Mane Attraction

Hmmm. Tough decision, because the FUE approach is really appealing on account of its less invasive nature and the faster healing time in the donor area. But in the grand scheme of things, I think I'd still want to be getting as many grafts as possible from a second HT (and also attempting some scar revision). So I'd probably be leaning towards one more strip surgery session and saving FUE for the future.

Actually, ten years ago, hair multiplication and cloning was supposed to be "just a few short years away", so I was hoping that would be ready before my next round. Alas, the wheels of scientific progress turn slowly in HT land.

Stellar results. You've broken out like a werewolf!  AR-OOOOOO!

Sorry for the late reply. I had some computer hard drive issues, but all good now.
 

On 5/21/2019 at 12:20 AM, Mr S said:

It's held up pretty good considering you were headed to a high norwood pre surgery. Finasteride has served you well for sure.  Ever though of another procedure to add some extra density?

Yeah, I've considered another round, but I'll probably hold off on it for a while yet. I'd prefer to wait and see if any more hair loss advances before pulling the trigger on a possible round 2.

If I got another HT, I'd probably get it done in Thailand by Dr. Pathomvanich. I visit Thailand quite regularly, and it's a lot closer to me than Canada.

I have also considered getting a scalp micropigmerntation tattoo into my wide-ish scar at some point to help conceal it. I'm not sure how effective that would be. But at the moment, I can't shave my head any shorter than a 3-guard without the scar being visible. Judging by results I've seen online, micropigmentation hides the donor scar very well, even with a buzz cut.  Has anyone on this forum ever had it done?
 

On 5/21/2019 at 1:39 AM, Melvin-Moderator said:

Awesome results, I’ve just checked out your patient website fantastic journey 🙏🏼

Thanks, Melvin! Seems like just yesterday when I was sitting in Rahal's chair. Time sure does fly when your luscious locks have been restored.

Wow! It's been a long time since I updated this bad boy. Just posted a 10 year post-op blog update here:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/journal.asp?CopyID=11222&WebID=1200&ProcID=3614

Hey guys!

It's been a long time since I've been around these parts, but my ten year post-op HT anniversary was fast encroaching, so I figured I'd provide up update on how things are going.

When I had my surgery back in 2009, there weren't many (if any) people who had posted photographs of how a modern HT looked ten years out, so I'm happy to be able to give back to this community that helped so much on this journey. I think you'll agree that the results, after a decade, do, indeed, stand the test of time, so hopefully this gives a boost of confidence to anyone new who's considering taking the plunge, but might be worried about how the results will look in the future. Dr. Rahal did a lot of pre-planning on my scalp, and he transplanted donor hairs between native hairs where he thought future baldness would occur, so I think this careful approach is a good thing to consider when picking a surgeon.

After doing in-depth research for several months on these forums and consulting with knowledgeable members who previosuly had surgery, I committed to a date and locked in my HT for May 7th, 2009 with Dr. Rahal in Ottawa,  Rahal ended up meticulously transplanting 3,481 grafts into the front and temple point areas of my scalp, all the way to the half-way point of my head.

Here's an excerpt from my latest blog post:
 

Quote

Since my last update, nine years ago, I have paid nary a thought to my hair, as it really is something you begin to take for granted once the results have grown in and thickened. The transplanted hairs are really robust, too. Believe me, even after a decade they won't just fall out at the slightest breeze or touch. I can still swim, shower, run, dry my hair vigorously with a towel, scratch my scalp with long fingernails - you name it - that hair is affixed firmly in my scalp and is NOT coming out. Occasionally, the odd reminder of a having had transplant does creep back in -- such as getting my head shaved and the donor scar-line becoming slightly visible or residual numbness in my scalp -- but the overall procedure has been well and truly worth it. One of the best decisions I've ever made.

