seamike

This may depend in part on the surgeon's preferences. What I have been told is that it is possible to do it without shaving the recipient area, but shaving makes the surgeon's task easier. As far as I was concerned, that was good enough reason to do it, because the long term result was the only thing that really mattered to me.

This is an invaluable forum that provides vital inisghts. Unfortunately the Internet is full of abusive morons and psychopaths -- definitely a good thing to ban first, ask questions later. Thanks for everything you do here.

Congrats! Shedding can happen anywhere from a few days to a few weeks after (or in very rare cases, never). For me, it only started after about 3 weeks. YMMV. Shock loss is a different phenomenon which can happen anywhere from days to months afterward, but often never. On the other questions, I'd follow your surgeon's advice. Every surgeon has slightly different recommendations, and if you've trusted your surgeon this far, it's generally best to follow through with it by sticking to what he's recommended. Gentle shampooing when your surgeon says it's ready can be helpful for dealing with scabs/healing/reducing redness. I wouldn't wait longer than what he suggests for the first shampoo -- just be careful about how you do it and it should be fine. In general I would think the swelling should be gone by Thursday. The main piece of advice is just to relax, stay out of the sun and get plenty of rest.

/r/tressless is rubbish for hair transplants. It's dominated by groupthink that the only solution is fin + min + dermarolling, and that transplants are evil. A good place to go for misinformation.

My plan is to use any future transplants for coverage, not density, on the basis that I can always use concealer to thicken up transplanted areas if necessary. I am holding out for hair cloning before contemplating any procedures to add more density -- surely this is a technical problem which will be solved within the next decade.

I think this varies widely. I had virtually no pain at all (from my FUT) after the first few days, but I wouldn't count on that.

I had my hair transplant in early August with Dr Path at the DHT Clinic in Bangkok. Overall it was a great experience, and I am very happy with the results. I am a 35 year old who is not taking (and has never taken) fin or min. Pre-op I had initially scheduled my hair transplant for January last year, but because of personal reasons, I had to pull out and reschedule later. The clinic were extremely professional about this, and returned my deposit, no questions asked. They later happily rescheduled my operation for August. When I arrived at the clinic for the consultation the day before the procedure, Dr Path examined me and talked me through the whole procedure. He informed me that it looked like I would need fewer grafts than they had previously estimated based on my photos, so the cost would be a bit less. He also persuaded me that FUT would be preferable to FUE in this instance, because of the likelihood I would need further procedures in future. When drawing the hairline, he really took his time to get it right--initially he started with a very conservative hairline, and when I said that I preferred it somewhat lower, we went through a careful process of adjustment and discussion, so that we arrived at a hairline that was low enough for me to be happy, but high enough that it was still going to be reasonable (he suggested a dip in the centre, i.e. an 'M' shape, as a good way of achieving this--I was very happy with this, as my pre-hairloss hairline actually had this shape anyway). After deciding on the hairline and answering all my remaining questions, he sent me home with the hairline drawn on to give me one more evening to think about whether I wanted to change it at all. Here you can see my before pictures from that evening: Operation and post-op The day of the operation went very smoothly; I was given a valium and during the procedure, a foot massage by the nurses. I spent most of the procedure half-asleep. In the days following, I returned to the clinic a couple of times to be shampooed by the nurses, and for follow-ups by Dr Path, who also called me at my hotel the evening of the operation to make sure everything was going smoothly. In my case, I opted to stay in Bangkok for the full two weeks after the operation in order to have my stitches taken out at the clinic, and make sure everything was in good shape before flying. All my visits to the clinic were very positive, and everything went without a hitch. My immediate (1 day) post-op photos: 6 days post-op: Recovery After having my stitches removed, I left Bangkok. Shedding began around 3 weeks post-op, and most of the transplanted hairs did shed. Around 3.5 months, things started to grow quickly, and at 4 months, I buzzed everything down to one length and used concealer to achieve an even look (not shown in the pictures below). Since then everything has grown in nicely, and although things still look a bit sparse in direct light, I have mostly stopped using concealer. One month post-op: Two months: Three months: 3.5 months: 4 months: 5 months: 6 months: 6.5 months:

Different surgeons seem to have different advice. Mine said to aovid sun for 4 months, and that after that it's not a problem. Some seem to be much more cautious -- I've seen up to a year advised by some surgeons on their web sites. Personally I'm 6.5 months out, and although I've stopped wearing a hat on a daily basis, I do wear one if I'm going to be out in the sun for long. Better safe than sorry, really.

