timcfc

8 minutes ago, transplantedphil said:

Work looks clean. How many grafts did it end up being in the end?

best of luck with the growth.

Thanks

Just over 1000.

Bit of an update.

Firstly, thanks to everyone that posted & helped with giving feedback of the hairline.

Having had follow up convos with Dr Reddy himself, I decided to go ahead with the procedure. The overall experience with the clinic has been mixed, having had multiple calls & f2f consultations with different people and surgeons, finally before getting through to Dr Reddy. They seemed very reluctant to put me with him back at Christmas time because of his backlog. Having said all that, my decision to go ahead with this procedure was always because of Dr Reddy & his team, not The Private Clinic.

With that being said, here's some photos of my recovery so far . The procedure went really well, no pain at all except with the injections but I'm generally ok with them so it wasn't the worst. Dr Reddy & his team were fantastic and chatted to me throughout the entire procedure.

Day 0 - Donor shaven & hairline drawn

Started extraction of back middle & side left. .8 manual punch used. I believe a .9 punch was also used in places as there was some difficulty extracting with .8

Right side was extracted in the afternoon, after back middle & side left grafts were placed into hairline. A lot more bleeding in this extraction?

80% complete if I remember correctly, there were 2 hours to go at this point.

My hairline has mixed angles, the right side are angled horizontally away and the left side are straight down which I guess explains the waviness. 

First few days of recovery, the redness gives a nice illusion of where my hairline will be. Enjoying this whilst I can before the shedding begins.

The itchyness was the worst part of recovery so far. The saline spray helped a lot though. No pain whatsoever and not needed painkillers at all.

Donor looking good already

Day 4

Hair washed for the first time, and starting to dry. I've tried to cover the recipient area slightly and I think it's barely noticeable after a few days that I've had a HT which is incredible

ignore the below photo, it won't delete from the post editor  

50 minutes ago, transplantedphil said:

Were you given a projected graft estimate and are you happy with the new hairline design? 

Did they mention your donor capacity/donor densities and did they project your future NW level (you mentioned there was signs of thinning in the crown).

Also did the clinic say anything about your sides to fin and reassess a long term strategy based on that?

Personally opinion here (and even putting that joke of a hairline aside) I'd still argue to hold off for surgery in your case; I dont think the rewards are worth the risks at this stage. But as you seem keen on surgery and have asked people here for our opinion, Id at least want to know what kind of long term plan you have in place based specifically on your estimated donor capacity and future balding.

The graft estimate was 1000 give or take 10%. He was very insistent on medication (pre and post procedure) and I recall him mentioning they advise the vast majority of younger cases like myself to come back a year later because they haven't explored this route enough.

He was aware from the notes in my 1st of 3 consultations at TPC way way back with a different surgeon that I had been on Fin & Min for some time. I mentioned I was taking 1mg fin for 6-7 months before the first (very mild) sides began. Having said that, I'm not entirely convinced it is fin related as it was not the best time of my life. Of course, I resumed it since then and experimenting with milder dosage levels with no sides as of yet - they seemed fine with this approach. I found The Hair Loss Show really beneficial for information on this. I was definitely not happy with the original design, nor was he when I showed the images on my laptop. The design he drew was better and I am more happy with that (perhaps a little less aggressive on the temple curve as pointed out by another poster)

My long term plan is to continue Fin (eventually start Minox post procedure but probably just on the crown) and try to sustain what I have. Based on my family history, it seems inevitable of further loss & thinning of the crown throughout my late 30s & 40s. Having said that, none of my family have used medication so hopefully I can buy a few more years. However, whilst I am aware there is mild thinning of my crown, I feel the complete opposite about that compared to my hairline in terms of going down the surgical route. (Never say never though, I am aware people catch the bug after the first procedure )

17 hours ago, transplantedphil said:

so are you still going ahead with surgery this month?

Yes, my conversation with Dr Reddy was very reassuring. I will post picture updates as and when.

18 minutes ago, Gasthoerer said:

Of course you do not NEED a transplant but with a great clinic you can have a great result. I understand the desire. But your risk to benefit ratio is very poor, therefore you need the best available clinic. Even with an average clinic you might look worse than before. You should also think that your current hairstyle might not be possible any more as your donor does not allow buzzing that low. 

Hairline is a mix of math and art, and art is subjective. However, I do not like the new hairline design from the pictures. It is way to round and aggressive on the sides and your temple points do not match this aggressive corners. Also you do not always had a receded hairline, you have a big forehead, which can be seen easily seen from the wrinkles. Your new hairline almost touches your forehead wrinkles...that is not a good design. 

In terms of design, so I fully understand what you're saying, are you suggesting less curvature on the sides and higher in the middle (similar to below?)

