hybonix

Love the troll! But just to entertain the question, go to Konior as he is the best. If you can't afford him, then that's on you. He is the best of the best though. Good luck and have fun.

Thank you! Shapiro and Dr. Joe are world class and make you feel right at home. I was honestly a tiny bit skeptical with the soft/less aggressive hairline, but honestly, it’s better because they can pack more grafts in a smaller area. This leads to higher density and is more natural looking. I am over the moon as I have not been able to style my hair since I was 18 years old… So its been a full decade… Anyhoo, please post your results as I look forward to seeing the impeccable work. Good luck!!! Oh, and make sure you take the pills they give you before surgery. Somehow it slipped and I went in the surgery without any meds. I was totally fine and didn’t feel pain, but it gave the techs quite a scare when I told them. Haha.

Great video and insight! Cannot wait to see the final results. Does Joe Buck take any medication like Finasteride or Minoxidil? 9 transplants is a lot and I am wondering if he is on any meds to reduce the hair loss. I know meds can only do so much, but I feel like it should have helped in some capacity if he was on them.

It's more than likely fine as your grafts are pretty secure after 7 - 10 days. If you are really concerned, please contact your surgeon as they are the expert.

Really clean work and great coverage. Look forward to seeing future updates.

THE REVEAL SURGERY PHOTOS I could not help but post before and after photos at this point. I know I have 3 more months until the final results are in, but I feel like this is a great comparison. I have come a long way and absolutely thrilled with the results. I would say this is a home run or at least close to one. Sorry if this is picture overload, but I wanted to document the whole story! Please let me know what you think!

Month 9 Update (7/29/21) I am absolutely loving my new hair style and feel more confident by the day I am at family camp and some people I haven’t seen in over a year looked at me and were asking what I changed about my look. They couldn’t quite pinpoint it but said I was looking great. The clay gel helps volumize and give my hair a fuller appearance which is fantastic. I’m thrilled with the difference and cannot wait to see my one year mark. Only three months away!

I just started oral minox (1.25mg for 30 - 90 days and will increase to 2.5mg) yesterday night. I am experiencing a tight chest already as I tend to be very sensitive with any medication. However, this also happened when I started topical and the sides went away after a week. SMG did not order any blood tests to see where I am at and I am curious if that is something I should do or not.

Thanks for the feedback everyone. Yeah, the barber didn't want to line it up so high, but apparently I have a small patch of thin hair on both sides of my head right next to my ears. He was cutting it and noticed the spots and said we had to do a higher skin fade to blend it in. Otherwise, those spots would have been noticeable. It's very strange I have these patches and you can see the little bald/thin spot in the side-shot picture I posted. However, next time he said we can do a longer fade or taper at a 4 Mini Update: I switched over to oral minoxidil last night (1.25mg for 30 - 90 days and will increase to 2.5mg). I am ditching the topical Rogaine. I didn't switch due to not being compliant, but I did it because Rogaine messes with my hair when attempting to style it. However, taking the pill is a nice benefit and makes things super easy. I am having a tight chest today but I am sensitive to new meds. Same thing happened with Topical. If it does not get better in a week or two, I will discontinue using it.

Thank you! The front will fill out more in a week as well, so excited to see how it progresses. Definitely amazing to have the ability to style your hair. Before, I couldn't even do that at all.

Month 8.75 - New Haircut I decided to try something daring and get a fade on the sides or a gentleman's cut. The barber cut some of my hairs from the hairline which I think was a mistake. Not sure how I feel, but I do not think the transplant can pull that look off. Hairline is too weak imo. lol The donor area looks good but you can see the dots from the HT. It's always worth experimenting, but yeah not sure about this one. I like it but HT looks weaker I think.

Looking great so far! Really nice update and starting to see density in the front. Do you have any before pictures prior to the hair transplant?

Month 8.5 Minor update, I picked up some Aveda clay which volumizes the hair and lets me style it to make it look more dense. It's a natural look (no shine) and really helps the transplanted look. It has made the transplanted hair much more clean and uniform. Seriously transformed my look. It's pricey but worth it: https://www.aveda.com/product/17776/16733/styling/mens-styling/aveda-men-pure-formance-grooming-clay#/shade/2.5_fl_oz%2F75_ml

It's harder to notice more density and volume when you analyze it closely every day. However, your hair will continue to grow into the 12 month mark and fill in. I thought I was not getting any progress from Month 7 to 8, but when I looked at photos from each month, there is a marked difference. I would only start to analyze your hair transplant results at 12 months and reach out to Dr. Diep if there is anything you do not like. However, this is quite the transformation and it's looking great imo. Lastly, I got a haircut which made my transplant hair look weaker when compared to prior months and made me freak out. It looked like I thinned out and I got super concerned. My recommendation is to let the front grow out and use a clay or styling gel to provide a uniform look. I picked up some Aveda clay which volumizes the hair and lets me style it to make it look more dense. It's a natural look (no shine) and really helps the transplanted look. It's pricey but worth it: https://www.aveda.com/product/17776/16733/styling/mens-styling/aveda-men-pure-formance-grooming-clay#/shade/2.5_fl_oz%2F75_ml Also, you may want to up your frequency of Fin as twice a week will have little effect. I recommend Mon, Wed, Fri and then increase it to M/W/F/Su once you are comfortable with it three times a week.

