Tentpole91

@Yolando let's see the 12 month update man!! Also would be awesome to see some photos of the hairline with the hair pulled up

I had surgery with Dr. Diep in February (thread). I'm not sure what his FUT is like, but I can say that his placement of grafts in my case was grid-like. Part of the issue could be that the singles at the front of my hairline haven't grown in yet, and this could end up resolving itself down the line. Can't comment on the FUT scarring since I went FUE. I like the density that Dr. Diep is able to create, though. My advice would be to read up on at least 4-5 different threads and make a decision for yourself. It's a big decision and there's not necessarily one right answer.

@Sam818 exactly, should be a relatively straightforward fix. Donor is okay-ish. My barber tells me that it gets better every month.

As far as the row-like patterns go, I've emailed Dr. Diep about this and his response didn't acknowledge that the right side looks unnaturally regular & pattern like. He asked me to wait for the year mark before making any judgments. That was kind of frustrating to me because it feels pretty obvious that there's too much regularity, and other doctors wasted no time in pointing that out. Hoping that this gets better with time!

@jimcraig152 thanks for stopping by and adding your thoughts. I agree that the yield is excellent. I also had two techs working on my head. I remember asking each one how long they had been working for the clinic. The one on my left side had been with the clinic for 6+ years. The one on my right had only been there for 6 months. My understanding is that the doctor makes the incisions and the techs implant. But anecdotally, the side that looks way more questionable in my case was also the side that had a much less experienced technician working on it.

@Sambo any progress over the last two weeks? You're in the major growth phase now, each week it should be looking better

Yep, those are the two main things I worry about as well with my surgery. Corn row appearance is frustrating, and not really getting better lol. So interesting that it happened to both of us, only on the right side. The growth on the other hand is pretty solid! Which is awesome

I've sent photos of current growth to a few other surgeons. The two that have gotten back to me so far (well-regarded by this forum, based in the US, long waiting lists) seemed concerned by the regularity of graft placement on the right side, and recommended further surgery to refine and soften the hairline. At the same time, they both felt that fixing the right side would be relatively simple due to the small area and strong graft growth. Which is great news. I've also reached out to Dr. Diep to see what he recommends. I'm 99% sure he will tell me that I need to wait another six months to fully evaluate the success of the transplant. and he's probably right. I remain hopeful that the singles in front will grow in so that there is no detectable "pattern" to the hair on the right side. But as they say, hope for the best and plan for the worst. Hence the decision to seek out second opinions from professionals. I do want to emphasize that it isn't all doom and gloom though. While the placement of grafts is frustrating, the grafts themselves are growing in well, and the left side of the transplant is looking pretty damn good right now. It's a total trip to see how much the transplant changes the shape of my face, and to feel hair where there wasn't any before. Attaching photos of both sides to give you all a visual sense of the progress at 5.5 months. Looking at them visually, it's hard to believe that both sides were done by the same doctor.

I got my surgery Feb 12, and didn’t start to see real growth until about 3.5 months. You’re in the height of one of the most painful parts of the growth process! Stay strong

So the good news is that the hair is definitely growing in, and many of the grafts seem to have taken hold. The bad news is that the pattern on the right side remains quite distinctive in harsh light. I remain puzzled as to why Dr. Diep took this approach. While I am hopeful this will diminish with time, I’m starting to think about potential ways to repair this or minimize it in the coming years. Perhaps SMP, but would need to look more into that.

Hi everyone. Posting some new photos of the right side at 5 months, one week. The hair is getting thicker, but the pattern on the right side remains fairly distinctive.

PM sent, Melvin. The one thing that does worry me a bit is that the pattern of hair placement could be difficult to fix down the line. Whatever Dr. Diep did here, it's probably with me for life. @ruca2 I am excited and hopeful to prove you wrong as the hair continues to grow out over the next six months. If you reference the photos earlier in my thread, Diep did place a denser line of singles in front of the rows; as that matures, the appearance of hair plugs will hopefully diminish. That said, there truly are no excuses for the unnatural, row-like placement of grafts on the right side. Especially at a price of $10/graft.

Thanks for posting, Ruca2. At this point, the only thing I can do is wait and see. If such an obvious pattern does remain 4-6 months from now, that is something I would likely seek to fix with another doctor. BTW, would be really cool if you were willing to share some pics of your experience with Dr. Diep. Feel free to PM them to me if you aren't comfortable posting them publicly. @Melvin-Moderator, my previous comment is now pretty far up, so will repeat it here: can you shed any light into why Dr. Diep places grafts in straight lines? I've looked at many other threads on the forum, and haven't found any other doctors that take this approach. It seems so easy to fix.

@chiadude any updates?

@Cahustler lets see an update!

5 months

@Melvin-Moderator can you shed any light into why Dr. Diep places grafts in straight lines? I've looked at many other threads on the forum, and haven't found any other doctors that take this approach. It seems so easy to fix.

Quoting this to answer the previous poster's question as to whether ruca2 shared results.

Awesome. Btw it’s kind of confusing, I posted more recent photos (4.5 months) at the top of this page. Did you get a chance to check those out as well?

@Melvin-Moderator would be curious to know your thoughts on growth so far!

Four months

That’s right. I’ve left the rest of the hair fairly long to disguise. I owe you guys some older updates as well. 3 Months

Yeah. Tomorrow I am going to ask the barber to go a lot shorter in the front. Will be the first time I am directly incorporating the transplanted hair into the visible hairline. Hopefully it doesn’t look too obvious. I’m starting to accept that the donor is probably always going to be a bit patchy and uneven at anything below a three guard. But I will hold out until month 8 or 9 to make that final judgment.

4.5 month update. Hair is growing in well, but hard to take photos because it is so long. Main concern is the pattern in the hair on the right side, for lack of a better word. My hope is that this becomes less noticeable once the fine singles up front grow in. Have a haircut tomorrow. Can provide more then.

@Dadda can you post side profile pictures of the recipient, especially the right side? I noticed some row patterns with the transplant and would love to know if they are still apparent. I’m planning to get a haircut tomorrow and go down to a 2 on the donor. My barber told me that he thought the donor looked a lot better between month 3 and month 4. Now that I am a few weeks out from month 5, curious to see if it has further recovered.