Glasswing

Hi again, been a while. I wasn't really keeping up this time but I did finally take some pictures. Two of them are with wet hair, all are taken in the bathroom with direct white light. My left side (the one I got retouched) still feels weaker to me than the right when I look at it in person, but in pictures I don't agree with that. Both sides are thinner than I'd like, but obviously better than before the procedures. Scalp shows through and I do still try to cover that up with styling. I'm self conscious about it but am getting less so as time goes on. Recently a couple times I wore my hair combed to the side. In certain (bright) lighting it feels pretty exposed and noticeable, but other times I think it looks fine. Or good enough. Wet hair left side: Wet hair right side: Front: Left side:

I'm still glad I did it, and I'm pretty happy with the right side. We'll see what comes of the left.

Hair was added to spots where hair used to be but was no longer

Sorry, I didn't take many new pictures, just a quick update. My left side never caught up to my right and so today I had a free touch up. Not even sure the exact number. I know 500 something was mentioned but I don't know if that was grafts or individual hairs or what. My immediate concern upon looking in the mirror once I got home is that way more extractions were made on the back of my head on the right side compared to the left. Very lopsided. Hoping that won't be noticeable once it grows in.

It was expensive, but certainly not $20k

Been a while! Sorry about that, and sorry about all these images I'm about to dump: Right: Left: Eight month mark. I upgraded (?) my phone in February, which is why the pictures are suddenly worse and yellow tinted beginning 2/03. And despite what the closeups may imply, the left side is still clearly less impressive than the right side in person. I did the right side a disservice by taking the worst possible closeups with hair pointing in every direction. In fact I did everything a disservice by staging the photos directly under harsh white lighting. Perhaps it would be more fair to soak my hair and comb it before taking pictures. I'll look into that. Very shortly after my last post in late December, I was in contact with the doctor. Exchanged emails, spoke with the doctor directly. He did agree with me that the left side was lagging behind, and reassured me that we would do a free touch up if needed to get the left side on the same page. It looks like it's needed. Haven't spoken with him since, but I'll work on that. I'll now attempt to summarize all my current thoughts on the whole process up to this point. I kind of feel like I need to separate my thoughts into two, one for each side. Taking just my right side into account, I'm decently pleased with the results. It actually looks pretty good when I manage to cut my hair well and don't intentionally try to expose my scalp. Taking just my left side into account, I'm underwhelmed. I definitely feel the need to make an effort to comb my hair forward and at just the right angle on that side to help cover the thinness. Is it better than it was? I guess. I do have some hair where I previously didn't, so at the very least I need to make less of an effort than I once did. Overall, I don't regret that I got the procedure. Hindsight being 20/20, it's hard to not look back on the specifics of my procedure and wonder how they could have turned out differently. I spent a premium to have a well-regarded and nearby doctor perform the procedure. While I was concerned about the lower than average graft estimate, I tried to see the positive: higher chance that more individual grafts would survive; preservation of more donor hairs for future procedures if needed; maybe I'd be satisfied with the final density. But now I'll probably need a second procedure. Which means using more of my donor hairs. Which means potentially a final tally of 2,000 grafts for a result that looks like 1,400 grafts. What if I had gone to someone that did 2,000 grafts from the beginning? Would I only have needed one procedure and achieved denser hair for less money? Or would I have had similar or even worse issues? I have my theories, but I can't know for sure, so I guess it's not really worth thinking about. That all sounds negative, but I'd still consider this an overall positive. Not a miracle by any stretch, but positive. I have more good hair days than I did before my procedure. I'm less concerned that my carefully styled hair will fall out of place and expose my scalp than I was before my procedure. I spend less time panicking while researching my prevention and styling options than I did before my procedure. And for all that, I'm happier than I was before my procedure.

