hybonix

Dude, these results are fantastic! Look how thick that hair is. It sucks to say your confidence level is only a 5 though as I would be rocking that hair with no hats all the time. It looks age appropriate, yes it's receding a little bit, but it's done with grace. It's not an oh shit he is bald, but an oh looks like he is receding a little but he looks fantastic! Mature man! I am not sure if that makes sense, but I think this is an amazing result from where you were. @Melvin- ModeratorCalling you out to chime in as the godfather here.

@Rynomite13It's been 8 months since your procedure, the forums are dying to see your results with Shapiro!!! Let's see some pictures of your beautiful new hair!!!

This is a big improvement and your hairline has been lowered. By Month 8/9 you will see how it looks with it grown out. However, this is looking really nice!

It's looking really good! That's a nice hairline design which is natural and it is lowered. Out of curiosity, may we please see a picture of you head-on before the hair transplant? I would like to compare your 6 month result with that picture.

Wow, what amazing progress! Holy cow. You will be a new man in no time!

I have decided to go with SMG for my next procedure as they did amazing work for me. I consulted with SMG and they said the same exact thing. Do not lower the hairline, but add more density to it so that when I get older, the hairline still fits a maturing man and a lot of people go wrong by going low and the transplant does not age well. I wanted to go lower, but with my hair loss, it's best to keep it a little higher. Thank you for the solid advice. ^ I agree. I actually contacted Konior and this was his response to me on the situation: Such a class act doctor!!! NEXT STEPS: SMG suggested 1000 - 1500 FUE grafts to add more density to the hairline and pack in more grafts in the center as well. They do not want to lower the hairline but fill it in more as Matt told me that low hairline transplants do not age well if I lose more hair. I may be scheduling this surgery for August or November of 2022. I may push it to 2023 as well.

They are my first choice, but I know how excellent Konior and Nadimi are, so it's tempting to try another surgeon as well. I have always wanted to go to Chicago as well so it would be kind of a mini vacation for me.

Hello everyone! After my huge success with SMG, I am looking to book a second HT surgery to fill in my hairline and lower/straighten it if possible. I am looking to undergo a 1000 or 1500 graft FUE in 2022 or 2023. I am not sure if it's wise to rush into another surgery as my first transplant was in October of 2020 (Age 27) and you can see my thread in my signature. I would like to ask the forums if there are any gotchas or things I should think about with booking a second surgery only a year or two after my first. Additionally, my top surgeon choices are as followed: Dr. Shapiro Konior Nadimi Since this is a tune-up appointment, I am curious if there are any other great surgeons who can maximize yield out of a low number of grafts. It appears Konior and Nadimi are masters at this, but curious if anyone else has any suggestions. I thought about Hasson, but H&W are more of a big volume clinic and not one for refinement based on my research. So, they are off my list. What do you guys think? Is it dumb to schedule another appointment so quickly? Any things I should be careful of (shock loss, donor depletion, age, finasteride/minoxidil losing effectiveness causing more hairloss, etc.)? I will be 29/30 for this second surgery as well.

One Year Update Hair is still going strong! I am excited to live life normally and have no stress Still feels weird to style my hair, but I am not complaining! In harsh light, you can see it's a tiny bit weak in the very front or on bad hair days such as today which is evident in the last picture. However, it's not a big deal and may need some refinement in a couple of years. I will stop updating this thread now that we are a year in. I am going to schedule a follow-up with SMG as well for a regular check-in

@Rynomite13How are things coming along? You are several days away from Month 7 and we would love to see where you are at! Hoping things are progressing well with the HT!

I got my graft count a couple days after I requested them. Additionally, Shapiro emailed me surgery photos and pre-op photos about 3 - 4 weeks later. My assumption is that they are getting super busy as more people are traveling now since Covid is waning. More patients and more volume for the clinic. Apparently lots of Vikings players also go to SMG since they are so close. Anyhoo, I would call the receptionist again and remind them you have been waiting for 4 months and would like the official count if possible. Odd, as the consultant was super attentive to me and coached me many hours... I just think they are getting way too busy now and have much more volume in patients at this point in time. I am glad your transplant is going well though and look forward to more updates.

Ah, interesting. When I called, I got quoted a 6 month timeline and the patient coordinator said they are usually booked for awhile. Although, I was eyeing Hasson only, so maybe that is why. Good to know for the future. Regarding Diep, yeah there are still concerns I see. Melvin had a life changing experience and so did a couple others. However, there are still too many inconsistencies regarding his surgeries that I have seen. Leaving a bloody mess on one, bad bedside manner, cornrow implantation, donor site extraction issues and etc. He does have his home runs, but I would rather go with a surgeon who is always consistent.

Isn't topical and oral minox overkill? Per my research and what surgeons have said, shouldn't you stick to one or the other? If not, how has your progress been? Any side effects? Blood work done/etc.? I ask, as I am tempted to do topical minox on my beard for growth.. lol

I would sprint to H&W if they are low wait times. Enjoy the luxury as they are typically booked 6 months to a year out. Good luck!

