Tucson430

Guys its been a long while since I made this post I can confirm I am happy with the results of my FUE process. I have been busy with life and i can say my FUE procedure has helped me alot as far as feeling more confident and I am no longer self concious about my hair. So I had 650 graft and Im not sure how many have survived but the results are what I expected. I'm not saying its perfect but it's enough to let me wear my hair longer and style it easier. When I used to wear my hair at a size 2 all the way around it was noticeable that the areas where the grafts were place were not as dense as my natural ones. And tis may be wierd to say but i would use costume beard paint and dab it around the base of the implant area and it would add simulated density and would pull off a natural look the way that concealers like toppik would. And in the donor area with my hair at a 1 in the back the density loss was noticeable but i would apply the same trick and essentially I could have a shaved head that looked natural all the way around. But now I have about 2 inches of hair on top and a size 4 on the sides and back and I do not have to use any concealer to hide the density difference. my hair is styled forward and spiked slightly up and realy hides the fact that I had about 650 graft added to empty gaps in my hairline giving me a straighter hairline. it also make my hair full enough up front to comb it forward and upwards. Also a quick note my natural hair is angled upward and to my right and the placement of the hair graft were perfect and all retain the same angle which gives an awesome natural look you cant tell that they were artificially placed. I dont have pics but I will take some and upload them sometime this week. In the future I will probably undergo another procedure to add more to the front to fill out the density in case I ever want to go with the shaved head look but for now Im enjoying my new hair.

Cool bro, I'm just glad someone can understand my situation and help me out. Time will tell but there is no reward without risk.

Thanks Dolph1969, and yes any lower would have given me an unnatural look although I have seen people with a lower hairline that look really good but it is a good proportion for my face. I gotta say thanks to Dr. Alexander and his staff for doing an awesome job also thanks to the board members for sharing their experiences as well, which helped me make an informed decision.

I actually consulted with Dr. Keene first because she was located in Tucson. It's a funny story I called first and explained my situation and my goals for the procedure. I was very specific about the fact I was not experiencing any balding patterns and it would be for cosmetic reasons. I was told that they would be able to do the procedure and I was scheduled for a consult. However at the consult I was told that they would not do the procedure because it would be "unethical" for them. My understanding is that they couldn't because I was young and not balding. Whatever Dr. Keene's reasoning I have no problem with and I did not try to pressure her into helping me out. What I did have a problem with was that during our conversation she mentioned I may have a personality disorder regarding changing my natural appearance through surgery. It was actually pretty shocking that she would suggest something like that. I was not really offended by what she said but I usually keep calm and have a high level of patience and I'm not sure how any one else would have reacted. The comment made me feel like I'm some hollywood person obsessed with plastic surgery. It was at that point I knew the conversation was not going anywhere and I kind of just nodded my head and was waiting to get out of there LOL. Before leaving I also asked her if she knew any other doctors that may take my case and she told me that in my circumstance, that no one would help me out and she would not recommend any one. So not trying to offend anybody but it's ok for her to have her own opinion and she voiced it but it's not unnatural for people to have insecurities and I have been honest with her and Dr. Alexander from the start about why I wanted the procedure done. I'm actually really glad you asked because it sparked my memory about what happend and I actually just brushed it off and forgot about it. On the bright side through further research I was led to Dr. Alexander's office and I'm recovering very well from the procedure, it just sucks I burned a month of time with scheduling a consult and then being turned down by Dr. Keene.

So its day 5, the redness is slowly fading and the scabs are getting smaller. The donor is healing fast. The transplanted hairs have not shed so I cut all my hair to one length so that I can see how my hairline will blend. Also it is easier to see how my new hairline completes my face and brings everything in to proportion. The target hairline is just perfect and I am feeling confident right now just gotta wait it out for now. Pics

1 day post op As u can see we brought the hairline down just to the tip of wehre my old hair goes so it is not too drastic but it makes a lot of difference Donor area Also the reason for the terrible hair cut is because i told them they can cut it as low as they want and not to worry about how it looks but they did ask for my preference and I told them to do what will be easiest for them. I will shave it all off eventually. Also notice I have a pre-existing scar on the back left side, I did not even know that was there when my hair is cut to a size 3, so I thinking the relatively small size of the donor scars will be unnoticeable.

before pics I cut my hair to have straight hairline but when grown out it follows this pattern