I knew that the number of grafts may not produce a home run at my first bat, but I was (and still am) hoping that it would at least be a drastic improvement over what I had there (nothing). And then I'd consider my options from there. To be honest, I'd be pretty happy if both my sides looked like my right side does at this point. In fact I may even be happier if both of my sides looked like my left side, since then I could more easily convince myself that there aren't potential issues, with both sides being consistent. If that makes sense. The part that's hard to come to terms with is the clear disparity between sides. But I won't give up all hope just yet, and will of course try to heed everyone's advice to stay calm and give it some time. For the vast majority of the graft placements, one tech was working on one side at a time, yes. In fact, for the left side, there was only one tech and nobody else at all in the room basically from start to finish of the placement process. As for the mask, if I remember correctly (without going back and looking at all my notes), I believe I had to wear it the whole time I was being worked on, except when my grafts were being extracted (because for that portion I was face down). I also don't recall them asking if I had been tested recently, but I wasn't. Thank you, Gasthoerer and digi23! It makes me feel better to hear that I'm not all alone in this boat of mine 😃 And thanks everyone for the responses! Appreciate honest feedback

One week shy of four months, here's another update: In retrospect, these collages I'm doing aren't the most useful considering they cover up most of the transplant area. Oh well, I'll still see it through. But with this update, I must admit that my optimism is dropping quickly. As the days pass, the disparity between the two sides seems to widen. My right side has clearly denser growth, as well as a less red scalp. Right: Left: Middle: So how worried should I be? Because I can assure you that I am very worried. Is this at all typical? I still can't help but think back and recall the one single difference between the two sides throughout this whole process; the grafts were placed by two different techs. That leads me to the uncomfortable thought process that the left side was implanted incorrectly and is destined to fail. Or am I jumping to conclusions?

Thanks for the well wishes, everyone! Unfortunately, I wouldn't call it a hair storm just yet, but nonetheless it's been a while and so it's time for an update. And don't worry, I plan on seeing these updates through at least a year post-procedure, good or bad. Some of the questions that were asked I will answer via PM. Image dump: And closeups from 12/12/2021: As far as where I'm at now and my overall thoughts: I'm trying not to jump to conclusions, because I know that in the grand scheme of things I'm still quite early on at about 3.5 months. Easily my biggest concern (as it has been since the first week or two) is that there is a clear difference between the two sides. My right side (first closeup picture above) has noticeably more hair growing in compared to my left side (picture immediately below it). I'd say it's even more clear in person. And I can't help but remember that my left side was almost completely done by one tech who didn't work on the right side (there's that conclusion-jumping I'm trying to avoid). All I can do now is wait and see how it pans out. Like I said, still early on so I'm still maintaining a certain level of optimism. As you can also see, the pinkness is still there a bit, and I do try to cover that up, but I don't doubt that that will continue to fade. Checking now, I think the numbness is all gone. Hard to tell, to be honest. It did at least last until relatively recently, I'd say, but that was never my major concern.

Not much excitement at this stage. Lost pretty much all the hairs, but here's some more pics that I still continue to take weekly: I suspect there won't be much excitement for a few more months, but I'll be damned if I skip a week.

Thanks. Week four update, not much to add since last time.

Thanks! I'm pretty patient, we'll see how it goes. Here's my third week update. Shedding definitely in full force.

Thanks, all. As I continue to feel around the area, I notice more and more hairs falling out. There's no blood and I don't see anything that I'd consider to be the root of the hair. I assume this is all to be expected at this point, and is of no concern?

Two week update. My concerns: The two sides still look noticeably different to me. I don't know if the density will end up being enough to make me happy. I have a hard time not touching the area, feeling for hard pieces and trying to rub them off. I exacerbate some of the hairs falling out because of this, but I guess they're going to fall out regardless, so not a huge deal? I'll be going into work for the first time on Monday. A bit nervous about that, but I already told everyone so that takes a lot of pressure off. Otherwise I still hide away. But I don't look as ridiculous as I thought I might at this point. @stephcurry30 nice, welcome. I take it you haven't opted for a procedure yourself, yet?

Thank you! Fingers crossed. Does anyone have a theory why the hairs on one side appear longer? And does it matter?

