jimcraig152

Dr. Diep does two things exceedingly well: Places and designs the hairline perfectly. He has an accute understanding of facial symmetry and proportions. He probably took art classes in college. I mentioned in another thread that if Peyton Manning walked into Dr. Diep's office, he wouldn't walk out with Usher's hairline. If he did, Peyton Manning would look worse and should have stuck with the fivehead. His yield is excellent. Seems to understand perfectly the depth at which grafts must be placed into the scalp for best yield. No need for me to further beat what everyone else has already told you about his graft placement (though you should consider thoroughly the shortcomings). But I think you should account for the following: If you check 'NO' to allowing MHTA to shave your head, that does not mean they will work around whatever your existing hair is now in the reciepient area. Your hairline will be shaved back and what is left of whatever hair you have now might just compell you to have checked 'YES'. In other words, you might have one of these haircuts at the extreme. And while you will be able to cover the FUT incision in the immediate aftermath with such a haircut, really you aren't done any favors. But then again, I have no idea what your hair looks like now. You will be given some last minute terms in the minutes just before the procedure and after you've paid for the procedure. Check my thread for some further details on that. Also, if you can, take a snap of those terms with your phone that would help everyone else that is going to go after you. Ask for extra head coverings (7 in total work), Extra barrier sheets (7-10 works), and extra ointment packets (I am thinking 10-14). You won't be given this stuff till the end so be sure to write it down so you remember as you come out from the anesthesia. You're actually better off being as isolated as possible in at least 4 days after the procedure until you can wash the receipent area. Trust me on this one. I am a native of the area where MHTA is located and that is one of the reasons I decided to go with them as well; for the convenience. If I had to recover in the immediate days following the procedure in a active household, I'd probably cut the survival rate of my transplants in half. If you do go with Dr. Diep, or another surgeon, don't let convenience be a factor at all. Pay for that extra lodging and go with the best possible choice. Take the week off following the surgery, even if you can work remotely at your family's house near MHTA. Your mind and soul needs to be completely free of anything that will cause you stress. Good luck. Look forward to seeing your journey.

That you are married, what reasons you think a person should get HT-for what purposes-to achieve what goals, and that you can't confidently recommend finasteride based upon what, of all people, your dermatologist says does not help this 22 year-old man stop his hairloss. All things are relative, he is not you, and good chance doesn't have the same dermatologist you have. As for what might stop/slow his hairloss: finasteride. This young man should explore it. Know the risks. Commit. Then execute day after day, evaluating its effects as he goes along.

Like I said in my post, I was being a pussy. As of yet, I've had no il effects. There is that possibility though. All I can say is its pretty hard for a 22 year old man to get any action from the ladies if he doesn't have hair. That is just the outward impact. There are also the impacts to a man's confidence. Evaluate, know the risks, commit, and take the action everyday.

I feel the same. Just being thorough and objective in detailing the process so the next person can make informed decisions. So weird that "revise", "fix", "hope", "wait", "see if" are adjectives and adverbs that have to be used to describe a highly regarded surgeon's work. Indeed, wait, hope, and see if is all I can do before I accept, take action to revise or fix. For the next person, educate & explore other options are better alternatives.

End of Week 3 Update Two major things this week: Donor site discomfort has subsided signficantly. Largely just a feeling of tightness. Itching in areas just below the donor site. The occassional jolt of pain. In other words, very manageable. Recipient area has shedded a bit, particulary within the past two days. I've stuck my head under the shower to get the whole scalp wet. Then applied shampoo over the sink to just the receipient area. Then looked at my hands to see if there were hairs. There were. And from the pics, I can see some thinning spots. Then jumped fully into the shower. Rinsed off the shampoo from the receipient site. Then applied shampoo to the rest of the scalp. No hairs coming from the other areas of the scalp. This is good news and the Finasteride is kicking in. And the equipment still works too. Holla! Also, I have resumed Rogaine at the start of week 3. Applying mostly to the vertex and to the crown. Started Finasteride the day after the procedure after being told to halt it a week leading up to the procedure. Ok, now for pics: And another angle of the hairline: From the below perpendicular angle of the corners of the hairline, the corn rowing is really prevalent. It is more pronounced IRL. I am not aways able to capture these at the best angle. All I can do is wait and see how this turns out. I feel the pictures don't do show what I am seeing in the mirror regarding the donor sites. The asymmetical harvesting is more pronounced in the mirror than it is in the pictures. As typical with MHTA patients, the right side is always worse than the left side. Also, you can notice at this point of my hair growth, post head shave, the angle that my hair grows from my scalp is almost perpendicular. My hair would not drape down and cover a FUT scar unless it is realatively long. Given that, FUT was never an option for me. It was always FUE for me. That's it for now. Comments, questions?

