Tao

April - one month post op.

These two pics are immediate post-op pics. Surgery was a breeze. I experienced no pain at all. None during and none post-op. As usual, Dr. Konior's work is ridiculously clean. Hated the shaved head and it took a lot longer to grow some coverage back than I would have liked but that's the price you pay. Pandemic hit so I have been working at home since the surgery. Ideal situation to get through the ugly duckling phase.

Ok, this is probably overdue. Been more busier than I thought I would be. The attached pics are my situation before my last surgery with Dr. Konoir in March 2020. Approximately 1,600 FUE to address crown and shore up my part areas. Two pics I took the day before surgery and two pics from day of surgery in Dr. Konior's office.

You chose your doctor well. I think this is going to look amazing. Good luck with the healing and growing.

Depends on your procedure. For my first two FUT procedures (both by Dr. Konior), both of which were over 2,000 grafts each, the recovery was definitely slower than my last FUE surgery of 1,600 grafts. That said, I was back in the office after two weeks after my first FUT procedures (I waited until I got my staples removed) and after one week after my second (my existing hair hid my staples well). I had swelling in my eyes for about a day or two (icing helped a lot) and my scalp felt completely numb due to the nerves being severed (it took several months for that feeling to subside - it did not hurt, just felt really weird). The staples felt a bit Frankenstein-ish and tight and slightly uncomfortable while sleeping til they came out. Not horrible but annoying. My latest FUE surgery was an absolute breeze (again Dr. Konior performing it was likely why). I felt literally no pain anywhere. Not in donor nor in recipient area. I took no medicine at all and the only painful part was having to deal with a shaved head. Just my personal experience. Other's experiences obviously may vary. Generally I don't think the pain of an HT, if there is any, is overly distracting, unless you have issues unique to your physiology, which is always possible.

I love seeing crown procedures documented here as they are less common than hairlines it seems (at least procedures that are documented). Crowns are tricky and they take a lot of artistry (and often a lot of grafts) to get right. I've seen some procedures that used a ton of grafts but that didn't seem to make a huge difference in the end. Not so with your procedure. This is an amazing home run and I'm sure you're rightfully thrilled. Congratulations! I'm at two months out from my 1,600 graft crown procedure with Dr. Konior and I'm already really pleased too. At three months, I'll try to post to share my crown journey as well. Thanks for sharing yours.

You do a great job, Melvin. I really appreciate your work and your approach. Thank you.

I had staples for both of my FUT surgeries and I felt like Frankenstein until they came out. It wasn't nice trying to sleep on them and I counted the days until I could get them out. I actually took them out myself the first time with a tool I was given. That was not fun. I tried to do the same after my second FUT surgery but I think my scalp was tighter and it was really hard to get under the staples so I went in and had my general practitioner doc take them out. Better choice. Still stung a bit but no big deal. The doc said he had never seen such a minimal scar, which was nice. That is pretty par for the course for my HT doctor (Konior).

After only four months, that's an amazing outcome with only 700 plus grafts. And with plenty more growing to come, that's going be make you really happy. I'm at the two month mark now from my crown HT with Dr. Konior. Finally, most of my hair has grown back so I don't look so terrible now (after a shaved head for the procedure). I have to update my blog. Congrats and happy growing!

Yeah, I guess I can see your point. It does look like a good outcome in that regard.

I find it interesting and curious that someone would spend the money and time for 2,500 plus grafts to still keep their head shaved.

At 6 months, this looks amazingly good. And you still have a ways to go before the final result. Pretty spectacular. I 'm a month and half out on my crown procedure with Dr. Konior so your result makes me smile. Good on ya! Enjoy the growing.

Yeah, amen to that.

I need to update the site soon. I'm one month out of FUE. I'll post the photos Dr. Konior sent me and then I'll take a few current shots.

Interesting. I guess it varies from person to person, doctor to doctor and day to day. I really had no pain during any of my FUT and FUE surgeries. Just much different recovery experiences. And yes, the ugly duckling stage for FUE does seem to last forever (I'm only a month out and it feels like forever already).

