SD1984

A shame bc if the hairline was place just a little higher with slight recession with the same amount of grafts used the result would have much, much better with stronger density. That being said, Dr. Dorin I'm sure will do the job in order to make it all look right. I once had a consult with him. Really nice down to earth guy. Good luck.

Wow

Nice! If it weren't for the redness you could do a buzzcut right now and be perfectly fine with zero signs of surgery.

On 11/16/2021 at 11:15 PM, Spaceguy said:

Yes and no, since it was my 5th day post op my donor area healed quite good and hair had some minor growth so donor area looked completley normal while recipient area was barely noticable from few meters onward but still from up close scrabs and redness were noticable, thing is aloe vera gel dr.Ferreira provides in goodie bag helps a lot hiding that redness and moisturise scalp and scrabs making it less noticable.

Still i weared a cap during checkout and flight while taking it off once i sat down and ordered coffe and some food....not much ppl around me so nobody noticed, once boarded flight i put on my cap.

In connecting flights in Munich and back at home it was already late so airport was mainly empty so i didn't wear a cap.

Just find a least crowded place at airport and relax!

What kind of hat was it? I would just be so nervous wearing anything on my head so close to post surgery...

38 minutes ago, Spaceguy said:

Cap after 3-5 days according to instructions.

I did wear it ona 4th and 5th day i think but only for a brief period and it wasn't touching my recipient area (important), simce grafts tend to be safe only after 10-14days.

So i would recommend not to wear cap for prolonged period of time to allow normal bloodflow across the scalp for better healing and most important not to touch recipient area by the cap.

Can't find minox use in post op instructions but i hear or read somewhere it is safe to use it 15 days post-op....i'll wait 20-30 days just in case.

My conclusion is to keep recipient area safe as posssible until it heals properly and than to use minoxidil, fibers and such!

You went through the airport and on the flights with your scalp and all that exposed? How was that?

For me it wouldn't just be about the redness (though makeup could cover that). It would be more about having to show up to work with a completely shaved head for the first time ever, revealing my baldness underneath. I have used fibers for years.

Looks like he loaded up on multi's behind the hairline pretty nicely. Going to be a great result. 

Following...

Would like to know how long the ink lasts and what happens after a while. Like does it fade into a grey/greenish tint or does it fade completely?

17 hours ago, JayLDD said:

If a surgeon did the entire procedure themselves but can't produce consistently good or aesthetic results, I don't care less. The question is whether they have a system in place that produces consistent results and have the technical ability to produce an aesthetic, natural result. That is something that should be referenced to patient and clinic posted results, not "how many cases per day

Well said but at the same time places who do multiple surgeries a day (ie More than 2) are usually the ones that don’t produce consistently good results. 

Whether on a scale of 1-10 or just telling me you think it's great, good or decent, I'm curious what you all think. This is the longest I've let my hair grow out in a long time in order for me to take this photo. It appears I have quite a lot of multi's in my donor which is great, but if I had to guess, I'd say my density once the hair is lifted up and really inspected, is only mediocre. I could be wrong. I've had a top HT doc previously assess my donor and bc of my retrograde gave me a 4000 graft capacity. Thanks in advance.

3 hours ago, kirkland said:

The redness is due to personal skin characteristics. If you are fair-skinned and prone to redness from other sources (say, taking a hot shower or working out and your skin gets visibly flush) then the redness will be more pronounced post-op HT. The redness is the erythema caused from the trauma of the HT - the blood vessels in the area have widened to allow for greater blood flow as an inflammatory response to the wound. You can buy tinted moisturizers which can reduce the contrast.  

Thanks for the info

2 minutes ago, Fego said:

Which doctors you recommend for fue for price range between 2 to 3 euro? 

Pekiner, HLC, Demirsoy

Still seems quite red for 5 weeks. Unless it's the camera picking up more of the color? This is the one drawback I see with regards to some transplants. Amazing work but the redness seems to stay a while. Maybe it's something to do with the DHI method? How long did he tell you the redness will last? I hear you in the sense that it's unfortunate enough to have to go through the bald ugly duckling phase but having that redness on top of it is another hassle. Perhaps some flesh colored makeup could help.