7 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Here’s a good example of a guy who looked worse after the hair transplant. He had a perfectly normal hairline before, the hairline he got didn’t match his ethnicity. Caucasians on average have higher hairline with angular temples.

Men of African descent have straighter hairlines with square temples, most wouldn’t know why his hairline doesn’t look natural, but they would just know it isn’t, and that’s the reason.
 

Did he actually get that done? It looks like a lego. I don't know if you saw the revised mockups I posted, but I don't intend on having anything as dramatic as what that guy had OR what I posted in the OP

6 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Heading says 29 year old.  I do agree there should be no rush to get anything done. He’s good for now. 

1 minute ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Ahh missed that, my advice is still the same.

I understand this is far from a severe case, but it is something I've considered for a long time as I've always had a naturally high / receded hairline. I understand my age is a big factor, and that there is high potential for further loss down the line leading to more procedures. Hopefully it won't be any time soon however. If my family history is anything to go by anyway, which luckily isn't that bad for hair loss. Most of the males just suffer increased thinning rather than further recession or complete balding. I'd say my 65 y/o father is probably not too much more recessed than I am (hairline wise) and still has strong donor areas.

Sides:

My lockdown self hair cut probably doesn't help 😅

Photos attached. This was, if I remember rightly, an example of what he thought was the lowest. Like I wrote above, he then suggested we might not even need to go this low, especially in the middle area.

@transplantedphil

I spoke with Dr Reddy, he said it was too low. I showed him the original photographs and suggestions of the designs posted in this thread. He suggested a couple of options. One of which was to just concentrate on the receded areas and that the middle area might need little to no grafts (not lowering the hairline at all, essentially). This is more aligned in what I am looking for I feel - increased hairline density and to fill the receded areas (instead of a perfect new & lowered hairline). I have some photographs which I will try to upload tomorrow.

I agree with a lot of that @1978matt . I am aware & prepared for the potential for follow up procedures as I age. I agree completely, and would definitely prefer a less aggressive design and like others have mentioned, to follow my existing hairline rather than seeking perfection. Tbh, I would be happy with it not even being lowered, just to fill in the more recessed areas like in the below pic. Forgive the crappy drawing below, it's the best I could do to illustrate what I think is suitable. This is also a more recent photo where I believe demonstrates that fin has done a good job at improving my density as the smaller 'fluffy' hairs were non existent 7 months ago.

To update everyone else, I spoke to the clinic today and I will be seeing the surgeon directly next Monday. He has been mentioned in this thread. I feel it's fair to give him a chance to explain the previous photos before I throw them under the bus.

4 hours ago, 1978matt said:

Thank you for this mockup. And @transplantedphil

3 hours ago, JayLDD said:

Put in another vote for avoid this clinic like the plague and look elsewhere. This hairline is an absolute disaster and any clinic that even in consultation would consider this is worth avoiding.

It can be lower and more youthful with less recession than some in this thread are posting, but your design is a female hairline.

Look at hairline clinics like that of Dr. Freitas in Spain, if you have the money for a U.K. clinic then you have much better options. Perhaps too far to travel but Hasson in Canada does probably the most youthful and dense hairlines globally.

This clinic doesn’t deserve your time or money. I wouldn’t consult them further.

I'm not keen on travelling for this and I am ok paying the UK tax. It is perfect time for me now as well given I am able to work from home and won't be returning to the office until October.

6 minutes ago, Badhairman1 said:

Personally dont think you need  a hair transplant, you have a similar hairline to Phillip Coutinho and im guessing a pretty good looking guy. That hairline looks like a KSL one. The curve is femine and having coarse hair next to temple hair wouldnt look right,

So if I was you knowing what I do know now, it would probably be worth looking at different hairstyles.  A hair transplant feels like it opens up new hair styles but it doesnt it actually restricts how you have your hair. Faded look might not work after a hair transplant even a small one.

Just remember any celebrity gets a free or heavily reduced price transplant (Nothing against this or the doctors) so for them its basically zero risk. Alex and Mike stick to the same hair cuts as they had before so it really hasn't changed there look. 

I should probably have expanded on that sentence but it is not just about style. I would be happy even keeping the same style (with fringe) even after the transplant. For me, it's about the confidence and improving upon something which has for most of my life been an issue to me.

I intend on contacting the clinic with this information tomorrow. I want to find out from the surgeon why this was done, especially given his reputation.

11 minutes ago, Gasthoerer said:

You asked for help and our opinion. This is it:

- Pics can be misleading, but the hairline we see is questions by anyone who posted in your thread. From my opinion it will make you a 15 k repair patient. There are several results in here from people who went this route and had grafts punched out.