My expectations of where I'd be at this point have also been exceeded. In 2009, Rahal had mentioned that my forelock area would be the next area to thin and disappear. He estimated that my forelock region would only last another five years - which means it should have bitten the dust around 2014. However, I'm very happy to say that my forelock is still alive and kicking in 2019. I was originally using Finesteride and topical Minoxidil daily post-surgery, but after about 5 years, I stopped using the Minoxidil and have only continued using the Finesteride since then (half of a 5mg tablet every 3rd day of the week or so). My forelock area has, perhaps, thinned a little, but not noticeably to the casual eye. I only notice it personally, because my hair doesn't fall exactly the same way as it used to. Aside from that, nobody who I haven't specifically told, has noticed I've had a HT. Even my hairdresser was surprised when I informed her. She said she had noticed the donor scar, but had not linked it to HT surgery. I no longer have any pitting where the transplanted hairs were placed and the scalp redness has long since faded.

Suffice it to say, I am ecstatic with the long-lasting results. Dr. Rahal really did a top-notch job!

Here are a couple of shots showing the sorry state of my scalp before surgery back in 2009:

And here's how my Hair Transplant looks ten years down the track. (Photos with both long and short hair):

I have posted a more detailed blog and more photos at the link here, if you'd like to check it out:
https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/journal.asp?CopyID=11222&WebID=1200&ProcID=3614

And Here is my original thread:
https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/6198-manes-12-month-results-dr-rahal-3481-grafts/

Any questions, ask away!

I've reached 12-months! Check out my blog (the link's in my sig below) for both my 12 month grown-out photos (and my 'conclusion' write-up), as well as the pics of my new 'do'.

And, nuts! There seems to be no way to edit the thread title anymore. Bill, if you read this... any way you could edit this thread title to reflect 12 months instead of 8-months?

Thanks!

Thanks, guys! Yes, I'm quite pleased with the visual improvement and how far my hair has come. It's a rocky road at times, but one that's well worth it in the end.

Hair_me_out: Yeah, I've been trying to grow my hair in the same style/length as when I was 21, simply for comparison's sake. I'm glad to hear that you think Rahal mimicked nature well.

By the way, hair_me_out, I just took a look at your latest photos. My scar was a lot like yours at the 2 month mark. I had concerns for quite a while, but don't worry. It should improve a LOT over time.

Added 8 Month photos to my blog! I'm really pleased with my results to date. Rahal did a fine job.

Any comments/questions, let me know!

Yup. I'm still around. The last update I posted was a 5 Month photo gallery here:

http://hair-restoration-info.c...66060861/m/857109534

Since then, things have been going pretty well. I shaved my hair to a 3 guard on the sides, and the scar isn't visible at all, which is a big relief!

I'll be 7 months post-op on December the 7th and I can still feel new stubble coming through.

I probably won't post another photo update 'til I get a few more months progress underway, though.

Raphael: Thanks for the feedback! Yes, it's certainly a game of patience waiting for the maturation process to kick in. From reading many of the patient blogs on this site prior to having my HT, I knew exactly what to expect on a month-by-month basis, so I know I'm where I should be -- but that doesn't make the waiting game any easier!

Byehair: Cheers! I'm glad you approve and share all of my sentiments.

Any comments/feedback on the wide section of my donor scar would be appreciated. Is it likely to improve in the coming months? And have there been any other cases of donor scar stretching being confined to only one section of the scar?

That's a nice amount of hairs used to refine your hairline, M&M. I expect that you'll have fantastic results! Keep on growing.

Looks like good progress so far, Drew. The waiting can be rough, and coming from such an advanced stage of loss, I guess your 'doldrums' stage is significantly extended. But as others have mentioned, this early growth is a good indication of things to come. It'll be most interesting to watch things pan out for you!

Well, I finally managed to get the album posted.

In case anyone else asks, it seems that you cannot type text that's too lengthy in the fields beneath the captions. If your text description for any photo goes over 2 lines, it appears to give the error message.

Also, organizing the order of your photos can be problematic. I found that the best strategy is to upload all files individually (9 at a time) in the precise order you want them to appear in the album, so that no further shuffling is required later on. Then just go ahead and post the album with no captions or comments.

After the album appears on the forum, go back and edit it to add captions and comments to all the photos, making certain that each one is under the 2 line limit that the space above the photos allows.

