curiousgirl

Yes, it was Dr. Wolf! He seemed very nice. I was living in Chicago at the time, so him & Shapiro seemed like the best options to drive to at the time. Is Wolf still active? I hadn't seen him mentioned on here except for posts from years back. I would've gone thru with an FUE if I had had the chance, but the procedure just got put on the backburner.

I had a procedure 6 months ago with Arocha. I was ready to travel by air while I was researching, but I lucked out having a recommended doctor on this site within driving distance.

I'm having the exact same issue at 6 months... Right side is noticeably thicker & darker than the left. I'm assuming it's because of the shockloss & regrowth patterns, & it's also all growing on old scar tissue. The right side started coming off within just a few weeks postop, while the left didn't completely come off until a couple of weeks after that. So ever since, the right side has been consistently faster in growth, while the left side was taking its sweet time. The top has been taking longer to darken up too. They're all starting to slowly fill in, & I'm seeing & feeling new hairs pop up all the time. I've been taking pics every month, so I know there IS a lot of progress. But yah, it would be SO much nicer if it all grew just like the right side!

Yaaaah, I was wondering about Peterson. I started following him last year & got introduced thru a Stefan Molyneux video, where you can see their faces very clearly. I thought initially that he had nice hair.... But then as I happened to be searching for some of his past videos, I noticed some on his channel from a few years back where he had the beard & an obviously different hairline. He's definitely had work done It looks fine though.... I wouldn't have thought otherwise.

6 months... got it! This may be a silly question that's most likely been answered a bunch of times by now, but it's been tricky trying to search for a straight forward answer. How long do new hairs actually come out of the head? This past week, I noticed I had some new ones poking out on top (the part that's been slower to grow in because of the delayed shock loss)... spiky feeling for a few days, then they smooth out. So how much longer should I expect new hairs like that to pop out? Do new ones pop up over several months still or longer, & when are MOST of the implanted hairs out as they continue to grow? Or is that different for everyone? I keep hearing percentages on some videos (like 45% growth), but I don't know if they're talking about the hairs that've already come out, or the length of the hairs that've already been growing. I noticed a chunk of regular hairs that were shaved from the strip site have grown in & are already a few inches long, while the implanted hairs are obviously not that long... darn. The longest ones on the right side are almost as long as my pinky tip to the knuckle.

I'm in a similar boat. I'm right at 5 months. I felt like posting a thread about it, but I wasn't sure about how to word it... so I'm glad this topic came up. I have hair growing, but I'm getting impatient too. One thing I've noticed is I have so many hairs at completely different lengths because the shock loss happened in 3 different stages, plus there're some new ones coming in. So it's really hard to gauge how long it should be. The good news is that it's looking darker every week as the longer hairs get longer. Looking at it on a daily basis, as well as checking in on 4 month, 5 month, & 6 month videos of other people, has me hopeful & frustrated at the same time. I have noticed some women's videos (mostly black women is what I find), their hair doesn't seem to grow in as quickly as some men do at that same stage. So is there a sex difference I should know about that affects growth, or does that even matter? Also, I had considerable trauma to my head as a todder.... so I'm positive that's a factor. I'm TRYING not to think about it so much, but it's impossible not to because I still have to keep it covered during the day. I just try to stay busy & am looking forward to the summer.

I'm one of those special cases. Tissue expansion was suggested to me when I was a teenager in the 90s (very limited technology back then), but the necessary time off didn't sound desirable for an active teen. I had a phone consultation with a surgeon up in Ohio over a decade ago, & even then, it sounded like tissue expansion was possible, but not really necessary. He would've done an FUE then. I couldn't afford it at the time & I was too busy finishing grad school, so I opted to wait until later once the technology was better. Now even with a special case like mine, it doesn't seem necessary at all. I'm glad I didn't have to hole myself up in the house for months!

I live in Austin too. I noticed Dr McGrath was here in town, but I went with Dr Arocha instead because he was highly recommended on here, & there were positive remarks stated about his hairline work (which was a HUGE concern of mine), & my hair loss is a special case. I didn't see McGrath mentioned on here much at all when I researched it this past summer. I'm over 4 months post-op, & so far this new hairline will look nice once it grows in more. I've seen many videos online, & some of them were women that went to places like Bosley... eek! I can't vouch for McGrath's work, but I chose to pay more & travel slightly for a reputable surgeon. I'll need to get another procedure as well... hopefully this year or next.

