Falconary

From my personal experience. I'm a smoker, about 10-13 cigarettes a day, I quit 2 weeks before the surgery and if I remember correctly I started smoking again 2 weeks after the surgery. My hair transplant were very successful so I don't think it affected my result. However, I think it affected my overall hair loss during the years before the surgery because I started smoking about 7 years ago and my hair loss accelerated soon after I started smoking. Could be a coincidence though. I also feel that I lose less hair when I stopp smoking because I've had a few weeks/month here and there when I completely stopped and noticed less hair on the hands when showering. I also used minoxidil during a couple of months after the surgery so it may have helped against the detrimental effects of smoking during the growth progress. 

On 1/27/2023 at 4:38 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

Amazing results. Why did you quit fin and min? 

I quit fin because me and wifey wanted another baby, but the plans got just pushed month by month, she got a new job with certain demands that delayed it even more. Regarding minoxidil it became too difficult to apply it morning and night, or perhaps I became too lazy... But as long as I don't look bald I see no hurry in taking fin and min so hopefully it will hold up until a restart the treatment. 

Hello guys, 

I just had a haircut and remembered that it's already been 1 year since I had hair transplant. It's so scary how fast the time is flying by. Anyhow, the haircut is perhaps among the worst one I've had the past years, don't know if the barber were drunk or somethin because I wanted a low fade as always and he gave me a military style something, almost shaved nr 0. So, as you can see in the pictures the scarring is pretty obvious but to be honest it's much less obvious in real life. 

I'm still off finasteride and minoxidil and any other drug, and been so since during the past 8 months. I had very good result with finasteride and even though I lost ground since I stopped finasteride, my crown still looks a lot better than (pre-transplant, pre-finasteride, see 1 picture below) and the rest how it looks now, same place and light. I did shed a lot (A LOT) when I stopped fin but it stabilized and I think I retained some density compared to before. I also think the density will be amazing if/when I start fin again. Anyhow, see below pictures for the 1 year update. 

As I said before, I'm extremely happy with the result. I'm no longer an extreme diffuse thinner baldy having to trim down my hair each week, and with only 3300 grafts Dr. Pinto were able to transform me completely. 

I think it looks really great, as natural as it can get 🤩 You are also only 6 months in and should see more growth/thickness coming especially the coming 2 months. I had great thickness increase from month 6 to 8 even though I stopped minoxidil and fin at month 6. I also think the gaps is mostly something only you notice/care about, I didnt even think about before reading your text, but hey, any future "fixing" wont cost much and would be much easier to deal with. 

Hey man, how is it going?

Hello guys,

This is 9 month (+ 6 days) update. As I've told you previously I stopped finasteride and minoxidil about 5 months ago and lost lots of hair. The shedding has stabilized by now, I think, but man I shedd like CRAZY 3-4 months post quitting fin and min. It really surprised me on how much I shedd but still had the amount of hair left because I shedd perhaps thousands of hairs overall lol.

So, midscalp and crown is visible now under natural light or strong sun light, and sometimes its not visible under a bit lesser light. It doesnt affect me though as I have hair on the front, can still style my hair if I want and look much better than before as a bald. A year ago I were next to bald and now I look decent with hair but like a dude that started to get thinner hair. The temples, front and midfront are standing strong (the transplanted area).

I will most probably take finasteride again, perhaps early next year and hopefully gain back everything I lost during the 7-8 month I took finasteride because I really had tremendous results with fin, and hopefully look like a fullhead because I plan to continue using it for atleast 2 years. Anyhow, I'm all please 100% with the hair transplant and If I were to increase density, and/or do the mid/crown I would sure visit Dr. Pinto again. He gave an awesome hair and hairline with only 3300 grafts. 

I will continue to update... 

