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How old are you? based on the pictures in this thread, if I met you for the first time in person the thought “he’s losing his hair” would never even cross my mind if that means anything to ya 😂

The answer to that is that it's just a factor of the population getting a hair transplant and when it is advisable to get a hair transplant. If you are getting 1k or less, that is indicative that the area needing to be covered is relatively speaking very small meaning that there isn't much hair loss. For many people this indicates that they are both young and have little loss - not a good candidate for transplant as there is not evidence of what will happen as of yet into later decades. Think of how many people don't have significant hair loss til they're in their mid 30s or even mid 40s or in many cases (actually my dad included) into their mid 60s. If you need such a small area covered that 1k grafts would be sufficient and you're only 25 and you go ahead and do that, well that would be a bad idea if your hairline really starts going back in another 10 years and now you have these 1k grafts real low down. So it's not really about the # of grafts, it's about a combination of age and progress of loss. Younger people that currently need 1k or less shouldnt do HT yet as you don't know the future. People that wait until the appropriate time to get a HT rarely only need 1k. And then people who are lucky enough to make it well into the later decades and still only need 1k would probably frequently decide it's not worth going through at all. Essentially ya just can't do much with 1k

Hey @Cyzkm - that's me ^ and you're right, I did get a great result! Better than I even thought I could expect. Seems like I'll be mostly echoing others' advice at this point but here's my piece: 1) I don't have experience with the other doctors - I consulted with Bloxham and Rahal. Dr. Bloxham was a very kind individual and obviously you can read my thread for details on my experience. I would definitely recommend him IF you were dedicated to going FUT (I'm not sure I would go to him for FUE as I just haven't seen enough from him - really hardly any). I chose FUT because I am relatively young, have a strong history of family hairloss, and was already headed into NW4 before age 30. I felt this was my best way to maximize my long term options. 2) I feel, looking at your pictures, that you are not in the same situation as me. You are much better of than I was when I originally consulted Rahal which was back in '16 and almost went through with it but ended up waiting for 7 more years and I'm glad that I did. You're not at a stage yet where it's clear where your hairloss is going or how fast, so I'd strongly recommend to wait a while. If I wasn't looking at multiple large procedures over a lfietime, I'd have gone FUE, so I'd strongly encourage you to wait and see where everything goes before you decide on a procedure type and therefore on a doctor who is great at that procedure. 3) You can find bad results for basically every doctor out there. It's a reality of the procedure (as well as most cosmetic procedures as best I can tell). When you're ready to get the procedure, I'd recommend looking for a doctor who seems to be having a trend of positive results over the last year or two. When I initially talked with Rahal, all his results were outstanding, and then 7 years later when I got back into looking, I was finding a lot of less than stellar results. I think right now Bloxham has mostly positive results, but in a few years who knows? The most important thing is to do your research, look at how their current performance is, accept the potential for a not great outcome but do everything to minimize it, and then make the decision that makes you feel most comfortable.

For doing some cardio type exercise I waited a month and for anything that involved what I would consider to be heavy weights I waited 3 months. I used some weights prior to that but definitely nothing that was even close to make me strain. At 3 months I started doing exercises that involved barbell movements again. Bench press I waited even longer for but I don’t really remember exactly when I picked that back up. Even at 3 months though I wasn’t trying to throw up any crazy 1 rep max type weight you know? Maybe I could’ve been but for me I felt like I could forego that for a while.

@cloudyhaze - I agree with the above post. Not likely that it’ll affect your staples at all. I will say however that in the area that I had that clump of dried blood I had longer lingering pain after the procedure and also my scar line is a bit thicker right there. Personally, I felt that exact area hurt a bit more during extraction. But that’s really all, nothing serious ended up coming from it! Just don’t hit it on anything!! Lol best of luck man

