ScottishGuy

I think you may have gotten some misleading advice at some point. You should take 1mg per day whether you buy the 1mg or the 5mg tablets. If you buy the 5mg tablets, you can cut them into 4 and take 1/4 per day (this works out at 5mg per 4 days). If you are worried about an extra 0.25mg per day, then skip 1 day in 5. The advantage of buying the 5mg tabs is purely financial since 10 tablets will last 40 days. I also buy 5mg tablets although I use proscar (it's more expensive than generics like fincar but much cheaper than 1mg propecia). This is probably where the 200 pounds per year came from that was mentioned earlier in the thread (30 proscar tabs are about 70 dollars).

It depends on the size of the procedure and your healing characteristics as well. I went to a doc who shaves the recipient area and it took about 3.5 months before I felt comfortable to always be without a hat.

760 grafts is a lot more than the 100 or so that was originally mentioned. Is that because the doctor thought the density was a bit low throughout? I suppose if you are going through all the trouble of another procedure it makes sense to tackle as much as possible. In any case I'm sure this will look great, and I'm really keen to see how quickly you recover so please keep us updated. Someday I'd like to get a touch up but I can't really take any downtime at the moment so it will need to wait (and my hair looks generally fine when it's not too short). Good luck with your recovery!

It's looking good and probably close to the final result. Were your pics taken with flash? If so, I'd recommend taking them outside in natural daylight instead. Flash tends to make the hairline look stronger.

I've not regretted having the procedure so far. I'm certain that if I had not gone through with it, I'd be wishing I had. However, I can't really do anything with my hair apart from combing forward. If I comb it back it is too see through for my liking. The coarseness of my hair tends to catch my attention too. I want to try and grow my hair, but it tends to look silly when it gets longer (the hair around my ears is thin and sticks out at all sorts of angles). This is nothing to do with the HT of course, but the difference between areas of thick and thin hair looks more obvious when the hair is long. It's strange to see the range of opinions on this post regarding my result. I wish my result was slightly better, but I don't think it is bad and certainly seems to compare well with other HTs. Very few HT patients post pics with extra short hair (although I wish they would). The reason for that is no doubt because most HTs are not dense enough to look good with short hair.

Just realised that I am now 12 months post op so I thought I'd write a little about the ups and downs since last year. I started researching HTs around 6 months pre-op. Before that I didn't really know what options were available, and just decided to accept my hair loss. However, I was becoming more unhappy with my appearance as my hair loss progressed so I decided to investigate HTs and I found this board. Pretty quickly I was impressed by Dr Rahal's work, so I booked a surgery for 4 months later. As I've posted on other threads, I did consider backing out of the surgery, but so far I'm glad I went ahead with it. Here's my summary of the 12 months since surgery: Month 1): A lot of change in this month. One minute you're bald, then you have hair, then you're bald again and look worse than ever. I was mentally prepared for this but it still sucks. I stayed in Canada for the entire month so I felt somewhat relaxed because I didn't have to meet anyone I knew. There is absolutely no way I could go out without a hat during this period. Month 2): Nothing at all happens during this month. It's pretty tough. I looked like a freak, and no hair was growing yet. I was just hoping to get back to a pre-op look, but it wasn't happening. I think this is the toughest month. Still stuck under a hat and avoiding people. Month 3): Things start to turn around during month 3. The first half was very difficult - I was starting to look slightly more normal but my head was still pink and I had a bit of acne. Plus I was applying rogaine onto bare skin so that looked bad too. During the second half of the month hair starts to sprout and I had a lot of doubts about whether enough hair would grow. Month 4): Things are really starting to look better now. Around half way through this month I finally got rid of my hat, and started to get back to normal life. Actually, I kind of forgot about the HT. Month 5): Lots of growth. I started to become aware that some areas were growing better than others but accepted that this is common and I shouldn't worry. I started a new job so I didn't spend much time thinking about my hair. Month 6): I don't notice so much change from previous months and wondered: is this it? I felt my hair looked pretty good at this stage (on par with other Rahal patients), but I wanted more density. Month 7->11): Maybe a small improvement in density, but honestly not a lot of change. I don't think I was a fast grower exactly, just a 'normal' grower. Maybe my hair grew in at full thickness from the start because I really didn't see the big improvement that others see in the latter months of the HT maturation. Month 12): I'm happy that I don't have to try and conceal my hair loss with a horrid combover anymore. Pre-op I only had a small amount of hair left in the center-front area so I don't think I was fooling anyone by trying to spread it out over my temples. I also don't need to worry about wind blowing my two strands of hair in the wrong direction or whatever, which is great. On the -ve side I still have quite limited styling options. My hair is coarse and doesn't seem to sit well in any style apart from combing forward. Maybe this will improve over time. As is often the case with HT, my hairline is a bit see through when combed back and could do with a slight touch-up in some areas. One other thing I've noticed anecdotally is that I do have more success in 'bar and club' situations (if you get my meaning). I am still very shy, but people will approach me more often than before, which is quite nice Thanks again for the support and feedback of everyone on this board. SG

