mikenguyen

6 Months Update

It's been 6 months since my procedure with Dr.Diep and I can't believe how far I have come. While it has only been 6 months, I already feel the positive effects that this procedure has on my life. Over the past month, I have been able to have a proper haircut for the first time in years and I can now walk outside without a hat with total a lot of confidence. As for right now, the hairs in the recipient area are still quite curly and they are still getting thicker everyday. My recipient area has been looking much much better over the last month (especially at the back). The side is still a little pink and is still improving. The photos are taken under extreme bright lights for expose the area so it might look much worse that what it seems in real life. I have asked a few family members to look at the recipient area and they say that the scars are extrememly hard to detect. I am now enjoying my life with my new hair and this procedure has honestly changed my life. I will now post an update monthly. Thank you all for following me through this journey and for your kind words.

5.5 months update

Hi guys, I've been pretty busy the last month so I could not login to the forum. Here is my 5.5 months update. Overall, everything is going very well! Yesterday was an important milestone because it was the first time that I could get a proper haircut in like 3 years. Usually, I would have to cut it in a style that covers up the receeding areas. Hair in recipient area is getting thicker everyday. However, they are still quite curly. Donor area is making big improvements this month, redness is slowly fading and scars are not as noticable. I hope that this will keep on improving. Hair in my recipient area might appear thinner here in the photos compare to last month but its because the hair is long now. I've been dealing with some flaking over the last months but its gone now after I use Nizoral and a gentle scalp brush. Overall, I am happy with my progress at 5.5 months. I hope that the recipient area will continue to mature and thicken. These photos are taken after my haircut yesterday.

If you read the post that’s exactly what I said, no one should ever expect to get surgery and not have any scarring, if that’s the case DO NOT get surgery. The point of the post was to show the differences in the appearance of the donor over the course of the healing process, not to say I don’t have any scarring, it was actually quite the opposite if you read the post.

 

Mike wow your hair is looking good already man, I don’t sign on often anymore but everything is looking good, has the makings of a home run.

Hi HTSoon,

Sorry man I was a litlte busy over the past month so I couldnt sign into the forum. Thank you so much for your kind words man! You are still an inspiration for many of us. I hope that my result will continue to improve!

Is the last picture from months ago or right after hair cut 10 days earlier

The last photo was 9 days post op. All the other photos are 10 days after last haircut (taken 2 days ago)

I hope everything works out for you man. It does look better in those photos no one would really be able to notice a thing at that length. Hopefully the issue of the linear scar looking area is resolved. What did Dr. Diep say?

Thank you for your kind words man! Yeah I took photos yesterday to show everyone that the scars are not visible at all 10 days after my hair cut. The scars are still there and I feel that it will take time to heal. However, I am making steady improvements. The last time that I talked to him was 2 months ago and he said that the hairs will grow back by 1 year mark. I hope that this is true!

Thank you all for your responses! Regarding the donor area, I have to say that it is taking a little longer for me to heal but I am making progresses. I am optimistic because I have seen other Diep's patients who had patchy donor but improved as they progress in the recovery process. I think that it is shock loss since I just looked back at some of my photos around 2 weeks post op and the donor did not look as bad. I also took some photos last night (around 10 days after my last haircut) to show you the improvements in the donor. Of course the hair is longer and it covers up the scars more but I do see some improvements overall. I am stil optimistic about my recovery and I hope that by the 1 year mark everything will be good. Regarding finasteride, it is a difficult decision and I am still thinking very hard about it. I will make this decision over the next few months.

Here is a photo of my donor 9 days post op and the donor taken yesterday (10 days after last haircut)

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Your growth is kick ass at 4 months. You're gonna have a really nice result up front it looks like. You can make out the scars on the side and like you mentioned it sort of looks like you have a strip scar in the back. Any progress on the healing of those?

Thank you for your post and encouraging words! It is slowly getting better everyday! I am expecting the donor to improve a lot over the next few months. Please see my above post for photos of where I am right now. I purposely took these photos after my haircut to expose the donor for you guys to see!

