Sparse

From the (admittedly small) sample of comments here, it sounds like more H&W patients have had better growth on the right versus left side . . . that's been my experience, as well. Although I'm quite happy with my result, growth is a bit thicker overall on the right. In fact, there's an area on the left about an inch behind the hairline - it's an oval about an inch in diameter - where the yield is noticeably lower. (It's pretty see-through there when combed the wrong way.) I was in the chair for about 14 hours (napping for part of it), and at least 4 different techs worked on the left side, so I have no idea who worked on that particular area . . . and, of course, it's also quite possible that the lower yield had nothing to do with the techs (i.e., could be due to any number of other factors). Still, it's an interesting pattern of results if the left-vs-right side disparity turns out to be widespread - especially given the fact that some techs tend to work only on the left side.

Thanks for the update, Hrvoje, and for providing such high quality pics under various lighting conditions. Your pics really illustrate how much lighting can affect our perceptions of any given HT result. (It makes me wonder what percentage of "home run" results still would be worthy of the label if we could evaluate them under strong lights with HD video.) Based on your photos, I can certainly understand the concern about weakness behind the hairline, especially on the right side, but surely it will continue to thicken up in those areas as the follicles mature through month 10 or so. Good luck, and grow well.

Looking good, Hairthere! But from the 2 pics you've shown at 5 months, it's hard to get a solid read on exactly how the new hairline frames your face . . . any chance you could post a pic of your entire face (with eyes/nose/mouth blacked out, if needed, to preserve privacy)? Also, I'd love to see a profile pic in good lighting to evaluate the temple points more clearly.

Thanks, Labrat. I'll try to post updated pics soon . . . had a bad haircut right after those January pics were posted, so now I've grown it out pretty long again and need to find someone to cut and style it appropriately before I post an update! My wife wants me to go super-short (e.g., a #2 guard), while my teenage daughter thinks my current look - longish hair with surfer bangs in the front - makes me look much younger. Any advice?

Ok, Labrat, here's a picky question: Are there any pics of London Lad in profile? From the frontal pic it looks like his temple points might still be pretty receded . . . I wonder if it looks odd on close inspection to have a NW1 look on top but temple points more consistent with a NW4-6?

Labrat: Thanks for the London Lad pics. Un-freaking-believable. I've been more than satisfied with the transformation Dr. H. has achieved with my 5566 grafts last summer, but after seeing what another 5000 grafts can do . . . it's enough to give a guy a serious case of hair greed! (Then again, as a happily married 46-year-old, it's hard to justify plunking down another $20k just to go from "good" to "ridiculously, off-the-scale good".)

Good question: my guess is "no", but others can speak to this more authoritatively. In any case, feel free to send a pic or two to my email. Thanks. (Oh, and I don't think anyone would be offended by your posts - they strike me as open and respectful, and that's the sort of vibe that fits in well on this forum.)

Labrat: You wouldn't happen to have a link to London Lad's latest pic(s) would you? I've seen his impressive result after HT#1 (7700 grafts, or something like that), but would love to see what 11k+ grafts look like!

Xeon, I think you have a valid perspective, but it looks to me like Drew is well on his way to a spectacular transformation: his hair already looks good/natural without any product, and with another 3k+ grafts added in follow-up procedure(s), he'll have an impressively full head of hair. Would you be willing to post a few high-res pictures of yourself, with and without the hair system? I'm really curious to see what sort of result you're able to achieve with it. Also, I'd be willing to make a friendly wager that Drew's hair, after his next procedure, will look better overall than anything that might be achieved by a hair system.

Back when I was doing my research (pre-HT), I noticed that a sizable percentage of H&W patients were getting robust early growth: it was one of many factors that helped nudge me in their direction. And, as fate would have it, I started seeing obvious growth by the 2-month mark after my HT with Dr. Hasson last summer. In fact, by the 3-month mark the growth was so strong that I was receiving unsolicited compliments from friends and acquaintances (none of whom knew I'd had the procedure). On the other hand, I've seen lots of great results where the growth didn't begin in earnest until the 5-month or 6-month mark, so there's definitely no need for worry if you're not an early grower . . . Best wishes!

Oh. My. God. It boggles the mind that any surgeon would butcher a patient like that, but Dr. Hasson did a brilliant job of repairing the damage (as usual). Absolutely amazing.

Great thread, guys. For what it's worth, I tried Propecia with high hopes about 18 months ago, and had a bizarro side effect: intense irritability (and my baseline is pretty upbeat). My wife and 12-year-old daughter each pointed out the dramatic change in personality after I'd been on the drug for about 3 weeks, and even though I found it hard to imagine the Propecia could be the culprit, I decided to try stopping it to see if it would make a difference. Within a week or so I was back to normal. Still not convinced (and not wanting to give up the benefit of the drug), I went back on for Round 2 at a reduced initial dose (.5 mg/day). . . and promptly went right back to a state of chronic, intense irritability. So, of course, that was the end of my Propecia trial. A little subsequent research uncovered the fact that 5-alpha-reductase (the enzyme inhibited by Propecia) plays a role in modulating androgenic hormone effects on the brain, so there's at least a plausible pathway for cognitive/affective changes . . . though based on the paucity of case reports, I'm assuming it's pretty rare. Oh, and just to make matters more interesting, I had noticeably increased libido on the drug (another reason I hated to stop).

