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Thank you! I'm really excited to see how it all fills in. Yeah, I've noticed hairs sprouting as early as 34 days post op. The transplanted hair is continuing to come out. This is evident around my hairline and back towards the middle area. What normally happens is a pimple forms (I've had hundreds of them already) and once the inflammation subsides and the pimple begins to heal, I notice a hair sprouting from that exact area. This is absolutely clear because these hairs barely surface the scalp and later emerge with a black curly tip, whereas the rest of my hair is already 1 inch long.

Hey there. It's been 1 month and three days since my surgery and most of my transplanted hair has shed. The recipient area is still a bit pink and the donor area is slightly numb and itchy still. Like the first surgery, I experienced some shock loss in the donor and crown area. This is due to the steroid injection and surgery trauma, of course. It's not that bad, but definitely noticeable. Everything grew back around 3 months after my first procedure and I'm confident that will be the case this time. In terms of the recipient area, everything is great. I started noticing pimples developing about 2.5 weeks post op. They have been popping up to this day and I notice hairs sprouting in those areas once the pimple goes away. There's not much growth, but it's there. I noticed the first significant improvement about 2.5 months after my first procedure. However, my recipient area looked much better this time around the first 10 days. This is because I didn't allow too much crust to form by frequently rinsing (about 2-3 times a day). I don't know if this will lead to a quicker or higher yield than before, but it definitely can't hurt! I also noticed a fair amount of grafts stay and grow along with my native and previously transplanted hair. I think that my grafts sustained much less stress than what's normally expected during surgery. Dr. Diep had at least 5 techs working to quickly process my grafts and place them back into my scalp. And of course he made every incision in the recipient area and removed every single donor graft with his magic touch. I didn't experience any complications or bleeding at all immediately after surgery and later. I'm confident that I'll have significant growth about 7 weeks from now. Attached in this post are photos about 12 days post op, three weeks post op, and current (4.5 weeks post op).

No problem!

I'm now 9 days post op and decided to post an update for those following this thread. I feel really good about my recovery. I no longer have any scabs on my head and my donor area is no longer numb. It is however slightly sensitive still. I took care of myself really well up to this point. I didn't have any bleeding at all after surgery until now. I also didn't have much scab formation. The donor area healed after 6 days and the light yellow scabs that formed on my recipient area completely came off today. I didn't touch my recipient area at all until exactly 9 days post op (today). I spent just 20 minutes gently massaging my scalp while washing my hair with warm water and shampoo. Before today, I only rinsed my hair with water and Grafcyte shampoo. But I did that 2-3 times a day. Included in this post are photos of what my recipient and donor area currently looks like.

Hey Kensington! Yeah, it's quite normal for people to get more than one FUE procedure. Dr. Diep has performed secondary procedures on several of his patients. I believe there's one person who has received 4 from him already. Dr. Diep never does more than 3,000 grafts for FUE. He feels that more than that will affect growth. Also, it would probably take more than 12 hours for such a large procedure and that's difficult on him and the patient. I don't know too much about FUT, but it appears that healing in the donor area takes significantly longer. I'm just 9 days post op and I no longer have any open wounds; the donor area is completely healed, but it's still red and will be that way for a few more weeks. Also, my head is barely numb at this point. What's interesting is that I think I healed much quicker this time around. I was still really numb at two weeks post of after my first surgery. But this time around, it's only 9 days post op and I have maybe 20% numbness left.

Thank you, John!

Hey Pup! Thank you so much for the encouragement. I really appreciate it! Yeah, the forelock area was on its way out a few years ago and Minoxidil was all that was keeping it there. My hair didn't look right with a bald spot right behind my hairline. I'm hoping it fills in well a few months from now!

Thank you, David! I have a question for you: at what density do you think Dr. Diep transplanted my hair?

Thank you! Too bad baldness is an ongoing battle, right? Hopefully my hair loss is now more stabilized and I won't have to go in for a third transplant any time soon. I really don't have a clue what caliber hair I have. Dr. Diep doesn't provide that information. I do know that I have fine, maybe medium fine hair.

