Tao

In my experience, I felt pretty crappola after my HT surgeries for a couple days after (valium had to wear off, making me feel pretty out of it - that could just be my reaction to valium though). I had some pretty wicked swelling in my eyes after the first one for a couple days too and no way would have wanted to appear in public looking like a klingon. It takes about 8 - 10 days for the grafts to be totally secure in your head so I'd take at least that long before you do anything resembling strenuous or start wearing a hat. I went back to work 10 days after my second HT and was totally fine. However, I had hair to cover up most of the work. You could combine vacation with HT if you plan on having a very relaxing, laid back vacation. But if you plan to be active, then I wouldn't plan them together. You lucky dog. You live in Vancouver, which is beautiful and home to H&W. I'd save my clamolas over the next couple years and get my HT done right there. Seemingly cheap HTs can be much more expensive in the long run - both monetarily and emotionally. Good luck to you, Vanman.

I had the exact same concern as I had a glaring bald spot on my crown that bugged me. But my doctor highly recommended we do the front third first and in hindsight, he was absolutely correct. Why? First off, concentrating on that zone makes the biggest positive cosmetic difference by far. Frames the face and covers the area that is visible to most people (outside of giants). Secondly, when I went in for my second HT to address my crown area, we could shore up the few places in the front zone that needed it and then throw use all the rest to address the crown area. Bear in the mind, the crown area isn't called the black hole of grafts for nothing. You can waste a lot of grafts in that area with much less impact than if you used those grafts where you really need them first. Fix up the front first and then throw the rest of what you got at the crown. You can take a look at my link below to see how it turned out for me. Good luck!

Take heart in the fact that this is the worse it will be. It'll get nothing but better from here on out. After my first HT, I had some shock loss of the last remaining little hairs that were clinging to the top of my head. I definitely looked worse than pre-HT. But I just settled in and pretended that that pretty much would have been my normal life. Except that I had the incredibly hopeful prospect that now things were certain to change for the better. I had no idea how much better, but it really couldn't have gotten any worse. And boy did things change! Hang in there, man. You're headed in the right direction!

I chose to drive a 12 year Honda Civic and get a couple hair transplants instead of a nice new car. And I have no regrets whatsoever. I feel like a different person with my hair back. Much more confident and definitely get more attention from the gals. Hard to put a price on that. That said, no doubt I do think of all the things I could have done with that $20k plus. It sucks that hair is such a big deal in our society.

Yup, I agree with hairthere and Dutch. I wouldn't notice a thing unless I was specifically looking for something.

Lorenzo got it right. 3000 grafts will provide significant cosmetic improvement, especially if you concentrate on the front half of your head. Coarse hair works in your favor here as it provides more coverage with the same grafts. I have had two HTs and I went back to work 2 weeks after the first one and then 10 days after the second (crown). I had some diffuse hair left (not much though) but it provided some cover for me. I had my staples removed before heading back to work after the first one but they were still on when I headed back after my second one and no one could see them unless they were really close and really looking hard for them (which doesn't happen). Some people get redness in the recipient area that lasts quite awhile (I did not). If you get the redness, then you have to make some excuse like you have an infection or some sort of dermatitis or something. Also, some doctors require you to shave your recipient area. Mine did not. That will be a factor in how fast you can re-emerge afterwards with no one noticing. Good luck to you!

