JDEE0

Thanks both! it's at the point now where slight changes are noticeable every few days, it starts to look darker and fuller every time I look really, and the outline of my hairline is very much established now.

It's the different types of punches used to extract the hair follicles; sharp, flat and serrated are those used for various different situations by Dr. Pinto.

Cheers guys - the encouragement is much appreciated!

You're both right - drugs, alcohol, a poor unhealthy lifestyle or whatever else won't cause or exasperate hair loss from MPB. As has been pointed out, you can walk through the rougher area's of your city and see lots of homeless people with thick manes, just as you can also see lots of extremely unhealthy/overweight people in everyday life with great hair. However, the key is that we're talking MPB; a number of prescription drugs do have hair loss as a listed side effect and can cause such, it's just not androgen related or dependent. Drugs such as corticosteroids, blood thinners (like heparin) and even SSRI's as mentioned in the title of this thread all have some evidence that they cause hair loss. They obviously do so via a different mechanism of action than androgen related gene expression and it's downstream effects, and I would imagine most of it is recoverable, but I really don't know enough about these sorts of causes of hair loss to comment.

Topical is OTC, oral isn't and is a very potent hypertensive drug that can have serious cardiac side effects in higher doses.

Dr Konior just charges a lot, he's the most expensive doctor I've ever come across. He's good, but 12 grand for 500 grafts is absolute lunacy unless you're extremely wealthy. If that's chump change to you, then obviously go ahead. If not, there are lot's of other surgeons who are just as good that charge a lot, lot less.

You need less than 2000 grafts, probably 1500 or so, FUT for this would be overkill and I doubt anyone would suggest doing so. You also want to have probably 20-30 percent of those 1500 grafts as the finest possible singles that can be picked from your donor (for the hairline), so FUT doesn't make sense for that reason also. FUE allows for this much better. If you want 'real' density, you'll have to do 2 procedures; the hair behind your thinning front is probably 80, maybe 90+ FU per cm2 and none of the names mentioned are really going to implant higher than 60 grafts per cm2 in one go. I doubt you'll think its necessary once the results of your first are in, but if you really wanted to you could have a touch up to bring the area close to your native density, but it would be a waste of grafts most likely.

To be honest, they are all some of the best in the world. In my opinion, it's more a case of looking at their results and picking out the nuances you and details you most like... each will have a style in terms of hairline design, how conservative their approach is overall and with hairline placement and so on, view enough cases and you'll find the style you prefer the most. Beyond that, some surgeons are better at more specific cases, i.e. for repairs, temple points or higher Norwood situations, so you should also base it off the amount of whatever cases are relevant to your own. You might also like the approach of some doctors being less tech focused, and so on. At the end of the day, Pinto, Freitas, Ferreira, Bisanga, Lorenzo and whoever else of this caliber are all the cream of the crop. At this level, I don't really believe any one is necessarily 'better' than the other, and in my opinion, there really is no real metric to even judge this by as they all have amazing growth, designs and naturalness in their results. Some such as Bisanga certainly have more overall experience in the game than most other surgeons period, but once you get very good at doing HT's, it's more about details you as a patient gravitate towards than the skill of the doctor as they're all equal for all intents and purposes. To sum it up, If you're going to have a good result, you'll have it with any of them. Going to Bisanga instead of Pinto or vice versa for any of these doctors is very unlikely to have much of an impact on the overall result, the design will just be different depending on who you choose. Freitas for example has very distinctive zig zagged and usually quite low and more straight hairlines, whilst Bisanga has more rounded and conservatively placed ones. Pick which you like the best and you'll be in safe hands with any of the names talked about.

12 weeks | 84 days:

Seems like a great idea, would be very cool if this happens. Could be a good idea to get in touch with the guy who runs the folliclethought site - he has interviewed the guy who runs Stemson and some of the other players in the pipeline and posted articles on his site. He'd probably be a cool guest regardless as he is deep into the research side of things, but he seems to have a lot of contact with these companies and maybe he could advise on the best way to get in touch with them or provide some details to do so etc. Just a thought.