@FormerFutureKrillin - I see this both ways. I can certainly understand your feelings of frustration, particularly with the one noticeably weaker side. It would be a bummer to go through the whole process and to still feel the need for improvement and to not be able to style your hair the way that you'd like to. That said, I do agree with many of the other members saying that there is a very very significant improvement. And personally, based on the photos you've posted, I doubt if I was to meet you in person that I'd notice much in the way of thinning hair. But again, I do understand that it's more about how you feel about it and what you see in the mirror. One thing I would call out is that you and I are were in a relatively similar starting position. You received ~600 more grafts than me, but you also had your temples (above the temporal points) rebuilt. I just wonder if this is a bit of a case of too few grafts for too large of an area? It doesn't seem to me that only 600 grafts more would've been enough to rebuild that much of an area in your temples on both side. I think, if instead, you had those 600 additional grafts dispersed through your hairline, especially the weak side, it's possible that the outcome may have been different. Wish you the best of luck and keep your head up! You really do look very very very much improved!

Hey! Yeah it is wavier I suppose. Frankly I’ve never grown my hair out anywhere near long enough to find out. Cut to like a 6 on the sides max back in the day so who knows. I do have the same guess as you though. The wave and curl I do not mind. The wirey nature of the hair is all that I hope gets better and indeed has gotten better.

I can post some later on after I actually clean my hair haha! I have hat hair which actually very closely represents the scar being visible so wouldn’t want any unfair opinions. you want to see it just how it looks day today or hair pulled away so you can clearly see the scar? Or both?

Hi Everyone! wanted to share a little 1 year update since my procedure with Dr B. This will probably be the last time I update this thread (will respond to any questions or comments that people have though) so I will try to give a good update. I am also trying to organize going into Dr Bloxhams next week so that he can do one of his video updates - will post that here if it happens. MY RESULT Overall, I couldn’t be much happier with my outcome. For positives, I have a completely restored, natural looking hairline after just one procedure. I have all of my confidence back. I do not have to use toppik or any concealer at all. I go in the pool again. I actually hardly ever even style my hair now because it looks fine the way it is 😂. As you can see from previous posts, where I’ve come from to where I’ve landed is absolutely insane and, to me, almost unbelievable at times. The scar is invisible as long as I keep my hair at an appropriate length on the sides (which for me is a 3). I am able to get a low fade that looks perfectly “short” in my opinion. For “negatives” if you want to call it that, around the 9 month mark the texture of my hair became very wavy curly and on one side a bit more wiry feeling. I think we’ve all read that this can happen. I felt it was a bit strange that it happened so late, but I will say it seems to be improving in terms of that stiff feeling. I call this out as a “negative” only because 1) when I do try to style my hair it wants to bounce back pretty hard. Again this is improving and I am 0% worried about it. And 2) because everyone who has known me for 30 years know that I have straight hair everyone asks me how I’m getting my hair to be so wavy lol. To that I have no answer. Personally I actually like the added texture and if I care enough to use a hairdryer I can easily get it out. In the end I am super happy I went with Bloxham and I am completely content with my FUT decision. Would I be happier if I got the same outcome with FUE? Sure. But I did what I thought was best for my individual case and have no regrets about that. Below are pics of my hair today, unwashed for 2 days, unstyled, after wearing a hat.

Congrats man! Awesome result. So glad it worked out for you with Dr B and for myself. Thanks for your support along the way and all the best for the future with that pristine hairline!

Thank you all so much! Yeah I’m beyond happy - it’s insane how much this has changed things for me. Appearance aside - it’s such a weight lifted. It’s funny now I’m having to figure out what I want to do with my hair. I’ve never had options 😂

Hey congrats on booking your procedure! That’s a big deal in and of itself! 1) at least in my case we went over hairline design in the morning of the procedure. I made clear to Dr B that my main concern was density. I said I didn’t mind looking somewhat recessed in terms of angle or being a little higher with the hairline. He was of course happy to hear that I understood that should be the goal. He then drew on the hairline. When he drew it I felt the way it was meeting my natural hair in the middle was leaving a widows peak. So we discussed that and he said that he was positive it wouldn’t so we left it, and he was right. Otherwise I was pretty happy and there wasn’t much more to it. id say obviously don’t be afraid to advocate for yourself - he’s a real nice guy - but also remember he’s the expert that does this everyday so he does in reality know better than us. 2) you sign contracts the morning of before things get started. Other than that, the packet beforehand was all I had as well. Read those instructions for preparation and read through the forums to see what other surgeons recommend as well just to make sure you are 100% comfortable with how you’ve prepped.

