hybonix

Maybe both? I just feel like my temple grafts do not yield as much as others on these forums. It's a little uneven, but it is what it is. Also, here is another shot of my hair today in neutral light:

4 Month Update (3.13.24) I took pictures after a shower, so my hair is a tiny bit wet Folks, this is super harsh light by the way. I am literally under my mirror light in the bathroom. It looks really good in darker conditions! The close ups also make things look “sparse” but want to document as accurately as possible Lots of new hairs sprouting Things are beginning to thicken up as well! My left temple hairs have not grown in. I feel like SMG may need to step their game up regarding temple work in general.

3 Month Update (2.13.24) I have had some shock loss of native hairs from the transplant, so that hurts a little Not sure if those hairs will come back or not Lots of new hairs are sprouting Not much to report, but I look forward to things thickening up I hope more progress comes in Month 4, but it's still super early. I can't wait until Month 6 I took pictures after a shower, so hair is a tiny bit wet

2 Month Update (1.13.24) New hairs are starting to sprout Not much difference except my hairline looks weak right now Old transplanted hairs from my 1st procedure are growing back. I hope next month I can style it again. I am growing a beard as well. It turns out the oral minoxidil helped grow facial hair! It's still a little patchy though (I never could get much facial hair before meds). I am derma rolling my face 2 - 3 times a week to see if that helps grow more hair @aaron1234 You asked if oral minox helped with beard gains -- the answer is, yes.

😲😲😲😲🤩🤩🤩🤩 WOW!!! Incredible!!! Dang this is a homerun thus far and I love it. You must be stoked! Out of curiosity, but your friends/family must be like wtf? Super interested to see what kind of reactions you are getting.

Here are the final counts: 1s - 633 2s - 1176 3s - 171 Total Hairs: 3498 hairs

1 Month Update (12.14.23) I am in the ugly duckling phase and all transplanted hairs have shed I am wearing hats as my hair is super patchy and I look like a dog with mange. lol Word of advice, do not pick any scabs from the harvested grafts as I picked one and it bled more than expected -- not fun. Things going well, not too much to report

Missing appointments was a red flag for me and what initially scared me away from going with Dr. D****. However, based on their reputation, let's hope this was a one-off occurrence.

I got lucky with scheduling Shapiro as he tends to be always booked, and Matt helped out a little since I was a returning patient. Shapiro also did my first procedure, so it was nice for continuity purposes. Dr. Joe is an excellent FUE surgeon as well. That is correct and also is why he teams up with Shapiro on these surgeries.

Ditto, let's see without Toppik, please. I will never be able to use toppik due to my hair color being red which is impossible to match imo, so I can't personally identify the use of it. However, your results look amazing thus far, and I am super excited for you. Clean work and looking like a clean outcome.

If you are not willing to take medication, a hair transplant would be pointless imo as you would experience further loss which would cause gaps between the work and your native hair. There are some on the forums who do not take medication, but their hair loss isn't as severe, and have maintained more hair in their later stages of life. I highly recommend a topical fin/min combination to see if that helps. There are a lot of horror stories on finasteride you read online, but I believe that 95%+ users on these forums who take finasteride have had a good experience. @Melvin- Admin can fact-check me on that though. I used to be very scared of finasteride myself, but have not looked back after starting medication. It actually helped grow my crown back.

Ditto! I love the hairline design and think it suits you well. Again, SMG is more reserved but I like the approach more and more I see it. I cannot wait to see the final results in 6 months, but another 3 - 4 months should give us a great idea of where you will be. I am super excited for you!

That hairline is thick, so I am confused? I know it's difficult for me to sympathize here, but I think your hair looks really good. 6000 grafts or more grafts would be insanity in my honest opinion. Thousands of people would love to have full coverage or even close to the realm of what you currently have. Again, I am not in your shoes so I cannot fully understand how you feel. Based on what I see, you look great and have tons of hair! Hair transplants are illusions, so you will never have the same density as your native hair. However, the hair is awesome, and hope you can see the improvements here. Please do not touch the crown either or even come close to another procedure. I recommend waiting several years or even until your early 30s to see where you are at because your hair loss will progress. 23 is very aggressive and you are still very young. Do not blow your "load" as you have a limited supply of grafts. You will regret this later down the line if you run out and need it for different areas such as the crown. Please take a look at the before and after:

VIDEO OF PROCEDURE (INCISCIONS & EXTRACTIONS) HAIRLINE DESIGN

Thank you for the correction. Yes, you are correct that these were both taken before my 2nd transplant, which I noted in my previous response as well. However, I wasn't super clear on that, and I have modified my original statement.

