rgm82

yeah it does look quite good from the front, I will say that, he did a great job on the transplant and I'm very happy with that result, just highly questioning his choice to harvest the donor hairs in the manner in which he did. He did get back to me and told me to give it at least another 6 months as the area is still healing, so maybe I overreacted as it's only been 3 months...I was under the impression the donor area wouldn't really change much since those hairs are basically just gone, but I will give it a little more time before making a final assessment on how I feel about this procedure and whether or not I want to have some kind of repair job done

Hmmm...Ok well thanks for all the info and the pics, your results do look pretty good but I have a few questions regarding this procedure What is the approximate cost when compared to a transplant? Somebody mentioned regular/ongoing upkeep costs after the initial procedure...what does that entail? How often is the maintenance and what's the cost to have it touched up? Also, I'm interested in as long term a solution as possible - as you mentioned, I do have dark hair now, but it is slowly going gray...what will it look like in 20 years when it's fully gray and I still have dark colored smp marks in two narrow stripes? A transplant is invasive and I'm assuming also more expensive, but it is also a one time deal...not saying i won't do smp, just wanting to look at and compare all the variables

Ok yeah I'm inclined to agree with you, I assumed smp was some kind of tattoo scenario and I'm not really into that idea...having to get a patch job for my patch job is incredibly annoying but whatevs, my hair is thick and it grows fast, in two weeks these streaks will be mostly covered, I'll wear hats until then and then keep my hair longer for a while until I can get it fixed

Are you by chance a doctor who specializes in such things?

I agree, also super annoying, especially since I kind of asked him beforehand not to do it that way and he said he wouldn't but then he did it anyway when I was all drugged up I'm going to withhold the name for now, I contacted him about it and am waiting for his response...I was thinking I might post a full review here and how he responds will enter heavily into how that goes

There's ongoing maintenance/cost with SMP? What does it entail?

Well technically all cosmetic surgery is unnecessary, is it not? But I do agree, I really didn't want to have to do anything beyond this either...that being said, I know it's a long shot but I'm hoping if I complain enough maybe the surgeon will agree to fix it for me If not I suppose smp could be on the table...any recommended places? I'm in NY but happy to travel, either US or abroad

What is smp? would it be fixable with an additional transplant? I know it's far from ideal to fix a bad transplant with a second transplant and extremely frustrating that I'm even tempted to ask about having it done in the donor area, but hypothetically can it be done?

No I didn't take a pic immediately following the surgery of the donor area, only from the implanted area...but I agree, I also thought it was odd that he harvested from the donor area in such a fashion, after the surgery he showed me with a mirror where he took all the hairs from and I kind of initially freaked out initially because I was worried about having a stripe, and he assured me it would become unnoticeable when it grew in a bit but it's been over 3 months, I can't imagine this is going to improve much

The surgery was about 3.5 months ago (late December). The quote I have was for 800 FUE grafts It was actually for a beard enhancement procedure, I had hoped that he could take the hair from my neck and fill in a few patches on my cheek, but he was insistent that head hair would be best and that the harvested area wouldn't be at all noticeable when it grew back in. Boy was that off the mark.

Well this is just a bummer, I had some work done with a very highly reviewed surgeon, and I was very happy with the results of the transplant thus far but then I got a haircut the other day and finally looked at the back, and I now have these glaringly noticeable and in my opinion awful looking lines in the donor area. I'm a little surprised and disappointed it turned out this way, this guy had overwhelmingly positive reviews and he reassured me specifically before and after the procedure (because I was paranoid and I asked) that no he wouldn't take too much, and that yes he would spread it around so it wouldn't be noticeable Well so much for that obviously but now I have a few questions: Will it look like this forever? (I'm assuming so) If so, Is it fixable? If so, how many grafts am I looking at approximately? And is there any surgeon in particular out there who specializes in fixing bad jobs? I still can't believe how bad this is, I really thought you had to go absolute bottom of the barrel, hair mill-type operation for this kind of thing.

Hey ya'll, got my hairline redone at HLC in Ankara back in March, just wanted some opinions on how it's growing in...now I'm not complaining, I'm pretty generally happy with the results thus far but I was starting to think that the way it's growing in on the left side is a little weird. The hair at the transplant area seems to be kind of doing it's own thing compared to the original hair, which is making it look a bit odd when I style it, almost like it's two separate hair masses that each require a different styling solution, which I guess technically it is but I was hoping they would blend a little better. Will this effect settle down as the hair grows in more? It's not a big deal if not, worse case scenario I could just start training my hair to part on the other side, the left is my natural part but the hair implant on the right side is so far perfectly straight, just looking for some opinions. Included a few before and after pics for reference.

