TorontoMan

Oh and also, any particular reason you think it’s happening more on the left side ? 

38 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

All perfectly normal! No need to worry. Just normal scabbing taking place.

Thank you the reply that’s assuring to hear. I woke up today and noticed most of those tiny patches of redness and thought maybe I aggravated them in my sleep somehow, but it makes sense that they start scabbing slowly. 

My post-op instructions say to sleep on a 45 for the first 5 days, or continue If there is swelling, do you think it’s best to stay on a 45 for longer to lower the chance of resting the recipient area on a pillow and possibly aggregating them? 
I have very little swelling left and it was never really an issue, so I’m wondering if I should continue sleeping like this 

I’m 4 days post-op and have been following their instructions to the T. Been spraying saline solution every hour and washing with baby shampoo spray and rinsing by spraying regular water. 
 

my concern is I’m a very tough sleeper, and this morning I woke up slightly out of 45 degree position on my bed. I’m beginning to wonder if my body is changing sleeping positions and I can’t control it. Below are photos of day 3 and then day 4 (today). I’m starting to get what I believe is scabbing(seems to be more on the left side). Is this a natural process or did I do something to aggregate my grafts? 

I’m a little surprised that they have not given you anything, as I am actually 3 days out of FUE surgery and I’ve been given a saline spray that I spray on recipient area every hour. They told me explicitly that it was important to keep the grafts moist all the time for at least two weeks. You should consider picking up a saline solution from your local pharmacy, and find an applicator that will spray it on your grafts lightly. 

Your donor looks good, and 3,000 is prob max for a good dense result 

Hasson and Wong result of 5,500 FUE grafts I found recently. Can’t see any scarring according to that photo. That appears like hair is trimmed down to a 1 on the clip 

Yeah 19,500 usd for a robot to do the work, which isn’t recommended anyway.. would advise against that. 

What are the most important last questions you would ask your Doctor during the pre-op of your surgery?

I am currently a few days away from surgery, and as per doctors instructions I’ve stopped minoxidil for two weeks after using it for a year and a bit 2x a day. So far I have noticed no loss at all, mind you I noticed no major improvement on it either. So I’ll be asking the doctor if it’s something he thinks I should continue. I am also on finasteride so maybe that’s the main supporting factor behind the scenes. As per his post op instructions, they say you may resume minoxidil 2 weeks post surgery, so a month off it in total 

Did you already have this loss in the crown before you started meds ?

8 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

You may want to try Dr. Nakatsui, he’s an excellent choice as well.

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/physician/Alberta/Thomas-Nakatsui/373

Never heard of the name, do you have results you could share

@Melvin-Moderator could you do a poll to see how many users feel they are getting benefits from finasteride? How many have seen maintenance 

Amazing work, congrats!

are you on meds for prevention? Also may I ask your age ? 

21 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Interesting, but I don’t believe that everyone will become a Norwood 7. I recall Dr. Rassman saying that the Norwood scale was not a progression scale, but rather a category to list your hair loss. My personal belief is that an established Norwood 6 will remain a Norwood 6. Norwood 7s generally see this level at a young age, like Dr. Phil, Danny Devito etc.

Are we getting better at predicting this?

Don’t rely on hoping you can predict your balding

Harvesting simply means extracting the grafts. I think you mean to ask if you will be “over-harvested”, so will your donor area look really depleted. And I don’t believe it would, on average you could extract 5-6k, so I don’t see why bringing your total closer to 3,500 would leave you looking depleted. 

8 hours ago, jimcraig152 said:

You'll feel fine, but you'll look like an extra from the film "The Hills Have Eyes." You'll look grotesque, in other words. Likely, you'll have a huge welt under your eyes as the fluid they inject into your scalp to stretch the skin to make graft placement easier will sink due to gravity and pool around your eyes. Your head will be mishapen for the first two days post surgery too. You'll need to stay out of the sun. So if you do go outside, that means you'll have to cover your head. But as you cover your head, you will have to ensure what ever head covering does not dislodge any grafts in your head. The survivability of those grafts pretty much means, no hats. So that really means, you should be prepared to be shuttered in for those 4 days. You can't eat at a restaurant these days anyways do to COVID-19, so be prepared to order UBER EATS, Door Dash, etc.

It is a good idea too to not be on the next flight out after the procedure. Bending over in even in the slightest, I could feel a rush of blood through my scalp in the first few das. I can't imagine doing that as I get seated in a plane, bending over to grab luggage, or whatever. In my experience, I felt tons better after I was able to wash the receipient site after the 4th day. And I felt infinitely better after being able to shower putting my head under the shower on the 7th day. At a minimum, I would make lodging arrangements to stay near my clinic for the first 4 days if I was traveling to have a procedure done.

