Spaceman

Yes, its totally normal and expected that due to trauma of surgery nearly all of the transplanted grafts will shed their hair and enter a resting phase. They will come back, but not all at the same time. Growth usually starts around month three or four, usually peaks from months five to seven, and will trail off until about one year. For some the process is a little earlier, for others a little later.

Well, the good news is that your problem will resolve itself soon. The bad news is that the transplanted hair that is not growing will fall out. And day now. Hopefully your surgeon mentioned that.

You look good. Everything looks normal, right where you’d want to be at this stage. Don’t worry about one side coming in faster. That is normal too.

One last thought, which you probably already know, but for anyone else reading- regardless of which surgeon you choose, spend enough time thinking about how you want your hairline. Really think about it. Don’t automatically go with whatever the surgeon draws. Have a conversation about it with the surgeon. Make sure you are really comfortable with it. You’re going to be seeing it a lot.

Yes, that could be. Regardless, it’s nitpicking. Erdogan’s got a great practice, by any measure.

ASMED is highly tech driven, but the techs are well-trained, well-supervised, very experienced, and yes they do produce consistently good results. Erdogan's techs have even helped train the techs from other clinics (like HnW) on advanced FUE techniques. ASMED, however, is not my favorite for detailed hairline work. I'm nitpicking now, but to my eyes, Erdogan's hairlines are a bit more linear and slightly less natural than some of the other surgeons that I mentioned. He's started to use microscopes to improve hairline graft selection so that should help. I wish he would shake his hand a bit when he draws, but he must have a preference for linear hairlines.

The crown is a more complicated area. You’ve yet to see the full benefit of meds. That takes a full year. It may be that the meds give you a nice improvement in which case you don’t need any grafts in the crown right now. As you may know, the trouble with implanting in the crown is that as the balding progresses you can end up with a transplanted tuft in the middle of a ring of baldness. Not a good look. It can be fixed down the road if you have enough donor, but that means another procedure. If you’re going to do anything at all in the crown, consider a larger recipient area than what is currently bald. Make sure the transplanted grafts are blended pretty deep into th eexisting hair around the bald spot. That will minimize the donut effect down the road. Of course, it takes a lot of grafts, so it’s not an easy call to make.

I had a HT earlier this year with Dr Hasson and I’m very pleased with the result. I would definitely recommend Hasson & Wong. In the US, I’d go with Konior. In Europe, de Freitas, Lorenzo, Feriduni. There are a few others to consider, but not many. Hattingen for FUT. Couto is also world class, but not an option if you would like to get your procedure before the next World Cup.

You’re a great candidate for a HT. You have limited hair loss for your age, so it’s likely that a great HT plus meds will provide you with a pretty full head of hair for a long time. A first rate result will make you feel great when you look in the mirror. It will take years off of your appearance and you’ll be thrilled. Others will notice, though they may not know exactly what’s changed about you. However, a result that is less than stellar will make you regret having a HT at all. And a botched result with density issues or an unnatural hairline will make you DEEPLY regret that you didn’t leave well enough alone. I cannot emphasize that enough. I think you should go for it! But only if you are willing to see a top 5 surgeon worldwide, regardless of price and location. There is a big drop off in quality and consistency between the very best surgeons and the rest of the field. An average result is not worth the time, trouble, or risk in your case. You’re trying to go from good to fantastic, not from bad to presentable. Very few doctors produce fantastic results consistently. You must be willing to travel to those doctors that do, and then pay what they ask. Simple as that. Also, if you decide to touch the crown, consider packing in at least 1000, maybe 1200, blended well into the margins. You might not even notice 500 in the crown after permanent shock loss of miniaturized hairs.

You’ve received a lot of good advice from forum members. Your ethical doctor advised you to wait for 2 years before considering another procedure. That seems like solid advice. And maybe in 2 years your head will be in a better place and your expectations will be realistic. By your own estimate your hair loss is actively progressing, despite the use of finasteride and dutasteride. 6000 grafts is enough to pack the front and middle thirds when you need to, but that is not now. Your hair loss patten warrants a conservative approach. You should thank your surgeon. Remember, life doesn’t end at 40. Don’t sacrifice your appearance for the rest of your life to chase a juvenile hairline for a few years in your mid-thirties. You will sorely regret it.

Yes @Legend007 this guy was a perfect candidate. NW6, but very high sides, great hair caliber, dense donor, and deep pockets . He had 11,524 hairs moved. Wow. Diep executed beautifully. Its an exceptional result.