@Melvin- ModeratorDo you have any updates? I am about to run out of topical minox and going to get a prescription in the next week or two for oral if you have had good success with your journey.

Very clean work and good hairline design. SMG is a little more conservative, but they can pack more grafts with less surface area. Look forward to seeing more updates from other SMG patients! It's about time we get more results on the forums.

I’d like to shed some light on this from my perspective as well. My hair tends to curl as well when it gets too long. Specifically the hairs on the lower back of my neck. Same thing happens with my sideburns. So I think it’s a combo of shock, my hair style and overall maturity of the hair.

Melvin, you beat me to the punch on the before and after photos! It's night and day compared to what I was... I was bald up top and now I have hair. Thank you for the reassurance. I guess I got lost in wanting more and more hair after the procedure. However, I do hope the wiry hair calms down as this makes it harder to style. Do you have any styling gels that do not make my hair look shiny, hard or moist? I like the natural kind that keeps your hair looking "dry." @aaron1234told me that styling gel and a good hair stylist really helps achieve the best look for an HT. The left one grew in, but the right is a bit lacking to be honest. I think it's due to the fact that my hair is so light that it does not provide much density. Here is a close up of the right side versus the left:

Month 8 Update (6/30/21) My hair seems to have peaked, however, I have gotten the HT blues... 😞 I tried to grow my hair out, but it didn't look good as my hair is still wiry and it looked "weak" to me. Like I was trying to do a comb over to cover my baldness which I hated... Felt like Trump for a bit... I stopped minoxidil recently, so I think I am shedding some of my natural hair which may be contributing to the problem, but it's hard to tell at this point. I am going to go back on minoxidil and switch to oral once I run out of the topical in one month I got a haircut and that made a huge improvement. I feel like the hair transplant looks best when my hair is short versus growing it out which makes it look unkempt. The longer it is, the crazier/wiry it is which throws off the look. I hope things get better as I do miss growing it out. I am still very happy with the procedure and I have been transformed. However, I think I want another procedure after 12 months to fill in my corners and add density to the front What do you guys think? Any improvements, stalling or loss of hair from me stopping minoxidil? Before Haircut: After Haircut

Excellent and clean work. Donor management is great and the recipient site looks like it is healing nicely. You should start to see some type of results at Month 3 and it will just go from there. My recipient hair is pretty thick and it's still growing and I am on Month 8. I like your hairline as well. It's age appropriate and will look very natural when it grows out. I look forward to seeing more posts in the future and happy growing!

You are very welcome! There are no recent SMG threads, so it's great that we can both document the process. SMG did a fantastic job with me and I am truly grateful for their work. They are a tad bit more reserved on the hairline when compared to other clinics, but I like that approach as they can pack more grafts in the area and it's super natural. Some friends of mine commented at how natural it looked, and they would have no idea I got any work done if I had not said anything. Your work looks amazing and you will start to see the grafts growing around month 3. The minox should speed it up a little bit. I believe SMG recommends waiting two weeks or a month before applying it again. Also, I would recommend doing Nizoral or HRL Shampoo so you can be on the "Big 3" regime for regrowth. You are in much better shape than I was. You could see a ton of my scalp and I literally had two or three hairs in my hairline... Pretty bad, so you are on the right path. Your temples look great, I had no temples before I got my HT.

Thank you for the amazing feedback! And to be honest, I have no idea if the meds (fin + min) are working or not... I feel like my hair is much thicker though. My crown was also starting to see some thinning, but it's starting to fill in again. The HRL Shampoo rocks as it makes my hair look much thicker. Even if it's not true DHT blocking, it's a good volumizer. I am super thrilled to post my before and after photos at Month 9/10. It's pretty shocking to see the transformation of my appearance with the HT. Aaron says it's night and day...

Month 7 Update (6/1/21) I feel like I am maxing out in terms of density, but we will see over the next several months. I am not sure if I should continue a monthly cadence/update on these forums or wait until the 10 - 12 month mark for my next update My hairline filled in, but my light colored hair makes it look thinner/softer. Not a big deal at all and it's nice to have full coverage My pictures on roller coasters are very satisfying as I do not look like a complete baldy anymore... Went to Disneyland and was so relieved to look normal on these photos with my hair completely up. I am curious what you guys think of my progress thus far now that it's past the half year mark. I think it came out great, but please be honest with me!

Looks like a slam dunk to me! Great result! Congratulations on the new look.

I 100% agree that normal people will not look closely. I just think Diep could be an even better surgeon if he follows the natural disorder of graft placements so if there are "thinner" areas, then it won't be as noticeable. This is still a really good result and Diep is able to get great density. However, top surgeons should perfect both graft placement in the scalp and hairline, especially with the price Diep charges.