BDK081522

@MagnificentAl I wouldn't worry too much about the pain that @jimcraig152 is describing. I've had procedures with both surgeons and can tell you firsthand there was no notable pain a couple days after Konior's surgery. His donor sites are done so meticulously that there's no unnecessary trauma. Your donor and recipient will itch like crazy in the coming days/weeks while it's healing but I wouldn't classify it as pain. I just kept spraying the itchy areas with saline. That temporarily alleviates the itching but it comes back rather quickly. The swelling was pretty atrocious with both but only lasted a few days. Massage laterally and ice and you'll be good.

The work looks great. If it was anyone other than Konior I might think that 1500 would be on the light side for the area covered. But we all know he makes grafts go further with some intraoperative wizardry. With your coarse hair caliber I'm sure you'll have a great result. Thanks for posting your journey. Looking forward to following!

So you're saying that Eugenix who is an excellent and very reputable lower cost clinic in the world, who produces great results, has mediocre cases on African American hair, right? You're not impressed with their results on your particular hair type, which happens to be one of the hardest to harvest and has a high transection rate. Yet you think a cheap Turkish hairmill with unlicensed techs doing the extraction will give you a better result? That's insanity man. Please don't do that. You'll regret it for the rest of your life.

It's illegal in the US for unlicensed techs to score the skin. So, they aren't allowed to remove grafts or make incisions. If this is true in your case that the surgeon didn't perform these parts of the operation, then you should report it to the state medical board and they should file a medical malpractice lawsuit against the clinic. The United States is not Turkey despite the surgeon being from there.

I'm sure he took many factors into account including donor capacity, pattern of loss, and age. If the patient was 23 I might agree about his youth but at 33 his pattern of loss is becoming more apparent. He's an ethical surgeon and plans for the future. Most guys on this forum would never be able to get this result because most guys don't have this minimal loss, graft thickness, or donor capacity that this patient does. It's a skill to tailor your surgical plan to each individual patient that not all hair restoration surgeons excel at. Dr Konior certainly does and must have deemed this patient as a good candidate for a dense restoration at this level.

Yes this is referring only to the donor area. There is no difference in the two techniques after the extractions. The implantation of grafts is the same and both will look better with longer hair in the recipient area.

If you keep your hair at a 2/3 gaurd on top with a 0/1 fade on the sides you should definitely reconsider hair transplantation. Most if not all transplants need some length to camoflouge non-native density. Hair transplants can never achieve native density before any hair loss. They use a layering effect to create the illusion of density. This works better when the hair is longer on top. If your mind is made up on restoring your hairline then I would recommend changing your hairstyle from the buzzcut. Especially if you're going to Diep. He recently has been transplanting in rows and his angles are less acute than other surgeons. This will look especially telling with short hairstyles. Also, he uses larger punches for extraction and limits his extraction to one side of your head on smaller cases. This might be hard to camouflage with a 0/1 gaurd and the scars might show. Be very careful with your decision as this will effect your appearance for the rest of your life.

Based on your recent pictures it is highly unadvisable to transplant into your crown first. We understand this bothers you more than anything but you need to take our advice and avoid this plan. If you're seeking consults from Konior, Bloxham, or H&W I'm sure they will advise you to start with a very conservative hairline to frame your face. You'll get good density and they will transplant into a gradient going backwards to midscalp. Your crown probably won't be able to get touched in the first surgery. Eventually it will have to be a thin crown with some coverage but low density. You're young with aggressive loss and not on finasteride. This is a recipe for disaster in the hair transplant world. You're headed to a 6/7 so you have to be smart. If you went with a plan as you're suggesting then you would have a full crown and midscalp with nothing left for a hairline. The crown can potentially eat up an astronomical amount of grafts so you could run out before getting to the hairline. Also, you never transplant body hair into a hairline as it is not very natural looking. Your hairline will eventually go and to have a full dense crown with nothing in front would look unnatural. All Norwood 6/7 have lost the hairline and usually lose temple points along with crown. Just take the advice of these respected surgeons and you'll be okay.

Dr Raymond Konior. Chicago Hair Institute. There's not much else to say. If you have the money he is your best option. He will divise a plan for the long term and give you an excellent restoration. Like others have mentioned it's better to start in the front and work backwards.

