follically challenged

So sorry to hear about this, but i'm pretty sure you will be able to get fixed if you plan your next steps carefully!

Could you also do us a favor and let us know which surgeon you went to?

20 hours ago, Maikel said:

Hello all. I would like to share my results at clinic FueGenix in the Netherlands done by Dr. Munib Ahmad with 2540 grafts FUE treatment.

I started diffuse thinning at the age of 18. Luckily for me it wasn't very aggressive and still had enough hair to cover my thinning spots. At age 29 I decided it was time for a transplant and after talking to a bunch of clinics, I still had too many doubts so I decided to contact one more clinic which was FueGenix and Dr. Ahmad replied to me the same day.

I had a honest and clear conversation about my hair loss history, medications and what I was looking for. It didn't take me long to be fully convinced and we setup an appointment for a frontal hair transplant.

The reason why I chose FueGenix is because a natural hairline was my top priority, I've seen a lot of unnatural "doll-hair" like hairlines which really scared me off going for a transplant for years but at FueGenix I can be assured to avoid this problem because Dr. Ahmad does the entire procedure himself unlike many other clinics where the assistants do most of the job.

The procedure lasted about 7 hours and went very smoothly and the environment was relaxing. Below I posted some before and after pictures and if you have any questions, post em below. (note: in the after pictures, my hair was just washed and had no hair products in)

 

Are you on any medication? Did you start before or after the surgery?

24 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Holy smoke, this is with fine hair too, paging @follically challenged this guy is more of a ginger and not blonde, but wow look at that with fine hair.

Very nice indeed, and what a difference.

Fine hair for sure, though if i had to guess slightly thicker than mine.

Looking forward to being assessed by Bisanga some time this year.

38 minutes ago, Marco Van Basten said:

Hi everyone,

How can it be 3 months since my procedure already lol

Anyway, I am 3 months to the day, so thought I would post another update.

I have been to the barber for the 1st time today. 

Only got a grade 3 on the back & sides as just wanted a tidy up, and already it is a massive improvement. (no more hats)

Still not put any products on my hair yet either.

The barber thought it looked good, especially the donor which looks great.

With regards to new hair growth, seems to have been a good bit of movement in the past couple of weeks.

Although sometimes it looks good and then in other light, not so much. This is also a new camera phone, and the resolution is pretty high.

Still taking fin & oral minoxidil.

Lots to look forward to but think I am on track.

What do you guys think?

Lucky bastard with your thick, black hair! Looks to me like it's guna be a great result

Excellent. Massive difference!
How long is that likely to last before it starts to fade? How long before he needs a touch up?

From what I've seen, there seems to be two main forms of FUE extraction: 

1. Majority of grafts taken from one close area at the back - the safe zone. 

2. Grafts taken from a much more homogenised area i.e. spread out from all over the scalp.

So, I'm curious how each clinic chooses their method of extraction. I presume each method comes with their own pros and cons...


First method - PROS - stronger, longer lasting grafts. Easier and faster to extract.    CONS - perhaps more visible with a shorter haircut.

Second method - PROS - Much more dispersed and thus less visible to the naked eye.    CONS - Perhaps less 'DHT resistant' and less likely to last as long as the first method. 

So, I'm wondering did the clinic you had your FUE at offer you the choice? Was the extraction method ever mentioned at your consultation? And how are your grafts holding up now? Do you regret your particular method of extraction?

Thanks for your replies in advance!

Great stuff man! Are you on any medication to stop further loss?

26 minutes ago, Wicky said:

I agree with this one, I thought the extraction process would more scientific.

Yeah, i guess it's like a time-saving process, i dunno?

H&W seem to spread their extraction pattern out way more from what i remember

Looks great, man! Super happy for you.

How long did they spend designing your hairline before operating..?

Excellent work as usual! It would also be great to see some results of finer, blonder patients.

18 hours ago, FUECLINIC said:

We could speak to a few patients who would be willing to meet in person.

One is in Belgium, one is in the UK and the other one is in the New York area.

That would be really great! However, it is this patient in particular I would like to chat with, as we have similar hair types...

May I ask which country this person is based? I guess it doesn't matter so much about meeting in real life, a zoom call would be OK i think...

15 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Wow absolutely 10/10 presentation and results. Paging @follically challenged this guy is most definitely blonde with fine hair. 

Very nice indeed! Any chance i'd be able to speak to patients if i contacted the clinic?

Looking great so far!

His donor work is some of the cleanest I have seen. I have heard he has a special technique for extraction which leaves less scarring, though I am reluctant to believe this...

While he has attained some incredible results from big sessions, unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be so much video evidence of results on youtube. 

So, I am wondering if he only cherrypicks his absolute best work to display or are ALL his patients achieving such great results with the absolute minimum FUE scarring? 