2 Week Update (11.27.23) Most of the scabs have come off except for a couple of little stragglers Things are looking good and soon all the hair will shed Weird note, but I did not sleep very well for the first 10 days after my transplant. I still had pain in the back of my head which finally subsided on Day 11/12 Dr. Shapiro looked at pictures of my donor and said everything was healing nicely He recommended ibuprofen to reduce swelling to see if that helped Let me follow up with Dr. Shapiro to see how many grafts I have left. I will get back to you on that. Regarding overall density, here are some pictures. The back picture is 50 hairs per mm² which is the back of my head after the first transplant. The side picture is 89 hairs per mm² which was taken before the second transplant. I believe Dr. Shapiro said you want at least 50 hairs per mm², so with that, I am not 100% sure how many grafts I have left:

Background Information I decided to go for Round 2 with both Dr. Shapiro & Dr. Josephitis at Shapiro Medical Group (SMG) To be honest, I could have waited several more years before I got another transplant as I was very happy with my current hair However, I decided to pull the trigger for a second procedure for the following reasons: There were a couple of weaker areas in my hairline where I thought I could pack in more grafts One temple point looked softer and wanted to just beef it up a smidgen with more hairs I wanted to potentially lower the hairline if at all possible with SMG I worked with Matt Zupan, the patient coordinator at SMG to book both Dr. Shapiro & Dr. Josephitis: After 3 reschedules (2 were due to me contracting COVID), we finally got the procedure done on Monday, November 13th, 2023 I want to give another shout-out to @aaron1234 for coaching me through the whole process and recommending I go to SMG/Ron Shapiro I also want to give kudos to @Melvin- Admin for his words of encouragement and advice throughout my first transplant Medication I am currently on oral Finasteride daily (1.25mg) and oral Minoxidil (2.5mg) I also use Nizoral shampoo 3 times a week Check Out My First Transplant With SMG Below Pre-Surgery The front receptionist (Pamela) took my lunch order for the day Pictures of my hair were taken by Pamela (front, top, sides, and back) to show the before photos Pamela then took me to see Dr. Shapiro for the planning phase of my surgery Note: It was fun seeing Pamela get excited and make the comment that I had hair now! In fact, the entire SMG team was relishing in the fact that I had a head full of hair and were super happy for me Planning I met with Dr. Shapiro on the morning of my surgery to go over the game plan. Shapiro looked at me and said, "I think your case is pretty straightforward." He already talked to Matt Zupan and knew this was a case of adding more density and providing a fuller look Dr. Shapiro still asked me what I would like to do for my hair design in light of the above. I mentioned my desire to get more volume and potentially lower the hairline. Shapiro let me know that if they added more density to my frontal third, it would give the appearance of a lower hairline as you would not be able to see through it as easily Additionally, I brought up my temple points in which he said that I had such light-colored hair that it looked softer on one side, but he agreed to pack in more grafts on that side to make it match my other temple He drew on the hairline and mapped out the site with his pen. Shapiro lowered the upper corners of my hairline and also slightly lowered the very front by just a hair or two (no pun intended) Surgery The Techs Prepped Me For Surgery I was given Valium to relax My head was numbed and ensured that I was ready to go for the procedure The techs are always amazing: They were sparking conversations with me and trying to learn more about me as a person They made sure I was comfortable with blankets, had entertainment on the TV, and was ready with water/refreshments They made me feel comfortable and you can tell they care about their jobs with SMG. It's always nice to see happy people in any line of work Dr. Shapiro Made the Incisions Shapiro worked diligently and made incisions all over my frontal third You can tell that Shapiro is passionate and every punch he made was done with purpose: He would take pauses, assess the overall area, and then continue with the procedure Shapiro also cut my hair as the procedure unfolded which was to show where I already had hair: This would help him not transect other grafts and ensure he was filling in the gaps appropriately Shapiro also worked well with the techs and would ask them to double-check the hairline/area just to triple check everything looked good The whole operation was smooth and it's always nice to see everyone work harmoniously together My Head was "Shaved" After the incisions were made, I was sent back to get my haircut I was asked if I wanted to leave hair on top, but I said "Buzz cut it all." Dr. Josephitis Made the Extractions The techs numbed the back of my head Dr. Joe began making the extractions and also took his time to ensure a quality job was being done We took a break for lunch. After lunch, another Valium was given to me per my request. Sh** feels good! 🫠 Dr. Joe continued and finished the extractions The techs were constantly taking the grafts from Dr. Joe and storing them in Petri dishes to be counted After counts were done, I noticed that some of the dishes were placed in the fridge The staff let take a picture of the dishes and get a closer look Once again, the team operated as a unit, like a well-oiled machine The Grafts Were Implanted The techs placed/implanted the grafts in my head. I had 2 or 3 technicians constantly implanting grafts Dr Shapiro would come in and check in on the techs to ensure things were going well Once the implantation was done, Dr. Shapiro made several more punches to finalize and fill in any areas he needed SMG left roughly 100 - 200 leftover grafts to ensure they could adjust/modify my hair as needed. This process helps lock in final look for my transplant After Photos Taken Dr. Shapiro and Pamela took photos of me after the transplant was completed Pain This was the first time I had any discomfort with a hair transplant procedure. My head was definitely more sensitive and they had to numb it more than before During certain parts, I could feel an extraction which prompted me to tell Dr. Joe immediately. More numbing was provided after This also happened during the final incisions Shapiro made to finalize my look. I asked why I felt pain and Shapiro said this was due to my scar tissue from the last procedure. He said it's not uncommon for this to happen, but to just keep letting the team know if I need more numbing Bedside Manner I was asking Shapiro and the techs questions throughout the entire process. Shapiro answered them immediately and was enthusiastic about each answer Dr. Joe was also very cordial and answered my questions while he was doing the extractions I would also talk to the techs throughout the procedure and engage with them multiple times regarding the surgery or random small talk Dr. Joe & the techs constantly reminded me to let them know if I felt any pain or discomfort. This was to ensure I was 100% relaxed for the surgery Everyone involved was super attentive. It was the most relaxed and professional medical environment I have ever seen Shapiro Medical Group Review What can I say? Shapiro Medical Group ROCKS I love this group and I admire Dr. Shapiro for his passion for this line of work. Dr. Joe is also amazing and makes me feel super comfortable The office and surgical area are super clean Bedside manners are great, and their ability to work well as a team is fantastic Everyone's attitude is friendly and professional Everyone involved are absolute super stars, and I cannot recommend SMG enough Rating A++ BEFORE PHOTOS - HARSH LIGHT From this photo, the hairline is a little weak and you can see through it: AFTER PHOTOS - TRANSPLANT PETRI DISH WITH GRAFTS CROWN - BEFORE AND AFTER MEDICATION The doctor noticed that my crown filled in on its own with only medication, no transplant! This was a nice surprise. VIDEO OF INCISIONS AND EXTRACTIONS COMING SOON SLIDE DECK OF HAIR TRANSPLANT (CLICK HERE FOR MORE PHOTOS) The above shows more photos of Surgery Day, Day 1 (post-surgery), Day 2, and Day 7 I have pictures of Days 3 - 6 as well if you would like to see them I will add more as time progresses

