ModernHair

Excellent result and very efficient way to manage 3,500 grafts on such an advanced case!

Dr. Jim Harris in Colorado does all of the extractions himself as well and is a spectacular hair surgeon.

I never experienced that with my FUE. That said, I wouldn't worry about it too much. I just had my 1 year check-up yesterday and the donor area healed up so well that you couldn't even see a trace of scarring under the microscope which is pretty remarkable. Odds are it will heal up really nicely but definitely monitor for any issues to share with your doctor.

I'm at 7 months and still have many fine, single hairs, though some are starting to thicken up and some of the 1's are now turning to 2's, 3's and 4's slowly. So not sure when that process is done but obviously it adds considerably to your hair thickness. I guess that's why they say it can take up to 18 months to see your final result.

I had a no shave 1,792 transplant FUE. You couldn't see a thing from the back or sides after the procedure unless you lifted my hair and then just some red dots. Picture attached.

Very happy I went that route. I had to come in the day before my procedure for my special 'haircut' where they methodically cut the donor areas short but they were covered by my normal, longer hair over-top.

You seem to have similar regression and thinning to me but perhaps even deeper recession at the temples. I'm not sure you'll be happy with 1,000-1,500 transplants. It looks to me like you'd need at least a few hundred more than I did which will put you north of 2,000 and maybe up to 2,500. I did not have any lowering, just shoring up what I had left which seems to be your goal too.

Just my untrained $.02, of course, from my own experience. Go talk to a few good doctors to help give you some good direction. I'm sure you'll make a great decision for you in the end!

No need to panic...I had zero growth at 4 months (see below)...at 6 months it started filling in but now I'm at 7 months and have had tremendous progress in just the past month with lots more to go. With a tad of patience (I know it's hard!), I think you'll look back at 12 months and laugh when you realize you barely started growing at 4 months! Hang in there!

Rough go in the hair transplant department, for sure. You have a nicely shaped head for shaving it all down if you wanted to go that route. Best of luck to you! Let us know what the new Dr. says.

You started growing really early. I didn't really start growing until month 5. The new sprouts slowed down by mid-month 6 and just in the past few days as I hit the 7 month mark, I saw a whole bunch of new hairs sprouting just when I thought I might not have that many new sprouts to go!

It seems to come in fits and spurts and will keep coming in for a while and will then continue to thicken up for up to 18 months, so I know it's really hard, but be patient! You're still pretty early in the process.

3,000 is a lot for your progression. I needed under 1,800 for much more advanced hair loss than you and it's filling in absolutely beautifully.

Very nice result!!

Wow...that's an amazing practice that Dr. Shapiro runs! First class customer service! Give it some more time to grow and hope it all turns out fine @Crownie86.

You have barely begun growing. Give it 6 more months before you make a real judgment.

I think your hairline is not too low at all and looks completely appropriate for your face & head.

I think it looks great for 6.5 months! I'm at 6.5 months as well and am waiting for the front hairline to thicken up and some gaps on the sides to fill in. It seems like the sides are growing out slower than the center, at least for me.

I'm not worried at all though, it will all grow out just fine. I've seen plenty of pictures of people at 6 months that were unhappy with the thickness and by 9 or 10 months they had a magical transformation and look entirely different.

6.5 months is still very early in the process. As time goes on, you'll still get new growth and what is growing out will get considerably thicker and turn from single hairs into 2-3 of them so the thickness goes up exponentially.

Hang in there. You're growing great!

So impressive! Love to see it was a FUE surgery. Shows FUE can really grow well when performed by a great doctor!

You must really be using a lot. I put it on my crown and front too and go through one container every 3 weeks. I've read quite a bit that using more doesn't improve the results.

I had nothing at all going on at 3 months. At 4 months I could start to see some small hairs breaking through but still no noticeable result. By 6 months (just 2 weeks ago), it all started coming together. Be patient....you still have plenty of time before things start firing up!

WOW! What a remarkable change between months 7-10! Your hairline looks fantastic and totally natural. Not sure why you're not 100% satisfied yet - every hairline has some 'imperfections'. That's what makes us human!

My personal take is that I think you should count your blessings at this point and appreciate the near perfect hairline you now have! A job well done to Dr. Feller!

Wow...that's a really impressive result!

Guess it really depends on your situation. I had roughly 1,800 FUE grafts and was not shaven and it mixed into what was left of my front and mid hair. You couldn't tell a thing from the back from the moment I left the doctor's office and my front and top were looking pretty good just a few days later.

That said, the OP's point is well taken that with FUT, shaven and a large # of grafts, I can't imagine being told you'd be good to go in just a week.

Just have to say that it was very classy of Dr. Arocha to post here, even if he's limited in what he can say! I'm impressed! Hope the OP calls to work things out!

Do you have a picture of how bad it is?

Don't do it...I think you'll regret it. You'll be in a losing effort to chase your hairline and may run out of transplants. I know it absolutely sucks, but I would wait a good while so you can plan properly with the grafts you'll be able to use - my best guess is that you're on your way to a NW6 or NW7.

Just keep your hair short. It looks really good at that length!

Dramatic transformation! Really good result, especially considering where you came from! Congratulations!

Another not good fue result. I signed up on the forums because I was having a hard time trying to convince myself to do a fue procedure and it feels like all Im seeing now are bad fues. Makes me wonder.

 

But I'm really happy for this patient. He looks a lot better after the other surgery.

Dr. Feller did a really nice repair job but don't be misled about the fact that the original procedure was a FUE. I've seen bad FUE's and bad FUT's all over the place (as well as great ones).

I think this is MUCH more a matter of your doctor's skills and not the procedure. The grafts either sat out too long, had significant damage coming out or were placed improperly - all challenges with HT surgery and the reason to be very careful about your doctor selection.

For what it's worth, I had a FUE 6 months ago with one of the pioneers in hair transplantation surgery, Dr. James Harris. I consider my results terrific so far, am VERY glad I chose FUE and I have lots of growing still left to do. Dr. Harris did mine with with fewer than 1,800 FUE grafts.

@octave - My personal thought (and you may not want to hear this) is that you wait for a little bit, maybe until at least your early 40's. You seem really conscientious and concerned about the future, as you should be. But I think that going for 800 or even 1,000 now won't make enough of a difference (2,500 seems really aggressive to me!).

I personally would rather wait a bit until you know more about your hair loss and feel more confident ,and when you will likely need a larger transplant that can make a real difference and give you confidence that you'll have plenty of donor hair leftover for future needs.

To give you perspective, I had a HT this past April and needed roughly 1,800 FUE grafts which filled a good bit of 3 zones - the front (transition) zone, the defined zone right behind it and a bit into my central core. I am VERY happy about my coverage at only 6 months and am excited about the growing I still have left to do.

I also preserved a good bit of my donor hair for any future needs, although since I am in my mid 40's, my doctor thought I may not need anything further since I had minimal miniaturization in my remaining hair and am now using Minoxidil daily. But if I do end up needing more, I have plenty.

Anyway, hope that gives you something to consider and maybe takes the urgency away from doing something immediately.