NARMAK

I'm not a person who has gone through a hair transplant yet but @Melvin- Moderatorhas some helpful YouTube advice on the channel and probably give a few tips. I think the "ugly duckling" phase is something you have to try realise is something you will go through and take steps to mitigate the stage with perhaps things that you find acceptable to do. Wearing a hat etc. in certain situations and perhaps pre-emptively thinking of answers to questions about when you're wearing it. The post-op anxiety sometimes is more difficult to advise on. "Stay calm and stay the course" isn't always a good advice but i would say unless you got a good medical reason to do so, maybe not checking the BP and such is probably an idea. Maybe try and only check on your scalp at designated times to spray Saline etc. and to take progress pictures at a set time. Once a month usually after the first 1 month is good.

You're gonna need a consultation and they'll advise you for the temples and grafts needed. Mine are completely gone and need a 100% restoration and i was told circa 250 grafts, so if you already have a temple that just needs filling in, i'd be surprised if it needs even more than half that. It's also probably gonna make it easier for you cost wise and to get a clinic that's reputable to do it if it's only 150 or so grafts providing they're happy to do only that many grafts. Maybe fit you in for an afternoon appointment.

I was hoping to see if anybody could actually do it and would like the forum to help out as a whole but you're right. I'll attach mine to this post. If anybody can photoshop around the black lines i guess, it would be pretty cool to see 😁

Hi, So this may be a long shot, but i was wondering if there's anybody handy with Photoshop and can maybe mock up hairlines. Now, i think we need a 100% disclaimer that this photoshop isn't going to be 100% what you'd achieve, but i was thinking of maybe a way where prospective people might be able to "Pre-visualise" their potential hairline thanks to the kind skills of fellow members.

I think you see growth at earlier stages from a lot of the top clinics usually tbh. Eugenix just have managed to showcase a lot more patient results. They're literally churning them out with what feels like several a week at times. The main reason imo from Eugenix is because they have a very specific way to extract and implant that Dr Sethi and Dr Arika came up with where the out of time for grafts from the body is reduced and i'm fairly confident the pre-made slits prime the healing factors in the scalp with blood at the recipient sites making follicles easier to anchor in and survive. Dr Sethi goes their results went up dramatically to 98% or something for graft survival after they adapted. So you have a much bigger growth spurt when there's 98% growth vs say hair mills from Turkey with like 60-70% if they're lucky. PRP imo isn't really the main helper. I think it helps the existing hair but the other trick i sometimes know gets ignored is the use of Finasteride over 12 months or so too from never using it prior. That bumps up the look of the results imo.

They all have technicians do the majority of the implantation but the 210 iRS and above packages involve Dr Arika Bansal and the more you pay per graft the more involved she is. I think the difference between the 75 RS and 120 RS package is primarily that the 120 RS has more senior Doctors from Eugenix leading it, whereas the Junior Doctors still developing themselves are doing the 75 RS version. That said, there are videos on YouTube of a patient who went for the 75 RS package and the work looks clean. Type in "The Alpha" and its an Indian based YouTuber whose friend/acquaintance went for it and there's a few videos. The guy who hosts the channel is called Yasar and actually had a repair job from them and said his was the 120 RS package at the time, but back then Dr Arika was involved in the 120 RS package. She's now much more in demand and that's why no longer does 120 RS but from 210 upwards. Personally i think Eugenix should showcase their results a bit more by pricing and name their Doctors but they want the focus i think to be more on the brand itself and the philosophy of hair transplants. Training their doctors and technicians to live and breathe the procedures so they can expand and help keep the quality the same. There's probably a few examples on here of a lot of people who went and had the Eugenix 120 RS package but when Dr Arika was involved.

Thanks for replying. I'll give it a look. There's quite a few who have recommended investing in a well reviewed brand like Dr Pen or something i think it is because apparently its more consistent with the depth and longevity of the device too. With replaceable cartridges being used once in a while if you clean it with Isopropyl alcohol. I'll probably give this a go first. I want to try concentrate around the top crown to frontal area that i've still got to hopefully help promote blood flow and help any struggling hair in that area

My bad, yes, i misread that lol. Yeah, if you're NW2/3, depending on exactly how much loss there is, that many grafts could give you a solid result in the right hands. But i stick by the rest. I think good clinics have achieved a great synergy between their technicians, tools and skills over time through experience and that's ultimately what delivers the results.

