JeffHanrick

Better view of the pitting.  I will definitely be naming my surgeon so everyone can avoid him in the future.  He seemed very ethical to me and had excellent reviews/was expensive.  We even explicitly talked about how to avoid pitting in the initial consultation.

I'm just disappointed at this point.

11 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

@JeffHanrick

I disagree completely with @RandoBrando517 I think the hairline looks natural and the design is good. I do see the area of concern. But my guess is it will be less and less noticeable as the hair grows more. Refinement does occur past 8 months. 

Lastly, if you’re unhappy always bring it up to the surgeons attention. Voice your dissatisfaction at this point. After all, they should be standing by their work. Glad you found our forum. I will say we are our own worst critics, and while it sucks your expectations haven’t been met. The improvement is pretty drastic in my opinion. Pulling for you 🙏🏼

Yea, I'm happy w the hairline placement.  It looks natural and age appropriate, which is exactly what I wanted.  Its a big improvement from where I started (I guess I didn't post any pre surgery pics so I'll add one).

I won't be returning to this surgeon regardless, so I don't see the benefit in discussing the areas of concern w him.  My plan for now is to let it grow to 12 months and then discuss repair/density increase w Konior or another top surgeon.

I do think density will increase on the left side, but the cornrows and pitted grafts are going to remain.  My concern is when I want to wear my hair short in the future or when the implanted hairs fall out, these grafts/rows are going to be very noticeable.  

1 minute ago, RandoBrando517 said:

Sorry not trying to be a jerk, looks like the same hairline with a little more hair the appearance is fine but the placement sucks

Thank you for your opinion.

1 minute ago, RandoBrando517 said:

I don’t see anything wrong with your hair now other than it’s placed way far back 

If you’re happy with that hairline, to each his own. I’d be complaining that it looks way too receded might as well not do anything. Was this agreed on before surgery?

lol.  Look at the before and afters.

On 3/29/2021 at 6:58 PM, giegnosiganoe said:

Yeah I still stand by my previous comment. Still difficult to see the other side. If you have any immediate post-op pics then it would be easy to tell if it was implanted in a "cornrow" fashion, but I don't notice it from these pics.

Like I said, it's difficult to see with the pics but up close under lighting the cornrows are very clear.  I highlighted where they are most visible. The graft placement on my right and left side are drasticly different.

On 3/29/2021 at 6:32 PM, RandoBrando517 said:

I’m no expert but I don’t see anything wrong with your hair. My only complaint would be that it looks too receded. But other than that it looks normal. If you go get another HT you should probably lower it. 

I'm actually relatively happy with the placement of the hairline in general.  I wanted something age appropriate.  I might lower the hairline a touch but likely will just try and camouflage the cornrows and add some density to both sides.

13 hours ago, giegnosiganoe said:

I don't see any cornrows or pitting. To me it looks like potentially badly angled grafts, but I don't know that's just how you've styled the hair. The density seems like it could be better, but it's not bad. You've covered the hairline on the other side so it's impossible to compare.

Hairline on right side and front view to compare.

On 3/25/2021 at 9:56 PM, BeHappy said:

I don't know where you had it done. Did the tech makes the incisions or was it the Dr who made the incisions? If the Dr made the incision holes then the tech can only place grafts into the holes the Dr made, so you can't blame the tech for what may be poor graft layout if the tech didn't do that part. It also may look fine in a few more months once it matures. You just have to wait and see. It doesn't look bad in the pictures, but I know that doesn't always show everything.

 

Dr made the incisions so yes you are correct that he is to blame for the graft cornrows placement.  I will be naming him after 12 months so everyone can see the work for themselves and make their own personal judgment. 

I will be using an elite surgeon like Konior to try and repair this work.

Here are a few more pics that really show the dramatic difference in sides.  Does this appear to be something that can be easily repaired?  The left side looks very bad at the moment and I am deeply regretting not finding this forum before the transplant.  I was willing to pay for the highest quality work and thought I found a skilled and ethical surgeon.  I'm very disappointed.

33 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

It’s a big improvement from the last update. At 7 months there’s still a chance it could grow and turn out just as good as the other side. Don’t lose hope. Slow and steady wins the race.

It could grow, but the corn row formation and deep obvious pitted grafts will remain.  As I mentioned, Im not as concerned with the growth...its the cornrows and deep grafts that are the problem.  Regardless of the amount of camouflage, those problems will remain.

Update at 7 months and 1 week.  

It seems to be a tale of two techs.  Im extremely happy with the right side, the grafts look to be placed very well.  They are not noticeable at all and were not placed in rows.  The growth is coming along very well and I would be ecstatic if both sides of the transplant looked like this.  However....