It's 1813 hours here in AZ, this morning I removed the bandage around my head so I can see the donor area. There is a bunch of small red dots and for 650 grafts the spread of the donor area is incredibly small, without focusing too tightly so that it will not affect my hair density in the back. I had no pain at all yesterday and today and did not take any pain medication. There is no bleeding from the donor or recipient areas and it seems everything is healing incredibly well. I washed both donor and recipient areas in the shower without direct shower pressure. In the recipient area there are scabs and tiny little hairs of different lenghts poking out. The area is also a little red but is not totaly red and I can see my skin color between each graft. When I look closely the density of transplant hairs may be prefectly matched with my local hair density which would give me an awesome natural result, even if not all the hairs survived it would still be a great improvement on my overall apearance so I am very optimistic. The best part is when I look in the mirror I have hair where there used to be none and I can see how my hairline will look when fully grown. In the future my hairline will prefectly frame my face and at this point the large forehead I have is totaly proportioned now. This has been something that was bothering me my whole life since i was young, although it is kind of vain, but some things just bother you. Partly because my dad and my brother both have perfect straight hairlines, I was wondering what happend to my hair. Honestly it never held me back form anything in life, (was married, had beautiful girlfreinds who accepted my wierd hair, freinds don't give a crap) but I think the confidence is what is really the exciting part. I don't know but my hairline I felt like was the one thing I felt about myself that I did not like about me, which is a sad thing to say. Honsetly I thought I was going to live my whole life this way and I'm just thankful that it is even a possibility to fix. Now, I'm just lounging at home eating healthy food and playing video games and sleeping was not a problem, also I am not experiencing any swelling issues due to the anesthetic. Will post some low quality pics sometime and try to get the ones from doctor alexander. Thanks for listening

Hello, it's day 1 post op and I just wanted to post my experience with my FUE procedure. I think it's important to share my experience so that it can help others who are doing research and hopefully they can make a proper decision. It's my responsibilty to pay it forward to many others who have also shared their experiences that ultimately influenced me. I will try to keep it short and simple but if anybody requires any specifics I will try to answer as best as I can. Date:March 17 2015 Tuesday Doctor: Scott Alexander in Phoenix AZ Graft #: 650 to front hairline Procedure: FUE with the Artas System Time: 0730-1230 release Hello I'm 26 year old male, just went through with an FUE procedure with Dr. Alexander and his team yesterday. I am not experiencing any balding patterns and am expecting to have all my hair for a long while because my family has no history of baldness. My goal for the procedure was to fill in 2 bald gaps in my front hairline that give me the apearance of having a large forehead. These two bald gaps separated my hair and prevented me from having a normal straight hairline. After consulting with Dr. Alexander a month ago, I was informed that it would be possible to fill in the gaps with roughly 400 grafts, although we ended up using 650 if I remember correctly. So I drove from Tucson AZ to their Phoenix office(2 hours drive) for the scheduled procedure. I was there until 1230 so it was faster than I had expected and everything went very smoothly. They numbed me up in the donor and recipient areas. Normally i think I'm very sensitive to pain and I thought that I might flinch from the needle. However this was not the case. I was actually tickled by the sensation of the needle and was focused on not flinching from the tickling sensation. It was a slight pinch but I guess the nerves on the back of the head on the round boney area I guess are not that sensitive to pain. The numbing on the recipient area again was a slight pinch and was more sensitive than the back of my head but after already being acustomed to the needle it was nothing. The numbness set in without the same pressure you get when a dentist pulls teeth. There was no pressure pain that you feel when a dentist uses local anethestics, so I was really glad about that. I liked that Dr. Alexander throughout the procedure tested multiple areas to make sure it was completely numb before proceeding, to make sure I would not experience any pain. And after making sure it was completely numb he made the incisions in the recipient area. Then I was taken to the room where the Artas robotic arm was to remove the donor hairs. This part of the procedure I could tell would have taken forever without the Artas System. Before then I knew nothing about the Artas system but I guess they were able to extract all the hair without or very few transections(I would have to confirm). If they did it any other way I would have to sit up and take a break, but since it was so fast we did it in one shot. Afterwards I was given a break to watch tv while they prepared the grafts for insertion, then they followed through with the placements. I was released at 1230 ish, which I think was faster than I expected to be there. After receiving a gift bag with pain meds I still had the energy to drive 2 hours home. I did not expect the procedure to be this smooth and that quick. It was almost as if it was too easy. I can only speak for myself but Dr. Alexander and their staff were working hard and they seemed very focused even when I asked them alot of questions before and during the procedure. I don't know if i was bothering them but I was talking the whole time because I just felt that relaxed. I don't know if I left out any important information regarding the procedure but please feel free to ask. I will make another post about post op results and how I'm feeling next. Also I should have bought a good camera as my camera phone pictures don't have good quality but hopefully i can get the images that Dr. Alexander took at the office. So sorry I don't have high quality pics yet I will work on that.