DenverBuff1989

@baalloss sorry to hear about your failed HT. I can relate. My 1st HT was failed. Just like your hair is now, my hair looked "ok" to a casual observer, but was clearly a failure in terms of hair transplantation. All the transplant hair grew but there were definitely not enough grafts used. 2 repair jobs later and I am finally happy with my hair and able to put my hairloss war in the past. My failed HT literally was the most stressful thing in my life to deal with it. I went thru all 7 stages of grief, anger, denial, acceptance, etc. I was angry at myself - how stupid could I have been to go to a random no-name doc and not one of the highest rated ones. Mad at the doc, mad at the techs, was it really just bad luck or the result of negligence, etc. Embarrassed that I was now one of those "failed HT guys", and that my hair transplant was now a warning for others. Just like with the 7 stages of grief, the only way forward is acceptance, which it seems like you have done. Don't hold onto false hope that a miracle will happen and all the hair will grow in. Yes, of course a full HT takes 12 months to even 18 months to fully blossom, but by 9 months you absolutely know what the prognosis will be. The only way I could move forward from my 1st ht and really stop obsessing about it was research and start consulting and starting the process for my repair HT (unfortunately it took 2 of those to make everything good). A last piece of advice I have is beware of accepting a free repair job from the same operating surgeon, regardless of how tempting or convenient that may be. Who is to say the doctor won't make the same mistakes all over again? For my 2nd HT, I made the mistake of allowing the same surgeon to operate me again, and it was an improvement but gaps were still there. It wasn't until I went to a truly recognized doctor in the HT community that my hair finally looked great. IMO every doctor is very rigid in terms of the intricate processes of hair transplantation, they are very stubborn in their way of dpoing things. Even if the doctor is aware they are doing a repair case on one of their previous cases, they will still stick to their familiar way of doing things. For better or for worse, every doctor leaves their "signature" so to speak.

@legendary77 don't masturbate for the first month. the increased pressure to your head during masturbating/sex is not enough to make the grafts fall out, but is enough stress to the grafts they can grow in poorly and with an unnatural pattern and curvature

@Tamagochihandler I don't envision any tangible effect, and this seems like post-care anxiety more than anything else. I myself have had 3 HTs, and for each one, the first 2 weeks had intense periods of anxiety were I was worried every little thing affected the grafts. But for all 3 HT's, the transplant hair grew in fine. I'm unaware if washing (or not) really impacts graft growth. While it makes sense to have the area as hygenic as possible, I am only aware of physical impacts have any effect on graft growth. If it helps, know that after 3 days, it will take a significant impact for grafts to become dislodged (but is still possible). After 9 or 10 days, grafts are securely anchored and they would need surgical intervention in order to be removed. I bet in a week you won't even remember about this worry. Happy growing!

@yuriy You have significant hairloss, especially for the young age of 24 - I would anticipate it only getting worse as you near your 30s. I would say it would be ok for you to get a HT now if it is a very conservative one. Maybe turning you into a NW 3. Then once you hit your late 20s/early 30s, if your hairloss has stabilized and paused, perhaps then you can get a more comprehensive HT than gives you that a NW1 non-hairloss look. I can't say how many grafts you need. Your friends are really insensitive for mentioning your hair and how it looks off. Maybe due to their young age as well - none of them have any experience with hairloss themselves - so they don't know how mean and insensitive their comments are. Maybe just own it with them and admit you are losing your hair. Thats tricky tho bc then they would just say "just shave it bro". Sorry you have to deal with that. Meds can only help in your situation. Its not hard at all to get Fin, get on board asap!

yea tbh I've seen this image before in a meme-like fashion. it just seems way to cartoonish to be true. Happy to be proven wrong tho.

Wow, this looks like a parody satire of SMP, can't believe this is real-life. Not to knock tattoo artists, but SMP "surgeons" are literally just tattoo artists tattooing your scalp. Definitely important to do your research!

So Expensive! But pay top-dollar for top-results. Honestly super jealous lol. For me the 1 yr wait time was the reason I declined Konior, I do understand the ridiculous cost price given his reputation. Happy growing!

