champybaby

disregard

Hey man really sorry about your situation. I'm sure it looks fine to every day people as they aren't looking at your head as closely as you. That said, the good news is you can have it repaired. I suggest seeing someone that is highly regarded on this forum. It will cost you more money, but you'll get the results you want. fwiw.

I would say I've kept the vast majority of the hair transplanted, but the crown has since become significantly thinner; the crown was not operated on during my first procedure*

That's good to know thank you for sharing. I will follow up w/ doc on that.

By the time I get second procedure, I'll have gotten 8 years from my first. If I can get 8-10 from my second, I'll be happy, with the intent being the third some minor fill in work.

Are you supposed to break it in half or something?

Just an update here from me: I met with Dr. K this morning. The man does not slow down. Surgeries every day + a few consultations in the early morning. For those who don't know, he hired an equal a few years back, Dr. Sahar Nadimi. She does consultations a lot, much more than Dr. K. She also did a procedure for one of my friends; I recommended Dr. K, but he didn't want to wait so he saw her instead. His HT looks excellent, fwiw. And he's very happy. Concerns going in: Went through what was perhaps the most challenging thing in my life about 3.5 months ago and I began shedding quite a few hairs, much more than usual. I figured I either had retrograde alopecia or telogen effluvium, which is caused by extreme stress. This concerned me as it would limit my donor area ... Well, it looks like I have the ladder, which is a relief. He said my donor area is "excellent." Game plan: I initially had about 4400 graphs done via FUT about 7 years ago. My game plan is to maximize my donor area. I'm basically planning my HTs to fall in line with how I age. I am not looking for a few years of looking fantastic and then a bunch of years looking weird. That said, I'm going with the FUT as it will give me more hairs over my donor area's lifetime. Dr. K said I have 2,000 hairs for FUT. Knowing him, he'll likely find 2,200-2,400 during day of surgery (it's what i hear from others on this forum and it is what I experienced day of my first surgery). The game plan is simple: The back is bugging me, but it doesn't have to be a full head of hair. So I'm doing a 60/40 split, with the bulk going toward the front. My surgery is likely a year from now, but I'm on the waiting list. I plan on letting him shave my head. I'm going to look bad no matter what after surgery, so I personally don't care if I look funny for an additional month. He says that results are better when the patient allows him to shave their head, which makes sense. I also have 1K+ in my beard + FUE in the future. I'm keeping that in my back pocket. I may use the beard hairs to cover my scar in near future. We'll see. This will be my second procedure. My guess is over my lifetime, I will likely need 3. I'm pretty much going to be 100% bald eventually, or a Norwood 15 or whatever the worse one is. Dutasteride I've been on Fin since I got my procedure seven years ago. I hear people talk about its side effects. I personally never had any. In fact, and you guys will laugh at me for this, but I get erections so frequent that they wake me up in the middle of the night because I'm so hard it physically hurts. (It's funny, yes, but it sucks waking up every 2 hours, which isn't unusual. I mostly just have to get up and walk around a bit for them to go away). Aside, it's my opinion that Fin's sides can mostly be attributed to a balding man's psyche. If men stayed much more active, ate/drank healthy, and had strong self confidence that they wouldn't be experiencing sides. Not looking to start shit, but I believe this is the case most of the time. It's ok to disagree with this. Anyway. I asked him about Dutasteride over Fin. He said a couple of his patients take Dut if they can handle Fin, adding that DUT is more "potent." So I got a script for Dut. Fin seems to have peaked for me. I'll update here re: how effective it is. That's about all I got. Follow this as it will be where I post stuff about this surgery.

My understanding is if you do FUT you will maximize your donor hair. So, if you do FUE you may have fewer total hairs to donate for your heads lifetime. I had a FUT and I understand the appeal of doing a FUE second time around, though.

I dont mind getting a script, but when you say it is "abosrbed by the rest of your body" what do you mean?

Totally, that is the plan. Maybe my post wasn't clear, but I don't mind using some concealer to the lower crown area. I did that before and it was honestly no big deal. Just a dash or two and I was out the door. I also don't mind if the lower crown area + concealer shows some thinning, I just don't want it to be flat out bald. It's the top that needs help, as styling my hair is getting harder. What ever is left over would go toward the front. IDK what norwood I am, but I'm guessing I'm gonna be a 5 or 6 in time. The propecia + rogaine did really slow things down for me, though (if you look at my PO pis). Will be updating this thread after doc visit and in time, after my surgery which isn't going to be for a while.

