fritz68

I'm 2 days post-op, Dr. Dorin placed 434 singles, 680 doubles and 74 threes. This is my 3rd hairline procedure, 2nd one by Dr. Alexander is covered here:- http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/161512-1550-grafts-dr-alexander.html This was really just tweaking, I understand I'm lucky to have a great starting point. My goal was to (a) make the hairline more natural and (b) increase density so that it matched the hair behind and allow me more styling options © correct uneven hairline (higher on right side, result of very first transplant) (d) hopefully improve scar which had stretched to 7-8mm in places. My final choice was between Drs. Shapiro, Konior and Dorin, all of whom produce stellar results and who don't require shaving. I especially liked Dr. Dorin's hairlines, the jagged edge looks bizarre when there's scabs but I think the results when the hair is grown in looks fantastic. As I was flying in to NYC, my first face to face consult was immediately prior to the procedure, although I did talk to Dr. Dorin on the phone and of course exchange mails with. I'm delighted with the whole procedure, it's slightly nerve-wracking flying to the US for a procedure based only on pictures but everything went very smoothly. It's a very professional set-up, a nice group of people there and both Dr. Dorin and the technicians paid a lot of attention to detail. Dr. Dorin is direct, and I think his answers/opinions are well thought through, rather than generic and automated. I've apparently about another 4500grafts left so should be ok for future with continued use of finasteride (been using since 1998) Procedure was pretty much pain free (last one was very painful in donor area) and I've also zero swelling in my face. So now it's the waiting game. A very positive part is that I'm recovering in Manhattan rather than somewhere where one is confined to a hotel with nothing going on except shopping malls. NYC hotels expensive, but I got a great deal at pod39 about a 2min walk from Dr. Dorin's. Small room, but very clean and simple with world outside my door. Will post follow-up photos when growth commences. Here's a few pre-op where you can see the suboptimal density, and a few immediately post-op.

Excellent overview Dr. Lindsey, thank you. I note that you don't mention exercise/weightlifting in post-op period which is often debated on here. After a week or two, is there any evidence (or do you believe) that an increase in blood pressure secondary to weight lifting could adversely affect scar healing (without physical stretching of scar during exercise)?

As an experiment of one, I started heavy weights (relative to my bodyweight) as soon as my stitches were out after my 1st strip procedure with a doc in Florida and got a badly stretched scar. I also started weights as soon as my stitches were out after my 2nd strip procedure with a different doc (Dr. Alexander) and got a perfect, pencil thin scar (including excision of old scar). So whatever the variables involved in the differences between the 2 scars, weight training wasn't one of them.

Thanks for feedback Spanker. I'm 45. The girl is actually very sweet, she said it more as an objective observation, wasn't trying to hurt me. But I was thinking after that it must look obvious to everyone but kids are the only one honest enough to say it.

here's a few photos with wet hair. I think the last set were more unflattering than reality and don't do justice to the job Dr. A did. These wet look with flash are probably a little more flattering than reality. But I'll really only need a touch-up in front section for a fantastic hairline.

Thanks a lot for your reply Adam, much appreciated. Seems like we've been following a parallel path, and I agree, I'll also need a 3rd pass. Looks like that will be it for you, as you say all you need is some more density between existing hairs. Regarding recovery, is it much easier to disguise in weeks after now that's there's much more hair in recipient area post-op? I've got to be back at work relatively quickly post-op so hopefully this is the case.

Hello again! Am now 13+ months out from the hairline work with Dr. Alexander. On a positive note it's made a big cosmetic difference and I think I had a high yield. On a negative note, it's still not right. The reason I say this is because on holiday, the 13 yr old daughter of a friend told me, unprompted, that my hairline looked funny as in contrast to everyone else at table I had no baby hair there, that it started abruptly, that it looked like it was stuck on and that scalp was showing (no kidding, she's sharp as a knife!). I see what she means as in contrast to normal hairlines, it's a suboptimal density yet with normal diameter hairs so in places each hair stands out. My options are therefore to go for a final round or just leave it. If I do a final round I'm not sure if it will look more natural, i.e., if the main problem is lack of density or something else. I'm also worried that another round would send hairs into shockloss again, hairs which have already gone into hibernation twice and whose total lifespan is therefore markedly shortened (if it's correct that hairs have a fixed amount of phases) I think Dr. Alexander did a fantastic job given the starting point, which you can see in the first pics, and would trust him to do this again but wondering if anyone has been in a similar situation and got a good, natural outcome?

