mtb

8 months update for Dr Zarev. Dry, styled, gym.

@Grouse I haven’t heard about transplants not lasting. Are you speaking of the actual transplanted hair? Does that include with the taking of finasteride? Can you share any references for the education of the group, please?

If you look at the pictures one or two pages back you can see the hair very short on the sides. No visible signs of scarring. Do you anticipate shaving the sides of your head after the transplant? Or what has you worried about the scarring? Dr. Zarev will want the entire recipient area shaved. The master artist needs a clean canvas. ha Very interesting. Thank you for sharing. I'm not so surprised that my case wasn't shared because the cases he covered were more extreme than mine. A NW 6 anywhere else is a huge deal but for him it's just another uneventful case. He's showcasing deep NW 7's and repair cases. Quite frankly it's just unfortunate that other surgeons haven't caught up to him yet. Lots of guys definitely wanting his level of expertise.

Bout to shave my head in one month. Or, more accurately, Dr Zarev is going to be shaving it. Second procedure coming up. I’ll try to remember to post a pic then.

Yeah he said 2k if I want to be able to west the slides longer, 4-5k if I keep it really short on the sides forever Topical min and topical .1% fin. It’s Zarev’s formula. Also, started taking oral fin on my own. Dr Z is a great doctor. I’m not from Romania. That was a joke. But I loved visiting Romania though. Just keep calling the main number. Yeah. They stand up. Even without product. There is a little hotel room he will have upstairs but I’m not sure if it’s finished yet. There’s little hotels in the neighborhood that are a long walk or you can Uber for about $5.

7 months Some dry shots, some styled shots, some gym shots

I have to send Dr. Zarev my 7 month photos next week. I'll post those here as well. It'll be for density. Under intense direct light, like my barber's chair or the sun, it is thinner through the hairline. Also, the crown will need a little bit. First procedure was 8,300 grafts. This one will only be 2k-ish I'm feeling that way myself. Not sure why other surgeons aren't able to replicate. My first contact to in-person consult was May '21-Dec '21, so 7 months. Then consult to procedure was Dec '21-Jan '23, so 13 months. 3 years til consult is just crazy. I feel very fortunate.

Just had my first real hair cut. My stylist of 10 years was stunned. She ran out and grabbed her colleague to show him. Feeling fortunate. Don’t want to sound ungrateful but I barely even think about it anymore. Maybe it’s too long to notice if there’s scarring but I don’t see any scarring. Two months of this and then time for my second procedure.

6.5 months. At the gym.

After about 15 days it's started to fall out but it took up to 45 days for it to all fall out.

Just those ones in the gym a page back. I can post some with in-door lighting in my house next month. I did a hair system for the last 13 years. Then the first four months after procedure I just wore a hat all the time. Now when people see it they ask if I got a hair cut or if I have colored my hair. No one guesses hair transplant. Yes. Dr. Zarev requests flash in the monthly update photos that I send him.

6 months. This old boy needs a hair trim. Prob gonna do a skin fade to see what the scarring looks like.

Thank you. You're journey was helpful for me as I was making the decision. Thank you for your contributions, @Gatsby Thank you, sir. I was at the gym with my friend and I just kept looking in the mirror laughing. It's just surreal. Honestly though I'd be a head-shave or hairpiece guy for life. Yeah, he said my characteristics were pretty average in total I was grandfathered in at 4 euros per graft. Ok, boomer. Thank you. Excited for the future.

5.5 months. At the gym again. The lighting makes it looks great.

I tend to agree with you Gatsby. For me, and really everyone on this forum who has consulted with Zarev, it was the in-person that sold me. He's very detailed in discussing the approach. Then he shows you a dozen or so cases that resemble your own. I also happened to see a former patient while I was there. Dr. Zarev is just not a big media and social media guy. I would say it's to his detriment but being booked out for five years probably indicates to him that he doesn't need to change anything. I would tell any prospective patient to do an in-person consult with any surgeon before making the big decision. Yeah, it is a risk going outside the "safe zone". But one I was okay with. My reasons were as follows: - My balding has been fairly stable for 10 years so lower risk of my NW getting all the way to 7, of course not guaranteed - No one in my family is a NW7, of course that's only a slight indicator and not a guarantee that I won't go there - NW7 is only achieved by 7% of the population so lower probability that I'll get there - I can tolerate oral finasteride and respond well to it which will greatly slow down my possible progression to NW7, of course not guaranteed (talk of sides and permanent sides are greatly overblown) - I still have 4k grafts in reserve from my scalp for FUE with Dr. Zarev if I start to head toward a NW7 - Even further, Dr. Zarev says in extreme cases he can take up to 70%-80% of scalp grafts for very advanced Norwoods (so an additional 1.5k to 2k grafts for me), however this does require the patient to keep donor areas very short (nearly skin fade) which I saw as an acceptable option but a last option - I have a pretty thick beard and can likely get 2k-3k grafts from it if there is big-time thinning in the recipient area - I'm also okay with SMP to add the illusion of coverage/density -I'm comfortable with an FUT procedure as a possibility down the road if recipient areas thin -Or in the case that nothing above works and I'm thinning greatly in the transplanted region I'm okay to shave my head and I chose Dr. Zarev because the scarring from his procedure is almost indiscernible Just my my through process when making my decision. There are many things to consider and additional treatments if needed. I don't feel it's likely that it'll come to that for me. If you're not comfortable with the possibility of thinning recipient area don't get a procedure at all. However, I knew the risks and the ways to mitigate and made my decision comfortably.

