mister_25

11 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

Haircut update! I finally cut my hair low and got my old haircut which is a zero fade on the side and left it long on top  donor looks very good left bottom side is visible but I could always get smp there the dr Mwambas extractions are very clean and are almost impossible to tell if you don’t know what to look for still have a lot of stubble hairs in the temples that haven’t grown in length just need to be patient so far happy with result as I can pull off my hairline with just a dab of fibers 

Are you using fibers in these photos?

On 4/28/2023 at 8:30 AM, gillenator said:

it is not unusual for the grafts to continue growing before they shed…

Is this necessarily a good sign or promising sign that your grafts have taken and have survived the surgical process and will come in later post shed? Or is this rather just a common thing and has no relation to whether or not that these grafts have survived?

Out of those four choices, I would feel the safest in Laorwongs hands

I really like the work of HLC, I’ve seen some truly remarkable results from them and their highest quality work is comparable to the best. But I can’t in good conscience recommend them. Part of selecting a clinic is how they approach cases that end up poorly, do they offer refunds? Do they standby their work? What do they do when the unexpected happens. And for that after reading a significant case on here I can’t recommend them.

Those day 10 photos are out of this world, my god

I wouldn't say its good growth, but I wouldn't say its bad growth. Its on the below average end but not in the realms of concerning as of yet.

There are plenty of examples of people with similar growth at 5 months or maybe even worse who end up with good results in the end. Here is a example. If you would like more I can PM you some cases that are rather similar to yours.

5 Months is still early.

Looks alot more promising this time around, how are you feeling about it compared to your previous surgery?

I don’t think anyone can be 100% mentally prepared for their first surgery. I spent around 15 months of researching before the day finally came and even then when it came down to it I wasn’t fully ready and prepared. And truth be told we all wish that hair transplants were 100% guaranteed successful when you eliminate all the risks by doing the ideal path of a ethical selected surgeon with proper medication use but even then it’s not guaranteed, it’s a hard reality that everyone should be aware off regardless if they can accept it or not.

Hair Transplants are a leap of faith, and I guess the only solace you can find is that from what you’ve said is that you’ve eliminated the obstacles that are in your direct control such as surgeon selection, medication usage and long term planning. You’ve maximised the odds into your favour which is the most anyone can do.

Definite Improvements all over, crown has made leaps

Just now, A_4_Archan said:

So i can stand under the shower now? than i guess it can be easy

Always ask your doctor though, he should be your primary source of advice.

On Day 11, I was in the shower for about 30 minutes letting it soak on my head, If I were to feel any form of pain or heavy resistance I was going to stop immediately, but it ended up all coming out after giving it a good time to soak.

Looks like its filled in a fair amount in the past two months for your crown/midscalp. Hopefully you've recovered from that shed

4 hours ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

Anyone taking out a loan or depleting their entire savings for a HT is an insane person

I don't agree with this. We have finite time in this world and with this finite time we should strive and seek the things that make us happy and confident whilst removing the things that make us upset, anxious and generally contribute to a low self esteem. Hair loss impacts everyone differently as other people have different thresholds with how much it plays on their confidence. We don't judge people for investing in huge amounts into hobbies like card games, car collections and expensive computers so why should investing money into someone's appearance be any different? 

There is a argument for it not being in your best financial interest, but "Insane" is a big stretch.

20 minutes ago, BearsFan88 said:

MISTER25 - who in your opinion would fit my case a bit more ?

 

would turan at 3500-4000 grafts estimation over 2 days be better? Only thing is turan also said he would not completely cover my crown.  See attached photo 

Ideally you want a surgeon who does a lot of NW4 patients and will plan for your future. Ferreira, Pinto, Bisanga, H&W, Konior, Couto and Nader are the names that come to mind when I think "who would be the ideal person for your case"

I will say that your crown is quite big for a NW4, looks like its about a NW6 crown with a NW4 midscalp/front. I also think due to how big your crown is you should expect a two surgery plan. Dr Gur's 3000-3200 and Dr Turans 3000-4000 plan to me both sound like reasonable plans for your first surgery and then they will fill in the rest on the second surgery. You should ask them about how much the back of your crown would need and how many grafts to expect for a second surgery.

Between the two, if your looking to maximize the amount of hair on your head in your lifetime I would pick Dr Gur. Otherwise If I were you, I would save up a bit more money to go someone that fits your case a bit more

53 minutes ago, BearsFan88 said:

how many available grafts does average donor have

The average donor is probably around 6.5k-8k. Retrograde Alopecia which is quite common can knock this number down to about 5.5k-6.5k.

56 minutes ago, BearsFan88 said:

yaman did offer me two days manual extraction for up to 5500 grafts.  I thought that was a lot for a Norwood 4 but I’m not an expert

NW4 Realistically is a lot of balding, so 5500 sounds rather reasonable given the extent of your crown loss. 

