Tao

I didn't have a lot of money when I started HTs but after three procedures, I had spent what I would have on a new car. My hair has brought me way more joy and contentment than a new car ever would. Just my experience. Mileage my vary. Dr. Konior did all of my surgeries so it was money well spent.

I'm kinda in the same boat as you, Melvin. Three HTs and I'm really happy with the way I look from the front. But the damn crown is definitely a black hole of grafts and like you, I could definitely use at least a few hundred more there to really shore it up and never have to think about fibers again. I'm 55 though and a slightly thinning crown looks fine so I'll probably not do a fourth. If I was 38, I'd definitely think about it. Congrats on a great transformation and an amazing journey. Thanks for honestly sharing your experience and wisdom with all of us.

What a journey! Congrats! Looking forward to seeing your new look.

I do have good donor hair. My hair thickness meant less grafts covered more. And then Dr. Konior was my surgeon and he does a great job of maximizing what you have, as good HT docs do. My crown is almost fully covered now though I could use one more pass to get it all the way. I'm 54 though and a little balding back there doesn't bother me, especially given where I started from.

I think that's pretty much how I looked at around age 30. Because I still had a hairline, I didn't really notice my crown hairloss until I saw an overhead shot of myself (which was frankly pretty much of a shock). I didn't take finasteride but I did try minoxidil for awhile. Then I quit that and lost a ton, including almost all of my hairline too. I think I was a solid Norwood 5 or worse by age 40. In retrospect, I might have tried finasteride to see what hair i could keep. In your case, I'd recommend you try it for a year and see if it thickens up your crown (that's where it seems to work the best). Then go from there. If you lose more hair up front and want to address it, then focus your HT on the hairline (that has the biggest impact as that's what people see when they look at you) and keep grafts in reserve for working your way back into the crown (the black hole of grafts). Well, at least this was my route and it worked out well. I'd also get several online consults with Drs. recommended on this forum and see what they recommend. Good luck!

Will I go back again? I never say never (I didn't think I'd do a third pass but I sure did). However, if it would take another 1000 grafts, I ask myself, is that small spot worth about $10k to get rid of? I can sure think of other ways to spend that money. And would I ever still need to use fibers after another surgery? I don't really know. Since I'm really happy with my hair now only (maybe excessive) hair greed would be motivating me. But we all have heard the sweet siren of hair greed. Right now, no plans though.

I got about 2,000 in my crown on my second procedure, with about 300 going to shore up my hairline. My last procedure, 1,600 grafts went toward shoring up my sides and parts and some into the crown. Its all covered now but the crown is not dense for sure and when my hair is wet, you can see a balding spot. With the right styling and length and when its dry, its pretty close to not needing hair fibers. But not quite.

I'm late in reading this thread. Congrats, Melvin! This looks like superb work and I'm sure you're excited as hell to see what the result is when it grows out. I'll be interested to see what your final result is in your crown. That's the black hole of grafts. Even after my third surgery, I still could use about a 1,000 more grafts in mine. My goal was to stop using fibers too and if I just go with the slightly balding in the crown look (I'm 54 so who cares?) I'm there. However, I can still sprinkle just a little of the fibers on and I'm 100% not balding (ha!). Still, hair nirvana is dumping the fibers and never looking back. Happy growing and thanks for letting us all see the full journey.

Yes, a good down payment on a house or a new car. Fortunately, I found Dr. Konior a little before he got popular so he didn't charge as much in the past. The three spaced out sessions allowed me to save for each too. Don't think I could have taken the hit all at once.

I had about 6,800 (wow) grafts transplanted with Dr. Konior over 3 sessions. As much as I would have liked to have had that done in one session, I'm grateful I didn't. The advantage of several sessions is that you get to see what each comes out like and then adjust to what you need the most for your next session. I did the front third first, then my crown. And then for my third, I needed additional crown work but also work on my sides and part as I had lost more over the years. One and done would probably have not resulted in as good a result as I got with three separate sessions. But its a waiting game then until you finally get to the finish (and truth be told, I could probably use one more last little touch up on my crown the black hole of grafts). So I understand the appeal of a megasession.

I personally didn't have any problems. That's only a sample of one though.

I used foam rogaine and had no issues whatsoever. I don't know if it did anything though. Dr. Konior's work is so clean, I never had any redness at all.

Yes, that sounds right.

I had FUE done by Dr, Konior and was told to use minoxidil for the 1st couple of weeks (after maybe a week out from the surgery I think) if I wanted to speed up the growing (and who wouldn't?). Funny how there is no consensus. I did use it and got good growth pretty early.

That's crazy good!