4 months 2 weeks update

Hi guys, I wanted to do an update post today since I just cut my hair today and I want you guys to see how the donor area is doing with my hair short. From the photos, donor area is slowly getting better, redness is slowly fading and makes scars less visible. The scars at the back are still visible (look like linear scar). However, IT IS IMPROVING. I am optimistic that it will continue to look better with time since the punch size that Dr.Diep uses is larger.Also, this is right after my haircut and usually after a few days these scars are usually not visible anymore. My recipient area is definietly getting somewhere! Hairs are getting thicker every day and I am very happy with where I am right now. The hairs are still wispy and thin. It's only going to go up from here!

Keep in mind that I took these photos under harsh lighting with my hair right after a haircut in order to expose all the scars for you guys to see. In real life it does not look as visible.

October 30th,2017 - Almost 4 months post op update

So I am actually 4 days away from my 4 months mark but I decided to post update today since I did not want my donor area to grow out more and hide the scars. (I want my photos to be as realistic as possible).

Over the last month, a lot has happened and a lot of the hair grafts emerged from my scalp. They got thicker and thicker everyday and I did not even notice it until my girlfriend told me. The hairline is thicker than other parts of the recipient area and can see that my hairline is starting to form. There are still many patches with low density and I hope that more growth are coming in the upcoming months. I had some itchiness in both recipient and donor area but I think that it was just a sign of growth. As for my donor area, I feel like it is improving even though the scars are still red. The areas that were patchy last month improved and does not look as bad anymore. Overall, it was a big month for me and I am hoping for more growth and density in the upcoming months.

The photos were taken right after my shower and under harsh lighting (i just changed the light bulbs in my bathroom so these photos are under brighter light compare to previous photos). I cut my hair 2 weeks ago so my hair already grew out a lot and covered the donor scars. I wish that I could take the photos after my haircut.

Did you experience any shock loss with native hair surrounding the recipient area in the first month? if so did they grow back?

 

Thanks.

Yes, I saw a lot of native hair fell during my showers but I am pretty sure they grew back!

Donor looks alil better than before but still alil thin in some spots. Hopefully by 6th month all shock loss will be gone. Im going to see diep on 7th so keeping eye on his other cases like yours

 

What size clipped for your sides a #1 guard?

I think that it is slowly improving, I can definitely see an improvement from the last update too. I hope that it will keep on improving like what HTSoon said.

As for the clipper size, I do not know the answer to this question

I'm happy to see things appear to be going well as this stage. I think the hair growth is looking good. Totally normal for the hairs to appear thin and wispy at this time. They will become more robust as time goes on.

 

 

Best of luck!

Hi David,

Thank you for your kind words, everything seems to be going well at the moment and I feel that the upcoming months will bring a lot of growth. I hope that I am heading the right direction.

5 weeks post op:

 

Hey guys I have hit the ugly duckling stage 2 weeks back. Here is a photo I took this morning (i.e little over a month). I look absolutely horrible. I have had some shock loss and I would say I have lost around 90% of the transplanted hair. Some hairs that still remain on the scalp appear to have shed but do not seem to be coming off easily when I shower even with aggressive washing. In any case, I am starting to see some pimples since the past few days. I don't know if its a sign of new hairs pushing through.

 

Any feedback is appreciated!

3 months post-op Dr.Diep patient here. I also got the pimples and they still happen today. They will go away by themselves dont worry. You can see them from my thread.

3 Months Post-Op Update

Firstly, I would like to thank everyone that have been commenting on my post. Time does fly, I can't believe that it has been 3 months since I had my procedure. Over the last month, I have been seeing hair sprouting out all over my recipient area. Some of the hairs are thicker than others but most of the hairs are still thin and wispy. As of right now, the hairs are also quite sparsed but I expect a lot more hair to come out in the upcoming months. It seems that the hairs are thickening up every day and I can feel and see them clearer in the mirrors as time goes by. I hope that this is a positive sign for a good final result. As for my donor area, as you can see, there is still that patchy look especially on the side of my head. However, I am expecting this to improve in the upcoming months. Redness is almost completely gone on the recipient area. The side of my head might be a little more red than normal since I bumped my head yesterday Also, barely any numbness and no more pain.