Hope this is of assistance.

I'm attempting a photo gallery update this time, so that I can include more detailed photographs!

Month 5 has arrived and I have seen a healthy amount of thickening. Exciting times indeed, which makes the whole doldrums a worthwhile sacrifice! Every week sees subtle changes in the behaviour of the transplanted hairs as they continue to determine their growth pattern and direction.

When examined closely, my hairline doesn't yet seem to be growing as densely-packed as the grafts were transplanted. In photos it looks fine, but in real life, it's still a bit transparent. Although, when running my fingers across the entire front of my hairline, I can actually feel fresh stubble, which indicates that new hairs are continuing to break through the skin all the time. My hairline has continued to thicken since month 4, and now looks pretty sturdy when viewed from straight ahead (well, from a reasonable distance) and looks great in photographs, which I'm very pleased about!

Behind enemy lines, there are a few patches that haven't seen much growth yet. So I've got my fingers and toes double-crossed in hopes that those areas will fill-in, given more time. I'm still in relatively early stages, so I know that more patience is required! It's rough though -- even when hair is growing well, we'd still like to fast-track those optimal results that lie just out of reach!

Aside from the nice growth spurt, I'm still battling numbness across the entire recipient area, although the donor area continues to improve, gaining a little more sensation month-by-month. The recipient area is still discolored pink and is shinier than the rest of my skin (this is more noticeable under fluorescent lighting and in close-up flash photography). Minor dimples in my skin are visible where the hairs were transplanted. But I guess all of these things will smooth over as more healing takes place and as the hairs get further in their maturation process.

Due to popular demand, I have included pictures of the stretched scar on the left side of my head this time. The width of the scar and the hairs growing through it don't seem to be improving, but at least the redness has faded a bit more since last month. The scar on the right side of my head seems fine. I have steered away from shaving the sides of my head due to this stretched part of the scar. Normally, I would have shaved down several months ago, but I wanted to give this trouble-spot maximum healing time before I shave down to a #3 guard to see how it looks.

Overall, I'm very happy with my progress at month five. I anticipate more hairline thickening as well as further growth in the patches that are still lagging behind in the month ahead!

Sorry to bump this thread, but I'm experiencing the same error message. I have tried to upload an album of 35 images three times. I made absolutely certain to enter the topic and all other fields, but it seems to give this error message at different stages of the process. (Maybe the forum is resetting the fields itself, somehow, during the process?)

The first time it showed me this error immediately after uploading my photos. Another time it waited till I had filled out captions and comments for 35 pictures (aghhh!) before giving the error and now refuses to go any further, meaning that I'll probably have to re-enter everything again from scratch. A daunting task, considering it took a considerable part of the day to take the photos and resize them.

Any ideas?

What a month! Now I know why people get so excited about exiting the doldrums stage, and I understand exactly what they mean when they say that the third month really flies by.

My 4 month update photos have been posted in my blog. I'm pretty amazed at the progress so far. But I'm hoping for some thickness and further growth over next month, since you can currently still see the shape of my old receded hairline through the wispy new hairs.

Anyhow, take a look. The link, as always, is right below!

Those are some amazing results, comb! Congrats on the new locks!

I'd kill for that scar (or lack thereof), too.

Raphael84: Hey, thanks a lot! It's definitely an exciting time and now I know how others feel coming out of the doldrums period. When you go for your surgery, just know that the time WILL pass, and you'll be seeing results before you know it.

NW4recession: Cheers! Having a head full of hair will certainly beat the alternative of donning a full head mask like the caped crusader.

mgem: Tell me about it. It seems like only last week that I was traipsing around the streets of Ottawa.

Bill: What's funny is that in the 2 weeks prior to my 3 months photos, the entire area was still relatively hairless. Then a sudden growth spurt seemed to kick in, and it just took off! You're certainly right in saying that there's just no telling how growth's going to affect different people... so we can't exactly use any one person's case as a yardstick. Even so, I'm thrilled at my growth at only 3 months.

charlie_08: My flight back to Melbourne was actually a bit daunting! I stayed in Ottawa for one week, post-op on Dr. Rahal's advice. By the time I was ready to fly home, the surgery areas were still tender and I had a lot of facial and neck bruising, but no swelling.