On 10/9/2022 at 6:52 PM, shadowcast said:

Obviously family comes first but it'd be such a shame to see you come all this way, only to lose it again because of stopping meds. Anyway thanks again for continuing to update, I love this thread because I also went to Pinto and our hair seems to grow on a very similar schedule. I'm almost at 5 months and my hair seems to look exactly the same as yours did in the pictures you posted (good improvement but still lots of gaps). If I match your growth at 7 months I'll be extremely happy.

Yea I know, and we have delayed the plans for a baby now lol. I hope to get back on it soon so I really hope that the lost fin progress will come back because I really had amazing results. 

3 hours ago, mister_25 said:

When did you notice the shedding beginning when quitting fin and min? Was it a month in or the second month?

 

If I remember correctly I stopped fin and minoxidil end of may. When I were on fin, I barely had even 5 hairs on my hands when showering. The shed started slowly in the end of July, I got about 15 hairs on my hand when showering, until it reached the peak in september, then I had perhaps 60 hairs on my hand when showering. So I would say that the real shedding begun about 3 months after I quit fin. Right now, I shed perhaps about 25 hairs when I shower. 

11 hours ago, asterix0 said:

@Falconary Hey man how's your hair been holding up after quitting fin and min?

Not good at all. I've been sheeding like crazy, especially for the perhaps last 2-3 months. The midscalp and crown has taken a huge hit. I wanted to update with pics 20 september but I think its better to wait until the sheeding clears up. However I think that the sheeding is at an end because I shed a lot less today and yesterday, so will probably update with pics soon. Anyhow, I'm still very happy with how I look and with my hair so all good with me, and will probably jump on fin next year and regain what I've lost (hopefully).

I think it looks really good so far, in about 1-2 month you should notice great progress. I also have one week side, my left side is a bit weaker, but I'm the only one noticing it and it basically because we are much more critical of our own progress and look through everything in great detail. But honestly my first reaction of your new pictures were "wow it looks really good and natural". Look forward to see your progress further on. 

6 hours ago, LatinBald said:

I think that he doesn't recommend topical finasteride due to its low effect. In fact in Spain lmost no doctor recommends it.
The most recommended medication and the one that is having the best effect is Oral Minoxidil.

Yes that's true. I asked him about topical fin about a year ago and he didn't recommend it and told me that the efficiency is very low compared to oral, so I jumped on oral fin. But I don't like the idea of altering the hormones in my body and even though I got great and fast results with oral fin with minimal to no side effects I still didn't like it. 

19 hours ago, Big Rome said:

any update @Falconary

I will update in 20 september. However, I have been sheeding lots of hairs since three weeks. I think it's because I stopped finasteride and minoxidil about 3-4 months ago, so it's aint getting better lol. 

1 hour ago, Woody1000 said:

Sounds awesome will look forward to your pictures mate. just to ask on your recipient area, do you still have any numbness within the area or are you back at pre op level? (Any numbness at the stage you are at now)

I had numbness during the first month and it started to fade away until it were all gone in month 2. So everything felt normal by month 2.

7 minutes ago, Alex94gasp said:

Thank you for the answer. I already booked with him. But still waiting for the first consultation...

I started finasteride 1 mg per day, 10 days ago, and I had some side effects.

That's why I asked if they give you any advice

The side effects do sometimes go away after a while like a month. I had side effects during the first month, mostly libido, but It got normal again after 4-6 weeks. But It's best to ask for Dr. Pinto

Those baby hairs will most probably thicken up a lot in the coming weeks and you should also start seeing new hairs sprouting the coming weeks. It's hard to see the fibrosis, visually It seems that you are on track. Have you tried massaging the fibrotic tissue to break it up? 

8 hours ago, Alex94gasp said:

What medicine the doctor advised to maintain the hair ?

Only finasteride? And how frequent and the dose?

Amazing work by the doctor!

He highly advised me to start taking finasteride so I started taking it (1 mg/day) on October 2021. I stopped in the end of May 2022 because me and wifey want to have a kid and I don't want to risk anything (even though there are no evidence that finasteride would be a risk at all). I have to say that finasteride helped my crown and a part of midscalp a lot. I am planning on starting with topical finasteride because I'm noticing more shedding now. 

