Born2Shine

Umm... because I was tired of not being able to style my hair the way I want. I was tired of worrying how my hair looked when the wind was blowing hard... We all have our different reasons. I don't understand why people ask other people this question.

Here are some photos that give a pretty good idea of where the work was done. Not sure how many days this was post op.

Thank You for the replies... Like i said... there is no question that i have had growth. I can see many fine hairs in the hairline and right temple. I also see some in the left temple, but not as many as on the right. I am just trying to gauge if i am on track and what i should expect over the coming months. I am hoping for quite a bit more density obviously as most people do. I will see if i can take some better photos. Is it better to take them with or without flash? Thanks again

Thank you for the replies... I posted some photos in the results from patients forum. Would be great to get some feedback. Those of you that have had procedures done in the past... what percentage of growth do you think you had at 6 months? Did you get significant growth after that point?

There is definitely a difference. If I had some wet before photos, it would be quite a bit more obvious.

I am about 6 months from my procedure of 2600 FUE to the hairline and temples. I see many fine baby hairs growing now, many of which, you can only see in the right lighting. I noticed growth as early as 2 months and have had some obvious growth. However, I am getting a bit concerned at 6 months as the density is not what I expected and have seen from other photos around the Internet. When I style my hair... the left side seems to be lacking and I don't see as many baby hairs growing as I do on the right. This makes it difficult to style my hair the way that I want at this point. Much of my new hair has come in as ultra fine hair that is almost invisible without the right lighting. I guess I have pretty fine hair to begin with although I have been told it is pretty dense. I am hoping for a lot more growth and thickening. I was hoping to be able to quick slick my hair back and run out the door, but it is just not like that and seems to take some work to get a decent style at this point. I am also feeling like I should have had the front lowered a bit more, but I was concerned about the lower hairline density ultimately not matching the existing hairline well enough. I am not sure what to expect at 6 months. I have included some before and afters with and without flash. What do you think?

Thanks ersko72. It is really hard to see with the photos because my loss was minimal. After I shower, I have a pretty defined hairline when my hair is wet. It is crazy how different lighting makes such a huge difference in the appearance when you look in the mirror. Surely... I am not the only one that experiences this. I guess when I had this done, I was expecting my temples to fill in and it would make styling my hair very simple. I would just slick it back with some product and it would look great. However... that is still not the case. I guess I am just not sure what to expect at this stage (near 6 months). I wish I could drop by the doctors office and get a consult to see if he thinks I am on track. Maybe that would ease my mind a bit. I was even thinking about getting a consult with another doctor so he could break out the magnifying glass and inspect everything. Not sure if that would work out or not.

Thank you for the reply. I understand. I am most concerned about the uneven growth and this left temple area. If I am really only at 50% or so... I should be in good shape. Just hope this left temple evens out with the right. I have heard of uneven growth, but I don't know how common it is at almost 6 months out. Grow baby!

I am just days away from 6 months post op and my mind is playing tricks on me again... First off... the work I had done was on the hairline and temples. There is no question that I have had growth, but I am unsure about the yield at this point. Sometimes I look in the mirror and think the growth has been very substantial. Other times I look in the mirror and I think the density is really lacking. From early on... the right temple had been growing faster than the left. Under the right light... I can still see many hairs coming in on the right temple, but I am not seeing much activity on the left. Of course, this concerns me as the left side was my primary focus from the beginning. With the graph placement, The left side should be slightly lower than the right, but right now the opposite seems to be true. I know 6 months is still early in the game, but I have read that often 90% of the graphs are growing by 6 months. Any thoughts?

It is not too low. Looks good the way it is. Just needs to fill in more. Give it some time.

Not sure how I feel about it. Seems that once you start it... you are better off sticking with it.

Thank you for the replies. That is nice to know because that means I am right at about 4 months and am already seeing substantial changes. If I am really only at 25% or so now... I am going to be freaking stoked over the coming months. At first I was counting weeks and that was making me crazy...

