mattj

To be honest, I don't see where you would want to place the grafts.

Very nice. Very natural. Thank you for taking the time to share your experience.

It might seem like a surprise that someone's choice of surgery method might have to change on the day, but those factors (described above) are impossible to know before the first extractions have been done. Better to stop, assess the situation and inform the patient than jeopardise their result moving forward when they aren't a candidate.

It's definitely worth showing us more photos. Photos of buzzed hair aren't ideal, but it's worth sharing them. I would hope that your consultation was based on more than the photos shown above as they really aren't enough for an accurate assessment.

Your hairloss has been fairly rapid but looks to be worse at your crown. I'm guessing you'll want to address this area and strengthen your hairline and frontal zone. Be aware that the crown tends to eat up a lot of grafts. It can be done and done very well, but you'll use up a lot of your donor supply in doing so.

It's good that your hairloss is basically on the top of your head and isn't dipping down the sides or the back. This makes for a smaller overall balding area. There's no guarantee that it won't advance in the future, but when the borders of the balding area are well defined, like yours are, then that tends to be as far as it goes. I hope that makes sense and I described it well.

It's important to be aware of these risks, but remember that all drugs have some sort of side effects ranging from the common and the minor to the more serious that are statistically unlikely.

I've never heard of a transplant causing scarring alopecia, but that doesn't mean it can't. It's good that your doctor was honest about it, although perhaps they frightened you unnecessarily. The important thing is to remember that they said the chances of it being that are remote. It's more likely to be some irritation that is temporary. At five weeks post-op, that isn't all that unusual and certainly more common than scarring alopecia. Give it time before being too concerned.

Another impressive FUE result, this time on a Norwood 3 patient aged 50. Video really shows the high density of the result.

Photos and details here.

Video of the result.

That seems like a high number of grafts as you still have a lot of hair left. It's visibly thin, but not too bad and it's questionable whether it's thin enough to safely transplant to. That's just my opinion. Your photos aren't that clear. Could you take some more?

I agree that FUT might be best for a procedure of this size. Doing 5000 FUE all in one procedure is something that is done, but is a lot to extract in one go.

I do think that with the hair you have remaining and with your hair texture, 5000 grafts would probably do it. Typically the midscalp area would be done at a lower density than the front, but the crown does require a higher number of grafts to not look thin.

I was also under the impression that you had nothing covering your scalp so a good thing you were.

 

IMHO, a cap is better protection than a bandana although your scalp will breathe better using a cloth cover.

 

It really depends how long you are spending in sun exposure and how intense the rays are...that's where a cap does a better job.

Do you think the cap is better due to the possibility of the sun's rays penetrating the fabric of a bandana?

As you'll know from your first time going through this, 4.5 months is very early days. It sounds like you've had some shockloss which, like mickeyhwk says, is due to the trauma the follicles have experienced. This can happen whether the hair in the area is transplanted or native, but the fact that in your case it is transplanted means it is almost certainly going to grow back.

Growth timeline varies person to person, but I would expect you to be seeing a significant change within the next couple of months.

It's going to depend on how long you have before you need to return to work. With FUE at least you have the benefit of keeping your donor short which keeps the hair length even all over.

 

I’ve never heard of fin causing infertility as much as erectile dysfunction. A lot of people throw out quotes and percentages about how many men it actually affects but I’ve never really seen any studies that those quotes or percentages came from except for one. Back in 2012 I had a consultation with Dr. Brad Limmer, a year before he passed away, in San Antonio and he presented me with a study (at my request) that stated that only .06 percent of men who took finasteride suffered from ED. He estimated that it REALLY only affected about .04 percent of men, though, as a lot of guys came back later and said that they were dealing other extenuating circumstances in their lives that could’ve contributed to it. The study was not amended to reflect this.

Both of those percentages seem very low to me. I know that in the online hairloss community we get a biased sample of people reporting side effects, but the frequency of side effects is almost certainly much higher than the studies suggest.

Despite that, I do think it's worth giving the meds a trial run. It's too easy to be frightened off them.

0.5mg is a good dosage as, like matt3480 says, this can be just as effective as the full 1mg dose. A lot of people get a good response taking it every other day. These lower and less frequent doses are an effective method for reducing the likelihood of getting side effects.

Considering your young age and the fact that your hairloss has been quite fast, I would agree with the opinion that you should take steps to slow it down.

The question of whether you should have surgery now aside, with your level of hair loss you would need 2500 grafts at a minimum. Your entire frontal third is quite bald or thinning and to achieve a result that is dense and within that blue line is not possible with 1500 or 2000 grafts. HT surgery is about the numbers together with hair characteristics and there is no magic method for producing a dense result without using the necessary number of grafts. With a lower number of grafts, you would have a trade-off in terms of density and the placement of your hairline, which would have to be in a higher position. I'm taking into account here your thicker hair caliber and wavy texture, which are favourable characteristics. Your darker skin tone is also good as it would provide a lower contract with your dark hair.

Oh, you were wearing a bandana... Definitely no problem then. Part of the point of the bandana will be to cover you from the sun.

It's a one day procedure. With the extractions, incisions and planting of the grafts, plus lunch and bathroom breaks, it's an 8 hour day. Most patients stay at the attached guesthouse so not far to go at the end of the day.

This patient with deep frontal recession underwent FUE. 2521 grafts.

Photos and details can be found here.

We will update with a top angle photo when the patient comes in for his 12 month photos (these were taken at month 7).

Meanwhile, here is a video of the result.

I can't say I can notice any difference between then and now. Perhaps before they considered your donor to be borderline. Last time they decided it could support a large procedure but looking at it again they decided it can't. Just a thought.

The surgery was for the hairline which is shown clearly in the photos. The top wasn't treated. We'll be posting a video in the next day or two.

This patient, aged 33, wanted to restore his hairline, frame his face and gain back lost styling options. He also underwent PRP at time of surgery.

Surgery Type: FUE

Recipient Area Treated - 57cm

Total Grafts - 2521

Total Hairs - 4961

Recipient Graft Density - 44.23 grafts/cm

Recipient Hair Density - 87 hairs/cm

Graft Breakdown:

Single Hairs - 630 grafts

Two Hairs - 1346 grafts

Three Hairs - 541 grafts

Four Hairs - 4 grafts

Average Hairs Per Graft - 1.97

I really doubt that's happened, but I think you should reach out to your doctor just for further reassurance.

I agree that the length of the hairs indicates that they're transplanted hairs. Sometimes they continue growing, but more often they don't. You're just a late shedder which doesn't necessarily mean that you'll be a late grower.