Thanks again, Gillenator! It's been a while, & I'm around 4 1/2 months post-op, so I'll share another quick update... The hair continues to grow... slowly, but surely. Maybe I should stop looking in the mirror every single day, but it's starting to thicken up on the sides. The only thing I'm worried about is that the top hairs aren't growing in as thick as they are on the sides. I'm guessing (& hoping) that this is because those side hairs fell out from shock loss a few months ago before the top hairs? I've been watching monthly videos of random people to see what kind of growth they have, & it looks pretty similar & consistent... so I hope it thickens up soon on top. I know it doesn't grow in evenly, I just wished it would. Now that it's actually been colder in Texas, I'm trying to wear a beanie hat more often than a headband so that the hairs can get more air. In the meantime, I've been playing around with hair extensions... I never realized this was such a thing with modern women's hairstyles. Once the tops hairs grow in more, I can mix these in to cover a few bald patches fairly easily, & it'll look a lot more natural than a hair piece. I was a bit worried about how I was gonna cover it before. But luckily, both of my parents had thick hair in their youth, so I'll be able to cover up a good deal. I'm looking forward to playing around with where I'm going to put the hair... but it's still gonna be months, probably not until the summer, until I can wear the extensions by themselves without wearing some other scarf, headband, or hairpiece. All in all, it's so nice to see hair growing in onto a large area where not much hair has existed since I was a toddler. It'll be refreshing to not have to feel so self conscious about it in the near future. Here's to more hair growth... And cheers to the New Year!

Hey, I'm almost 3 months post op & thought I'd post a quick update. I don't have any good visible pics to share yet, but I AM getting hair growth! I saw the Dr a couple of weeks ago & even then he said it was good seeing the hair starting to grow at that early of a stage. I was barely starting to see baby hairs poke out about mid October / 2 months post op, which was encouraging to see. He did PRP the day of surgery to help stimulate the scar tissue, & the hair is growing just fine.... So when it really starts growing, a lot of the surrounding scar tissue will be covered even more. Some general things... The strip site is looking good & clean. The sensation on my head FINALLY went away after a couple of months. It felt like it took 4-EH-VOR for my head to feel normal again!! It was driving me nuts. I can still see & feel it under my hair pretty easily (when I pull my hair up), but it's covered very well with my thick hair. I'm hoping some of the short shaven hairs that fell out around it will grow back & make the strip less noticeable. I did have an abscess of some sort on the right side of the strip that wasn't clearing up last month (it wasn't painful), so I was given antibiotics & it cleared up within days. The scabbing left from that area is almost finally gone. As the hairs are starting to grow in, I'm getting some red bumps. There're a couple of them right now on the right side. They feel tender for a few days, & then go away.... I'm assuming these are normal because there wasn't hair there before? I only had a couple of pimples early on, but that was about it. All in all, I cannot WAIT until the hairs really start growing in & get longer, & I'm very glad I was finally able to go thru with this procedure! I've had to cover my head with hairpieces since elementary school in public. My eventual goal is to ditch them, but I'll have to have another HT to fill in the rest. But if this hair grows in right, I hope to pull my hair over to the left side to cover those spots behind the new hairline until I can have an FUE in the future. I won't be able to have FUT again... My skin is just not flexible enough. But I can probably get some "alternative" haircut with the hair shaven below to pull it off. In the meantime, I continue to wear headbands & am enjoying them (i.e. Apha Defense & some other brand I found on Amazon), & wear the hairpiece sparingly. I'll try to post some pics in the upcoming weeks & months once there's more progress to show. I'm really looking forward to Christmas time progress when it's 4 months postop

Lol.... I lose hair consistently just from washing my hair! It always sheds when it dries... Just a mere annoyance, really (it's long & gets on my arm). I rarely ever use a hairdryer, & esp haven't post HT. I use my hairdryer more on my dog than I do on myself!