Thanks chrisdav! Wings, sorry, no idea what the density was. It's undoubtedly less than the native hair behind (after 2 transplants to the area), but I'm not sure of the details.

Thanks for your positive feedback guys! Am now at 7months, the changes I see now are small but substantial. The maturing of the hair has the effect of making the hair look like it's solid and there to stay. When it's not mature it looks like it's on its way out, i.e., the last stage of hair before balding. So the signal it sends to the eye is quite different even if the absolute hair count doesn't change. These pics are taken with my hair about 6 inches away from a strip light without a flash to make it look as transparent as possible. In most situations it looks more solid I think. Very happy with outcome. Will come back with 12 months pics next time. Best wishes to all

Hi all, that's me just past the 6 months mark, sorry quality of photo isn't so good, mobile phone. The hairline looks a bit more feathery in this photo than in reality. I'm really delighted with the result so far, would be happy if this was it. Scar is great too, it's visible in places if I comb my hair up through it but you can't see it from a photo so no point trying. To sum up, first transplant, poor result, bad scar. Changed doctor. Second transplant, home-run. Only wish is that I'd discovered this site earlier on. But better late than never :cool:

thanks chrisdav. Back on the topic of weight training and scar stretching, I had a stretched scar (about 8-10mm from first procedure with another doctor). This time it's practically imperceptible, perfect. Both times I started heavy (by my standards) weight training about a week or so post-op. So in my instance it seems that the determining factor was absolutely surgeon skill & closure technique, not weight training nor my predisposition to form scars.

Thank you hairthere! There's still plenty of maturing to do but things are right on track. Today marks the 5 month mark, there's been a big jump in last 2 months, hoping it'll continue a while longer. Bit of a cliche but it's when I look back at baseline photos I realise how poor it was after the first HT. Kudos to Dr. Alexander for delivering the goods.

Thanks for your support orlhair1 and osidekid. Osidekid, I see you also had a great result from Dr. Alexander, and had a big jump from month 4 onwards. Big difference. This is a pic taken with wet hair at 20 weeks post-op (today). Every week I get more confident that this is going to be fine, it's already solid so in 4 months or so should be great. Dr. Alexander also did a great closure so the scar is minimal. The last surgeon (first HT attempt, not Dr. A) left a large stretched scar, his closure technique was obviously very poor, like the rest of his work.

A little over 4 months...as you can see there's still some gaps there but optimistic it will fill in. This is with minoxidil in morning and again this evening, pic with no flash under strip lighting, think it looks better in reality. Am able to wear hair up off my face, happy with things so far. I need to more hairs to pop through, maturation of the existing hairs won't do it. But plenty of time so no stress. I remember my hair always looked thin and flyaway at the front so it was worst the first day after a shampoo since I was a teenager (20+ years ago). Now I can wash every morning and it looks solid. Fantastic.

Am delighted to report things are really moving fast this time (in marked contrast to my last HT), am only 15 weeks out and my hairline looks pretty solid already. I'm really amazed at how much difference a solid hairline makes to my overall appearance, I've noticed that I'm dressing much sharper now as my confidence in how I look has improved (had confidence in who I was, but less in how I looked and tended to dress down). What's apparent is that although there's lots of growth ahead, there are no clear patches of scalp. In retrospect I should have had a 2nd HT about 7-8 months post op from the first as although the hairs mature and the overall look improves, the gaps never disappear. Here's 15 weeks post-op in profile, you can see where the slight widow's peak is and where Dr. Alexander drew it on the first set of pics. Scar---still some shock loss but at the moment it's much more discreet than the scar from the first procedure.