15 hours ago, Woody1000 said:

These results look amazing!

would it be rude to ask to see the placement and density of the grafts within the front of the hairline?

such as holding it back with a brush within the hairline and temporal points?

congrats on the results looks brilliant!

Thanks! I will have a haircut in the coming days, mostly to see how it looks with shorter hair now, and how the donor looks with a low fade. I can take a few pictures on the hairline and also upload them here 👍

Hello guys, 
Its been exactly 7 months (+ 1 day) now, pictures below are taken yesterday. 

As you probably see, it will probably not get so much better than this right now. I know that minimum is 12 months for evaluation but I think that the transplanted hairs has all grown and are as thick as they can be. The (individual) hairs feel great, as strong and thick as my hair on donor area, the angles are just perfect. The visual density om recipient area is excellent, even under strong light. Keep in mind, its all visual and dont expect the hair to feel like it did when you were 20. My left temple is a little bit thinner than the rest, but no one has noticed it. Dr. Pinto told me that my skin were extremely hard on the left temple and he had a hard time placing grafts there. It probably is because I've hit my head there against a chandelier at home 100s of times. 

Anyhow, I'm 100% satisfied, I already were 100% satisfied at month 5 but now at month 7 Its even thicker. Btw, I stopped finasteride about 2-3 months ago because me and wifey want a baby and dont want to take any risks. It seems that fin helped me gain lots of thickness on the crown. 

For direct compairson, the first pictures is about a year ago. 

Below pictures are from yesterday:

21 hours ago, shadowcast said:

@Falconary How's it going?

I've noticed some progress since month 5, but everyone else seems to see much more than I can see and/or reallze. Perhaps Its because I stopped taking pictures and tracking the progress since month 5 as I were 100% satisfied and just moved on lol. I missed to upload on month 6 due to off grid vacation. I will however upload pictures at 7 month ~ 20th august. 

Look into Dr Bruno Pinto, I think that he makes amazing natural hairlines and temporal peaks reconstruction. 

I also got that mail about a year ago but contacted his customer coordinator Emilio through WhatsApp and he helped me through. You won't be disappointed if you choose Dr. Pinto and wait, he is really among the very best. 

Hello guys, I have been extremely busy with work so totally forgot to update, below pictures are from 24 of June, so 5 months progress + (~ 4 days). Taken outside under strong sun light. It basically feels like I'm reaching into the end of my progress because I cannot see how much better it really can be except for perhaps little more progress in the temples. However, I feel like the result is already a 9.5 out 10, hairline is as natural as it can be, density is great and I'm extremely satisfied. The donor area looks great, only when shaved down to skin fade to number 1-2 one could notice the scars if observed closely. Keep in mind that the picture is taken in very strong sun light and in real life Its not that noticeable. 

If nothing gets in the way I will update with better pictures at 6 month mark, perhaps close ups at hair line etc.

Looking great man, I'm sure you Will have a great result

2 hours ago, Harry Bosch said:

 

@Falconary

@JDEE0

 

Did your recipient grafts live in a smooth tiny little hill early on while the scalp was still recovering from the surgical trauma ?

It looks exceptional! About your question, I didn't notice that visually but I could feel it early on and It went away after a few weeks. 

On 5/25/2022 at 8:11 PM, JPCF said:

So, how did you get in contact with the clinic, and what is the normal time? Because I cannot get a hold of them, only two emails, and no response on the whatsapp...

P.S: I think you are one of the best results

Thanks mate!

I sent them an email but they replied that it would take time for them to get back to me, so I found out the number to the customer coordinator Emilio that I've read about in spanish forums, and he replied the same day and we took it from there. He always answered every question the same day, maximum few hours, sometimes even at Midnight lol. Best of luck!