iq732

Sorry... I just saw this post! I'm using Photoshop and some elbow Google Image search grease. Find a hair style you like then take a photo of yourself at the same angle as a starting point.

 

FYI, I just took my 4 month photos and will organize them for posting soon. Before and after my first profession haircut in years.

Thanks redcut. Looking forward to your update pics.

Thanks. And I'll take your advice about the airport pillow. I happen to have one.

 

And you were able to wear a hat the next day, correct? Just want to cover everything and go about the next couple days without anyone noticing.

No worries. I wore a Hurley dry fit adjustable baseball cap. Concealed it perfectly the next day as a flew back home.

Look great so far.

 

I'm seeing him this Thursday.

Crown area and my past fut scar line, like you did.

 

Question... Does he put tape on the grafts he places on the fut scar line so they don't fall out?

 

And... Just curious... Why didn't you go for the 2500 grafts or 3000? He does up to that much in one day. Why the odd number of grafts from you?

Thanks Etown...no he didn't put tape on the grafts to keep them on. He put hard cotton balls on top and below the scar repair with the gauze covering it just for protection when you sleep. The night after I rolled a towel into a U shape and slept with that around my neck so my FUT scar wouldn't rest directly on the pillow. I suggest buying an "airport" U shape pillow to sleep on. I bought one at the airport on my way home and it definitely served me well for a few days until I felt comfortable sleeping on my back and FUT repair scar on the pillow.

I was originally planned for 2250 grafts. This was the recommendation I received from a Dr. here in Los Gatos, CA and also what Dr. Nader suggested. For the hairline and added density was to be 2000 grafts and 250 grafts for the FUT scar repair. He ended up doing about 271 grafts for the FUT scar repair with the rest, 2000, as planned. Good luck with your trip!

Took a few shots tonight ahead of my 10 week update tomorrow. Skin is still a little pink in the recipient area but lots of tiny hairs starting to sprout.

It's especially visible in the corners. Let me know if there are any questions.

Hi - please share who was the Dr that performed your procedure. Thanks and looks good!

So far so good. Thought I was one of the few that wouldn't get as much shock loss but I was wrong. Definitely went through it but now the baby hairs are starting to come out. Recipient area is still pink especially after a shower. Donor area is fully healed and I'm getting pimples all over the place which I believe is a good sign, hair is starting to sprout.

I am now one month after a hair transplant. My scalp is still pink and healing. What can i put on it that will heal it without the possibility of damaging grafts? I have a bottle of aloe vera gel that i am debating using. Thanks to all who take the time to respond. I apply all the feedback I get and follow recommendations, so thank you!

Simple answer is you should follow what your physician recommended. As for my own experience, I used aloe vera gel and sprayed saline solution.

Hi All,

 

I had a 2,500 graft procedure with Dr. Vories focused on my hairline, midscalp and FUT scar concealment on September 18th, 2015. You can follow my progress in the thread linked in my signature below. I decided to create another thread specifically for my 1 year results. Since my procedure, I have been on .25/mg Propecia every other day (every day since last month) and Kirkland Minoxidil at least 1x/day.

 

My pictures below are in the following order:

 

1) Pre-op, before any transplants with Dr. True and Dr. Vories (first 3)

2) Pre-op pics before Dr. Vories and 3 years after Dr. True (next 3)

3) Immediate post-op with Dr. Vories (next 3)

3) 1 year progress (last 6)

 

I notice a little inconsistency in the density in my hairline (left side denser than right) but not too noticeable. Overall, I am happy. Please provide your feedback, thanks!

Great results hairlosscpa. Congrats!

Widows Peak, feel free to disagree. Its just an opinion. My point is that if you have to choose your doc based on price, you could be setting yourself up for failure. The price of the surgeons often come.based on supply and demand. If there is a high demand for a doc, their prices tend to go up. The demand rises with displayed skills, marketing, and happy patients over a period of time that are visible to the public through websites like HTN.

 

Your results look good. I'm not saying that you have to pay that top rate, I'm saying that it is risky to shop with price being the top vetting issue.

 

OP, just search the word TOP in the search function in titles only on this site and you will see a bunch of threads on the subject.

Spank - totally agree with you that this type of decision should not be based primarily on price. Cosmetic surgery, for some of us that care about how we look, should not really factor cost as a decision maker in the process although with the prevalence of HT and the advance techniques it definitely becomes a small part of it. I have had 3 HTs myself and the first 2 (Elliot & True and Bosley) totaling about $25K and then my third with Dr Nader who had a more advanced technique and imo was more artistic about the procedure only cost me less than $5K. I did my research before Dr Nader. I reached out to folks on this forum and actually consulted with a local SF Bay Area Dr that is highly recommended on this forum and for what I received with Dr Nader, I would have had to shell out $16K. $14K for FUT scar repair, hairline definition and density with another $2K for temples. I actually paid him $1K to hold my date of surgery but backed out after I decided with Nader.

