Spaceman

This seems incredible, to be able to shave to zero with no visible scarring. In the picture, the skin in the donor above and behind the ear looks like it was digitally smoothed. Was this picture touched up at all? Regardless, the top looks great.

I agree with that. At the same time, in order to maximize sales and better serve local populations, a company like L’Oreal needs to figure out which hair products to market in Thailand, say, vs Denmark, rather then selling the exact same portfolio of products globally. They need some way to account for regional differences, even if it’s imperfect.

I wouldn’t call the classification pseudoscience. There is a documented methodology behind it. It may not be perfect, but it is still useful in this context. “The ethnic origins of subjects assessed here attempted to follow most criteria adopted by ethnologists. The latter combine, for such difficult tasks, the common origin of a given subject with his/her two preceding generations (par- ents and grandparents) together with a common language, all acknowledging that both criteria are less imprecise than genetic standards with regard the vast diversity in DNA polymorphism, worldwide. Interestingly, using language as a discriminant criterion confers to ethnic origin an intrinsic cultural component, thereby considering that humans and their origins cannot be restricted to mere (and complex) biological entities. Accordingly, it comes clear that terms such as “Danish” or “Thai” embraced in the present paper should be solely viewed as arbitrary shortcuts. They, in addition, concern subjects living in cities that may not perfectly reflect the ethnic profile of their respective countries.”

Here is a study comparing hair characteristics among 2249 people from 24 different ethnic groups on five continents. It compares growth, diameter, color, and shape. Its from L'Oreal. They make hair dye and they care about this sort of thing. Of course, this has absolutely nothing to do with who the top 5 hair surgeons are, but what the hell, the thread is shot anyway. Maybe someone finds it useful. https://link.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1684/ejd.2015.2726.pdf

Trix mentioned three clinics that provide world class FUT. H&W in Canada, Hattingen in Europe and Konior in Chicago are truly excellent options and well worth the long journey from Australia. Dr Path in Thailand would be much closer to you and does good FUT work at lower cost but I would not put his results at the same level as the others. Try finasteride first before considering any grafts in the crown. It may be all you need right now. Regarding H&W and laxity, it’s always been an issue with strip. They recommend that you do scalp laxity exercises ahead of time to help ensure you have enough laxity to meet your goals. In the old days they would simply downsize a strip procedure on the day-of if laxity was insufficient for the planned surgery. Now they can offer FUE instead.

Your hair looks great in the pictures, but if you’re noticing a recession then as pkipling suggests you can get a consultation with a good hair surgeon including a miniaturization test to see what, if anything is going in. The medication Finasteride helps you keep your existing hair for as long as possible. The best time to start taking it, IMO, is before you have significant loss. For you, at age 25, that is right now. But there are potential side effects. Talk to a qualified doctor. If you need help finding one, ask the forum.

UVB causes sunburn on the surface but UVA penetrates much deeper and can cause premature aging, cancer, etc. Best to avoid both I think.

Standard baseball hats are made from tightly woven polyester or wool, both of which are excellent at blocking UV light. As a rule, hold any fabric up to a bright light like the sun and see how much light gets through. The more light that gets through the lower the SPF. A flimsy white T-shirt has an SPF of about 5. A standard weight, dark polyester or wool baseball cap has an SPF around 50.

@jj51702 I’ve also read in a number of places that side windows don’t block UVA. However, the only real study I’ve seen on the topic indicates there is at least partial UVA protection in the side windows of most cars these days. An ophthalmologist tested 29 different car models 5 years ago and published a study with the results. The average side window UVA blockage was 71% (range 44-96%). The average windshield UVA blockage was 96%. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamaophthalmology/fullarticle/2522190

I can understand OPs concern. He had a 1500 graft procedure mostly to address the temples and the temples are somewhat sparse. Having a small second procedure, say 500 grafts, to add density to the temples seems reasonable to me. As long as it’s part of a long term plan.

3500 grafts would make a huge difference for you if that is possible. If you go to option #1 or #2 your scar will likely get better not worse. Given that you are in Chicago #1 is a no-brainer. #2 is a great option. Who the hell is Brett Bolton?

At 7 weeks this is probably an ingrown hair or folliculitus along the scar. It’s probably nothing to worry about and will usually resolve in its own. It may pop like a pimple and there may be a small amount if blood or pus if it does. That said, contact your surgeon to be sure. Yours is a bit large and angry looking. He may prescribe antibiotics or just wait and see.

A normal baseball cap is fine.

Incredibly natural result.

I don’t have an opinion on Karadenize. I’m not that familiar with his work. I’ve seen some good results from Eugenix in India mixing beard and scalp hair in high Norwood cases. The surgeons are hands on and it is low cost compared to the clinics in Belgium.

Epinephrine is a vasoconstrictor and helps control bleeding during surgery. Less epinephrine means more bleeding during surgery and more bruising and scabbing afterwards. But by three weeks out the scabbing and bruising was gone and the work looks good.

Great result. Very natural hairline that will age well.

Congratulations! Great result!

Looks really good so far. Day 10 donor pics look fantastic. Density is amazing. Are you taking Finasteride?

All hair- not just transplanted hair- grows back at smaller caliber initially and needs to mature.

Looks more like a Ludwig or perhaps Olsen pattern but it’s hard to tell because it’s combed forward in the pictures. You’ve established that you are a good candidate for a HT through in person consultations with several good surgeons. That’s good. Your question is, between Feriduni and Wong, which one will give you the lowest transection rate and best overall result? Both surgeons are among the best in the world at what they do, are well respected by their peers and highly regarded on this forum. You cannot make a bad choice between the two. I wouldn’t worry about transection numbers with these surgeons. There are no good numbers published to help you there anyway. Both surgeons have very experienced teams and both consistently produce good to excellent yields based on their patient and clinic posted results. I would focus on more subjective factors to help differentiate between the two. Which surgeon’s results look more natural to you? Whose hairlines look better to you? Which clinic have you had better interactions with? Again, you cannot make a bad choice between the two.

Great progress Legend. The best is yet to come.

I think you can have an excellent result. You should focus on the hairline, front and mid sections first. You’ll probably need 5000+ grafts for desirable density. Erdogan, Lorenzo, and Hasson & Wong are your best bets for mega FUE sessions. If you’re willing to do it in stages then you have many additional options. Konior, Feriduni, etc. Also, I’d avoid the temporal regions for now.

I think it looks pretty good actually. It might look even better if you let it grow to a 3/4. I think you made the right call.

I take them too. My doctor wasn’t concerned about it, but definitely ask.