hadenough2014

Here are some photos at 10-11 months. The before (pre-op) and after pair is the pic at Dr. Paul's office at 10 months. The after pic was also done at the end of summer where I had a nice tan . The other 2 are from today at just past 11 months. I have noticed some maturity in the last month or so and I also found a conditioner that works very well to calm the wave down (lack of summer humidity helps too). To say I am pleased is an understatement. Looks good wet, looks good dry. Very age-appropriate in my opinion. I keep toying with different things, and I think I found how to style it best and need to have it cut in a certain way. What great "problems" to have!

Looks great, Sunny! Glad you could make it to the conference. I was gone for the weekend, but I had just stopped up about a month ago and saw Dr. Paul and Zup in Bloomington.

Here are some photos at 9.5 months. The first one is a 3 month post-op photo to allow some comparison of progress. I am happy. As I have always said, I think doc did a good job of designing and not being too aggressive with the hairline since I really don't have much in the way of temple points to support a lower hairline. I need to go to an actual stylist now and try to find the right type of style - to date, I have just asked my wife to trim it a couple of times. There's more I could say, but I'll let y'all be the judge of the photos. Sorry I can't get 3 of the photos to straighten out - they are straight in my folder, but when they upload they rotate 90 degrees...maybe a moderator can help straighten them.

Thank you. I feel bad that I have not posted more - I feel like one of those people who got their results and then disappeared from the forum, but the truth is summer is a crazy busy time for me and my work got busy on top of summer fun. Anyway, I am very pleased with the results. I need to try some product to control the wave (conditioner helps but does not completely solve it). I think it looks better wet than it does dry, but I wear it both ways. The transplanted hair dries really quickly without product. I never use a hair dryer any more - I have plenty of volume now and I used to use a hair dryer to try and create volume. I have stopped using Rogaine altogether (I can't verify it ever worked for me and I don't want one more thing to do or travel with), but I am staying on Propecia. I have had very little in the way of side effects with Propecia - anything I may have seen early was probably psychosomatic. One of these days I'll take the time to get some new pics, but I think I've been pretty stable for the last 60 days.

Thanks for the comments. I haven't seen any noticeable thickening or changes much in the last month or so. I had my first full haircut and that made things look better - I never dry my hair any more because that adds too much curl, so I let it dry naturally and that keeps it straighter. Not only do I have hair now, but I don't have to use all the product every day and night nor do I travel with hair loss product. So when I go on a 2 or 3 day trip, I just go and don't bring any product. That is a nice change after 20 years of gooping crap on my head to try and arrest the loss. When I wake up in the morning, the hair in the back has naturally separated at my scar line, so I always need to make sure I run my hand and flatten it out. I sleep on my back and I guess it's just a natural thing for the hair to find the part there. My scar is very good - totally undetectable even when my hair is wet from being in the lake. The only thing about the scar is that is it certainly no longer perfectly smooth back there - there are a few areas where the scalp is now rippled a bit. I know it is not noticeable under the hair, but I can feel it with my fingers - I am sure my fingers' sensitivity over-exaggerate how much ripple there actually is, but it will be a lasting reminder for me personally that I had trauma back there. I know everyone says it can take a year or more to see final results, but I feel I have to be about at the final result after 8 months. If I do see more results, hopefully it is more coming in towards the crown to even-out the side view a little more. People who know me that I have not seen in a while do notice something, but they never say anything. They are either too polite or can't really tell what is different. I had almost 4000 grafts so the change was pretty dramatic - I didn't expect it would go unnoticed by everyone. It is a very natural look with non-pluggy hairline. Doc gets high props for the naturalness. I owe the clinic some photos so hopefully I can get those done soon and also post some more out here soon. This is something I do wish I had done about 5-7 years earlier, but better late than never.

I agree Fin would be good for him. He really wants to keep that frontal hair that he has. Dr. Cooley does a really nice job. This patient got some great crown coverage. That was a very large area and of course the crown is known to devour grafts. The PRP/Acell must really make a difference in getting crown emergence.

Thanks all! Getting better all the time too. While the front third hasn't had new emergence in quite a while (I think that part is complete up there), I can tell the hairs are thickening and have softer texture. I can still feel some new emergence in the mid third and back around the upper crown. I am so happy with these results as we head into summer and pleased that it will still be getter even better. The clinic has asked me for a new set of complete photos, so when I get those done, I will probably post some of them to give you all a better idea of how it looks going all the way back to the crown as well.

When you say you were "on Fin the whole time" does that mean you started Fin at your first transplant, or were you on Fin for a while before the first HT? The reason I ask is that I understand it can take 12-18 months before the impacts of Fin are seen, and they have the best impacts on the crown area. I had 4000 grafts done and just a "sprinkle" of grafts went to the upper crown. I started Fin 7 months ago with my first HT. My crown is much better (though not dense), and my scalp is nearly covered at the crown. It is enough to satisfy me - not sure if it is more the grafts or the Fin, but I am happy with it. Maybe your crown just needs more time with the Fin?

