HisHairness

Thanks @giegnosiganoe

I feel like the HT has improved my appearance, so it is a success from that standpoint. Justifying if it was "worth it" is another question given the cost and I need to think about that more in-depth...

Thank you both @JohnAC71 and @Spidey. perhaps I am being too harsh of a critic. One thing to note is that before my operation I was walking around with my hair combed back and very few people could tell I was thinning. My pre-op photos are really accentuated to show the degree of my thinning - I haven't really taken the same photos here (where I explicitly pull the hair to show weaknesses).

nonetheless it is good to hear positive results from you guys - thanks!!

Hi all. Thanks for the wait and I appreciate the comments on my thread this past year. Here are pictures of my 1 year progress, taken with dry and wet hair. Note my hair is longer than it was pre-op so that is somewhat playing a factor here.

Overall, I think my results are a 7/10 but I'd like to hear opinions of others.

This has been such a long process but finally, as of the last few months, I do feel content and that it wasn't a total failure (for a bit in the middle of the year I was genuinely worried).

I'm better off than I was pre-op without a doubt, however there is a patch in my front behind the hairline that bothers me (you can see it in the pics below). When my hair is combed normally / pushed back, this fairly unnoticeable though. All things considered, my results vastly improved from the 6 month mark - so I'd like to give some credence to the late-bloomer theory. I had some good growth in the front and even in my crown right up past 9 months. It feels like I'm done growing, but it's also become less of a daily thing for me to check. Here are the pics:

Dry Hair - Normal Light

Wet hair - Post shower (so very wet in first few) with some bright light and some normal light

Hi all - apologies that I didn't' get back to some of you for the last few months. Crazy busy with work. 

I'm at my 1 year mark exactly. I am currently uploading pics that I took yesterday (dry and wet) and will post them within the hour with a bit of a write-up on my thoughts and feelings about satisfaction. Happy to answer questions over the coming days.

Thanks all. @Melvin-Moderator I will provide a fulsome update this week with pics as I have just crossed the 8-month mark. Some continuous improvement on the crown, and I'd say very minor improvement upfront (e.g. I have some growth on the hairline itself, but not much behind).

24 minutes ago, LonelyGraft said:

 

I consulted with Hasson in person. I told him I was using minoxidil for several years and he was def against minoxidil. He said both him and his techs noticed that patients using topical minoxidil had a lot of collagen loss in their skin. They would get patients where the skin would be “thin” so when slits were created, they would have to space them further apart otherwise the slits would fall into one another. I was def thrown off by this comment as he’s the only doctor that has voiced this to me.

This is great context @LonelyGraft.

Thanks for reminding me because I believe this is also what Dr. H told me. I remember coming away thinking "ok wow, definitely not using that again".

I'm not here to promote meds 1 way or the other, but hopefully this helps steer my thread away from whether using minoxidil or not has any effect. I'd rather just focus on the HT results, and given Dr. Hasson's advice to not use min, that's what I plan to do.

8 minutes ago, TorontoMan said:

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

Hi @TorontoMan 

Fair question and to be honest I'm not quite sure. I recall Dr. Hasson showing me something that justified his suggestions against it, but don't remember what the data was. I'll make a point to ask Doug about this when I catch up with him this month and will try to remember to get back to you on it, because now I'm curious myself.

13 hours ago, Spidey said:

Errr. Yes they tell you to stop taking it prior to surgery and x amount of days after, but you're allowed to resume. So if you stopped taking minox completely, then chances are the transplanted hairs more or less replaced quite a bit of native hairs your lost from stopping minox....

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. 

Looking great man!

5 hours ago, asterix0 said:

Didn't you say you quit minoxidil, and you aren't on finasteride? That doesn't bode well for your native hair. People think minoxidil isn't doing anything so they quit it, but it is actually keeping your mpb susceptible hair alive longer than otherwise without it.

@asterix0 I stopped minoxidil ahead of the surgery as directed by H&W. They also tell you not to take it post-op. Just following the explicit doctors orders there...

Re: fin, I take a smaller than 1mg approach EOD. It seems to have quelled most shedding, and I can tolerate it, so that's what I'm comfortable with at the moment. 

On 8/16/2020 at 2:30 PM, LonelyGraft said:

Metabolizing slower bc of inactivity and stress? Uhh what does this have to do with a hair transplant?

Thanks @LonelyGraft. I agree with your reply - not sure that has any real validity / there is no evidence that would have any impact. also FWIW - quarantine has been pretty stress-free for me in particular, so anecdotally this couldn't be more off.

