mtb

@hairman22 it got postponed

Had a friend snap some pics a couple weeks ago for a professional account and a pic of me clowning. Hairline height worries were overblown. I think it looks fine. Age appropriate. A few new hairs poking through that will thicken it up.

@hairman22 yeah, I'm very impressed by his work. @MC117 6-7 months is going to be looking solid @Gatsby Thanks. Feeling fortunate. @Spring15 I am a the Malto-O-Meal/Hydrox/Kroger version of him. lol @MC117 lol. Nobody seems to be choosing The Rock or Jason Statham though. @Melvin- Admin Yeah man. Post away. But do you want to wait until the mid-scalp fills and the rest of the shock loss clears up? You can show my face. Most people I know already are aware I've had the procedure. At this point I'm beyond the possibility of it failing and being embarrassed. Also, AI is going to destroy the concept of online privacy pretty soon anyway.

4 months. Without flash and then with flash.

😆 yeah the supermarket.

Perhaps. He didn't offer me anything when I told him my forum thread had 50k views back in October. It felt inappropriate to ask but I guess it wouldn't have hurt to try. lol. I happened to be early to a dinner appt recently so I asked the hostess to sit us at a specific table with specific lighting. ha ha. that's it. Oh yeah, another one. ha

I’d be up for it. He already asked to come back in August-ish for final photos he can put on his website/insta/YouTube. Thanks man. It’s come a long way.

Of course these pics are in the favorable gym lighting. I’ll get some in the caustic restaurant lighting at some point. Yellow background Dr Zarev pics going on the thread on Sunday.

Throw em in jail

@GeneralNorwood Something like the tables on the right. If you're thin either from balding or reverse balding (post transplant) these are a doom sentence. These restaurants should have their business licenses revoked. lol @hairman22 Yes, the next couple months should be big.

I think it's going well. Hard to tell because the hair from the first transplant is so long now. Does seem to be filling in though. I'll post some pics in a few days. The four month update. Also, I get annoyed how every American restaurant, at least in the states I'm in, all have the crazy harsh downlighting. Something about a dark restaurant with a super bright interrogation light bulb overhead makes the frontal hair look thin. Not sure if that's because the 2nd round hair hasn't grown in enough or if it's just the limitations of a hair transplant. Outside of that scenario the hair looks awesome in every other lighting. I don't think about it too much anymore.

Incredible!

Considering not cutting the hair on the top of my head for a couple years. From this, to big wave, to pompadour, to surfer long hair, to rocker long hair. Gotta make up for the 20 years I lost. Ha. Wild that the second procedure hair from October is only barely visible at this point.

The photos from Jan '23 and Oct '23 are from his clinic. All the other pictures were taken by me. However the ones taken by me are taken in different locations so the lighting is a bit different each time. These last ones were in my new house and I took them with my golf camera tripod instead of having someone else take them. That explains why they look different. I may go back to his clinic in the summer for final photos. Those photos would match the Jan '23 and Oct '23 lighting perfectly. @BackFromTheBrink is close. The cost is in euros though. So regularly scheduled is 5 euros per graft now.

3 months since second procedure. 12 months since first procedure. Can see a little growth but it’s covered by my longer hair. Shock loss won’t resolve for another month or two. Mid scalp and crown set to start filling in. Some non-flash photos as well as flash

Yeah, @MC117 you're right. It's more complicated than "there's nothing special. He just goes outside the safe zone". He is waaaay beyond that as you mentioned. If it was that easy everyone doc would be doing it. @Kacan Dr. Zarev gives patients 5% minox with .1 mg topical treatment. He says taking oral fin is up to the patient but he doesn't advise them taking it. He does prp during the session but doesn't recommend it in the months after the procedure. He did have a high caliber multi-vitamin supplement for me the first procedure to be used daily but didn't mention it after the second procedure. At the first procedure he recommended using ketoconazole shampoo a couple times a week starting a month after the surgery and ongoing. I never started it because I forgot. Also for 10 days after the procedure you're on various meds that I don't remember the names of (some were in Bulgarian). Pretty standard post surgery meds you'd see after any other type of surgery.

