Harry Bosch

No, I had pretty good response to the pills and think the topical is weaker overall. Plus, with topicals, compliance is always an issue. Dr. Pinto even remarked that the amount of sebum on my scalp makes it difficult for any topical to be fully effective. So my hope is a good result can let me settle in at taking two pills (fin and min) each day and finally getting away from topicals. Only caveat is a really good topical AA coming to market and giving me the necessary protection to confidently entertain TRT

One day post-op

Generic Finasteride (1.25 mg per day) Rogaine 5% for years but switched to oral last year. No sides. Maybe reduced sex drive but that might be more my age ?

THIS was the unexpected part of the adventure. Of course I wanted to restore my hairline (“homogeneously, not symmetrically” as Dr. Bruno insisted) while also reinforcing my temple peaks. It’s a really good frame, and it was aggressive as Dr. P could go without encountering the frontalis muscle. I’ve also felt, like Two-Face Harvey Dent, that I had a good side and a bad side. The bad side was defined by deeper recession and unhealthy, weaker hair. As this bad side worsened, the more I had to compensate with an “execute combover” or “power swoop”, literally pulling my hair out to carefully organize this uneven mop into a sharp look. Turns out the bad side was something more than dysmorphia! Dr. Bruno found an entire peninsula that had been ravaged by some form of fibrosis, perhaps a childhood injury. As my hair aged, that region became especially impacted. We only noticed it after submitting to the full shave (I initially wanted a partial shave in hopes of reintegrated into the summer social scene on a faster timeline). Altogether it was an extra 200 grafts carefully spread throughout the region, and here’s to hoping it’s a game changer !

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hey gang, Still surreal, but after more than a year of research & planning, I’ve done the damn thing! I’ll add more commentary in the upcoming days. For now, I want to share some initial pre- and post-operative pictures to highlight the work. Of course, I’d love to see feedback from the pro’s here. It’s a delicate time psychologically, but that’s one of many reasons this community has been so valuable. I will be leaning on you all quite a bit in the next year! Quick shout-out to a few members here who have been impossibly helpful to me. I have had really great private conversations with @MachoVato @Top Cat @ciaus @Sean @champybaby and many many others! A few other All-Stars: @MazAB whose expertise, enthusiasm, and generosity are truly unrivaled @JDEE0 the man who first brought Dr. Pinto to my attention and has been so gracious and informative as my day approached @TorontoMan my spirit animal and OG hairline crusader, who has responded to every question and panicked text like a true friend __________ I selected Dr. Bruno on the basis of his meticulous involvement and consistently outstanding results, and needless to say I’ve left the clinic in Porto with the highest opinion of him and his team — his coordinator Emilio in particular is an exceptional resource and I encourage anyone planning their own procedure to begin a dialogue with him. Quick backstory: I started experiencing temporal recession in my early 20s, and the Fin/Min combination was a godsend. But my response to medication gradually weakened over time, and it became increasingly difficult to style my hair. You’ll note I have terrific density behind the recession, but this is a double-edged sword: while nobody in day-to-day life would classify me as “balding” aggressively, my hair type (wavy) requires a great deal of time and tactics to wrestle into a good look. And with the continued slow burn, my hair type makes the recession look even worse. I can understand if my starting position might not be relatable, but I felt I was still in a sweet spot wherein I could restore a homogenous NW1-ish hairline, protect against continued loss cosmetically, and navigate the ugly duckling phase without too much of a devastation to my fragile ego. In the end, it was my time to take this leap and turn myself into a “hair star” as Dr. Bruno phrased it. Here are some pictures from the early stages. I’ll continue to document the journey as I progress, and share the clinic’s photos as soon as I receive them.

This thread deserves some more accolades!

I mean, it’s just art. With more growth to come 💪🏻

Is it true that Mwamba's topical Dut starts to lose potency after ~6 months? If you're applying 1mL per week, then a 60mL bottle should last 60 weeks. But if it indeed lose potency around 6 months, then essentially half the product gets wasted. I suppose you could apply 2mL to get your money's worth, but I am curious how you might navigate the seemingly short shelf-life of the bottle?

Did Dr. Bloxham clarify why the scarring wouldn’t impact the graft growth and m survival? One of my personal fears with trying microneedling is that it might jeopardize the recipient area in a future transplant. curious to hear if Dr Bloxham offered any additional insight here that might helpful to future surgical patients

They suggested a 3-month PRP session for me, too, within the assessment. How do you feel about this? PRP is something of controversial topic, and I'm left to wonder if the increased growth factors happen because of the needles physically poking holes in the scalp (just like micro needling) and not the actual substances -- seems to be continued disagreement or guessing with how to mix the platelets, how much to inject, locations/frequency. Interestingly, I believe the other De F patients on here (Adam, Bjorn) didn't do any PRP, so this seems to be a newer strategy by the clinic. But the cost appears baked into the totality of the procedure, so wouldn't hurt to try if it might expedite new growth.

I think if you re-examine your Before pics, it’s already a pretty substantial change. And you aren’t even halfway to the finish line

Looks good, mate. Only four months, right around the time the growth is poised to explode. wheels up!

any haircuts since the procedure? or that what 3 months of native hair growth looks like?

Definitely some new hairs sprouting. Looks like the 💥 is right around the corner. Have you been in regular communication with the clinic?

dark hair with light skin is tricky, cosmetically, but I think the vast majority of people would say you've got great hair. the gaps in the hairline are so minor, it's something nobody in everyday life would notice or criticize. I see why you'd like the touch up for the full expression of your goals, but definitely appreciate in the meantime that your hair looks good and most guys would be fairly envious of that appearance. if you need some crown work, then it certainly makes sense to touch-up the hairline too with a follow-up procedure. Dr. F's star patient Rolandes needed two passes to fully hit his mark. No shame in that. Having to shave and further deplete donor and endure a second procedure is something I would personally hope to avoid, but if youre comfortable with short hair and have an excess of donor and find yourself at an age where aggressive progression isn't likely (commitment to meds is key, too) then go ahead and do the damn thing

Transition zone ? To account for future loss of miniaturization?

Exciting stuff. Dr. F continues to build an impressive portfolio. Continued success going forward !

Best of luck, man. I am in a similar position to you, and have consulted with Dr. B. Looking forward to your progress. Nothing in this game is guaranteed, but your starting point should give you very good odds to walk away with a desirable result. Keep us updated!

Looks great so far. Any pics with the hair pushed back, or wet slicked back, to see how the designed hairline is populating? All the best, man,

On your way, man 💪🏻

Hang in there, man. Those seasonal sheds seem to plague us all. Hopefully your native hair bounces back and blends well with the transplanted hair as it matures. If it does rebound, it might be a good idea to consider some of the off-label topicals (oral min, ru, fluridil) as an added layer of protection on the scalp. You'd hope that Fin + a transplant would be enough. There are a lot of good resources on the board to add to a more aggressive protocol and ward off these intense sheds.

Looking good, man. I am consulting with Dr. K myself. I’ll try to remember to negotiate the personal drop-off post-procedure.

Legendary doctor-patient tandem