Thanks man - hopefully I can follow in your growth footsteps

Some close-ups of the left side before I post a proper 3 month update at the end of the week... lots and lots of hairs are through the skin and growing now, they're just very fine, short and wispy at this point obviously, but I'm quite happy with the way things are developing and think I'll most likely have a good result now and feel like I can relax a bit. Anyway, I was just looking at these pics trying to guesstimate what percentage of grafts have popped through the skin, I can't figure out roughly what amount have, would be interested to see what everyone else thinks - 50 percent or more?

Cheers gents, yeah, that's what I was referring to really, whether the scarring will suddenly become extremely obvious due to the surrounding skin tanning and the FUE sites staying the same colour as before. I'll have to lather up on the sun cream and spin my hat backwards or something..

Cheer up mate, it'll get sorted and I don't think it will be a huge deal to fix in the end once the final result is in. It's almost a rite of passage amongst people who get a HT and actually care about the results to end up with something they're not completely happy with or that went a bit wrong the first time around. For now, maybe just adopt a new hairstyle a bit longer on the sides until the time comes to sort the temples out, then maybe you can remove some via electrolysis and some via punch out so that things can be done in one go? My personal view on temple points recreated via hair transplants is that they should be implanted very feathered and sparsely with low density anyway, so it seems plausible that a few hundred singles (if that) either side could be put in at the same time a few hundred are punched out. But either way, it's a very fixable situation so don't be too hard on yourself.

Yeah, looks about as good as you can really get at 5 months (and would look very good even if it was much further on in the growth timeline than that). Congrats man, it's going to be at least a 9/10 outcome in the next 3-5 months. Any chance you could use the rear facing camera for some closer up, detailed shots of the hairline to really get a good view of the density etc?

No worries man - yeah they're busy and so I think they've had that automated e-mail turning patients away for a while now (was the same response I initially got when I got in touch nearly 10 months ago), but people seem to still be getting through and getting dates booked in with a bit of persistence and actually speaking to someone. I'll post my 3 months on Thursday!

I'm due to be on holiday the sun for a few weeks in the near future and was wondering if anyone has any experience with FUE scarring and the sun making them stand out and become a lot more visible? I'm lucky in that I heal and scar very closely to my own skin colour, essentially the exact same really, and so my scars are pretty much invisible even with a skin fade. I've heard a few times before however that any tanning will likely make the scars stand out much more than usual (which makes sense obviously) due to the surrounding skin still having it's pigmentation and the scar tissue not having much left at all. With my hair being so short on the back and sides, the skin in my donor area will most definitely be catching some sun and I don't want to deal with very visible FUE dots on display for months after as a result... has this happened to anyone before, and will a bit of sun cream regularly applied to the back of my head solve the issue if so? Cheers

He seems to do decent work from what I've seen, but why not just go to Europe? You can be in Spain, Portugal or Belgium (amongst a few other places) in an hour or two and have a HT with one of the best in the world for cheaper (definitely) or the same price at worst.

Cheers mate. From consultation to my transplant date, I think around 8 months or so, I believe I contacted the clinic in May and then I had surgery in November. They did have some cancellation dates (two if I remember correctly) earlier than this though, I think in June or July time, but I wouldn't have been able to make it so I just took the next available one in Nov.

Yeah, there are shops nearby, restaurants, a McDonalds a few mins away etc. Pinto's clinic (and the hotel) is literally right in the middle of the city, so lot's of stuff around. I had a bit of a wonder around yeah, I walked around for a bit on the evening I arrived (I got to the Hotel at like 8pm or so and surgery was the next morning) and had something to eat etc, but then after that I mostly just chilled in the hotel room and didn't go out much. I only really had one full day there after my surgery and going home, and I was pretty done in by it all and didn't want to go out exploring. It was the end of November when I went, so was pretty cold and I wasn't out in the sun really, if it's summer you'll want to stay in the shade and not be in the sun at all really. Will need to cover your head if you have to be out and about.