@Hairybiker If the temple region is clearly defined and a doctor agrees to do it now, then sure I don't see the harm in doing it now. But are you 100% satifisfied with your forelock growth as it is right at this very moment? Say you get a HT on your temples next month, but then in 5 months you decide you aren't happy with your forelock, its not as dense as you want, etc. Then you'd need a 3rd HT to fix the forelock. Whereas if you wait 10 months to fix your temples, you can fix the temples and do a touchup on the forelock and any other areas as well. So yea if you are completely happy with your forelock now, even if there is no more growth on it, and a doctor is good with doing your temples now, then sure I don't see a problem doing it now.

@Hairybiker one of the worst things about hair transplants is when you know you're going to get a bad or unsatisfactory result, but you must wait 10-11 months before getting a 2nd procedure (trust me I know). As others have said, you must wait at least 9 months before a 2nd procedure, bc the new doc must clearly see where the previous transplant hair was placed, make sure no grafts are randomly still growing bc you don't want new grafts placed on the existing ones. Some ppl are telling you to wait and see for 5 more months, maybe some miracle will happen. I have been in a similar situation, and I believe you need to trust your gut. 5 months is enough time for a general assessment. Its your hair, you look at it all the time and have a best judgement on it. What you should do now to put your mind at ease is start researching other HT docs, and book something so you can get a repair job immediately at 10 months or so. For the age thing, 32 is not "young" at all to be getting a HT (I am 31 myself fwiw). At 32 your hair loss pattern should be fairly established. I will say tho, some docs have told me they don't operate on the crown until at least the age of 40, bc crown transplants are a b*tch and crown loss can be more variable in its loss progression. But in terms of the front and temples, no reason at 32 you can't have temple work done. Totally random, unsubstantiated pondering, but it kind of makes me wonder maybe the operating doc did not have the confidence or talent to work on your temples, so made some excuse up about your age.

@Seniormido I saw a totally bald guy at the mall the other day who had a very clear FUT scar in the back (maybe it wouldn't be obvious to a casual observer, but totally obvious to me). Made me sad that this was a fellow hair transplant warrior who had given up the fight.

@James C I see you haven't even had 1 hair transplant yet, really easy to judge before you've begun the journey. As a NW6 I am absolutely certain you would need multiple hair transplants if you decide to go the hair transplant route. And even then a doctor may only be able to bring you to a NW 3. IMHO you may want to just avoid the stress, obsession, and expense and wear a wig. There is a reason so many balding guys just say f*ck it and surrender and shave it all off. The hair transplant cycle can easily consume your life. And yes, absolutely and with transparency I am fine to admit my 1st HT was not good at all, and did necessitate a 2nd surgery. But even so, even with good docs, its rare for 1 HT to be absolutely perfect. Sure, a lot of guys are good with just 1 HT, but even that 1 HT may not be perfect, but is passable and acceptable.

@anotherhairlosssufferer nice thats crazy! Can't imagine only a 2 week wait for the #1 rated doc in the world. That's some A-list celebrity Brad Pitt Kim Kardashian level of service right there haha. I myself had an email consult with Dr. Konior at the end of July, and the earliest he could get me in was June 2022. I get that he's the best doctor out there, but even still, waiting a whole yr seemed ridiculous. Super lucky and definitely at the right place at the right time! If you don't mind me asking, how much did it cost? His quote for me was 1,500 grafts for $20k. Even taking into account, say, $500 for surgery costs, that was still a mind-boggling $13/graft.

@anotherhairlosssufferer how long did you have to wait to have surgery with Dr. Konior? Jealous you didn't have to endure a year long wait and lucked out with that cancellation lol

Nice I'll check it out, thanks.

Good old Toppik is the first and only concealer I have ever used. Doesn't come off on my pillow, during exercise, wind, or rain even. Only way it ever comes off is in a shower. I only put it on my crown and as far as I can tell it conceals my crown loss flawlessy. Love it. If I had to give any complaint at all, its hard to get a good shake out of it. Either I shake and too much comes out, or don't shake hard enough. I feel like this occurs with all concealers tho.