I had shock loss from both of my procedures. Took about 4 months to look normal again. Might be too early to tell in your case.

He has my vote. My experience has been exceptional. His short-term planning, his long-term planning, his requiring an in person before agreeing to surgery, his insane level of detail in the surgical cases, and his very thorough follow through make him a shoe in from my perspective. In addition to the three cases on this site I consulted with three Bulgarians, a Greek gentleman, and an American who were his patients before I decided on having my procedure with him. They all had positive things to say.

@TakeAction I mostly agree. If the patient wants it the doctor ought to be open to it. It's okay if the doctor isn't because it's also their preference and there will be other doctors that are willing to do it. Dr Zarev's punch size and extraction technique allows him to take up to 60% of the donor which I don't believe other docs are doing just yet. But maybe I'm wrong, I stopped researching 1.5 years ago since I made the Zarev decision. @Silent123 Thanks. Yes, I'm quite happy with it. The only issue at this point is harsh downlighting. Once the second procedure hairs come through that issue will be greatly reduced.

@hairman22 I'm eager for it to fill in but that won't happen for another two months. I do a half dose of finasteride orally currently. My own choice, not Dr. Zarev's recommendation. I tolerate it just fine. You should look at clinical studies before making the decision. Sides are just not as prevalent as the internet would have you believe. Not to take anything away from men who do get them but the incidence seems very small based on the research. @bigmistake This time around is so much better! @Melvin- Admin @GeneralNorwood This time around is so much easier. Not checking in the mirror nearly as often like after the first procedure.

My choices were between Capelli, Felipe and Digs. Too inconsistent when comparing guys' second procedures to a different guy's first procedure. And Capeill and Digs have the biggest single surgery transformation in my view. In the end Capelli benefitted hugely from curly hair so he got my vote. Of course Gatsby, Bandit, and Callico are just mind-bending results. Everyone wins in my view.

Yes, my last several updates have included pictures with flash and no flash. I will continue to do so for the next 10 months of updates. Hopefully it is helpful.

2 months post second procedure. 11 months from first procedure. No real changes. After my first procedure 2 months was the worst of the ugly duckling phase. Can now feel and see a few tiny new hairs. It’s onward and upward from here.

You'll be impressed. He's a really affable man and very knowledgeable. The new clinic is nice. As an aside Bulgaria is awesome. I made friends with some locals and thought the sights and food were great. If you care about such things you ought to hang out there for a bit. You may not have time or interest though. @Grouse He's meant to start training in the next year or two. @THE GAME Perhaps. He does use a smaller punch though. Less heal time, less scarring, more scalp contraction. @Stewie ha ha. yeah, I could see a new surgeon watching Dr. Zarev crank out a 20 hour day and think "nah, I'll find another specialty." Dr. Zarev is an incredible work ethic. @MC117 4 euro per graft on the first surgery. 5 euro per graft on the second surgery. He did make some consolation though when he moved more grafts than originally quoted. Seemed very generous of him. Perhaps more clinics will extract wider zones over time. @Stewie Yes, it's possible that balding will progress further than anticipated. But that's why I'm glad I have 2,500+ in reserve. And I'm totally fine taking finasteride. Talk of side effects appear to be overblown when compared with the research data. @BackFromTheBrink

@hairman22 I think maybe Dr. Zarev is just conservative in his initial estimates on graft survival rate, death of adjacent follicles in the donor area, healing of the donor skin, etc. Just my slightly informed thoughts. I'm for sure going to lose the rest of my parietal humps (which he didn't touch) but he didn't know when that would be. Some time in the next 10 years probably. However, I am getting back on oral fin (half dose) for awhile (my own decision) and that should slow the parietal hump loss. I also think the very bottom of my crown may go lower in the next 10-15 years. Having those 2,500+ in the bank is a nice little insurance policy.