Maybe this is not what you want to hear, but you’re freaking out and it’s not helping. Despite what you see in the mirror it really doesn’t look bad. There is no need for you to isolate yourself and hide. Aren’t you in post-shedding, pre-growth stage of your 2nd HT right now? If so, you actually look pretty good. Most of us look MUCH worse during that stage. Hair on the sides is often darker than the top, so it’s not unusual to see a slight color change in the recipient area. The color will often even out over time. You can easily fix the color if it bothers you. Your hair is at the worst length to cover density issues right now. You really need to chill for a while and let this grow out and see what you’ve got. Why get two procedures if you’re not going to let them grow out?

By the way, Melvin, your 3 year pic looks fantastic.

I never stated that, nor is it my opinion. What I said was this: And then later, this: I think you took too much liberty in your characterization of my viewpoint.

You may see minimal improvement, but you would be wise to have low expectations. Dr. Bernstein has some before/after pictures along with solid information here: https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/medical-treatment/platelet-rich-plasma-prp/. Keep in mind these are probably the best results he’s seen in his practice with PRP and several are also on finasteride and minoxidil.

Most of the transplanted hair in the six month picture is super thin and wispy, light colored and 1-2 cm long. Perfectly normal for six months. The most significant cosmetic change between six and fifteen months is that these hairs thickened, darkened, straightened, and grew to 4-5 cm in length. Also perfectly normal and expected. There does not appear to be a large amount of new growth on the hairline from six to fifteen months as Melvin suggested. Perhaps @Max Power can weigh in. And Max, congratulations on a nice result. You look really transformed.

Wandering, thanks for posting this. Its a valuable contribution to the site. Many guys in their late teens and early twenties rush to get a hair transplant before they fully understand where their hair loss is headed. Ethical, competent surgeons should not let you get into this situation. They should help you assess your long term hair loss and work with you to develop a long term plan before excising a single hair. They have a duty to ensure you are making an informed decision with long term goals in mind. Unfortunately, many hair transplant clinics ethical standards are proportional to the length of their waiting list. If you do post pictures, people here may be able to help recommend some options. I really hope you find peace.

Its a great result to be sure, and congratulations to @Max Power. However, @Bill - Managing Publisher, most of the difference between six and fifteen months appears to be in thickness and texture. There are a lot of tiny, thin hairs in the six month picture that improved significantly, as one would expect. The majority of the growth appears to be there at six months, at least to my eyes. Anyways, congratulations again Max, and thanks for posting.

This patient actually had good growth at six months. Most of the difference in the six month and 15 month pictures appears to be maturation. There was additional growth to be sure, but from the pictures most of the difference seems to be in the texture and thickness of the hair. No doubt that six months is only the halfway point. And for crown work, halfway may be even later. And significant cosmetic changes occur between six and 12 or even 15 months. That is established beyond debate. At the same time, as @matt3480 said, it’s uncommon to have very poor growth in the front at six months and a good result at one year.

Finasteride is approved for hair loss in men, and it helps to preserve existing hair for balding men. Some men experience side effects, but most don’t. There is lots of information about it on this board, including user experiences, both good and bad.

Go for it. Just wash it out every evening.

Looking at your previous thread, your hairline looked OK after your procedure and touch ups with Dr Wong. We’ve seen better from Dr. Wong, but it was not a failure. I agree with JeanLDD- it would be interesting to hear Dr Wong’s opinion on the poor growth. You’ve lost a lot more of your native hair in your front third over the last few years and what looks to be serious shock loss in the recipient after your latest procedure. Have you been on Finasteride at all since the procedures with Dr Wong? One last question: it looks like Dr Soni lowered your hairline significantly (1+ cm). Since you’ve had poor growth and density issues in the past, why create a lot more area to cover? In any case, I truly hope things turn around for you. You’ve had a really rough go of it.

Please do not have a HT at 22 while your balding may rapidly progress. Finasteride is probably the only way to stabilize your hair loss right now. Consider getting on Finasteride now and see if it stabilizes your hair loss over the next two years. If so, then you can think about a HT. If you want cosmetic improvement right now you might consider SMP to provide illusion of density in diffuse areas. It lasts a couple of years. Maybe do Finasteride and SMP now and reevaluate in 2 years. That will leave your options open.

Its an awful lot of area to cover with 3500 grafts. One can’t have expectations of density. But you now have something to style, so that’s a big difference.

Its looking really good so far. Its going to turn out great. Congratulations.