Azazelgs, Thanks, you're very kind. As for hair length . . . I'm sure over the next year I'll experiment with long hair, short hair, and everything in between. I actually like it the length it was in that 5.5 month photo (a little on the shaggy side), but that may be in part because the length seems to add to the perceived density for now. Maybe as things thicken up in the next 4-6 months it will look even better short. It's just cool to have enough hair now to experiment with it!

Biscuit: Thanks much . . . it's nice to think about potential improvement all the way out 24 months. Bighose: Thanks for the kind words, and I'll be pulling for you to be one of the lucky "early growth" guys, as well. I never expected to be so fortunate, but sure won't complain!

Thanks, Tundra. I'm lucky to have good hair characteristics (coarse/thick hair follicles) and a great surgeon!

Thanks, Fingers. I hope your growth is every bit as fast in the months ahead. Since you've got over 4k grafts packed into your frontal region, you should have one hell of an impressive outcome!

Over the past few weeks, I've run into several people whom I hadn't seen since before my HT. Almost all of them have commented on the change, usually something like, "Hey, I really like your hair like that. You've let it grow longer (lol) and it looks really good!"

I've looked at dozens and dozens of blogged results from H&W, and I honestly can't recall ever seeing a fat scar. I'm sure it must have happened at some point, but the rarity of it is quite encouraging. I had lots of tension on my scar post-HT since Dr. Hasson went for an aggressive 5500+ graft yield (strip of 32cm x 2-2.5 cm), and I'm still in the 1-3 mm range on my entire scar at nearly 6 months out!

Baker, I agree with Emperor: even if you eventually get great yield from your 1000 FUE grafts (which seems unlikely, by the way), you'll still need another 2-3k to get a great result in the front. Actually, if your hair is on the fine side - which seems possible from the pics - you might even want to go > 3k. For that, it would make sense to go strip.

Hey TTP - First, thank you for your many thoughtful, well-documented posts regarding your disappointing HT experience. Like Labrat, I'm having trouble understanding Dr. A's initial recommendation that 2500 grafts could be sufficient for you. From what I can tell, you and I had pretty similar patterns of pre-HT hair loss, and Dr. Hasson felt I would need AT LEAST 4000-4500 to get a satisfactory result. (I somehow got lucky enough to wind up with 5500.) In any case, I understand your point about the inexplicable failure of so many of those 2500 grafts to grow. It is baffling, especially in light of your apparent good health and super-quick recovery from a prior surgery. It certainly makes me think the cause could be 'H' rather than 'X', but clearly there's no way to know for certain. Of course, if you do pursue HT #2, going to a different surgeon might help you disentangle the two possibilities . . .

As Jotronic points out, no one comes close to H&W in terms of documented 4k-7k mega-sessions. Choosing between Dr. Hasson and Dr. Wong, however, is difficult, and I believe it ultimately comes down to aesthetic preference more than anything else. Both surgeons provide superb results, but they have somewhat different artistic visions, and this is reflected in their work. After spending some time meticulously studying their respective photo and video galleries, I discovered a clear preference for Dr. Hasson's results, so my decision was clear. Although I'm only 5.5 months out from my 5566-graft procedure with Dr. Hasson last summer, I'm delighted with the outcome thus far.

Hey, that's great that you're able to return to your workout routine so quickly! It's so important - especially to help maintain emotional equilibrium during the "doldrums" stage. ;-)

Hair_me_out and Omar: Thanks for the kind words! I can't wait to see your results in the months ahead, as well . . . Bighose (nice name): Thanks for your comments. And I think the scar has turned out pretty well. It's hard even to locate the scar in the back (it's quite thin, and the hair back there is still really thick), while on the sides there's been maybe just a bit of stretching (2-3 mm scar width), but nothing noticeable on cursory inspection. As for workouts: I was working out 6-7 times a week before the HT (cardio and lifting on alternate days), and then laid off entirely for 3 weeks. I started back with jogging and elliptical, and waited until about 5 weeks out before I began lifting again - had no problems jumping back into the old routine, even lifting to failure with no obvious tension on the scar. Good luck, and grow well!

That's very kind of you, but I still think your result is in a league of its own - one of the all time great pre-post transformations! (I started out with quite a bit more hair, and since I'm already in my 40s and fairly stabilized on the loss front, I didn't need to worry too much about planning for future loss.)

Thanks, Comb! I told you I'd be ecstatic if I ended up with a result anywhere near as impressive as yours . . .