Vann

sometimes it takes up to 16 months. It definitely is concerning when there is not much by 6 months. But it doesnt necessarily mean its completely failed. It really depends on the hairs growth cycle from where it was implanted. Say someone had 4k grafts implanted and lets say about 50% of that was about to shed already. It would probably take 3-6 months just for it to start sprouting. Now im not saying thats always the case but there are always some kinds of measures we cant really tell just by looking. Im hoping this is one of them. My hopes are that OP grows a lot by month 9, 12, and 16.

Its hard to tell but there are some areas where your hair is patchy and might be susceptible to hairloss (in the donor). I am not sure what kind of quality or texture you have for hair since it is kept short in the images. I am not a medical professional but some demographic information could help such as age, medication, when you started losing hair. Additionally, were you considering doing FUT or solely FUE? Do you have expectations that a nw7 would be able to achieve with a very limited donor? edit: also check with a derm to see if you may susceptible to an auto immunity issue. Sometimes, very rarely, could they look like mpb and make you lose hair. As long as you have scarring alopecia you may recover from it from medication.

- transection rate (either destroying the donor or [pre existing] native hair) - collateral damage (putting hairs too close that it destroys a follicle nearby) aka permanent shock loss - competitive blood supply (placing too many grafts close together) - leaving hairs follicles out of the body for more than 2-3 mins without any solution. - Necrosis - skin/follicle death (dirty/unsanitized office, competitive blood flow, or viral/bacterial infection) - high density of grafts added to a small area. - smoking/drinking/rubbing your head post surgery. some of these things relate to one another but remember most of this is due to the surgeons skill. In general you should expect 10% of the grafts to not survive. So if you get 3,000 grafts expect 300 to not survive. Hopefully it isn’t your multiple grafts but realistically 10% is kind of expected in most cases. It doesn’t mean it will always be the case but there are many many factors that can influence your survival rate.

I also wanted to add, I think SMP will definitely be an option you could explore. I think your tone and contrast would suit you. But thats just my personal opinion... i think you could rock it very well.

Yes, exactly this. You need to find an insanely good surgeon to perform the best with what little you have left. I think if you can rock specific hair styles to cover up some scars in the back while still maintaining density elsewhere, thats where you would go. I think the next steps would be to see how much hair you need to make the back and sides appropriate to your length of hair. About how much of that can the doctor remove to blend it all together (for example, if you removed all the hairs around your head to look like a permanent fade type of artistic look between the contrast of the scars, skin, and hair). These surgeons are very very limited, expensive, and few do this in one procedure. I think you should break them in half just to make sure you dont exhaust everything entirely to get the best results. Once you burn through everything now its going to be painful to come back from. I think slow and steady wins you the race now. Small ops like the one on your crown is a good start. I also think if you have patience, perhaps, over time some of the beard hairs will soften and settle. Edit: I also think if you cut another strip (FUT) around your previous scar perhaps you could possibly get away with having a linear scar close to the existing one so you can try to be more aggressive with how you save your grafts (assuming the doctor [Konior] is willing to challenge it).

Yea that's very interesting. I would say our hairloss has a similar type of pattern, so I am very interested in your case haha. But I like that you went with FUT first, it was a very good play, just has longer healing period, but it doesn't matter, because everything will come together in time.

For 3 months it’s starting to take shape quite nicely. There seems to be some redness but I’m sure that’ll fade away in time. how do those hairs feel? Are they softening up over time?

Framing up nicely.

Yeah that’s another perspective, but remember what you want isn’t always what you ‘need’ and it doesn’t always mean it’s best for us. While we may know ourselves the best, there’s no need to rush a cosmetic procedure. They take time and will never be perfect no matter what hands you’re in. Best case scenario you just need a little more work done. It’s sucks that it wasn’t added the first time, but at least you are giving yourself the best case scenario each time.

I think the disconnect is that you still have miniaturized hairs and that when you have them short it’s hard to see, but perhaps when they’re long they become thinner smaller hairs. Those hairs may have some survival in the future it depends on their growth cycle and shed cycle. Not every hair is in the same phase so perhaps he saw under the microscope the phase the hair looks most appropriate to be. just take your time with the density. In my honest opinion if you can get him to touch up your procedure for free that’s a steal. I have seen him do a lot of peoples repairs in this forum when things go bad. So I would say based off those reviews you’re in good hands. perhaps the PRP sessions you get (if you continued) may help to thicken up your hairs a bit, but you would have to grow it out longer to know for sure.

It’s starting to fill in. Do you have any photos you could provide in direct sunlight? for 6 months you’re where you should be at based off your previous photos, seems like you’re a slow grower, and with the beard grafts those will take even longer to grow and soften up. im guessing your hair texture at this moment is kinda wirey?

