elicochin

@Gatsby, as I can see from your profile/postings you have a good understanding and experience with SMP. In my case even if I do another HT down the road to fix the current HT shortcomings, I still need to find a temporary solution to bridge the time-gap so that I can go out without a hat/cap. One of the options I am considering is to go back to my old shaved/trimmed look with the help of some SMP touch-ups. While SMP on the donor scar is an easier decision, SMP touch-ups on other areas is hard to decide because SMP may not be as temporary as advertised, based on some cases I have seen here. I would love to hear your thoughts.

@SLA I am definitely in agreement with your assessment. Also based on some other comments, I am also coming to a determination that another 1000 grafts can give me a 'decent' coverage that would allow me to go out in public without having to worry about looking 'fake'. Until then, I just need to figure out if I need to go back to my old shaved/trimmed look with the help of some SMP touch-ups. While SMP on the donor scar is an easier decision, SMP touch-ups on other areas is hard to decide because SMP may not be as temporary as advertised, based on some cases I have seen here.

I will certainly give this a try. Will let you know.

The plan was to address the hairline and frontal scalp. A second surgery was suggested to address the back not including the crown. My understating all along was that I would walk away with a decent amount of frontal hair with a matured and age appropriate hairline based on the previous cases (with thin/fine hair) that was shared as an example. Second surgery in the same area was never an option and I would not have agreed to it in the first place. What worries me right now is that I can still see most of the scalp through the hair and I am unsure how much more density I could achieve in the next 6 months or so. As my son says it's kind of looks 'wispy'. I had a bad feeling about the spacing of the grafts right after the surgery, but I wanted the time factor to play out so I waited. Right now, based on many comments, it's clear to me that I will not be able to have a natural looking frontal hair and it will take a miracle to get a decent coverage.

Thank you all for your valuable comments and suggestions; that’s exactly what I was looking for. The timing of my post was just mere realization that emerging from the pandemic lockdown with some kind of hair was not going to work. So far, based on all comments, it is becoming apparently clear that 3000 grafts weren’t enough to cover the area that was targeted. It is also clear that the hairline was not packed enough to get a decent ‘appearance’. Another surgery is needed to address these deficiencies. What’s is not clear to me at this time is whether the best option for the next surgery would be another FUT or FUE.

@Gasthoerer, thanks for your thoughts. Just to be clear, are you saying that I may not get all the transplanted grafts/hairs growing due to the hair characteristics? what's your thought on cyclical growth? is there a possibility of some of the gaps filled-in a bit later?

Thank you @qui bono for the detailed reply. Another FUT is certainly an option considering I already signed-up for the scar and Dr. Lindsey had already mentioned about the need for a second surgery. I was hoping that I would get a decent/matured-looking hairline so that I could focus on other areas. It would be a bummer if I had to rework/revisit the entire recipient area.

Dr Linsey, Just to be clear, as you can see from my post above, there is no confrontation of any kind here and I have the utmost respect for you and your work. This forum has been a big support throughout my hair restoration journey. This is the place I go for HT related matters so naturally I came here for their opinion. Nothing more nothing less.

@Aftermath , I think @asterix0 is referring to the post-Op picture I had posted immediately after the surgery as part of an older post. You may be referring to the one I posted today as part of this post. Just to be clear.

July 8, 2020

Thank you Melvin. Just PMd you the details you requested.

July 2020.

He actually said that it would turn out to be great; that was two months ago. He wanted to see me in August again.

@BeHappy I agree and it becoming apparently clear to me more and more right now. @Ryan Rap while ago I posted an update.

It was Dr. William Lindsey. I just now added links to my earlier posts about the surgery. Many on this forum recommends an FUT first that can yield more and will give you the flexibility to do an FUE later on.

Hi Everyone, Thank you to @Melvin-Moderator and other contributors on this forum to help me to make an informed decision and finally gave me the courage and confidence to go for my first HT (FUT - 2999 grafts - July 2020) surgery. I decided to go with FUT first thinking I could do a second HT (FUE + BHT) in the near future. I went with a local surgeon in Virginia to take advantage of the COVID lockdowns and work-from-home situation. I am currently 9 months Post-Op and having mixed feelings about the results so far. There are days I question my choice of surgeon and the surgery itself. I am back here for three reasons: 1) Get your valuable opinion on the FUT results so far and what improvements I can expect over time. Also if anything can be done to improve the results. 2) My options for the second surgery possibly FUE + BHE and the timing suggested grafts etc. 3) Suggestion on if SMP help in any ways between the two surgeries and the timing of it. I am also confused about what hairstyle (or shaved) to keep to go out, now that everything started to reopen. May be out of the confusion, I trimmed down to guard 0 yesterday. Posting some pictures. Thank you as always Link to Details of my surgery at the end.

