IronGymmer

Is this a possible replacement for finasteride? And how expensive will it be?

8 hours ago, hanginginthewire said:

Would you have pursued transplants if you were a NW6?

Most likely yes provided my donor wasnt affected and thick like it is now

18 hours ago, hanginginthewire said:

What Norwood would you say you were? 

Probably around norwood 4 progressing to 5

9 hours ago, Danny1671 said:

Looks fantastic to me!

Did the doc give you an idea of the amount of donor grafts you have left to use in the future?

Is finasteride working for you?  I’ve been on it for a while now but still shedding unfortunately!

thanks for sharing

He estimated 7800 total capacity so about 2800 left. Personally I cant even see any difference between my donor before and after. I'm not currently planning to do a second transplant.

Finasteride slowed down my hair loss a lot (it was aggressive at first, lost most in 3-4 years) and the year to year and a half before surgery my hair stayed basically the same.

Hi all!

I wanted to make this topic a little sooner but time sure does fly, at the time of posting it's been 9 months and 12 days since my hair transplant at Asmed. Because I am quite happy with the result so far I've not been thinking about my hair a whole lot. It was a very pleasant experience with Asmed, though I was a bit worried with the mixed reviews coming out in the past year. The results certainly aren't perfect, but I'm no longer anxious when going outside or stressing about my hair which was the whole point of the operation!

Experience at Asmed

After landing at the airport the driver was waiting for me with an ipad and took me to the hospital. I arrived late on the 3rd, so I went to bed soon after. On the 4th I had the meeting with Dr Erdogan and the anesthesiologist, as well as scans/pictures taken and hairline drawn. I won't go too in depth unless someone asks, as I'm sure most of you have heard the "asmed experience" before. 

My Coördinator Andreea was very friendly and reassuring (I was somewhat nervous), planning my days and escorting me from and to my room in the clinic (and making sure I ate enough).

The surgery was split into two days 5-6 November. The initial needles are somewhat painful and it can get a bit annoying sitting in the same position for hours, but overall it was very manageable. I watched movies for the extraction part and fell asleep both times for the implanting in the afternoon, though I remember Dr Erdogan coming in to do the incisions on both days.

On November 7 they washed my hair and I received a package with medication, shampoos and lotions to get me through the first month. I didn't wear a hat for the trip home (for fear of damaging grafts) but after a bit you just stop caring and I didn't run into any trouble.

My routine/medications

I take 1mg of finasteride daily (for several years now) and apply minoxidil once in the evening (since month 7). My minoxidil also has a little sandalore in it since I bought that once on a whim for cheap, and my supply lasts super long anyway. I also restarted dermarolling at 1.5mg once a week recently, I waited quite a while (probably too long) so everything could fully heal.

Before

Surgery

Grafts distrubution

The density was 50/cm2 for the hairline and closer to 25 for the crown area.

1 month

9 months indoors

• 1 inch on top, 1/2 inch sides

9 months outdoors

• 1 inch on top, 1/2 inch sides

Overall 

As mentioned I am happy overall, if there were no more changes I'd consider it a success. I am holding out a small hope that the crown will thicken up a bit more, it can look somewhat thin in harsh light.

If there's any questions feel free to ask, I enabled notifications for this thread 🙂

I slept on my back for 10 days, probably safe after 7

Most of my shedding happened during weeks 4-6 so very normal

6 hours ago, CosmoKramer said:

Not sure if cold showers help with circulation as cold water constricts blood flow but I do think it’s much better than hot water especially for scalp and I shampoo my scalp with cold water.

Yes the cold constricts blood flow, but when the cold stops the blood will come rushing back to that area

Cold showers help circulation and I read they're usually healthier for your hair than hot water as well

It looks pretty normal, barely noticable. You have light skin so redness can last a while, I wouldn't be worried about it

The lighter your skin the longer it will take, darker skin will usually look normal after 2-3 weeks.

I have light skin and donor was normal after 3 weeks, recipient is still reddish at 6 weeks. 

It can take 2-3 months up to 6 months (rarely) for it to disappear completely.

8 hours ago, Fozzie said:

Ah think that's the first I've heard of them drawing a hairline after shaving the head to be honest. Couple of  cases here (Kristoff, Lordbaldwin. Templerunner, JayLDD for example), in their write up's mention the initial hairline was drawn in the consultation alongside donor area being examined/measured. Maybe something has changed.

I had a transplant done at asmed this november and had the hairline drawn before shaving, then refined afterwards. Same for all the other patients I saw, bit strange his case was different. Perhaps they were in a rush?

This is a great result, I had a similar amount of grafts in similar area done a month ago, if I get anywhere close to this I'll be really happy

As far as I've read and from my experience in general doctors aim for 40-50 grafts per square CM. Doing more can have a negative effect on graft survival, although doctors will go higher with dense packing. I think it does pose a little more risk.

I had 5000 grafts done at asmed 2 weeks ago and my donor is recovering pretty well, and the doctor didn't push for more grafts (5000 was the estimate)

My donor was estimated around 8000 total grafts but I too would be a bit apprehensive about taking that many, seems a bit risky