DenverBuff1989

definitely a receding hairline - thinking this is anything else is just denial. Recession at the very young age of 17 will lead to significant balding in your 20s. Hop on Fin asap. Also see your primary doc and/or a dermatologist to rule out any causes other than male pattern baldness.

marry a Canadian now, boom you hold Canadian citizenship and there you go.

as a general rule of thumb, all grafts are 100% securely anchored in by Day 9 or so. General wound, scab, scalp healing, etc can still be affected by intense and/or physical exercise tho. I would definitely ask your operating surgeon for a definitive answer. There may be unique particulars of your specific hair transplant that only your surgeon is aware of.

thanks!

my 3rd HT was only 2.5 months ago, but the graft placement looks good, and the doc put in 2000 grafts, which should really seal in the density to me. The doctor is also an actual 100% full time HT doctor with a lot of experience (James Harris in Colorado). Just like you, for my 1st HT I saw a random no-name doc who did hair transplants as a side gig. I foolishly allowed her to do the repair job (my 2nd HT), and predictably there were still density issues. But I feel good about this 3rd procedure. So overall I have around 3200 grafts in my frontal region, which tbh seems like overkill, but for this 3rd HT, Dr. Harris just wanted to ensure I wouldnt need to come back for a 4th Ht. But yea....its unfortunate a relatively "simple" case such as mine morphed into so much drama.

agree. All HT's - even when performed by elite doctors, are fraught with risk and potentially setting the patient up for multiple follow-up surgeries and years of worry and obsession. Its a gamble that makes sense for those that have significant/severe balding; less so for those that just have mild hairloss. You can't fault someone for wanting to improve their appearance, bc even minor hair loss can be very distressing, but it is a big risk. I myself am "just" a NW3, who had one bad HT and then needed 2 repairs, all over the span of 2 years. While ultimately I believe my hair transplant appearance will make me look much better than I would natively, I honestly am not sure I would have started down this path if I would have known how much stress it was going to cause me (to be fair tho perhaps all of my stress could have been avoided if I went to a qualified doc for my first go around)

IMO redness at 12 months is quite unusual. I would actually get it examined by a dermatologist. Couldn't hurt to ask the operating clinic as well, but at this point you can't really trust anything they say. Best to get a qualified opinion from a doctor who is completely neutral to the outcome of the hair transplant. For your touch up procedure, even if you are dead-set on seeing one specific doctor, definitely get consultations with multiple clinics so you can get a group consensus on a graft count needed. For reference, my native hairloss is pretty similar to you, a relatively benign NW3. I definitely had a receding hairline, but wouldn't be considered "balding" by a casual observer. I had 1700 grafts, and even that wasn't enough density for relatively mild hairloss.

By 12 months, while the sprouted transplant hair will continue to mature and thicken, you will not miraculously have any new transplant hair sprouting by this point (imo 8 months is even enough time to know the finality of transplant grafts) Looks like your needed graft count was underestimated. I do think the HT is overall an improvement, its just not 100% there yet. If its any consolation, know that its unfortunately pretty common to need a 2nd follow up surgery to increase density.

@HairNTearcan you please specify/clarify what you mean by blunted hairline design and strange angles? Thanks.

there are some guys who never even shed. i dont know the thread offhand but some 28 yr old saw Dr. Reddy in the UK and the vast majority -if not all- of his transplant hair just never shed. I think he's at 6 months or so now.

For my first 2 HT's, I noticed visible hair growth at 4 months, almost on the dot.

the war is unfortunately over for you. shave your head, get fit, grow a beard. be 6 ft+ tall.

I'm also interested in an update. Sorry you had to go through this @Lb25 . Not sure you'd even want to pursue this option, but realistically I doubt any hair transplant case could lead to a medical malpractice lawsuit, unless your physical health has suffered. However, your case is on the more severe side of bad hair transplants. I would perhaps still get a lawyer just to strengthen your position, and absolutely raise hell with this clinic. Get consultations from other more esteemed clinics on a repair hair transplant, then absolutely demand a full refund from this clinic + any additional $ to cover the repair surgery, plus attorney fee and perhaps travel expenses. There are bad hair transplants where the surgeon puts in the effort but is just not talented or experienced, and then there are cases such as this where it is obvious the doctor does not care about his patient and just wanted to take your money and be done with you and send you on your way.