You are absolutely right @JohnAC71. Now I am getting more anxious about how much density I will end up with and if all of the transplanted hair would grow back.

As a Norwood 6+, I was always leaning towards an FUE. However after years of research, I finally decided to go with FUT for maximum yield and choices it provides in the future. I am currently 4 months post-op with some decent growth. If I had to redo this today, I will still go with FUT first followed by FUT or FUE as a second surgery. I think the FUT scars are much better than what they used to be in the hands of an experienced FUT surgeon. Assuming I get decent results from my FUT, I am currently thinking of going ahead with FUE combining BHT as soon as I can. Link below to my surgery and post-op details with pictures for your reference. Hope this helps; Good luck.

Hello all, I had an FUT (2999 grafts) four months ago and wanted to get your feedback on my progress. I know that I am going through the ‘ugly duckling’ phase right now, but I think your comments would be encouraging for me to stay patient and focused. Thanks in advance.

Yes he did. He thinks he can easily get another 2000 - 2500 grafts. In fact that's his typical two-step approach he recommends to most of his clients. I am considering an FUE because I think I will be able to mix another 2000 scalp grafts with 2000 beard hair. Of course It all depends on how my current surgery results turnout.

I am certainly planning for a second one (possibly an FUE) as soon as I am settled with the first one.

I wanted to give you an update since my 2-month mark coming up tomorrow. So far so good based on what I can see and what I feel. I trimmed down my hair to a #2 to get a better view of my donor scar. I know that the next few months are cultural (and slow) and I am anxious as much as I am optimistic! Any suggestions and feedback would be greatly appreciated. Stay safe.

Will be 6 weeks on Aug 19. So far so good, everything went as per what was expected. I think most of the transplanted hair shed except for the patches that existed before. I was thrilled to hear that my son had difficulty finding my scar while taking pictures . I guess the long wait starts. Cheers

Great question. In fact, I have been leaning towards FUE all these years and was decided to go with FUT only 4 months ago. I concluded that an FUT is a better choice for higher Norwood case like me where the supply is limited. Yield from a strip is generally higher to achieve decent coverage. In addition, FUT as a first surgery leaves major donor area (minus the strip that's removed) untouched leaving you with option to do another FUT or FUE down the road. Of course this is my view and I know many members here have done multiple FUEs and achieved great results. While I know Dr. Lindsey performs both FUT and FUE, I do not know how many he does of each.

I did it!!! Over 10 years in the making!!! I had my FUT surgery as planned. Overall the surgery went well and lasted about 7 hours. I was really nervous and anxious during the last couple of days leading up to the day of the surgery and reached it's peak when I actually walked into the clinic. I never had a surgery or anything closer to it ever so I was unsure of what to expect and how to cope with it! Dr. Lindsey and team made the whole process as comfortable as they could. I was also counting on the Valium pills to calm my nerves Started around 7 am with discussion about the hairline, coverage, density etc. As I mentioned at the begging of this thread, I consider this surgery as a foundation and I would certainly need one more for my crown and some possible hairline refinement down the road. Strip extraction process was not as painful as I thought it would be, but you still feel it, more like a root-canal procedure. You know they are doing stuff to you LOL. The recipient area mainly consist of Hairline,frontal and mid-scalp. My balding pattern has been uneven so there were existing patches on both sides of scalp which we decided to work around and in some areas we added density to the existing patches of hair. Dr Lindsey warned me that I may lose these patches in the future, but I couldn't just abandon my existing loyal hairs for now. Original estimates were between 2500 and 2700 grafts, but I was very happy when Lindsey told me that the donor was better than expected and they were able to get 2999 grafts. I don't have the exact breakdown, but I was told about 2000 grafts were 2s, about 700 1s and the rest were 3s. Here are some Pre-op and immediate post-op pictures; donor area sutures are not quite visible due to the Vaseline-sticky hair, will try to get a better picture later on. I will post regular updates as much as possible.