I personally think there's too many dynamics that can lead to a good HT result vs bad. I've read too many unsatisfied stories with patients coming from the so called "coalition" recommended Dr's. For me it came down to the patients I traded emails with and their results from Dr Nader and the experience I received through the process that would make me recommend him today. The results I'm getting are on par if not better than some of the guys here posting their results with the same number of grafts. I would say do your homework and keep your mind open to it. Not every great HT Dr will reside in Europe or Turkey nor will a HT necessarily cost you <$15K in the US to get one.

I agree i think this will turn out great iq732.

 

I'm going back to nader for more in December. The 2000 fue grafts i received can totally stand on their own but i have hair greed and want more haha. I just had a friend cut my hair tonight and they have no clue i had anything done to my hair. They remarked how nice my hair is....well 18 months ago i had no real hairline and a big ol' forehead haha. So it feels good and Dr. Nader is awesome!

Good for you aWP. Thanks for the feedback!

At only 6 weeks it already looks like you have a home run.

 

I'm looking forward to my touch-up, Dr Nader really makes it a comfortable stay. No exact date set yet, most likely January. I better not make anymore positive remarks or I'll be accused of being a Nader shill again...Lol

lol, thanks MrMatt. As I wrote this review, I was thinking just that. Hopefully this will help someone like me before I made the decision to go with Nader.

I wanted to post my FUE experience with Dr. Nader on its own thread. As I got used to reading/posting on this forum and realized I may have highjacked others' post to discuss my own experience with my FUE procedure with Dr. Nader. For that, I do apologize.

Here's my original post and subsequent update. My surgery date was 8/2/16. I'm also including an update to where I am today which is 6 weeks post op.

I just came back from my FUE procedure with Dr. Nader and it's true what everyone says, it was a great experience. I had 2271 grafts placed in the order of priority, 251 went to cover previous FUT scar, 1200 went to defining my hairline and the rest to add density throughout the front to the mid section. Dr. Nader is the guru of hair transplant. As for all the complaints here about him not responding to any emails, he showed me 3K emails he's received over the last few days. He's really trying to get to it as best as he can. He also mentioned that if he doesn't respond in a few days, resend the email to bump it up. I used this method and got my appointment set with 2 months in advance (scheduled late May for Aug 2nd procedure). I will be posting progress pics in the next week for pre, post and one week after. By the way, Dr. Nader made it very clear this is more a passion than a business so he's not really looking to go big time like some Dr's here in the U.S. although it seems his reputation is reaching that level.

I thought I'd post some pre, post and 3 day pics. I'm using an iPhone to take the pics so hopefully the resolution comes out OK. If you have any questions, please feel free to respond or PM me directly. I'm a Norwood II with thinning right on top. Again, my order of priority were:

1. Cover my previous FUT scar (this was done through 2 surgeries 10+ years ago by Elliot & True and Bosley Medical)

2. Define my weak hairline.

3. Add density from front to the mid section of my head.

Over the past few years my hair has been receding at a noticeable rate. I’m now 45 and spotted the start of it back in my late teens. It was very slow back then however.

 

I started seeing a big enough change about 10 years ago prompting me to change my hair style from combing back to combing forward. I also kept it short. I said I’d never consider anything radical and let nature take its course. Everyone in my family says its okay you look fine. My paternal grandfather had a full head of hair. My material grandfather was bald with nothing less than a Norwood 5a. I’m somewhere around a Norwood 3-4.

 

The only mainstream radical solution in the early 2000s was to do FUT. I didn’t want this because the scar it would leave. Plus I thought some day I’d just shave my head if needed.

 

A few years ago I realized I couldn’t have a clean shaved head. I have this small benign skin condition that sometimes produces random dry bumps. Right now I probably have a couple dozen on my body, but no one would know it because they’re hard to see. I know they’re there however. They started to appear under my hairline, stick around for a few weeks, and then disappear. I forget the scientific name because there’s a family of them – it could be seborrheic keratosis.

 

When I realized I was getting these on my already enormous XL skull it would look like a small moon with impact points all around it. This prompted me to look into hair treatment again. To my surprise FUE had become more widely practiced. This was growing in popularity because it leaves no scars!

