BDK081522

I would stay away from winter/beanie hats for at least ten days. It doesn't matter how loose it fits, it's the material that can snag. Your better option would be to just wear a snapback baseball hat sitting extremely loosely on your head. I've even done this one day post-op and never had a problem.

Looks normal but at 8 days you should start leaving shampoo on your grafts for about 5-10 minutes. Let it soak to soften them up and begin gently massaging the area with the shampoo still on. Rinse and repeat until you start removing some of those scabs. Grafts are secure at this point and your skin has healed over. Now is the time to get rid of the scabs. You can use Aquaphor spray and aloe vera for redness. After showering while grafts are still moist take a Q-tip and GENTLY roll it back and forth over the grafted area. This will help to pick off some scabbing.

You had 700 extraction sites punched into your occipital region. Each punch leaves a scar. Depending on tool used and healing characteristics everyone scars differently but there will always be signs of surgery. If you thought you could skin shave your donor without showing any signs of surgery you shouldn't have gotten a hair transplant. Your donor actually doesn't look too bad at all. Just your expectations are a bit off. Your donor at a 1 guard fade should look undetectable.

Extremely natural result!

Excellent result! This patient's donor characteristics are simply perfect for a transplant. Actually reminds me of most of Dr. Couto's patient's hairlines. Superb work from this clinic!

Great story of redemption! You chose wisely with Eugenix. Both doctors perform outstanding work. I don't think your hairline in the center is created to low. Once the hair grows out and you get some density it will look perfect and I wouldn't think you'd want to remove any of those grafts. Are you able to share a picture of your beard donor area immediately post op and one or two week photos. Just trying to get an idea of how fast this area heals as it seems to heal quicker than the occipital area from what I've seen. Thanks for your detailed review as well!

You can always use FUE to place grafts into the strip scar. They can be from the traditional donor area or beard grafts. As long as you go to a quality surgeon, they have much experience placing grafts into scar tissue and getting excellent growth. Just do your research so you choose wisely.

You definitely don't need to quit taking finasteride before or after surgery. So, it would beneficial to get back on it asap.

My experience has actually been the opposite. Overall my hair has gotten darker because the relocated follicles are darker than surrounding hair. So, having some mixed in native graying has been diluted out by the new darker hair.

Dr Konior does all his own patient consults and has no reps or sales people. He even does his own scheduling. He is extremely timely with responses and you deal directly with him for almost everything but payment and pre-op instructions. He is easily accessible through email or calling the office to setup an in person consult.

This is completely and utterly false.

You're going to have to travel to get optimal results but most surgeons mentioned will do virtual consultations. Some will do video or just submitting photos with your goals. If you're not already on medical therapy that should be the first step. Set up a consult with a dermatologist or even PCP to get a prescription. You have a decent amount of hair to save still! Glad you found the forum before booking a restoration.

And why on God's green earth do you think hair loss will magically just start at 35? Is that when you think you won't really care about your hair as much? If you recede behind a temple point restoration it will look so unnatural. Even getting a surgeon to do temple point work is a challenge. Only the best in the world do them well and even so, you're not guaranteed they'll perfectly blend with your natural temple hair. The morale of the story is you're too young to consider any hair restoration work regardless of whether or not you think you have androgenic alopecia.

I stayed at the Comfort Suites and walked to his office both on the procedure day and the next morning. It's a really easy walk if you take the back roads. Only one larger street to cross and no traffic that early in the morning. I planned on getting an Uber back after surgery because I had been through it twice and knew you don't feel very lucid and energetic afterwards. Especially at 9p when we finished. His receptionist actually ended up giving me a ride back to the hotel. They mentioned that for some reason Uber drivers have a hard time getting to the exact location for a pickup. They are so accommodating that I'm sure you'll be covered. Dr Konior has even given patients rides home afterwards. It's an all around top notch clinic and they take care of you.

Your immediate post op picture definitely looks like it has more density then your 2 week. Shedding is very unpredictable when it comes to hair restoration surgery. Most shed around 3-4 weeks out, some shed immediately, and others don't shed at all. It's all over the board so please try and just let your body heal. There's nothing you can do right now that will change what has been done. Your body needs optimal healing conditions and stressing about something that is out of your control is not ideal. Hair restoration is a marathon, not a sprint.

