mattj

It looks like you're thinning downwards from the crown and also a bit lower down in the donor area. I went and found your other thread and the thinning in these areas is more obvious with the shorter hair length. It's also clear that your hair is below average density throughout the donor area.

I think you'd need to be seen in person by any doctor you choose so that they could take a closer look. Your donor hair supply is without a doubt on the low side, so be aware that complete coverage and higher densities are going to be impossible.

This patient had a classic diffuse pattern and received 4603 grafts FUT plus 966 FUE grafts later to add density to the front/hairline.

I think it's the case that HT surgeons start out like doctors in any other field of medicine, and that is by observing the work of those that came before them. After that, they take what they have learned and run with it. Some have what it takes to improve upon and overshadow those from whom they learned the craft while others remain merely competent. This probably has parallels in the art world.

Interesting comment re. women being better than men at the repetitive tasks. I'm not sure if that has any scientific basis.

mattj and company you got to excuse my late reply. Wanting to know if you can post a few links to patients who had diffuse hair. Want to see how they came out. Thinking of seeing rahal in future. Need that to assess and decide. Thanks.

Hi goodwally,

I know we've posted diffuse cases and it is a common procedure type, so I'm going to have a hunt. Stay tuned.

I think it's pretty absurd to compare technicians to bus drivers piloting jumbo jets. Definitely a false equivalence fallacy. However, if a bus driver were to undertake the necessary training to pilot an aircraft then I wouldn't hesitate to get on their plane, for they would then be fully prepared for the role.

A hair transplant technician is highly trained and experienced in the role that they have in the surgery, just as any surgical technician is in any form of surgery. The bottom line is that few people on this planet will have extracted more grafts than Dr Rahal's head technician.

100 is given as an average. You won't normally notice most that fall, especially if you have short hair.

Great hair. Nobody sees you as balding in the way we talk about it here. I can remember back in my school days, anyone with a shaved head (or even just a short cut like a grade 2) would get called "baldy" or "slaphead". Its amazing how much non- balding people see a short cut as interchangeable with hairloss. But they do.

I immediately thought Tom Petty when I saw the photo, so you've got the look down. The question is: can you play and can you sing?

Your photos show a situation that is absolutely typical for the post-op stage that you're at. Anyone who has more hair remaining is lucky and would be a statistical outlier. Seriously, you have no cause for concern.

The SMP work looks to have been effective, at least from the distance the photos were taken from. I can understand the desire for real hair and hope you get a great result. The SMP should help boost the density.

Ernie: you see yourself as a fine hair guy? I see you have the straight-as-an-arrow hair and I know from experience that it shows every flaw that a barber makes.

Hello Jhon14,

Dr Rahal has many FUE cases out there and the majority of patients now are undergoing FUE. It would be worth contacting the clinic for a consultation. We'll be able to show you other great FUE results.

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/186994-dr-rahal-fue-patient-2553-grafts.html

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/187274-dr-rahal-fue-patient-2561-grafts.html

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/187219-dr-rahal-fue-patient-2557-grafts.html

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/187057-dr-rahal-fue-patient-1233-grafts.html

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/187984-dr-rahal-fue-patient-5754-grafts.html

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/188225-dr-rahal-fue-patient-2026-grafts.html

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/187846-dr-rahal-fue-patient-2756-grafts.html

I agree that we aren't necessarily talking about early growth, but assuming it works then any transplanted hairs (as well as native hairs cut down for the procedure) will grow faster, leading to the overall cosmetic improvement being seen sooner.

Matt, being someone based in the UK, do you recommend any particular brand?

I got mine from Holland & Barrett. I did a quick search and they're currently ?8.99 for 120 x 750mg. It might be worth checking Boots.

My hairloss has been more or less stable for years and I do get scalp sweat myself under those sorts of triggers. I think it's unlikely that sweat would make a difference. Sweat is very fluid and if a physical blockage of the follicle could cause an interruption in the ability of follicles to produce hair, then I would expect your skin's natural oils (which are thicker than sweat) to be more likely to cause this, in combination with dead skin cells. Personally I don't think any of this has a real effect on hair growth, but if there is any data to suggest otherwise then I'm all ears.

It's sold as MSM under different brands. Often health stores have their own label, for example Holland & Barrett in the UK. I see you're in Germany - if you go into whatever the big German chain health store is, I would almost guarantee that you'll find MSM on the shelves without a problem.

MSM is Methylsulphonylmethane. You can buy it in health shops that sell supplements. Anecdotal evidence (including my own experience) shows that it can cause hair to grow faster, so this would make it useful to take after an HT for obvious reasons.

I used to take it many years ago, before I had hairloss worries, and I noticed that my hair seemed to grow faster. That was without knowing that this could be an effect, so I see it as good evidence that it works.

Don't expect miracles, but it's cheap and safe and therefore worth trying.

The big factor in how it depends, patient to patient, is in density. If the hair is still quite full then there simply isn't enough space to transplant hairs safely. The closer the incisions are to existing hairs, the greater the risk of damaging them.

Even procedures that are purely hairline restorations will commonly include some placement of grafts into thinning areas of the hairline.

Second photo shows no scalp at all and on the basis of that photo alone, I would say that you aren't experiencing hairloss. But the first photo is a different story and illustrates how different lighting can be important for judging photos. It does appear to show some slight thinning at your crown, but nothing major. Treatment wise, at most I would recommend trying Minoxidil (Rogaine) with the understanding that you have to commit to the treatment to see continued results.

Do you think that there has been any change? Different hair length and lighting make it difficult to compare to the earlier pics. I think the longer hair is helping to hide it. Only a short space of time has gone by, so I think the same advice applies and you should wait before going down the HT route.

Are you certain that you even need another 2500 grafts? It would be interesting to know how many grafts the doctor recommended. I'm not surprised that they want to see you first.

One additional thing I want to say: it's not clear why your surgeon declined to do a larger procedure. It could potentially be because they aren't equipped for, and therefore comfortable with, larger sessions. It could be because they felt that your donor wouldn't safely provide more grafts in one procedure. It could simply be that they didn't think your hairloss was advanced enough to require more than 1700 grafts.

As donor is a finite resource, it's never a bad thing to keep it in reserve.

Having stable or very slowly progressing hairloss is the important matter here. It doesn't really matter whether that is due to good fortune or successful medical treatment.

I think in a situation like yours, you're best served by going back to your doctor and having them assess your donor area, up close and in person. Are you close to the clinic?

I think all I can say is what I said before. It's far too soon to make any judgements.

At one month after the procedure, you've probably shed a lot of the transplanted hairs and those that remain might not look quite right.

Of course I don't know who your doctor was and I cannot say for sure that you'll have a good outcome, but I can say that it's totally normal to look at the transplanted area at this stage in the post-op period and not like what you see. They call it the 'ugly duckling' stage.

Would be interesting to know how JayBandana is doing. I'm hoping the redness has faded by now.