No direct sun exposure yet, I have been wearing my hats everytime I go outside. I will be playing my first round of golf on Friday with my hat on since my Dr. said that it should be okay.

Here are my 3 months post-op photos!

It looks like Dr Diep used all your grafts in one sitting by that picture, I'm very surprised at this from him as I've seen some good work before, at your age when your hair loss is still to mature I think it's unethical, also looking at your donor area he has also gone way out of the safe zone when extracting, which opens you up to losing that hair also, I think your have a good result but planning for your future loss was not taken into account very well on this occasion I feel

I would not say that he used all my grafts since I still have a lot of density in my donor area. Like what HTsoon said, the patchy look in the donor area will most likely be temporary.

hey mike nice to see how far you've come on this journey and to continue progressing as you are. I've recently got an FUE with dr.diep and was just wondering if you have done anything extra besides the instructions that were given to you post op like taking any supplements to aid in hair growth? I've been taking the medications as instructed but just wondering if there are anything else I can do to aid in the recovery.

Hi hairystylezz,

Thank you for your kind words and congrats on your procedure. I did not take anything extra besides what was prescribed by Dr.Diep. I just take extra precautions in terms of sun exposure and not doing any contact sports yet. I am doing fine in terms of growth so far and I will be posting my 3 months post op update tomorrow for you and everyone to see.

It looks like your hair grew a bit before it shed. What do you think?

Yeah I think they grew a tiny bit. A few grew out long and last til today

Wow thank you guys for checking out my progress and leaving your comments. Since I first started this thread, I was always open to all comments whether they are positive or negative.

@JeanLycBergman: I completely understand where you are coming from and I totally agree that fin is an effective treatment that will save the rest of my hair for a while. While the sides are rare, the risks are still there and I had to make a personal decision of not using the medication for now. Down the road I know that I will be needing more transplants because of this but it is something that I am willing to do. I might change my mind about fin in the future but as of now, I am not willing to take that risk and I hope that you also understand where I am coming from. I will be following your progress as well and I hope that your results will be amazing!

@hope2345: I definietly think that the scars will improve over time. I am only 2.5 months post op so I still have a long journey to go. It will only get better from here! In your case, I think 500 is a small number of grafts and your donor area should heal nicely as time goes on.

@Blessup: Unfortunately I did not get a chance to talk to Dr.Diep as to why he only harvested from one side of my head. However, I think it might be because that side probably has more density than the other side? I totally understand where your worries are and I would be lying to say that I am not worried about the current state of the donor area. However, I totally trust Dr.Diep and his work and I feel that the donor area will improve as time goes on!

@Wem1 Thank you for joining this forum and leaving your comments. As I said before, I am open to any comments whether they are praises or criticisms. I totally understand your concerns when you look at my donor area photos post op. However, the donor area looked that way since I left the bandage on overnight and a lot of the fluid and blood dried up which makes it look worse than it is. This was my first HT so I was particularly careful when washing my head. I waited a few days later to apply any pressure to the donor area and as you can see from my photos, the donor area got better very quickly over time.

@Spidey: Thank you for your kind words! I hope that my donor area will get better over time!

@HTsoon: As always, thank you for your comments man! I was definietly concerned when I saw the patchy areas in my donor area (especially at the back where it looks like a FUT scar). However, seeing the progress photos of your donor area over time, I can be less worried now since your donor area improved significantly over time. I know that I am still very early in my recovery and it will only get better from here on! Please keep on following my progress and leaving your comments because I truly appreciate comments from a veteran like you!