I just wanted to mention one other thing regarding the sales pitch between FUT vs. FUE with my consultation with Dr. Diep before I head into weekly updates. Dr. Diep did NOT push me into going with the more profitable FUE procedure. Dr Diep actually nudged me towards going with FUT. I had shoulder length hair going into the consultation and into the procedure. He told me because I wear my hair long, I would be able to conceal the scar right away. But I just knew that my fine straight black hair grows perpendicular from my scalp (as you can see from post-op pics) and ultimately would have liked to have worn my hair short like times when I didn't have long hair. I would never be able to hide the FUT scar given how my hair grows. The decision for FUE was all mine. And I can tell you I was well aware that FUT is the industry gold standard for maximizing donor yield. Here is a pic of such a time when I did have short hair: Believe it or not, I am actually a NW3 in this photo. But I was really good with a brush, hair dryer, and maximum hold hair spray and hid it well. Never have used concealer in my life either. Even during the day of the procedure when I filled out the last minute papers. He said there are going to times when it is not possible to extract enough donors via FUE, would I consent to FUT? I said no. No matter the immediate aftermath of my donor site, I don't think the outcome was a result of profit.

We/you will never get one. And if you buy the thing about the asymetrical harvesting of the donor site being to "preserve virgin donor sites for future procedures", I have some beach front property in Idaho to sell you. I am a recent MHTA client and have thoughts on around his technical flaws. I just don't want to hijack Dadda's thread. Probably will save it for my own thread as things progress.

Brutha @kdlmaj, we need an update from you.

If my early results at the 16 day mark are any indication, yield is something we MHTA patients can all rejoice in. I don't think it is the tech's fault on the right side. Although, that is a strange coincidence. The surgeon makes the inciscion. I think Dr. Diep starts from the left side, then moves right. So as he runs low on donor count, he cuts corners and becomes less artistic and more like a crop-planting machine, leaving more pronounced rows. Then as he goes over the graft estimate as he is making the incisions, he must park himself on the right side and extracts more from that side. Just about all Dr. Diep's patients show asymetry towards the right on the donor side. One more question. Was your procedure estimate 1356 grafts to begin with? And when you signed the paper, did you allow Dr. Diep to go over by 100, 300, or unlimited grafts?

I say start fin and min right away. Get a pillbox and be dillgent about it everyday. I first started noticing hairloss when I was 17. I remember taking a shower as a high school senior, shampooing my hair, then looking at my hands and seeing strands of hair where there were none before. Then living in cheap apartments during college where plumbing wasn't always good, the shower would not always drain well and hair would float and collect on the sides and bottom of the tub. I'd have to wait for the tub to drain, then wipe the hair off with toilet paper and flush it so no one would know about my hair loss. My hair loss has been slow suprisingly. I am now in my mid-40's, a NW3, started finasteride 3 months ago. Up until recently, I kept denying the clumps of hair that would clog up my shower was a result of the way I wore my hair long leaving it prone to breakage because my hairline wasn't moving back. But then day after day, the comb over techniques I had mastered over the years weren't so effective at covering things up anymore. Believe it or not, I am a NW3 in this picture at age 27. No concealer. I just hid things well. Then I realized that while my hairline wasn't getting to much worse, all the hair I had been losing was coming now from the crown. But honestly, I was just being a pussy. Didn't want to take meds of any kind. I also thought it would be a huge expense for fin and min, it's not (but that is a relative thing). 2.5 months after I started finasteride, those clumps are almost all gone and the shower drain runs just water and suds down the drain now. Good news is my equipment still works. I just had a 2337 FUE procedure. I am kicking myself for not getting on fin and min sooner (like 20 years ago). Maybe I could have saved 500-1,000 grafts if I acted sooner. Like anything in life, you have to commit and be prepared to put in the work to achieve the mission. Hair restoration is no different.