I've had two FUTs and one FUE. Folks will probably pipe in and tell you it all depends on your situation. And i'd agree. In the hands of a good HT doctor (H & W are up there among the best), you shouldn't have much problem with an FUT scar. Unless you ever intend to buzz cut or wear your hair very very short in the back. Also depends on your longer term concerns and goals. If you think you'd be one and done (and most of us do and most of us are wrong), then FUE might be the way to go, despite the higher cost (you amortize the additional 9k over your lifetime, and it doesn't come to much). But if you need another HT (or two) down the line, FUE probably isnt the most efficient use of your grafts. For me, I maxed out on FUT in two surgeries (Konior was my doctor for all my surgeries) and my scar is pretty undetectable with really short hair (but definitely not buzzed) and I've never noticed anything about my scar area feeling weird. This can vary from person to person though and your scalp laxity has a lot to do with it. For my third surgery, my scalp laxity was not there so FUE was pretty much my only option. But since I hadn't done FUE, my donor area was still very good and more easily pickable for the best FUE grafts. Again, this can vary from person to person so you should think long term and sketch out a plan. You can stop reading now unless you want to hear about my thoughts on the difference I experienced with the FUT and FUE techniques. Here's how I experienced FUT and FUE. My first two FUT surgeries (2800 and 2200 grafts) seemed more brutal than my latest FUE surgery. In FUT, they are carving out a strip of skin and hairs from your head and then sewing that back up again, using staples and/or sutures. The recovery was definitely a bit more intense (eye swelling, sore sore back of the head with annoying Frankenstein staples in for one to two weeks, need to apply ointment to scar, lack of feeling on my head for several months, etc.) But with both of my FUT surgeries, I was back to work in two weeks and no one could really tell I had anything done (my existing hair covered my scar/staples) and I had minimum redness in the recipient area (granted, my doctor was Konior and he does amazingly clean work. Amazingly clean). For my latest FUE procedure, Dr. Konior had to shave my entire head to more easily get to my donor grafts and also more easily place the grafts in the recipient area. The procedure was pleasantly easy and the recovery was essentially instantaneous. I had no pain at all afterward and never took any medication after surgery. I sprayed the grafts with salt water and because Konior's work was again so clean, I had no problems with scabs and if you looked at my donor area, you could hardly tell where Konoir took grafts from (in a week, you could definitely not tell). That's the good. The rough part is that whole shaving of the head thing. I had pretty decent hair before the procedure so after the procedure, I suddenly was essentially buzzed down bald. I gotta say, I hate that! I don't have a great head shape to pull off the buzzed down or bald look (hence my HTs!). And my hair is growing ever so slowly back, revealing the areas that were weak and had hair transplanted into (that will start growing in several months). The payoff will be worth it no doubt but the the journey to that payoff is tougher appearance-wise. Because my timing was about perfect (my HT was in early March before the social distancing and lockdowns), I havent had to go to work and appear to many people in a social setting without a hat on. So my ugly ducklin phase is much easier to deal with, for sure. Anyway, there are advantages and disadvantages to FUT and FUE and price is definitely one of them. More important though is the management and maximizing of your lifetime donor grafts.

Excellent post. Thank you. This is really important for guys who are contemplating getting a HT. My hair is the same. Some days, it looks absolutely amazing (compared to where I started). But then the wind blows mightily and exposes the reality. But I'll take it still. BTW, your hair looks great, Melvin. Thanks for your good work on this forum.

I did have FUE this time after two previous FUTs. Recovery this time was a snap but this is the first time I had to be shaved. I'm happy I took the long HT route because I hate the shaved head look with my lumpy pate. And yes, when I started this, I was really really bald. Definitely a NW 5. I think Dr. Konior took me on and got me in after only a few months this time because he wanted to finish the challenge. I'm lucky. He's a special talent. You're lucky too.

Looking Good! I'm jealous of all the rest of your hair right now. I'm approaching the 1 month mark from my 1600 graft procedure with Dr. Konior. I loved how quickly it was to recover after surgery and Dr. Konior's work is ridiculously clean so I had almost no redness or scarring in the donor and recipient areas. However, it was painful (mentally) as hell to have to have my head shaved as my hair looked pretty damn good before surgery and the growing back stage is taking a long time. The only good thing about this horrible pandemic is that I don't have to go to work looking this bad. Totally temporary though and in a few months, I'll be happy hair-wise. Happy growing.

Thank you. I stumbled across Dr. Konior after coming to this site many years ago. Fortunately, he is the closest to me. He didn't quite have the rock star reputation yet when I started. I had lucky timing with him all three sessions. Cheers.

I posted one titled: 3rd Time with Dr. Konior

Konior. First FUE after two previous FUTs. FUE was much much easier recovery (no pain and no meds whatsoever needed after surgery). That's the good. The bad is the need for having my head to be shaved. When Dr. Konior did my first two FUT surgeries, the recovery and pain was longer and I had metal staples in my head for awhile. However, they were all covered up with existing hair and after a week, no one could ever tell I ever had anything done. Not really the case now. But the timing is good for sure and I'm definitely not complaining.

I fortunately timed my HT perfectly (by pure dumb luck I had it on March 9). I have a shaved head and look pretty weird right now but since I'm working at home, its the perfect time to be isolated. Miss being out in society with friends though. This is tough for extroverts. But I know how fortunate and privileged I am as the suffering that is rippling through the world will be (and is right now) tragic and unbearable.

It just so happens that I got my latest procedure done on March 9. Had to shave my head down, which is painful since I HAD PRETTY GOOD HAIR! Now I don't. But I'm working at home 100% so I get to hide out. Its perfect aside from that whole existential threat of the virus (I'd easily give up all my hair to have this stuff clear quickly). Be safe everyone.

No other treatments. I had lost a LOT of hair before I started doing any research and paying attention. By that time, Propecia and Minoxidil weren't going to grow my hair back. It was shave myself down or try the HT route. My first forays into the HT industry felt pretty sketchy as I met some strange characters and it all felt like a scam. Fortunately, that's not the case if you do your research, choose your Dr. wisely and come up with a reasonable and well-thought out plan. I didn't realize when i started that I'd have to have more than one procedure but unless you only have minor hair loss, you have to factor in that you'll likely need more than one pass. I was extremely fortunate to find a good doctor who has maximized my available grafts. I could have foregone this latest pass and lived happily ever after. But I have the means right now so I headed back one more pass to shore up my part area and my crown, both of which lost some ground in the last 10 years. That was a privileged YOLO decision for sure.