asterix0

Hair systems I think are your only option.

The thing is, there are ways to minimize trauma, but ultimately, especially if you are prone to scarring a certain way, the FUE scars will still be visible if you shave your head. With intelligent donor extraction and the right tools, yes it can look better, and you can buzz your head probably down to a 2 guard, but ultimately FUE, or FUT for that matter, do kind of eliminate the possibility of shaving your head. Maybe SMP in the donor area can solve this problem.

@FormerFutureKrillin For that number of grafts only in the front I would have expected a better result as well, and all of your points are well stated. I don't think you are being unreasonable at all. Now, it is a dilemma whether to go back to where you were dissatisfied with your result, I personally would look to other doctors who excel in hairline work, and I would also go for FUE instead of FUT in your case.

Take a few days in the hotel man, don't rush out there the next day.

Interesting you say this. I thought the molecular size of dutasteride meant it could not penetrate the scalp, hence making it useless topically.

@Rahal Hair Transplant Do you have any examples of patients 1 year+ after surgery? Scars take a long time to form, generally shortly after surgery you will not see any.

It depends on how you scar, your hair to skin contrast ratio, a lot of things. Generally speaking i think it would look bad without SMP, so assume you won't be able to shave down to the skin, but perhaps buzz down to a 2 guard.

What about just body weight exercises such as pushups, squats, pull ups?

Its hard to find patients after a year who shave their head and take close up donor pictures, unless they are going for another procedure.

However, with this large number of grafts i have otherwise covered the entire Norwood 6 top area, with thinner coverage in the crown. So for me the trade off is probably worth it, i doubt with my skin characteristics i could have done any better. Almost certainly with FUT i would have had keloid scarring and a stretched FUT scar.

Here is a picture of my donor 4 days after my second procedure, it comes out to 5800 or so total grafts I've had so far

Yup I see them, I don't even think he had a big session so it would look even more obvious if he did. Even though that particular picture is blurry.

Did he get SMP?

Sure, any examples you have would be very useful.

A week is still very early, that is all completely normal.

It depends on how big the session was. The larger the clinic, the longer the numbness will last.

Yes, keeping a short hair style it can be hidden. I was just surprised when I shaved my head how noticeable it was.

Does anyone have any examples they can share of patients who had a lot of FUE grafts (4000+) with a shaved head, and if the FUE scars are really noticeable? Perhaps it is just my physiology, I had 4000+ grafts with a small punch with a recommended surgeon with a long wait list. My results were good, my donor was not overharvested, but when I recently shaved my head, the white specs from the extractions were quite visible in my donor. Perhaps my skin/hair contrast color makes them more noticeable, or it is just how my head healed. My surgeon said I healed well but some patients just have more noticeable scar healing pigmentation (or lack there of) than others. I shaved my head because I wanted a small 1300 graft touch up procedure to increase density in the front. Nevertheless, when I saw how noticeable the scarring was, I pretty much realized I better stay on finasteride, otherwise if I lose the hair on top it'll look ridiculous with my donor area if I shaved my head. If I buzz the donor down to a 2 grade though for example the scarring cannot be noticed to the human eye.

I mean, look always think for yourself first, no matter the credentials of whom you are speaking with. Read up on the appeal to authority fallacy. Are you sure you will be on dutasteride for the rest of your life? Are you sure it will continue to hold your hair? It probably will to be honest, it is much stronger than finasteride. But it is still a serious consideration to think about.

Dude, think about what you are saying. You only have 1.5k donor supply left, and you want to dense pack your temples? What if you go norwood 6 slick bald? You will look completely foolish with a dense pack hairline and temples and nothing behind it.

Without finasteride or some DHT blocker your donor may continue to weaken, thus I am not sure you would be accepted as a candidate. Have you tried different dosage levels? Or gradually increasing the dosage?

I think it looks good, can you take some more pictures just outside in any natural light? Indoor car photos for example are the most flattering, as there is no direct light on the head.

How is your donor area looking, I see above the ears it appears to be pretty thin? I think your result is pretty good considering you were almost slick bald. A lot of those miniaturized hairs probably fell out permanently during the transplant process, so you are looking at 4.5k grafts for your entire head, which is not enough obviously for full illusion of density. Another surgery to fill in the gaps would do the trick, it just depends how much donor reserve you have.

You can potentially, you never know how a person will respond. The problem is, finasteride can hold your healthy pre-miniaturized hairs pretty well, but once the miniaturization process starts, it will just prolong their life, but rarely will they be healthy again. When you combine it with minoxidil that is the best chance of success, I personally use both. It will almost certainly strengthen your donor and make it better suitable for a transplant. I mean, look the choice for medication is never easy, for myself personally I was going to be slick bald like you, and I thought my life would be more miserable slick bald than the side effects of finasteride, I would be depressed either way. So I might as well try to have hair and give myself a chance.

You will follow the path of your dad and uncles and be slick bald, it's just a matter of when. You can see the pattern going to Norwood 6 most likely with the potential for Norwood 7. Without finasteride probably the transplant would be a very expensive and long ordeal to get back to where you are now once your miniaturized hair is lost.