@Dadda, with either the extractions or incisions, did he start from the left and work to the right side? You probably won't be able to answer about the extractions being that he was behind you. But the graft incisions, were those done from left side first, then right? A repeating theme with Dr. Diep's work is that the right side is far inferior from the left side both in terms of the graft incisions and the donor extractions. As I am with my procedure with Dr. Diep. I feel Dr. Diep does two things exceedingly well: Yield is excellent. There are a few isolated horror stories out there. But HT just isn't going to work with some people's physiology and habits. So it is possible that those folks would have went to another surgeon and found the same results He has an accute understating of facial composition and places the hairline perfectly. Like, If Peyton Manning walked into MHTA with his five-head, he wouldn't walk out looking like Usher. If Peyton Manning had Usher's hairline, it would be worse than having his five-head now.

I was knocked out for most of the procedure with Dr. Diep, but you seem to have been awake for all of it. Do you remember if he marked the donor site for symmetrical extraction at all? As far as I could tell, as soon as the shaving was done and the anesthesia kicked in, he just went right into extraction.

Day 14: End of Critical 2-Week Post Op-Period From time to time, my donor area feels like I have a worm burrowing its way just beneath my scalp. It sucks. And when that is not happening, it is feels like there is a heater on high radiating inches from the back of my head. Can't wait for that to go away. The 2nd week was wayyyyyyy worse than the 1st week in terms of donor area discomfort for some reason. I even went out and got some aloe vera-based lotion and it didn't help at all. The only thing that provided relief was a shower. Which left me feeling discomfort free for a few hours, then the discomfort set back in again. I definitely lost some sleep this week over the discomfort. Speaking of which, here is what my donor area looks like. I do feel like these pictures paint a better picture than what I am seeing in the mirror. Seems to me the wounds are more red when looking in the mirror than these pictures show: My reciepient area looks much better than my donor area. Much of the red inflammation on the skin has went away. Scabbing isn't even a thing anymore. I do see growth out of the grafts which is unexpected, but pleasant. But know to expect the grafts to fall out soon. Then the ugly duckling stage. During my first shower, I saw some splinters of hair being washed away. No idea if they were grafts or if they were shavings that were stuck to the scalp from the dried blood. And while massaging my receipient site during the showers, I would immediately look at my fingertips to see if there was any loose hair. There were none. Those grafts seem to be in there pretty good. Here is a comparison from Day 4 and Day 14. There is growth out of the grafts, right? Or am I seeing things? Here are a few more angles of the receipient area: Another thing I didn't mention is that on the first night after the procedure, I must have fell off the elevated pillows. I woke to find myself sleeping on my side. Thankfully, my cheek rested in the cradle of my arm and none of the grafts rubbed against anything and were pulled out. Probably spent most of the night in that position; got lucky. Alright. Will take daily pictures still, but probably going to weekly updates at this point. Let me know what you guys think or if you have any questions.

Day 11: Scabbing Pretty Much Gone/Lots of Donor Area Discomfort Showered, lathered up regular shampoo, applied to scalp, did not rinse off shampoo. Put on shower cap. Set timer for 20 minutes on my phone. Hopped back in shower. Massaged receipient and donor area for ~5 minutes never staying in one spot for too long. Put head under shower and rinsed off shampoo. Massaging more under the shower. Upon existing shower, plenty scabs left in receipient site (I don't have a picture of this). Upon touching receipient site, scabs were clearly loose, but not dislodging from folicle. I found it best at this point to remove the scabs while the hair was still wet and the scabs soften to feather them out with wet finger using the sink and being in front of the mirror. In doing so, the scabs balled up and were either picked up by the finger or were pushed to the forehead so that I could wipe them off. Took about 7 minutes, but just about all of it came out. Now I have the clearest view of the work done yet. As you can see, most of the scabbing is gone. From this angle, things look generally good. Here is a closer look at the all important hairline. Again, from this angle, things look generally good. I do still feel the hairline is too much of a line. All I can do is wait for the signature Dr. Diep stairstep hairline to fill out. So here are side views of the receipeint area. See how within the rows, the grafts are densely packed in relation to each other within the same row? That close packing within the same row is unnatural. The row spacing is wide in relation to each subsequent row? Unnatural as well. The good news is I can see some growth out of the grafts and natural hair during this now 2nd week. So that is good. Here is a shot from day 5 after I shaved off what was left of my hair just to prove that statement is true (or am I seeing things?). Also, discomfort in my donor site is killing me right now. And I do feel my donor area pictures aren't showing what I see in the mirror. Will work on better pictures of the donor site in the next update.