Sorry for the slow response. Surfarosa> I managed to change jobs and relocate to a different country after my HT, so I haven't spent much time with people who knew me pre-op. Having said that, I do meet a few people that I've known for a while, and no one has said anything. Day-to-day I've not noticed anyone looking at my hair, and even when I cut my hair very short, I didn't get any comments. I work in an office full of guys who mostly have no issues with hairloss so maybe they just don't think about it. I'm happy with the appearance of the scar at a 4 clip. It's 95% hidden, with just one patch of thinness (in an area that was already a bit thin pre-op). The main thing is that there isn't an obvious 'smiley face' so no one would ever suspect. I'm kind of attracted to the idea of getting some nape hair FUE'd into the hair line to soften it. I have very coarse hair, so perhaps this would be a good way to improve density and naturalness. Despite the great improvement that the HT has brought about, I still feel that my styling options are limited.

You're lucky in that you have a lot of hair to cover the areas where you'll get surgery. However, you'd better pray you don't have shock loss. In most cases 1 week is no where near enough time but it depends on the individual, and no doubt also on the post op routine suggested by your doctor. For me it took 3.5 months to look normal! A week did nothing much for me - I still had bad swelling until day 8. I did have a much larger procedure though.

Looks like a big improvement since pre-op! I guess you've already started to forget how it used to look before. Do you have fine hair? I ask because I thought it would be a little denser, but its still very good and looks natural. It would be great if you could do one final buzz cut near the 12 month mark so you can do an apples-to-apples comparison with earlier pics.

Thanks for all the comments! Reading my first post again it does sound a bit negative but I am mostly happy with the result. I think everyone (no matter how good their result is) always wants just a bit more... Hopefully more of the experienced forum members can comment too.

Have a look at my 11 month post op pics. I have my hair around 1cm in length. I think this is a little too short for my HT, but it looks fine when the hair is slightly longer.

Hey everyone, After a long absence, I've uploaded my 11 month results to my blog. Please check them out and let me know what you think. This is the shortest I've had my hair for a long time, and I must admit that I did feel slightly disappointed when I saw that the transplanted hair wasn't as dense as I would like, especially on the right side. I did also wonder if the hair line was natural enough to be non-detectable as an HT. It's been so long since I had a hairline that I can't tell what is normal . I realise that not many HTs would look good with such a short cut, so I may have expected a little too much here so I welcome your feedback. I'm likely to be busy for the next week so I may not be able to respond straight away but I'll read all of your comments with interest Let me say that I'm much happier with my hair now than I was pre-op and I thank Dr Rahal for that (just look at the difference vs my 5 month pre-op pics). When I let my hair grow a little longer it looks fine without concealer and a combed forward look (as you can see from my previous blog entries). ScottishGuy

So you're 22 years old and had 2800 FUE? Did you discuss strip at all with your doctor? For patients that are likely heading to upper NW levels, strip is usually the better option for getting more grafts and higher yield. It would also be interesting to see some picture of your donor area to see how well it has recovered. Do you have any immediate post op pics of the recipient sites? That would show people where the grafts were distributed. 2800 over a large balding area won't make a huge difference, especially if you have fine hair (as you appear to). 2800 just in the frontal third should make a reasonable difference I would think. Looking at the photos you posted (I assume the pre-ops are the ones that have no caption) there is barely any difference. I can see some hairs in the temple areas and the lighting does make it look like you have a lot of thin hairs, but at this stage I would be worried also. A lot of guys feel that they make good progress between months 8 and 10, but personally I don't recall seeing any photos that show this. Certainly photos only tell part of the story though so you probably should wait a few more months before reaching conclusions.

I have had the same thinning around the ears for quite some time. It's hard to say whether it has got any worse over the past 5 years, but you can see it in my 5 month pre-op photos and probably some of the photos up to the 3 month post-op mark where I was taking pictures around the scar. When my hair is long the hair around the ears is lacking in volume compared to the rest so it looks a bit unbalanced (and contrasts quite a lot with the HT hair). It's also kind of kinky so it sticks out. When its short it looks better, but patchy. Anyway, good luck with your tests.

I think I experienced a similar thing. From 2 weeks post op until about 5 weeks post op I seemed to be shedding like crazy from all over my head (in areas that were no where near the donor or recipient). After 5 weeks post op it calmed down and I'm not aware of it causing any long term problems (everything seems to have grown back).

