Spidey

It always looks worse to you, as you look in the mirror everyday for the last X amount of years and are not used to it.. People who have known you for a while will adjust to it to, but at the end of the day they won't really care.. We are our own worst critic, and it's true. When was the last time you looked twice at a stranger who had the same hair as you when buzzed. We are more likely to stare and criticize people who have ridiculous combo overs etc, then a shaved/buzzed bald head... I mean, approx half of men you see on the street are balding anyways, and we could care less.. And it has been shown already that most women don't even care... I personally, have never thought anything more than acknowledging someone was bald the first time I met them... I only keep noticing and thinking/looking, when they are trying to grow their thinning hair out as if nothing is wrong.. Buzzing is the right thing to do man.

imo, I would never spend money or go through surgery just to add hair into the area you have shown.. that is just me. Since your Dr was the one who saw you in person during the consultation, why would you ask people on a forum who a) are not Drs (except a handful that are) b) have not seen you in person to analyse your case.

Thanks for your post. You're right, it would be pretty much a Nw1 eh? If it turns out anything like my 7 day post op when the scabs were gone, I'll be ecstatic. Ugly duckling phase right now which really sucks lol. I was surprised how fast the hairs shed. Pretty much at the two week mark the hairs would shed even with light rubbing. The wait is on!

Swooping, it's thick until it thins lol. I am on topical Rogaine and s5 cream at the moment. Very reluctant to take anything oral.

sorry, yea mine was FUE.. one week post op and the donor area was undetectable. The hair length was one week post having the donor area shaved down to a no guard for the surgery... I now clip it with a number 1 with no issues.

Just a small update. Coming up to three weeks on 2015-08-26. About 90% of the transplanted hairs have shed. Recipient area has gone from red to light pink. Hopefully by the one month mark the pinkness will have subsided. I started using witch hazel twice a day along with aloe, and it has made a huge difference. I only started using the witch hazel a couple days ago, and it has already lightened the recipient area a good shade. I should have started sooner! Next update will probably be at the 2 month mark. I don't see anything changing in a week. Oh, another thing, the donor area has been really itchy as of late. Everything has healed fine (visually), but there must be some additional nerve/tissue healing underneath that is causing the itch. Not too bad, but annoying. Aloe helps.

I am in it right now, 3 weeks post op and 90% of my transplanted hair has fallen off.. I only had 1036 grafts placed on my temples. I buzzed my hair down to a number 1 all around so it's not that bad, except for the redness. Without the redness, it wouldn't even be an issue for me.. well I guess it is more pink now... Hopefully by the fourth week it will be pretty much undetectable. It has gotten better daily. As for the wait for the hair to grow, I am not too anxious about that as it will be a waiting game.

looks good to me too.. try monitoring it every month and see if it expands... If you see miniaturization, then it may be thinning, but if not, you are probably good. We never previously looked at our whorls/top of heads so we don't know how it looked like when we were younger, so have nothing to compare to.

It's probably been mentioned but I haven't read all 11+ pages, but you will never be able to achieve the density via a HT, even if it is a small procedure for the hairline. I had 1000 grafts put on my hairline and after the scabs/crusts were removed, and i buzzed my hair to one level, I was ecstatic. If you looked right up to it, the hair density and coarseness if obviously doing to be slightly off, but the vast majority of people won't even notice... And I got the procedure done so I WOULDN'T have to be stuck with just the buzzed look. I am 2 weeks post op and if my grafts grow even 90% of how it looked prior to its shedding, I will be one super happy camper. Once your hair grows out and blends with your native hair, you will not notice the density difference (unless your Dr) did a really poor job. You may regret it, and that is your opinion (which you are most definitely entitled to). It is surgery, and a huge decision. For people like you and I, who were NW2s going in for surgery, I believe there are a lot more to consider when taking the plunge. The fact that you are on Propecia and MIN is a good thing, and will halt further loss so you can enjoy the new HT longer without fear of native hairs around the transplant thinning out and making it look weird. Lastly, you said you can't shave your head because of the donor area? I can easily buzz my hair to a number 1 without a problem. Did you mean shave it down to the skin? You should have known this prior to the FUE, that there's a high possibly you won't be able to go slick bald without the scars showing. Another option, if you really aren't happy with the transplant is to shave the transplanted areas down to the skin as if you never had it done... Waste of money, yes.. but hey, nothing you can do about it at this point. Just looked at your 17 post ops pics... At that point, you do realize you probably lost 50% of your grafts due to the shed right? I started to lose mine at day 12. Your hair being so light, you probably didn't notice while in the shower etc.

