jimcraig152

I massage Min foam in from the vertex to the receded corners and all the areas in between. I've gotten a lot of regrowth in the receded corners. Not much in the vertex. Not sure which med is doing it, Min or Fin. But I know hair loss has stopped with some new growth. My hair is shaved right now as I am recovering from HT. Using foam when my hair was longer helped with dealing it. The adjustment wasn't so bad. Same with my hair loss. I remember I was changing sheets on my bed. Towards the headboard side, the sheet was covered in hair. After a shower, I would have to detassle my brush like you would have to do before eating corn. Apparently, I had lots of hair despite being a NW3. Might just have to embrace the bald life. But let's not give you a complex in that your brows, beard, and whiskers are bad too. Keep the despair to just the hair loss :). Get an appointment, but do no rush into it. And go to a surgeon whose ethics are beyond reproach. But definitely do not get surgery until your HL has been stabilized for at least a year.

I think doctors would assess you as a NW5 with NW3 coverage. You'll need a long term plan as your hair loss is quite advanced for your age and there being folks with MPD in your family tree means you are predisposed. Get on the Finasteride and Minoxidil religiously and get your hair loss stabilized. Hopefully, you won't have any side effects. Check out this guy's thread for how it is done and the obsessiveness as to how he approaches it, along with his results. Once/if stablized for a year or more, then consider HT with a long term plan. If hair loss doesn't stabilize, you will need to decide if you want to embrace the bald life or be realistic how you will approach your HT as you will likely not have full coverage. Also, if you have side effects, you might want to think about how to embrace the bald life now. I am Asian too but am 20 years older than you. I was a NW3 at your age, but stayed an NW3 until my HT just over two months ago. I started Fin (1x daily 1mg) and Min (2x daily vertex to forehead) two months before my procedure. The benefits of Fin and Min have come my way quite quickly even as I am 2 months into the recovery process from the HT. Prior to starting meds, I would stand in a puddle of water in my shower that would cover up to my toenails from all the hair clogging the drain. I wore my hair long and when it came out in the shower, it would clog everything up. I can tell you that my hair loss has literally stopped. And I've regained lots of hair mostly in the temples, none in the vertex. Still early in the treatment with the meds. More than ever, I shampoo my hair vigorously and then look at my hands for strands of hair. There are none now. It is such a relief. Thankfully, I have no side effects. I should have started the meds 20 years ago when I was your age. If you do decide on surgery, word of advice, do not approach it pragmatically or clinically. You need to be very critical/analytical. Hopefully in a year we can see your story from the meds helping you rebound. You might even be able to avoid or stave off HT like @Shifty.

If it weren't for the scabs (which will come out in the next 2-3 days), it is hard to tell that you've had a procedure done. Hairline looks natural and is not overdone. Grafts are placed in a natural random fashion. That is how it should be. Naturalness is the #1 goal of all HT procedures. Enjoy the next two weeks. After the scabs come out, you'll look your best for a long time. Then it is downhill for a couple of months before you start to rebound.

"To achieve the density we have produced with our patients, we implant in rows. We can implant in randomly but you will not achieve the same density. The blood supply is limited for the grafts. Other doctors....Hasson & Wong do not achieve our levels of density. If you look at farmers, they do not grow in random patterns........" That was Dr. Diep's answer to my question presented to him last night as to why he implants in rows. So there you have it. The answer and reason why Dr. Diep implants in rows. Admittedly, Dr. Diep does achieve excellent density. I'll leave that here for you guys to mull over before my next update. Paging a few folks who've wondered why this is done as so: @Tentpole91, @Dadda, @Noodles123, @Buffaloboy, @hybonix, @BDK081522. Feel free to discuss.