I did ask this during my procedure. I was a little loose on the juice if you know what I’m saying but as I recall, the answer is no he is not doing procedures anymore.

@Chetman2112 good I’m glad that it can be helpful for someone 😀! I told my closest family members that I see frequently and would have no way of avoiding seeing in the phase of looking like an alien. As for friends, no I didn’t tell anyone. I essentially holed up until I was comfortable wearing a hat and then just did that for a few months til things looked good. That said, I also never let anyone see me at my worst like my original pic posted here - I always used toppik and that worked surprisingly well for me. People have definitely made comments to me about how nice my hair looks though.

Creeping up on 8 months now. Here is a pic in favorable lighting that shows you just how insanely good it can look. I really do just laugh out loud sometimes at how big the difference is between where I was and where I am. I could hardly be happier!

7th-ish Month Update: DAAAAAAAAMN SON. That is all.

hey @FormerFutureKrillin - definitely normal to be nervous during this phase I completely understand. I also had my procedure with Dr Bloxham - you could check my thread for reference if you want. Around 3.5 to 4 months I was feeling very nervous. I feel I was in a similar spot to you at that point. The hair could look good from certain angles but was definitely still completely lacking density, but then my lord from month 4 onward it was just getting better day by day. At month 5.5 I didn't think it could get any better honestly but it's kept going and I'm almost 7 months now. Personally, I got really nervous because I couldn't easily see any 'new' hairs poking through my scalp between the thin ones, but nonetheless the improvement kept on coming.

Yes there is no issue with the angle of the hair. But the hair shaft has a wave to it at the moment.

Haha thanks man, I agree!

@ht4me - not 100% sure how you mean but here is my best shot 😀. parting the hair is hard actually because it still has a coarser texture and doesn’t really stay the way I want without product. But hope this helps. My right hand side is definitely the weakest area, but keep in mind I was 100% bald in that region so where it could certainly be better it’s a huge improvement and when styled does not look weak at all

@Everyday_Platypus - back to the original question. I can't really comment on Dr. Wong because I haven't gone to him - and quite frankly most of the people in this thread talking trash on Bloxham probably do not have a firsthand personal experience with him either. I am a Dr Bloxham patient - you can look at my thread if you would like, but I'll also give you some thoughts here. I had a very good experience with Dr. Bloxham and his team. First I did an in person consult with Dr. Bloxham about a year ahead of time and asked him all of my questions to which he was very generous in explaining his answers and thoughts. He helped me to understand what his personal approach would be with the hairline and then what I should realistically expect from that. After that, I was pretty ready to go for a few reasons: Dr. Bloxham has very good results - you can find them on youtube (something most doctors are not doing) and you can find them on this forum. Yes, he also has some not so great results, but you really will not find a doctor who doesn't - it is not a 100% failproof procedure. The comment made before about how Bloxham only posts his good results is ridiculous because a) yeah of course and b) so does every other doctor and any other professional in any other profession. Dr. Bloxham practices what he preaches in terms of hairline design in younger patients. He creates a very natural looking MATURE hairline which is all I personally wanted. I'm 29 - I don't want an adolescent hairline. I live in NJ (you mentioned you are in NY) there are not THAT many reputable surgeons nearby and I wanted to be able to easily get home afterwards to rest in my own house not a hotel room. Though he is certainly on the pricier end of the FUT world, it is still a lot less than what I would've paid for an FUE of the same quantity unless I was to nearly pay the difference to fly to Turkey. I am realistic and know that with my age and family history, this is likely to be procedure 1 of 2 or maybe 3. So if it was one procedure, maybe I'd have been more inclined to FUE - but the idea of potentially spending 40 - 50k on my own vanity lifetime was not for me personally. I am 6 months post op now. I am incredibly happy with the result. At present I am wearing a fade up from a 2 to a 4 in the area of the scar and it cannot be seen. I do miss rocking a skin fade if I'm being honest, but I missed having a hairline more. The scar isn't even something that I think about at this point in time. I can't tell you it's meaningless to you, though. You have to consider what you will be okay with in terms of that. If you are cool with wearing your hair in the region of a #4 on the sides give or take, then the scar is not an issue. In either case FUT or FUE, if things don't work out and you decide to buzz your head you will have scarring. So yeah, overall, can't add much about Wong though obviously we all know his results look great. But Bloxham is also very good in my opinion.