The following appeared on CBS News site today. I never took Propecia as I lost most of my hair up top before going the HT route. I always thought messing with strong hormones, etc., in the body was playing with fire. But then again, I totally understand why one would take Propecia. So many have with no issues. Tough call. Baldness drug Propecia making men impotent, says study CBS) Men worried about losing their hair may be losing far more than that if they take the popular drug Propecia. A new body of research says 5 to 23 percent of the millions of men who take the drug may become impotent and have lowered sex drives because of the active ingredient finasteride. And the problem may linger years after they stop taking the drug. The story is coming to the fore as two new studies were published in "The Journal of Sexual Medicine" this month. Young men are being prescribed these drugs, "as hair loss treatments that may negatively impact their sexual life, possibly for a prolonged time after stopping the medication," said the journal's editor-in-chief, Dr. Irwin Goldstein, in a statement. In one paper which analyzed previous studies, researchers led by Dr. Abdulmaged M. Traish of the Boston University School of Medicine, found a small but significant percent of men suffered from erectile dysfunction, reduced ejaculation and semen volume after taking the drug. Traish told CBS News what really worried him was the long term effects. "What is really important is not how big or small this number is," he said. "But rather how many of these individuals will continue to experience persistent side effects, even if they discontinue the drug?" To answer that question, Traish pointed us towards research from Dr. Michael S. Irwig, who interviewed 71 otherwise healthy men who reported sexual side effects after taking finasteride. The mean duration of the negative impact was 40 months after stopping the drug. Irwig's study, also published in "The Journal of Sexual Medicine," had some caveats. The men were not randomly selected, but rather picked off of a popular website for problems with finasteride and the men were not tested for hormone levels. Finasteride is also found in Proscar, a drug designed to help with prostate swelling. The cruel irony of the findings, if they hold up, is that once men stop taking Propecia their hair loss returns, but the side effects may linger for years. There is a class action lawsuit in Canada and a smaller suit in the States. The full studies can be found in the March issue of"The Journal of Sexual Medicine" here and here.

Wow. That's a helluva transformation, hairshare. I had a similar transformation so I know how much a difference it makes in one's life. Pretty fun to look in the mirror these days, no? Congrats. Enjoy the hell out of yourself!

The anti-evolutionist all seem to want a very simple straight forward answer. Not gonna happen as the twists and turns of evolution are far too complicated to offer that. If you want, just believe the alternative - that God is sadistic and likes to randomly demoralize various men with baldness. There, feel better?

Yeah, not impressed at all with that response.

That's quite a transformation! Congrats! I have also noticed a big difference in the way people interact with me now that I have hair. Just saw a woman I hadn't seen for awhile and it was apparent she was shocked and confused. Pretty amusing. I catch people looking at my hair now, no doubt checking to see if I'm wearing a wig or something. They're totally confused as most people do not know how good and natural modern hair transplants can turn out. Enjoy bro!

JustAGuy, Sorry to hear about your experience. That sounds incredibly frustrating. Your write up seems balanced and fair so I'm eager to hear the response from Dr. Feller's clinic. I agree with Dutch. Though the doctors they represent didn't do your surgery, submitting your photos to some of the excellent reps on this board will likely result in some very good feedback. I know I'd be interested to hear why transplanted hair would fall out after 15 mos. if that is indeed the case. Thanks for maintaining a civil tone and I hope everyone else will as well. And I also hope that you find a good solution!

Looking good, Bill. I got my second HT last year to address my crown and mine looks pretty similar to yours. Right around the swirl, it's maybe a bit more open than I'd like but I don't know that adding more grafts there would necessarily make much of a difference. Anyway, given where we both came from, I'm not complaining and I'm sure you're not either. Thanks for sharing your story and pics.

You're gonna be fine, dude. Relax. Just don't engage in any freaky circus sex.

The wavy-ness looks really good, Anouar. In fact, you're looking great these days. I agree with hairthere, your crown isn't bad at all. Congrats. You have to be really thrilled.

Getting an HT was a bizarre experience (both times in my case). You get your head cut up (or poked like hell), you're woozy for a few days from the drugs and then you have Frankenstein staples in your head and bloody clots all over your head (if you had strip) and sleeping is a pain and you're worried as hell someone is gonna see you in this crazy state. Of course you're gonna have anxiety and second thoughts in the days and weeks right after. Getting the damn staples out is like heaven and then as the weeks SLOWLY pass, things get better and better until....nothing ... for awhile. And then worries that it's all been for naught and you spent all that money and went through all that for what? Then you settle in and just live your life as you start getting back to looking your normal pre-HT self again. And then the fun starts as as all of sudden, things start happening. Anywhere from 4 mos to 8 mos, you start taking off. And it usually only gets better and better. So after this initial rough period, only good things are heading your way. Extreme patience and knowing that improvement is coming is what you have to hang on to. On the upside is that the growth comes in slowly so people don't get so suspicious. They see you all the time and things are slowly changing and they just think you're working out or doing something good, but God knows what, cause you're looking better and better. I slowly went from just about completely bald on top to having a full head of hair in under two years and I think people forgot how really bald I was. Only people I haven't seen in a long time are really confused (and that's quite amusing to experience). When they ask, I usually reply that I'm using some crazy ointment made up of Yak spit or I'm on an all-okra diet proven to grow hair or something equally dumb. Since most don't know squat about modern hair transplants, they usually just buy it! And I smile to myself. Course, for my balding friends, I always tell them about my HT and what their own options are. Good luck guys. Happy days are coming.