The new format looks great but I'm getting a blank screen when hitting the menu button. Anyone else mention having this issue?

Honestly, chalk up the $1000 deposit to research purposes and switch to Hasson. Remember, you only get one donor so if Diep implants in the cornrow grid-like pattern and you are unhappy with the result, then you have to have a repair. Thus, spending way more than the initial deposit but more importantly using more grafts unnecessarily that could have been used if you need more work in the future to due MPB progression. Read through the recent comments on Diep threads and that should highlight why many are unhappy with his work and some even with his ethics.

You don't lose hair in this pattern or any pattern for that matter by styling your hair a certain way. Sure, constantly straightening it may damage the actual hair but it doesn't affect the follicle. When that hair goes through its normal cycle it grows back as strong terminal hair. You have male pattern baldness and it will continue without intervention. I know it seems crazy to think but it's all genetic and you have no control over whether you're DHT sensitive follicles genetic code gets turned on. We're not trying to scare you but take the advice of everyone here and see a dermatologist. Denial will do nothing but delay you from starting medical therapy thereby facilitating the loss quicker.

@hybonix I think you have made a well informed decision. This is a change that will alter your appearance for the rest of your life. If you can get it right the first time, that is an exceptional feat in this industry. You've come to the right place and are doing your research. That is commendable in my opinion. Dr. Diep is a lightening rod on this forum and for good reason. His older results dating back 3 or more years seem to be more desirable. He wasn't implanting in such defined rows back then. There was still a pattern but his density could usually disguise it well enough. I would definitely disagree with the comment about his artistic approach to hairline design in this thread. He does almost the exact same hairline on every non-african patient. Pointed in the center with receding arches towards the temples with a weak temple closure. There's not much artistry in that but that doesn't mean it isn't appealing. It does suite many patients and is generally viewed as a solid design. With that being said he generally gets adequate density and the overall appearance of the recipient area is acceptable. However, anyone who has had a transplant with him knows that his angles are slightly too perpendicular to the scalp and when short the hair sticks up unnaturally making difficult to style in some instances. I also think that his temple closure /points are misdirected and generally weak areas for him. However, it is his donor management that makes me confident you made the right decision in staying away. Yes, patient physiology plays a factor in FUT scarring but there's some horrendous ones out there in this forum. There is a common theme with recent Diep patients and it's that he tries to be as efficient as possible because he's managing two cases at once on most days. This efficiency unfortunately has shown some significant shortcomings lately. The one sided confined extraction pattern and recipient rows are just two of the more prominent ones. I haven't seen much work from Shapiro but I can definitely recommend H&W. I know initially you were worried about their clinic being too conservative. Keep searching and you'll find some aggressive restorations from them. It all comes down to patient expectations, donor availability, and planning for future loss. They are experts in graft angling and can achieve dense restorations if that's what you're after.

@Moses121 Dr Konior is elite at both FUE and FUT. He also excels at donor management and planning for the future. Essentially, there's nothing in the hair restoration world that he doesn't excel at.

Dr Konior mentioned that I have at least 3000 grafts that could be extracted by FUE. I currently wear my hair short on the sides. 0.5 guard at the nape faded up to a 1, then 2 guard. I'm sure if I needed to I could get more grafts via FUT and wear it longer on the sides. Hopefully it never has to come to that though.

@LonelyGraft yea I was taking 1mg Propecia for prob the first 10-15 years. I now take 1.25mg cut from 5mg finasteride. 5507 grafts to be exact. Total rebuild and lowering of hairline, along with temples and temple point reconstruction. Crown shows no signs of loss anymore and midscalp is strong. I am always cognizant that I may recede behind the transplant but I've shown such a strong propensity for the DHT blocking mechanism of finasteride that it is unlikely. And if I do I have much more in the bank for future restorations.

@LonelyGraft At 18 years old I was a 2 with some slight crown loss. I luckily noticed early and got on finasteride. This brought back my crown but the recession up front continued. So at age 37 before any transplants and after being on finasteride for almost 20 years I was a 3.

