hadenough2014

If ugly duckling is defined as "looking different, and 'worse', than you did before the HT..." than my ugly duckling was 2 weeks in duration. It lasted from the time I shed all the grafts (week 4) to about 2 weeks later when my native hairs started to return and the graft growth started shortly after that. It's just been growing like mad in weeks 8-14 post-op. My Dr. puts me in the class of an early grower, but I also totally pampered my head and body to try and get that early growth. Meds (Rogaine + Propecia), supplements (biotin/multivitamin/zinc), and extreme care to head and grafts I believe all contributed to an early growth. Of course the skill of the Dr. and his team had a lot to with it as well. I had zero scabbing and the work was so "refined", as they say, that I could not even tell I had 4000 holes cut into my head the day after the procedure. I literally could go without a hat and had little redness at all. I also agree with Raiden - I was pretty ugly before, so my ugly duckling period was not a dramatic change from pre-op!

I like the top pics, Sunny - tells the true story, and it's coming along!

For #4, I also don't understand why they leave that tuft in the front alone. It is bound to fall out in the future (even if on fin), so this guy will be back for yet another surgery. If I was him, I would have elected for 2000 grafts and done the entire frontal area as to attempt a one-and-done.

Great job, Dr. K. Looks super natural. Would be interesting to see in another 3-6 months if that crown comes in even better. Still pretty early to see full crown results.

i am sure he has a plan. I am just surprised that he did not explain it to you very well, and that you felt you had to come to a forum to get answers.

Destroy in the recipient area. See, the doctors use this little sharp pointy thing and they cut little holes in the scalp, and those tend to do some damage...destroying healthy follicles (that the doc also knows will be useless in just a few years) in the recipient area when dropping in 5000 grafts. Pay attention, BUSA...we all know your game. Troll.

The doc probably sees that you are likely to start seeing aggressive hair loss in years to come. You look like you are headed towards a Norwood 6 based on your thinning pattern. In essence, by doing 4500-5000 grafts now, the procedure will destroy many of the healthy follicles that currently exist and replace them with grafts. So the goal being suggested by the doc might be to maintain your density and hairline appearance and essentailly replace natural follicles with grafts in the process. The objective is so you do not have to go through the full thinning process before doing a transplant. But if he did not explain all of that to you as his intent, then I cannot imagine why he would suggest doing a HT at all right now. Given what I see as a likely diffused pattern in coming years, where would you do a smaller session today without knowing how the loss will progress? I think that may invite trouble of never-ending HT, trying to patch where future loss occurs. You still have a good hairline, so if I were in your shoes I would try to stabilze the loss with meds or let the loss develop more of a pattern so the HT plan can be better defined.

Is he on meds (Proscar) to stabilize the loss? It is one thing to start with a hair system, but quite another to stabilize the loss at a young age and have a positive impact on self image. If he is part of a family of Norwood 7 men, then perhaps neither HT or meds will help much, and a hair system is the way to go. There is possibly the shaved look as well-it looks really good on some guys (and low maintenance as well). I sympathize with your plight. My hair started receding in my mid-teens.

You had a big area to cover and I am really surprised the doc tried to go all the way from hairline to crown with only 4000 grafts, especially for someone with Asian descent where skin tone to hair color ratio is stark. You still have growing to do and I can certainly see there is some improvement from 6 months to 9 months, but I can understand your disappointment in people seeing that you had a HT. Sorry for that, but hopefully the density will improve where at least the hairline looks more natural so you are comfortable. Best of luck.

Looks like you have some patchy thinning (even near the ears) and starting to diffuse. This could be caused by something other than male pattern baldness. Perhaps your diet or other factors such as stress. You may want to talk to a dermatologist before you think about something like a hair transplant. It could be as simple as changing your diet, adding some supplements, or something else he/she may suggest to correct the thinning.

But remember, losing a little hair is no biggie and actually makes most men look more distinguished and credible (especially in business) as time moves on...losing a LOT of hair is the problem we struggle with! Right now you are fine, and I agree a HT is not necessary. You have a low frontal hairline - you kind of look like John Mayer. That's a very good thing, especially if you can play the guitar and have a whispery voice...you are set for life with the ladies. Good luck!

1.5 as well. You've lost some temple point hair as well. Propecia could stabilize your loss. Look at your parents and grandparents for signs of where you are headed.