We can only speculate because only your surgeon truly knows where each graft was placed and with what in pattern the multi-grafts were distributed. From this 5 day post op picture it seems you have more space in between grafts then a high density restoration would need, especially if your hair is fine as you've mentioned. However, this doesn't mean your surgeon neglected you. He very well may have placed grafts closer together but we just aren't able to see the corresponding hair attached to the graft. I know you are probably having anxiety over this but please just try and relax and just give it time. You went to your surgeon because you did the research and put your faith in him. It really is a waiting game when it comes to hair restoration and you honestly have to give it 10-12 months to see how yours will mature.

It's hard to tell from your photos how far back those 2200 grafts were implanted due to the angles and long hair. I am quite familiar with the anxiety and over scrutinization that comes with a transplant. We can be our own worst enemies when we're seeing something different in the mirror. I will mention that you truly can't assess the outcome until at least 10-12 months. However, it does seem that your density looks slightly lower than would be expected from a top clinic such as Wesley. From my own personal experiences and from viewing thousands of cases throughout the years, I do think your hairline will be less dense than you desire. Your fine hair requires more grafts than someone with thicker caliber hair in order to give the same coverage value. Don't get discouraged so early in the process. Let it play out and remember you can always add density if need be later on down the line. Definitely won't be a bad result though. Just maybe not up to your standards.

You're already a step ahead of most patients by finding this site and seeking advice. Kudos to doing your research before you've had any surgical intervention. Your list is okay but definitely don't just consider surgeons in NY. From your list I would consult with Shapiro, Hasson and Konior. They are all excellent surgeons and perform some of the best hair restoration in the world. Keep us posted and good luck!

It seems you're not on medical therapy as shown by your extensive crown loss. It would be prudent to start taking finasteride now and se what happens in the year before your procedure. It could drastically change the amount of grafts needed for your crown. In addition, you could use the extra grafts to beef up the hairline as you'll more than likely lose most of the miniaturized hair in that area. Most hair transplants are performed on the hairline and midscalp first, followed by the crown as the last option. This doesn't always have to be the case but I personally would firm up that hairline in the same surgery as your crown.

With a session of 3500-4000 grafts shaving the recipient would be required by most top surgeons. That large of an operation would need to be as efficient as possible or it would take 16 hours. This is a lifelong result so you want to give your surgeon the best working conditions possible to have a successful operation.

Firstly, this patient is nowhere near 85% bald in his midscalp or crown so that just doesn't make sense. Secondly, yes finasteride can regrow hair follicles that have gone dormant due to DHT inhibition. Read through some studies and you'll gain some knowledge on what medical therapy can do. For some, it only halts further progression of androgenic alopecia. But, for others it can reverse this process quite dramatically when it is introduced at the appropriate time. This regrowth typically occurs in the crown and midscalp but rarely in the hairline.

Finasteride

Honestly, you should be a bit worried about it. From your early growth pictures I thought your results looked slightly pluggy. Assumed the single grafts just haven't sprouted yet. However, if you're saying he essentially used no singles your result will not look natural at all. Even if your donor had limited singles (which realistically is BS as all donors contain single hair grafts) he should have split multiples into singles to go into the front of the hairline. Do more research on natural restorations and you'll find that all the best results have fine singles implanted at the very front of the hairline with multi-graft units behind for a density gradient going posterior.

If you go to a reputable surgeon I think you have 4000-5000 grafts from your occipital region. They could make it more homogeneous with your retrograde areas and you should be able to pull off the short cut you have in your most recent photos. That would give you a nice frontal 1/3 or possibly 2/3 based on where your hairline starts. But don't discount beard grafts. You mentioned you wouldn't want the FUE scars under your chin or neck. The skin in this area is different from your traditional head donor area. It's more elastic and contains more collagen. Meaning the extraction sites heal exceptionally well due to the skins properties and small punch. Do some more research on beard donors and you'll be hard pressed to find any results where the extraction sites are very evident from a reasonable distance. With beard grafts you may even be able to fill in your midscalp and light crown coverage. If you start this hair restoration journey then be prepared for 3-4 surgeries. If you're only willing to do 1 or 2, without medical therapy you shouldn't pursue this route.

It looks like he's had a great response to finasteride as well. Great work!