In order to get from Canada back to Australia, I had to fly from Ottawa to Toronto (1 hour), Toronto to LA (5 hours), a 12 hour stopover in LA (went to Disneyland for the day), LA to Sydney (14 hours), Sydney to Melbourne (1.5 hours). I had planned to try and sleep on the LA to Sydney flight and to that end, I requested a window seat at the very back of the plane. However, the knuckleheads at the airline ended up ignoring my request completely and placed me smack-bang between two chatty teenagers, at the wing seat where the turbine is. So I stayed awake through all of my flights.

When I arrived in Melbourne it was 10am in the morning, so I had to stay awake all day as well. I'm relatively used to pulling all nighters though, so this didn't phase me all that much. I guess it was a little extra taxing than normal, though, due to the surgery. The plane flight didn't end up being too uncomfy. I wore a baseball cap and a hooded jacket with sunglasses to cover the bruising on my face. I just left the hood covering my head for the entire flight. The baseball cap got a bit annoying at times but I tried my best to ignore it.

Didn't really have any issue with customs officials at any my 5 airport transition points. I simply told them that I couldn't remove my cap due to recent surgery and offered to show them Dr. Rahal's letter explaining this. None of them questioned me further about it.

Great results, CB. You must be pretty pleased with the thickness that you have acquired to date!

From some of the photos you've posted at the 7 month mark, it appears that you still have a little residual pinkness in the recipient area. Is that actually the case, or is it merely a trick of the camera?

Also, how are you doing at this point in regards to numbness/sensitivity in the donor and recipient areas?

Looking great, Sparse! You had a nice, solid number of grafts transplanted, and I think you're ultimately going to have a spectacular result that you can be be proud of.

It's just too bad that your forum handle will end up contradicting your real-life appearance several months down the track!

Grow well!

My three months are up. I've done my time and I'm no longer a slave to the baseball cap. That's right, the doldrums have come to an end for me!

New photos and another blog entry have been posted on my journal page at the usual link. Not sure if I can be classified as an 'early grower' at this stage, but the spurt really seemed to hit me suddenly in only the past 2 weeks. What do you guys think? If things continue growing at this speed, I'll be a very happy camper and might even construct some kind of monument in honor of Dr. Rahal.

Thanks, Predator. I'll be rapt if I get results like yours have turned out!

My two-month photos have been posted. There's still not a great deal going on, but nevertheless, it feels good knowing that things should start improving from hereon out!

One of the customs officers at LAX told me this when I inquired (in advance) about how they'd handle someone wearing a hat or head covering from surgery.

The officer didn't really elaborate much, but gave the impression that unless they had a very good reason to search you, they wouldn't be able to make you remove the cap. I imagine something similar to a warrant might be required if they wanted to remove it by force? I'm not sure about that.

Like I mentioned, I got asked to remove my hat about 5 times by various customs officers. Every time, I politely declined the request and nothing more was said. They simply continued with the process.

That's a pretty crazy experience, Eyerule!

In May I had my surgery done in Canada with Dr. Rahal. I traveled from Australia, so I had to pass through no less than 5 airports. At each and every one, the customs agents asked me to remove my baseball cap, and I simply said "I can't. I've had surgery and the head wear is protecting it." I also had Dr. Rahal write me a letter which I showed customs whenever they requested it as proof. When I told them about the hat protecting the surgery, they simply said "Oh, okay." And didn't inquire any further.

Furthermore, customs officers cannot make you remove a hat; they can only request that you do so. Nor can the forcibly remove it from you. I would have told them you'd just had surgery. If they still insisted to remove the hat, I'd have just said "Sorry, I'm not removing the hat." They have too many other people to process to dwell on just one person's head!

Who's this young hairy guy and what did he do with Eman?

Seriously, you're hair's looking better and better all the time, Eman. Going to the stylist seems like quite an adventure and I bet you feel really buzzed... in more ways than one.