I'm in New Jersey, an hour from Manhattan. I didn't shave it down for the surgery, because I was told it was good to leave some length for the doctor to judge hair direction when implanting grafts. Plus I figure the grafts will probably fall out soon anyway, and regardless I can try to cover up some of it with the length I have on top. I never stopped oral finasteride, and I started topical minoxidil again today.

Thank you. It's been exactly one week from my surgery, so time for an update and review of the past week. Well, you probably all already know the gist. Mostly just let my head heal, applied copious amounts of aquaphor to the back of my head before bed in an effort to lessen scarring, sprayed both the grafts and back of my head with ATP spray given to me by the office to lessen scabbing, slept elevated on the couch every night even though I was only told I needed to the first 3 nights, took baths daily starting on day 3 I believe, dabbed my head with a shampoo-covered sponge while in the bath, and constantly debated whether the whole thing looks good or not. I'm fortunate enough to be able to work from home this past week and next. The only thing slightly out of the ordinary was that my head did swell for the first 3 days, which was a bit annoying if only because it made me like looking in the mirror even less. But the only real "ailments" that I still have is that the back of my head towards the top is a little sore, and the front where the grafts were transplanted is still numb. But those really don't bother me much at all. But today was an important one, because I was able to finally take an actual shower for the first time. And with it, cleared up a lot of the scabbing over my grafts. Honestly I didn't even realize I had that much. But a lot came off, so that's good. Pretty sure I didn't lose any grafts so far, no blood or anything. I also decided to finally to trim my hair, trying to blend the top into the back and sides more. Still doesn't look great, but sure looks a lot better than it did. Oh and I also used minoxidil foam again for the first time since before surgery. I continue looking into the mirror, ever so closely, trying to decide if I like it. Whether it's going to end up looking good. I am concerned that my left side looks a little more sparse, and for some reason the hairs shorter, than the right side. Not sure what the hair length difference might mean. Nonetheless, here's the pics of the progress so far. And some closeups from today as well: Tonight I will sleep in an actual bed again for the first time, and probably throw some moisturizer on the grafts in an attempt to loosen any of the scabs that still remain.