I'm afraid I haven't had time to put together a post yet, but will let you know when I do.

I'm now 5 months and 1 week post-op with Dr Path, still extremely happy and happier every day with my progress. Again, can't recommend him highly enough. You'll pay more for him than you will for many doctors in India, but it hardly needs to be repeated that you get what you pay for.

I've been thinking lately about having a brow lift, as one of my eyebrows droops down significantly lower than the other, and I feel it's getting worse with age. However, it seems to me that both conventional brow lifts (which involve an ear-to-ear incision along the hairline) and endoscopic brow lifts (which involve several small incisions on the scalp) might risk damaging my new frontal hair transplant, as I suppose the incisions would be made in the recipient areas. Am I right in thinking this would be a danger? Should I just try Botox or something else instead?

I've relied heavily on both Toppik and Dermmatch to conceal my hair transplant, with excellent results. Started off with Toppik only, then moved to a combination of Toppik and Dermmatch, then as the HT has grown in, I've been able to use less and less Toppik, and rely more on the Dermmatch (I find Toppik is more important for the '3D' effect, so with more actual hair there, it's less important). I think with any of these products, there's an art to applying them properly. Dermmatch is no exception -- some people struggle with it, but I find if I keep water to a minimum (just a few drops on the brush) and apply it a bit at a time, it works beautifully.

I don't really know. His instructions just say the excess heat is not conducive to growth, or something to that effect.

Dr Path: 1 month (No exercise for 7 days, light jogging/weight training OK after 2 weeks, strenuous exercise only after one month) The only restrictions he gives that last as long as 4 months are strong exposure to sunlight, and using saunas.

I don't really know, I think I did go down to a 4 (back and sides) after about 2 months, but again, it only really looked OK after a day or two of growth following that. I'm not really sure what causes the 'indentation' in the hair along the scar line, or whether it will eventually go away--it's not so much a question of the scar itself being visible (it's not, even at number 4) but something dodgy that happens with the layering of the hair along the scar line.

See above.

I don't think I can manage a 3 or a 3.5 just yet. To be honest even a 4 is a bit too short -- at that length, my donor scar is just visible (as a sort of indentation in my hair), though this disappeared with about 2 days of growth after the buzz cut. I'm hoping as the scar heals over the coming months, I'll be able to experiment with a shorter back and sides, but not just yet, I'm afraid!

This question has been asked many times, on many forums, and the consistent answer (which is also given by the manufacturers, and many HT surgeons) is that neither Toppik nor Dermmatch have any effect whatsoever on growth. There is a myth out there that it will stop the hairs 'breathing' or something, but as far as I can tell, that is nonsense. The only advice is to wait a certain amount of time after your surgery (a week or two, depending on your surgeon's recommendations) to apply anything cosmetic to your recipient area.

I've only recently learned about PRP, and it sounds almost too good to be true. From what I can find, the scientific literature as to its effectiveness is still extremely limited, but there seem to be lots of anecdotal accounts of people claiming it worked well for them (as well as anecdotal accounts claiming the opposite). What is the current general feeling about this? Is it snake oil?

In case anyone is curious, at the 4 month post-op mark, I decided to take the plunge and give myself a number 4 buzz cut all around. The second picture below looks less dense than in real life because of the flash, but I am now using a combination of Dermmatch and Toppik to conceal it (as in the other picture) and I'd say so far it looks really natural. No one has noticed anything except that I have a new haircut. And what a relief to be rid of the irritating comb over.

I can buzz it down to a 4 or 5 at the moment without the scar showing. I'm just a bit concerned that the difference in density between the recipient area and the surrounding hair will still be too obvious. Did anyone notice this about your hair?

