SuperC

Generally it takes 12 to 18 months. It's not uncommon to have concerns at 7 months post-op. Consider sharing photos of your progress (including some from before and after the procedure), as well as the name of the clinic and surgeon, if you'd like more insight into your specific case.

Did you not research the reality of hair transplants? https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/52489-are-hair-transplants-an-“illusion”-of-density/ Did you not research the techniques used by your surgeon before choosing them? Also, please name the clinic and surgeon. Although, I have a guess based on your username and the way their work looks (which seems fine to me, for what it's worth).

Sounds like a question for a medical professional.

What clinic…?

Please don't.

The clinic knows the patient's case and details about the procedure better than anyone. They should be the first point of contact for advice related to post-operative care and recovery. Of course there's nothing wrong with getting feedback from others, but not in lieu of contacting the clinic altogether. I think it's a good idea to remind people that communicating questions and concerns with their clinic is not only acceptable, but an important part of the recovery process.

I'm sure your patient coordinator would appreciate the opportunity to advise you throughout your post-op recovery. Especially if the alternative is asking a bunch of people on the internet.

No one needs to take Finasteride, but if you don't take some kind of 5α-reductase inhibitor, your risk of experiencing further hair loss around the transplanted hairs is significantly higher, and your risk of experiencing regret would follow suit. If you experienced significant undesirable side effects with Finasteride, talk to your doctor about trying a lower dosage, or using an alternative medication such as Dutasteride.

I would add these photos to the other post instead. It already has some attention from forum members who are following the topic and waiting for you to respond.

You already posted about this yesterday, where you received plenty of responses and didn't reply to a single one. What do you expect anyone to do to help you?

Hints and excuses aren't helpful. Please name the clinic and surgeon.

You posted something similar not long ago. It seems like you're obsessing a bit over every little detail of recovery, which isn't healthy. Try not to put undue stress on yourself while recovering from surgery. Everything looks good, just follow the clinic's post-operative care instructions and stop fixating on every detail of how things look right now. It's a slow process, which is going to get worse before it gets better, and it won't happen at the same rate throughout the recipient area of your scalp.

I don't see how you can possible know this. Besides, the shedding phase doesn't suddenly and completely stop just as the next phase begins. All of your hairs are in their own precise state within the growth cycle. Your transplanted hairs will enter this normal cycle eventually, but they will do so individually and at their own pace. Just sit tight and try not to overanalyze it.

This is understandable, but even though the regret is not all that likely, it might help to reframe your mindset about it all. For example, I don't expect to have great hair for the remainder of my life. I'm 38 years old and my procedure will have been completely worth it if I can just get through the majority of my 40s without constantly worrying about my hair. That alone is priceless for me. I just want some nice photos of me to look back on, and if I never need a touchup or a bit more work done, I'll consider that a bonus. Also completely understandable. I don't believe anyone who says they aren't nervous as the date approaches. I have generalized anxiety disorder and and prone to catastrophic thinking and panic attacks. For me, the best course of action was to become as familiar with the entire process as possible. Read about every detail of the procedure. Follow tons of threads on this forum. Ask tons of questions, especially to your surgeon. Know exactly what to expect so that you don't have to wonder, because for me, uncertainty is where my anxiety kicks in, filling in the blanks with the scariest thoughts. By the time my number was up, I'd done so much research that I felt like it wasn't my first time having a transplant performed. There were zero surprises and I was able to keep my anxiety from getting the best of me. If you've chosen a reputable doctor who you feel confident about, and you know what to expect, then your nerves are just nerves and not a sign of anything worrisome.

The vast majority of transplant patients have no major concerns and regrets and so we don't hear about them. They are out living their lives and probably not even thinking about their hair most of the time. Becoming one of them involves taking a risk and spending some money, but if you do enough research, the risk can be greatly minimized. Taking meds can slow the loss, and some people are fine shaving their heads. If these options aren't enough for you, and the thinning and/or recession is bothering you the way it bothers most who end up on this forum, then I'd say you're far more likely to regret doing nothing than taking this risk.

Nope. You're just shedding. It's going to happen for several more weeks until nearly all of the transplanted hairs are gone, then they will slowly begin to reappear in the months that follow. Be gentle with your scalp, but don't lose any sleep over it. They grafts are nice and secure by now.

You're fine. Transplanted grafts are typically 100% secure after about 10 days. You won't lose grafts 3 weeks after your procedure, but you will begin the shedding phase, which is completely normal.

Talk to a medical professional.

Wait 5 more months.

Please name the clinic.

No one doing proper research would choose a clinic based only on post-op photos. It's results that matter, and since many users stop posting updates once their results are looking good (or even not so good), what's left behind is a thread without much practical use for anyone. Thanks for including this information. If it were up to me, it'd be required in every post title on this subforum.

The punches seem clean to me, and mostly reasonable spaced out. Not the smallest punches, but it looks normal to me. I think the scarring you're seeing now is to be expected. You've got dark hair and fair skin. Removing any single follicular unit from your first photo and replacing it with a light-colored extraction scar is going to result in a noticeable contrast when your hair is cut this short.

Based on the photo you've provided, I would consider this normal, but not ideal. It'd be helpful to see some donor photos from just after the procedure, to see what the punches looked like, as it's possible that follicles surrounding the extractions were damaged, causing permanent loss around each extraction.