asterix0

If I were you, I would consider getting on a DHT blocker either topical or oral to protect your transplanted hair. You have weaknesses in your donor area unfortunately that indicate your recipient may thin over time. 

22 minutes ago, Big Rome said:

even if you only shave the recipient and not the whole head you may be able to conceal the recipient area with the remaining hair, that’s what I did anyway 

If I shave the recipient how can I conceal it?

Shaving the donor is a must so that I know I would have to do.

1 hour ago, Gatsby said:

The best thing to do before surgery is to shave your head a couple of months before the date of surgery. That way you colleagues/friends will be used to seeing you like this. When it comes to a no shave hair transplant personally my opinion is that anything that makes it more difficult for the surgeon/techs is not in your favor. You want all the stars to align in your favor. Also you will be surprised how happy your friends, colleagues will be for you if they knew you were having a hair transplant. I went back to work and the only people who knew was my friend and boss who were in my corner about doing this. All the best. 👍

Already had one bigger 4k+ graft session where I shaved so I know how the whole rodeo goes. This is more of a touch up procedure, but was hoping to just conceal it a bit more...but what's a bit with a buzzcut in the long run, not a big deal I suppose...

32 minutes ago, Z-- said:

Bro, just shave. IMO not worth the extended surgery duration + higher risk transection (which some doctors seemingly cite and others are less worried about). Just maintain a buzzcut for a few months. 

Even if co-workers see, don't worry about it. Jobs and co-workers are temporary; most people don't last more than 3 years before changing things up. A transplant is meant to last you a long time, and that's what you are going to see in the mirror day in day out.

I've already had one transplant where I shaved my head so I know how it goes...but fortunately I worked from home during the ugly duckling stage so no one saw me haha.

This will be a little trickier, but I don't look terrible with a shaved head either way. I was hoping to just conceal it better. 

I have an upcoming FUE procedure where I was told in theory that not shaving the recipient area will not affect my yield, it will just make the surgery last longer.

I anticipate it will be something in the 1500-2000 graft range.

My question is, since I recently changed jobs I really did not want to shave my recipient area and sort of hide what was done as much as possible. What I am concerned with is keeping my head clean post op, and that having longer recipient hair will make it more difficult to follow proper post op care.

Is this concern valid? 

Also, I will take a week+ off from work, so when I come back it will look like a buzzcut mostly. The main issue is the ugly duckling stage when all the grafts fall out, where then it will be obvious and my appearance won't able to be fixed even with fibers, since the hair length wont be long enough.

To add, I will just be adding density to the hairline and midscale, not lowering the hairline. 

Yes you did, unfortunately you are going to Norwood 7 now, sorry this is common knowledge. 

It is a two way street to be a well informed patient and communicate to the doctor what you want as clearly as possible. If this is the guy who went to Dr. Konior earlier, he does seem to have issues of not quite understanding what the possibilities and limitations of hair transplantation are.

Nevertheless, I do agree that the clinic should be able to respond to the claims before any judgement is cast.

If what he said is true, it is a disappointing result indeed and I understand his frustration. 

Watch this video from Eugenix to get an idea about transplanted long term maintenance:

https://youtu.be/rJctY_jvd6U

Did you lose native or transplanted hair from your transplant in 2014? Were you slick bald when you had your first transplant?

11 hours ago, Mirash said:

I tried reaching out for some info and they told me i must go to Bulgaria, they wouldn’t even accept my photos, and 5 euro per graft , im a nw 6 so if i need 10,000 grafts thats 50k . Does that make sense ?

Yes that is consistent with what to expect.

10 hours ago, WhereIsMyMind said:

im at 3.5months 7k FUE, looked exactly like you at 2 months, including massive shock loss in donor. Things are starting to grow now and donor looks almost perfect now, but still much to improve though... This is such an emotional ride, being insecure about transplant result for so many months!

You also went to Dr. Zarev?

Right in the middle of the ugly duckling, this part is tough mentally but it will soon be a distant, funny memory :)

@washingtondc It will not get much better (maybe 5% improvement tops), you are being gaslighted by being told to wait. 

In the short term, eyeballing can work if you are a low Norwood.

However, if you assume every patient will eventually be a high Norwood, and every graft should be used as judiciously as possible, eyeballing is not a reliable method to evaluate the donor.

