SLA

Fantastic @ziker. Thanks for the robust answer and keep us posted!

Hi @AndreaYou are probably now close to 1 year post hair transplant at Eugenix.

How is everything going?

Here are a few additional questions if you don't mind answering, @ziker

How many grafts have been transplanted in your 1st three transplants? All via FUT or FUE as well? How many beard grafts have you used so far?

Thank you!

1 minute ago, SLA said:

Wow @ziker...quite the transformation! Also curious to know the game plan! Will you add density to the top or go for the crown? 

Sorry, just noticed you plan to add grafts to the crown. All the best and keep us in the loop!

Wow @ziker...quite the transformation! Also curious to know the game plan! Will you add density to the top or go for the crown? 

Very good results here! 1st of all, he started as a NW 7 with pretty much no hair. 2nd, he is planning to do another surgery of 1,500 grafts which will fill out the top and crown. 3nd, he has not even tapped into FUE or beard hairs.

All of these combined would likely give this person a full head of hair.

Finally, fibers seem to be working already to create a full look!

2 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

I agree ☝️ he now has a base from which he can further “enhance” it 👏

If he had the 'resources', could he get more density without risking permanent shock loss?

Finally, if he threw a few fibers in there or got some SMP, it would look golden!

IMHO, I think in a lot of ways, a lower density top and crown is better than a high density top with a lower density crown. In a situation like this, the lower contrast between the top and crown brings less attention to the baldness.

Wow...outstanding! His density, while not perfect suits him well as it is age appropriate and provides him with full coverage.

@Abhinay SinghAny idea of exactly how many beard grafts were used?

2 minutes ago, kramer79 said:

Really? Who are the surgeons and what reasons do they cite that disagrees with the notion that FUT/FUE combo doesn't maximize lifetime graft availability?

Dr. Bansal (Eugenix), Dr. John P. Cole- See article I posted in the FUE forum titled "The Case for FUE".

To me, if true,  3,000 grafts to me would be worth it. Other surgeons do not agree with the FUT/FUE combo yielding more grafts and they cite a ton of reasons (which may or may not be plausible)....but I divert. Would love to see a critical debate around Shapiro's lifetime graft availability study.

I think it is good to think long term as we have limited donor resources and hair loss is progressive. Even at 47 with a virgin scalp, I could take the attitude that I am pushing 50 so an extra few grafts down the road will not matter much to me, however, I don't know how I will feel at age 70. Will I be satisfied with the results I got and not care so much about my hair or will I wish I had a few more grafts left in my donor to do another transplant? I am not sure of the answer, but it would be nice to know there are options due to decisions made now.

On 2/14/2021 at 2:40 AM, forest said:

So if in the future you reach nw 7 or 8 you would also need to cover the crown and back of the head too. Then you can't use beard hair there. You would have to use scalp hair but you already used up some precious scalp hair already. Is this something you discussed with the doc?
I did not discuss this with the doctor explicitly. I also did not find any precedence for what you are suggesting.
Perhaps other folks can help here @JohnAC71  @SLA

As for beard hair in the crown, I think you can use, but not in the whorl of the crown. Watch from minute 4:10-4:40 in which Dr. Bansal talks specifically about where you can place beard hair on scalp.

Hope this helps!

On 2/13/2021 at 4:06 PM, RandoBrando517 said:

From what I understood in the interview combining both gets you 3,000 grafts more on average. Am I missing something? Seems like you guys are talking strictly one or the other.

I did hear that in the Shapiro interview that they said that you might be able to get 3,000 more grafts by combining. Sounds like a lot more in their opinion!

Thanks @Melvin-Moderator.

I would also love to see both sides swing it out on # of lifetime grafts available and have the pro-FUE surgeons critically evaluate the Shapiro study. This debate would be a dream come true :)!

Fantastic- Looks to me like fluffhead.

@Abhinay Singhthanks for posting a Caucasian hair results. Would love to see more as they come up!

I would love to see a debate between a couple of die hard FUT and die hard FUE HT surgeons!

Fantastic @forest.

Thank you for the write up and please continue to update so we can witness your results!

Happy growing!

11 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I would probably do it in sections. Like the saying goes, a little of everything turns out to be nothing. Better to do the front and midscalp, then address the crown later with FUE and BHT.

What Eugenix does so well is incorporating BHT from the get go in the midscalp which allows for more scalp hair to be used in the crown. My concern is that someone will get a couple of strips using scalp hair to cover the front and midscalp and only be left with a little scalp donor, so mostly BHT will be needed for the crown. 

Might this look visibly awkward with predominantly BHT in the crown rather than better distributed throughout the midscalp and parts of crown?

Thanks for the update- At 40 days, I think it is par for the course. If you have any doubts, I am sure you can check with Dr. Arika.

1 minute ago, ADil said:

Thank you so much for the positivity @SLA

Really going into this with a positive attitude..

 

You bet!!!

You are in good hands @ADil!

Good HT doctors under promise by keeping expectations reasonable and over deliver which I am sure is the case with Dr. Priyadarshini.

I am so looking forward to seeing your journey and am confident you will have amazing results!

Thanks for posting @asterix0! I and many other wonder the same question, so you are definitely not alone.

I have done some digging to try to answer this question. There definitely seems to be a mix in opinion even amongst reputable HT doctors and some like Cole and Bhatti even abandoned successful FUT practices to go the FUE route and claim that FUE yields more hair (even while staying in the safe zone) than FUT. I posted an article in the FUE forum written by John Cole titled "The Case For FUE". You can check it out to get his take on this topic.

In a consultation with Arika Bansal from Eugenix, she said she feels that both methods yield the same number of grafts in a lifetime citing, needing more hair to hide a strip scar, being harder to extract below a strip scar in that their could be donor thinning; she even sent me a couple of photos to show donor thinning below a successful FUT scar.

There are other points FUE doctors make to counter the FUT greater graft availability argument including follicles transecting in vivo which can be used again, telogen hairs not being thrown away with FUE, stretching of skin with FUT which can create more baldness around the crown,  change in hair direction with FUT making it difficult to extract using FUE post FUT. Some also claim the perpetuation this FUT myth of more lifetime grafts by surgeons in that FUT is much easier and less time consuming for the surgeon to perform.

I reached out to Dr. Vories, a coalition doctor on this forum who feels that both methods yield the same and I had an email dialogue with Dr. Cole who said that he feels someone with advanced hair loss should not get FUT making the argument that FUT technicians artificially create more grafts with FUT which inflate the total number of grafts

How much of this is truth and how much is marketing/pseudoscience, I do not know.

I write this not to argue one position over another, but just to offer what I have learned. Truth or not I do not know :).

At some point, I am others with this question will have to take a leap of faith in one direction of another.

Hope this helps!

I  compared your photos from last month and I think I see some ever so slight improvements. It is very early at only 4.5 months, so I am confident that you will see more growth in the months to come!

Dream results!