It's not defensible. It's the 'Emperor's New Clothes' syndrome. In that tale, the Emperor sent his officials to check on the status of the cloth the weavers/swindlers were making for the Emperor. The officials found that there was no cloth being spun. But because it was said that the cloth is so fine and light, incompetent or stupid individuals would not be able to see the cloth, they reported back that the cloth was magnificent so as to not be thought of as fools. Same thing is happening here. These guys paid extra for FUE to be delivered by the man known as the FUE King so that their excision scars are imperceptible. Found that the FUE donor site was worse than had they gone with FUT. Now express that because they have hair in the front where they were once bald, tell everyone that they've had magnificent results so as to not look like fools. These guys would have probably looked just as good and paid less had they gone with FUT. You get FUE and pay extra for a reason. Anyone remember what that reason is? Swelling is temporary. Didn't bother me at all. I kept myself bed ridden for 2 weeks. Took the first week off and forced myself to get lots of rest. Loaded up on video games and Netflix for entertainment. Door Dashed food to my house. Didn't want to exert myself in any way accidentally opening an incision. The early days, you look grotesque (well I am a Diep patient, and you might not being that you are a Konior patient), so you will sort of naturally be a bit of a hermit. After the 2nd week, the hair has grown out a bit hiding the procedure at a glance, then you can get back to normal life stuff in the pandemic world.

I want to add this wide angle shot of my donor area: No, I am not praying and thanking the blessings that are Apple products. I am taking this photo from the reflection in the mirror. I want to illustrate the patchiness of my donor as a result of two things: No mapping/graphing out the extraction area Extracting too many grafts from too small of an area (or areas) From my close-in update photos, the patchiness is less noticeable. But from this wide angle shot, the shortcomings become obvious. Even now, the hair on the sides and back are longer than I want to wear it normally now that I've had the procedure. I'll expand further upon this in my next weekly update. For now, I just want you all to see this.

Would be awesome if you were willing to share your journey again. Even if it is still troublesome, it would help the rest of those to follow be spared the same fate. If not, I really hope you aren't under NDA and just really want to remain private. @Tentpole91, looks like you are at 7-months. An update would be great buddy! Don't forget the donor pics.

Looking mighty good @yalla8! Very natural. Don't forget the donor pics.

Yeap, it is astonishing. The thought of being able to use "bruising" as an adjective used to describe an incision is impossibly crazy. Even still, the math doesn't add up for me. I don't see 1600 bruises; I see like 150. Truly a testament to the man's skills. Looks like you don't have to worry at all with the pain I described in my thread =). Your donor compared to mine looks like it won a title belt because the opponent decided he couldn't win anyway and withdrew. My donor looks like I was knocked down several times as the fight went the distance. Would like to see your procedure pics @BDK081522. Seems you've deleted your posts/threads.

Looks good Micky! You're exactly one month into the recovery process. Another month or so to go as you approach the bottom depths of the ugly duckling phase, then things start to rebound towards the up and up. Don't forget to snap those donor pics. Just don't crane your neck forward risking stretching to your FUT scar as you take those shots though. Question: did your stitches come out yet? If so, when?

Well just looking at those red spots, I can't see holes to go along with them. I just see red spots. I can't see holes at all anywhere. So if those red dots are the result of FUE, then your donor is truly virtually untouched. I just can't see where 1600 extractions were made. Those red spots number in the low hundreds around your head. In any case, it is a testament to Konior's mastery if someone is confusing his excisions for pimples.

These two photos are of my right eye on the 3rd day. By the 7th day, it was swollen shut. There was no pain however, I knew it was just fluid an blood from broken capillaries. I didn't sweat it at all. Plus being in quarantine helped a ton. With thousands of scabs on your head during that time, you won't even be thinking about a black eye. the

Aside from those red spots, I can see your donor area look as untouched as a Southern Belle on her wedding night. Good lord, Konior is a master! What are those red spots? Pimples? Or extractions that probably bled more than the others?

That photo isn't going to document your journey well. Takes practice, but here is what I do. Turn on sounds on your phone so you can hear the shutter sound as you take a photo. With two hands, hold the phone so that the touch screen is facing away from you (the camera on the touch screen side produces inferior pics). Position your index finger as close as possible over the take photo button. Now raise your arms up and rotate the phone in your wrist so that the camera is pointed towards the back of your head. The top of the phone will now be pointed away from you towards the floor. Crane your neck forward and tilt the phone so that it has a slight upward angle towards the back of your neck (this is important later as the hair grows back in). Then snap the photo. You might miss the button a few times, but you'll get it. You only need one good shot.

