azakdan2682

Going through it right now (1.5 months post op)

Everyone sheds. Some don't shed a lot, but most people shed most of their planted hair and also some pre-existing hair due to shock from surgery. As for me, I have a little shock loss at my donor area as well as at my recipient area where I had some thinning. You can expect some redness at the recipient area during this time.

 

Everyone goes through this. I haven't seen a case yet where the patient didn't experience any redness or any shedding of the transplanted hair. If you are going to get an HT, you will have a head that has hair strands of various lengths and thicknesses sticking out during the first few months, no escaping that.

I am mostly concered of the redness, if it's going to cause me any troubles at work.

Shaved down with a hairline and shaved down with no hairline aren't even close to the same thing. So someone may like how he looks shaved currently, but won't as his hair loss progresses.

 

I shaved my head for years (#1 guard or even shorter) before experiencing significant hair loss and it looks terrible with no hairline.

 

So you can't save money by shaving your head. Hair growth is just as important to looking good with a shaved head as it is to looking good with long hair.

I agree having the hairline and shadow of a full head of hair makes all the difference in the world with a buzz cut. Granted some people do look just fine without any hair, I am not one of those.

I had over 5,000 grafts moved in 2012. I had an additional 2,000 done in January of 2015. This picture may be helpful. I have blonde hair and this picture was taken of my left donor area the morning of my second surgery. I would estimate that about 1,750 grafts were removed from this donor area in 2012. A (0.8mm) punch was used to remove the grafts.

Look good, blends well, I can't tell really, I see tiny white sits because I am looking.

Awesome, one heck of a transformation, thanks for the 5 yr update.

I have read about this stage in several users experiences. It seem that during the recovery process most people loss the hair that is grafted initially and also can loss some native hair due to shock loss. Does this occur in all cases or is it more of a random event? Is it a bad sign if the implanted hairs do not fall out? Personally I am not too worried about the ugly duckling stage aside from residual pickness/redness from the implants. I have shaved/buzzed my head for an 8 month period in the path to a very low grade, so it is something I would be able to not see as too big of a deal, but I am interested if this stage is something that everyone experiences.

Thank you for the information Dr. Is there a certain color of skin/hair that is has a higher chance of scarring or is more noticeable? I have lighter skin and blonde hair. Personally I have shaved my head, all the way down to a bic razor and it was not for me. I like it when it is around 1.5 - 2 grade. I am just thinking very long term if I do decide to go ahead with this procedure, if I would have to buzz it in the future to balance it out.

Just something out of curosity if futher loss is exp. I would always like to keep the option open of buzzing my head down to a low grade. Would the little pinhead scars be noticeable? Does a transplanted hairline on buzz cut look weird? I actually look pretty good with a buzz cut when I had the hairline, but it look weird when the hairline is recessed. Any thoughts to this?

Well, I have been wearing for 20 years, I know for sure that i'm not planning to stop, i'm 48 years old, so I know exactly where i'm going for, I have gaveup on many things in my life to be able to wear the system without let anyone know im wearing, this is something I always wanted to do, my question is just if it would be possible to do this due to my poor donor area, and actually just take graft by graft from the back and transfer it to the hairline,

 

So, does it possible to take 2500-3000 grafts according to my picture?

 

Thanks!

Any photos with cap on? I am just curious how they look. What did you have to give up on to keep it hidden?

If you are looking to get both areas done it is likely going to take multiple surgeries and may not be able to do it all in one year. It is certainly possible from what I have gathered. May want to look into a product called adenogen. It is like minox, just no side affects. I am not sure if it would help the crown now since it is pretty much bald, but could help other thinning areas. Your hairline looks intact, just need to do some density packing.

even better, distance shouldn't be a deterrent, as others have touched on it's a minor inconvenience. If there is a better ht to be had elsewhere then don't be afraid to travel. That said, if you can find one of the best and he's in your backyard it's a no brainer to at least meet him and see how you like him. I went to Dr Hasson for that reason, same city but ultimately I will have to travel as the way they handle fue at their clinic didn't work for me. Diep is the leader on my short list at the moment. Had to pass on Konior, waiting list was too long but you may be more patient than I am.

Yeah I looked at Hasson and Rahal as well, but the FUE does not seem to be their strong points. I think they both would do a fine job, but I wanted to find someone who specializes in it and I have seen very impressive hairlines by Diep. I am set on FUE as I am in the military and need to be able to keep my hair short.

I wanted to throw in a couple of photos showing what my hair looked like about three years before my first hair transplant. After the first hair transplant, I lost most of the frontal forelock due to discontinuing minoxidil and likely further MPB progression.

Wow, how many graphs was your first HT? That was certainly a success.

edit: Disregard, saw the title lol.

Minoxidil was clearly causing a negative impact on my skin. My main concern was the bloating it caused. I also saw that the skin around my forehead became looser and wrinkled more. I looked at the side effects and balanced it against the growth I had. The growth created some coverage, but the hairs that grew were thin and wispy. I did not want to continue using minoxidil for the rest of my life just to keep some hair that was visibly unhealthy and, on top of that, deal with my skin problems which seemed to have been getting worse every time I analyzed my face.