Just adding more photos from today in a few different settings and angles. I am officially 6 months! You can see in the side view pic that under harsh lighting, the one side is clearly a bit weak, and yes I wish it was better but all in all I’m completely fine with it. It’s very easy to style my hair in a way that you can’t even see that if I really wanted to. Under more normal lighting like the other set of pics, it’s wonderful. I realized I didn’t leave any remarks about the scar last time. It is still pink at this point, but it no longer is bothering me at all. The semi uncomfortable tension did last for about 5 months (just on my right hand side) which was a bit longer than I thought. On the left side it is completely unnoticeable, a #4 comfortably covers it. Whereas a #4 on the right hand side you can see a trace of the scar. It’s not bad though more like hat hair than being clearly identifiable as a scar. I will post a pic around one year for that to give a nice long time for healing. I get why people opt for FUE to avoid that, and I will miss cutting my hair shorter on the sides, but to me it’s a small small price to pay and I personally still just view FUT as the more sure bet for a great result (not saying FUE is some huge gamble, this is just a personal comfort thing). And maybe in a year or two I’ll be able to go pretty low. If anyone has questions or anything feel free to reach out! I’ll keep updating this until @Melvin- Moderator congratulates me. That’s been my dream for a long time now 😂

Alright here we are about 5.5 months following my procedure. Good news - I'm super happy with it. Bad news - there really isn't any bad news. I'll post some pictures and share some thoughts as well about where I am. First the pics. These are immediately after the shower. 1st is wet hair slicked back. 2nd is dried hair from over-head (so you can see how things are in fact a bit immature/weak in that area based on the angle. 3rd is my hair dried with a bit of gel in it from face on view to show how I actually look to people I'm talking with (which I am INCREDIBLY happy with). So as everyone can see, this has been a massive improvement for my situation. Given that I am only 5.5 months, I expect I might see some more improvement over the coming months! I wanted to show the over head shot because I see a lot of people posting this same kind of picture going on about how their procedure has failed, but then they won't show a picture from a more normal angle to go with it. I will say I do think that I have had a little bit less than ideal growth in that weaker area (I only say that based on the high # of grafts which were placed there), but even with that in mind, it still looks fantastic front on. The biggest improvement for me though is not the cosmetic but the happiness that comes with it. It is incredible how freeing it feels to be out from under the weight of a receding hairline that had me down for so many years. All of the little things that are different now blow my mind every day. For instance, today I was out walking through the parking lot with some coworkers in heavy wind and I didn't even think about my hair. For the last 8 years I have viewed wind as my mortal enemy. I don't worry about my hair disappearing when I jump in a pool now. I don't worry about wearing a hat. I don't worry about taking a hat off and how that's going to look. I don't even have to use hair products. It's just nuts. I'll keep updating this thread all the way through a year just because I think it's important to share the whole journey, but yeah, I am just so pumped. Based on my result and my experience I would highly recommend Dr Bloxham. He's also the man.

@John1991 looks amazing man! Very happy for you! From what you’ve shared, it looks natural in all lightings and seems to blend in with your native hair seamlessly + great density.

4 month update: the last month brought some improvements. I really don’t know what to think. Looking at me straight on is actually pretty good at this point, as you’ll see in the pictures below. But from an overhead view, it’s still pretty bad. I’m just hoping that it thickens over the next few months. these pics are taken directly underneath of the light from a ceiling fan, so it is a harsh depiction to be sure but it’s just crazy to me how from one angle it looks great and from another it looks much less great! There are a lot of hairs in that area, it’s just that I do have a fine hair so I’m not sure how much maturation I’m really going to see.