I am also just past the 4 month mark and it is quite interesting. I have so many "baby hairs" that are very difficult to see without the right lighting. I stayed at this hotel the other night and the lighting was just right to where it revealed a load of smaller hairs growing in that I could not see before. I think the 5 - 6 month time frames are going to be VERY exciting indeed. Happy growing!

Most people talk about "months" post op. However... obviously different months add up to a different number of days. For example, I had my procedure done August 17. Today is December 19. Is this considered just over 4 months? I believe I am approaching 18 weeks. How are we measuring this exactly?

For some reason... I feel like my mind is playing tricks on me. I am about a week short of 4 months post and sometimes I think I see a substantial amount of regrowth. Other times I think I look about the same as I did pre-op. I know it is good to take photos... but because of the nature of my loss (mostly hairline / temples), it is very difficult to tell with pictures. Especially now that I have a lot of native hair in the recipient area. With the right light... i think I see a lot of tiny vellus hairs. Kinda like the normal vullus skin hair, but a little bit longer. Other times I don't think I see much at all. Under harsh light, the temples look quite thin. Anyone else experience this? Is it normal?

You are looking pretty damn good for 4 months... The outline of your new hairline is looking solid. Now you making me question my results at 3 1/2 months. Haha

Wow... that is a dense hairline. Ronald Reagan style...

So... I am almost 3 1/2 months post op. Although I am well aware that it is very early in the game... not knowing what the future result will be is driving me insane. I have spent a ridiculous amount of time searching for photos of people at the 3 and 4 month post op mark. For some reason... I find myself wanting to compare my current result with the results of others at this stage. There is no question that I am seeing growth. However... the hair in the recipient area looks almost non-existent under harsh lighting. I have also not really found a way to effectively examine the fine hairs that most people say are unable to be seen without the right angle under the right type of lighting. I can't see these hairs at all. I am really not sure what to expect at this point. I assume that the fact that there is some growth is a good sign. However... all the work I had done was on the hairline and temples and I am not seeing as distinct of an outline of the new hairline as I would like to see. I know I know... I am a bit obsessive compulsive and it is too early to judge anything. But... hopefully someone here can relate and say something that gives me hope that the future will be bright. haha

Looks great!

I think this person may be better suited to getting SMP. I think the dark features may look better with a close shaved look rather than longer more sparse growth. Does SMP work well for people with more progressed cases like this?

Thank you for the feedback. I look at guys like Channing Tatum and Tom Hardy and they seem to have a lower hairline. This lower hairline seems to make the shaved down and combed back styles look more appropriate. I guess it is just a little bit of hair greed kicking in. Honestly... I will be thankful to just get a good yield and get past the stage I am at now. I am at just past 2 months and time seems to have slowed down.

I think it is time to get the ultimate HT and then use these products to hold on to everything once they become available. There is a lot of talk about PGD2 antagonists. I am hoping a good one becomes available soon in order to avoid the dreadful DHT blockers.

I would agree. The hair looks pretty thin throughout. If you want a decent hairline and still look like a diffuse thinner, I think 2500 will do. If you want to appear to be closer to a "head of hair", then I think 5000 is realistic. Think about it. How many hairs is 5000 grafts really?

Thank you for the comments. To clarify... this is before the shed and now I am 2 months post op. It is even with where my hairline was before. I just had it strengthened and the temples filled in. Hopefully I will get a good yield. Waiting for the growth and not knowing how it will turn out is very difficult.

I am about 2 months post op and now I am kicking myself for not going a little lower on the hairline. I have always had a bit of a high hairline. I believe it is just over 7cm from my brows. I am 42 and have ad minimal loss over the years. Now I regret not just getting it done while I had the opportunity. I would like to be able to wear the buzzed or slicked back look and not have the forehead look too high. In the case of lowering a couple cm, you pretty much have to go through the same process right? How long should you wait before having another procedure done? Here is an image of where I am at now: http://imgur.com/lQmkiAy What do you think?