iwantfullfrontal

The donor area is perfect. That's part of the reason I decided to go with the FUE - you can't tell at all. It healed up very quickly (donor area looked normal within a couple weeks). I don't know if that is atypical, but it was my experience. 1 mg of Finasteride daily.

I had a 2300 FUE procedure done with Dr. Panine at Chicago Hair Transplant Clinic last July. The chief objective of the procedure was to significantly rebuild my frontal area and hairline. It hasn't quite been a year yet, but the results are nothing short of remarkable. I was very pleased with the craftsmanship of Dr. Panine and professionalism of the entire office, especially Stewart - who worked with me to do an estimate and the initial crafting of my hairline. The procedure was a very long one - I believe it took 14 hours - but it went by in the blink of an eye. Like clockwork, I started seeing results in about 4-5 months. The hair is still growing in an thickening even now. I'm happy to answer any questions.

I've added a couple photos of the proposed hairline "designs", if you will. The first outline is what I would call the more "comprehensive" option. I have been told by Dr. Panine that I could do this version, but I would probably have less density with a 2200 FUE procedure. I'm trying to imagine what this may look like. The second outline is the more "conservative" approach - should create more density but won't be able to bring the hairline down as much and won't cover quite as much on the sides. Any similar experiences with this type of HT?

"Ugly duckling phase" is very subjective and varies from person to person. For some, it takes much longer than others. That was the case with my first HT - I'd say my Ugly Duckling phase was around 4 months. Others say it's only 2 months for them. I tend to think that people that have frontal procedures experience longer UD phases simply because the area of work is more noticeable. Hurry up and wait! You'll get there.

I'm taking the plunge for the 2nd time this summer. Dr. Panine suggested that my donor area can probably yield 2,000-2,200 grafts from an FUE procedure, to be applied to my frontal area. However, because it is an FUE procedure, he said this would probably be a 12-14 hour mega-session. My first HT only took about 5 hours (it was only 600 FUE). Does anyone have experience with a session that took this long? How did you cope? Were you given meds? Should I just plan on not eating at all? I'm worried about becoming fidgety. Any advice or experience would be helpful.

Oh wow - thanks for the guidance to your page. I don't know if mine has the same type of link, but I have a journal from 3 years ago for my first (and very small) procedure). You'll see why I am wanting a follow-up procedure but what I'm wondering is WHAT ARE YOU TRYING TO ACCOMPLISH with a 2nd procedure? Your hair looks wonderful from the first go-round. Not to mention, your type of balding was more diffuse than mine. I progressed so fast that I don't intend to lower the hairline that much. Your doc did a wonderful job. Thanks for your encouragement. I'm still trying to scratch out how to go about asking for the time off, but it's going to happen one way or another. My consult is in a couple weeks and I'm going to want to schedule it ASAP.

Hey OtherSyde - Thanks a lot for posting your story - I definitely appreciate it. Helps give me a little bit of motivation moving forward. Sounds like your workplace environment is even a little more intimidating than mine, though I'm relatively new to the job and I really don't know about my bosses (they are both wild cards). Did you actually have to put "hair transplant" on your leave request form? I hear you about "not being a good-looking bald guy". I've tried the shaved head - it just doesn't work. My ears are too big and I think my head is too small, quite frankly. I also agree with you that I really shouldn't care about short-term ridicule (probably won't be ridicule, will be more like awkward-ness), especially given that I can't see myself there in more than another year anyway. Looks like you're my age - do you have any pics before/after your HTs? I'm a frontal-case as well.

Comments first and then questions... Maybe you're just one of the lucky ones, but it's very rare to start growing the new hair out within a month. Be prepared for it to fall out, be depressed for a couple more months and then slowly start to see it grow out around month 3. For me, it took even longer - it was a good 5 months before I could start to see the new hair and a steady 10-11 months before it reached max thickness. With that being said, how was Dr. Panine? I think I have decided to have a 2nd procedure and I'm in Chicago.

I’m about to take the plunge for my 2nd HT. I was very happy with the first one that I had done 3 years ago, but it was a very small procedure and I always knew it was going to require another round for what I was trying to accomplish. However, the circumstances of round 2 are going to be a little bit different. When I had my first HT, I was lucky enough to have a job where I could work from home. With that being said, I didn’t go back into the office for a month. This time around, not only is the procedure going to be twice the size, I have a job where I can’t work from home. I’m going to have to ask for time off (aka working from home). I’m generally a pretty up-front person (i.e. – Don’t really care about what people think about me), but this is going to be the first time I have to tell my boss(es). I wanted to know if other people had an experience with this. What was it like? What was their reaction? What was your approach? I’m not really prepared for a “no” answer but I can imagine the shock value will be enough to coax them into a “yes” I also am well aware the telling my bosses will mean eventually my co-workers will know, no matter what my bosses may say about keeping it private. Now, with that being said, it’s a very small staff. We only have 8 other people. I’m not going to play the “hiding” game because I feel like that’s more embarrassing because it’s like you have something to be ashamed of. This day in age, I don’t think this is something to be ashamed of. I have the consult at the end of this week – he’s a very well-known doctor that has almost all positives. With that being said, I know I’m going to book the appointment. I want to do the procedure in July. How much time do I have and any advice would be great.