Smells like spam to me.... TLDR I'm almost 3 months post op & I'm still itching!!! It's not as bad as it was within the 1st 2 months, but it's still annoying. It's usually when my head isn't covered &/or late at night. I've tried vitamin E with aloe.... It helps keep it moisturized, although I'm not sure if it helps with itching. Benadryl helps me fall asleep, but that's about it. But yah, I can't wait to get outta this itchy phase. Now that the hairs are starting to noticeably come in, it's itching again. So yay & nay at the same time.

Thanks for the replies... pkipling - Yah, I think my grass grows faster than this, lol. It seemed like the transplanted hairs grew fairly quickly until they fell out. There're still some left & they continue to grow, but I was initially wondering when the new hairs start coming in (most say around 3-4 months), & what they look like before that. I've been taking photos every week or 2 now. Hopefully in a month or so there will be more to notice that the camera actually picks up. The "black dots" are even more noticeable this weekend than they were last weekend, when they were very faint. Annonymous - The area I'm waiting on is the temple because a new hairline had to be created. Most of the videos I see of females have about the same area with 2000 hairs, although mine had to go into the right sideburn as well. I don't feel comfortable posting anything just yet, as this is a specialized case from an old accident... but when I have some pics to post later that look more presentable, perhaps I will. I don't think I'll get any good angles anyway because a camera won't pick up much at this point.

Old thread, but only one I could find about this topic.... I've had the same kind of bump on the right side of my head where the suture line ends right above my right ear. Now it's kind of stuck under the hair growing around it. It's been there for almost a month now... Anything to worry about, or just continue to leave it alone? I had to put ointment on it this past weekend cuz I thought it was coming off, but it's not completely healed yet. It wasn't bleeding or pussing or anything, & it doesn't hurt or feel tender when I press on it, it's just there & really scabby looking. I can't even take a pic of it, it's too dark. And the clinic I had the procedure done is a few hours away... So I can't just stop by there.

I'm at the 2 month mark & in the waiting phase. Some hairs that didn't fall out from shock loss are continuing to grow, but I'm patiently waiting for the rest (or trying to). Just curious, how can you tell when the hairs start coming in? Do you feel it or see it first, or does it just depend? I've never shaved my head like men often do, so I don't really know what to expect. The right sideburn hairs fell out first a few weeks ago & the skin feels rougher, while the left sideburn side feels smoother, as those hairs fell out a week later. It kinda looks like a bunch of tiny black dots or blackheads where the incisions were made, depending on when the individual hairs fell out. So I can't tell if those are the little cuts themselves or if those are the hairs starting to grow in. I have very dark brown hair, by the way.

Ok, I'm almost 5 weeks post op now. I've experienced some shedding in the past couple of weeks, but I still have many of the transplanted hairs left. Feeling has slowly gotten back to the top of my head. I have a couple of questions... 1) I took a few weeks off of physical fitness & yoga, but I needed to get back on it as soon as possible. Yoga is my medication for anxiety & depression, & without the meds I was on right after the surgery, symptoms started creeping back. I'm able to get into some downward dog positions (although I'm not trying to hold them too long or intensely). My question is when would it be safe to do poses that require pressure on the head, like headstand? Not that I'm wanting to go into one anytime soon, just curious if I should wait several months to a year. The top of my head is still numb a little where one applies pressure for a headstand, but it's gotten better. Honestly, I'm not even going into child's pose all the way because you have to press your head down on the mat as well. 2) I've mostly been wearing scarves & headbands around town, & only wear my hairpiece (which just covers the top part, no adhesives ever used before or after) if I need to look presentable / dressed up, which is only a few isolated hours a week. Now that some of the main shedding is out of the way, is it ok to wear tighter fitting headbands, or should I stick with looser fitting ones? The ones I bought are all tight fitting at first & then loosen up with wear, & you can wear several to a dozen different styles (i.e., beanie, do-rag, bandana, pirate, headband, & more). I usually wear them for a few hours around the house after work, but not all day. It's still a couple of months away in Texas before I'll be able to wear beanie hats comfortably. They're also in different colors... Which means they've been dyed. Any concern there with them affecting transplanted hairs & hair growth? Someone mentioned on Amazon reviews that they wash theirs before use, so it made me wonder. That's why I wish I could wear beanies because they don't press down on the head as hard.