I'm in my 11th day post procedure with Dr. Diep. My immediate observations echo what you are saying now. Here is what I wrote on my thread: In any case, your yield is looking exellent. But the graft placement pattern leaves has room for improvement. All we can do is wait. I do have thoughts on this. But we should probably start another thread on this. I don't want to hijack OP's thread. Page me if you create such a thread.

Understood. Was just trying to lighten the burden of stress from the relative scenario with humor and am genuinely interested in @kdlmaj's outcome.

So how did the flight go @kdlmaj?

Taking @Melvin-Moderator's advice, I showered as normal, lathered up the last of the graftcyte shampoo onto entire scalp. Shut down shower without rinsing off shampoo. Wrapped head in shower cap and set timer for 20 minutes. Got back into shower after 20 minutes and just massaged donor and recepient sites gently under cold water for 5 minutes. Here is the front before the shower. And here is the front right out of the shower. Probably another day or two before the scabs are completely gone. And here it is after it air dried. Lots of crackling. No grafts in those crackled areas. Hopefully those folicles in the crackled areas took root. We shall see. Back donor site before the shower: And back donor site immediately after the shower. The bigger more noticeable scabs were towards the top. Now they are mostly gone. Running my hand over the back donor site feels really smooth. Side donor sites before the shower: And sides just after the shower. So as you can see. Donor sites are just about scab-free. Donor sites are looking pretty close to normal.

Alright. Will do. I also will gain the ancilary benefit of being more confortable with stepping out. Day 9 & 10: Update Not much has changed aesthetically but the donor area has been at the highest level of discomfort and almost crosses the line into being outright pain. Might swoop up pain meds through prescription written by Dr. Diep if this persists.

Well, let's hope my results a little further down the line turn out well. I don't want to ruin it for you man :). Yeah, I noticed those bumps on your donor site too. I only have scabs. Three things I could think of: Difference in physiology and reaction to the procedure Difference in meds taken and different reactions to them Difference in physical activity I can tell you for the first 4 days, I only took: Swelling meds as prescribed Infection meds as prescribed As I was told in the follow-up call, those two meds above are mandatory. The other two are if/as needed (pain meds, sleep meds). I didn't take pain meds until Day 4, not because I was in pain, but it got a little beyond discomfort. And when it comes to pain, best to keep it at bay than to try to make it subside. So I've been taking pain meds as a precaution along with swelling and infection meds. I haven't taken the sleep meds at all. I started taking propecia immediately after the procedure. Also, I took the week off. House is empty and I have barely left it. Using DoorDash mostly when hungry. Been forcing lots of bed rest. Getting 10+ hours a day. Honestly though, its mostly likely our difference in physiology. Scabs do start coming off by Day 7. So maybe by then you'll see a difference. Drop a line to Dr. Diep and let him know however if you get concerned.

Day 9: Showered Head for the First Time Since Procedure Just wanted to wait for the hard water filter to come in before I showered for the first time. Did not shampoo hair in the shower. Still did the graftcyte shampoo and sponge scrub on the donor area. Then squeezed/dripped lather on the receipient site. Let both sit for about 5 minutes, then jumped into the shower to rinse off. Ran the shower on near drip/lowest flow setting for quite a few minutes. Did not touch scalp in the shower otherwise. Felt reeeeeeeeeeal gooooooood. Just taking extra precaution so that those grafts have the best chance to survive. Pics here are right out of the shower while head was still air drying. Back Donor Site: Looking really good. Many of the scabs came out on their own without additional massaging in the area Side Donor Sites: Seems bigger punches might have been used here or deeper wounds were created during the extraction. These are taking longer to heal. Front Side: And the all important hairline. As far as I can tell, no grafts were lost in the 1st shower Donor site discomfort is going away as the scabs are starting to peel off. Haven't applied anything to those areas since I ran out of the ointment MHTA gave me. Alright, what do you guys think so far?