Hey Guys - I'm embarking on my journey to "take the plunge" for the 2nd time. My first procedure was a very small one (600 FUE to the frontal forelock) with Dr. Feller in Long Island. He did a remarkable job, but even then I knew a 2nd procedure would be necessary to expand my hairline to the side of the forelock. Since that procedure 3 years ago I have moved to Chicago and I'm about ready to press ahead with Part 2. I visited Dr. Turowski at "New Horizons" clinic up in the North Shore last week. We had a good consultation and discussion but I've also read some very negative reviews about him with the "robot technology" he uses. I'm going to meet with Dr. Panine to get a 2nd doctor in the running. I have read in some posts about his remarkable work with frontal hairline restoration. This will be an FUE as well, but about twice the size (should be around 1500 this time). Any comments? I'll post pics soon of what exactly I'm trying to do.

I had a very small FUE procedure (600 grafts) but I was back at the gym lifting in 2 weeks. Didn't see any negatives or additional fall-out.

Update: I was recently prescribed Mometasone Furoate cream by my dermatologist for this problem. I believe it is a cortosteroid. It's only .1% - I have been applying it for about two weeks, though only at bedtime and it hasn't really seemed to help much yet. I do notice that in the mornings, after I shower the stuff off my head, it looks like most of the pink is gone but for some reason it slowly comes back during the day. Has anybody had any experience with this???

Hi folks - Here's the basic question I have for everybody - I have a completely shaved head (not with a razor AKA bic'd) but an electric razor with no guard. I have a receding hairline so I like to keep it short because it looks better. However, what makes me look kind of awkward is that all the hair in the front is very light, fine and blond and the edges of my hair on the sides (the "shore line", if you will) is very dark so it makes the recession look more apparent. My question is - will it hurt to use lemon juice to try to lighten this hair on the sides? Will it weaken that existing hair? I have been told that hair dye and coloring is not good for hair, especially when you have MPB because it expedites the hair loss process, but do you think that using lemon juice or some other light-duty solution would be ok? It's just a self-esteem thing and I think if I was able to lighten it up a little bit I'd look much better with a shaved head. Looking froward to hearing for you. Let me know if there are any specific products that I might be able to use. Thanks! :confused::confused::confused:

Good question RC West - I have the dermatologist appointment next week so I guess I'll find out then, but any advice somebody might have before I go would be very helpful!

Good question RC West - I have the dermatologist appointment next week so I guess I'll find out then, but any advice somebody might have before I go would be very helpful!

Hey folks - I just wanted to check in here... So I'm at the 2-month mark and while ***I think*** the pinkness has improved by a mere fraction, the differential (pink to white skin contrast) is definitely still there, and I'm still having to use concealer to blend the areas. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that part of the reason it is noticeable more to me is that unlike the vast majority of other dudes (and girls!) that have done the surgery, I have been shaving my head down to 1/2 inch since to be able to better examine the recipient area. However, with that being said, there has to be a way I can expedite the color normalization process, right? I have heard that Dr. Feller has treated patients with some sort of hormone/topical treatment (I think). I have a dermatologist appointment at the end of the month - does anybody know if there's something she can do? The aspirin masks, Vitamin E oil, etc has done nothing for me at all. While I'm going through the painful process of waiting for new hairs to break through, the least thing I can do is get this color situation straightened out, right? Docs and HT vets - have any advice? Again, just arrived at 2 months. Thanks! :cool:

Hi there guys... Hopefully someone that has a had a similar small procedure will be able to answer this one... I'm getting ready to have a pretty small FUE procedure with Dr. Feller to fill in my forelock (will still have receding hairline, just want the forelock to be full), he said no more than 500-600 graphs to target that area. I would assume it could be done without shaving it the area in the front, but I guess for accuracy they will. My question is, do you think that back to work within a week would be OK? The dark red bumps are my only concern with such a small procedure. Any info would be helpful...

Raphael - I have thought about doing more, but after some research and thought, I realized that I just don't have enough time to take off to make that kind of recovery. If it's just a little bit, it's not a big deal, but the whole shabang would probably not work with the type of job I do. Like I said before - even a small improvement (that being a full forelock) would be enough to carry me for a long time. At least I'll know that the transplanted hair wouldn't be going anywhere.

Brentipold - Yes, I've been on Propecia for about 5 years. The point of all this is that I just want to see if there is any progress AT ALL, and if not, I'm thinking about doing a quick hit of 500 grafts on the front. I'm not trying to get my hairline back per se, I'd just like the forelock to be filled in. Plan on doing FUE for that. At 500 grafts, I've been told that it would probably barely be noticeable a couple days later

left side

right side

top pic

Alright guys - here is the first set of pics. We're only at 2.5 weeks here, so I have seen no difference nor did I expect to see any this early in the game. I know I made a mistake by keeping the flash on. Will turn it off next time. I will probably trim my hair a little bit between now and then too, but not too close to prevent us from seeing any difference. Will take the next set of pics in 2 weeks.

Hey there guys, It's been just a little over two weeks since I had my first PRP therapy session with Dr. Alan Feller in Great Neck, NY. I just wanted to let you all know and track my progress as we go along to really see if this has any effect. The procedure cost $800, so I'm really hoping to see SOME sort of result. I was told that usually the effects are noticed after about two months. Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo before I had it done, but I can tell you in two weeks I haven't noticed any change at all so I'll go ahead and take a picture and post it. Even though the procedure was pretty pricey, the atmosphere was relatively comfortable and the staff was very nice. I was afraid that the procedure was going to leave my head pretty rough-looking and cut up (I had my hair shaved almost down to the scalp), but I have too say that Dr. Feller and his assistant did a very good job on this. My scalp was a little red, but otherwise I looked completely normal. Let me also remind you that 100% of my balding is in the frontal region. I want to see how much thickness and regrowth can occur with PRP therapy. I really hope I didn't throw away $800. Pics coming soon.