ciaus

In his case he got his transplants back when he was really young, bad work obviously, definitely a cautionary tale, and he often posts on topics to help young guys not make the same mistakes.

Thats my mission, but if it doesn't work out not the end of the world, just let my hair grow back out and I'll have some permanent concealer on the scalp so I won't have to use as much dermmatch and toppik. Look at Gatsby's smp before/after pics here, even his thinner scar on the top is alot wider and whiter than mine. It gives me some hope and something to shoot for!

I was until the lockdown. I've been working from home since March and my company has already given the ok to keep doing it all next year. When I do go out I wear ballcap for now. If it wasn't for the lockdown I wouldn't have had the courage to buzz down, and now that I have I do prefer it, not just in terms of convenience, but I like how it looks. This is why I've commented on a few threads where young guys with aggressive loss were asking about options, telling them to consider how even if they don't like how being buzzed/shaved looks now, they may grow into it when their face/head shape matures as they get older and end up actually liking it.

Yes they were successes, I've had 3100 over two procedures into the front/temple area, been using toppik and dermmatch along the way to bridge the gaps as needed. Fin and minox have stabilized my crown pretty good, but its thin enough that in some of the more unflattering lightings I still need to use the toppik/dermmatch. And unless we get some drugs better than fin/minox that's going to gradually, hopefully very gradually, keep progressing. Which is another reason that I'm looking at SMP beyond the scar concealment, to do SMP on the crown so I never have to roll the dice restoring that, and just keep everything buzzed down to a 0/1 guard range for the duration. Man its been one of the bright spots of this whole lockdown not having to mess with hair stying, concealers. Just buzz it down every few days, and in the morning when I get up just head right out the door/get on with life.

I just started shaving my head over the summer because of covid, rather than risk going to a barber, and I don't even think they were allowed to be operating by then. The scar concealment is what I'm considering now, some FUE followed by SMP to finish the blending.

Its an interesting topic, the buzzed head definitely helps to frame your face. Some guys have very strong facial features, beard hair, that does most of the heavy lifting for framing the face and can get away better with that shiny bald head better. There was a thread or two recently about guys wanting to 'reverse' parts of their hair transplant, having some hairs removed. One of the suggestions was to do electrolysis to just destroy the hairs with lasers instead of risking the additional scarring from extracting them. When I was looking into that electrolysis I found this guy, never any hair transplants, just accepted he was going to be bald and didn't want to have to even shave anymore. You can see in some of his vids how as the hair follicles are completely destroyed it creates patchy areas next to the 'shadow' effect of the hairs that are still alive right under the skin, after about 10 treatments it all just looks like there was never any hair anywhere. Look at Bill Burr here, maybe its just his red hair, or maybe he has had the electrolysis? because you can't see any darker contrast on the sides of his head when compared with the top, like he just lasered all that off.

I'm in the opposite boat, already down the HT road a bit and during the lockdown its given me the freedom to shave it down and I'll be damned, I actually like it -now that my head/face has matured fully and I'm in my early 40s. I did buzz down when I went into the service after highschool and didn't like it then.

I've used toppik and dermmatch together for years, they complement each other well. When I was growing my hair out I never combed it straight back, just forward a little and to the side. And I used dermmatch and toppik in the temples and front, a bit everywhere else too just to help blend it all together to create a consistent look. Your blending efforts are going to vary depending on good of a match you can find with your natural hair and the colors that they offer.

I have a little toppik collecting dust so I just tried to sprinkle some on my 0 guard head---I have to say there's no concealer mastery level to make that work. What doesn't come right off like dust in the wind clumps to the skin in random areas on your scalp. And I don't know about using it even on a 3 or 4 guard on the top, maybe. Before the lockdown I would get a 3 or 4 guard buzz on the sides, blend it up to longer lengths on top. Then the initial week or two after the hair cut my FUT scars would show a little at certain angles so I would put some dermmatch to help conceal them until the hair grew out a little longer. This hair on the sides like that is easier because its all growing in a downward direction laying against the skin so that you get the maximum thickening effect from the dermmatch or toppik. But the hair on the top grows upwards, perpendicular to the scalp, you need to make sure the length is long enough to where it starts to have the ability to lay down somewhat with a comb and styling products, so that you can maximize the coverage effect.

There was no blood, just a little redness. On the bulking powders, that's an interesting dilemma for the hair transplant inclined, if they are working in part by increasing your testosterone then I would expect there to be additional testosterone to DHT conversion going on, probably not good for those DHT sensitive hair follicles. You really have to envy those body builders all sterioded up and still able to sport a full head of hair effortlessly, but then they've got other potential problems to worry about down the road more serious than hair.