Quack - yes, come to grips with never shaving your head if you go FUT. I would also add that you may have to come to grips with the idea of keeping your hair even a little longer as you get older as well. My father (72) has his hair trimmed way down to about a 2 on the clipper, and I see with his grey hair and how much it natural thins all over that I could not keep my hair at that length when I am his age without my scar probably being visible. So I came to grips before I did the FUT that I would need to keep my hair a little longer for life - probably no shorter than a 4 when I get up there in years. When I go to church on Sunday (the place I see the most elderly people), I can see many older folks (75+) who have longer hair (5+ on the clipper) and it looks good, whether they are balding or not. So I came to grips with not shaving my head too close and went with FUT for many reasons that suited me best.

It looks good. I have looked at thousands of progress photos between FUE and FUT, and the pattern is that in most cases FUE takes a little longer grow in. So I think you are looking really good for 5 months.

Looks very natural and full, Sunny. You've got a top 5% result. I agree the texture is changing for the better. My hair feels softer and my hand or a comb flows through it better now after 7 months. I can still feel some emergence mid scalp and back to the crown, which is great that it is possible to continue seeing new growth for an "earlier grower" this far into the process. I wasn't sure if that would happen since I saw so much growth in months 3 & 4. It has been fun watching your progression along with mine since we went to SMG within 3 days of each other back in October and had almost the same number of grafts. I think we are both getting great results.

Squatch, you look soooo much younger! Congrats on a great outcome. Very natural hairline and you are gutsy with the short hair in the back, but I see no sign of the scar in the photos. I agree, this is money well spent with the right Dr.

Looks great, Sunny! Cool style. Very youthful!

Been a long time since I updated. Busy at work. Attached are some photos from today on my phone and I also am posting the pre-op for reference. 2 are wet photos and one is dry. The dry shows I am getting some wave in the growth. I have had one haircut, but that was a very mild trim. I may need to keep it shorter or start to use some product to manage the wave. Wow, what a thought - haven't thought of using product (other than desperate, ineffective growth product) in 15 years. I am very happy with the growth, the hairline design, and even the density is pretty good. I had a lot of ground to cover. The doc could not come forward with the hairline more due to my side recession, so it is very proportional. The scar is as good as it can be. No chance of seeing it even with much shorter hair. I'd say it took until the 6 month mark before it was was fully "there" where I didn't feel a mild numb sensation. My wife has a hard time finding it when I ask her to look for it. Good day all!

I see a little progress, but it is a little slow. From what I have read and progress photos that have been shared by other people, that is not unusual for FUE. As long as you can see and feel progress and you are happy with it, that's what matters.

Looks great, Sunny! Also looks like you are very comfortable with it now, which is fantastic. I think we did very well going with SMG!

Still filling in a bit. I think the hairline definition is about done. The upper crown where the doc sprinkled some grafts in is really slow to emerge, but I think that is typical. Hard to get good pics back there, but no hurry until something starts to happen. From the side, the shortage of hair on the crown becomes more apparent now than before since the hair in front is there now. A bit of pick your poison - want a bald frontal or crown?...I'll take the crown, but still hoping for some emergence. If I really wanted, I could try some concealer back there too. I have enough hair all over the crown for the concealer to grab on to something and thicken up. I've never used concealer, and I don't want to get "hooked" on it...but maybe I could use it on the crown for special occasions.

Looks great, Squatch!

Yes, looking great. Those patchy areas have really filled in. These are really the fun times. Summer will be great.

If you look closely, you will see a left-side part in my hair. I have a part in my hair now which requires a COMB, while the last 10+ I have been able to comb my hair with a towel or my fingers. How awesome is that?! I am "over the moon" pleased with where things stand right now. I know I still have growth (mostly density/fill-in) still to come, but this is much better than I expected to see, especially at 4.5 month. I told the doc I did not want a highly defined hairline, and boy did he and his team deliver on the natural results. Naturalness matters....to me, it is more important than density, though I really like the density I already have at this point. The right side corner is a little weak right now, but it is improving and can still feel stubble on that side where there is none on the left. Like most patients I am sure, I am always checking (at this point) to see if people are looking "up there", and I have never seen a single person check or do a double-take during this growth process - to me that is a great sign of the naturalness of the hairline. All good and getting better every day!

Really excellent work. What an amazing set events this patient has gone though.

Looks even denser now than it was just last week. Yes, looks like time for that haircut. I'm sure it will feel better to get the sides shortened! We should both be happy with the growth we are seeing 4 months in right now.

No. No haircut since the sides and back were trimmed at day 20. The grafts are growing, but they seem to grow a little slower than the native hairs. My sides and back have grown long enough to be cut again but I still want the recipient area to grow a little longer before a cut. Everything may be growing at the same rate and it is just my perception that grafts are slower, but I have a good 1/4 inch of growth to go on the grafts before I might consider a haircut.

Yes, those are the hair points that stick out a little bit toward the eyebrows on the side of the head. I personally think temple points give a younger appearance and help the temple corners from being too much of a 90-degree angle transitioning from the top to the sides, which can tip off that a HT has been done. Have to be careful though, as poorly done temple points can look fake and thus doubly-defeating the purpose (actually could make a HT more obvious). They need to be very subtle and not result in being too thick. That's why it is always better if the patient has retained his natural points, such as Squatch. They help enhance the naturalness of a completed HT.

I see lots of new growth happening there. You have great temple points - will re-frame your face nicely when growth matures!