definately an excellent point and one I think more people should be aware of before hand. Wow :cool:, I to say I totally missed your thread previously, but your pictures and results to date look awesome. One thing that worries me is the density, do you know what denisty Dr Hasson aimed for, i.e how many follicular units per square centimeter (FU/cm2) and how does the density feel at this stage?

Day 27 - Sunday 7th November Some last two days have been a bit traumatic on my self confidence. I noticed toward the middle of the week that my recipient area was definitely thinning out, but in the last 2-3 days it's really fallen. Counted around 50-60 hairs in the sink after yesterday's wash and same again and now the loss it's very obvious. As you can see in the pictures below, the front and temples are now really patchy and quite bare in some parts and from front on, I'm clearly starting to look how I probably would have looked with this hair cut pre surgery. Funnily enough the redness and the faint bit of hair in the hairline is helping some way to disguise the complete extent of my hair loss .. but not much. Anyway, I was going to wait until next weekend to get my first hair cut but now that the shed is so bad, the growth on the sides (IMHO) emphasises the extent of the shed area so going to go to the hair dresser today to get back and sides cut (with scissors) to create a bit more shape. I did of course know this shed was coming but I guess I wasn't expecting it to shed so much in the space of a few days. Kinda dreading the office tomorrow. Only upside is they have seen me with very short hair for two weeks so it won't be too shocking but I'm sure some will be wondering why I'm suddenly looking balder at the front. While I didn't overly bother wearing a hat post surgery (except in the Sun) I think I'll definitely be wearing it when I can for can for the next month or two while I wait for the top to grow back to the pre-surgery length when it was long enough to help cover the recipient area. Just a shame I can't wear a cap/hat at the office.

LOL, mine proper kicked in on the day I flew back which was day 4 (3rd day post op) and I think the swelling lasted until around the Monday or Tues, so around 6-7 days. Does look a bit freaky doesn't it.

Hi Mosd, sorry I don't know how much they specifically did into the temples but the density looked great (not so much now the shedding is accelerating) all I know is it was 2700 overall.

Zim, where are you based? I know last year over the summer Dr Erdogan and some of the team visted some of the major cities of Europe to offer local consultations. When I chatted to him before my surgery, he suggested they were definately coming to London again in 2017 and I suspect they'll do other cities again too. Would hightly recommend trying to see him in person. As for the large descrepency between online quote and in person, i'm not sure, it could have been the pictures I sent made my hair loss look worst than it was. I can imagine that its quite hard to tell sometimes based just on pictures. Day 25 - 4th November 2016 Can't believe it'll be 4 weeks on Tuesday. Last few weeks have really flown by. Shedding is definitely becoming more apparent by the day As you can see from today's picture below, hair in the front is getting patchier and its quite obvious in the area I've circled. One of the temples also seems to be shedding a little more than the other too. Its a bit frustrating but I tell myself it was always going to happen. On a related note, anyone wondering how its going at the office. I still get the ocassional comment about having cut my hair so short, but no one has quesitoned or challeneged me on it or why its a little red or drilled deeper for info .. and the knock on effect of that is I'm fairly care free walking around the office. Usually its only when I see myself in the lift mirror and I ponder how much its shedding. BTW, not not sure if it was my eyes playing tricks but it definitely felt like my redneess was less red first thing this morning. Probably doesn't look it in the pics though.

I agree, but I did double check today and they confirmed no gel or wax etc

So my clinic advises not to use hair products for 6 months post surgery. I will of course abide by what they say but curious as to the guidance from other clinics? As I've always used some type of product (gel, creme, mousse, etc) the thought of not being able to us anything (particularly once it gets longer) stresses me a little so was wondering if I could combine any approved stuff like Aloe Vera and maybe some type of oil to create a solution that would act as a styling product? What you guys reckon, thoughts, ideas?

Same with my Aloe Vera gel. I put it on after I shower generally but last days in the evening as I am showering at the gym and the gel is at home. As you say, makes it feel quite odd although that has make me think I could use is as a form of hair gel which might be useful because my clinic doesn't suggest hair products for 6 months

Thanks, I do love my temples. They were definitely my key priorities and I have to say they totally reframe my face and I have had a number of people say the new hairline makes me look younger. Redness is def there and its not just the lighting, but indoor shots do make it look darker that it is. Still can't help but background stress about the front density though. I know I've shredded a fair enough of hairs and that area def feels like its thinning out now, but it was patchy early on (although clinic advised the 'cracks' with seemingly little or no grafts was down to the swelling and expansion of the skin and would subsides) but its so hard not too worry and think the worse. Wish I could hibinate and wake up in 5-6 months once its grown back!