- There are some UK clinics on the recommended list here (do not know how many), but the general opinion of the forum seems that even the best clinics in the UK are sub-par to international level (mediocre quality, highly priced,...). If that is correct or not I do not want to comment on, but it seems the general opinion of the forum if you look in the discussion here. It is also telling that almost no one ever post results from this clinics who is not from the UK itself. 

My advice is always to have F2F consultation with the surgeon (! not a consultant) first and have pics form your hairline. Then you have time to see if you like it or not. This is not a haircut. It is everlasting of you do not go for a repair. I recommend again to contact another (or actually: contact a surgeon) surgeon before you have this surgery. This is the only head you have. 

And I appreciate your opinions immensely  None of this is by any means final and I am utilising any feedback I receive to quite literally shape the design & outcome. It is clear an error was made in the consultation, or it was rushed, or enough time was not spent to properly discuss a suitable design. I will keep you guys up to date on what's happening.

13 minutes ago, Mr S said:

The clinic in question isn’t KSL by any chance... the weird hairline design looks suspect. Check out the below and steer well clear if it is.

https://m.facebook.com/pg/KSLHAIRTHETRUTH/photos/?ref=page_internal&mt_nav=0

No it isn't. Like I said, it's a highly recommended clinic on this forum (top 3 in the UK), hence the surprise. I have faith in this clinic to make it right, the surgeon's reputation & results are unquestionable so my priority now is to ensure I am prepared with the right information going forward  

Thanks for the feedback. It is not disrespectful and is exactly why I wanted to post here. Like I said, I would rather wait until after the procedure to name the clinic, however I am a little surprised as it is a top UK surgeon and one highly recommended by this forum. He did insist the hair line would be properly designed, measured & photographed out on the day. I will contact them to express doubt over the design in the photographs and see if something can be arranged before my procedure so that I can get feedback once more.

I was on min twice daily & fin every day when I had the consultation. It is only in the last month I noticed sides. I wanted to clear it out of my system before re-starting with a lower dosage. I have no intention of stopping fin and will continue to experiment with dosage until I find the right balance.

The consultation was normal and similar to all the consultations I've seen on YT & forums (apart from the drawing, clearly). He was initially relucant given my age and level of loss, and stressed the importance of trying medication first, which I had been doing. He asked what my ideal outcome was, to which I mentioned improving my hairline and crown. He strongly advised against the latter given my stage of loss and potential for further loss and likely hood of minimal improvement with a filling the gaps approach. He asked about my family history, luckily we don't have complete baldness, just further thinning & recession of the temples and crown. He suggested a  less amount of hairs for the hairline, saying 900/1000 grafts would achieve a fantastic result, however increasing this to 1000/1200 for further density was an option too.

I am aware my particular case at this moment in time is relatively minor compared to a lot which you see, this is purely a cosmetical improvement decision to get on the front foot in regards to my loss and naturally high hairline whilst I am still fairly young. Similar to some of these recent 'influencer' people: Alex Beattie, Dom Lever & Mike Thurston.

👋 first post here

I wanted to make a 'placeholder' thread for my upcoming FUE journey and give something back as this place has been excellent during my extensive research over the past 12 months. I am booked for an FUE procedure this July having been delayed twice now during the COVID-19 lockdown. I believe I may well possibly be the first FUE procedure after the clinics reopening 😄

Clinic

Not to be dramatic, but I would prefer to announce the clinic and surgeon after my procedure in a few weeks. It is a fairly renowned & well respected UK based clinic.

Procedure

3000 hairs - 1000/1200 grafts 

Non-shaven (except donor area, of course)

Medication

I have been on Minox for 2 years. I have been on fin for 6 months. I stopped last month due to sides. I plan on restarting in the coming days with a lesser dosage.

About Me

I have always had a naturally high hairline, even as a child. I have styled my hair with a fringe for nearly most of my adult life and I have done a fairly good job (I think?) at disguising any thinning or hair loss, unless a gust of wind decides to hit me out of nowhere 😂. Over the past few years, I have suffered typical recession along the hairline, predominately on the front left. Thinning is progressively worsening on the crown area too but I was advised back in February to continue medical treatment for this rather than take the surgical route. I had started fin 2 months prior to that, so obviously there were no improvements at that point. Fast forward another 3 months and I have noticed that my hair feels a lot stronger and even has improved density in the crown along with sligh improvement in density in the hairline.

Photo normal style, with hair down

Photos day of consultation (02/2020)

Photos recently (05/2020)

06/20 

My ideal outcome is to have a more natural & dense looking hairline, hopefully giving me the confidence to have a hair cut where I don't require a fringe. The hair line design was a rough example which the consultant drew. Any feedback on this would be appreciated! I also had a consultation with a different surgeon, and his drawing was slightly higher. I felt better about this design posted above however. Along with the several examples posted on this forum of the surgeons excellent work, I am very excited for my procedure! (and a little nervous of course).