Tav1

Two months? You started this thread on 10/29. That's 49 days dude. You should already know what to expect at this early stage. Because the answer is nothing good. Me thinks you'd be better served getting a hobby besides staring at your hair or posting on this site 24/7. Your constant worrying isn't good for your brain, nor that which you transplanted to cover it.

Hit reply, and in that new window, look for Manage Attachments, as indicated here:

It is far too early to assess anything IMO.

Looking good Cali - a couple of weeks behind me and the results are astounding. Feels good, eh? The more time goes on, the more I'm a believer that you just don't even attempt to judge the result until 10-12 months. I'm getting better by the week. Looks like you are as well.

Screw the others that imply otherwise - seven months is the halfway point on average for "more mature" men" like ourselves. Although you're never going to get back to your 1990's hairline unless you endure more procedures, I'm positive you'll see a doubling of the improvement going forward out to 12-18 months. I'm a month ahead of you and (sorry Mod/Doc/Blake/Shill/whomever - as I had FUE) it only gets better the next month. And I'm fairly certain for you and hopefully for me, the months beyond.

biolizard - I responded to your previous thread when you were concerned at five weeks out. I posted the photo in your album and everyone essentially assured you that you were on course. Now, doing the math in my head from looking at your threads, you are not even four months out, with your original surgery date of first or second week of August 2015 - correct? Confirm for us your exact surgery date, because you are entering the stage where things can start to happen in weeks versus months, especially as it relates to a reduction of bumpiness and redness in the recipient area. My gut reaction after reading yet another "doomsday" thread from you is to man the f%$k up. At just over 3 1/2 months (again, if my math is correct) I'm not certain what you expected, but in my humble, non-surgical opinion, I'm actually the one that should be pissed off, not you. Why? Because I looked much worse than you did at the same stage in my HT. I suffered from shockloss across almost the entire frontal recipient region, whereas clearly you have not. My frontal region, completely devoid of hair due to shockloss, was more uneven than the worse gravel road in Tennessee, whereas you already have some new growth, and clearly, shockloss was much less of a reality for you at the same stage. Take a look at the picture I've attached, where I've included your most recent picture and one I found when I was at almost the exact same stage in the HT timeline. Now you tell me who should be (or in my case, who should have been) freaking out? You want to complain about wearing a hat? At 3 1/2 months, I look like I lost a bet big time. I urge you to view my HT experience thread and see what I went through, necrotic tissue problem and all. And then look at my most recent pictures at the end of the thread. Because I have zero doubt that you will look better than I do at that same stage in your HT based on where you are now in terms of progress. Vories is a rock solid HT Doc, your work was clean, and you are well on your way. Will December and January suck? Most likely. Will your progress by February (or sooner) make you want to delete all of your freak out posts? I'd bet yes. It is evident you either did not properly research or did not properly prepare mentally for the realities involved in a HT operation, the resulting healing and growth periods, etc. We get it - almost nobody really understands what it's like to stare day in and day out at your dome during the "dark" times until it happens. The good news? In spite of your negativity and doomsday attitude, your HT is going to be one of those success stories. I'm giving you a hard time, but only because knowing what I know now, and having been through it, I've have been thrilled to have been at your progress level, which as the comparison photo shows, I clearly wasn't. You are going to have a fantastic result, and my gut is when you post your photo again at six months - and I mean six months exactly - and then realize you are really only 50-60% done with the final result, you're going to look back at this thread you started and laugh your ass off. For clarity, in the attached picture, that's you on the left and my on the right.

Interesting. Thanks for the reply Shera.

Sorry to hijack, but I have a question. What is the purpose Shera of applying baby oil to the scalp at six months? This makes zero sense to me.

Dr. Umar does indeed do every extraction, all injections, all slits, etc. He has two experienced techs that do the implantation.

Certainly in my situation the geographic proximity of the clinic, as well as the alternate speciality of the Doc (dermatology) proved invaluable. And yes, I could not have asked for more responsive post-op care, particularly once the area of necrotic tissue presented itself.

Good for you. Dr. Umar has an interesting personality, but as David said, he is caring, he's seen pretty much everything HT-wise, and he's pretty direct at outlining his suggestions. Good luck and please let us know how it goes. Best to get on his books if a HT is warranted a few months in advance, as he is always pretty booked between HT patients and his derm practice.

Thanks for the kind words farmcat and David - still a ways to go - especially with the new grafts just behind the hairline - but things are encouraging. HTsoon - I went back and looked at your thread and read that you were considering BHT as a potential option. While I did not use any body hair, as I'm sure you know, Dr. Umar does undertake a considerable number of patients where some form of BHT is involved. I've seen Dr. Umar more times than most patients typically do: my "first" procedure was a three day affair, and of course, following the necrotic issue, Dr. Umar had me in his offices weekly. And then of course, more recently, the new grafts for the previously necrotic area. So I've gotten to know him and his staff pretty well. I've pretty much outlined my thoughts on my experience earlier in this thread, but the basics are as follows: Great clinic and a great location. Great staff. The two female techs that do the implantation have been with Dr. Umar for a good bit of time. Doc obviously does all extractions, incisions and site prep. There is no patient advisor on staff, and nobody is going to answer any specific questions related to a HT procedure other than Dr. Umar - period. Even small follow up questions I had post HT were emailed to the Doctor directly for response. As you've been through this already, you might find this setup works for you. It did for me. During my many visits, I've seen glimpses of paperwork, overheard conversations and come across patients utilizing some form of BHT - it's a large part of what he does from what I can gather. If you are considering any form of BHT, my opinion is that you would be remiss to not at least organize a consult. Especially as your fairly local. Happy to answer any specifics if I can.