@Taken4Granted I wouldn't worry about the one red area. Probably just a bit of excess blood/coagulation factors that accumulated after you left the office. Worse case one graft may have become dislodged but will not have any effect on final appearance of the restoration. It's a very emotional journey and there will be times you get discouraged, especially during the ugly duckling phase. Just remember you chose a great surgeon and the end result will be worth the wait. Halloween would be a bit optimistic in my opinion. You may have a few random sprouts but don't get your hopes up. Since this is your first transplant you may experience slightly faster growth but don't get discouraged if you don't. Our individual physiology is unique and will progress at its' own pace. Hell, I'm 5 months post op and figured I'd have much more density by now based on my previous experiences. But, low and behold I'm probably only at 50% growth. After my second transplant I had what seemed like full density by 5 months. I'm not worried at all but just goes to show the variation that is present within one's own physiology. Set your expectations to start seeing adequate coverage by 6-8 months and you shouldn't be disappointed.

The work looks pristine. I think you'll be very happy with the outcome. Post-op pictures look as clean as you can achieve. Based on your description of the discussion, the graft implantation angles and density achieved, I'm fairly certain I know who you went to. He's more impressive in person then the forum can convey. Great choice. Look forward to following your journey.

you can take solace in the fact that you’re getting it right on the first attempt. Dr. K is the best in the world and he will not steer you wrong as it comes to your donor area and future loss. It wouldn't be of much value to get a microscopic evaluation of your donor. It’s more of a qualitative assessment by just looking at it and using his years of experience to make sound judement for donor management. As stressful as it may seem leading up to surgery you’re in the best of hands so just try and relax and enjoy the journey knowing that you choose wisely.

@ciaus I appreciate your opinion/2cents. I agree that my input isn't helping the original poster very much at this moment. My apologies if my response came off harsh or unempathetic. I've been around the hair transplant industry for awhile now and just feel concern about how certain clinics are treating their patients. It just hits a nerve seeing all these more recent Diep cases where there are obvious shortcuts taken that leave the patients in less than optimal condition after their procedure. I am only trying to warn other potential patients that would be reading this thread that it isn't an isolated incident and is becoming more common with this particular clinic. So, obviously there isn't much that @kdlmajcan do at this point to change what has happened. My advice is to just keep spraying the grafts with whatever solution you have (saline is fine, Konior recommends it). Eventually that blood will dissipate and the scabs will soften allowing removal. Wear the hat in the airport and just remember you're the only one who cares about your hair transplant at this point. As much as it consumes you right now, nobody in the airport, including staff, will care about it at all. Good luck

Diep takes shortcuts, his technique is sloppy, his donor harvesting is very questionable, and the implanted rows may look unnatural when they grow out. There's another Diep patient that posted recently who's around the 6 month mark and his "rows" are very noticeable. Try searching the forum for recent Diep patients. A patient should never be sent home with streaks of blood running down their head. However, if that happened then it should have been taken care of immediately upon returning to their office for the wash. Do your left and right sides look similar in their implanting pattern? I know he has techs do alot of the work and they work on opposite sides which sometimes leads to highly noticeable differences in the grafting. It's hard to figure out how much the techs do because you're so snowed by the amount of valium he gives you.

It looks like scabbing that just softened because of the water. I wouldn't be too concerned.

I'm definitely experiencing slower growth on my third transplant. My first was a small transplant and I wasn't paying as close attention to regrowth times. My second transplant I'm not even kidding that I had about 95% sprouted by the end of my 4th month. Most of which was thick terminal hair by 5 months. I am a little more than a week shy of 5 months on my third transplant and have maybe 50% sprouted and 30% matured. I'm not worried but just interesting to see the difference between the growth rates. I also note that the least amount of growth so far is closet to where the previous transplanted grafts were placed. I actually have more growth in the temple points and further down where the area was virgin scalp. This gives credibility to the theory that the scar tissue from previous transplants has decreased blood supply and takes longer for regrowth.

I don’t want to be an alarmist, but that right side really does look awkward. This is a very good indication that his pattern of implanting grafts in straight rows might not look great when grown out as well. You're still extremely early in the process and it may be exacerbated by pulling on the hair but it doesn't look right at the moment. Actually resembles the old mini grafts a bit because all you see is straight rows of hair which doesn't happen in nature. Very questionable as to why he would do this. Efficiency or convience would be my guess because he is obviously capable of producing strong results. This patterned implantation and suspect extraction technique make Dr Diep seem like he's taking shortcuts. I'm not saying that this will turn out badly after a year because more than likely it will look fine but his technique seems questionable.