Any patients out there who know more I'd love to hear. Thanks!

...and has the video been removed?! I can no longer see the link that i posted in my original thread lol 😅

7 hours ago, JDEE0 said:

I don't know much about him, just that he's a fraud who spouts nonesense, but no he's not a doctor in any way (after a quick google search)... his page say's he's a 'researcher and medical editor' whatever that means, and follows up with him trying to get you to join his websites membership.

As Melvin says, he's just out for a quick buck and uses lots of pseudo science to facilitate this. I'm not saying all of this to call you or your post out by the way, just so that you or anyone reading doesn't buy into these sorts of methods or the guy behind them peddling his membership fees and essentially get scammed and buy into misinformation based on trickery. 

I didn't watch the video because the guy is a but of a fraud, and like I said, I already know that the whole scalp tension angle has no substance, so there's really no need to watch it in the first place seeing as you have outlined that's what is talked about in it.

As for how some HT's thin out when they were taken from the 'safe zone', well, there are no concrete answers to broadly answer the question for everyone who experiences this, but it's far more likely that the person was experiencing some sort of BUPA type hair-loss with miniaturisation in the donor than having anything to do with scalp tension. More people than it is realised have 30+ percent miniaturisation in the donor, including the 'safe zone' which isn't exactly a real thing overall in general anyways.

If hairs are taken from pretty much anywhere in such patients, then it's inevitably going to thin out in the coming years. You can't have say 35 percent of all hairs in the donor experiencing miniaturisation to some degree and not have this be reflected in your results down the line. Go watch some of Lorenzo's vids on YouTube, he has so many cases on there of patients where he outlines that they have DUPA or BUPA. They even look completely normal lots of the time with good donors, but under a microscope have lots of miniaturising hairs throughout the whole donor and not just above and below the safe zone. It will give you a feel for what I'm talking about. 

Besides this, donor hair is just DHT resistant, not DHT proof. Even so, the vast majority of people's transplanted hair doesn't begin to noticeably thin after 4 or 5 years, most people are fine for much longer than this. The rest who aren't could easily be attributed to factors such as mentioned above, so to apply the argument of this guys video to hair transplants overall in general is a bit pointless to begin with. 

As for the donor dominance theory, or the argument that it is inaccurate should I say, this holds more weight and potential truth that the scalp tension stuff, but there is still no evidence for it. As far as we know, it's the hair follicle itself as a mini-organ that holds all of the genetic markers and relevant DNA to make it susceptible to androgens, not any specific area of the scalp. For reasons unknown, the follicles in the back and sides largely are far more resistant and this shouldn't change once moved as, like I say,  it's dependent upon the individual follicles themselves. But still, for this point, who really knows for absolute, maybe in years to come it will be discovered that the recipient site does impact the grafts, but I'm doubtful as the current evidence suggests otherwise.

OK, thanks for the detailed response anyway!

34 minutes ago, JDEE0 said:

My bad, someone else posted it literally a few days ago.

I haven't looked into the studies he cites in the video (or even watched it) as he doesn't link them in the comments or anything, but I already know the theories have been quashed many times before by people more knowledgable than me.

Here's a video that largely counters Rob's arguments if you're interested at all: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfLvjEjdcnE

There's also many threads on hairlosstalk about the theory as well if you have any interest in reading more about it, just google hairlosstalk scalp tension and have a read of the ones that pop up.

 

 

Well, i dont know much about him, but he is a doctor right? And you can at least take a look at the video before totally dismissing it 😂 haha

I like Kevin Mann, but that video you posted is lonnnggggg. Which part does he counter the theories listed? From what I've seen he seems to be countering some of his other theories...

I guess i should clarify my original post: I'm not a huge believer in the scalp tension aspect,(certainly not the 'blood flow' stuff,  but i feel there certainly could be more going on UNDER the scalp than we're totally aware of, such as more DHT in certain areas on the front perhaps, as opposed to just having the 'safe zone' DHT resistant follicles. Otherwise, how else could some HTs thin out so much if it is purely FUT (straight from the safe zone)?

. At least that was what the video's studies and experts seemed to be suggesting anyway

49 minutes ago, JDEE0 said:

The guy who runs that channel is a bit of a quack in terms of the hair-loss science he talks about. Not a fan at all.

All the scalp tension and skull expansion theories have no reputable evidence to back them up and have been disproven...

Also, did you not post this video the other day, or was that someone else?

I wasn't aware of the 'skull expansion theories' but this video doesn't seem to be of his opinion, it seems to be based on studies and opinions of experts. 

And no, i haven't posted this before, only just came across it. 

I always wondered if follicle survival was just as simple as 'some hairs are less affected by DHT than others'. I always wondered if scalp tension, scalp location, played a more significant role, and that it wasn't just as easy as implanting hairs from the donor safe zone and away you go into the sunset. 

