DavidAnderson

Sorry to hear this. Your hair type with the curl should lead to a nice result. Do you have any placement shots straight after surgery?

My advice would be to contact the clinic that provided the surgery but if you have already done that and they said wait until 12 months then there is not much else you can do. You need to establish the cause of the lack of growth before having a second procedure if you can.

If things don't improve I would see a dermatologist specializing in hair and get a third party opinion to make sure your scalp is healthy. This might include a biopsy of the skin.

Good luck, you may just be a very late bloomer I hope so for your sake.

@David, I'd really love to strengthen the hairline (when sunlight is shining on it, you can see straight through the the scalp all over the top of my head, and you can easily shove a pinky finger through parts of my hairline without even touching another hair), fill in the crown, and not "lower" the hairline but not have the pizza-slice shape I have right now, have something a little straighter/with temples filled in.

 

See attached for a photo from today. But as I mentioned, this is with product, blowdryed, lots of magic I put into looking that full. If my hair was buzzed you'd be able to see much more clearly how thin it is.

 

@HT thanks for the info! How do you determine if someone's going to be a Norwood 6? What's your opinion on where I'm at now?

Hair looks great with the magic styling, is that with hair fibres of just with hair styling product? if that is just product then I would not transplant into the crown as you will only be likely to replace miniaturised hair for transplanted as I expect you have all the hair still there it is just that Propecia has prolonged the life all this time. If you had not been on the medication I expect you would have lost a great deal more hair by now.

To me to you are at that difficult stage for a transplant and I am not sure you should do anything just yet. To be safe I would consider adding density behind your existing hairline and not trying to follow the current shape.

By doing this you will hopefully take away that see through look further back into the scalp but by retaining a perfectly natural hairline for now. I could only see if this was possible in person.

Hair transplants for most are all about having to style to get the best possible look and won't look strong when wet or under bright light. You are currently doing ok when styled and I agree with HTsoon that you should hang fire all the time you can pull off a decent look which you are.

Are you looking to fill in the hairline and crown? do you have any dry photos from above?

I personally wouldn't do anything to the hairline as it is already quite low and you are setting yourself up for a huge area to cover should the hairline continue to thin. It also look great front on currently. It might be appropriate to do something to the crown depending on your donor but I would try to see all the 3 docs you have mentioned in person as they have great reputations for a reason.

Start of with seeing Dr Konior as I understand he will give you some very honest advice. You are a diffuse thinner as you say and need to be careful about shock loss when placing hairs among all that native hair.

Looks really great and the scar is not visible at that hair length. Really happy for you and thanks for sticking around to update us all.Enjoy the new hair!

I would echo what the others say that a transplant with your level of loss and limited donor hair is not going to provide a natural pattern of coverage and density. I would shave your head or look into SMP as KO suggests.

No it won't affect the newly transplanted hairs but you can expect to lose most/all of these vellus hairs after the surgery. Most people take the decision that the vellus hairs are not offering any cosmetic improvement so take that risk.

Are you using Propecia? You could make the argument that if on Propecia there is no need to be on Regaine if applying only to transplanted hairs. If you are not then I would continue with Regaine miniaturization can occur in your donor area now or in the future and Regaine might help with this.

Either way the worst thing you can do is be half hearted with it stopping and starting you have to commit if you want to get the best results. Stopping and starting can cause shedding.

Price seems reasonable if quoted in grafts and not just hairs. I would recommend seeing a few clinics in person for a consultation and getting a better feel for the clinic and also what your donor area is like, future loss pattern etc.

All the best.

Welcome to the forum. I am pleased to hear that you have been using Propecia for 18 months and Regaine for 2 months but do you think it has slowed down your loss or stopped it? How did it look 18 months ago before starting Propecia

You have a fairly advanced pattern of loss so it would be good to know that any Doctor is going be be working in a stable environment. I would consider restoring the frontal third working into the mid scalp and hope that meds are working for you to hold what is going on further back. You will need to keep grafts in reserve for further loss. I would see some Doctors in person for a consultation to assess donor density and miniaturization before taking the plunge.

