HTREGRETS

Agreed, Dr. Cooley is the closest elite surgeon to you, and is a short flight or drive from O-Town. Take a look at a poster named KeithJagger's experience with him. He is from Florida and went to Cooley and had a great result. DO NOT go to the clinics you referenced in Orlando.

Let me make one thing VERY clear. DO NOT GET A HAIR TRANSPLANT!!!! I had the exact same hairline as you growing up, with no temple points. I receded in college to the point you are now, and freaked out and got an HT. WORST decision of my life. Luckily, I got on propecia right away and have held on to most of my hair for 13 years. Unfortunately, I can't wear the hairstyle that HT Soon showed because I have a huge scar on the back of my head and unnatural grafts in the temples. Many people have that kind of hairline and hold onto it for years/decades. Look at Clint Eastwood, Joe Walsh, Flea, Justin Theroux, ...the list goes on. Get on propecia ASAP, and try cutting your hair shorter. You're honestly in good shape, and in a couple of years, I guarantee you will have more hair than some of the friends you envy now. PM me with any additional questions. I'm happy to help people avoid the mistake I made.

I hope there are some that learn from my mistakes too. The Dr. was completely negligent, and I knew nothing about what I was getting myself into. I figured that everybody got this done, and you had an endless donor supply. I was young, naive, and freaked out about a little bit of temporal recession. I would do ANYTHING to reverse that decision. I've been on fin for almost 15 years. It's held back most of my hair loss, but I've lost some ground in the very front of my front forelock. I'm not rushing into anything. I've been researching HT's for 13 years. I was hoping something new like HM would come out before I lost more hair, but that is not the case. I'm sick of thinking about my hair, hair loss, and hair transplants every second of every day, and want to attempt to get my life back. I really don't have a choice. Once you're cut, you're cut.

Thanks for the words of encouragement everyone! I would LOVE to change my name to "HTSUCCESS" this time next year. I am feeling very confident that the work in the front of my hairline will look natural, and will cover my existing Bosley grafts. I'm hopeful that 2000 grafts will be sufficient in making my hair worries finally go away after 13 years of "bad" hair days. Still, my dilemma is the scar. I see so many great results of FUE with no visible scarring at short hair lengths. I understand you can't shave with FUE, but I can't even get down to a 5/6 guard without the scar showing. Am I greedy if I go for maximum grafts now and make the scar longer and run the risk of it stretching more? Should I use this procedure to potentially fix the scar and get a lower number of grafts and then follow up with an FUE procedure? Still thinking positively about the outcome and putting this issue behind me, I just want to make sure I'm making the right decision on how to move forward. Any input is greatly appreciated. pkipling - the first pictures are wet to show the extent of my hair loss. I typically style my hair dry, with hair spray like the last picture. This style worked for me for years until my frontal forelock recently receded and thinned - albeit only a small amount. I will definitely try the Loma Forming Paste though, thanks for the advice!

Quick update, I had an in person consultation with Ailene (Dr. Cooley's assistant) and Dr. Cooley last week. They spent over an hour with me and gave me clear cut, no bullshit advice and recommendations on my repair options. This is the second time I've met with them since an initial consultation back in 2009, and I could not be happier with their professionalism, care and correspondence. Most of the news was positive. They will have to make the scar slightly longer, but I should have no problem yielding 2000 grafts with my current laxity. Also, there is a chance the scar width can be improved. Dr. Cooley was very confident that 2000 grafts would give me a strong, natural hairline. I'm trying to think more positively about my current situation, and possible surgery outcomes. I'm still very stressed about negative results with the scar, and the grafts looking too thick or dark compared to my native hairline hair. I still feel like I have no choice but to move forward, and am extremely fortunate to have such a great surgeon in my backyard. Please wish me luck everyone, surgery is set for 12/19. This forum has been a great resource, and I plan on giving back by documenting my progress/results. Hoping to change my name to something different than "HTREGRETS" this time next year.

Congrats on the successful "journey!" Do you have any before pics?

Any update here? Would be great to see the final results.

Unbelievable results Ernie, congrats! I can't imagine what it must feel like to get your hair back! Quick question on the naturalness of the transplanted hair. Does it blend in with your native hair? The pictures look incredible, but in real life, is the HT truly undetectable? I'm booked for a repair, and am still a little concerned about the naturalness of transplanted hair in the hairline. Curious to hear your input.

Fantastic results H&W! Amazing transformation with this many grafts. I'm assuming the blonde hair/fair skin contributed to the overall naturalness and illusion of fullness despite the relatively low graft count? Do you know the grafts/cm2 in the donor and recipient transplanted area? Also, any scar pics?

JeanLucBergman, Just trying to give good advice from someone who has 13 years of experience with Hair Transplants, as well as additional life experience. Personally, I don't think 24needsmore is a good candidate for an HT. He has extensive loss for his age, and I would not be happy with the "illusion" that a modern day HT can achieve for him. Conversely, I think you have great characteristics Jean, and I think you're going to have a great result. I wish you luck. That's one of the inherent problems with this surgery. Choosing a great Dr. is one thing, being a suitable candidate is another.

I'll start off by saying, I have not had a positive HT experience, so take my advice for what it's worth. There is so much more to life than hair. Once you take the plunge, there is no going back. I started losing my hair at 19, it sucks. But I'm 34 now, and NO ONE cares. Half the people I know who are my age have some type of hair loss. And most of them have beautiful wives and great families. Don't act like "I know I'll have to get more procedures." You have no clue what that's like. I would do anything to shave my head right now and move on with my life. Unfortunately, I don't have that option. You have a lot of loss at a young age. Do you really want an HT that will leave your hair looking thin? Where you have to spend copious amounts of time styling it to look full? And then, when you're at the gym/beach/pool, you're constantly worried about it getting wet. I honestly envy you. Get off these forums, hit the gym, and move on with your life.