I had my first HT in April 2010 and then a second in June 2011. I swear, my first HT, which concentrated on my hairline and halfway back, is still thickening to this day. I just got a question today from someone who I see failry often, asking me if I'm coloring my hair as it seems thicker (well yeah, it's thicker than the almost nuthin' I had there before - ha!). Give'er some time. You're coming along nicely.

Looks really good. Congrats!

Artie, I was right there with you before my HTs (I've had two now) but I gotta tell ya, in my case, it was one of the best decisions I made (and I don't consider myself a vain person either). I am so much more confident now than pre-HTs. And really, I did it for myself, not for potential women I have met or will meet (although that's been a helluva lot easier since). Its really nice to wake up in the morning and look in the mirror and like what you see. That just carries over into the rest of your life. If you have the money and you've done your research and found a good doctor, I don't think you'll regret it, especially 12 months after the procedure! Good luck to you, man.

You're in good hands with Dr. Konior. He changed my life.

Good luck HT72, we're all pulling for you!

Wow Lorenzo. You too. You must be thrilled. Congrats. Heliboy, really happy to hear that things have worked out well for you. Would love to see some pics. 20k grafts! That has to be some kind of record. Congrats to you! Jayc, I really hope you find a doc that gets you to where you want to be.

I'm with Lorenzo on this one. Neither side was satisfied. What is the truth? Always depends on where you're standing. There was no surgery and all payments were returned. Each can go his own way. Probably for the best. Best of luck to you both.

I find this an interesting thread as it makes me think about why I got my HTs and what I think about telling others, if anything. No doubt, in our Plato's cave society (I like that T4G), where looks and image reign supreme, baldness is a big issue as it's right out there for everyone to see. And there really are so many contradicting messages. Bald men are the butt of jokes and are ridiculed or shown in a negative light in the press, on TV and in movies (not always, I know, but in general). But God help any man who then tries to take control over something that is not in any way his fault in the first place? Say what? Like so many others here, when I started down the HT path, I had a lot of shame (why?), felt really stupid and desperately wanted to keep my HTs secret. Once I got my first one and it turned out so successful and then had my second one and am currently watching it grow in with great delight, I find my attitude changing. I think I was so determined to keep my HTs secret because what if I shelled out all the money and ended up looking ridiculous? Then I was a bald man who was a desperate fool too? Now that that has not happened (just the opposite), I'm much more comfortable with owning up to the fact that I have had HTs. What's someone gonna say? I look and feel so much better these days and have no regrets. Who wouldn't make that choice if they had the means to? All I have to say is, thank God for modern HTs (and for my good donor characteristics). My life has definitely changed for the better since getting my HTs. I'm much more confident each day (that's worth a helluva lot) and I do get treated differently by people (and women, especially). Did I do it for those people and those women? Hell no. I wouldn't want anything to do with a woman who was so shallow. I did this for myself. Yes, we live in Platos cave, but unless you're some kind of Buddha, it's pretty damn hard to get out. So screw anyone who snickers at me or thinks any less of me for doing this. You watch those smug people when they lose their hair. They'll be asking you for advice on who to go to for a HT. Or they'll go hide.

Congrats Needhair. I'm about 7 months out of my 2nd HT with Dr. Konior and I'm very impressed. If you email his office assistant, Tom, I'm sure you can get photos of your HT, pre and post operation. It's nice to have them to compare where you started. It's night and day with me. I think Hasson and Wong, Dr Feller, SMG, and Rahal get most of the good press on this site (and with good reason, no doubt) but I think Konior is also right up there. Would love to see some pics, as I'm sure others would as well.