BDK081522

Wow! What a result with one surgery! Congrats to you and a fantastic job by Dr. Gabel.

You're acting as if long wait lists are a negative. They show that the surgeon is in high demand because they perform quality work. Literally none of the clinics you've mentioned are good choices. Rethink your strategy and make decisions based on how this will effect your appearance for the rest of your life. 

Swelling varies greatly between patients and surgeons. You may get minimal or it may be profound. It has to do with how much volume they inject during the procedure and how your body metabolizes it. If you do get swelling it peaks around day 2/3 and continues to dissipate thereafter. 

Antibiotics are usually given as a one time dose in the pre-op area. Very rarely do surgeons prescribe antibiotics for the post-op period unless they run into unusual circumstances or you have an FUT procedure with a large incision. Even so I don't believe surgeons would routinely prescribe antibiotics in the post-op period with an FUT but I could be wrong as all my procedures were FUE.  As far as minimally invasive you would be opting for FUE over FUT if this is your preference. Sterility is a mute point as all surgical procedures should be conducted with proper sterile technique. If a surgeon doesn't use sterile technique then their infection rate would be higher than the average and they would be a clinic to avoid at all costs. 

5 hours ago, londonhairlossvictim said:

That can happen in the donor area? I didn't know that, I thought that happens in the area where the work is done - eg. hairline and temples in my case

Yes, you can get shock loss in any area of your scalp. Even areas that weren't treated during the surgical intervention. Donor or recipient and surrounding areas can all experience shock loss. It's mainly due to the surgical trauma (anesthetic, tumanescence, disruption of tissue) that causes the follicles to enter the telogen phase. The main takeaway is that it's usually temporary. Usually because it can cause permanent loss of follicles if they were minaturizing and unstable to begin with. 

At this point, you can do anything you want to your hair aside from getting it sunburned. If you want to be safe scissor cut but it's not going to hurt anything to use clippers on the sides and back. 

An absolute homogeneous extraction and implantation pattern. When this grows out it will be absolutely undectable that this patient had any hair loss. Simply amazing strategy and execution. This is true donor management and I believe Dr. Zarev is one of only a handful of surgeons that could achieve this result. 

These are ALL red flags. Stay away from this clinic. Use this website's search function to find recommended surgeons and chose from a clinic with real patient posted results. 

Yes, it's always a good idea to use finasteride as soon as possible to slow the progression of AA. In addition, minoxidil should be used twice per day not per week. That may be partly why you haven't noticed any benefit. However, keep in mind minoxidil usually works better in the crown than the hairline. You may get some strengthening of miniaturized hair in the hairline but don't expect full regrowth. Transplants are really the gold standard for frontal restoration.  

It looks good for 6 weeks. The redness can last in extreme cases up to 6 months so don't expect it to be gone in 6 weeks. I'd say for myself the redness usually lasted about 3 months. Then growth around the 4th. In addition, working out 6 times a day, you'll be looking like the hulk in a matter of weeks 😉

Dr Konior is great with strip scars and revisions. Chicago Hair Institute 

So dense, yet so natural looking. That's extremely difficult to accomplish in one pass. Fantastic result man!

That's an unfortunate scar but luckily you have options. Honestly, I think another FUT with scar excision may be your best bet but I wouldn't go back to Dr Arocha. You need a scar specialist and I don't think there's anyone in the world better at FUT scars than Dr.Konior. Of course, there's always risk of the scar stretching again but in the skilled hands of a great surgeon you lower that risk. Your donor does look thick so you will have FUE options down the road but I wouldn't use those grafts at the moment to fill in the scar. 

Yea I would say in January things will start to look better but remember it will look thin and some of the hair may be kinky when they first start sprouting. The texture may change up to 12-18 months as well. 

You actually have much less shedding than most do at this point. You will look moreless the same in one month. Some of the redness may disappear and the native hair will grow as normal but none of the transplanted hair will have started yet. You'll be right in the heart of the ugly duckling stage. 