Yeah, the pain isn't agony. But it is persistent. Feels like being a little too close to a campfire that you can't move back and away from. Don't know what your tolerance is for pain, but just be ready for it. No idea if I would have crossed into the unbearable pain threshold because I kept that possibility from coming about by using the meds. Best to manage pain by keeping it at bay, than to deal with it after onset. But then again, you went to Konior and I went to Diep. In the case of my swelling, the scalp expansion fluid pooled down to my right eye and blackened it by the 3rd day. By the 7th day, it was swollen shut. No pain though, it wasn't blackened from trauma. By the end of the 2nd week, the blackening disappeared. Some slight yellowing remained through the 3rd week. All signs of bruising went away by the end of the 3rd week.

I have been told to reserve judgement till next July. However, I can say the misery of dealing with his office operations is worthy of breaking the deal, even now. I let the convenience of geography (I'm a San Jose native), his Youtube videos, and the testimony of a childhood friend stop me from doing the obsessive diligence I normally do when I make decisions. The devil is always in the details however. You're an engineer, so you didn't make that mistake.

Just get ready for the pain. The first week after surgery was pain free. The 2nd & 3rd weeks were the worst. After that, just some shards of piercing intermittent pain that would quickly go away. Get some 98%-100% aloe vera gel (not lotion with aloe vera). Helps tons. Have those pain killers ready to keep pain at bay. When it comes to pain, best to keep it at bay than to work to alleviating it. I saw in your video that you paid $13/graft with Konior. I paid $8/graft, though normally Dr. Diep charges $10/graft. I was curious what he charged. But all things considered, Konior's work is world class and it shows. Congrats man!

Can't wait to see the donor pics. Everything else looks spectacular already!

End of Week 11 Update: I have my 1st follow-up consultation with Dr. Diep on Monday. I will be asking him why he implants grafts in unnatural rows. Why he performs extractions asymmetrically. But the bulk of the discussion shall be on concerning my personal status now and in the future. I'll be sure to record the conversation. As for the progress, the grafts are really starting to break the skin. From the frontal shot, the grafts are in profile so you can see where they are at in terms of growth. I am also, continuing to respond well from the medical treatment. Results are something just about all Dr. Diep patients can rejoice in. It's the other "stuff" that concerns us. From the side views, the growth is harder to see as you can tell. But you can see the other "stuff". Left side is progressing faster than the right side. Extractions on my right side were done very high towards the vertex. This really sucks because what ever thinning I have in the vertex is exacerbated by how far up the grafts were pulled from just to the right of the vertex. If I had any appearance of a bald spot at the vertex, that appearance of a bald spot is now going to look larger. EDIT: Cumulative photo is below:

Where is that thread buddy? Excited for you!

4000-5000 is a mega session, or requires multiple sessions. But it is still possible with FUE depending on your candidacy: age, donor supply, hair characteristics, density, even hair color, hairline design. Be sure to set your expectations accordingly however. Check out this thread. 8300 FUE grafts over 3 procedures. Results are amazing both on the donor side and the hairline + crown. The benefit is that the surgeon does both the excision and graft placement. If you select this doctor, overall costs with travel figured and bringing along the wife for a somewhat mini-vacation or get away will be less than what Dr. Diep quoted, even though you've already lost the $1000 deposit. @ShadowMoon wants to keep that info to himself. But give Dr. Gabel's office a ring and find out for yourself.

What was the graft count that Dr. Diep recommended? Wondering if you required a mega session or not. Also, FUE or FUT? And where are you located on the West Coast?

Trust me when I tell you, you made a good decision. If you are adamant the geography, Dr. Stephen Gabel out of Portland, OR. You won't get anywhere near the experience you had with Dr. Diep's office. Read @ShadowMoon's post.

Please post donor pics. The hairline work looks spectacular. Congrats!

Stunning brutha, just stunning. A shining example of why you pay extra to go with FUE over FUT.