According to this video I just stumbled across, this seems to be the case; recipient site influence can overrule donor dominance. I.e. host tissue can affect even the hairs that are thought to be safe, reducing the density of transplants 4/5 years down the line.

In other words, certain areas of host tissue can perhaps secrete more / less negative factors (I guess DHT?) depending on where you implant them. Thus, recipient sites seem to play a big role, and i guess this is why so many patients need HT top-ups down the line.

The video seems to be backed up by studies. Worth watching from the 12 minute mark. Interested to see what you guys think. Cheers
 

1 hour ago, Zoomster said:

Happy new year everyone from Miami right now...it’s 4 months since  my second procedure and I’m thrilled to see some of the shock loss I experienced starting to recover in the recipient area ..the donor is also recovering brilliantly in my view..I got a buzz 0.5mm fade done just before I left for my vacation on 22 nd Dec ..

I made the big mistake of forgetting to pack my finasteride so I’ve gone 2 weeks without the magic bullets however Dr Sethi assured all will be ok..you’d be surprised how emotionally attached you can get to your beloved Finasteride..I don’t think “Panic “ is too strong a word to use when I discovered they weren’t packed .

Attached pics were taken in daylight today ...hair looks even better in certain normal room lighting / evening social situations ..

Temple points are very subtle salt n pepper so not expecting a massive aesthetic change their but can see they are starting to grow in

Well done Melvin on your HT while fielding questions along the way ..that’s not easy physically/mentally .

and really looking forward to @Gatsbyjourney soon too

 

Looking so good. Jealous.

Two questions: 1. Have they said how many more grafts you may need / may be able to take in the future? (incredible you've had so many taken already and its barely noticeable!)

2. How is Miami? 😄

9 hours ago, BurnieBurns said:

Great to hear that's working for you. I still got some sides from that same product but looks like just the answer for some. Just be carful about applying too frequently or it'll accumulate cos the half life is ages 

Interesting. Two questions if you don't mind:

1. What sides did you get, and how often were you applying to get such sides?

2. Also, how often do you apply now? And have the sides from topical dut totally gone? Thanks!

Looks excellent. Any chance of some donor pics?

On 12/31/2021 at 10:48 PM, meibear948 said:

Hi, I just wanted to share my hair transplant results before the new year. My 12 months was actually a couple of months ago but I was just lazy lol. I wanted to show my pre-surgery and post surgery results. For post-surgery, I am going to show my month 0, 3, 6 and 12. My surgery was FUE with 2500 grafts.

 

Background Information

I always had a high forehead since I was born and very insecure about it. I also started suffering from hair loss and noticed my hair getting thinner during my last year of university. I was indecisive about using finasteride for my hair loss until two years ago. After being on it for a year, I noticed that my hair loss was stabilizing.

 

I decided to get a transplant to lower my hairline. I got the transplant at age 26 with Rahal in Ottawa! The reason I got it here even though the costs are high is because I was able to go with family there and it was also during the pandemic so travel was restricted at the time. I was also more comfortable being able to research more about the clinic and he is a very reputable surgeon.

 

Prior to the surgery, I have been taking 1mg of Finasteride for about a year. I am still taking it and it seems to be maintaining hair loss. No other medications/procedures are being used. Rahal recommended me to use minoxidil but I saw no reason since I was getting hair transplanted in areas I did not have natural hair in before.

 

More Pictures with Better Angles

Pre-surgery: https://imgur.com/a/KwZJPRM
Post-Surgery (Month 0): https://imgur.com/a/FqnOJO9
Post-Surgery (Month 3): https://imgur.com/a/XGHuVB5
Post-Surgery (Month 6): https://imgur.com/a/i9NoGJP
Post-Surgery (Month 12): https://imgur.com/a/v72aa7t

Looks great! Any chance of showing the donor area?

21 hours ago, DJ40 said:

Hello, since I didn't get to meet the doctor for one v one consultation, I never had discussion regarding this. I just sent them my pics via Whatapps and they had doctors look at them and reply with what they believe is good amount of grafts.

ah ok. definitely would have thought they'd provide that for the premium package. thanks for responding anyway!

1 hour ago, Dr. Damkerng Pathomvanich said:

34-year-old, Thai, male who has receding hairline and diffused thinning hair at crown and wants it restored. He underwent hair transplantation, a combination of FUT and FUE. The breakdown of FUT 2,588 grafts ( 1 hair = 861 grafts, 2 hair = 1470 grafts, 3 hair = 257 grafts) and FUE 594 grafts (1 hair =94 grafts, 2 hair = 408 grafts, 3 hair=47 grafts).  Total number of hairs = 5,623. Below is his before and after photos with good results, only at 7 months post op.

Looks great. Would be nice to see donor area too