Strip with the right surgeon is a great procedure. FUE with the right surgeon is a great procedure as well. So much depends on your personal characteristics.

5 month mark

Here’s some top shots from this weekend. The bottom one is where I started. Almost 5 month mark. Dr Z says the top takes longer than the hairline and the crown comes last, maybe 4 more months until it’s meant to look great. Will post the Dr Zarev yellow background update pics this weekend.

It's all good man. Gotta do what you feel comfortable with. Thanks for keeping us on track. And to your comment, I will post some top and crown pics from real life when I do my 5 month update in a couple weeks.

He uses a much wider donor area than most surgeons. On page 3(?) of this thread I commented on why I was okay with this. It's not going to be right for everyone. Everyone needs to make their own informed decision. I'm pleasantly surprised. I no longer where hats. Maybe once or twice a week I use toppik. But even getting to the point where I don't care for it. Yeah, he wants to get a med student rather than someone from the industry who already had bad habits. It's rough, man. I totally understand. You could shave it down or glue a wig to your head. Or just go to Pitella, H&W, or Eugenix. For me it was worth the wait but I only had to wait 20months from first contact to procedure. If you're a full blown slick NW6 Zarev is the man for the job. I have no idea how anyone can accurately estimated the survival rate. What is the methodology? Very thorough review. Agreed. I was the one who told about the 3 hour consultation. I wouldn't anticipate that are there were some circumstances that were specific to me. That said, you'll leave the consult feeling 100% confident. It's not just going outside the traditional safe donor. It's also his extraction technique. For sure it's thinner overall than full native dense scalp but it's totally fine for me. Never understood wanting to have super thick hair on the sides of my head. Yeah, his donor management his excellent considering how many grafts he can extract. Yes, not everyone goes full 7. See my comments on the matter on page 2 or 3 of this thread .

You’re right. Crown getting thicker by the week. Yeah the problem is there remaining donor grafts should be used for density rather than lowering the hairline. We’ll see. I’m pretty happy with things. Pitella, H&W, and Eugenix are great options with shorter wait times. No other doc can gets as many scalp only FUE grafts however. Grateful I found Dr Zarev when I did. Yes, sir. ha ha. For real. Attached are some pics from the gym this week. Didn’t put up the Dr Zarev yellow paper at the gym. Ha. It’s getting thicker by the week

If there is any possibly way Zarev will know how to do it. He has some wild repair cases he will show you in your consultation. Agreed. My brother is having procedure with Pitella later this year. Excellent option. Pitella embraces beard hair while Zarev doesn’t like to do it. Dr Zarev will of totally necessary.

Trust in Dr Zarev. If there is something that can be done he is the one to do it. Best of luck in your meeting with him. I assume you’ll be impressed like the rest of us who have gone to him.

Please see above Starting to get excited about things Seriously. It wasn't even a thought in my mind as late as March of 2021. Big thanks to Hugo. Now I'm halfway to being cured. ha. "Back from the dead" lol Half the time I think it's too high. Half the time I think it's perfect. The amount of grafts I'd have to use to lower vs. using those grafts to thicken the donor area will probably mean I leave it where it is. the other option is to put beard in teh crown and midscalp and use my scalp grafts to push the hairline down, but Dr. Zarev isn't a big fan of beard grafts. I'm 40 now. If I was 27 or something I'd probably try to lower it but it's less of an issue now. I'm feel very fortunate that I found him. I don't remember, sorry. I didn't take good notes when I was there. I'm already scheduled in October for second procedure. Probably 2k-2.5k grafts for thickness.

4 month update Hard to tell what’s happening because I’m letting it grow a little longer. Dr Z says starting now the shock loss areas should start to fill back in Right temple growing in slower than left temple. Still many smaller hairs just starting to poke through my scalp