Don't be so quick to resume normal activities. I would say, until you get the scabs out on the 7th, 8th, 9th day, you should just prep yourself to be a hermit. Isolation during the first week will help tons. Keep focused on being relaxed. Be prepared to shutter yourself in; have food, water, things to keep you self entertained (video games, books, movies) during that time. Also, make sure you have acoutrements at where ever you are staying to keep yourself sleeping upright. I've read an account here where someone tied their hands to prevent the scratching reflex from happening during sleep. Sounds extreme, but I wouldn't blame that person one bit for doing it.

Once the scabs are out by the 2nd week, you should be pretty close to normal. Interestingly enough, during the 2nd week, my FUE donor site was at it is most uncomfortable. I am now into my 5th week, so all these things are fresh in my mind. Also, find out if your surgeon will shave your receipient site or will work around your natural hair. If they do shave, honestly, you are better off just having them shave it all off on the day of the procedure.

Thank you for the thorough response. I’m actually driving up to Ottawa which is only 4-5 hours from toronto so travelling won’t be stressful. I’m heading up with my parents and best friend so I won’t be bored and they’ll help take care of food and all that. I’m going to treat it like a retreat and catch up on sleep that I desperately need anyway. I was mainly asking for small walks just outside of the Airbnb so that I’m not couped up the entire time. I’m certain I won’t want to go anywhere anyways, but good to have the information you’ve provided. 
 

the surgery will be fue fully shaven. What did you do to combat the irritation in your scalp while it was healing ? 

For those of you who have had a hair transplant, how were you feeling few days afterwards? I ask because I’m travelling to another city soon to get mine done and I’m wondering if I’ll be able to do any small bit of exploring for the 4 days I’ll be there. 
 

could you wear a hat after 2 day’s? Are you able to go for a walk if you wear a hat or even eat a restaurant ? 
 

Any other information you could pass on would be great. 
 

cheers 

You need to chill out. Your hair is great and if anything be happy that someone has pointed your attention to potential loss, because on another thread you mentioned you’re on finasteride and you will benefit from being on it on time. I lived in a bubble and never considered hair loss was something that would happen to me, if I had someone point things out to me on time I could have saved myself the hassle.

 That being said, you’ve been told already you’re too young now for a procedure. Wait till you’re in your late 20s and make a decision then. You are fine now and you will likely be fine well into your 30s. 

I had to ask because your type of hair thinning seems to me like it’s female patterned, which usually parts through the center, rather than the onset begin at the hairline or crown. As for your situation, you should definitely consult with a doctor because you have likely gone through a lot of hormone manipulation due to your transitioning. A process that I’m sure many people on this forum may be unfamiliar with. you may have to provide more information such as how was your hair before transitioning, did you notice thinning before during or after taking certain medications etc. Hopefully someone else with female patterned loss experience could chime in and help you out. From my minimal experience with some women I’ve known who’ve experienced loss, it seemed to have been due to fluctuations in hormones, thyroid issues, and they were often temporary. 

Are you male or female ?

I have been using it since last November so almost a year and I’ve been applying it throughout my entire scalp, although my Main problem area is in the front where I’m closer to a nw2. I found it hard to be consistent with, although I was. But that being said, I don’t think it’s helped me, and I’m slightly worried that my hair has felt “lighter” and “softer” since I started. So now that you mentioned that I’m worried that might be what’s happening. 
 

it’s so confusing as other doctors have suggested it. Do you guys believe coming off minoxidil at this point is dangerous ? Have my hairs become dependent? I am also on finasteride 

5 minutes ago, HisHairness said:

Thanks. Not really here to argue about minoxidil but I'll just say this:

Dr. Hasson made it clear they don't recommend taking min. I was on it for ~3.5 years before the procedure but was still very much losing ground. 

My transplanted hairs are still much shorter in length than my native hairs (because I haven't had a cut yet), so the existing hair that has grown can not be simply chalked up to my transplanted hairs replacing native hairs. 

Do you know why they don't recommend using minox?

1 hour ago, BOW32 said:

Thanks! And no, neither. 

Did Dr. Bisanga tell you what hair quality you have and how much more you have left in your donor?

48 minutes ago, BOW32 said:

Just shy of 17 months,

I'm updating less frequently now as differences are very slight month by month, however I can fully relate to those before me who have had previous HT's and say they continue to mature up until 18 months. I've noticed a few stray crinkled hairs I still had lingering in the hairline at the start of the year really smooth and straighten out, helping with styling options greatly. 

My PRP treatment started last month, however this month travel to Belgium has been disrupted due to quarantine restrictions that have been imposed, so I have arranged this months session to be carried out at the Maitland Clinic, UK. 

Just by chance I came across some pics from my initial consultation with BHR Spain, (I had met with Dr Meyer prior to booking with Dr Bisanga, to measure donor densities etc, plan a rough hairline design) so have included those to provide a comparison of where I started. Hairs dry and left natural in all pictures. 

 

Really great result. Forgive me if it’s been asked, have you been able to maintain on fin and minox?