Like others have said I don't think your hair looks at all bad for 5.5 months, and you are likely to see further improvement over the next month or so. IMHO, the amount of improvement that you'll see after 7 months is almost insignificant, but you never know. The harsh lighting pics obviously show the areas that are weaker , but I am pretty sure a large % of HTs would look similar in these conditions (especially for people with straight hair). I personally feel that it is possible to identify weak areas quite early in the growing process. In my own case I was aware of weak areas from around 10 weeks post op, and although hair did grow, it has never been as dense as the stronger parts. Like the emperor says, you can learn to work with what you have and its a lot better than having no hair at all.

Thanks for the comments. I've definitely come a long way from where I was before - basically there was no way I could comb my hair without it looking like a comb over. Now I think it looks pretty good, and I do really like the dry combed forward pics. I'd prefer to not need to worry about my hair at all - spending time each day putting product in my hair is a bit of a drag. I've not emailed Adrian yet - I'm 5000 miles away from them so there isn't much they can do. I'll wait for another month or two to see if there is any change.

Really spectacular result! I think the pre-op2 shaved down pic shows just how good the work is - it looks like yield was excellent too.

Hey. In general more people read the 'hair restoration questions and answers' section of the forum so there's not much traffic here. Anyway, I think your first step should be to consult with a doctor/derm/HT surgeon to confirm that you are suffering from MPB. They should be able to prescribe meds for you as well. As you correctly point out, its something that only gets worse the longer you leave it so I would recommend starting meds sooner rather than later if hair loss is something that you want to tackle. The only thing you have to be aware of is that these are a lifetime commitment (until a better treatment comes along at least). Propecia is super expensive so I would try to get proscar or a generic version instead. If you do get a 5mg finasteride pill, then you should cut it into quarters and take one a day (or cut it into fifths if you can but that is more tricky). Finasteride is likely to allow you to hold onto the hair you have or at least slow down the hair loss, but you won't really know until you try. You'll need to wait for a year before you can really assess whether it is working (and that means taking photographs of your head every few months). One further thing I will add - hair loss is definitely tough when you are younger. As you get older you will still care about it, but it won't quite seem like the end of the world since it is only hair after all...(its probably hard to believe this but it really is true). Toppik and other concealers can be pretty effective. I use DermMatch sometimes although it is a bit messy especially if you use too much. Other guys prefer toppik though. Provided your diet is reasonable there's nothing else you need to (or can) do on that front. Browse the forum and get to know what options are out there for you. The good news is that you've got most of your hair and prevention is better than cure, so I'd investigate finasteride. You never asked directly about it, but I would not even consider surgical treatments just now since you are too young. If you respond well to meds, then HTs can be good when you are 30+.

Please see my blog for my 7 month post. I'd be happy to hear any comments you may have as well. I'm definitely very happy compared to where I was pre-op, although there are a few niggles with one or two patches that appear to have slightly weaker growth.

Looking at the photos you had the grafts placed over a fairly large area so that can lead to a less impressive looking result, particularly if you did lose more hair. Did you go to the same surgeon for both procedures? Did they tell you before hand you'd end up with two scars and why? Not wanting to jump to conclusions (and I don't think you mentioned your surgeon's name), but this is generally a bad sign. Top quality surgeons should always try to excise the old scar, so you only ever have one scar no matter how many times you go under the knife.

In my view you won't see any new growth after 9 months, although you may get some more thickening of the hairs that are already growing. The only caveats I would add are that growth in the crown tends to take longer than the front. Also, if you had any previous surgery in the recipient area that could slow down growth as well. At this stage it would maybe be useful if you can post pre op, immed post op and 'today' pictures for more feedback. Regarding the numbness along the scar - I'm not sure about that. Again, I'd expect it to be almost back to normal by now. I'm nearly 7 months post op, and I still have a touch of numbness but it still seems to be improving gradually.

Like others have said, its fine to take propecia in your carry on baggage. Also, since its not a liquid you don't need to put it into one of the zip-loc security bags. Some countries have restrictions on the import of medicine, but as long as you are taking a months supply or less that's not likely to be an issue.

I'm on a business trip just now so I don't have a measuring tape... But I'm not sure the measurement your asking for is reliable (i.e. I'm not sure what/where my crown start point is exactly). Also, hairlines recede (especially on this forum), so measuring from the hairline doesn't seem so useful. A better result may be to measure from the bridge of the nose right around to the ridge of bone that sticks out at the back of the head.

The other guys are (probably) talking about the generic version of proscar (e.g. fincar and others). The non-generic version does tend to cost around 80 dollars for 4 months supply (I think this is OK, compared to the price of propecia).