Looks like it is getting fainter. I honestly think it is correct that they left that stain there. It is unfortunate. But I think you just started bleeding in the surgical position after they had already started applying grafts. At that point, they really can't remove the stain without risk of dislodging grafts. Again, just a relative thing that you had to travel a week later, otherwise it would be a non-issue. Keep at it with the graftcyte lather drip, sponge rinse drip, air dry process brutha. Some of those blood stains should come off before your trip. You have two more applications to do it in. But don't damage those grafts. I wouldn't let anything touch the receipent site except graftcyte lather dripped from a sponge, water squeezed from a sponge, and air. Strictly follow the Dr.'s orders. I'd say if you need to cover it, wear the surgical cap MHTA gave you with your meds. Goes nicely with the face mask you have to wear everywhere these days. And take it off soon as you are in the air. Honestly though, I don't think this will keep you from passing through the gates. They are going to be looking for people with high body temps. Not birth marks on their scalps, which is obviously what you'll have to claim. Stay up. Will check back in on you in a few days. I feel like we are HT Surgeon Eskimo brothers already :).

Day 8: Getting Ready for Showering I bought one of these: I read a peer reviewed study on the negative impacts of hard water on hair health/growth for regular people. So I can't imaging hard water is positive for folks that are going through recovery from hair transplantation. To what degree among indivduals, who knows for sure. Plus, it is like prayer; what could it hurt? I don't have like well water or anything, but just taking steps to allow increased comfort through the process. Will start showering tomorrow (Day 9). Before the procedure, I preferred the shower jets on. But will be sure they are off throughout the 12-month recovery. Gentle streams of water to rinse. More lathering between hands, less lathering between hands and scalp is the mantra. So these pics were taken right after the wash this morning: Back donor area: After Day 7's wash, then sleeping that night, I woke up to find loose scabs felt on my neck and through that area. They are falling off on their own. So healing is underway. Early that morning, before the sun with its UV rays came out, I was comfortable enough to head to a nearby convenience store without a sugical head cap on to grab random nick nacks. The clerk there is the only soul on Earth that knows I had anything done. HHe said things look good and asked me about it because he is thinking about it himself. And the sides of the donor area. You can see how close some of the donors came to the transplant site. And the ever so important hairline: Things are looking good. I do see some crackling, but know I shouldn't worry about that. I was thinking sometime soon after the first 2 weeks, to shave everything even as I still see some stragglers of long hair, plus my shave job and MHTA's pre-procedure shave job aren't even. But I'll just use scissors for the few stragglers and the difference between my shave job and MHTA's will just camaflouge as the hair grows back. Lastly, I am not in a rush with removing the scabbing since we are all in quarantine, I am working from home for the foreseeable future, yada yada yada..... Will shower as prescribed, let them heal, and fall out on their own. Won't focus any extra attention on massaging them out. Any unforeseen issues or concerns with that?

No, I am man. I am digging the results early results. I know a big part of what I posted thus far has been about the day of the procedure. But I am past that now. Honestly, much of what we all worry about is relative. Like that streak of blood running down the side of your head. Had it not been for your need to travel, arrangements surely of which were made well after your procedure date with Dr. Diep was confirmed, you wouldn't be worrying at all. Because, if it weren't for your travel, you should be digging the early results by now too. Like I am. Since you are on Day 4, you can drip graphcyte shampoo on the reciepient area as of today (as per Dr. Diep's instructions). And since your flight is on Monday, much of that blood should come out with the graphcyte shampoo by then. Just lather it up good. Us a small bowl with the sponge they gave to help with the lathering (lots of pumping and squeezing action). Then apply thick slobs of lather on the site and let it sit for at least 5 mins to break up the dried blood so it does not pull anything out as it is rinsed off. Then squeeze water from the sponge to get it off.

Bruh, for us other more recent MHTA patients, ignorance is bliss! Don't even hint at this or we'll go and search out those threads and trip out even more. We'll just wait for the results.