 

After I quit, I saw my face become so much healthier looking. I was left with much thinnner hair right behind my hairline, but it didn't bother me much because I had the second procedure just a couple of months after the shed.

May want to look into a product called adenogen. Japan makes it, it is like minox, but without the harsh side effects, from what I have researched and experienced. Since you have such good hair now, may not need a topical.

Thanks for the update. I live in the Phoenix area myself and have been looking at his work, this is inspiring me.

TSA should let you through without any problem with a simple doctor's note. The state where you live should not be the deciding factor on which US doctor is best for FUE.

I am certainly aware. But with my research, I have come to the same conclusions amongst those 2 doctors, so why would I not pick the one whom is closer?

In the US, for my money its Diep or Konior.

That's what I have been coming up with in research too, Diep is about 10 he drive from me, so I may go down that route, would not have to deal with the awkward airport security after surgery.

I dont understand, you had a good hairline already and you wanted to get crown work, but you ended up doing the front instead? Why would he not go with your wishes?

Is there any consensus on who are the best FUE surgeons in the US? I decided to go with FUE, just not sure who with yet. I feel that quality is far more important then saving a few grand.

Thanks for sharing your pictures and experience. I have a question. Is the no-shave option in the donor area always available? Do the consultation say anything about having better or worse results with shave versus no shave. I imagine you have go undected due to the current hair covering your hairline. My hairline is slighty worse and slighty thinnger, but I feel I could get away with doing the same thing.

Looks great, can't even tell you had surgery, inspiring me to get FUE some as well, since I am in the military, I don't want to risk scarring and prolong healing time. Did to get grafts on your crown as well?

Is it low self esteem to look after your teeth & visit the dentist?

 

Is it low self esteem to go to the gym & exercise for a healthy body?

 

Unfortunately with hair, for those of us that take pride in our appearance & want to look good, sometimes the only solution is surgery which many in the general public consider quite radical.

This, plus society looks down and mocks people with hairloss. I can think of the amount of negative comments or disrespects I have had because of it, not to mention how women see me as less attractive because of it. This isn't a self-esteem problem, it is a real thing that anyone going through it would Exp, I sadly always wished the ppl who made the most comments about my hairloss would have it happen to them, just so they would know what it is like.

Well my biggest concern is scarring and us why I am choosing FUE. I just want to have the option of shaving my head if it goes down that way in the future, if a transplant gave me good coverage for another 10-15 years, I say it would be worth it, ESP if I can enjoy a great hairline and a mostly full head of hair for some time, as I have not had that since a very young age. I have noticed that people bald weird regardless and have seen guys that have a perfect hairline, but bald from the back to the front, which is what I would imagine what it would look like if hair continued to bald in non transplanted areas. I think that yes, dut is currently working for me in slowing down balding to a crawl, I guess I'm more afraid of hitting a dramatic loss if it just starts to stop working and then having nothing but implanted hair while I'm still in my 30s. I tried the bald thing for a bit and I hated it, if I liked it, I would probably be ok, I had girls into me still, but I couldn't get over what I saw in the mirror.

Certainly seeing improvement in the hairline, it's early too.

FUE is a nonscar procedure and it will also take less time to heal so before you are deployed and if you have a couple of weeks time you can get this procedure done or when you are back from deployment get it then. Better to get done after deployment

It is tempting, I could take off like 3 weeks before leaving, but I just don't want to risk having something mess up, very very unlikely but still a tiny risk. When I get back I won't be eligible to deploy for some time, so probably best bet. I wld rather do it when deployed because I could just keep shaving my head to a low grade and start letting it grow back in the last few months.

Yes after three weeks of one can resume physical activity because the wounds have healed by then. Also even if you keep your hair very short on the back of the scalp in less than three months the scar will not visible. The stitch line are so thin that even a close hair cut will not reveal it.

I am planning on getting FUE because of being in the military. Looks like I am getting deployed now the time frame I was looking at before, have to wait till I get back, at least I will make the money to pay for it up front on the deployment so that is great.

Well thats the million dollar question! Of course you could continue to lose hair, having made the switch to Avodart is probably a pretty good move as in thats probably about the best you can do to prevent other future loss.

First, getting with an experienced transplant surgeon would be great..there are obviously many qualified ones on this site! You could not have come to a better place for information. You and your surgeon will be able to line a plan up for you….but to answer your question, YES its possible you will have to have another surgery….

my case for example..

18 yo - 50 micrografts ( 1992 )

19 yo - 500 micrografts ( 1993 ) these two were mistakes by me but I was 18 and losing my hair in my crown,,,

38 yo - 4800 grafts ( 2012 ) Dr Rahal---and this is the best my hair has looked since I was 22.

 

Will I ever need another one? Its always possible….hope that helps..

Thanks, Dr Rahal is who I am looking at as well. I am looking at FUE, due to being in the military and would need to return to physical training within 3 weeks time frame. Aside from that, I still have rogaine to try out. Thanks for the input.