Before you actually go for a transplant, are you on medication? I think given the area that your hair loss is that its not unrealistic to think you can one day end up a NW5 or even NW6. You want to preserve your hair because truth be told while you have alot of balding, you still have a lot more to lose and you are in the range where a big recovery is reasonable and attainable and you don't want to lose that.

Any update for us?

Any update for us? 

Update?

Looks amazing man

I noticed that your front continued to gain density and looks more full and dense past the last photos you posted at the 11 month mark, did you have any grafts placed in your front during your second surgery? If so how much?

1 hour ago, consequence said:

Your coming along right on track, patience is key. 

May I ask what was that gel he had you apply immediately after surgery? Was it petroleum jelly.

 I am actually unsure what he gave me, next time I'm in contact with them I will be sure to include that for you

Looking really good for 6 months, ahead of the game. I would expect something really strong somewhere in between 1-3 months.

I would say that it differs for everyone. In my case, I didn’t start shedding until around day 25 and by day 35 I had shedded almost all my front hair including native. About 95%+ of my entire frontal third has shedded. Whilst the crown was 100%

I would say you wouldn’t need much, maybe in the 300-700 range. To be honest, in my opinion it’s a bit unusual for a transplant to thin whilst the native hair is retained. I’m hoping this isn’t a sign of LPP or some scalp condition/illness that’s rearing it’s head now.

1 hour ago, shiba1985 said:

 

I think your opinion maybe biased by the fact you chose a surgeon that relies heavily on Techs. 

The biggest benefit of a doctor only, or doctor mainly involvement is quality control. If you go to a doctor only or doctor mainly, you know the results you are going to be getting. they are consistent. Good, bad and ugly. YThey are the face of the clinic and responsible for the surgical results. 

 

With tech involvement you dont know what you are getting. All clinics say their techs have been with them for a long time and are highly skilled. there is no way for you to verify this. What if the day of your surgery the best tech got sick and they called in a per diem help. you will never know. Even the best clinics have staff turnover and there are new techs coming in. Is the tech going to care if they are jamming the follicles in during placement or transecting the follicle during extraction? or do you think he/she will think more along the lines, ok I have to be out of here by 4 pm. how do i finish this by 4 pm?  because of this there is more variation in the quality of the results that are put out. 

 

 

 

I wouldnt say my opinion is biased because of going to H&W. My example that I listed of the ideal doctor involvement doesn't apply to H&W as technicians do both extractions and implantations. 

When you see people give the advice of "go to a clinic/surgeon with higher doctor involvement" and they give names as examples in the same sentence, these doctors usually do have some form of significant technician involvement in either extractions or implantations. To be honest, it would be phrased better in a official topic as "healthy levels of tech involvement" rather than doctor involvement.

The idea of technicians not caring about transecting and just looking to get out by 4pm is a byproduct of the clinic your going to. You can go to Konior, H&W, Freitas, any highly regarded clinic with a reputation to uphold and I imagine this behavior would not last long if it occurred (quality would go down and the techs would get fired). On the other end you have hair mills who do unethical practices wouldn't care about how qualified their technicians are and this behavior wouldn't be discouraged or punished, just reinforced because they get away with being lazy. Trash Clinics will always train and create trash technicians, better clinics train and create better technicians. 

Going a little bit off topic here. Reading this thread gave me a interesting thought, when does more doctor involvement become too much?

Usually online when researching a common piece of advice you will find is “ go to a clinic/surgeon with a higher level of doctor involvement” which in on its own is good advice but if someone is really desperate and latching on to key factors and overused advice to maximise the best chance of success for a hair transplant. They might focus on that too much and won’t want technicians AT ALL.

In my opinion a healthy and the ideal level of doctor involvement is Technicians only doing one labor intensive step of the procedure (either implanting or extraction) whilst the surgeon does the consultation, planning, design and incision always and does the other labor intensive task that’s not been delegated to technicians. 

The idea is to maximise the efficiency of every person in a team, and if one person does all the work, that person will gradually get more exhausted throughout the procedure which overall isn’t something that you would want to hear your surgeon say during your procedure.

I feel like the doctor only plan is the worse deal/plan if your goal is to get the most hair on your head.

In my case I caught tonsillitis on the second day of my op and that sucked, I was non stop coughing for about 2/3rd of the time I was there until they gave me a injection to help me relax. Was sick for about a week. Otherwise, the hours of staying on the seat were mildly uncomfortable, nothing worth complaining over, the anesthetic was mildly painful throughout other than the first time where it was moderately painful. And the implantations were the hardest to get through with occasional moderate pain.

Overall though I would give it a 3-4/10 on a painscale for the most part, I was given valium and other drugs which I believe really did a lot and I was able to rest partially throughout the surgery