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baldlivesmatter

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Posts posted by baldlivesmatter

  1. Per the suggestion of many in this thread I emailed Dr. Harris with my concerns and pictures. He agreed that the growth was not as expected and that if things don't improve by the 12 month mark I have two options:

    1. Additional surgery at no charge

    2. Refund

     

    Although I'm not pleased with my results thus far, I am happy that Dr. Harris is standing by his work and not trying to bullshit me by either saying the results are good or blaming my physiology for the poor growth. Not being able to leave the house without concealer is tough enough without being blamed for it as well. It's unfortunate because I have a friend who got a similar sized procedure (~1500 grafts) with Dr. Harris and his results are looking good so not sure why mine didn't turn out well.

     

    Regarding the options, as alluded to here, I'm leaning more towards getting a refund and going to a different doc. As has been discussed, all doctors have different methods and some methods work better on certain patients than on others. I'll be out in the Bay next month for a week or so and I reached out to Dr. Diep's clinic for a consult. I'll need to dig back into researching other FUE docs, I know Konior has a good reputation on here too so maybe I'll reach out to him this week. Also open to suggestions if anyone has any.

  2. If I'm being honest I would expect more growth at this point, im sure your doctor is great and will stand by his work, but at this point for nearly 1,800 grafts I'd say the yield is lacking. With that said, you have plenty of donor left, and you still have some time for things to improve so I really hope things work out.

     

    The man, the myth, the legend -- HT soon. Glad to see your crown looking good in your update video! Actually had an in-person consult set up with diep but had to cancel due to a work commitment. May need to reach back out to him for a second procedure.

  3. Not trying to be hostile to the doctor as I would say this in any case of a poor yield and every doctor has examples of this, if it does not improve substantially by the 12 month mark I would ask for a refund and avoid a touch up with the same surgeon.

     

    Appreciate the response Jean, and glad to see your recovery is going well. Afraid you may be right regarding my result as it's not really improving much. I just booked time off work for next may for a potential second surgery to remedy the current situation (which looks worse than pre-op tbh). You made an interesting point regarding asking for a refund and going with a different doc. Is that common practice? My thought was that a refund would only really be in play in the case of some kind of negligence (which is not the case here, just shitty growth). Anyone else have any insight on this?

     

    Unless things drastically improve in the next two months I'm going to need another procedure and even with no refund/discount I'll need to consider going elsewhere to avoid potentially burning through more grafts with poor aesthetic improvement.

  4. Attached 9 month update pics.

     

    Still room for improvement, but I think the growth in the last two months is encouraging. Also, there are small vellus (sp?) hairs that seem to be new. Hoping these darken in the next few months. Also of note, the hair that has grown in is somewhat coarse and wirey when compared to my native hair. I believe this is part of the hair maturation process which would indicate that things are still developing.

     

    One win to note is that after growing my hair out a bit I can use Toppik and it really improves the appearance of my hair. Still clumps a bit in the areas that are lagging, though provided these areas catch up in the next few months this might be a viable option going forward.

    Left.jpg.38b3c8b0c8b272afe7cf5922eefbca57.jpg

    OH2.jpg.812016a3065eeea1dde32c9801f3f7c4.jpg

    OH3.jpg.267578ee82eda2e2a4fed5fa586f6b1c.jpg

    5b32f5cb325d1_OH4(softerlighting).jpg.6244b65eaf55e8e9b86c02395ccdd502.jpg

    Right.jpg.728464ac221591ca2424c275df801159.jpg

    Toppik.jpg.3914c6b27e3b7664ba9e9e5bcd2a309b.jpg

    OH.jpg.cb9aa90c9f3e00ba6cb9365cbabebccb.jpg

  5. Hi everyone,

     

    Thanks for all the responses.

     

    Not much change at month 8, and I was very busy at work, so elected not to post an update. A few items though:

     

    1. David -- For what it's worth, I think you do an excellent job with this forum. Not sure what the cause of all the animosity towards the moderators and this forum is, but it seems somewhat strange to frequently use a forum and then complain about said forum. I know that I was in a much better place to make an informed decision as a result of primarily this forum, as well as other similar resources.

     

    2. Dr. Harris -- I appreciate the response. You're correct that you did not have an email from me. In my 6 and 7 month updates, where I said I was waiting for growth, I was in no way insinuating that my result was bad -- just that I was impatiently awaiting my growth. I only really started to be concerned after the myriad of negative responses saying "get a refund!", "bad result!", etc. after my 7 month update. I re-read through SPEX's thread on patience, took a deep breath, and decided I'd hold off final judgment until 12 months (like is preached ad naseum on this forum).

  6. Looking at another's progress can be very depressing because the reality is, not everyone grows at the same rate. 6 months is still early and for slow growers, which you very well may be, the majority of their growth occur after this stage. In the meantime, try not to panic and just wait it out until 12 months when everyhing grows in.

     

    Best wishes,

     

    Bill

     

     

    Thanks Bill! Tbh I wasn't really panicking until reading through all the responses on here saying that my growth is bad lol. All joking aside, I think it will turn out fine -- I just want it to happen a little faster.

  7. BLM, I suggest letting your hair grow out at this point, not everyone grows at the same rate, 6 months is still early and I don't think that more growth is a low possibility, I think more growth is what WILL occur just be patient happy growing:D

     

    Thanks HTsoon. I was planning to leave buzzed at 1mm until the gaps between grafts close a bit more before growing it out. Perhaps i'll try growing it out now and sprinkling a bit of Toppik in.

