NikosHair

Read again. There was no difference in the study you cited.

Sorry to hear that. Strange how it just came on after previous success with fin. Did you change brands? There are reports of noticeable differences between generics. It is worth noting in the study, the Sexual Dysfunction Questionnaire concluded: Now for the big difference for 3 months treatment! Topical Finasteride $300 vs Generic Fin $25 (and $12.5 if you drop your dose to 0.5mg per day)

The topicals are just money-making quackery. Even topical Minoidil shows very limited scientific results. You need to lower your dose of the orals until you find the sweet spot for you. Once you get the drug into your blood, even a low dose will reduce your DHT and help to reduce miniaturisation.

Have a look at the vid in your 1st post of the thread. Dr Sethi refers to the angle of the nose as a reference point.

The frozen grafts will be dead hairs. Don't panic, it's perfectly normal. The FU's will be embedded in your scalp and primed for growth. You can gently remove the dead hairs. They will slide out. If you get any resistance then leave the hair - you're not plucking them! Removing the dead hairs may reduce the pimples and encourage the new hairs to push through.

Agreed. Looks like mild Cutis verticis gyrata (CVG). You may never have noticed it before but due to the HT the area becomes swollen. May take a few weeks to calm down but nothing to worry. If there's discomfort, try icing the area. You're not trying to freeze the area, so wrap the ice with a cloth. It should be cool to the touch (not too cold).

Great write up and congrats on your new hairline - Very refined and natural. I understand your reluctance to go back on finasteride but I would seriously consider a micro dose. eg 0.25mg. You may find that you can tolerate a low dose and even build up slowly. Any amount of fin will block some DHT and that's an important factor in preserving your HT.

How many grafts?

Good idea, combine it with some microneedling too. Do you have a photo after the scabs were removed but before you started to shed. Normally around 10-14days post op.

There's a current thread which may be of interest.

This is an important benefit of the staged approach. There are a couple of good doctors that do the mega sessions but most good docs prefer to break it down into smaller surgeries. There are so many factors that can affect a successful HT - why risk putting all your eggs in one basket? If you blow 5k or 6k of grafts and you get a poor result, you're pretty much done. 3000 in the front third will create a great hair line (in skilled hands). The choice as they say ... is yours☺️

I would have a plan of 2-3 surgeries with 9-12months between surgeries. The 1st would be the front third at around 3000 Fu's. You have good temple points and assuming you get good growth from the surgery it will make a massive difference to framing your face. The 2nd surgery will allow you to assess and tweak the hairline from the 1st procedure, while hitting the other areas. If your donor allows, the 2nd procedure could be larger (3500+).

In the right hands it's an excellent tool. Some of the best HT doctors routinely use motorised extraction along with manual where required. If you flip the question around and ask How risky are manual extractions? With such a large surgery, fatigue is a factor, Are they as accurate at avoiding graft dissection at the end compared to the start? Large surgeries are super risky, you burn through so many of your limited grafts without knowing how well you respond or having first-hand experience of the clinic. Wrong mindset. You might be 'one and done' or maybe just 'done'🙄 This.

Far too many factors in the shopped photo to draw conclusions. Compressing the forehead while leaving the TP's unchanged just changes the ratio of forehead to TP. Making the TP look bigger/more prominent, in comparison. The volume of hair has been reduced while the TP remain the same. Again, changing the proportions.

Put up some photos of your pre-op hair and surgery photos. Just looking at where you are now doesn't really show where you came from and the level of density post op.

Are you saying 5000 in a day? That's crazy high. 3000 per day is still very high. It's better than 5000 is one day but still undesirable. Is this option more expensive? Sounds like mumbo jumbo marketing talk to try and upsell. Even more expensive for this? Or just the doc's unique selling point? Of course it is ... then why offer DHI if you get an inferior result?

Poll closing soon - get ya votes in quick.☺️ This is spot on. The symmetry as described above is the frame. It creates order to allow for variation within the frame. Within the frame you can and should have all sorts of variation in hair color, direction, style. etc All hairlines will be asymmetrical to a greater or lesser degree. (mother nature does not play by our rules) They can still look good with subtle asymmetry but they look good in spite of the asymmetry NOT because of it. Always aim for symmetry when setting your expectations with the doctor. To illustrate the point look at the previous example of an 'desirable' asymmetrical hairline, Jake G. Is there really anyone constructing their hairline would actually specify to their doctor, I want one side noticeably higher than the other side, as shown in the example?

I think it was the first video where Dr Sethi uses the angle of the patients nose as a guide to the angle of the TP's. Following the same logic applied to an afro patient you would expect flatter TP's to compliment their features. I agree hair length plays an important role in TP's. Very short hair accentuates the angle, while longer hair blurs the line and creates a more rounded appearance. Additionally, factor in the density of the hairs. Remember also the examples of the sharper more angular TP's may be the result of the barber creating the requested shape.

@champybaby How is the scar looking now? Did you experience any improvements in the texture of the scar? This thread contains some relevant research which may be of interest.

Another thing that springs to mind from these findings: One of the concerns of implanting hairs near native hair is the perceived risk of killing off miniaturized hairs. Given the profound improvements in tissue found in the study. Could it actually new breath life into the native hair in normal tissue(?)

@Fue3361 has an excellent result. For me the sharper design looks more youthful. That said, it could be argued, the rounded option is the best of both worlds. A a good barber would be able to trim n sharpen the look, if desired.

As @Sitries1 self appointed PR Agent it would be remiss of me not to highlight the fine work of his TP's😁

Another vote for the triangle temples. They really suit your profile. Temples and and a structured beard are a killer combo.

You were ahead of your time in that respect. The researchers are trying to understand the mechanism for the improvement. It would be interesting if they are able to find a 'sweet-spot' post surgery to get the FU's planted into the scar. Early days, but a promising study nevertheless.