Hey there! As I mentioned in the post, I experienced a pretty bad shed after quitting minoxidil. The 12 month photos were taken in early July, which was shortly before the shed. Moreover, I had product in my hair in the 12 month photos, whereas the pre-op photos for the second hair transplant were taken without any product. I've been on 0.5 mg/day of Finasteride for about a year and I recently bumped it up to 1mg/day. That is the only medication I'm currently taking for my hair loss. Given that you're just four months post op, you should experience some more thickening. After my first hair transplant, I think all of my grafts emerged around 6-8 months. I did not notice any noticeable difference beyond that point.

As promised, here is a link to the thread that I will use to update my second hair transplant: Second FUE HT by Dr. Diep. 2,220 Grafts to Improve Density(4,700 grafts total) - Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients

Hello everyone! As I mentioned in my original thread, I recently underwent a second hair transplant. Although I was ecstatic with the results I achieved from my fisrt hair transplant, I experienced more hair loss in the middle portion of my scalp after I completely discontinued Minoxidil about 9 months after my first hair transplant. I knew that I would lose a substantial amount of coverage by making that decision, but Minoxidil had a negative impact on my skin and having to apply it every day did not pair well with my active lifestyle. Furthermore, because my hair is very fine in texture, the density at which my hair was transplanted did not result in a naturally full set of hair. I had to use various styling options to make it appear denser than it actually was. It's difficult to see from all of the photos I posted in the original thread, but you'd understand my concern if you saw me in person. The Minoxidil shed did not reach its full effect until some time after my 12 month photos were taken so it isn't evident in the photos I included in my last post. Here's a link to my first hair transplant thread: 2,460 FUE Hair Transplant by Doctor John Diep - Page 6 - Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients Anyway, Dr. Diep transplanted an additional 2,220 grafts on 11/17/15 (I'm on my second day post op). With my original 2,460 grafts, I now have a total of about 4,700 grafts transplanted in the frontal third of my scalp. The plan was to increase the density behind my hairline, thicken the hairline, close in my right temple point, and increase the overall density of the frontal third. The photos I attached are in the following order: pre-op, immediately post op, 1 day post op, and 2nd day post op. Thank you for following my case. I will try to make time to keep everyone updated as often as I can!

Hey everyone! I attached my 12 month photos that were taken at Dr. Diep's clinic. I also included a few pre-op photos to show you the extent of my hair loss before my hair transplant. I'm very pleased with the results that I achieved with just 2,400 grafts. As you can see by the pre-op photos, Dr. Diep had to cover a huge portion of my scalp, yet the outcome was still exceptional! However, I experienced more hair loss in the middle portion of my scalp after I completely discontinued Minoxidil about 9 months after my hair transplant. I knew that I would lose a substantial amount of coverage by making that decision, but Minoxidil had a negative impact on my skin and having to apply it every day did not pair well with my active lifestyle. Furthermore, because my hair is very fine in texture, the density at which my hair was transplanted did not result in a naturally full set of hair. I had to use various styling options to make it appear denser than it actually was. It's difficult to see from all of the photos I posted, but you'd understand my concern if you saw me in person. The Minoxidil shed did not reach its full effect until some time after my 12 month photos were taken so it isn't evident in the photos I included in this post. Finally, I'd like to announce that I had a second hair transplant performed by Dr. Diep just two days ago (11/17/15). Dr. Diep transplanted a total of 2,220 grafts. So, I now have a total of 4,700 grafts transplanted in the frontal third of my scalp. The plan was to increase the density behind my hairline, thicken the hairline, close in my right temple point, and increase the overall density of the frontal third. I will post a link to the new thread after this post. Thank you for following my case. I will try to make time to keep everyone updated as often as I can!

Don't worry about the shock loss. I experienced the same issue and the hair in the back, sides and my crown completely grew back around 3-4 months. Ps, I also had surgery with Dr. Diep. Check out my progress to get an idea of what to expect. Take care!