Hi man, Thanks a lot mate, much appreciated. Sure - for the blood tests, I had a similar conundrum, in the end I just went to a private doctors and had them run a panel for what was needed (HIV, HEP B, HEP C, FBC and other stuff like potassium levels etc). Not cheap though, cost 500 quid, but that's what it'll cost in the UK (even if you go to your GP, will be the same). I know some of the guys who went to Dr. Ferreira had their bloods done in a clinic in Porto and it was only £100 or so, a lot cheaper, but I didn't know how to organise it etc and Emilio advised I get them done in advance at home so I just did so. Might be worth looking into though. But yeah, just go to your GP or search for a private doctors office in your area and ring them up/send an e-mail and they'll organise it for you. Mine was a same day doc and they had the results ready in like 24 hrs which was good at least. I actually ended up having to cancel my first flight on the Tuesday to Porto due to a last min work thing and instead flew out the next day on Wednesday, but due to covid there was only a flight to Lisbon, so I actually flew into there on the way in and not Porto, but an Uber is the easiest. That's what I did on the way back from the hotel to Porto airport and it was around 15 quid or so If I remember correctly, about 15 mins away, if that.

Pretty much what the others have said. People like to stress over details both pre and post surgery as it gives them a sense of control and therefore comfort that if they just do X, Y and Z that they are likely to have a good result. The truth is, there really is no control in the patients hands apart from picking a great doctor. As Sadman says, all that really matters is what your surgeon does on the day, and of course how you as an individual respond to a HT also (mostly the former, but the latter has a big impact in rarer cases). Nothing you do or don't do apart from banging, aggressively rubbing or scratching your head etc in the first week or 2 after surgery is going to make any difference to the outcome. Even then, it's really only the immediate post op period where you can actually damage and dislodge the grafts that will make any difference in reality. Shampoos, vitamins or whatever else aren't going to change the outcome of your surgery, your result is going to be your result, so don't sweat this stuff and stress yourself out over it. Just take care of your head, wash it as per the docs instructions and sit back for a few months to see signs of growth. It's much easier that way and the time goes quicker when you put it to the back of your mind.

Looks great man, very good choice. Congrats on the procedure - it's good to see some more Pinto cases on here and not just the Spanish forums! Your donor supply looks very good, I'm sure this is going to be another great case in the portfolio of Dr. P. Everything looks clean and I think the design looks great, I'll be keeping a close eye on your progress. Also, in regards to comments around high extractions, it's been established in recent times by numerous world class docs that this is an outdated way of thinking and that the so called 'safe zone' doesn't really exist as people once thought it did. As you say, the Dr. has examined your donor closely and made judgements around his extraction pattern based on that; there is no one size fits all and many doctors approach surgery this way nowadays. It's fairly common, and whilst nothing is guaranteed or absolute regarding future loss, Pinto has done what he believes will work out for you personally in the long run based on your miniaturisation levels etc, there is nothing to worry about. Good luck and keep posting updates please!

Looking good man - you'll begin to see more and more hairs popping through the skin in the coming weeks now!

Sorry to see there are some issues Digi, I understand your concerns and would feel the same if I were in your shoes. As for people saying it won't be too noticeable to most people, I'd have to agree as I think it would be fine if you wore your hair longer, maybe a guard 4+, on the back and sides. But, you've said you usually have some sort of fade/taper and so I agree it will be hard for the temples not to stand out with these shorter hair cuts. It's really going to come down to how you style your hair going forwards imo, if you hate having your hair longer than say a number 2 or 3 on the back and sides then it's probably going to be an issue (as I do myself, I usually get a haircut every 2 weeks from a skin-fade and even at that point it's starting to get way too long for my liking, so I can also understand if it's not really an option to keep it longer for you). A little longer on the sides and I don't think anyone would ever notice anything. Anyway, it's good you're getting the ball rolling and speaking to other surgeons for a possible repair so you can get it all over with as quick as possible if needed, but it's still very early and you don't know how it's gonna actually look in 6 months time. You very well might be pleased with the end result for the most part, so don't be too defeated yet.