2400 grafts for that amount of coverage... it actually looks better than 2400 grafts..

You must have a lot of 3 hair grafts in order for him to calculate approx 6000 hairs from 2000 grafts.... The injections were the most painful part for me and I tend to think I have a pretty high pain threshold. I didn't take any of my post op pain or sleeping pills, but those scalp and forehead injections were unreal! lol. Personally, if I was a NW 3+, I would have done FUT for max coverage, and then FUE for refinement/hairline work... but that is just me. Especially if you don't have good quality donor hair, it would be harder to camouflage the potential FUE dots (scars). If you tend to keep your hair at least a number 3 guard along the sides and back, I would strongly consider looking into FUT. That was another factor as to why I decided to do FUE. First was I only needed 1000 grafts, and secondly, I like my back and sides clipped down to a number 1.

Buzzed my hair to a number 1 all around to even things out, as it was apparent I would not be able to conceal the transplanted area without it looking bad. The transplanted hairs are starting to shed as I had a bunch on my fingers as I was applying vitamin E oil to moisturize the scalp on the recipient area as it is a bit dry... Not looking forward to the shed, but better sooner than later I guess. UPDATE: 2 WEEK PICS Please note that at the 14 day post op mark, about 30-50% of the transplanted hairs had already shed.

I think the answer to your question depends on how well your surgeon closed the strip scar, and your own physiological traits, and or hair density

The post op brochure I received from Hasson and Wong advised to put vitamin e oil on the recipient sites if crusts/scabs were still around on the 5th day, as it helps loosen the scabs and crusts... So the no oils on your head comment, may not be believed by some Drs.

Thanks for the reply David. I know there are a bunch of post op haircut threads, but they are regarding how secure the grafts are, but my concern wasn't about graft security. Thanks again for answering.

I am 9 days post op from my Fue procedure. My donor area is already healed and there are no scabs/crusts on my recipient site. I just buzzed my head with a number 1 guard and was extra careful around my recipient areas. I am now a bit concerned whether the grafts could be damaged. I know by day 10 they are supposed to be completely secured, however, is there a chance that they can be damaged via the vibration of the clippers? I know none of the grafts were pulled out, or any hairs for that matter, but was thinking about whether the roots itself could be traumatized. Might be a silly question.

looking good. did you regain the density by going back on your topical(s), that you lost pre op?

Looking at the side by side donor area, man my hair grows fast, lol.

Yea, I was just curious as to whether the "growth" shown prior to the shed weeks after the newly transplanted grafts are due to the cells actually generating hair, or if it is the shaft of the hair being expelled as the graft goes into telogen phase.... I guess I am trying to understand whether a non viable graft would just sit there and not grow (or fall out unless agitated).

Looks awesome man!!! And to think it will only get more dense in a few months! Hairline looks super natural!

were you not given a brochure or information from your surgeon post op?

Hmmm. If FINgoes systemic from topical application, wouldn't all other topicals go systemic as well? Or is that determined by the carrier used? I know HW stopped prescribing their old formula and are awaiting their new formula coming out in about a month.

Is that actually true? Regarding initial growth of the freshly transplanted grafts?

a source for that comment would be nice.

Went to the clinic to get some one week post op pics from Mr Garageland himself I will post those once I get them, but here are shots of the donor and recipient area from my camera phone. I am EXTREMELY pleased by how the donor area has healed. The length of the back is one week from buzzing it down from a no guard clipper. It is shorter than how I would ever have my hair. I do plan to buzz my hair all one length to a 1.5 guard, as it is going to be hard to maintain the current length up top without it looking silly, trying to conceal the recipient areas. The recipient area is just after rubbing the crusts/scabs off in the evening.. Most of it is gone, and it looks like it has healing/healed very well. MAGNUM, you're right, I am really blessed to have the quality donor hair that I have. Updated with third pic, which is 8 days, and cleaning up what I believe are the remainder of the crusts/scabs... I hope all the grafts are viable...