Speegs

Pretty stellar, nothing you see here would lead anyone to ever suspect someone is two months out from a surgical procedure to their scalp.

Personal physiology and the skill of the surgeon to minimize trauma are the determining factors, both need to be in your favor to avoid shock loss.

An HT would help restore your frontal third, but you'll always be chasing hair loss if you refuse to take preventative medications such as finsteride, which could preserve your crown and mid scalp from further loss and help you avoid future baldness or surgeries.

4 hours ago, James81 said:

Thanks speegs,

have you maintained or had any regrowth,how long have you been using it?

My crown and vertex seem to be intact, about to be 34, look as they did circa 21 when I began finasteride.

So efficacy is holding up so far. I don't know if anyhthing regrew or not, too hard to tell, negligable if much of anything.

But allowed me to be aggressive restoring the frontal third and hairline surgically knowing the back half of my head would be protected by finasteride.

Nizoral and Rogaine are both secondary in consideration to finasteride, which should be the tip of the spear in your hair loss prevention regimen.

16 hours ago, James81 said:

I hear ya dude,that’s why I’m really hoping finasteride is beneficial for me,I really don’t want to go through another ht anytime soon,even if I were super rich it’s just such an emotional roller coaster,well I’m still waiting for growth,it’s almost 12 weeks, donor area is still not where I want to be right now,but I’ve just been keeping my hair longer and it’s grown to the point where just a little dermapatch can conceal,I’m hoping it’s not over harvested and I can get enough growth that I can eventually have a buzz cut again,that was  the reason I chose fue rather than strip,hoping by 5 months I can have something more positive to say about that,as for the temple area shock loss or alopecia areata,whatever it is/was well that’s certainly growing back,I’m seeing growth in recipient,  but nothing of any cosmetic value yet,I think you chose a great time to have procedure done,I would never do it again in summer,it’s definitely been the most reclusive summer I’ve ever had,I’ll hopefully be able to post some pics of good growth in the coming months,sending you good thoughts and hoping your procedure is everything you want it to be bro:)

It works well on crown and vertex, not so well on hairline and frontal third.

By and large it's usually placebo and psyching oneself out, finasteride does not tend to effect many people beyond the scare mongering of people on the internet, which can plant seeds of doubt in some men new to taking it.

There is nothing that has been observed to be caused by finasteride that won't be reversed by stopping the drug, so never fear it,  finasreride is not going to harm your health.

That's about as full looking as a patient can reasonably expect, they should be very happy.

14 minutes ago, notbald said:

I don't know what you are basing this on, my personal experience has been absolutely terrible. I was on fin for more than 10 years and I absolutely don't recommend it, I would call it poison that doesn't kill but decapitates. 

Also the shock loss once stopped can be huge.

So respectfully, finasteride staved off hair loss for a decade and then when you discontinued it a decade of hair loss proceeded to play catchup. 

That's a testament to the efficacy of the drug, not a strike against it.

Seems like an arrogant and negligent handling of you as a patient transpired.

Deeply sorry you had a first hand experience with the unsavory reputation of a hair mill.

I started fin at 21, have been on it 13 years this summer, no side effects. Retarded or halted my hair loss significantly, crown and vertex are intact to the naked eye, and if they are thinning it is so gradual that I have yet to notice.

This stabilization allowed me to pursue a relatively aggressive restoration gameplan for the frontal third of my scalp.

Now people think I have a full head of hair and don't know I take finasteride and have surgically restored my hairline.

I recommend finasteride without reservation, it's safe long term, especially for men in their youth.

Depends upon scalp laxity, hair type etc.

Generally on the low end people have 5k worth of donor grafts and on the high end 10k, those are the two relative extremes.

Many fall in the 7k graft range.

1 hour ago, hairlossPA said:

I’ll say this... get on finasteride and tough it out. I was too scared to start taking it 2 years ago, now i’ve lost a lot of hair and wish I had started taking it back then. I’ve been on it for 2+ months now and haven’t had any sides

I applaud you for doing so, the fear mongering about finasteride is a boogeyman that refuses to die on the internet.

None of the alleged side effects are common, and none known side effects are irreversible by simply discontinuing the use of the medicine.

It's also noteworthy that almost all men claiming sexual impotency during the timeline of finasteride use are in the age range where impotency issues are more likely to occur as a general fact of life.

Young men are all but immune to such an outcome.

It's not uniform for all, but most start within a few weeks of the procedure, you'll see plenty in the shower and on your pillow.

The skill of the physician and their care to use the proper sized punches is what it all comes down to, each procedure is a custom job and should be treated as such because different skin types and hair types require dfferent tools.

I would be weary of ever going to a physician that does only FUE, because their treatment options are limited, and there's a risk they have not invested in the microscopes that FUT surgeons use and are still very helpful in examining and prepping FUE grafts before placement.

I would also never go to a practice with automated FUE, it just smacks of a surgeon who is not up to snuf and uninvolved.

Go to a dermetologist to look at your scalp if a hair physician is unavailable, they can assess your scalp and prescribe finasteride with a good deal of knowledge.

Most people benefit greatly from using finasteride both before and after a restoration surgery, I know for me it has slowed down and perhaps even halted additional thinning.

Time will tell, but pre-transplants i never advanced beyond a Norwood 3A while on finasteride.

Most will probably think you have sunburn, if anyone asks that can be your reply.

Now's the time for patience, too early to know what it will look like a year out. Body takes time to heal, and everyone is a little bit different.

Thanks for the in-depth review of your journey, I have a similar experience to your own as I too went to a doctor prior to Gabel and if I could have a do-over I would have done it with Gabel first.

It kind of left you feeling like "If only I'd known about him the first time" after his tremendous and attentive bedside manner contrasted itself so much with my previous experience with a different surgeon.

Always go to a physician that does nothing but hair transplantation and has a proven track record with both FUT and FUE, and does the FUE by hand, not with an automated robot.

Terribly sorry your situation became an example of what can happen if inexperieinced hands are allowed to do what should only be entrusted to professionals, but thank you for the bravery and vulnerability to let the public see how selective and careful patients must be for their own good.

Follow your respective physician's instructions to the T and you'll be with peace of mind.

Some surgeons give you guidlines or specific instructions about when you can begin lifting again.

In a nutshell, you don't want a straight hairline, it will garner attention you don't want.

On 7/18/2018 at 11:41 PM, Skeeter said:

Thanks Speegs, I feel like I have healed pretty well. Dr Gabel did a really clean job for me,  I think that has a lot to do with the minimal redness. I was sore on the back of my head for  a few weeks but that’s mostly gone now. My recipient is still really numb but should start to recover soon.

 

Now it’s just a waiting game!

Yeah, it's hard not to brag on Gabel a little for the clean and precise graft placement he does, it definitely accelerates the healing process and let's your body get to work growing those grafts.

The numbness is a trip as the body begins to heal, regenerating those nerve endings is a wild feeling, we are a marvel physiologically speaking, our healing mechanisms are spectacular.

Keep us all posted on progress in the coming months.

All things considered, you've healed really nicely so far and the redness looks minimal, just protect that head with a hat outside and keep us posted.

The fun part lies ahead, your patience will be rewarded.