Lol. At least you had someone to keep you company. If I had to go out again I would definitely take someone with me. BTW, my contact was Sevinc, but I met Sema, she was lovely, your in good hands! Day 24 - Thursday 3rd November So not a huge amount to report, just over 3 weeks post surgery. From what I can see in the mirror (although not so visible in pictures), my hair is looking thinner which is clearly down to the shedding. Until last weekend I was washing my hair at home and putting the plug in the sink so I could see roughly how much I was shedding. However I'm now showering at the gym (only there to do very light cardio/walking) but it means I'm not able to get a good idea of how many hairs are shedding daily. Did see about 5 hairs on y pillow this morning though. I suspect I'll see a lot of shed in the next week. :mad: As noted in another thread my recipient area is still quite numb and I have that feeling like I have something on my head. It's not too bad but sometimes I focus on it and then it seems more annoying, but it's certainly not stopping me going about my day. Donor area is all healed (at least visually) but its still quite sensitive (but not painful) and I feel that more when I lay down or rest my head on a pillow. Pics are from yesterday (day 23) morning.

Ah right, so a week ahead of me. Well comforting to know my current state is normal for this time. Hopefully it starts to normalise soon for both of us. What do you mean by troublesome spots going now? I'm still seeing shedding but I still have a fair bit to shed I think. Not entirely on top of what I'm shedding myself tho as I haven't been washing my hair at home this week as I did previously so haven't been able to monitor the sink to gauge number of hairs I'm shedding daily. Although I saw about 5 hairs on my pillow today.

Haha, that bit freak me out the most. Seeing myself essentially bald. It's quite unsettling isn't it. :eek: BTW, who is your coordinator?

Baldbeard, I think your surgery was around the same time as mine (had mine on 11th Oct). How is your recipient area now? I'm 3 weeks post surgery but my recipient area is still quite numb and still aches a little at times (seems to be playing up a little today). Constantly feel like I have something on my head, like a hat or pair of glasses I've forgotten to remove. Wish it would hurry up and settle down. :mad:

Hi Zim, yes I did. Had to dig back into some old emails/threads to gte this infor but .. back in 2013 I saw Dr Shahmalak from Manchester in the UK and he suggested 1400 grafts, then I met with Dr Ed Ball at Ziering Medical and he suggested 1300-1400 (but also noted that I would possibly need a 2nd HT to get the density). The cost of both quotes were circa 7000-8000 UK British Pounds. Then in Oct 2014 I found this forum and read about Dr Erdogan, Dr Doganay and Dr Demirsoy so emailed all three for quotes. Dr Doğanay's people suggested 2000 grafts but I quickly ruled him out as they said he wouldn't lower my hair line due to my age. Dr. Demirsoy rep suggested 2500-3000 but I was underwhelmed with the before/after pics provided. Finally, Dr Erdogan's team came back with suggestion of 3400-3600. At that stage I felt Dr Erdogan was the way to go but I'll be honest and say I was concenred that he was suggesting many more grafts than others, and that combined with being the most expensive of the three meant it was suddenly more expensive than I had anticipated. So once again I put the idea of a HT on ice. Then in July 2015 I got an email out of the blue (via another HT forum) saying that ProHairBelgium were going to be in London doing consults. So I went along and they were very nice but I don't think they ever officially emailed me the quote so I can't recall how many grafts they sugested, I think it was circa 2500-3000. Finally, in spring 2016 I saw Dr Erdogan was coming to London in May so I requested a consulant and once again I had to submit my pictures etc and they suggested 3200 grafts this time. In May, I finally met Dr Erdogan and after examining me in person he suggested I only needed 2700 and thats essentially what I had done (think I had 2709). Phew, hope that helps! :cool:

Hi Henry, congrats on your surgey and I hope you get a good result. Having recently had a HT myself, I have to say you are a brave man and I personally don't think I could deal with the process and recovering of having facial hair transplanted. How does it feel today? I found the itching and discomfort of the head being challenging. I know I was be really struggling not to touch my face. What is the recovery like with beard hair transplat? Are you expected to have redness like many people have in their recipient area? Out of curiosity, what did you pay for it? I ask as I know a good friend of mine is actually interested in a beard transplant.