The donor may show different regions that are stronger and weaker, it may be denser in some areas and so if you want to homogenize it as best as possible to allow for the greatest number of grafts to extract, you must precisely plan which areas of the donor have which capacity.

Different parts of the donor are better suited for the front, midscalp, and crown.

It is no coincidence that the best doctors in the world are meticulous about planning out their surgeries, that involves more than a 2 minute glance at a person's head. See @HugoX as an example. 

Heart cancer is pretty serious, I don't think oral minoxidil would be on the market if some link was found to that.

On 3/4/2023 at 4:44 AM, washingtondc said:

You can hash it over. I don't really have any wisdom to impart I don't think, it's really up to what the clinic does, in my limited experience.

A part of me thinks a good portion of the situation can be remedied with some relatively small changes, so I'm going to try to see what my options are.

This clinic is not at all worth the price you paid, perhaps they were recommended at some point in the past but remember you shouldn't take anything written here as gospel, ultimately it is up to you do your own research (as thoroughly as you can) and choose a surgeon that way.

The way I did it is, I literally spent days and days (probably over 100 hours) looking at all the recent results from clinics I was interested in, and comparing their results with the clearest pictures I can find (no combover tricks, dim lighting, etc). with other clinics. Also trying to do the same graft number comparisons with different patients.

For your next steps, I strongly advise you to not go back to the same clinic. I think a surgeon like Dr. Konior in Chicago would suit you best.

It likely is over harvested, that post op doesn't look so good.

People will ask what clinic you went to, I hope you went to a reputable clinic and not a hair mill, but I doubt that is the case unfortunately. 

On 1/29/2023 at 6:50 AM, RTC said:

Men literally turning themselves into women to save their hair.

What a circus.

 

Fair point, but it's easy to say that when you have plenty of hair. 

If you were cueball bald I'm not sure you would say the same thing.

The antibiotics post op can give you nausea. 

Your post op looks excellent, I think you're on track for a home run result. 

The point is, think about it. Why would a doctor undercut their prices so much if they can get 100% more? Hair transplants are a mostly efficient market, where the price is pretty much what the quality you should expect. People gambling with their heads for exceptions to the efficient market are, too me, risking too much.

Now, after a certain price point, you get diminishing, or even worse returns. This is mostly to the disparity in US healthcare prices vs the rest of the world.

3 hours ago, Archan said:

I still keep on wondering how can dr zarev extract so many grafts evrytime and still the donor looks fit...is he having some magic wand ...ths is really difficult to understand ..cause any technique may be it..the donor area would be minus the extracted grafts...

Looking at mtb's pics no surgeon would say he can extract more thn 10k grafts jst frm scalp...super surprising...

It is a combination of technique and concentration, tools used, and extreme attention to detail to make sure the donor extraction is completely homogenous. 

8 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Would love to see some post-op pics.

He posted the pics, look on the first page on Jan 30th.

11 hours ago, AlexMeister21 said:

Seems like I won't be getting the refund. After the phone call, Diep's clinic said they would only process refund if I delete all bad postings and if I sign a NDA. I stated I would only do this if they provide a full refund as opposed to just $2,500. Their response was rather vague but it seems like they are still only offering $2,500. 

I feel a bit relieved to be honest. I would've kept quiet for a full refund, but I think I'm going to need an outlet to vent my frustrations as I continue to understand the consequences of my two procedures with Diep as time goes on. Plus, I'd rather try to help others make a more informed decision on their choice of surgeon. Signing an NDA for such a small amount feels insulting and would hurt me on a spiritual level. 

Anyways, not much of an update, but thought it would be worth documenting for those doing their research on Diep. 

Deleting the "bad" postings...I would have responded interesting world you live in where the truth is "bad"...is that a "bad" blue sky you see there, "bad" green grass?

Sad to see.

35 minutes ago, MaximusEastwood said:

Interesting that you mention that because at my procedure with H&W they just a drew on a line and off we went lol.  but i guess you can do it that when you've been performing top-tier surgeries for a few decades

No dude, not to derail the thread but that's not the way to go. Your donor should be closely analyzed by the doctor, as well as your recipient. Anyway I hope your results turned out well.