WTF! This is absolutely a home run result and nothing short of jaw dropping. Kudos to Fuegenix and CONGRATS on your new appearance!!!

I think 3500 grafts is a great foundation and will transform your look completely. Your hair and case is very similar to mine. I had 3,332 grafts and it changed my life. Your work looks super clean and I’m excited to see future update. Congrats! Also, try not to obsess every day over your hair and just let time pass. It’ll be 6-8 months before we start seeing some real results.

I think the result is quite nice, but I do see the gap between the hairline and the right frontal third. The curly hair also highlights this a little bit more, but I think you look good imo. Can I see pictures of your hair before the transplant? Lastly, I agree with Gatsby on playing with hair lengths. I had to try many different cuts to find something that worked for me.

You will just have to wait and see! >: ) Stay tuned for a future update in the very near future.

Ditto. I think your results show improvement, but I feel like it was more of a 2 pointer jump shot versus a three-point or slam dunk. I would love to see if you are going to fill in more or if you are happy with the result. If you are content, I would hold off and wait. It's about how you feel about the procedure and overall look.

Amazing work! The first procedure transformed your appearance and your crown is poised to bloom. I anticipate future updates and love the progress so far.

3 Year Update Just thought I'd pop in here and give a three year update. I'm a month early, but my hair still looking great. It has weakened a tad only cause my lifestyle has been a little poor with the lack of sleep. I hit the gym 4 times a week but I'm not getting enough sleep. Couple that with weekend drinking and occasional late partying which places stress on the body. But I'm still as happy as ever!! The next procedure is only two months away!!! Here is a comparison once again... Before HT After HT

If you are not willing to take meds, I personally do not recommend a HT as your hair loss could get worse, which would render your investment useless. It took me almost 3 years to come to terms with this fact, and I wish I would have jumped on medication sooner as I could have saved a ton of my hair... If you are on the fence, I recommend taking the plunge and taking the meds. If you wait, things can get worse.