I hit the 8 week mark on my first transplant today, just wanted to get some feedback on how it seems to be going... A bunch of the hairs fell out, that seemed to be kind of delayed - my understanding was that that would likely happen in the first weeks but actually they held in there for over a month before falling out, only a few weeks ago did I start noticing that happening. Is this kind of more less what to expect at 8 weeks in though? When should I be expected the transplanted hairs to grow back? Included a pic of the original transplant, on the day of

I lost the most recent before pics, these are a little older but nothing really changed, they still apply...not really sure why one of these photos flipped itself I don't remember the exact breakdown, it was around 1700 total I think, 50/cm on the sides and I think maybe 20/cm in the middle...they explained it all right before loading me up with drugs, it's all a bit of a blur at this point

ok well thanks for the feedback, I feel much better about and will leave it be and see how it grows in Still pretty bummed about this head-shaving thing, is it really true that I may not be able to do that again? That's going to make summers for me so much harder...is there really no type of touch up or follow up procedure that can be done to facilitate that?

My bad, i didn't mean to make it sound like it's a big emergency, I have till wednesday and they did offer to fix that one highlighted edge that's sticking out...just trying to get advice on whether I should take them up on it or not while I'm still here. So it's a little time sensitive in that regard, but it's certainly not urgent

Well the answer would be maybe 0 i guess, I never thought to even pay attention to it but 1) I don't come on this site all that often, just when I have a question to pose so it's not like I'm seeing a plethora of pics of guys on this forum, but even when I do see pics 2) lack of a shaved head does not in anyway to me imply inability to wear a shaved head, the first conclusion I jump to is a non-desire to do so...I would have never thought to ask whether or not people on this site didn't shave their heads because they either couldn't, or didn't want to. I also never thought to ask whether or not I would be able to shave it after having a transplant, apparently I should have but the idea that it would be off the table never even occurred to me. I'm a little surprised nobody else ever brought it up either, every picture I've submitted to hair clinics or forums looking for advice/quotes etc. featured me with the shaved head I sport every summer, it's a little disheartening nobody thought to say "hey you can't have that hairstyle anymore btw"... I live in Texas and I work outside in the summer...there's really no way I can have this touched up in some way to make a shaved head possible? It's pretty unbearable otherwise. Are there any other hairstyles that are now unavailable to me? And where does one find this information because I really thought I read a lot of articles and watched a bunch of stuff on youtube besides coming to this and other forums before making this choice and the idea of certain hairstyles being off-limits didn't come up once. ...also what does this mean? "Your plan should not built on that unlike you plan to add SMP in Donor and (!) recipient to begin with. "

Ok well I guess I feel better about it if this is the general consensus of folks who have had this done before, just want to be sure I'm having quality work done before I leave this place forever. I was mainly concerned about this one piece that just seems to stick out a little far, about halfway up the left side, i highlighted it - this is the side my hair naturally parts on, so if it ends up looking weird folks are gonna notice...for real though ya'll think this looks normal though? Not going to be an issue? If I'm just being extra anal about this I'll take everybody's word, it looks weird to me but I've never had this done before so I have no idea how it's going to grow in. I don't recall how many grafts are on the first side, here's a shot of the finished work from the afternoon, it's just shy of 1700 total I think. So wait though, I can't shave my head anymore? Really?! Like how come, it just doesn't look good or what? Damnit I can't believe that never came up in a year of doing research on this, that's one of my preferred ways to wear my hair, almost might have been a deal breaker for me...

Hello all, I posted on this forum last year about looking for a a hairline transplant in a country where I could afford it, one of the places that came most recommended was HLC in Ankara Turkey so I wound up here getting one done. This is my first ever hair restoration procedure so I don't know if this is cause for concern or not, just looking for input from folks who have som experience in the matter. So I just went through the first round of implantation yesterday, and I'm just not sure how I should feel about these results - what do you guys think? I feel it looks super jagged, almost pixelated, like a staircase leading into my temple. The doctor told me that's for a natural look, so it's not perfectly straight across like doll hair, which I understand is something that's supposed to be done to an extent, but this looks a little extreme to me - I'm looking around the clinic at some of the other hairline reconstructions here and while there is a bit of zig-zag happening with a lot of them, I feel mine is a bit more than the others. They also said that part of why it looks weird now is the scabbing and the swelling, eventually that will subside and it will look more normal. I'm not a doctor and I have very little experience in this arena so for all I know it's possible they're right and I don't want to come off as the jerk who's complaining when I don't know shit, but I also can't walk out of this place with an unacceptable hairline...I still have surgery this afternoon, and I'm still here a few more days after for monitoring so it's not too late to fix it if I need to, any thoughts? I also included a pic of a celebrity with a very similar hair type and hairline to mine before I lost any hair - this is more or less what I'm looking to achieve. I feel the overall shape of what they're putting in is right, I'm just worried about the smoothness of the edges. I also often shaved my head like this as well, and would really like to be able to reacquire that overall shape if I can

@TEXAN35 Dutersteride? Never heard of it, this is new? Where I can find info on it/possibly acquire it?

@Balding Bad I don't recall the dosage of the Fin i took years ago from keeps, I took it daily though I can't remember if it was 1/day or one each morning and evening The current dosage of the topical stuff from forhims is .1% fin, 6% minoxidil, 6 sprays to the bald spots 2x/day I can try it applying it less and see if that helps. It's a combined solution though, so I can't mix up the dosages individually

Hi ya'll, Just hoping to get some advice here on what my options might be, if anybody here has had any similar experiences...when I started noticing hair loss a few years back I tried out the Keeps plan, using their monthly shipment of oral finasteride and topical minoxadil. At some point I started noticing some of those dreaded sexual side effects, so after about 8 months or so I stopped taking both. Fast forward to now and I decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on a hair transplant, which I have scheduled for March. The doc at that clinic told me as part of my post op care plan it's probably going to be necessary to start finasteride again after the procedure to make sure I don't start losing hair again, otherwise I'm likely to have to keep coming in every few years for expensive touch ups. I talked to him about my issues in the past with finasteride and he recommended I try the new topical version of finasteride which apparently has less pronounced side effects. So I found that I could get a finasteride+minoxadil topical solution from forhims.com and I've been using it for a few weeks...and I'm starting to feel some of the same side effects, albeit less pronounced, but still there and I'm wondering...is there anything I can do besides finasteride to keep my hair? Of course I want this surgery to be successful and keep what I have, but I really, really hate taking this stuff. My follow up question here is about PRP injections...anybody here have any experience/knowledge of this sort of procedure? I actually tried it myself a few years ago, and in all honesty I felt a bit swindled at the time as the doctor all but guaranteed me I get some of my hair to come back and that didn't happen at all, but he swears up and down that my remaining follicles look healthier after the procedure and that I'm less likely to lose what I have after having had that done...is it possible he's right? Could having to take dick-numbing finasteride every single day possibly be replaced by getting PRP shots done every few years to keep my hair? Also, what about just minoxadil by itself, no finasteride? Would that accomplish anything? I have a receding hairline btw, no vertex baldness

Yeah I'll just have to wait and hopefully hear back from Arocha, see if his quote for my case has changed since 2016...now that I'm thinking on it more i believe he said his procedure would normally be more like $8k for my case but for whatever reason he was able to offer it to me at that time for only $5k (this was first week of january, maybe holiday special? i have no idea...) unfortunately I didn't have $5k to blow at the time but I do now, so if he can still do it for that price great otherwise I guess i'll look more into HLC. I too am the adventurous type, I don't mind flying halfway around the world to get this done as long as i can be confident the doctors involved are competent - I too would probably be inclined to hang around a bit longer and see Istanbul I'm well pretty versed in the travel restrictions as I've been planning an 8 week stint in Europe for the past couple months...they change all the time and with the delta variant floating around everything is up in the air but as of now it's pretty easy to get into Turkey, it's getting out that's the issue.

I'm just a little bit confused now because I feel I'm getting contradictory information, the general consensus seems to be that HLC, Pekiner and Bicer and very solid, recommended choices but also not to go near Turkish doctors with a 10 foot pole...so what is the vedict? Can I expect a good result from these doctor-run clinics or no? For what it's worth I've already reached out to all three just to get information - Pekiner hasn't responded, Bicer responded once but hasn't followed up, only HLC has actually provided real info - 2000 grafts, 2.7 Euro/graft, 50 grafts/cm2, FUE only (this being a rough estimate based on photos I provided) ...they also offer an optional additional "surgery package fee" for room and board during your stay, not sure if that counts as one of the highly questionable "all-inclusive packages" that some of the disdained hairmills are providing since it is an extra charge, but it's an option This is more grafts than expected, double the 1000 or so that were prescribed 5 years ago so perhaps I've lost a little more hair since then or perhaps the team at HLC couldn't get a clear picture of what I need from the photos I provided, or maybe a little of both. I also reached out to Arocha again just for the hell of it to see what he had to say but he hasn't gotten back to me either, so...that's what I have to go on for now