I'm 31 years old and have been worried about my hair since 2011. Specifically, my receding hairline. I began taking pictures and eventually got on finasteride in August 2015, and minoxidil foam in September 2016. Choosing a Doctor I feel that I could've spent forever on this step and still not have been confident in my choice. I looked at tons of patient results form tons of doctors, read all the comments, etc. In the end, I wanted a reputable doctor, and ideally someone I didn't have to fly to. I was also pretty set on getting an FUE over FUT. Well, as luck has it, there are some reputable doctors in NYC, which is just an hour from me without traffic, that perform FUE procedures. I only had two consultations; one with Dr. Dorin in-person, one with Dr. Wesley virtually. Dr. Dorin was first. He was honest with me, which I appreciated. As in, he didn't promise unrealistic expectations. He said that with one procedure, it would likely still lack the density that one desires. Apparently many of his patients opt to come in for a second procedure (or more) to add that. It seems that Dr. Dorin does lean conservative with his graft counts compared to others. In some of the example pictures I'd seen from him, the hairlines were wildly curvy. While the one he drew on me also had intentional imperfections, it was a lot more subtle than some of the others I had seen from him. In the end, he estimated 1,200 grafts for me, and claimed that I'd pretty much need an FUE procedure due to my hair characteristics. It cost $175 which could be used toward the procedure. Dr. Wesley was next. This was a virtual consultation with a dated webcam, so of course it wasn't ideal circumstances. But there's a reason for that, and it's that an in-person consultation with him was $400. Granted this could also be used toward the procedure, but I just thought this was too much. For whatever reason, virtual was free, so I went with that. And it went alright. Viewing my webcam, he estimated 1,600 - 1,800 grafts. I did like the idea of potential higher density than the comparatively low estimate of 1,200 from Dr. Dorin. Prior to this, we had actually communicated briefly by email where he estimated 2,000. But there were a few things that turned me off. In contrast to Dr. Dorin, it felt like he was trying to promise me the world. He really talked himself up, mentioning that I wouldn't believe how many celebrities he's worked on, that his practice is the best in the business, etc. Whether or not that's all true, it rubbed me the wrong way. I also didn't like that he noticeably looked down on the fact that I chose to do a virtual consultation instead of in-person, citing that it wasn't a big deal since the $400 could be used toward the procedure. And it felt to me that he really wanted to end the call quickly. And he mentioned holistic medicine which is kind of a trigger word for me. There were others I considered, but they either were too logistically inconvenient, or too unknown, or only seemed to dabble in FUE. What made me end up going with Dr. Dorin was his honesty, reputation, experience, and lower price (although still prohibitively expensive. It's NYC). I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to throw away the initial $175 I had spend on the consultation. I know that's a terrible thing to let impact this decision. My worries with Dr. Dorin: will I be satisfied with the density after one procedure? Is his signature hairline going to end up looking more realistic in the end? The Procedure For better or worse, I ended up going with Dr. Dorin. I managed to get an appointment which was around 2 months out, for September 3rd 2021. After a lot of questions back and forth, to which Peter was quick to respond, the day finally came. My friend drove me early in the morning, and I went in at 7:15 for my 7:30 appointment. There was some waiting involved throughout the day, but kind of your typical doctor experience. I met a nurse first who gave me an orientation. Later on, Dr. Dorin arrived and came in to draw out the planned hairline again, trying to be close to the original consultation. Again, I kind of liked it and trusted that the unevenness would end up looking more natural. I tried to nitpick since it was my last chance, to make sure it wasn't lopsided. He called me on my criticalness and said if I was worried about such miniscule details then I may not end up being happy with a transplant in general, as there will always be imperfections. He did alter it ever so slightly and agreed that if I was going to say something, now would be the time. He measured it and looked at it from a few angles, including in a mirror over his shoulder. I basically went with what he had originally drew out, and Peter took some pictures. Hopefully that was the right move. Then Rita came in and gave me some valium and anesthetized the whole back and sides of my head. This was the most painful part, but tolerable, and she was great. I believe the harvesting stared around 10am, when Dr. Dorin and Catherine came in the room. I pretty much couldn't feel a thing after all the anesthesia, so that wasn't bad. But having to wear a mask for most of it was a bit uncomfortable, as well as some of the positions, mostly face down and on my side. Only way I knew it was happening was that I could hear the whirr of whatever the gadget he was using was, and the force it pushing into my head. But no pain. When I started to feel it, I said something and he applied more anesthesia. The harvesting was done with some breaks. A little over 600 the first time. Then a little over 600 again. As he was finishing with the second part, he said it looked like he could get some more if needed, but we would wait to hear the final tally. The final tally was over 1,300, over 100 more than the estimate. But I told him to use his judgment and feel free to take more if he felt it would improve my results. I was hoping that he would since I had been concerned all along that 1,200 was too low. He did take more. Final Tally = 386 Single / 915 Double / 126 Triple / 1,427 total I was happy that the number grew, although I also new it meant I would have to pay for each of those additional grafts. Quite a bit of money. Nonetheless, this step was done. I had my lunch, which I brought, and then it was onto the next step. Rita came back to numb the hairline. Again, a bit painful but tolerable. Dr. Dorin came in again with Catherine to make 1,427 incisions. Counting to 100 over and over. Again, I felt nothing, just heard the sound of my flesh being stabbed. Or I assume that's what the sound was. This was actually the quickest part, maybe an hour. The implantations into these incisions was done by a few people, but not Dr. Dorin. I believe it was Catherine, Kim, and Alex. I was upright and kind of watching Netflix on the TV for this part, but also nearly falling asleep. Because again I felt nothing and it took a while. It seemed that Dr. Dorin rarely came in to check on their progress, although I can't say for sure. And with that, it was over. Finished around 5pm. I went to the bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror, and got really depressed. My hairline, the density, even the way they trimmed down my hair. I thought I had made a mistake. But I had to go and have Peter take some more pictures. He said it looked really clean and I'd heal fast. Dr. Dorin saw the final results for the first time and said it looks great. Still, I felt really depressed in this moment while I waited for my friend to arrive and drive me home. I was given a baseball cap to wear out, and didn't want to be seen by anyone. I just wanted to be home. Afterward and Current After I got home, I looked at it some more, took some pictures, and I regained some optimism. That's where I am now. Still unsure if I made a mistake. Still hoping it will, at the very least, look a lot better than it did before the procedure, but hoping for incredible results. I've been spraying it every hour with some ATP solution they gave me, as directed. I slept the first night elevated in my reclining couch with an airplane pillow. I was given some gauze cover which I laid on top of my airplane pillow. Good thing, because whenever I woke up, the back of my head was wet with sweat or oozing blood or both. Probably both since it was quite wet but light red. And that's what I will continue for the next few nights. Tonight I'm supposed to dip a sponge in a shampoo/water mixture and lightly pat it over my head.