 

I spent a couple years researching this. Trying to understand what I would do if I wanted to do it. I absolutely did not want to look like a doll head with plugs.

 

While this was going on, I started to keep my hair almost crew cut. It was only noticeable if I let it grow out (thicker vs. thinner patches). I started wearing ballcaps all the time. Once in awhile I wouldn’t and people at work would stare at me, sometimes saying “Hey you look… different without your hat on.“

 

This was just of many things that started making me depressed. I felt like I was losing my identity. When I walked into a room for years and years, it was sometimes "Hey it’s that tall guy.” It was typically however “Hey, it’s that redhead guy.” My mental image of myself was not who I saw in the mirror every day.

 

For a long time I didn’t do anything because of the vanity factor and the cost. My family is conservative. Every bit of money I get usually goes forward into some savings or investment. This would be completely opposite of that… doing something about my head.

 

Still it was depressing. Every day became a “bad hair day”. Did I want to live out the rest of my life as a bad hair day? Waking up with a poor image of your physical self can affect the rest of your day. And then never having any way to express myself through a hair style -- to look different from a day of hiking vs. a day in a suit at a special event. It would always be the same short as short can be cut with no style.

 

It’s like being told you have all these fancy clothes… dresses, pants, jeans, skirts, shorts… and one day you realize all you can wear for the rest of your life is that one tan pair of shorts. That’s it.

 

I looked up doctors across the whole world. I found their before & after shots. How much they’d cost. How much the recovery time was. I kept this all to myself and didn’t tell anyone. Well I did tell my wife somewhat. I was depressed a lot and I told her why… I felt I was losing my identity and choices. I didn’t look like who I always knew myself to be and there was nothing to do about it.

 

I found 3-4 possible doctors. These doctors were not your flashy California guys… these were some of the top doctors on the planet.

 

BTW, while looking I realized a ton of people have supplemental procedures to maintain their head of hair. The only ones I can quote are famous people because they’re the ones with the most photos on the web. Actors catch receding hairlines early so no one notices. People that have had them you know: Matthew McConaughey, Elon Musk, Gordon Ramsey, there’s more than you’d think.

 

I knew I was going to be selling my house soon, so I rationalized the money it would take for the procedure like winning the lottery and not rolling all the money back into re-investment or savings.

 

With the house sold, I paid off existing debt, gave a 3rd to my wife to do whatever she wanted with it (which included paying off her debt), put the other third into Savings. What remained was my small Easter Egg guilt-free.

 

Some would tell me to invest it right away to my retirement fund. Would I rather be happy retiring 5-10 years earlier because I had good savings and living every day from now as a “bad hair day” or would I want to make my life better now… while I’m still relatively young? I could enjoy the next twenty years or more with a variety of options, style, and even the different sensations accompanied with hair length.

 

I found a few doctors. They weren’t as expensive as ones in the US because they were in Europe. I told my wife I wanted to look into this. She was always a little resistant. Didn’t want me to waste the money on something that she though might not make me happy in the end. However she has had hair problems herself so she could sympathize.

 

I had to rule out doctors in Turkey because of the conflict in the surrounding countries. So I looked at Feriduni in Belgium and Lorenzo in Madrid. Feriduni was a bit more expensive while Lorenzo documented everything with his patients. So I could see dozens of before & after. Video too, not just photos. His results were what I wanted.

 

To make sure I was doing the right thing, I made an appointment with a fairly good doctor in the Bay Area. The consult said the procedure would cost $14k for 1500-2000 grafts. This implied two procedures for a 4000 graft result – the second one a year later (and more money). Plus there was no guarantee of the quality because I have yet to see as many examples as Lorenzo has.

 

I decided a year ago to put the plan into motion with Lorenzo. Reading more about him I realized he was one of the leading doctors using the FUE technique. He yields a vastly higher count of grafts, double what the California doctor said she could do. Plus the cost of procedures with him drops the more grafts you need and stays that way if you return to him years later.

 

A year ago I doubled down on supplements and took Minoxidil for the back of my head and a Finasteride pill daily (Propecia). I was aware of the side affects. I needed to know if it did anything for a year to help me decided if I was going to Madrid.

 

BTW, I didn’t know for sure if I was going to Madrid until I stepped on that plane last week. I felt like my wife was trying to indirectly tell me to not do it. It was yet another way I felt isolated.

 

I prepared everything by myself to fly across the world. I also had to calm my wife’s nerves about my flight blowing up or terrorists taking over a city. I arranged for a new passport with a Global Entry pass (a detailed background check on me to prove I’m not evil which lets me skip some security lines). I would be going to a country where I know no one and can’t speak their language (I want to learn Spanish and have tried. It’s been difficult to find a daily reoccurrence with my current job situation though).