The quintessential bald fashion tips. I don't directly disagree with the advice, but I will say not every guy wants to look like a bouncer or MMA fighter. It can be a very aggressive and intimidating look. Many guys have a personality that does not fit the tough guy image. I do agree that being fat and bald makes one look like a fat baby, but being in tip-top shape is easier said than done. I see nothing wrong with a severely balding 23 yr old such as OP wearing a hair system. Unfortunately, being that young, most of his peers will associate him as "the bald guy". If the only concern is if a 23 yr old has the discipline to deal with hair system maintenance, he should at least try it out.

ive heard this before about the crown. can you please explain why the crown takes longer? in your personal experience at what month did hair growth start in the crown, and when did it end? thanks.

you're gonna get a lot of flak on here for not waiting 6 months to a year to get in with an elite doctor. I do understand your reasoning tho. I can't comment on the prognosis but I hope it turns out well. Regarding the transplant shock loss question, I am not an authority on the matter, but I would say transplant hair shock loss has a much stronger chance than native hair to come back. However, there is always the chance shock loss hair does not come back. Also be cautious on claims of shock loss. It of course is a real condition, but just saying in my own narrow personal experience, "shock loss" is an easy excuse for doctors to use, to cover up a mistake on their end, such as underestimating the # of grafts needed, transection of grafts, or some other human-error cause.

Dr. Konior and Dr. Nadimi are great and in the Chicago metro area. Be prepared tho for a long wait and paying a premium rate.

i don't have any examples, sorry! I'm sure there are plenty of examples, both good and bad, on search. I've read from users on here that SMP for fue scars (it might have been for FUT, or maybe both) is a good option.

because doing SMP on the crown is just filling in the crown area. doing SMP in the front, the SMP person has to design the hairline, and there is much more room to cover. its hard enough to find a qualified medical doctor to draw a decent hairline, let alone an SMP person, who is essentially just a tattoo artist.

I briefly considered SMP on my crown, and visited an SMP guy to investigate further The most important thing I learned is that the only "safe" place to get SMP is on the crown. Its a huge gamble getting it done on the hairline and midscalp. And even in the best cases, you have to do touchups every 4 years or so bc the tattoo fades. And SMP has a tendency to "shine" in certain lighting conditions. I totally understand there are valid use cases for SMP on the hairline/mid-scalp. But IMO if one is going for the non-balding buzz cut look (the only suitable look for frontal SMP), one might as well save the drama and risk and just shave your head and be naturally bald.

this is really severe balding, regardless of age, but especially for 23. If you go the hair transplant route I imagine you'd need 2 homerun transplants minimum, and even then there's a solid chance you wouldn't get the appearance of a "normal" hairline or density of someone in their 20s. I doubt Rogaine or Fin will help you regrow, but it is possible. There are many young people on r/tressless on Reddit who do have regrowth from many alternative treatments, including microneedling. However, regrowth from anything other than a hair transplant is the exception, not the rule. But still worth a shot heading over there and some other people can assist. If you aren't opposed to a hair system, I would perhaps just accept the hairloss for now and wear a hair system until you at least reach your late 20's, then you can re-assess the hair transplant route.

Keep in mind you probably will be relaxed AF during surgery. I was given an injection of Versed in addition to Xanax. I actually fell asleep for part of my last surgery. So hopefully the anti-anxiety drugs keep your phobia at bay.

@hairthere Hi, I am not the original poster lol, I am just a commenter just like you. I agree with your assessment tho.

Hair transplants are a risky procedure. SMP is even riskier. Getting SMP on anywhere but the crown is very risky. In my opinion the only thing that really stands out is the dark smudge in the middle - I don't have enough knowledge in SMP to predict if that will fade or not. It may be unnoticeable to most people, bc most people are not looking at you from where your camera is angled. I would start doing consultations with other SMP artists to get a 2nd, qualified opinion. Its hard to trust the operating surgeon (or SMP artist) - also with hair transplants - because you never know if they are giving you an honest answer or are just trying to make an excuse for a mistake on their end.

yes this is the unfortunate reality. Obviously going to an elite surgeon increases your probability of success, but there is no guarantee. I went to a random no-name doc for my 1st HT with poor results. But I have seen a significant number of threads on this site of poor results from elite doctors that are similar to mine. I sincerely do wish everyone on here gets the best results possible, but it does help me cope knowing that, for my own poor result costing $6,500, I could have paid $20,000 and there is a chance the result could have still been the same.