An update: I am at approximately seven months from my last major procedure with Doctor Umar, and approximately one month from my procedure to repair the impacted necrotic area. Most of the newly-placed grafts have not shed. Donor is completely unnoticeable. I've attached a before/after. I anticipate that once the small graft repair fills in (although not noticeable from the front view) it will only make things more complete. Nice to know that at only seven months, I've just gotten past the halfway point on the 12 month growth curve and not even a third of the way through the "final" 18 month result. Everyone grows at a different rate, but for slow growers with fine hair like me, I'm thinking months 6-9 are the "sweet spot" for an impactful result. At least that's my gut.

Classic. The whole forum? Hell, that pretty much summarizes the new posts since yesterday. But you sort of left out: Mr. Idio-Neurotic: "Hi guys, I just had a 2,000 graft FUE from Dr. Whomever. On the way home, I needed something to put my chewing gum in, so I used the post-op instructions by accident and threw them in the trash. Now I'm really worried. Instead of calling the clinic, I thought I'd post here. Two hours after I got home, I looked at my grafts. Well, OK, not really looked, more liked glanced, but still, I think the grafts saw me when I glanced at them (which angered them) and now I'm afraid they're all gonna pop out and run away. Has anyone experienced this? Do the grafts calm down, or do they really stay pissed off?" "Also, I seem to recall on the first evening I can pour a cup of water with a few drops of shampoo over my head. What's "a few drops?" Is it more than two, but less than four? Do you think 3.15 drops is sufficient? Or should I use 3.1567? And when they say "pour," does that mean all at once? What is the ideal flow ratio of the water from the cup? And when they say to use water, what kind? Tap water, bottled water? What kind of bottled water? Spring fed or from a glacier? Polish or Italian?" "Lastly, I know exercise post-op is frowned upon, but I was getting really nervous about my grafts getting angry at me for glancing at them, so to burn off steam, I put on three wool caps and did hand-stands for two hours. Do you think this will impact my results? Advice welcome!"

Pretty much a home run. And at only 7 months. Congrats!

You need to massage those scabs off. A bunch of tried and tested ways to do it posted on this forum.

Thanks farmcat. Update: today I went in for what we originally estimated was 30-40 grafts for the necrotic area I outlined earlier in the thread. Obviously at this point it is a little hard for me to see, as it is above the hairline on the left side, and of course, I now have some hair. Dr. Umar took a look from above and decided on around 180 grafts. Overall I was progressing nicely, but he wasn't completely happy with some of the growth thus far on the right side (above the temple and above the hairline), as well as a very small area near the center (and above the hairline). As I told him, "more new hair in the right place is good." Donor was taken almost like a very small strip procedure I most likely most be able to see by tomorrow. Dr. Umar did all extractions and all of the recipient slits - painless as always. Two great techs Amy and Anna did the placing. Very kind of the Doc to do a no shave FUE for free - beyond what was expected - to make sure he's happy (and I am as well). All done at no charge to me whatsoever, including all the pre-op meds, post-op meds, creams, etc. I'll try and take some photos in a day or so. Even with these small procedures, there is a rest period involved, so I'm going to follow the post-op and take it easy. Excellent experience as always with Dr. Umar!

Not really - probably the lighting. I'm a very slow grower and I knew that going in. Months five to six seemed like a small improvement really. I'm hoping the next three months or so actually give me a little more in the new hair department as well as in the thickening department. But thanks for the comment. It's certainly better than where I started!

Car selfie at six months. Going in tomorrow for the 40 graft repair to the necrotic area I had initially now that it is fully healed. Looking forward to the next six months!

Interesting 180 degree change to your mindset re: your hair transplant in such a short period.

75% at 6 months? I believe that is extremely aggressive and does not represent the average.

win200 - I'm glad you added a bit of sanity to the timelines often spouted on here about timelines. Certainly there are those that have amazingly fast recoveries from recipient site redness, early growers and all the rest, but what you state is correct: the reality for many regular folks who undergo HT is that a cosmetically acceptable result can take anywhere from 4-7 months. Not 2 months, not 3 months, and not even 4 or 5 or 6 months for some people that perhaps fall in the middle of the curve so to speak. And of course, a full result absolutely is 12-18 months away depending. People can re-read far too many exceptional early cases and look at far too many exceptional early results, when the truth is those are not the norm from a timeline perspective. OP - trust me you look perfectly fine here, and if I go back to your other posts I see you went to a very qualified Doc. So nothing to do now but wait...you'll get there.

biolizard - is this picture you have in your album (which I posted here) current? I see absolutely nothing out of the ordinary whatsoever. I can post a pic of my procedure at five weeks if it gives you a comparison- man, looking back, I was UGLY at five weeks. Trust me, unless I'm missing something here, you look 100% normal at this stage.

"How much?" That's all you said. Let's not pretend otherwise and try to hit the rewind button.

You've asked essentially the same question in your very few posts. How about you contact the clinic directly? It's not going to get better until you decide to move forward.