@Ronnieman Rogaine/Minoxidil is actually pretty useless for many, many people. Rogaine has a phenomenal brand name and great marketing. It's profitability doesn't match its results at all tho IMO

@Rossybop Sorry I should have clarified, my natural hairloss is a NW3, now it looks a lot better, looks like I don't have any hairloss (idk if thats a NWO or NW1) To be fair, my 1st HT was from a bad doc, I went with a cheap doc who was local to me. The density was poor. I made the mistake of allowing her to do a free repair job, so this was done 11 months after the 1st one. The 2nd one was not good, so the top-doc at the clinic I went to did a 3rd repair free of charge 11 months after that. I am satisfied after this 3rd HT. Its still growing in, but I expect a good result. Perhaps I just got unlucky with my 1st 2 HTs, but after being on here long enough it seems really common to need a repair HT. Even Melvin the moderator here has had 3 HTs. To be honest I'm too lazy to post pics here lol, but feel free to look at my post history. There are pics from my 1st bad HT. I finally feel good 2 yrs and 3 HTs later....but it was extremely stressful to deal with and the obsession I had about my hair increased 10x what it was before my 1st HT.

@SoundWaveZzZzZz I think an elite, top-notch doctor could bring you to a NW 4 or so. But why go through the stress, obsession, worry, and cost of a hair transplant if a doctor could only bring you from bald to balding. IMO the bald look is much better than being a NW 4 or so. As others have said, I don't think there's enough to work with in your donor area, and its not luscious enough, for any doctor to bring you to a non-balding appearance. I know balding sucks at any age, but in the dating world I don't think most women would factor your hairloss into the equation, no one is going to blink twice to see a 40 yr old balding person. Its not like you're 21 and all the 21 yr old girls expect all guys to have amazing hair, etc. I think the beard and glasses suit your look well. That being said, I don't think it would hurt at all to get consultations from top docs. They are all free and pretty responsive.

@Rossybop literally every HT patient on the planet hopes their 1st HT is the only one they need. Unfortunately I would say the majority of guys actually need 2 or more procedures to achieve the desired look. I myself am a relatively mild Norwood 3, and have had 3 HTs in 2 yrs and am finally happy with the outcome - I never would have imagined my journey was going to involve 3 HTs. As one of the above commenters said, even the best HT docs and clinics can't guarantee results, only increase the probability of a good one. If you look hard enough you will find bad reviews of top-notch doctors. I would say guys who luck out and have 1 homerun HT and are able to leave their hairloss struggles behind after just 1 procedure are the exception, not the rule.

Looks like the extract was taken a little high up on the sides/lateral hump area. Of course no problem at all if the patient doesnt have further hair loss. However, if the patient's natural hair loss destiny is to go to a NW 6 or NW 7 I could see the transplant hair taken from the high side areas being affected. Thoughts?

Its very common for docs to go outside of the small, classic, NW7 safe zone area. If a doctor predicts, say, you will never go beyond a NW3, then a NW3 safe zone is much larger area to work with. Obviously tho doctors are human and make mistakes, and obviously some HT docs just straight-up suck. So IMO its definitely possible for transplant hair to thin and/or die. I also imagine, throwing hairloss out of the equation entirely, an elderly man's safe zone hair is thinner and less aesthetic than a younger person's safe zone hair. So even with a god-tier HT, I imagine the transplant hair will go through the aging process just the same.

What side effects do you have?

@UnbaldEagle Oh yea I forgot about Ronald Reagan. Also Bill Clinton. It makes me angry how some guys really are just born lucky in the hair department lol.

John Kerry is back in the news again for being Biden's new Climate Czar, and I can't stop looking at his hair. He is 76 years old. His hair is AMAZING! He is either wearing a very youthful looking wig or has incredibly god-tier genes. Wig Arguments: Very rare to see a 76 yr old with that hair Natural Arguments: -His hair consistently looks the same. -His hair and style looks the same as it does when he was younger -His hair looks the same in Senate pics of him visiting Afghanistan. Maybe I am reading too much into it, not sure how hard wig upkeep is when traveling in a war zone, regardless of high-class lodging Thoughts?

@taimishu I've thought a bunch about stopping Rogaine numerous times for reasons similar to what you've described. My crown loss is significant but all in all not terrible. There aren't many bald spots in the crown, its more thinning. Since its thinning, many doctors have refused to operate on my crown for fear of damaging these thinning hair. Ironically, if my crown loss was worse and was more bald, many doctors would be more willing to work on it. I've thought about quitting putting Rogaine there so thee thinning hairs would fall off. I honestly don't have an answer. No doctor or anyone following any best practice would ever tell a hairloss sufferer to stop taking Rogaine, even tho in certain situations it does make sense. But be careful what you wish for. You can "hope" for a more bald area for a surgeon to work on, but then you can get a poor job and have non dense coverage, and these new grafts might look worse than your native thinning hair in the area.