GuruPete

3 hours ago, txtransplant said:

And here we have the essence of this thread and the realities.  I don't see any before pics. But I will assume this was a frontal hairline rebuild job.  And being completely blunt....it is a pretty good result.  Yes, it could be more "refined" maybe more subtle transition and and I agree with another poster, I would have had higher temples. But this is very much part of being an adult and taking ownership of what you want. Not just letting someone you have never met decide your hairline. So for sure any perspective patients need to know what they want going in. It is much better than letting a stranger decide the morning of. You should design your hairline. However, perhaps more often I see patients going for too aggressive hairlines and feel doctors need to be ore reserved in giving those. I think the Dr. who did this patient actually over does hairlines. I think maybe in parts of the world where many of his patients come from that is appreciated.  

  Back to this. I see a pretty dense hairline for a HT.  I have no idea what you stated with,,,but this is solidly middle of the road looking. With 7-800 grafts it could be really maxed and be a better than average result. That the patient doesn't like the design is irrelevant. That was a communication problem and has nothing to do with the skill set. Here is the rub. Plenty of guys would love results like yours. You instead hate them. From the pics (and I doubt you sent the most flattering ones) it seems like you really have nothing to hide. In fact the forward comb down looks to me much worse than what is under it. I would say this is a better result coverage wise than Melvin. But completely a case where expectations were well beyond what they should have been. I get the feeling this patient would not be happy unless he had the same hair he had when he was 13.  HT is and should be a tool to make a bald guy not a bald guy any longer. Not take the hair equivalent of a quadriplegic and turn him into a Olympic athlete.  This looks like good density in these pics for a single procedure and if someone is disappointed in it....then the simple reality is this is a case where the expectation is too high.  We read 50% of original density good. Some people infer that means looks good as it did with no thinning. They are WRONG.  It means they appear to have hair and not obviously thinned at casual glance.  A HT will never hold up to close inspection. Now I will say some doctors...sometimes recklessly and sometimes brilliantly super dense pack a frontal area with massive amounts of grafts and get a look in all lights and views full kid density. But those are extreme cases. If you think you can go to the McDonalds of HT and get that in one pass. You were living in a dream world.  I say this patient appears to have gotten a good HT and certainly to the casual person they meet, looks far from a bald guy now.  He did get kind of a unrefined hairline and partly that is what the doc he picked does. But he also had the opportunity to go with a more natural design.  And even if the artistry here is not the best. A few hours in the chair could make it terrific.  I think a lot of guys with a result would be bragging here how it was life changing. You are saying it is detrimental. For sure a good example of glass 1/2 empty or full and how different humans have different expectations, perspectives a whats of handling them.  

Listen, I learned the hard way too...but I am not complaining. I bought into the argument and illusion that 50% of original density would give me almost perfect hair. You know what, it doesn't!  It took a train wreck of a head of hair and made it presentable and where it wasn't really impacting my looks in a meaningful way and people notice me and my hair is good enough that nobody looks at it. Think of it like another body part most of us ignore...ARMS.  If someone has unusually muscular arms...people notice. If they are so weak and maybe slightly disabled giving off sings of bad health or weakness....we notice that too.   But on a guy, his arms can be in the bottom 20% or top 20% and damnit, nobody is going to even notice his arms one way or another. We just notice really obvious things on other people!  Have a head that is closer to full than bald and people's eyes go elsewhere.  That is what HT is really about.  When I go out on a date now, I am under no illusion my hair is helping me or hurting me. Now if a 20y old dude with crazy great hair sat down in my lap, then the girl I am out with might notice my hair is a little lackluster.  

I think some people want perfect hair of a teenager. They will be disappointed even with a decent result by real world standards of HT.  The guy who just want's to look presentable and hair not be a major impact on his overall look....then yes, he will be happy with typically good results.  Melvin's hair looks like crap in the wrong light and with nothing done compared to someone with zero hair loss. But with a bit of effort and in the game of life, he is a guy with hair that is good enough not to take away from his looks. Compare him side by side with mode hair....it might hilght his weakness. HT didn't restore him to perfect. It restored him to where his hair isn't impacting his appearance in a bad way.  

 

 It is easy to see how many HT pics are done in ideal lighting. It is pretty much the norm in fact to see before and after pics with slightly more harsh lighting before....and results ideally styled and presented. That is not unethical much of the time. It is just patients looking at the bright side and of course doctors putting their work in the best light. It is up to us, as informed patients to look through the 1000's or results here and learn for ourselves what is really happening and not think we are getting a unicorn when what we are getting is more like a donkey.  That is the value of this site to patients. The info is here if you aren't lazy and have a good eye for realty.  But the overall world of HT is misleading and the next is loaded with results that are presented in the most ideal conditions by patients and doctors.    Yes, a few can get intense density and amazing good as teenager results. But for most patients that is not reality, or even a goal. That usually takes 2 surgeries and doctors with a good eye for natural hairlines. But like this patent, most get rehabilitated good enough to frame their faces and no longer be guys you look at and give the impression of bald.  If you think your new superpower is going to be hair....you are wrong. 

 

 

To HTO416. Seriously...loose the comb forward.  I am telling you, your hair is pretty good now and a lot if it is in your head.  And if you had a bit of a wodow's peak added and maybe a few hundred singles scattered along the outer edge of the hairline you would have some truly great results! I mean that. I can be harsh and don't sugar coat things. If this were not true....I wouldn't say it.  You really are okay as it is. And would be a great look with a bit of refinement.  

OP stated he was a NW2 before surgery and had 3000 grafts. The hairline looks awful I would not be happy. No worder OP is covering with fringe. Graft angles look way off like most Asmed patients. IMO poor technique and below par quality