The minimum length seems to depend on a few factors (how much the scar has healed, what kind of hair you have--straight, wavy, light, dark) but the number I've always heard is a minimum of number 4, even after the scar is fully healed. I think 5 or 6 is probably more realistic on average, in the early stages. How long it takes to heal also seems to vary a lot. It only takes a couple of weeks for the incision itself to heal (that's when you get your stitches out of course), but it can take anywhere from a few months to a whole year for the scar to finish healing. Just depends on how your body works--everyone has a different rate of healing and a different tendency to form scar tissue.

2) Make sure you have ice packs ready, as well as whatever food you're going to want where you're staying, so you don't have to venture out or anything. Surgery is a big thing to put your body through, so you want to treat yourself with kid gloves. 3) Number 3 won't hide an FUT incision. You are probably better off looking like Friar Tuck for the moment--you're going to look rather strange for a week or two anyway, so you can always revisit this decision after the operation, but before you let anyone see you. For the moment, I'd recommend letting them shave the recipient areas to make the job easier for them, but leaving everything else so you can re-evaluate after. Remember, you're going to be spending a lot of the next few months in hats anyway, so the Friar Tuck thing might be less of a concern than you think. 4) That really depends how far you are talking about flying. You can generally get stitches (and I guess staples) removed by a local doctor if you don't want to do it yourself, and things will probably be fine. I personally scheduled a 2 week holiday anyway to recover from my surgery, so I was able to go back and have them remove the stitches and have a look at it, which did give me peace of mind. But if you're talking about flying thousands of miles again after 2 weeks, I would think the extra stress this puts on your body would if anything be counterproductive. 5) Sleeping is not very comfortable when you're trying to avoid rolling onto your recipient areas. You quickly find you can only sleep in one or two positions. Your surgeon may give you some sleeping pills to help with this. 6) In my case, they gave me a couple of valium and massaged my feet -- I wasn't asleep for most of it, but kind of half-asleep. The time passed very easily. 7) People swear by aloe vera and MSM. I used aloe vera for a while, and am still taking MSM, but n=1 so I have absolutely no way of knowing if either of them actually helped. The main thing is to follow your doctor's advice and take it extremely easy for the first couple of weeks, do NOT lift weights or do any strenuous exercise for 4-6 weeks, and absolutely keep it protected from the sun for the first few months.

Sure. These are pre-op and 3 days post-op pictures. Sorry they're not very good, I haven't had the clinic's official ones sent through to me, and I was planning to maybe post a full review in a few months' time with better photos. The surgeon was Dr Path in Bangkok. He and his team did an amazing job -- it was really smooth and all-round a great experience. As you can see, even straight after the operation I didn't have much in the way of visible scabbing or bleeding (though Dr Path said I was a bit of a 'bleeder'). Shedding started after about 3 weeks and lasted about a week. I had mild redness until about 4 weeks ago. Basically it's been smooth sailing so far. Waiting another two months to cut my hair is going to be frustrating! But perhaps you're right -- a dodgy buzz cut is probably going to attract more unwanted attention than a slightly dodgy comb-over.

Hi all, I had an FUT on 7th August which seems to have gone very well so far. It was just over 3700 grafts into my temples and bringing my hairline down significantly. It's now been 3 months and 3 weeks since the transplant, and I am so far very pleased, as I know on average real growth often doesn't start until after 4 months. I decided to keep it a secret from everyone except my girlfriend, and up until now, I have concealed it with a long fringe worn as a comb-over, combined with concealers (Toppik and Dermmatch). A few weeks ago my hair was starting to get really unruly, so I shaved the transplanted area, went to a barber and got a short haircut, which was my 'day zero' moment -- looking much as I did before the transplant. What you see in the attached photo (from 3 days ago) is what has regrown since I shaved it 4 weeks ago. I am once again covering it up with a comb-over. My plan has been to wait until it grows in enough that I can buzz the rest of my hair down to a number 4 cut (as this is supposedly the minimum necessary to cover an FUT scar). But I'm starting to get a bit impatient and frustrated with wearing this ridiculous comb-over, and every day I'm wondering how soon I can get away with doing it so it won't look obvious (perhaps with the help of concealers). I would really appreciate any advice -- how can I know when the right time is to buzz the rest of my hair? Or would it be better not to buzz it, but to go to a barber, explain the situation and ask them to do something creative? I am right in thinking it's still way too early to do this, right? Thanks for your thoughts!