asterix0

8 minutes ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

its especially visible on people with darker skin

an example for a guy who got fue hairtransplant and is shaving it now is that one actor from better call saul, michael mando

Did he get SMP?

31 minutes ago, hairthere said:

I'm seeing a growing number of clients like you that I have to perform Scalp Micropigmentation camouflaging on. I'll post some in the SMP section of the forum. 

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.

17 minutes ago, A_4_Archan said:

@asterix0 fue isn't a scareless procedure but you get thousands of tiny scars rather than a long strip(fut) and you can keep very short hair style after fue because those scare can't be usually visible with a short hairstyle..but they are easily visible if you shave your head...plus scarring also depends on few other factors which are not in the hands of a surgeon and the this will varies from person to person....

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.

39 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

I totally get what you are saying. 

If it helps clarify, while I do not have confidence with Mwamba in terms of his density/dense-packing abilities, I do have confidence in his surgical ethics and donor management. He himself said he saw no problem utilizing the rest of the 1500 grafts to dense pack. 

I am a NW3, have been on Dutasteride for years, with no further hair loss. 

Mwamba did say that there is always a possibility that a decade or decades from now, I may get a tolerance to Dut and/or if my native central forelock weakens (currently its super strong), then I may need another HT. But in that case there is always beard or body hair 🤷‍♂️

Idk, Mwamba did also say he thought there was a "50%" chance I would be satisfied with this mediocre density he is currently predicting. But just knowing myself, how many surgeries total I've been through so far (6!!!) all the agonizing stress and cost, I just dont see myself being happy going through all this effort for sub-par density. 

Essentially - While I am critical of Mwamba in a number of aspects, I don't think he would have recommended using the remaining 1500 grafts if he truly thought it would cause donor issues in the future. 

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. 

1 hour ago, ZoldikX said:

Thank you for your reply @asterix0. Taking medication + HT later. will this avoid my family path? 

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. 

@Stam21 Judging from your hair, you will likely hit norwood 6 at some point, meaning without medication you will lose everything on top.

Even with medication this still may happen, but the process will slow down significantly. With medication maybe your hairloss stops completely where you are.

Currently, you would need probably 3000 grafts for your front going into the midscalp.

How's it looking now?

Nice results so far!

2 hours ago, Mr.potato said:

I’ve been to yaman Clinic, he only does incision. Extraction and placement of grafts are all done by technicians. 

That is always risky. You never know the credentials of the technicians, one would hope the Doctor trained them properly but still. 

Did Dr.Wong mention anything about the "railroad track" scarring around the FUT line? I have seen some patients have this, and others not, not sure if it is due to techniques on how the FUT extraction is closed or moreso individual patient physiology. 

Of course you could just grow your donor out longer and cover it up and no one would see.

You will be chasing it, but this is the game we play, ultimately some hair is still better than being slick bald, much better in fact. 

2 hours ago, Recession1 said:

Question for you guys. Everybody talks about stabilization of hair loss before hair transplant. In my opinion there is no such thing. I am 35 years old nw 3 and am on Dutasteride and oral minoxidil and my dad is nw 6. Even with the strong stack I have continued to thin over the years and I still shed and I’m sure with time I will reach a NW 6 as well even though I appear to have a full head of hair I can still tell there is some thinning throughout. I am planning on getting a hair transplant with Konior to reinforce frontal 3rd but is this risky knowing that I will get to NW 6. Won’t I be chasing it every few years? 

That is similar to me. I have been religiously using finasteride and minoxidil and my hair loss has continued. But I was destined to go to Norwood 6 too in my twenties.

But if I hadn't used them, my donor would be a lot worse, remember finasteride strengthens the donor are as well, as does dutasteride.

Dude in my opinion I know you want to fix your hair, but it looks ok as of right now, to the casual observer it looks pretty normal. 

Probably you would want to save money and grafts down the line if your Norwood level progresses. 

Maybe he retired, he was quite old.

Unfortunately I could tell from your first pictures that your donor was likely to be over harvested, and the recipient area was not looking quite correct.

Did the doctor do the whole procedure, or were technicians involved? 

3 hours ago, BackFromTheBrink said:

That appears to be his modus operandi - to analyse the head and transplant so that there is a consistent density across the head. It'll help reduce the halo effect where the strip of hair between donor and recipient is untouched and is therefore denser. 

If you are to do a mega session for the highest Norwoods like OP, I don't see an alternative. If that large number of extractions were to be done in a narrow strip, the donor would look completely weird. 

45 minutes ago, Nelly said:

This is just unbelievable. Great surgeon donor is pretty much as good as it can get after that many grafts. 
 

hiw much did he charge

5 euros per graft is the price I believe