Look at this, Ken's been trying to hide his widow's creep! Barbie is soon to be back on the market boys

Probably since the grafts are secure after day 9-10, but I'd wait until week 3/day 21.

Congrats on pulling the trigger! Like to see it when guys get their temple points done, important part of optimizing for natural look. Alot of guys get tunnel vision only paying attention to the top and too many docs lack the skill to want to address it. Don't fret too much on the head bumps, esp when there was no blood. I bumped my head on an open cabinet door above the sink after my last procedure, didn't effect final result. As far as resuming your activities post op, there's no medical justification for waiting more than a few weeks to restart aspects of your life. If you aren't already taking minoxidil, you could start after the first week or two to potentially jump start some early growth.

I've been buzzing down to 1 or 0, sometimes shaving completely since the lockdown. At those lengths I can see my thinning pattern better than when the hair was grown out - not really the thinness of the individual hairs, but in terms of the hairs I've already lost. Its pretty revealing comparing the density of the dot patterns of hair in your donor with the top of your head where the MPB is happening. In terms of trying to make sure you can keep your thinning areas concealed, get some toppik and/or dermmatch, and like another poster said gradually buzz your hair down until you are satisfied with what you see, or you can't go any further because you won't be able to conceal it.

I'd be very careful, like others have said if you do go the hair transplant route you probably won't be satisfied, especially if you are shooting for being a norwood 2 again, look at the distance below. On the plus side you have no scarring, and all hair transplants will leave scarring. Have you considered scalp micropigmentation? it could help to frame your face.

Its not that you don't want to think about hair, you just don't want to think about hair loss, and of course who does. Your list there is very appearance focused, and already at just a norwood 2.5 you're on a hair loss forum probably underestimating how much hair loss is going to effect you in the years to come. There are a number of genes that factor into balding and they come from your mother and father sides of the family. It can be worse, mild, skip a generation, or even a sibling, like one brother being hit hard while the other has a full head of hair. And concealing hair issues not only becomes a gradually bigger time investment as the loss progresses, it can sap your confidence and make you overly self conscious because you worry about others noticing your efforts to conceal, which can limit your activities, interactions, opportunities.

Yikes When I was about to click on the section for the forum the only part of the topic title visible was "This is what happens when you" .My thoughts immediately went to John Goodman's immortal character Walter in that corvette scene of The Big Lebowski. But its still kinda of like the corvette getting destroyed, this guy's chances of having decent coverage over his life destroyed as well. If you aren't going to take the meds, delay the HTs until at least your late 20s, if you are going to bother with them at all.

No problems with my results. Never was a smoker, as long as we aren't counting those candy cigarettes when I was a kid. Just had to go search amazon to see if those are still around given the pearl-clutching times we live in, and sure enough! Get yourself a 10week supply of these, pretty sure they won't restrict your blood flow as much, and they still can give you that sophisticated rugged look -as long as don't give in to temptation and eat them. They are pretty delicious. oh how the times have achanged

I'm like you, social drinker on the weekends and I only took off the first week for my procedures. By the next Saturdays I was back to giving in to the peer pressure.

Also there is minoxidil foam and liquid formulas. The foam is less likely to cause irritation because it doesn't have propylene glycol.

Yes 6 weeks is more than enough time, 9-10 days post op grafts are securely anchored.

Whats with all these post ops pics of guys covered in tattoos? Are they going into prison yards and giving free procedures to boost inmate morale?? Hopefully because I certainly wouldn't want them on the outside able to take revenge when they realize the ugly duckling phase is never going to end! But then maybe these guys aren't so tough, tattoos of a William Wallace Braveheart quote, Girard Butler's King Leonidas from 300? Pffft.

I don't know, looks like he has one of those go-big or go-home skull caps, these guys can afford the creme de la creme. Agree about Reagan though, I don't think he lost his first hair until a few months after they put him in the ground. The man should have donated it to science!

DHT is not localized or stationary, its a hormone that circulates in your blood throughout the body. Finasteride can lower DHT by up to around 70%, Dutasteride can lower it even more by up into the 90s%, but there's no way to completely eliminate or escape it. Since the donor hair is the most genetically resistant to DHT, that's why it keeps hanging around while the rest of those wimps drop out.

I take oral minoxidil now due to skin sensitivity, but when I used foam I would shake the can before I dispensed it. Its not on the instructions, but I always did that for hair styling foam mousse bottles because when I didn't they would dispense liquidly, even more so when the bottles were approaching empty. Doesn't sound like you have a temperature issue, but I've heard of guys living in hotter climates putting the bottles in the fridge before they jump into the shower and by the time they are done and ready to apply, its cool enough to dispense in foam form again.