On 8/10/2020 at 5:08 PM, Forelock said:

Hi, @HisHairness — just checking in. How are things progressing??

Thanks for checking in @Forelock. I'll get some update pics up this week. I really need a haircut because my native hair has grown considerably so it's a bit concealing on how the implanted hairs have come in.

6 hours ago, Legend007 said:

I think u had too many native hair in the front, those hairs are struggling for blood supply with the new hairs, so your growth could be slower .. 

- I feel ya tho , with that many grafts up front you would expect your hair to be bushy n full ..

but I’m realizing that more grafts is not always better ..  the grafts need enough space n blood to grow not competing with other hairs .. 

- so u could be a late bloomer , the hairs will Grow n mature so it will look better but definitely not optimal .. just got to be patient ..

THank you @Legend007. You had a stellar result - hoping that I;m just a late bloomer.

4 minutes ago, Nearsevn said:

Yes, 4000 grafts in the frontal 1/3. I’d say 1000 of them actually survived. Am still hoping for the best being 8.5 months post op but when I visited him recently he said that this is not normal And I looked like I was 3-4 months post op which was a dagger. With that many grafts I expected exceptional results. 

@Nearsevn have you posted pics anywhere? I'd love to see what you looked like pre-op to compare. I'm particularly curious if you had existing hair in the frontal third or if were implanted on a relatively bald patch.

2 hours ago, CosmoKramer said:

OP, do you have any scalp conditions? 
The reason I ask...is I had bad scalp dandruff flakes mostly from doing my Microneedling routine...but since I’ve started incorporating an electric scalp massager nightly I noticed it clears away the flakes (I stopped using Nizoral many months ago due to its harsh chemicals)and the graft hairs in my crown seen to have thickened up even better and look thicker (I’m 25 months post my HT)...I’m not sure if it’s the added months to get the full maturity or the better blood flow to the crown and clearing away anything that may clog the pores & follicles preventing them from growing...or both. 
 

PS. I do not take Finasteride...only apply Minox Foam once a day....and some daily suppliments.

@CosmoKramer thanks for sharing as that is pretty interesting.

I don't really have any scalp conditioins. The occasional onset of dandruff has happened in my life and then I'd always switch to an anti-dandruff shampoo and within a week or so I'd be back to normal.

Post-operation, I had some really noticeable dandruff / skin shedding for the first 3ish months, but then I actually mainly fixed it by shampooing less (2-3x a week vs. every day). I typically mix in Nizoral 1x a week or every other week, but I agree that it's pretty harsh on the skin. 

I haven't experimented with a microneedler or a scalp massager but I've seen positive results from microneedling on some other posts. If I had shorter hair I think I'd give it a go.

Looking awesome for this stage. Congrats man - excited to track this going forward. 

Hairline is looking phenomenal at this stage. congrats man. Excited to see how this progresses through the rest of the year.

Hey man - just catching back up on your thread. Wanted to say you're looking great. This is the growth I was hoping for at this stage haha! You're crown results at 5 months and your hairline in the above pics are looking really improved. Excited to see where you're at in come the end of the year!

3 hours ago, aaron1234 said:

Way too soon to call this a failure.  I see growth in the crown and that area generally lags as it is.  You did have quite a bit of native hair in the frontal third pre-op, which makes me wonder if you lost some of it due to shock loss.  You may have mentioned this earlier in the thread, but are you on Fin?  

Thank you @aaron1234. 

There definitely could be some shock loss going on in the frontal third because of my existing decent density there. Very fair point.

I think I mentioned it but I'll re-state here. I take a smaller dose of fin 3x a week. It seems to have generally kept me stable over the last ~year. Unfortunately i did experience sides with a full 1mg each day. I've also been doing a little research on the topical fin options but being in the US I think prevents me from having any options there at the moment.

18 minutes ago, Nearsevn said:

I hate to be the bearer of bad news but am in the same shoes as you except I am 8 months in with very little  growth from the 4000 grafts dr Hasson implanted into my 1/3 of the Sçalp with no crown work. Am devastated just thinking about all the donor hair I lost

ah geez - sorry to hear that man. I feel you and it's definitely a really tough spot to be in. Just waiting each day...

6 hours ago, hairlossPA said:

Although the patient is “always right”, I don’t think this is a totally fair representation of your results at the moment. half (or even more) of the pictures you posted are with wet/damp hair and you separated the hair under bathroom light... of course it’s not going to look great. but the pictures with dry/semi styled hair, it looks right on track

Edit: not to mention, the grafts that were placed are not an absurd amount.