Dude. Just listen to me on this: Don't cheap out on your doc. Either save or figure out a way to cover procedure with one of the best docs re: on this forum. You're going to need about $15K to do this right.

Totally, I've seen others with much worse coverage needing 2K+ for crown. I'm fine with a small circle about the size of a quarter or so near the very bottom of the crown; I'd like the left and right sides of this bottom area covered, though. It's the top middle that I'd like have more coverage and of course, the front, too. I'm going to have to make some sort of compromise. I'm trying to plan this as I age more versus it looking really good for 3 years or so. Because I'm going to lose more hair. Decisions ...

Thanks man. Your post reminded me a bit of my own situation, tbh. When you say 500 in the crown, I assume you mean the very bottom of my crown, yes?

Hey all: This forum helped me pick out Dr. K and man, am I grateful for that. In short, about 7 years ago I did about 4400 graphs FUT; you can see the before after here (posted on this forum). Needless to say, it was life changing. I've been on Propecia + Rogaine Foam since I got the procedure. My crown has since thinned out. XFusion (like Toppik, but way better imo) does wonders to cover this spot, BUT, I'm really sick of using so much. It started off with a dash or two, but crown has since gotten thinner and thinner and thus I'm using more and more. I'm tired of using so much and being beholden to it. So I'm getting my second procedure, but wanted to see what others thought. Ideally, I can just do FUE and then use beard to cover FUT scar. Best case I get about 1500 graphs FUE. Worst case I get 1,000. If I do FUE + FUT, I can probably do 2800 - 3000 graphs, but I'm nearly certain my donor area will be exhausted, and I don't want that. I want to keep something in my back pocket as I age. I am currently 36. I see him in about a week and my procedure likely won't be done for another 11 months. Aside, I believe Dr. K's talents are worth the wait. Plan: My plan is to reinforce the front with some more density and then cover up the top of my head while adding some at the very bottom of my crown, which is where I'm pretty much bald. The thinking is I could cover up that bald spot really easy with XFusion, but only using a small amount (I don't mind if it shows it's thinning there, just a touch to make it less noticeable. After all, I am 36 and only getting older, so I'm OK w/ that). Below are pics I just took. They were taken with an iPhone 8 and are between 5-8mb.They were taken in a brightly lit bathroom not directly under powerful bathroom lights, but pretty much almost directly under them. I am not using concelear in these photos. If people have some expertise, please share thoughts. Thanks.

I had my surgery w/ Doctor K. I'd say you can shave sides down to 3 - 3.5 after a full year. Aside, there's a pill form of Rogaine? Meaning I don't have to apply foam?

I've been going through a very stressful hurdle as of late and recently. The stress started about 3 months ago. Within the last 1.5 months, I've noticed that the sides of my hair are not growing on par with the back side of my hair; the sides also look thinner. This seemed to occur almost immediately and very aggressively. I've noticed increased shedding, enough that it was more than usual, and I can see the "bulbs" at the bottom of the hair strands. idk what that means, but I've seen people bring up the bulbs. (Edit: fwiw, the shedding has since slowed down significantly as of about a week ago) I've been on propecia + rogaine for nearly six or seven years. Had a FUT transplant done by Dr. Konior around the same time I started taking meds. Does anyone have any insight on this? The stress is legit and I don't want to share what's causing it, but not sick or anything. Just going through a tough time and I'm near the end of it. And fwiw, I'm seeing Dr. K again in about two weeks for consultation for my second procedure, so I'm sure he'll have some insight, too, but this is just unusual given how aggressive it's been. Thanks.

When it comes to your head, something people will see each day, go with the best. If you can't afford the best wait until you can. Just my two bits.

Why are your sides thinning? The top looks good.

I know some people will vehemently disagree with me on this, but when it comes to something like a HT, see the best and make sure the best are the ones who will actually perform the surgery. If you don't have the $ for that, save, you will thank yourself in long run.

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Can I ask: What prompted you to get about 1200 grafs vs doing something like 2500?

I wouldn't say that; it's been 7 years and there's no way I'd have what I have now without it. Thx for comment!

I had no idea this was even an option. I can grow a beard! And yea, I agree. In terms of progress pics, happy to share just whenever I get around to it.