Can someone from H&W give more info from this case? I feel like I have similar loss/hair characteristics and it's very hard to find blonde/medium-fine hair results online. I'd love to see some more pre-op/post-op pics.

You should still have some additional growth. Do the grafts seem darker/coarser than the native hair? Or is it just a density issue? Also, how many grafts did you receive in the temples? It seems like you and I have similar hair characteristics, blonde/medium-fine hair. I am much more receded though. It's hard to find blonde hair transplant results/testimonials online. One more questions, what does the donor look like? Can you shave short without any noticeable scarring?

Your results look great! When you say there is a difference between the native hairs and transplanted hairs, what do you mean?

Thank you for the info Tofur! I am definitely VERY lucky that Cooley is close by. I have added some new High Res pictures. The first one is me with dry hair, that shows the thinning in the immediate forelock. This is where I have lost ground recently, which has prompted me to seek help. The rest are wet closeups of the temples and hairline that show some pitting and the transplanted hair. Is there anything that can be done to fix this?

Technical question for the experts regarding strip scar size: My current strip scar is about 14cm's long by .5-1cm wide. It's not too bad, but due to my hair characteristics, it's very hard to cover up even at a long length. When my hair gets wet, it is especially visible. I am starting to feel optimistic about my upcoming procedure, but realize that to achieve my goals in the front, I will need at least 2000 grafts. Is this amount achievable without making my strip scar longer? I really do not want to extend the scar into the sides of my head where I like to keep my hair short. I may have to spread this out into 2 sessions unfortunately. I appreciate anyone's comments/expertise on the issue.

Thanks for all of the support everyone! I'm trying to think positively about this. I'm just deathly afraid that my entire frontal forelock is thinning considerably, and then I'm really screwed. I definitely had a shedding period about a month ago that was consistent with a very stressful time in my life. Is it possible those hairs will grow back? The problem is that now I'm stressed 24/7 about my hair situation, it's a vicious cycle. Having another FUT is a smart option in my opinion, because I'd love to try and revise the scar. However, I'm not comfortable with making the scar any longer. I may have to spread this out into two procedures, which sucks. I went ahead and scheduled surgery with Dr. Cooley towards the end of December. I'm hoping things don't change drastically with my hair by then. I feel like I have to at least try to fix this problem, it has bothered me for SO long. Can I really get a natural, full (appearing) head of hair that I can style anyway I want? I see so many amazing results on this site, but others that I would rather just shave my head with. And some are much more natural than others, which scares me due to my hair characteristics. Sorry for another long post, just looking for some reason to be optimistic. Also, a few people have PM's me, but my PM isn't working. Just an FYI.

Mattj, When you say I'm not a candidate, do you mean because of limited loss? Or I don't have a good donor/hair characteristics/etc.? I've attached some additional pictures. The grafts are darker and coarser than my natural hairline hair. There is also some pitting that does not come thru on these pictures. The last picture is how I style my hair, but you can see that the front has significantly thinned, especially on the right side. This is why I am now forced to do something about my hair. I am very concerned that if I get another procedure, that the additional grafts will once again be thicker and darker than my natural hair, and it will become MORE obvious that I have had an HT. I was at the PGA Championship this weekend, and all I did was stare at hairlines the whole time. I watched as everyone, bald and not bald, was having a great time and I was filled with stress and anxiety over this mistake I made 13 years ago. I know there are other repair patients out there that have it worse than me, but I still wonder if I'll ever have a "normal" life. This is so depressing.

Matt, Thank you for commenting! Your hair looks great, and I believe I have a similar hair loss pattern. However, I am very concerned that my frontal forelock is miniaturizing and thinning rapidly. I also am experiencing loss in the mid-scalp despite taking propecia for about 15 years. Most of the 700+ grafts were placed in the temples. My forelock at the time was solid. The jackass Dr. did place some grafts directly into the front of the hairline where I had zero loss at the time. Now, that area has receded and I am left with unnatural appearing grafts. Besides being concerned with additional hair loss, I am worried about the naturalness of the transplant given my hair characteristics. I have very fine blonde hair, and all of the grafts that were placed have grown in dark and coarse. Also, because of the color of my hair, the scar is extremely hard to hide at ANY length. If my hair gets wet, you can see the scar. I am not willing to have a procedure where the scar is lengthened into the sides, this will make the transplant more obvious. I may have to do a small strip surgery, and follow it up with FUE. Unfortunately, I'm worried about scarring from FUE as well due to my hair characteristics. So that's my predicament. I don't think I was ever really a candidate for this procedure, and I would DO ANYTHING to go back in time and never have had surgery. Please let me know if I'm overreacting and if there IS a good possible outcome for my situation.

I'm desperate for some help. I used to post on this forum about 8 years ago as HTNONO. I made the DEVASTATING mistake of going to Bosley at 21. I am 34 now. I can't begin to explain what that decision has done to my life. Fortunately, I was able to hold onto my hair for a long time and move on. I've been successful in business, have a great girlfriend, life has been good relatively speaking. Then....it happens again. HAIR LOSS! I wish I could just shave my head or style it in a way that looks normal, but the scars and grafts all over my head limit those options. It's crazy how much ground I've lost in 3 months. And that's why I'm here. I've been delaying the inevitable for 13 years, and need to figure out what to do. Should I get another strip? Should I go with FUE? Should I try to "reverse" the mistake I made? I have consulted with many Dr.'s, and am set to meet with Dr. Cooley who is in my backyard. The consensus is I need 2000 grafts to for my hairloss pattern. I'm still VERY concerned with how natural HT's look, and about scarring. I have attached recent pictures. Any feedback is GREATLY appreciated.