 

All in all… I think I went way out of my comfort zone to make a change in my personal life.

 

 

ATTACHED PHOTOS

 

• Me in 2015
  
• My younger years
  
• My desired goal (one can dream!)
  

 

 

I kept this goal photo on my phone for a year and looked at it whenever I had to make any decisions around this procedure.

Hey redcut - what app are you using to get your desired goal hairstyle pic? Is that just photoshop?

bsass - Dr Nader responded to me after 2 days back in May. I am now 6 weeks post my FUE procedure with him. My email subject to him was:

RE: Santa Clara, California interested in FUE procedure for 2250 Grafts

Emailed him 5/5/16 and he responded 5/7/16. I think he gets a lot of members here that email him wanting to validate his work without any real interest in getting a procedure done. This wastes a lot of time. He fields thousands of emails a day. The more you be proactive you are about your interest in getting a procedure, the more likelihood and chances you'll get a response. My .02 cents.

Happy researching!

Hair looking nice MrMatt!

Wow...

 

Iq732 how come results already? Seems like you haven't lost much due to shedding. Looks amazing.

 

My last HT I looked like crap till the 4 month mark.

 

How's the back looking? I know you filled up your FUT scar, and i plan to do the same

hey etown - yeah, I probably had less than a hand full of shock loss to date. Probably mostly from the donor area. As you can see the hairline is still reddish. I've had a few customer meetings starting this week and I used "couvre" to conceal and blend in the coloring. The transplanted hair pretty much grew from the get go however the hair is growing in all directions. Here's a pic of my back albeit not very good. trying to take the pic with a mirror in front of me.

Hey etown - good luck with your procedure in October. I'm sure your pumped and can't wait. Here's my 24 days post op from Dr. Nader -

Hey MrMatt - curious about an update as well. I'm close to 4 weeks myself post Dr. Nader FUE. Couldn't be happier with my results. It'd be great to see how others are doing.

Hi kkgm07 - just curious if you have updated pics. Want to see how it looks now after 7+ mos. I'm about 3 1/2 weeks myself post FUE with Dr. Nader.

hey ontop - go get a ht and stay relevant, otherwise leave this thread alone for people that actually want information.

Thanks pidds and etownone. Forgot to mention that I live about 15 mins away from Dr. John Diep. I did consult with him and he diagramed everything on my scalp as to what the coverage will be based on my priorities. The consclusion was the same as what Dr Nader designed and actually did. Of course, I paid 30% of what Dr J Diep had quoted me. I believe both Dr's are gifted in their technique and artistry but the biggest differentiator for me was the cost, as I'm sure with everyone else who does research online for this procedure.

etownone - good luck and you won't be disappointed!

I thought I'd post some pre, post and 3 day pics. I'm using an iPhone to take the pics so hopefully the resolution comes out OK. If you have any questions, please feel free to respond or PM me directly. I'm a Norwood II with thinning right on top. Again, my order of priority were:

1. Cover my previous FUT scar (this was done through 2 surgeries 10+ years ago by Elliot & True and Bosley Medical)

2. Define my weak hairline.

3. Add density from front to the mid section of my head.

Below are the pics

Here here, great write up pidds. You wrote everything I wanted to say in response to mikeyhwk's question. I'm really just writing my experience here because this is also where I picked up most of the reviews about Dr. Nader. I figured this might help someone make that decision easier by hearing from someone first hand who went through the process. I'll also post progress pics starting my 7th day so there will be something to compare to from pre, post, 3 days and 7 days.

Happy Growing!

Gents - just came back from my FUE procedure with Dr. Nader and it's true what everyone says, it was a great experience. I had 2271 grafts placed in the order of priority, 251 went to cover previous FUT scar, 1200 went to defining my hairline and the rest to add density throughout the front to the mid section. Dr. Nader is the guru of hair transplant. As for all the complaints here about him not responding to any emails, he showed me 3K emails he's received over the last few days. He's really trying to get to it as best as he can. He also mentioned that if he doesn't respond in a few days, resend the email to bump it up. I used this method and got my appointment set with 2 months in advance (scheduled late May for Aug 2nd procedure). I will be posting progress pics in the next week for pre, post and one week after. By the way, Dr. Nader made it very clear this is more a passion than a business so he's not really looking to go big time like some Dr's here in the U.S. although it seems his reputation is reaching that level.

I'm schedule for a procedure with Dr. Nader first week of August. I'll provide a detailed account and pictures throughout the progress.