I'm a pretty avid exerciser, and I see that for both FUT and FUE, one of the rules is no exercise, like a month for FUT and 2 weeks for FUE. My question is how come? What is it about exercise that negatively affects a HT? Is it the affect it has on your blood flow? Is it because of the sweat? In my particular case, where I am looking into FUE specifically, is it okay to resume intense exercise on day 15? Or would it be better to start slowly and work gradually back up to my full exercise routine?

True, I've heard that any hair has a limit. But that's interesting, so it basically is the same thing just in a new location. But when I pluck a hair and at the end of it there is a little bulbous or thicker or whitish part that I would call "the root" - that's not really the root? There is more to the hair beyond that which is needed for the transplant?

If I were to take a pair of tweezers and pull out a naturally growing hair, it would eventually grow back. If I were to do the same with a hair that grew after being transplanted (say a year after, after it's had time to mature), would it also grow back? Is it gone forever? Basically, what are the differences between a natural and a transplanted hair? How do you need to care for transplanted hairs differently than if they had just stayed in your donor area? Are they for all intents and purposes equal, simply in a different location? What might cause you to lose those transplanted hairs permanently?

Yeah, it's not entirely unreasonable to charge something. But I saw a comment that said one doctor was charging $400 for in-person consultation which was pretty alarming. Hopefully that's an anomaly.

Great, I'll take average! I've not noticed thinning other than my hairline, no. Of course that could just be because almost the entirety of my focus is directed toward my hairline, and comparatively everything else looks stellar to me. And wow, 40 cm2 does sound like a lot, although it's a little hard to picture. Gonna have to get some graph paper and hold it up to my hairline 🙃

I do very much want to find a surgeon that I trust and whose skills and results are well documented. I love the availability of results posted on these forums, and have been browsing them and will continue to do so. I will say, after reading the link provided by giegnosiganoe, I'm becoming even more swayed toward FUE over FUT. Some key standouts that contribute to this being the case (aside from the scarring) for me: Less invasive, no sutures or staples: I already touched upon this, but the whole slit thing does turn me off. Graft selection: I like the idea of a more precisely designed look to my hairline, the result of which could end up looking more natural upon closer inspection. Exercise not prohibited for as long: Being vain in all aspects, I already don't like the idea of having to go 10 days without exercise. I exercise a lot, and while it's just a short-lived requirement, I think going longer without exercising would make it that much harder for me. Assuming that I would (hopefully) not need an exorbitant amount of grafts, in my case the cons given don't come very close to outweighing the pros. But I will still consider it a possibility in the back of my mind. Thank you for your suggestions! And the compliment. Side question: Are there such things as free in-person consultations? It seems like at least near where I am, it'd cost a good amount of money just to get consultations. And what about the possibility of virtual consultations?

Absolutely, would a video work better? I have a hard time getting worthwhile pics of the back of my head. And thank you for the resources and analysis! I will check the links you provided. While I would be much happier just with a denser hairline where it currently lies, being the perfectionist I am I'd also love to shoot for that "perfect" hairline. I'm trying to not be too unrealistic about it though. And of course I do want to avoid overshooting and landing in the too perfect category, where it looks too juvenile for someone my age.