1) 2544 grafts (~4847 hairs) into front third Day 1 - 2500 grafts isnt a crazy amount compared to other numbers I've seen H&W pack into the front 1/3

2) 2355 grafts (~4776 hairs) into crown Day 2 -  we all know the crown takes much much longer to produce results 

Thanks @hairlossPA.

I've just been trying to be somewhat consistent with my pictures, that's all. IF you go back to my pre-op pics those were taken in fairly harsh bathroom light as well with parts of my hair purposefully spread out. The pictures I have now with dry/semi styled hair look the same / slightly worse than my pre-op is all I'm getting at. I started from a decent spot so maybe this is a bit tougher to depict, but let me know if that makes sense?

RE: the graft counts, I don't disagree with your assessment that these aren't crazy high numbers. However, I also wasn't slick bald in these areas and I was told by H&W that these were the graft counts that would result in marketable improvement from my status quo, which as yet to come to fruitiion. Let me know if that makes sense or if you still have other thoughts - thanks!

6 hours ago, 83mjs said:

Hey @HisHairness thanks for keeping us updated. I know from personal experience that it can be hard to find the motivation to update when the progress is slower than hoped.

I think the first thing to say is you look good. You've parted the hair and presented it in the harshest light and there it doesn't look too great, but it's only half way (if that) and in softer lights your hair is decent.

I wanted to ask you, you've had grafts implanted on the hairline, right at the front I think. Can you see fine baby hairs there? Or not so much? I have a 5x magnifying mirror which I use in front of the window at home and with this setup I can see some implanted hairs sprouting. If you're only looking at iPhone pics/under artificial light it might be hard to make these hairs out...

Thanks @83mjs. 

You are definitely right that some of these pics are under super harsh light, which may be unfair. If you go back to my pre-op pics, you'll see that I still very much had an illusion of full coverage under normal light, so I guess I've just been trying to see improvement primarily in harsh light because that's where my pre-op weakness was.  It's a fair point though - maybe I'm being too harsh of a critic at the moment. Still some months to go of growth...

Re: the hairline. It's a bit diffuclt to tell to be honest. I can feel some little stubs *right on the hairline*, but anything slightly further back i feel nothing. Further, my frontal third has all grown out and there are no hairs that are shorter (like a cm or so) that reflect the new hairs growing in. I just haven't had any growth there. Maybe I'll look into the magnifying mirror option because it would definitely boost my confidence if I could see some implanted hairs coming through - agreed that the iPhone doens't do the exact situation justice.

11 hours ago, HTHope said:

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

@HTHope thanks sir. Yes - it definitely makes it a bit more difficult to see newer hairs coming in with my existing hair in the area. 

RE: scalp health. I had some really bad dandruff through ~month 3 of recovery, but things are now back to a normal healthy level. No itching or flaking.

Thanks gents.

@Sam818 - I appreciate you sending that example. Definitely could be the case that I'm just a slow grower and my hair is certainly fine which might be a factor here. I will say that I do feel stubble continuing to come through on the crown which gives me hope that it's just a bit delayed. The hairline less so - I feel some stubble on the *literal* hairline, but then for the 1-3 inches beyond that, there's hardly the feeling of new stubble as I run my fingers over my scalp. Tough to describe the exact feeling but hopefully this captures what I'm trying to convey.

@CosmoKramer - thanks as well. One thing that I should point out is that my hair right now is all the same shaggy length. In other words, my natives started growing right after the procedure and those are the hairs that are long now (said another way, the new donor hair wouldn't have filled in to 2-3 inches already in length). So, I think you're point 2 is not the case here (good thinking though because that definitely could have been happening had the existing hairs been varying in length).

@Der3k7 please try to stay positive on this thread for now - I'm still somewhat hopeful. I'll let you rain on my parade once a proper conclusion can be made haha!

Hi all -

Following up here with my 6 month photos. As noted before, I had really hoped to have some better results to post at this time, but alas here we are.

I'd like to preface these pics by noting:

• due to covid quarantine / work from home policies, I havent had a single haircut since the procedure (at first this was helpful, now it's a bit too messy but does still help cover things up front with a bit of a  combover 
• sadly I'm not in the same home I was in for my last check-in, so the precise lighting can not be replicated, but i have tried to imitate a bright bathroom light to my best ability
• AT this point, I feel as if I'm back to right around pre-operation with my crown (perhaps a slight improvement there but it's negligible at best) and my front / hairline is worse than pre-op

I have not reached out to my doctor but will be doing so this week for advice / questions. I imagine they will suggest I wait further. Please feel free to chime in with questions or your own opinions as well.

Pictures:

Front / Hairline

Crown: