TheForkLift

Hi all, 13 Months update now. It seems it won't improve a lot from here.

One note: pictures taken with artificial light, whereas in the others were taken with natural daylight.

Let me know what you think

Still wondering if it's worth going for a touch up, I still need to be seen in person by the doctor.

2 hours ago, Egy said:

I would say, very good, it lacks a bit of density, but no one would say that you have had a transplant, very very natural.

Thanks Egy, I hope your situation improves

Hi everyone, time for the 10Month update.

I haven't yet managed to have an appointment with Medikemos clinic, but that's on me since I've been quite busy recently.

Let me know your opinion. I think that from far it looks alright, and up close one can see the lack in density.

Is it good enough? It seems that according to the state-of-the-art it did not fully succeed.

On the plus side, it still looks pretty natural, and the improvement wrt before operation is more than palpable.

well maybe this helps put it into perspective and understand the total area covered.

It was not just the hairline, it went as far as half way through the scalp, which is a good indicative of how advanced my balding is (I don't say was, because I'm just moving hairs around, the total number of hairs has decreased)

No feedback so far. I will let you know once I get something.

On 10/4/2020 at 3:07 PM, mustang said:

You don't lose transplanted hairs.

They shed like native hair and will grow back. Just trying pulling one out and see what happens 3 months later.

You will recover whatever you have shed on your transplanted grafts even if they were taken from a zone with miniaturization , they will just gradually thin out like your donor.

You have lost a lot of native hair. If your hair loss is not stabilized then you are looking at 9-12k grafts to restore normal density overall minus whatever you have had implanted so far.

let's hope you're right Mustang, I also was under the impression the grafts were permanent..

I am going through the same thing as Egy! month 6 and coverage was great month 9 and it's gotten much worse after summer... I'm starting to think the baldness in me is just too strong

3 hours ago, Huncholini said:

Sorry to see what looks like quite a poor result from such a respected surgeon. Are there any recent results for Dr.Lupanzula where the results are as expected?

well let's not jump to early conclusions. He was always very professional and the procedure itself and the rehab was super smooth, there can be many external aspects impacting the success of the surgery. Some people claim the total graft count was low and the transplanted hairs turned out quite thin. I will let you know once I have feedback from the doc.

4 hours ago, Egy said:

The same thing happened to me, between the eighth and the ninth month (between June and July) I had a copious fall, and it is not about survival of grafts, because in this case, they would not have grown back at all.

well did it grow back for your case? I haven't read anything about a latter shedding.

On 9/13/2020 at 3:53 PM, asterix0 said:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but it doesn't look good man, it looks like a lot of the grafts didn't grow. I would definitely ask Dr. Lupanzula if he can do an estimate of graft survival percentage by using a microscope or some other tools. 

thanks for being honest, let's see what the doc thinks about it.

let me just clear it up that I'm not displeased with the current state of it, it's still much better than before. however, I am a bit concerned that the density looks weak, specially that it has decreased after summer instead of improving over time.

to be fair the video was done under direct lighting which makes it look worse than in reality

well the point of this thread is to have other people's opinions on the results.

so yes, please give your opinions.

hi everyone, so I need your help here.

Past couple of weeks with change of weather (colder) and having re-started Intermittent Fasting, I've been noticing the grafted hairs are falling off and the density is decreasing.. I am assuming these two aspects could play a role there, specially the IF.

I'm quite surprised because I thought the transplanted hairs were definitive or at least less prone to falling than the native ones.

Having already gone through the shedding phase and a very slow growth over months, seeing my hair fall off again at 9 months is a bit unsettling, I have now attached a video so you can have a much better idea of what is going on.

I have contacted Dr Lupanzula's clinic (Medikemos) in order to get an appointment because we were supposed to have it at 6 months.

Your honest feedback is very welcome.

Cheers,

On 9/1/2020 at 8:48 PM, BjornBorg said:

I believe this will look much better with the maturation of the transplanted hairs.

Also you could try a style with 3 millimetres on the sides and leave it like it is now on top. I think it will create a picture of a better head of hair. Leaving it long on the sides will portray the receiving area as thinner.

Yes I should get a haircut, it always helps with the sides and back shorter.

Also after summer the contrast is decreased which helps because skin is darker and the hair is also lighter.

Cheers,

FoxtrotChi your comment made me laugh first thing in the morning! that is absolutely right

My GF also points to old pictures of me and tells me "look at how bald you were", so I agree the improvement is palpable.

Thanks for all your feedback, I think I will post back some pics in December at the 12th month mark

Cheers

(btw, still on 1mg finasteride, + Regaine on crown area)

Hi, so I've waited until the end of summer to send you some encouraging pics.

Overall it has a better look if seen from far, but closely the density is still quite low.

I have seen other people who've had procedures done after mine, with already much denser hair.

I'm now approaching the 9 month mark and I'm starting to think the end results will be below my expectations, and it's starting to annoy me slightly.

I'm not sure the density will increase that much in 3 months from now, and I'm not keen on rewarding my surgeon with paying another surgery to reinforce the hairline density.

Your thoughts are welcome.

well I've read and been told several times to wait and only at 1 year one can really evaluate the success of the HT.

It goes in line with the 40-60% grafts re-growth estimate by 6 months

I should also add that the 5 month mark pictures were taken with direct sunlight over the head which makes it look worse

Anyway I am aware that the final result will always be an illusion of density that will depend on external conditions, I will wait until 12 months to experiment with fibres.

So far I can say I am quite happy and still looking forward for the coming months to improve further

hi, I think past couple of months the density has visibly improved . let me get a fresh haircut and I will post an update with pictures at the 7 months mark

looks really great, what a change! you must be happy you took that decision. I'm approaching 6 months now and I wish it looked that good.

@yesplease I was on finasteride 1 mg for a a couple months after the surgery then stopped because I couldn't get it anymore (covid lockdown) now I have it again and should restart it.

I'm also applying the Regaine foam on my scalp every night.

could be, I am trying to be patient about it.

If I look at the graft re-growth rates, according to the Medikemos hair clinic, I'm not so worried, since 40%-60% is still a long way to go to a final result:

1st month - grafts fall, between 3 to 8 weeks from surgery

3rd month - 20/30% re-growth

6th month - overall improvement in growth quality, 40-60% grafts re-growth

9th month - 60-80% re-growth

12th month - re-growth should be complete and quality will still further improve

Hi all,

sorry for the delay, here are the 5 months and some days update,

@Huncholini you can find my progress pictures in this same thread in previous posts

coverage is improving, but still far from the expected end result:

hii Coady, the most recent pictures in the previous post have been taking one month ago, I will post the 5 months update as soon as I get my girlfriend to take them. I can say it is visibly improving, even though it's far from the end result I would expect (still a long way to those 12 months). Cheers

4 Months Update:

Some more growth but I can see still many follicles that need to break through and join the party.

I'm starting to see that 6 months will be definitely too early to judge the success, so I guess 9 to 12 months will be closer to the end result.

It is a long wait! What do you guys think? Is it in line with typical cases, or is it slower?

those white specs are not dandruff, just leftovers of some wax I used to comb the hair.

thanks squarepatch. let's hope it does, I will continue to post some pics over the months so you can evaluate the progress.

3 months update:

Hello everyone,

As expected, the results are not yet there at all. some grafts have sprouted and some are still under the skin. Overall, I've been getting some nice remarks like "dude, you already look like you have much more hair" other not so nice remarks like "that didn't work, at this stage you should already have all the hairs there".

I think the surrounding native hair is helping with the coverage so it gives overall a fuller look.

Of course we all know results vary, and definitely 3 months is too early for any conclusion, since typically only 20/30% of the grafts would have grown.

Have a look at the pics (taken the 12 March - 3M mark) and let me know what you think:

hi Gemini, I just had my 3000 graft FUE surgery about 1 month ago. and I can tell you that going to the dentist to have your wisdom teeth removed is much worse.

it is quite superficial, and if you go for FUE you won't even need stiches.

Fear is irrational, but you should of course have concerns and express them to your surgeon.

Pick a surgeon with good reputation and be aware of all the risks.

You should also of course reflect if you really want this and how important this is to you, I had plenty of doubts even after sending in my deposit.

Now that its done, I dont regret it even if the results will be disappointing. I didnt hide it from anyone and even got some nasty comments about it, it bounced off straight away because I am so glad I did it. Im happy I went through with it and did something about the hairloss that has been bothering me everyday for many years.

If your fears are mainly of physical nature, think that going to the dentist can be much more traumatic