Ooh, exciting. Are you in Instanbul already? In terms of the hairline, I met Dr Erdogan first in London in May 2016 and before he started marking up my head I believe I made it clear I wanted to lower my hairline and fill in my temples. It was pretty much the same when we agreed the the design before my surgery last month. Both times I let him decide on the shape, assuming he knew best. Obviously if you have a particular hair line/shape in mind, I am sure he'll be happy to discuss. Once he draws on what he thinks is an appropriate hairline, he does ask you if you are happy with it and will make tweaks based on your feedback. I sometimes listened to music on my iPhone and I watched one movie (they have an iPad and it has quite a lot of movies on it, all sorts), but I found my attention a bit all over the place. For me I had some discomfort during the extraction and implantation (creating the incisions was easily the most pleasant part) but I think that’s because I didn’t speak up soon enough and ask for them to re-numb the area. I would start to feel some discomfort and suffer through until it got to painful, where as I really should have spoken up as soon as I felt anything and they would have used more local anaesthetic as they did as soon as I said anything.

Do you mean the insertion slots for the grafts? I'm sure others will feedback but I know my scalp and recipient area is still some what swollen so I would imagine that would help highlight the insertion point and a friend who I saw on Sunday said he could see something similar with me although I can't overly see it looking in the mirror or in my pictures. Otherwise it's probably how I would imagine it would look around this stage. Have you had a post surgery haircut yet?

Hey, Ersko72, thanks for the positive vibes. Hopefully you are right. It's just hard when you are at this stage, but I'm sure you remember it well. Day 21 - Monday 31st October So almost 3 weeks post surgery. Occurred to me this evening that today was the first day that I haven't overly thought about my hair. Probably helps that work is so busy I don't have time, but I also think I've just relaxed and made piece with how it looks (some redness, some thinning as it sheds). I've just hoping the shed holds off a few days as one of my best friends is visiting on Friday and I want to show off my new hair line before it all falls out. :cool: Anyway. Just one pic from this evening for today.

No, it's 4 weeks. Although in an earlier email when I asked about the gym, they said 3-4 weeks but then in the post surgery pack that ASMED give you, its states 4 weeks before resuming sports. To be honest, I probably could have started back weight/resistance training today with no detrimental effect (some surgeons suggest it's safe to start back as early as 5 days post surgery) but in the interest of getting the very best result, I'm going to stick to ASMED's guidelines to hold off until next week.

Hey, unless you have very limited donor hair on your head and/or you are quite young (forget if you've mentioned your age previously) and therefore might need a reserve to call upon in a decade or two then I personally wouldn't bother.

Haha, assumed everyone had heard of spinning. With the righ instructors a spin class can be crazy intense, burnt nearly 700 calories in a 45 min class once. Anyway back in the gym right now (typing as I walk on the treadmill), as mentioned I'm essentially just planning to do about 40-50 mins daily walking on the treadmill this week as ASMED guidelines such I can't start training with weights again until next week. That's fIne though. Would rather ease into things than jump back in super intense and then worry that I've over done it. To be honest it's actually just good to be back in the gym itself. Gets my mind back into fitness mode. Thankfully despite 3 weeks off, I've only gained 1 pound/half a kilo, although my body fat percentage has gone up. I blame all the Turkish Baklava I ate.

Okay thanks, i more worried about the temperature actually, but I just realised I confused Solarium with Sauna on the ASMED guidelines which suggest avoiding Solarium/sunbeds for 6 months but sauna for only a month .. not that a spin class is a sauna of course, but it can get pretty darn hot in there. Anyway I've decided I'm going to do a spin class at my gym instead of the dedicated Spin studio i normally go too, classes at the gym are a bit less intense and they also really chill the room so prob better option to ease back into it. Lol, that made me chuckle. Totally agree, I was making some pretty good gains until my surgery so definitely need to get back lifting.

I can see slightly what you mean about the density in the front but it does overall look very good. Do you have any pics of the hairline straight on from the front as it's hair to judge properly from those you've posted.