Is it red because of the camera or is it like that to the naked eye?

No, thats kind of dangerous advice. First off you should definitely take a step back and evaluate how exactly a hair transplant would look. Look at the peoples medication and history of medication. Every single case is never the same. If you plan as a nw7 you should expect nw7 coverage with your level of density, future hair loss, and chances of having an "illusion" of density. Dont rush this, take your time!

I think many people are taking the side effects personally when someone tells them to get it checked out because it wasn't recorded in studies before. Then those same people are getting upset thinking an online person doesn't believe them. A lot of these issues that some people face could be directly related to their anxiety towards taking the drug. Some could be peoples tolerance, pre-existing conditions, so many myriads of cases. You could be a hyper responder, you could be a extremely slow responder, you never know until you take it. You wont know if the things you feel are temporary until you take it. Stopping it could be a false negative, perhaps it could be the reason you don't feel the things you claimed anymore. Document your steps, don't assume everything is mutually exclusive, and of course talk to a doctor who prescribes you the drug and see how many people claim any side effects in addition to what you make claims for.

Hey OP any updates on your current hair?

Thats a great example of getting tests done. Which is why people should not put misinformation and spread it. However, there are studies done because of these said misleading sources. With more groups in a placebo claiming the placebo side effects. There are plenty of research that has been done for this. Whether it is hairloss, renal issues, or how the drug functions on the body. I think at this point if you truly believe in something, get a second opinion (or third). I did the same for my knee, I had a similar story about a doctor telling me the pain was in my head. 4 opinions later, 2 x rays, and an MRI I finally found the issue. It takes time and is never perfect, however, I at least exhausted all of my options before making any surgical approaches and did all my research to the best possible outcome, whether thats todays golden standard of treatment and what the next 20 years of research could provide after new studies are conducted and tested.

Based off your age and slow onset hairloss I would expect it to continue and not stop. I am not sure of your gentics but i would always assume the worst so you can plan for the best solution in the future. I will not be able to say since i am not a medical expert, but I think you should shave your head to see what you look like bald and accept the hairloss. If you are not willing to commit to taking medications I cant imagine the mental aspects you would have when losing hair in the future and exhausting all your possible outcomes to not get the type of result you want. I will never recommend anyone to get surgery without exhausting every single available resource prior to making any last efforts. Yes a hair transplant is possible and I am sure there are surgeons ethical or not that will take your case but remember by the time you would lose all your hair they would most likely retire and not care about the results after (not every surgeon but there are those that exist). In terms of medical therapies I think you should talk to your doctor because if you live in the U.S. some of those drugs you talked about are prescribed and if an ethical doctor prescribed you a drug I don't think they would recommend you taking it if it outweights the benefits you could get. There are a few medical shampoos that were originally intended to combat skin conditions (dermatitis, dandruff, dry skin, etc) there are ketoconazole types and more. I workout a lot and would dermaroll minox which it would get further into my skin. I do not think that the minoxidil itself could penetrate the amount but after I started dermarolling my skin became more responsive to it. I cant say for sure that I stayed on it for a full year, but I believe it was close to 9-14 months (where after 9 months I wasnt persisent in applying it). Nonetheless, some of the alternatives you have mentioned are no where close to taking the other top medical therapies that are recommended by doctors, surgeons, and other on the forum. I would say talk to a derm and evaluate your options (or any medical professional that is in the field).

Interesting… I don’t know any medications that affect people immediately but I won’t say anything further. if I was in your position, I would seek medical therapies once more and tell your doctor what you experienced. Perhaps, try to stick it out or micro dose (fin) would probably be something you could try. there are alternatives like medicated shampoo (which I’m personally not a fan of since you have to let it sit on your scalp for approx 3-6 mins just to reach dermis), PRP (can be costly and would need to be reapplied throughout the year), derma rolling, and a few others. But none of these are as effective as finasteride. Most of these can be adjunct to fin/minox. But since you are experiencing said side effects I would seek your doctors consult and perhaps get a second opinion (whether a surgeon or another derm) I also experienced some form of heart palpitations on minoxidil but not as quick as you… it took me about 8-9 months before I felt anything, but then again everyone is different. It’s strange to me that anxiety would be led to fin usage. But from my pov you’re in your head too much whenever starting medication or trying to tackle an issue you have been dealt with. It’s always nerve wracking to address something you have been dealing with for awhile, especially, one that helps your confidence or self-esteem. nonetheless, try to explore medical options once more before any surgical ones.

What?! Did you diagnose yourself or did you seek medical help for any of the issues? im not sure how finasteride/minox is correlated to this. Unless, you have some chemical imbalance that either drug would somehow impede.

Well you have both extremes. Some who will advocate for the drug and some who critic/reject the drug. most of the time people do not truly understand the drug. But honestly, you are more likely to be vocal about something you disagree with and not see it objectively. I’ve seen kamran advocate for the drug based off his experience and the results from studies. I’ve seen other berate the drug (and anyone who speaks about their experience) because of stuff they have heard. The difference between the two is that one points out objective findings and another points out the subjective. the key difference is that the person reading should interpret what was said and make their own decision, do their own research, and apply the correct findings with what they have read to their own personal health while consulting a doctor. while it is good to give harmful warnings so people can research it themselves. It’s detrimental to the real studies and correct information that is available instead of the misinformation that is available. if you really want to know how to study this…look for any contradictions whether it’s the researcher, study group, company conducting the study, the relation they have towards patients, company, or other demographics (blind bias, double blind, etc.), hell even the people taking the drug. Do NOT rely on strangers from the internet to make decisions for you.

I think a lot of people misinterpret what the side effects are and use underlying conditions they are already predisposed to as an excuse. i believe the people who have side effects are usually very minor, enough to the point it’s barely noticeable. Ex: slight testicular pain within the first, few, months of starting the drug, shedding, etc. which usually are the people who don’t care enough to post about it. i think the ones that speak the loudest are usually the ones who don’t actually have side effects and use the placebo effect as an excuse to berate the drug. there’s a lot of noise for something that is so minor in terms of actual side effects that it drowns out the real studies done. I remember reading more men reporting sexual side effects from the placebo group. And I remember the updated study of the 20+ year group who reported some side effects but at later stages of their life (50+). im not going to say what someone’s experience is going to be. But if you believe you have ANY side effects consult your doctor, make a plan whether that’s lower dosages, less frequency, or taking a test. Don’t give out false information saying that’s more harm than any good. There’s too much preconceived notions to how people perceive finasteride or dutasteride that don’t even understand how 5 alpha reductase and dht works in the body; yet alone the in scalp. just remember… if you are a young 20 year old with 0 experience sexually, do not claim the drug is causing you side effects. Consult your physician and rule out any underlying issues. A lot of these things are psychological. Make sure you speak to a professional and seek remedies; discontinuation of fin does not always correlate to “side effects” you experience. long story short… tl;dr - seek a medical professional to diagnose and evaluate your personal history and tolerance to the drug. Remember there are studies done between MANY variable groups from 0-20+ years. Make sure if you take ANY drug (prescribed) that you actually understand how it works.

Make sure you pick a clinic where you research intensively about how long they have done that practice and why they choose that method over others. Of course it’s not a requirement for what method however, knowing the difference between each result and how consistent they are with said results should be your comparables. basically, look at the results of others, the doctor who did the procedure, whether it’s a doctor or tech, and compare it to other places you are interested. “ Manual extraction, doctor does the whole procedure. I don’t think it’s very expensive when comparing with others. But everyone has their perception” ^ this is a very well said thing that isn’t spoken often. Everyone has different price points but I would say only a small minority, of people, understand that expense should NOT be the biggest factor for a life altering procedure. Whether that’s an extra $1-1,000+ the difference in surgeons/doctors are night and day (especially the ones at slightly higher price points ex: $2.5 vs 3.5)

Thank you all, it’s difficult to put it behind you no matter how “minimal/great” you go through the ugly duckling phase because at one point we had hair to not having hair to getting it back. So I know the psyche behind it all it’s just different when it’s directly correlated to you. The objective opinions of where I am at are very helpful not going to lie. I know how the process works but it’s weird because I try to look at my hair like I’m opening the fridge for the 3rd time in a row expecting there to be new food inside. I know there’s nothing new but it’s the clarity of opening it each time to see if anything appears (despite being the only one to get groceries lol).

If you don’t want to share I think you have an answer. i went through an airport with a bloodied head and people looked at me but were too intimidated to say anything so they stare. No one actually cares what answer you give them. my coworkers think I had a bad hair cut and probably think I’m balding aggressively. One of my friends thinks I got stung by a bee and got an allergic reaction, she is curious but she doesnt really care since I’ve looked like this for 2 months already. people get used to it quick. If you don’t want to say anything don’t tell them. You wouldn’t ask someone about what happened in every scenario so if they ask tell them or say nothing.

There more surface area per square cm of hair thats taken out because youre going to take everything in that strip. Therefore, you have more to work with than FUE because if you did the same way youd have only one area of harvest. Overall, it seems like you know what you want. I wish you the best!