I'm not even sure what search words I used to find this thread.... But I'm glad I stumbled on one about a female, since there aren't a lot of discussions of them on here. Here're some of my thoughts after reading some comments. First off, I had an FUT last month, ugh, & my scalp was SO tight for the 1st 3 weeks!!! I knew it would be, but it still sucked waiting for my head to feel normal again. I'll probably never be able to have one again, so FUE will be my only choice next time around. I'm almost 5 weeks post op, so it's still too early to tell how this new batch will cover my head (looks similar to OP's initial picture of reconstructing a new hairline in zone 1 & into 2). I did see a waiter at a restaurant while ago that had her hair shaven below her top hair... So I'd probably have to pull off some kind of "alternative" look like that. I'm kind of a goth anyway, so it won't be hard to pull off As for FUT vs FUE, it seems to me like it's purely a decision that should be made with the patient that's done his or her homework, AND the doctor. FUT wasn't fun for me personally (I'm just glad it's over with), but better luck to someone else who has a much more elastic scalp than I do. I wouldn't advise someone not to have one just because it was uncomfortable for me (procedure itself was tolerable, I'm mostly talking about recovery period). Honestly, now it kinda feels like I've had a brow or facelift or something along those lines. I hadn't seen anyone talk about how the strip affected the rest of their face, but it's definitely "opened" my eyes a little because my forehead still feels tight. 2nd, it's been very interesting to read the different reasons people have HT's. Mine is strictly reconstructive, as I never had a distinct hairline to my memory to begin with because it was affected by a bad accident when I was a toddler. So I basically have no one else to easily share this feeling or experience with, unless I visited trauma centers. But regardless, I think everyone has the same initial reason... To feel better about themselves. I've had other procedures, including on my face about 6 years ago (successful scar revision), & it did increase my self confidence quite a bit, & even helped me look younger. I still get carded sometimes. I wish I didn't have to have had so many procedures because there's recovery time for each one, & it's been costly. All in all, whether someone is having a boob job, nose job (hah, I still want one of those!), or HT, as long as they don't go overboard & get obsessed with looking like something they're not (i.e., a celebrity), I say go for it.

Haha, thanks. I live in Austin too actually. The dry air & allergies aren't helping much right now. The left side has started to shed more in the past week. Places that have recent shedding are more pinkish, then color clears up within a few days. I *think* some hair are slowly starting to grow on the right side again because you can tell the spots where the hairs were transplanted. But I honestly don't know how to tell when new hairs grow in, like men do that have shaved their heads & let it grow back in. Any observations about that are appreciated.

Speegs - thanks for the reminder about patience, something I'm not good at. I also feel like I've just stepped into the ugly duckling phase. I was getting used to hair being there too soon, & though I expected some to fall out, I dunno why it bothered me over the weekend when a bunch of it came off while washing my hair. But I had already done some searches in this forum & Youtube videos about weekly updates & shockloss in the first month so I knew what to expect. And the hair was growing in that space, so at least I know the hair can grow there. I just need to stop thinking about it so much now & wait it out... It's hard not to, although work helps a little. I'm covering it anyway & no one has asked why I'm wearing scarves & hats all the time... Yet. I can't wait until beanie hat season, but not until it cools off here in Texas :cool:

I'm wondering the same thing. I'm one month post op this week. I didn't shed at all the first couple of weeks. Then I started shedding a little in week 3, with the most in week 4 & continuing to lose some... which fits the timeline of shock loss from what I've read & heard about. In particular, it's mostly shedding from the spot where it bled the most during surgery, which is the right sideburn side... & it was pinkish when the hairs fell off, but the skin color is better now. That side also has more scar tissue, & I had PRP treatment. Should I be worried about enough hair growing back there? I'm trying not to worry, & there hasn't been any new bleeding... But the left side looks fine without as much loss :confused: I have a follow up appt soon, but I'd like to know from here as well.