The left side is a different story.  It is not growing in at the same rate as the right, which is understandable and not a concern to me at all.  The concern is that the grafts are so obviously placed in a cornrow formation that it is extremely evident when looking up close. It is very unnatural looking.  They were also placed too deep and they are very noticeable, even as more hair grows in.  The tech that did the left side did an extremely poor job and Im very disappointed with the result on that side thus far.

The pictures were taken with my phone camera, so the resolution isnt great.  They don't clearly show the obvious grafts and the visible cornrow formation.  I tried my best to get some decent shots but they arent representative of how obvious the grafts look under light.  I know people will advise to wait and that there will be more growth to camouflage the cornrows and the deep graft placement.  Regardless of how much hair grows in to camouflage, the cornrow formation will remain and the grafts will remain placed too deep.  This will prevent me from ever wearing my hair short in the future and will be a serious issue once I start losing the transplanted hair. 

I will wait the full 12 months to see how it looks but regardless I will need some repair work done for the cornrows/deep grafts all throughout the left side.

I will update in the next month or two again.

3 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

You look right on track, again it takes 12 months. It’s massively improved from the last set of photos.

Yes I'm most concerned with the noticeable cornrows.  My only realistic option is to hope the growth camouflages them, correct?

I thought I would use this thread to post updates of my progress.  It has now been 5 months and two days since my procedure.  The right side growth looks good for this stage and there is no scarring on the recipient area and no noticeable grafts when looking up close.  Im happy with this side.  There were two techs that did the implanting and this tech was obviously far more skilled than the one that did the left side.

The left side is a different story.  There is poor growth so far, but I know I'm only 5 months in so I will be patient with that aspect.  The biggest concern for me is the grafts that were placed in cornrow formation.   Close to the hairline there is a very clear row of four cornrows.  I don't know if there is pitting as well, but the rows are very noticeable in person.  They aren't as easy to define with my phone camera but can still see them.

There is also still pinkness and potential scarring on the left side in the same area as the cornrow formations (again not super clear in the photos but very noticeable in person).  I guess my only option is to wait for the growth to finish and then get a new procedure to increase density to try and camouflage the cornrows/scarring?  Its very frustrating that one side looks fine and the other is so poorly done. 

Again, I will wait for the full growth before I say who the surgeon was.  I did not know of this site before my procedure, but he was well reviewed and his pictures looked like high quality.  He was expensive and seemed to be very ethical based on my discussions w him.  Suffice to say I am not happy with the result as of this point and I would not use him in the future, regardless of how this turns out.

Thanks for the quick response @DrTBarghouthi. I have been using aloe vera religiously.  The rough skin/bumps are something that could potentially heal on their own or they will likely look like this indefinitely?  

14 minutes ago, Krech84 said:

Who was your surgeon? Are you on any medications? 
I’m about to embark on my first transplant. I have a similar looking hairline to yours. From everything I read here, months 8-9 seem to be a good place to have your successful/unsuccessful baseline. Cheers! 

Im on fin.  I would rather not say my surgeons name until after 9-10 months.  He was well reviewed and came recommended and was expensive.  I searched his name on here yesterday and his name came up positively a few times but he is not one that is recommended by the forum.  Unfortunately I did not know of this forum when I had my HT.

Im confident the discoloration will likely fade with time but the cobblestoning seems very bad to me and Im not quite sure how that is going to be resolved on its own?  I guess my best option would be to have another fue to cover it up and thicken the area that I just had transplanted? 

Here are some pics that were taken today.  To me the scarring/discoloration/rough skin/cobblestoning looks unlike most of the other photos Ive seen from this stage.  I know its possible that I am a slow healer but wouldn't the cobblestoning be due to surgeon error and therefore not something that is going to heal over time?

I appreciate that, and it alleviates some of my concerns.  Im not worried about the growth atm, moreso the scarring, cobblestoning and rough skin.  There is a chance that my scalp heals over time and these problems are resolved on their own?

Edit: I will post pics when I get to my PC at home.

Approximately 15 weeks ago I had 2000 grafts implanted via FUE.  The surgeon was well reviewed and expensive ($8/graft) but unfortunately the result at this stage has been extremely disappointing.  There is scarring on the recipient area (around the entire new hairline)/ noticeable cobblestoning/still pinkness all over the receipient area.  Growth seems ok for this stage.  I know its still early but this is not a good sign and I am almost certain I will need another procedure to repair and try to mask the damage.

My question is, how long should I wait until I start consulting a new Doctor about repairing this mess?  My guess is 12-16 months but I don't know if that is correct.  For my next procedure I will definitely be going to one of the surgeons recommended on this site such as Konior or someone similar.  Unfortinately I did not know this website existed until recently...it could have saved me from this first procedure.

I will post pictures in the next post.