Gatsby

You look great. You look unremarkable in that you appear as if you never had a hair transplant! I agree with Nelson that you should try finasteride to keep what native hair that you currently have. I look forward to further updates. Congratulations!

From the glabella (the point between the eyebrows) the hairline 'ideally' should be 7cm's high. This obviously varies and in older men should be slightly higher. This is if you want a 'natural' looking hairline and not something from Planet of the Apes!

That hairline is far too low. You have to remember you will be living with this for the rest of your life. You need a hairline that you can grow into, not out of. I have the scars to prove it.

I agree that less light to the scalp will equal less pigment from the sun. Also remember that scarring also occurs under the skin where the grafts heal which is perfectly normal.

When it comes to hair it's all about confidence (or lack of it). It's our self perception that seems to dictate much of our self esteem. At 25 after two failed hair transplants and nothing but scars across my forehead (and donor region) and a receding hairline I opted for the one thing I thought I would never do. I got a hair piece. Did I regain my hair? No. Was my confidence and self esteem sky high? Fucking A! Throughout my 20's and 30's I never worried about not be able to attract a girlfriend and I had plenty. I was also a gym junky and would work out without the hair piece or just wear a cap. Some girlfriends knew it was a wig as I would tell them or make a joke of it and let it fall off and others didn't know. I remember a few 'intimate encounters' where half way through a partner would want to run her hands through my hair and I would say something like 'just not right now love!' 🤣 However it would be fair to say that I could never go out with a woman who had an issue with my hair (my car, my bank balance, etc, etc). And neither should anyone, be it follicilarly challenged or otherwise! I have a gorgeous girlfriend now, much younger than me and she couldn't care if I had hair or not. Love doesn't operate like that. If only we too could see ourselves as others do. We would be far more self loving and so much more happier too.

Who was the surgeon/clinic that you went to? What have they said about this? Was this an FUE or FUT procedure? What medication are you taking? To me there are so many unanswered questions that you need to share and explore in order to get the feed back that you require to go forward to achieve your goals. Firstly your hair/scalp looks 'natural' and does not look scarred, etc. This is a huge plus! Also you need to take action re: the first questions I have put to you. I realise how upset you are feeling now (trust me I have been there myself for years) but there will be a way out. Several members here who have great looking heads of hair have had a first poor result from a transplant (sometimes even two poor results). Again I would just like to stress that as bad as you are feeling this will pass. You need to ask us more questions so we are able to help. Take care!

I'm incredibly happy for you! The color of your hair also blends well with your skin, adding to the illusion. You have great coverage already. I look froward to see final results after the 12 month mark. Thanks for sharing!

@rhstoned yes. Quite a few here have had surgery with Eugenix. zoomster and several others here have. I'm sure other prople can chime in with names they can remember. Wishing you all the best!

Wow your donor looks like it was never touched! Impressive work and I look forward to your updates. Congratulations!

Great topic Melvin.

@ontop. I would never have believed that a laser cap could benefit in anyway more than just being another gimmick. However they actually can have a slight/moderate benenfit. Look up laser cap and Joe Tillman on YouTube where he talks about (but does not endorse or receive anything) them. All the best.

I think you'll be rocking a ZZ Top look by the time I can get out of Oz. Our Prime Minister has quite 'literally' stated that international travel will not begin until a vaccine has been found and is available. The good new is that it's very unlikely that I will be losing anymore hair before then! Stay well zoomster and I look forward to more of your updates.

Incredible result! your hairline looks exactly as mother nature intended. congratulations!

Sorry to hear about the stress and struggle zoomster. Hope things sort themselves out as all things do pass. Your scalp though!! It just keeps on pushing out hair! It's really quite amazing to see how you have achieved total coverage. However the gold standard is how natural your results are. The hairline is soft and the crown is growing in the direction that mother nature intended. Very happy for you and you still have quite a few months to realize the full effect. All the best and take care!

Not meaning to hijack your thread Melvin. This is what the back of my head looks like when shaved (pre SMP). The top scar looked like the bottom scar and I had it removed in a strip like procedure maybe 20 years or so ago. I was going to have the bottom scar removed also in a strip procedure but just gave up on the idea. This was in the days when I wore a hair piece and I started to toy with the idea of maybe shaving my head. The next photo is after the final treatment when I first had SMP about three and a half years ago.

Make that 35 years and counting!

I would give this a wide berth personally. Forget Turkey if you have a virgin scalp. No offense.

Firstly, what a great head of 'natural looking' hair on your head you have Melvin! Second to that, no one outside of a hair transplant forum would pick or view your donor area as scarred. On top of that, your hair is cut so close to the scalp and it still looks great. If you were ever concerned yourself then a top SMP artist would be able disguise your donor perfectly. FUE scars are very easy to hide compared to FUT scars. I have large punch graft scars in my donor (like 5mm round) that SMP hides completely. Linear or FUT scars are much harder to disguise and attract the eye.

Congratulations Tao! Your hair already looks great in every way. Looking forward to seeing your results in the coming months to come! Thanks for sharing!

London Geezer your donor looks excellent as does the work done. I look forward to following your progress. Thanks for sharing!

If it was me and if I knew now what I knew when I went under the punch a couple of times I honestly would prefer to have the one doctor doing the work. I realize it's only 200 grafts but they are finite grafts. I'm sure their would be plenty of other patients she can practice on with a discount being offered. I may sound horrible and I realize you would also be helping a new hair transplant surgeon learn her craft which is admirable. But remember the old adage measure twice and cut once. Not the other way around. All the best with whatever option you decide on.

Egy when I look at your first photos in this thread and compare them to the last photos you have posted, you have a great looking head of hair by comparison. Remember you are on a forum full of 'hair conscious' people like yourself and myself. No one in the world walking down the street would pick that you have had a hair transplant!!!! And that is the gold standard of a great hair transplant. Not how much hair you have, how dense it is, etc. But having the appearance that your hair hasn't been touched! PLUS you are also judging your hair now way too early to give it any real true assessment. As Melvin stated their is no perfect hair transplant (and if their was and if we had it we would still find fault). Give your hair some time. Give your transplanted beard hair time to take on more characteristics from recipient dominance. It's incredibly hard to get some perspective when things are happening to you. Give your hair and your thoughts time. Take care!

Natural. Otherwise I'd love to know the name of his surgeon!!!! 🤓

MNJ I can tell you from experience that over time you will find that when it comes to scars and raised edges that things do settle. I don't believe that this is hypertrophic scaring. Take care and get a second/third opinion from hair transplant surgeons. All the best.

Amazing result!