HTHope

do a quick search on this forum...you'll find many answers to your question

where is this clinic? What is the blue stuff on the recipient?

I was just about to post what you did. It might be difficult to see the newer hairs coming in when your existing is very long as it is. I wouldnt lose hope yet. Hold out til month 9-10. I'd def reach out to your doctor and get their input as well but you are correct- they'll likely just tell you to wait. Hows your scalp health? Make sure to keep it in order if theres any issues like flaking or itching

nice job HDC. Im guessing this greatly improved this patients confidence

What youre asking for is very difficult to obtain. I believe theres an FUE study showing the difference in transection of sharp vs dull punches by Dr. Shapiro tited "A Side-by-Side Study of 20 Consecutive FUE Patients Comparing the Use of a 0.9mm Sharp vs. 0.9mm Blunt Punch." The yields are vastly different. There are many many different variables for FUE hair transplantation and we dont know which (if any) are confounding variables. Punch type (Sharp, serrated, trumpet, etc), manual or motorized, punch system (oscillating, one direction, ultrasonic, etc), motorized punches have all kinds of settings that can be changed, technique of removing fue grafts (there are many that utilize different types of torsion and traction), donor characteristics of each patient such as the curl of their hair root and thickness of the roots. Implantation method can also affect the graft survival. Is the doctor using stick and place, forceps with pre made incisions, implanter pens, etc. On the other hand the extraction part of FUT is very straight forward. A strip is taken out and dissected under a microscope. Many of the issues are moot at that point. When hes referring to quality level, I believe hes referring to the quality of the individual grafts obtained. Its well known the quality of FUT grafts are going to be good. WIth FUE there are many physical forces involved to remove them (traction, torsion, friction, etc), all of which are not good for grafts. But if the grafts are obtained by a doctor who knows what hes doing with FUE with the right patient, then according to him, the grafts will be equal in quality. With FUT you are taking from the safest area of the donor area- right smack dab in the middle of the occipital, parietal, and even temporal areas. With FUE you have to scatter your extractions out to get a higher number of grafts and you are going to be going out of this "safest" zone of hair. Therefore, by removing as many grafts as you can with FUT (with consideration of the donor hair characteristics and elasticity of the scalp) then moving to FUE to remove hairs scattered around the other zones, will naturally yield the most hairs.

its coming along really nicely and you still have time for improvement

IMO there is absolutely no way FUE yield will be up to par with FUT. FUE is a blind procedure. No matter how much skill you as a doctor/tech, when you are taking out thousands of grafts and working at speed, you are bound to transect or damage more. Hair grafts are also quite delicate and the more trauma/handling there is, the more likely they are to be damaged and or compromised. FUT is very accurate as you are dissecting under magnification. Yes, FUE should theoretically allow you to wear shorter hairstyles, but even then its dependent upon many factors. For example, I have dark thicker hair and lighter skin and with over 2500 grafts I was only able to go down to a #2 guard on the sides and back yet it still showed evidence of scarring. After another small procedure of about 800 I can no longer even do a 2 and had to move up to a 3 guard. The outline of extraction still shows even at a 3. I've seen guys with amazing FUT scars get away with a #3. Too many factors to consider. But if youre strictly looking at yield, FUT wins imo. If I was a norwood 5 or higher I would consider doing FUT with an elite doctor until I was tapped out then switch over to FUE to strategically take out as much of my donor as possible without it being too thin where my FUT scar would show. Theres also the possibility of camouflaging the FUT scar with beard grafts.

Wow looks fantastic. What size punch was used?

Any donor pics?

Do you know what size punch was used on you?

I see you had previous work from diep. Did you experience the same type of implantation and harvesting from one side?

which clinic?

I'd say the best post op instructions are the ones YOUR ht surgeon gives you. Hopefully you researched them enough and in turn trusted them enough to cut into your head, might as well listen to them for their post op instructions as their previous results are what caught your eye.

@H & W Doug hi Doug, any pics of the donor immediately after surgery?

results look very good. how short did you cut your sides and back? did you notice any areas of thinness in your donor?

great writeup. Can you please explain how the transplant has changed your life? Has it helped with the opposite sex? You obviously have more confidence as you describe.

@soontransplanted update? Did it improve to your liking? What did the clinic offer?

What exactly do you mean by “preserve donor area with 70% survival rate?” do you mean only 30% of the donor is only harvested over a lifetime?

I believe dr Vories posts frequently here. It would be nice to get his opinion @Michael Vories, MD

That’s a nice improvement considering the number of grafts used

Any reason why the harvesting went so high up into the crown?

personally, I dont think it looks too bad. How old are you?

would you mind sharing pics of your donor? I vaguely remember your donor still looking quite good. Which doctors evaluated your donor to be depleted?

Thanks for the details. Have your results suffered since? I know you mentioned some thickening happened with your hair while on fin and min

Does the bed head come off with shampooing easily?