SMG responded to me the next day after I sent the inquiry. However, please give them a phone call as the receptionist typically answers most of the time. Regarding the appointment, I got in roughly 3 - 4 months due to someone canceling. It is very common for one or two patients a month to cancel in the industry due to financial issues, second thoughts about the surgery, or something else. Dec/Jan is very close, so I would let them know to contact you if there are any cancelations. I took the slot of another patient who lived out of country and could not even come to the US due to covid, so I got lucky. However, just stay in touch and hope for the best.

Month 11 Update (10/1/21) Hair still looking amazing! If I do not use any clay or gel, it still looks a bit unkempt with the kinks/curls. However, it is settling down and maturing quite well. This procedure was a smashing success. SMG rocks and this is a knock out for me. It made me feel better about not going to H&W as they were my first choice of surgeon, but I couldn't go due to the Canada border closure. Story time: My wife made some new friends who I have only known for a month, so they did not know about the prior situation with my baldness/lack of hair. We went out to dinner at Disneyland and they were asking how my wife and I met. We went over the story and I showed them pictures of us when I was only 19 years old. They immediately said, "whoah you looked really bald!" They immediately apologized for the quick and brash reaction. They followed up and said I looked a lot different now which was a good thing. I grinned and they grew a little suspicious based on my reaction. I fessed up and told them I had work done and they were absolutely blown away. They proceeded to say it was a great decision and that I looked way better now. They are pretty blunt folks, but they again apologized for the harsh reaction of seeing that picture. This interaction alone validated the procedure and I felt 100% accomplished with the decision. It felt great to know this changed the perception of my appearance but also instilled more confidence. I no longer have to worry about my hair and can live life. Here is that picture they saw: Here I am today: You be the judge...

Shapiro is best bang for buck when compared to the others IMO. Paid substantially less money and super pleased with my results. Chose them over H&W.

I just wanted to share my thoughts and opinions here, but Diep does get some great results. However, his front office staff is absolutely awful and unorganized. You can never get any of your questions answered, you wait weeks for any new information and it all seems like a shit show. When they tried to setup my consultation, they were late and failed to send me an email after multiple calls to them to find out what was going on. They were all very confused and I was shocked at how they can even operate as a business. When I finally met with Diep, he said the following comment to me during my consultation. "I will make you look like Elvis. Full head of hair." This is such bullshit because no surgeon can promise this result, and they must be realistic. I told this to another surgeon/office and they said that comment was super unprofessional and just plain wrong. Diep is a nice guy and loves his job. He also gets some amazing results. However, I canceled my surgery with him due to the front office staff, some horror stories on these forums regarding his donor management, and overall technique I have been seeing with some recent cases. There are a couple repair jobs that people have had after Diep as well. Again, Diep has great results, but there are too many inconsistencies for me to be 100% confident in him.

@Melvin- Moderator@aaron1234Can you comment on this? With your years of experience, I am curious if you can shed any light on the subject. The patchiness will resolve itself and I myself had patches as well. It will even out and the next haircut will help as well.

I have been on oral min for about a month and a half. I feel my facial hair is getting darker and maybe a little thicker. It's too soon to tell at this point though and I will let you know if things progress there.

Month 10 Update (8/1/21) Not much has changed since my last update, but everyone who has not seen me in a while say I look amazing My new confidence has got me back into the gym 5 times a week, so working on my body now. lol Hair is fricken amazing and I love that I can style it again. Going to Disneyland and seeing the in-ride photos makes me so happy as I have hair. Before, you could see my baldness in full glory when going on coasters. Now it's just hair that is blown back. Yay! I am now on oral Minoxidil 2.5mg daily and take finasteride 1.25mg on M/W/F/S/Su

^ I agree with Melvin for the most part. It's a huge improvement from the beginning. However, if Diep was more conservative/soft on his hairlines and stopped going so aggressive/low, the density would look much better as he would have less space to cover. I think creating more of a widow's peak and less of a straight hairline would have suited the patient better. More rounded hairline towards the corner of the head and higher up would have been suitable since the patient is 50. Especially if Diep is only utilizing 2600 grafts, he would need to use the space more wisely. If he was doing a mega session like 4 - 5k grafts, I think this would be a different story in my honest opinion. I would love to hear others opinions/thoughts on the case though.

Dude, this work is so f**** clean!!! Wow, I love it. The hairline I think is perfect. Asymmetry is the goal and they did the exact same thing with me. One side was a little lower or "off-centered" which worried me as well: I can tell you that it brings a natural element to the transplant and is not the same bogus straight hairlines you see in the wild. It is healing very well and I am excited for your next updates. For now, pretend like you never got a transplant and live a normal life as it makes time go by fast. Around Month 3 or 4 is when you start to see it sprout, so we got some time before things blossom. Congratulations and happy growing! 😎

Wow, amazing results. Really covered a lot of area and high density with the amount of grafts. Was the patient's hair thicker or thinner? I am assuming it was a little thicker based on the results. If not, all I can say is WOW. Great job.

I would contact Diep immediately. Month 9 should give you a pretty darn good idea of how the transplant is going to look. The next three months is maturation and tad bit more volume/filling in. The shape, hairline and overall look should be present at this time. I sincerely apologize for what you are going through and it may be something other than the transplant itself. But this is a big difference: