Tiger2050

Don’t think the patient is obligated to a free touch-up unless something goes terribly wrong and there is an issue with growth. Mwamba seems to take on very difficult repairs without an in-person examination that other elite surgeons will avoid and doesn’t seem to have the best communication. I might be wrong about the communication part since I’ve never had surgery with Mwamba but the sense I get from all the stories on this forum is that his staff does a poor job with communication. Look up repair cases similar to OPs on this forum, most successful repairs require multiple small surgeries. Doing a lot of research is important so you don’t set yourself up for disappointment but an elite doctor should also communicate reasonable expectations.

This is why a lot of great repair surgeons like Dr. Cooley and Dr. Bisanga will not take on repair patients without a thorough in-person examination and setting reasonable expectations that most repairs require multiple surgeries. There is no surgeon in the world capable of fully restoring your botched hair transplant with one surgery OP. Your donor is much improved and there is a lot of density improvement that happens in months 6-9 despite your skepticism. I’ve never had surgery with Mwamba but it seems like his clinic needs to do a better job with communication and setting reasonable expectations. Also for the people complaining about Mwamba spending too much time in surgery you can always go to a Turkish hair mill if you want a fast surgery, they work very efficiently to implant 5000+ grafts in a few hours and leave you disfigured. You can’t expect a surgeon to meticulously preform surgery and also rush through as fast as possible. I doubt Mwamba enjoys working tirelessly for 16 straight hours, he takes his time because he wants to ensure the best possible result.

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Abruptly stopping topical minoxdil will cause a shed. Below is an article about transitioning from topical minoxidil to oral from Dr. Jeff Donovan who’s contributed to several studies on oral min for hair loss. In short, the transition is not that simple and you might’ve experienced a shed but probably didn’t notice because your hair was buzzed for surgery. I would give oral minoxdil a few more months and the transplant 12 months to fully develop before introducing any new medications. There is a study that compared the efficacy of oral min alone and oral min combined with topical min that determined combining topical and oral is not more effective. https://donovanmedical.com/hair-blog/switching-topical-to-oral-minoxidil https://donovanmedical.com/hair-blog/topical-oral-minoxidil

The worst thing you can do at this point is re-introduce topical minoxidil back to your regimen, it will certainly cause another shed. Just stick it out with oral minoxidil, the hair you lost from stopping topical minoxidil will come back in the next few months. Speaking from experience, stopping topical minoxidil induced a shed that lasted several months and it took me a long time to recover on oral minoxidil but it all eventually came back. You have to be patient with hair loss meds, constantly changing medications will cause more shedding.

Looks awesome and still a lot of time for improvement, congrats. Dr. Hasson has been catching some heat lately on this forum because of @Nordster34 temple points not looking great but all of the elite surgeons have some subpar results. Hasson is still a top 5 surgeon in the world and the best doctor at mega sessions for higher norwoods.

I only see good results from Ferreira but it’s impossible to book him. Contacted him 1.5 years ago and was told online consultations were closed temporarily but never heard back again. I tried reaching out again several months ago and got the same response.

Looks fantastic, almost matches native density which is really impressive for one surgery. You seemed concerned about the high number of grafts but if Dr. Hasson used fewer grafts you would’ve been unsatisfied with the density.

You’ll see some improvement in the next few months but doubt it’s gonna be enough to not look see through. I would start consulting with other surgeons at this point, strongly consider not limiting yourself by location or no-shave otherwise you might end up with another poor result. Mwamba, Nadimi/Konior, Hasson/Wong, Bisanga, Cooley, Gabel, Pinto, Feriduni are some names to consider, much higher chance of success with any of these surgeons. Not sure exactly how much Wesley charges but I suspect he’s more expensive than all of the names I suggested except Konior.

Do you have any more pre-op pics? Was most of the recipient area empty or did the doctor have to implant between native hairs? Looking good btw.

Sorry to hear you’re not happy with the result. It’s unlikely the density is going to improve after month 9. If you do consider a second surgery, I recommend reaching out to Dr. Nadimi or Dr. Konior and discussing the option of doing FUE over FUT. FUE has a much easier recovery compared to FUT. The patient care with Konior/Nadimi is excellent, both of them respond to messages directly and would not dismiss your density concerns at month 9. A 2 minute consultation is very unprofessional. Also consider trying hair loss concealers like toppik if you don’t want to go though a second surgery.

This is a good point. If the hair loss in the area is new, it’s probably from shock during the surgery and will come back eventually. I had shock loss in areas that had no grafts implanted and it fully recovered around 7-8 months. Don’t start experimenting with new medications if fin/min have been working for you. Wait 8-10 months for the transplant to grow and stop over analyzing your hair every day.

There is no correlation between oral minoxidil and issues with pregnancy, it’s a blood pressure medication. There have never been any reported complications with a baby conceived on finasteride. Don’t think there is much data on dutasteride and pregnancy but I assume it’s not much different from finasteride, if you are worried than switch to finasteride. Stop getting advice from random strangers on the internet who are scared of taking hair loss meds, discuss it with your doctor.

Looks really good, the second surgery made an already good result close to perfect. Congrats!

Considering your age and the fact you are on medication, I see no problem with getting a small procedure to get a more youthful hairline. You will have enough donor leftover to last you a lifetime. Keep in mind you will probably need a second procedure to get native density if you lower the hairline. Dr. K is one of the best but it’s not possible achieve native density with one pass.

They just started prescribing it, got an email a few days ago.

If you are in the US, MedicalWelnessCentre (google it) will give you a prescription for a $50 fee. All you have to do is fill out a survey.

Looking good. I found applying the aquaphor spray in the post-op instructions really helped loosen the scabs. I applied the spray at night for a few days and the scabs would be moistened and come off with very little pressure the next morning.

Did you avoid the sun for a few weeks post-op? Sun exposure can cause redness, wear a hat when you go outside. Hair looks great at 5 months, gonna be a homerun result after your 2nd surgery.

Any updates?

The only option is finasteride, you’ll regret not taking it the longer you wait. Try topical finasteride if you’re scared of side affects. Getting a hair transplant without stabilizing your hair loss is a terrible idea. Hair transplants are just an illusion of density and will never bring back your hair to native density.

Have you considered Nadimi? She’s Konior’s protege similar to Josephitis for Shapiro but has a lot more great results on this forum. Nadimi is significantly cheaper and has a shorter wait list than Konior.

McGrath medical in Austin will prescribe a compounded form of oral minoxidil and finasteride after an online consultation. I just called up a few local dermatologists and asked if they had experience prescribing oral minoxidil, it was pretty easy to find several dermatologists.I suggest calling some dermatologists and asking about oral minoxidil before scheduling a consultation.

Perfectly safe, there have never been any reported complications with children conceived on fin but this is a better question for your doctor. There is a lot of fear mongering about fin online and this forum isn’t any different. You can lose a lot of hair in 2 years without fin.