I decided to post a couple of 3 month photos. I know, quality is bad, but I just quickly snapped them off my iPhone. It's really just to show that everything forming the hairline is new - I had none of that hair before surgery. The hairline will still come down a bit on each side and the front. I also have some general new growth coverage across the mid scalp and even towards the crown. I figure this is pretty good for 3 months to see some things happening. I wish I was more of a whiz with a camera, but alas, I am not. Looking forward to the growth and thickening continuing.

Did your doc say why not? I expect he told you this only AFTER the procedure? I would think most men would not have a HT if they knew they had to hold off for 10 days...

I am 90 days post-op. I did not get picky with brands. My local pharmacy/grocery store just carries 2 brands, so I picked NatureMade and went with it. I also take Zinc and Biotin supplements (for now, until I get all my growth in). I am really taking all of this (including Minoxidil and Propecia) to accelerate early growth, and then I will decide after 8 or 10 months what I want to continue, if anything. I am healthy and eat well, and generally I have never taken supplements - I am only doing it for this HT thing. If I do decide to stop anything in the future, it will be a slow wean process as not to shock my system. I have heard of several people stopping Rogaine or Propecia too abruptly and they have some serious shedding. So I don't want that, but I also do not want to be dependent on anything in the future if I can avoid it. I am 43 and was a NW5 at my surgery, so I don't have a whole heck of a lot of native hair to save by continuing Propecia....we'll see what happens.

He must be happy, no doubt. His after picture looks like a head of hair he was perfectly born with...totally undetectable.

Looks pretty familiar Sunny. A lot like mine right now. It is stubbornly static right. We continue to be patient.

Oh, I agree, Spanker. I think he has some nice hairline to crown coverage and no doubt the doc had to stretch the graft placement to make that happen. It just surprised me that the thinnest area for graft growth seems to be in the anterior mid scalp area. So did he place the same density as the mid scalp but anterior just did not emerge as well, or did he actually not place as many grafts in the anterior mid scalp?

Is this patient on any meds? Nice work on the crown in the first procedure. Looks like you used a perfect amount of grafts to get some coverage, but not over-apply into the crown black hole. It looks like his anterior mid scalp did not fill in too well with the first procedure. Is that a yield issue, or was there something else that may have prevented better growth/density there? Lots of single hair grafts?

The anterior mid scalp is really slow to emerge, and I think that is why the photos don't pick much up. There is basically a gap behind the tuft in front at the hairline, and since that anterior mid-scalp is an area that probably had more densely packed grafts and multi-hair grafts, it is important for that area to emerge behind the hairline before the appearance of density begins to kick in. Small progress everyday, but still looking ahead to months 4-5 for the real action.

At this point I would probably go to a dermatologist. Shouldn't be red and shouldn't have flaking at 16 months. Might be something related but possibly more serious (and probably treatable) starting up like TE or dermatitis. You wouldn't want to lose you new found hair now. If I were you, I would go get it checked out.

Looks soooo much better than your 12-month. Good comeback! Hopefully more to come, but must a be a huge relief after a frustrating period. TE must have been the right diagnosis. Thanks for continuing to post. - this is a very relevant case to understand as this could happen to anyone, especially if quitting Minoxidil may have triggered the TE.

It looks great. You have had great growth and look much better. The curls will flatten a bit over time. No worries. But even if they don't, they help add more to the appearance of density.

I am basically at 3 months now and I have nothing to post in the way of pictures just now. While the mirror tells me there is some growth, the photos show hardly anything. The photos reflect how others see it, so I go with them as a better indicator of results than the mirror. It is still early. I essentially look like I did pre-op with a little shorter mid scalp hair and a few new hairline hairs (maybe 150-200 hairs, not grafts - I can pick out a number of multi-hair grafts). I can see little hair popping out and I can feel the stubble, but the camera does not pick it up. I am not disappointed, as I know the real growth is still in the coming months. But I was encouraged by some early sprouting the last few weeks, only to discover that the pace has not yet accelerated and the real emergence is still to come. These are hopefully just teaser hairs. I remain on Fin and Rogaine daily as well. Nizoral once a week.

I also agree with the idea of a side part rather than a spiked-up style. HT are to achieve cosmetic density, not the same actual density of your sides or back of the head, so you need to help with that illusion by using hair style to your advantage.