HT2015

Pictures taken two days ago - 4 months post surgery, under neon light. Just got a haircut before taking those photos, so my hair was shorter than when the pre-surgery photos were taken.

1600 grafts in the posterior area. 200 in the anterior area. Pictures taken during surgery

Three pics taken by me and submitted to Dr Diep for the initial consult. the 4th pic (higher resolution) taken by Dr on the morning of the surgery.

I am a 34 YO white male, and I had hair transplant surgery done with Dr. Diep about 4 months ago At the end of last year, noticing that the bald spot on the posterior area of the crown was getting larger, I decided to look into hair transplant. I have never taken any meds or use any special shampoos before. First I had a consult with Dr. Panagotacos in SF. Unlike the reviews he has online, I found him to be very throughout, and clearly very experienced. However, he only does FUT-which I was reluctant about due to the more visible scar- so I decided to consult more Drs who also do FUE. My second visit was with Dr. Wasserbauer. In fact, I did not meet the Dr herself, but a staff member who assessed my situation. I found that a little bit odd, so I decided to keep looking. After more online research -especially in these forums- I scheduled a consult with Dr. Diep who has a good reputation in the community, and a good amount of evidence of his work online. We had our consult via Skype. In the end, I decided that Dr Diep was my number 1 option in the area where I live, and I scheduled the surgery for the beginning of June. Three months post our Skype consult, I was in his office ready for the big day. While initially - based on the photos I took myself and sent to Dr Diep (pics attached) - he estimated that we will need about 1000 grafts, in person, on the morning of the surgery, he decided that we will need at least 600 more. That was probably due to the poor quality of the camera/lighting I used. In addition to that, Dr decided to add 200 more grafts for a smaller bald spot I had in the anterior part of the crown. The day of the surgery went well. Dr and the staff were friendly, and they made me feel comfortable and confident. It was a 8-9 hour procedure. Not an easy procedure, but people go through much worse, so I was tolerating it well. Post Surgery: I took two weeks off from work, to allow everything to heal. I do work in a professional office, where appearance is important, so I wanted to make sure that my head/hair looks in good shape once I am back at work. On the day of the surgery, my head was completely shaved. Two weeks later, the work that I had done was not noticeable for someone who didn't know about the procedure I went through. The bigger bald spot in the back of the crown was nicely filled. I enjoyed that look, even though, I knew the newly transplanted hair was going to fall off. The first two weeks were not the best, but also not the worst. I felt exactly what I was supposed to feel. Some pain, some numbness, itchiness, my sleep was not ideal. At that time, since it was my first surgery of this kind and first time experiencing such symptoms I was a little bit worried, but now, four months later, my scalp feels perfectly fine. During the immediate post surgery period, I followed very carefully all the instructions given by Dr Diep and his team, and I went back three times for the wash. When I had my two weeks post surgery evaluation with Dr. Diep, he told me that things look OK, but if I want perfect results, I will have to have another surgery done in 5-10 years, something that, I admit, felt a little bit discouraging. The "ugly duckling" stage: Not as bad as I expected. The two bold spots I had work done on were more pronounced than they were pre-surgery, but not by a whole lot. The location -crown- probably helped things not being so noticeable. Meds: I started taking Finasteride 1mg/once a day, about a week prior to the surgery. Three-four weeks post surgery I started using Minoxidil foam twice a day, every day. After taking 60 capsules of Finasteride I stopped, because I noticed clear side effects: My sexual life is very active, and I have never experienced any issues. However, after taking Finasteride for 60 days, I encountered erection problems, which obviously scared the crap out of me. In addition to that I experienced a light form a mental fog. Needless to say, I stopped taking Finasteride immediately. 3-4 days after I stopped taking it, everything went back to normal. While on Finasteride, my hair stopped falling off completely. After I stopped taking it, I started noticing hairs on the towel after I dry my hair, or when I comb, but nothing out of the ordinary. Minoxidil- did not give me any problems, except itchiness and dry scalp for the first 3-4 weeks. My scalp got adjusted to it since and everything is just fine when I apply it. I only apply it in the posterior area of the crown, where I had the 1600 grafts transplanted. I contacted Dr Diep's office right away after I stopped taking Finasteride and inquired if there are other alternatives (drugs/vitamins) to prevent hair loss, and they have mentioned Rogaine, which I was already using (Minoxidil foam). I was told that at this point, that's pretty much my only option, something that naturally worries me, since Rogaine apparently works -when it works- only in the posterior area of the crown, and not in the rest of it. This was the summary of my experience so far. I will post the pics I have (sorry for the not so great quality), and I will gladly answer any questions you guys have.