Glad to know of someone else who went to Arocha's clinic & that you had a good experience. I had my procedure the week right before Harvey hit. I was wondering about people who would have had theirs right after mine. What a nightmare it was for me being there only a week post op, recovering when the storm hit, & then having to evacuate only a week after the procedure when flood waters were rising! My family & I were fine luckily, as was their home (barely) but it was still a very stressful ordeal. I wasn't able to leave town until a week later (I live a few hours away), but we had somewhere safe & clean to stay while our power was out. Otherwise, my actual surgery experience was good too, & the staff was nice & professional. Most things went as I expected, except for some head sensation that subsided after a couple of weeks... I also had PRP treatment. I'll report more when there's more to report on as well. Exactly 1 month post op, it just looks weird, still itches, & some hairs have finally been shedding this past week... But many hairs are slowly growing! Now if I could just fast forward a few months

Very helpful response from Spex above... I'm taking a few of those already (B, C, biotin, magnesium, & fish oil), & need to get a few more. I love meat.... So no problem with protein I've cut down on coffee/caffeine in the past month (down to one cup a day instead of 2 or 3), & just started drinking caffeine regularly last week, which was 2 weeks post op. Would it be better to drink de-caffeinated coffee if I wanna drink more, or drink more decaf instead of caffeinated in general? What about alcohol, just limit how much i drink? I had a couple of beers last night, & the only ones I've had in over a month since my HT 3 weeks ago. I haven't found a definite answer, other than cutting down... & since I'm female, I'm assuming cutting down even more than men do will be better *sniff*. Or does anyone recommend cutting out alcohol for X number of weeks or months? Thanks!

I'm 3 weeks post op & wondering what shampoo to use. I used the sodium chloride mix they gave me at the clinic for the 1st couple of weeks. I normally use Pantene, but I read & heard that some people use baby shampoo for a while, so I'm using baby shampoo instead. I've only used the Pantene once in the past couple of weeks. How long should I use lighter shampoo until I go back to regular shampoo? Some people say use lighter stuff for a while, & others say use normal shampoo after even the first week... :confused:

Gillenator, thanks again for the response & explaining what the sensations are. I figured it had something to do with nerve endings. I'm finally off of pain meds this week! I was running out anyway & had to alternate with some Valium to not freak out about it. I had some serious power sleep this past weekend, & my head is feeling MUCH better so far this week. The only thing bothering me is the itching, but it's somewhat tolerable. It's still numb in the same areas, but it's not as tight as before. I do have past experience with numbness. I had a bad car wreck in college & had to have surgery on my hip to salvage my leg... Long story short, the leg & hip area near where they did part of the surgery was numb for months. This HT is for another traumatic accident when I was a toddler.... I haven't been lucky in some ways, but blessed in others (c'est la vie). Maybe I'll write more about it later on here... But I'm just glad to get this through this so I can not have to be reminded of the past all the time. In the meantime, I'm reading up & watching as much as I can about people's experiences. So far, things look like they should at the 1, 2, & now 3 week mark, as of yesterday, & I still have most of the hairs. It's past the buzzcut feel, & now feels weird like doll hair... I don't even know what hair feels like at various shortened stages cuz I've always had it long, so I've had to ask some of my male friends

Wow.... Truly inspirational work. I'm looking up reconstructive cases & found this one. I also suffered from burns on my face, head, & shoulders when I was just a toddler, & have had numerous repair surgeries then (in the Galveston Burn Center when I was little), & a few others over the years. I had been recommended a tissue expander process back in the early 90s when I was a teen, but I didn't really wanna go through with it because it would've looked weird in school, & we weren't really in a financial position to do so. I did have a scar revision surgery on my face then because the scars had expanded from growing up (they looked better when I was a kid), & later had one in 2011... The later one made a remarkable difference & I don't have to use heavy makeup anymore. I also had 2 scar revisions on my right shoulder. They hurt like hell, & there's still some scar tissue, but the shoulder looks a ton better. I finally just had a more modern HT almost 3 weeks ago, & will need another one later to fill in the back. So we'll see... It's very relieving to see cases like this transform to a more positive outcome. The patient looks so much happier in the later photos.