Today marks the 2.5 months milestone for me and as for my recipient area, I have definietly see quite a number of peach fuzz hairs growing out over the past 1-2 weeks. They are looking more visible everyday and I hope that this is the start of some great growth to come. Also, redness is slowly starting to fade as well. Here is a picture of the front of my recipient area (I pulled my native hair back to expose the area better). Again, thank you for all the support guys!

Mike! Thanks for the consistent updates! I'm excited to see your progress. I'm also asian and had a hair transplant in April, so about 5 months post op now. You seem to have thicker hair than me which should provide good coverage. The first few months are the toughest and require the most patience, but nearing 3 months is when things start to happen very quickly. Best of luck!

Thank you so much for your kind words man! It sucks being Asian and losing our hair doesn't it? Since our hair color is dark, the recession just seems more visible for us in my opinion. Your hair looks great for 5 months man! I looked at many different photos of other patients and you will definitely have a lot more growth to come in the following months. It is inspiring that you record your whole journey through your vlogs and share for everyone to see. I will definitely follow your journey and I hope that you keep following mine too!

1 month 1 week (9 weeks) Post Op

I know this is early but I would like to share that I am starting to see some peach fuzz growing out from the recipient area (please zoom in to see). I guess that this is an encouraging sign? Here is a photo from my left temple. You can also see a pimple there (I've been getting pimple on recipient area since around 1 months post op. They come and go fairly quickly. I think that this is caused by hair trying to push through the skin)

Regarding sun exposure, I know that I need to prevent prolonged sun exposure on the recipient area for up to 1 year (my doctor recommend 1 year). However, how about the donor area? Can I expose the donor to direct sunlight now 2 months post op? I do wear a hat everytime I go into the sun but are still some gaps at the back of the hat that might expose the donor area. Also I play golf and I am wondering if wearing a hat is sufficient to protect my head through a 18 holes round. What do you guys think considering that I am 2 months post op right now?

A fellow Asian and Dr.Diep patient here (2 months post op). Everything looks clean and you should have a great result. You can follow my thread here: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/187394-2215-grafts-dr-diep-23-years-old-turning-24-a.html

1 month 26 days Update (Almost 2 months, first hair cut)

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I had my first haircut post op today and so as promised, here are photos to show my hair after the haircut. I decided to go quite short on the sides and at the back to expose the donor area. As you can see from the photos, the scars are quite noticable and red when I wear my hair short. The scars look kinda like a linear FUT strip. Also, there is an area that looks particularly thin on the left of the back of my head (also the right side of my head). I hope that this area and right side of my head are just experiencing shock loss at the moment. Also, I hope the scars become less noticable as I continue to recover.

Although most the transplanted hair already shed in the recipient area, there are around 5 or 6 that grew long with the native hair. There are quite a few that did not shed and stay relatively short. I am still unsure to whether shave these hairs off. As for right now, no growth can be seen and I hope to see some improvements soon!

While it might open up blood vessels, I read that inhaling nitrous oxide might take away oxygen in your blood and this might cause hypoxia. Does anyone know how harmful that would be for newly transplanted hair?

Asians on average have less fu per cm2 than caucasians, however on average their hair is thicker and coarser, that's why you can see scalp with hair cut really short, but when the hair grows out it appears thicker than a Caucasians hair, his sides look absolutely normal for his ethinicity. The same can be said with those of African heritage.

 

Everything's looking great Mike, the worst is over and the next few months will be very exciting.

Thank you for your comments HTsoon! I personally feel that my right side is more thin that I would like and I think that this is due to shock loss since my hair is very thick. Below are 2 photos comparing my 2 sides. Keep in mind that Dr.Diep only took grafts from my right side (thin side) and he did not touch the left side at all. I hope that this is only due to shock loss and the hair should grow back with the transplanted hair.

@Rawkerboy: Yes I will definietly post some photos once I have my hair cut. I will cut my sides and back quite short so I can see how the donor area is doing.

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