I'm gonna start at the bottom and make my way up. If you're a Norwood 5, 1600-2000 grafts doesn't sound nearly enough to add appropriate density. In fact, we'd probably need to see pictures and if you're a diffuse thinner, better you take and start medication for circa 12 months first. Now, regarding the checklist. My opinion is that Doctors need to be appropriately present to supervise and be responsible for the incisions/slits and crucial extraction and placements where possible. All hair restoration clinics use technicians in some capacity and it should be encouraged to have properly trained and experienced technicians. As good as a single doctor can be, it is difficult to maintain a consistency and quality alone if you do everything and have to manage a large session. So therefore it's easier to have a team around you specialising in a specific area like technicians for extraction and implantation and you focus on specific areas for extraction/implantation as well as the overall angles and hair design. Pre-made slits vs Stick and place is an interesting one. The reason is because some find that pre-made slits help prime the healing response of the body and once you extract, you can implant ASAP. The downside by some being seen as that it means you then have to fill every slit you now created. That's where stick and place comes from the idea you take each graft and fill in as you go. So there's only ever a graft removed when it can 100% be placed i believe but maybe i'm misinterpreting things a little too. DHI is more imo to do with how Eugenix are doing it to keep grafts out the body for the least time. They also use pre-made slits it seems. The most important thing imo is to see who is consistently putting out good results and usually what follows is that those with good consistent results usually follow the same sort of principles with not that much difference in their methodology to create a stellar final result.

I'd been looking to see about ordering Oral Minoxodil down the line, but the place i get my Dutasteride from didn't sell it. I'll give that place a look. 100% hear you on chucking the kitchen sink but keep an eye on your BP etc. for sides from the Oral Minoxodil as you're also taking topical too. I personally am not using a Minoxodil treatment yet because i want to keep it in my back pocket for if things progress but i do want to start Microneedling more. What's the brand and price for the Derma Pen you're using? I was thinking to do 1x a week at 1.5mm maybe.

Yeah, i am on Dutasteride and hoping to be on it for a long time. I never really had temple points from late teens till now and they look almost exactly the same from 17/18 till now when i'm 31. Recreating the frontal hairline and temple point is what gives me a confidence to have it done to the design i want and if necessary, i'd rather have further HTs to cover that frontal loss. I guess the biggest issue for most honestly is that we have parents and Uncles who may have never used Finasteride or Dutasteride and as a result we could never truly know how our genetics might hold up with those treatments over time. Even if say for example they're Norwood 4s to 6s, maybe with medication they might have not ever receded past that point if they blocked that additional DHT. So, although we have now got a long term safety study for Finasteride, we don't appear to have any clinical studies to see how generational hair loss is impacted by being on medication. That should hopefully be something studied soon imo. I saw Brad Pitts and they were a little sharper than i thought i'd want. I know it's completely unrealistic to have it be vertical but Jake's are a lot more closer to that and i really think that's what i'd go for. In fact, i have the picture up in my Temple Point thread from a little while back where they drew the original sharper angle and i adjusted it slightly to a less sharp angle that's a bit more vertical like Jake's and i much prefer that for framing i think. Ultimately i can only trust hopefully when i have it done, it has sufficient density with enough grafts after 12 months for both temple points and hairline. I've got an agreement for 2200 grafts right now. I think around that should hopefully get me the right results for what i want.

It's funny. After your comments, i was walking around the supermarket and looking at temple points and noticed how many naturally had Dorito shaped points lol. So, maybe Eugenix might not be doing it to the same artistic design you generally like, but it does seem natural enough lol. That said, i think most might be going on a standard design recommend by the doctor as they feel they know best for the Aesthetic side whereas people like perhaps me and you would present an alternative design we feel is better. Well, that's what i plan to do anyways. If i couldn't enjoy them in my late teens and 20s, i'm damn sure gonna make the most of them if i get em recreated lol

Looking at it, it looks like it's around the top of the ears and around the neck into the donor area. Given you had 2 FUE procedures, it could be harder to tell if Retrograde or over harvesting at times in donor. The sides are probably more of a tell tale that it's progressed to retrograde and while it's difficult to tell if this is something that's slowly developed or always been there might be hard. There's possibly alternative explanations but you'd likely need a biopsy as mentioned above.

Jeez, that's a damn good response. OP, you're from the UK. How you getting your oral Minoxodil?

The pattern in the pictures does look like Retrograde Alopecia but from what you're saying, this development seems to have occurred more recently. Is it only over the ears?

Whilst i hate the idea of using Cadavers i think the actual learning aspects is something that could greatly benefit the industry and root out cowboys and these black market morons ruining people's lives. It honestly is shocking to me the amount of increase we have seen in young men ruining their hair future because of poor knowledge being given and greed. Donor areas destroyed, and their future hair loss potentially completely ignored for short term gain in appearance that almost can never be addressed with destroyed donors. One thing i think is apparent, is that a ticking time bomb of men needing repair cases is coming within the next decade. It's amazing how poor eduction is, where men think they have an unlimited supply on the back of their head to take and make the top look good. The usual culprit being some think the donor area regrows hair from where it was taken. If only.