KO,

Congratulations on your surgery with Dr Lupanzula I know you have done your research taken your time and have made a good decision. Looking forward like others to following your results.

Good growth to you.

I think the OP is right to go back to Dr Bisanga to give him the opportunity to address his issues. From what I have seen over the years in person and on the forums Dr Bisanga does excellent work and has great ethics too.

Hi Thomas123,

Our clinic has been mentioned here on a couple of occasions. I have been working with Dr Ball for nearly 7 months now and he does excellent FUE work and such attention to detail. He does all of the extractions himself. We have a one patient a day policy so you get the full attention of the Doctor without rushing from one patient to another.

I wish you all the best.

Congratulations on your recent procedure. It sounds like you went into this with your eyes wide open so I expect you will be satisfied. You mention large area of loss, limited fine hair donor and 2000 grafts have been spread over a large area.

Are you planning a second surgery to add further density into these areas or to work further back or was your plan to get a natural look with one surgery?

Hang in there haircharity. Sorry to see the amount of shock you have and realise how difficult it is for you to deal with right now. I have seen shock like this before from a difficult closure for it to all grow back again. It does take around 4-6 months on average. Please kep us updated.

Arrange consultations with both H&W and Dr Rahal the feel that you get at the consultation and the advice given will help you make up your mind. It might be a flight away but worth the effort to see both in person.

I think the OP's question as Bill answered is what is the average density does someone have not what is needed to achieve acceptable density.

Most patients have around 75-80 follicular units per cm2 in the donor area. This is of course average.

What is acceptable density to be placed depends on the patients hair characteristics and where you are placing the grafts.

Everyone has a different tolerance to pain but yes the first night can be quite painful however that will make good improvements in subsiding over the next few nights. Hang in there it will be worth it in the end.

How many surgeries have you had, one was with Dr Wong but the first FUT was with another Doctor?

There needs to be a good density of hair above the scar to be able to conceal it better so I expect you have been left better margins of hair quality above this would have been a deliberate decision. The position of the first scar will have a bearing on what the quality of the hair that you have left under your scar is like.

Good question. After working with both for 7 years there is no definitive answer as to who is better it comes down to personal choice and preference. Who did you have the consultation with when you visited the clinic as it is either one or the other?

I would also wait two weeks before any strenuous exercise. I gentle walk for an hour would be fine. I walked around Vancouver for hours the day after my FUT surgery but by the end of it is was ready to have a lie down.

I would say walking an hour after 3-5 days would be fine for running I would wait the two weeks. Just take it easy for the first couple of times.

The honest answer is people cope with the pain differently some patients think it is a relaxing day watching TV and have no issues. The pain I felt during the procedure was just the injections which are painful like a bee sting but are over in minutes. Some patients start to feel pain towards the end of a long procedure and need more numbing.

After surgery just make sure you take the painkillers, it will feel sore for the first few days around the scar so don't try to be brave. Having been through it 5 times I would not have concerns about going through it again if needed.

It is normal for the density around the scar to be reduced slightly depending on the width of the strip taken and the stretch involved. After multiple sessions it will become more apparent.

I would normally not advise lowering a hairline further but in your case I can see why you would want to do something as it is higher one side than the other and needs softening. You need to find a talented Doctor who can provide you with a soft natural looking hairline. I haven't read through all the thread but you had FUT last time?

You need to find a Doctor that can search out some soft hairs with FUE for the hairline as it appears you have coarse hair in the occipital zone where the strip is taken that and the design is working against you.

Try to do some in person consultations so you are on the same page as the Doctor before committing to surgery.

In most cases a clinic will suggest leaving the hair longer in the donor area so the patient can hide the scar post op. Some patients trim the donor once the stitches/staples are out to try to adjust the balance from the sides the top, most do this trying to cover the scar from my experience.

Not many patients are happy walking around with a visible donor scar. Some shave the donor to make it easier to extract the strip and can hide under a hat until it has all grown out but again these are more of an exception and most need to get back to work without obvious signs that they have had surgery.

Thanks for the excellent write up Post Doc and I am glad to hear you had a good experience with all at The Maitland Clinic. I look forward to following your progress.

PS we have ordered new neck pillows now.