@Mir_a_Mir We're just trying to save you from some of the mistakes that most of us have made. It's fantastic that you found this forum before having any surgery. Most of us didn't and only came here looking for guidance after choosing unwisley for whatever reason. The most popular reason being distance. Most people think they need to go local like any other surgery they would have. That is certainly not the way to approach hair restoration. Secondly, timing. When people make the decision to pursue hair restoration they want the result as soon as possible, or before some event, or before the holidays. All of which can lead to making a decision based on convenience instead of results driven. Please take the advice of the senior members of this forum. You have extensive loss and limited donor. Medical therapy for a year while you pick an elite clinic is the best way to proceed in your case. 

1 hour ago, Mir_a_Mir said:

@Portugal25 I am following your comments in my thread, haven't got a chance for other threads. But like you said, these doctors are using the DHI technique name and using Choi implanter and still making the incisions so that they can covers more patients. I mean in that case its not technically the DHI technique, they are just using the Choi/Lion pen to implant. Technically its a FUE method.

You guys are getting caught up in techniques and terminology when all that really matters is consistent results. I do want to point out that all of these "techniques" DHI, sapphire, stick and place, etc are all FUE hair restorations. FUE stands for follicular unit extraction and has nothing to do with implantation technique. So it sounds rather silly to suggest DHI is better than FUE when they are referring to completely different aspects of the procedure. Don't get caught up in the jargon. Focus on repeatable consistent results. 

Just a heads up that it may look slightly unnatural when your growth is complete. They transplanted in rows which doesn't occur in nature. It may very well be undetectable if you have coarse hair and a high density restoration to camoflouge. Just wanted to put it on your radar that this is not how transplanted grafts are supposed to placed for naturalness. 

7 hours ago, Balding Bad said:

Thank you for your response! Yeah, I was afraid of that...I kinda want mine sooner than later. While 6 months is reasonable and will give me more time to consider this operation I'm at the point where it's put up or shut up.

Thanks @Melvin- Moderator!

Appreciate the response @hybonix. You lucked out indeed then! Hopefully something similar could happen to me. I figured The Dec/Jan timeframe would be a bit wishful thinking, but anything is possible I suppose.

I'm curious though, for these kinda "last minute" cancellations where they slide you into a canceled spot did SMG provide any sort of discount? I ask because a colleague of mine underwent a hair transplant recently and he was only scheduled in due to a last minute cancelation and they incentivized him to take the spot with a discount.

The discount is you get to have surgery sooner than you would have otherwise. Don't take this the wrong way but you seem to have the attitude that you NEED this done as soon as possible. That's just not an appropriate way to go about hair restoration. You need to take months to research, then do consults, and then decide on a surgeon. You just have to accept the fact that you're going to start a very long emotional journey and nothing in hair restoration happens quickly. Waiting is essential to the whole process. You wait to find the right surgeon for your case, you wait for your surgery date, you wait to get through the ugly duckling phase, then you WAIT for full maturation which takes at least a year. Patience is the only viable attribute that is essential with this process so it's better to understand that now as to not be let down later. Don't put a Dec/Jan timelime as a limiting factor on your procedure. If you do then you'll more than likely end up going to a sub-par clinic and not be satisfied with the result. Most of the elite clinics have 3-12 month waitlists as they should since they are in high demand. Take your time. 

I've had a few of these "stuck" follicles throughout the years. Unfortunately, for me at least, if they didn't grow immediately after the procedure at all and just stayed in the scalp, they were not viable grafts. Eventually they fell or could be pulled out with no regrowth. 

I've traveled for 3 FUE surgeries. Two of them only an hour flight and one across the country. Firstly, I would say you need a minimum of 3 days. Fly in the day before, surgery day and at least one more day for first day post-op checkup. I always had a checkup the morning after and flew out the following afternoon. This worked well for me for a few reasons. For one, swelling hasn't fully set in yet (usually days 2-4 are worst swelling). In addition, you can wear a very loose fitting hat (or surgical cap) in the airport. You really only have to take it off once when going through TSA. As long as you're gentle and it is not tight it's generally not an issue. I would definitely recommend flying instead of driving. You're still going to feel "OFF" or dopey from the valium the next day and when the anesthesia wears off there's some pain. You honestly don't start feeling somewhat normal until about 1 week post op so I wouldn't want to drive that far feeling crummy. Also, the sooner you get back home and start your spraying and Neosporin the better. Lastly, and probably most importantly, nobody cares about what you will look like in the airport. Trust me, everyone is way too caught up in their own business to care what some random dude in an airport that they will never see again looks like. You may get an odd look from the TSA agent but it's only a moment in time and they might even be curious about the procedure. 