I think with this forum in particular, what seems positive to me is that we have a selection of real people posting their experiences and including a mixture of good and bad from across the various hair transplant clinics and the mods like Melvin are putting their head on the chopping block so to speak and have procedures from these places. I guess you are right that sometimes maybe the advertised promotion and such isn't always as transparent as it should be. Even in the video descriptions on YouTube when you check, they don't declare it as to which part is being paid promotion unless its 100% obvious. Paid promotion particularly by people that claim to be promoting transparency and recommending on neutral checklists is an icy slope imo.

Personally i don't think it matters if you are older, but Finasteride actually has a net positive effect for people to be a preventative treatment and if you don't suffer from sides or aggressive hair loss, then you can taper the dose.

Congratulations and the journey has just begun! Looking forwards to seeing you record it all in your own thread with picture updates 🙂

Adherence is usually a big reason most can't keep up with even topical Minoxidil applications 2x a day. Microneedling 1x a week imo is much more reasonable and achievable imo. If you actually want to spend the money, then laser caps of a certain quality do have a scientific backing but for the price, it's not worth it unless you are that concerned about eeking out every last percent of potential treatment. I do think the most effective treatments are Finasteride/Dutasteride as #1 and then Minoxodil in terms of efficacy. However, i think ultimately only an individual can decide for themselves how committed they want to be and then the rest is out of their hands. Its all down to genetics etc. and whether you respond positively to it.

I've looked at the example and Dr Konior is certainly talented at making the temple work he does look good in terms of natural blending. However, in those examples, i personally wasn't a fan of the way the designs were sometimes done to blend with the higher hairline but they work i guess visually when growth comes in. That said, those temple points for the males at least still aren't as numerous as the examples of what I see done from Eugenix which imo are closer to what i personally require and i guess what Melvin and others felt they needed. When i said they "have done a 100% restoration" i meant in the way that most of those linked male examples still had some temple points that were strong enough to work on. It's not to say Dr Konior couldn't do it, but a place that's done it and shown it off more often imo shows greater skill and repeatability for that. I suppose, another factor in some cases might be seen as budget, but even Melvin with budget no issues and every doctor at his choice, chose Eugenix. I am more budget oriented which i have no reason to lie about, but i am also willing to pay a slight premium for the craftsmanship of the right place for my needs.

Lmao, no, i don't think it's that drastic where i punch etc. My concerns are more to do with me turning side to side while i sleep, as well as potentially scratching my head during sleep and losing grafts as a result. I read one post about tying the wrists towards the ankle/feet as a means to limit range of motion which I think i might use and think a large neck pillow and sleeping upright might be the best way for the first week or so. Not ideal, but the alternative concerns me more and a weeks bad sleep than a poor result from something preventable will haunt me far longer i'd reckon.

Okay, there's some sound advice. Like taking Finasteride, Minoxidil and Microneedling to fit your specific situation. However, saying things like go from a Norwood 4 to a Norwood 0 is a flashy clickbait title and not a realistic approach. Hair restoration is the first port of call, and treatments depend on each individual situation. The blood test being a good idea to check for any deficiency of vitamins and hormone imbalances. Finasteride combined with Nizoral and Microneedling for some is best as a starter and check progress over 12 months. Minoxodil can be added in later and usually left till last imo because you want to block the root cause of MPB which is DHT. Minoxodil helps restore through a different mechanism of action and doesn't prevent the root cause. Plus, if you combine Fin/Min, you never know what results came from which treatment and then have to keep using indefinitely or take a huge risk of waiting for that tumbling jenga tower to realise what Minoxodil supported. Also, Microneedling at 1mm or 1.5mm shouldn't be as aggressive as 3x a week. 1x a week is sufficient.

I've followed Melvin's journey update and i've talked with guys that have gone before. I've looked at quite a few of the guys on here who visited. Specifically where they have a similar situation and it looks like they have the right skills for what i need and you're right, that's what you need to focus on. What you need and the best place to meet that. If i needed the frontal hairline only doing and so on, there's probably a significant amount of more doctors to choose from, but if you need a frontal hairline and complete temporal point recreation, i think Eugenix are definitely in your top choices. Honestly, i've had a look at a fair few patients as mentioned above that have been to Eugenix to get that more genuine experience and i think that the fact there's so many right now 6+ months into their journey and seen solid results, that inspires confidence. Not to say of course that everybody will have a 100% perfect result but on balance, i think Eugenix are probably the best fit for me and my goals. I might need to go for another down the line, but right now, i think it's the right place for my first.

Honestly, i think it's a valid point in terms of them having a "standard" design but if you look around even at the top doctors, they all follow a very similar pattern for their transplants in the way they like to design and close off temporal areas. Personally i am going to push for a different design that i feel would blend better and i feel they have the skills to recreate temple points a lot more consistently and naturally (your Dorito design withstanding) in terms of the right angle direction and so on. So just to ask you, if you could see them alter that design to maybe a bit more of a holistic and aesthetic design for patients, would you say their craftsmanship in recreating the temple points to visually appear natural in terms of blending are where you'd want?