  8. There is still a (low) possibility of substantial growth to come, Dr. Feller mentions a result in one of his vids where the vast majority started at around month 9.

     

    To be honest you used a very small amount of grafts considering the area covered. There was very little margin for error. In my humble opinion Konior's graft quote for you seems more on the money, and the truth is his FUE work is stronger.

     

    I appreciate the candor. One of the things I love about this forum (as opposed to the Polyanna sly guys forum where everyone "looks great!!!1") is that users don't hold back when they think growth is bad.

  9. Can't believe it is more than 4 months already.

    This has been such an up/down hill journey that most of the times it left me with skeptical views.

    My every day's agenda included gawking at those transplanted hair thinking if those prospective hairs will grow or not.

     

    Recently I have been a little bit sanguine that things are moving in proper directions.

    I am seeing some growth, but I am waiting for the density and more hairs to come.

    [The areas behind the hairline are a little sparse, which is kind of expected as the experts pointed out that they will grow slow[/u][/i]. I am posting the pictures, you guys can be the judge.

    The donor area is healed pretty well.

     

    Medicines:

    Finasteride 1mg every day

    Minoxidil 5 % every day

    Biotin 10Mg every day

     

    I have been playing badminton, running and doing some handstands which I think can improve blood circulation, but again that is just my personal opinion.

     

     

    let me know your honest feedbacks/comments about this.

    Also if you want me to post pictures in some other angles then do let me know as well.

    I have tried my best to make the collages for a better comparison

     

    Happy growing Baldies :)

     

    You had some really good growth in month 4. Hopefully month 5 was equally good!

  10. Hi all,

     

    I'm at 5 months post op so snapped a few pics.

     

    I'm noticing more sprouts than at 4 months. Obviously still not enough to grow out (hence the buzz cut) but encouraging nonetheless. The sprouts somewhat frame my face which is good, but still very sparse.

     

    I think the most encouraging part at this point is that I can shave my head down to 1 MM without my scars being noticeable. Scarring was a big concern of mine pre-op but to the untrained eye my scars are unnoticeable even at such a short length.

     

    I think i'm a slow grower, which isn't ideal, but hopefully there's a lot more growth to come in the next 6 months.

    1.jpg.206e5b43c995bae910f61d381f466e53.jpg

    2.jpg.0b66449106cad414c237f61e12ae4506.jpg

    3.jpg.b5a451e1ab516370faf414bb5005fc2f.jpg

    4.jpg.03c6864642f0d1ca06d59b87f558336f.jpg

    5.jpg.35adecf0e0dd3e1b41cecb86e3a6ee18.jpg

  11. It should be all uphill from now.

    From my experience, even I experienced less growth behind the hairline as compared to the hairline grafts. Maybe the experts can clarify the science behind that.

    I also just completed my 4 months.

    You should be seeing the grafts showering in soon :)

     

    Happy growing

     

    Hey Vermaj!

     

    Good to hear from you again. Yes, we had our procedures around the same time and seem to have similar growth patterns. Hopefully we both get spectacular results!

     

    Regarding the hairline grafts growing faster than the other grafts, my initial thought was that since the hairline is the most important area for the aesthetic results of the procedure the doctor/techs likely pay extra attention when implanting those grafts. That being said, Speegs' earlier explanation sounds more scientific so he's probably right.

  12.  

    I'm 33 and people think I'm 25 or 26, in no small part because of how I can wear my hair now...and I looked 35 when I didn't wear a hat at 26, so it's an interesting role reversal.

     

     

    You found the fountain of youth! Congratulations! Do you have your own thread on here? If so, would you mind throwing up a link? I've heard Gabel has fantastic results and would like to see your results on the hairline.

  13. Thanks for the advice

     

    How many grafts do you think i should go for ?

     

    So did you end up going for it? Kinda late to the party but I agree that a small procedure would help soften the hairline. You have good hair and are maintaining well on fin so I would think a small procedure would look fantastic.

     

    Good luck with your decision.

  14. I bet you have more than 6000 grafts at your disposal. I have 7k in my frontal third alone, but i did strip and not FUE, which does change the amount that can be yielded from the donor typically.

     

    You're right Speegs as it turned out I did have above average donor. When I was doing my consults I wasn't really banking on that and given the 6k-8k average available grafts quoted on various threads I figured 6k was conservative for planning purposes. I was told I have very good donor so hopefully I'm closer to 8k.

     

    Can't believe you have 7k grafts on a nw3a. That must look great!

  15. A few days away from 4 months so wanted to post a quick update. Definitely seeing some sporadic growth, hoping it fills in a bit more. Interestingly enough the grafts seem to be growing much more rapidly on the hairline and not so much behind the hairline. As a result they look pretty "pluggy" at the moment. I'm not particularly concerned as this is still technically the dormant phase (0-4 months). Hoping for some solid growth in the next few months.

    5b32f30dc026e_Front_4mo.thumb.jpg.38178b3177ff1b8776780665a3f2ed46.jpg

    5b32f30de18e2_Left_4mo.thumb.jpg.ce7270e0152fabc9209cbd6bd1f7b87f.jpg

    5b32f30e2332d_Rigth_4mo.thumb.jpg.2731cd13f22c51bbbde6e660932fb56d.jpg

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