We're all here for your support so you can always come here for guidance. I will mention that your expectations may be a bit skewed here. Like I mentioned previously, there will always be signs of surgery. Surgeons are removing tissue and the body heals itself by scarring. These scars can be apparent. There is hair that is removed and relocated so inevitably there will be less in the donor area.  Even after one surgery you shouldn't expect to be able to skin fade. It's a trade off that you need to accept. Sure some patients can get away with donors that look untouched but it all depends on how you heal, extraction pattern, and punch size. None of which you as a patient have control over. I think you're looking for perfection and an untouched donor area. That is not feasible in hair restoration, especially after what you've been through. You have to realize that things moving forward need to change such as hair styles and camoflouge techniques. If your donor bothers you that much look into SMP. It really looks good for FUE scarring when hair is worn short. 

@track_rat Your sideburn extractions were done very well. Eugenix spaced out the extractions so that at a normal distance no other human being is going to detect that there is hair missing. The two pictures you've posted of the sideburn extractions cannot be compared as your beard is different lengths in them. If you grew your current beard out to this length I don't even think you would be able to notice anything out of the ordinary staring at your face from 5mm away. You just really need to take some time and distance yourself from the procedure and focus on something else in life right now. You're hardwired to scrutinize every little detail based on what has happened to you in the past but keep in mind you've gone to one of the best clinics in the world and they have given you what you've asked for. There will always be signs of surgery when you look for it. Hair has been removed from areas and scarring will be present 100% of the time but how detectable it is to the general public is the measure of how well it was performed. 

17 hours ago, EvoXOhio said:

I’m not going by what the clinic told me, I’m going by what real people on this site told me as well as hundreds or thousands of online testimonials. If you get quality work done you’re not going to need touchups every 2-3 years.  
 

You might be thinking of trichopigmentation which is a designed to fade or be gone completely in 2-3 years. Some people get that for SMP, but what we are talking about in this thread is the “permanent” kind, not tricho. 

You've done your research and have gotten your results so I'm not going to convince you otherwise. I'm well versed in the difference between SMP and tricho. I'm just trying to keep things in perspective for those reading this thread who are contemplating getting SMP done. Of course it's possible for it to look great well beyond 2-3 years but don't be surprised if the ink fades sooner than that. I'm speaking from personal experience as I've had permanent SMP done to my donor area in November of 2018 and I already need a touch up. It was done by a Scalp Aesthetics SMP accredited provider that uses quality ink designed specifically for micropigmentation. So, I checked all the boxes and still need a touch up before 3 years have passed. 

20 hours ago, EvoXOhio said:

No, because the touchups are just to fix the dots that have lightened (or add some new ones between them), it’s not like you’re getting the entire procedure done again. Plus the $2500 covers two full sessions whereas a touchup is one small session.
 

I mean every place will have different rates (may be $3000 up front for example, and the touchups could be $1000), but touchups shouldn’t cost anywhere near as much as the original, and as long as you take care of it (which basically means put sunscreen on) it won’t need a touchup for 5-7 years. 
 

The shaved look SMP for people who shave their head bald may need more frequent touchups since you’re staring directly at the dots, but even then I know it’s not every 2 years. 

 

Maybe @Gatsby can chime in on specifics since he has more real world longevity examples. 

You will  probably need touch ups much sooner than 5-7 years. Don't believe everything the clinic tells you. The ink fades and blurs relatively quickly. It's more like every 2-3 years that you'll need touched up. Still not bad though and worth it in my opinion.