Yeah...

Sharp looking work. I'm sure you will have a great result. A tad too red/purple for my liking right now, but hopefully that goes down rather soon. Do you have a post op/day after donor photo you could share?

Fantastic looking work. @Office of Dr. Wesley I just have one question though- This patient appears to be Norwood 6 with relatively thin lateraly humps. Do humps that thin typically hang on for a very long time or is there more of a good chance they will go and he will need another surgery? Thanks.

Update?

I have a rather interesting question for everyone. My HT is scheduled for Spring 2022 and will be in the ballpark of around 6000 euro in cost. As of right now today the european dollar is average in value with 1 euro being $1.18 USD as far as the exchange rate goes. This would be $7,086 for my cost of surgery if it were today.

Should the euro go up, even if slightly, to lets say $1.22, the total would then go up to $7,320 for me. That's a $236 increase! Basically half the cost of my flights. If you see where I'm going with this, I'm curious if anyone coming from the US has ever thought of, if there's a way to cash in NOW or anytime soon if the euro value drops even lower, to secure my 6000 euro for a good exchange rate. The app Revolut which I have been planning to pay with charges a whopping 84 euro ($100) to exchange this large amount, while my local bank would give me 6000 euro in cash exchange for around $50. I'm certainly not a fan of bringing that much euro cash with me, but if I can save a couple of hundred dollars it might be worth it.

Any thoughts or advice I'd appreciate... Thanks

Well if your Father was a NW7 when he was 28 and you are 28 now then clearly the bald gene hasn't effected you as strongly. That being said, your pattern still indicates a high norwood. In ten years with no meds I'd say a NW6 is very possible. Good news is you have great donor. Bad news is diffuse thinning. Really not too many areas to implant so many grafts. Personally I would either try Fin, and if you really are against that then stick with hair fibers for several years to come until a HT is more appropriate after further loss.

7 minutes ago, aaron1234 said:

If this is really the case then expect the HT to thin overtime as well, especially if you're not on fin.  Doesn't mean getting a HT won't be of positive value for you, just be prepared for gradual thinning after the 12 month peak.  

Yeah I've thought of that, and it really sucks, but I know it's a good possibility. 

8 hours ago, JDEE0 said:

Yeah, Stemson is exciting too, but that is hair cloning/re-generation, so I didn't include it in my list as its not really in the same category of a preventative/re-growth/maintenance treatments per se.

Oh, I had thought Stemson was going to be injections of sorts that regrow hair. Isn't that what it was all about with the mouse they regrew hair on in 2019?

10 hours ago, Gatsby said:

for 37 you still have a remarkable amount of hair. Many men are bald by 30 or earlier. 

Many men with AA you mean(?), yes.

I'm still a bit nervous though, given my rather significant retrograde alopecia, recessed sides and overall poor hair quality, that those may be signed I may end up a NW7 one day like my grandfather was. What do you think?

What about Stemson? This ist the company that got the huge investment and are what a lot of people are talking about.

https://stemsontx.com

5 hours ago, JDEE0 said:

I'm hopeful we will have a number of new treatments, that all look very promising, available in the next 5-10 years. No one knows of course, but we're in a time unlike any other before with prospective options on the horizon. 

Like what?

Thanks for your reply.

Well I have finally booked my hair transplant, and though I wish many things were different going into it, I know this is basically my last resort and after years of (albeit on and off) extensive research, as well as going with a very well known top surgeon, I feel pretty comfortable. I am not going to name the clinic here, but it is a place that has been VERY well spoken about on here and many other places, for what that's worth. This will likely be my final topic until my surgery, which is not until SPRING of 2022. This actually ended up being fine by me, as it gives me one last chance to possibly stabilize my hair loss with oral minoxidil. If it works, amazing. Less surgery to do. If it doesn't, well then it's the opposite. 