Thanks Vegetas! Good luck with your FUE. Remember, stay out of the sun, eat healthy, and try not to examine your hair every minute. I'll try to update this thread regularly.

Thanks Anon! Yeah, it's definitly a huge improvement. I appreciate your feedback. Good luck with your surgery!

Here are some photos I took in between my 8-10 month post op period. There wasn't any noticeable difference in between that time. I just lost the entire detailed post I prepared, including the html enlarged photos (which took me a while to collect) so this post will be simple. I've included attachments below. I will most likely undergo another surgery with Dr. Diep this Fall. The area directly behind my hairline is still quite thin and this limits my styling options. I would like to have uniform density throughout my whole scalp and I feel that I will need around 1500 more grafts to achieve this outcome. Let me know what you guys think about the progress so far.

Hey Anon, thanks for your feedback. I agree, there's still over 6 months left for my hair to mature. I don't know much about FUT, other than it's usually recommended for larger transplant sessions like the one you're looking to get. I know Dr. Diep performs both FUE and FUT. His YouTube page shows that he's capable of achieving home run results with FUT as well as FUE. I wore a hat after my surgery for the first 3-4 months! I wore it really loose for the first month. The most important time frame in terms of protecting your grafts is the first couple weeks. As for the pain, well, that's just the price we pay to beat baldness. Dr. Diep prescribes Vicodin and Valium, which helped me a lot. The donor area takes months to fully heal, but the pain is not an issue after a few weeks. I thought about getting a transplant for about two years before finally getting one. I spent over a year following the progress of various Dr. Diep patients. His YouTube videos are what really sold me. There are other doctors out there that have great reputations, but I feel that very few of them can achieve the same density with the number of grafts he works with. Let me know if you have any other questions. Like I said, I don't know much about FUT, but there are probably several threads on this forum that can answer any questions you still have.

The last two pictures show what I mean by the hair texture. It might be difficult to see, but the transplanted hair is not soft like my native hair yet. As I said before, the wiry texture makes it stubborn and difficult to style. Im not saying that I'm not happy with my progress, it's just an observation I made.

Thank you!

Thanks for the info, Blake. Very helpful.

Thanks, Blake. Do you know approximately when the transplanted hair will become more like my native hair? I'm mainly concerned with the wiry texture and the way the hair sits when I style it (pops up, instead of laying freely).

I've definitely seen some improvement this past month. I recently went through a shed, which stopped about two weeks ago and now I'm seeing hair surface (could be because I switched to Rogaine Foam). The transplanted hair still has a wiry texture so it doesn't "lay" like my native hair, which makes my recipient area look thinner than the native area. The left side of my hairline is thicker than the right. There is a pretty bad scar in that area from a past accident that required about 10 stitches. I'm thinking that blood circulation isn't as good in that area and so transplanted hairs are taking longer to sprout there. Who knows, though. I'm pretty sure that not all of my grafts have penetrated the scalp yet. When my hair is wet, the area behind the transplanted hairline is significantly thinner and it's clear that there are gaps between the grafts. Anyway, It's still really early so I'm confident that my hair will thicken up. I've posted more pre-op pictures this time. I wanted to give everyone a better idea of how significant my hair loss was. The first two pictures show my hair combed back (to show the balding area) & the next three are pictures of how I styled my hair prior to the hair transplant with Dr. Diep (took forever to hide my thinning frontal area). The photos after the dividing line show what my hair looks like now, 5 months and 1 week post op (all taken under harsh bathroom light, with flash). I no longer have to worry about the wind messing up my strategic grooming and I no longer spend forever doing my hair before school and work. I'm pleased with my current progress and excited to see additional changes in the coming months! pic upload upload image online capture screen upload _____________________________________________________________ image upload no limit free image host free image hosting image hosting no sign up

Haha. It's hard not to be worried after spending so much money and having to wait so long to see what you paid for. I got you, though. 5 months is still early.

Thanks, David! I hope you're right.