As you may recall, and from a previous thread, I finally gave Finasteride the chance it deserved months ago, and the medication simply did not agree with my body. Over the years I have tried virtually every other thing possible, all to no avail. I am 37 and have been living through this hell for 15 years now, though only in the last 2 years have things taken a rather drastic turn for the worse with my hair. At this moment and at this age I feel the loss has finally slowed down. Below are all the factors about me and my hair as well as possible plans for the transplant. Because I am in the USA and am going overseas for the HT, there was no in person consult and there is only a general idea of what will happen. Nothing is final until that morning as many of us kind of know. First, the bad news, and unfortunately, there is plenty of it aside from Fin not working for me:

Cons:

-I have somewhat significant retrograde alopecia which has limited my donor capacity. Instead of the average of around 8k grafts, I estimate, and with others here agreeing, that I have around a 4,000 to 5,000 graft max capacity

-There is literally no part of the top my scalp that is not thinning. While the photos below may make it appear that I have a ton of hair left, the photos are skewed as my hair is extremely dark and wavy (two pro's that I will mention later). The forelock is the only part of my hair left that is ever so sightly "dense". You can see my scalp everywhere. My temple points have also thinned out which is common but I do not think I'm going to worry about them, unless maybe it only means a few grafts in each to get some sort of structure back in them. 

-Aside from drastic loss up top, even my lateral humps have thinned out as well to the point where they will need some form of conservative reconstruction.

-My fathers side of the family has serious hair loss. A bunch of NW'6's including my Father, one Norwood 7 (my grandfather) and one NW3 (my cousin! Lucky guy!). It should be noted that while my Father is NW6, the guy has the thickest sides and back you've ever seen. Humps intact. With this, the reality is that unless oral minox is a godsend for me, I will have to return for what will be at least one more surgery in the future

Pros:

-I have absolutely ZERO expectations for anything crazy and know the days of me having a full head of hair are long gone and impossible to recreate. I don't care about my crown at ALL right now and would be over the moon with just a decent frontal third and my face reframed again for the first time in many years. Me and the surgeon have discussed and agreed to go with an extreme conservative route, especially given the limited donor capacity, starting with a high hairline. I am aware that hair fibers will likely have to be a part of my life for a very long time and I am perfectly fine with that.

-This is more of a "pro", but at 37, at this stage my pattern of hair loss is pretty much set and visible. NW5a / NW6, so there will be no shock/surprisess down the road.

-My hair characterisitcs are great. Aside from my donor hair being what I beleive is pretty thick/high microns, my hair in general is SUPER dark brown as well as very wavy. This means less grafts can mean more of a visual coverage. You can get an idea of this my looking at my photos where it appears I have more hair than I really do.

-Unlike a few of the NW6's in my family, I have a rather narrow face and head in general, making for a good situation as far as being conservative for grafts. At its absolute longest measurement (as you will see in the photo below), the top of my scalp measures only 5.5 inches which I believe is on the lower end of most. The same can be said up front at my hairline area.

-I am opened minded as can be, whether that means SMP in my crown down the road or even a partial hair system.

-My beard is insanely coarse, with probably another couple thousand grafts possible to take from it, if necessary

------------

Below are all updated photos of my sides, back, top as well as an outline for a possible plan come surgery day if in the event oral minoxidil doesn't work magic and thicken up my hair over the course of the next 6-8 months. The current plan is to do somewhere around the ball park of 2000 grafts.

Any thoughts, advice or support would be greatly appreciated.

Well I'm confused a bit. You're implying that crown hair can be a part of donor hair, no? it's interesting bc my crown, in the very back, is covered, so it looks like I have this nice huge donor area. But in reality when you lift it up with a comb you can see the true donor area and strong hair which is a very narrow area. My donor capacity is probably 5000 max. I've already been told by a top doc its around 4000 max before it would look suspect. For the life of me I can't think of any public figures that have that true norwood 7 horseshoe with the deep drop at the crown AND a semi decent forelock left. If you can, let me know.