Milkman555

How many grafts do you think I would need to to fill in this area. 200-300?

8 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

Maybe get your scalp checked to see if you have a condition, I myself just got a ht and am also wondering if I’m just a slow grower or if I might have an underlying condition worsening it

Wesley knew the first one didn't go well but didn't think I needed a scalp biopsy to address some underlying issue. Moreover, the right side of my hair has grown decently well, so I don't understand the reason for the poor growth on the left side.

Here we are at the 10 month mark under bathroom lighting. Maybe a 5-10% improvement for the left corner. 

This is an update at over 9 months out. Unfortunately I don’t really think there’s an improvement. I got a haircut so I think the shorter hair makes it easier to showcase that this isn’t going to turn out well. 😞 I called Dr. Wesley’s office on several occasions and even left a voicemail expressing my concerns. However, no one picked up. I then emailed Kim, who is Wesley’s assistant, and she told me to wait 12 months. She told me the earliest Wesley can see me is in June. I just wanted some guidance on what to do next, but they’ve been largely unhelpful. 

Looks really great and natural. I'm glad you got a good result from him because Wesley absolutely did a terrible job on me.

47 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

What is your norwood level? 

A cumulative total of 2700 grafts is actually on the lower end. I would imagine 2700 grafts would only be satisfactory for a NW2, and unlikely but possibly a NW3. 

Also dont be bummed by the # of transplants you may need. 

Most doctors and clinic marketing material makes it seem like every patient will only need a one and done procedure. That is FAR from the case. 

Hair transplants are notorious for needing multiple procedures in order to have a long-term satisfactory end result. 

 

I’m a Norwood 2. It’s exhausting having to get another procedure done before 30 to address a relatively small area that the first two seem to have not done.

25 minutes ago, Belve said:

The yield is low in your left side. Many grafts did not survive. The result is totally unacceptable for 12k $.  I think you should ask the doctor to give you half money back.

 
It seems that paying a lot of money for a hair transplant doesn’t mean that you will get a proper and good result.You could have paid the half or even the 1/3 of these money and get a better result. 

That really hurts my feelings, but you are correct.

This is how it looks in motion. 

Hi all,

I am about 8 months into my second hair transplant with Carlos Wesley, who is based in NYC. As some may know, I was greatly dissatisfied with my first transplant from TrueDorin, which was approximately 1100 grafts. 

I went to Wesley in July 2022. He used 1552 grafts. The total cost was about $11-12k. He was very nice and compassionate about my situation. Wesley assured me that he could achieve good result on the corners of my hairline. The corners,  and particularly the left side of my hairline, have been poor density. This is the only area of my scalp that has needed the grafts so far. 
 

Wesley did a a two day process. On the first day, he made the incisions. On the second day, the technicians (also maybe Wesley?) placed the grafts. I don’t remember too much because they heavily sedate you. 
 

As of now, I hate to be pessimistic but this transplant isn’t looking good as well. It’s an improvement over the first for sure, but for roughly 2700 grafts, the density is still not acceptable to be considered a good outcome at this point. 

I am sorry for being anxious, but I feel lost about what to do next? Should I be talking to another doctor about a 3rd hair transplant? Wesley wrote in his notes that I have at least 2500 more grafts left. However, I’m 29 and don’t know if I should have 3 before 30 because that seems excessive. It would also exhausting dropping what would amount to at least $30k, but I’ll do it if it makes sense. 

I took these pictures under bathroom lighting just yesterday.
 

(Full disclosure, I did get a brow lift several weeks ago, and a small incision was made near the temporal region, so there are some scabs, but it hasn’t affected the density of the hair)

Here are my one year mark photos taken in their office back in March 2022. As mentioned before, I had only the hair transplanted on the corners. It’s easy to focus on the good density on most of my head, but that’s because of the medication combo of Dutasteride and oral minoxidil. I’m very thankful I’ve been able to tolerate the side effects and respond well to them. But as can be seen in the photos, the graft density cannot blend with any kind of normalcy to my native hair. It really looks like baby hairs.  

Here are my immediate postop photos from TrueDorin from March 2021.  My hair was sprayed with an ATP spray(they add $500 on top of your transplant for it) so it looks considerably thinner.

On 1/20/2023 at 4:04 PM, thetdog666 said:

I spoke to a doctor in the Uk about topical dutasteride. She said the problem with it is its not stable for long. I'm sure she would only sell me 2 months use at one time. It was very expensive so I just continues with the oral version.

Going by something iv read doesn't it have quite a high molecule weight or something so will be hard for it to penetrate the skin?

I head about the stability issue too, but from what I understand the shelf life the companies put on topical dutasteride means the point in which they can ensure 100 potency as intended. This is just a theory, but after a few months, it should still be fine, but might be like 99 potency or something like that.

1 hour ago, AlexMeister21 said:

You hair loss pattern looks good. Not sure what your family history of balding is, but I don't think you'd have to worry much about running out of lifetime grafts, though I know it sucks to spend a lot of money only to have grafts wasted. 

Thanks, it’s sad I have to focus just on my native hair, but this is how it looks currently at 29 years old. I cover up the corners because the grafts are too thin. Since I don’t have any crown or midscalp recession at this point, I might just have to risk it and get a 3rd transplant to correct the first if the second one doesn’t work out. I will post progress or lack thereof from that and name the surgeon later, so I don’t destroy any relationship with him yet. I’m at 6.5 months currently. Also another $11k cash throw. 

Apologize for reposting so many times. I meant to say my pre-op is not* amazing by any means, but it shouldn’t have been a tough case. 

1 minute ago, Milkman555 said:

Here’s pictures of my hairline before any transplants. I’m not* saying it’s amazing by any means, but it really shouldn’t have been a tough case to work on for any competent hair doctor.

Here’s pictures of my hairline before any transplants. I’m saying it’s amazing by any means, but it really shouldn’t have been a tough case to work on for any competent hair doctor.

Just now, Milkman555 said:

So I would’ve loved to have gone to Konior, but the waiting list so ridiculously long that I didn’t want to wait for years on what I believed would be a relatively easier procedure to do. I wasn’t asking for any hairline lowering or crown work.

Also and being in Manhattan, the proximity made sense. That’s not a strong reason for choosing a surgeon, but that also played a factor. 

1 hour ago, BDK081522 said:

I've never really been blown away by True and Dorin's results. While this certainly lacks density I wouldn't classify it as disastrous. Hopefully your second transplant continues to mature and gives you the result you are seeking. I would like to ask though, if you'd be willing to pay $30K for 1100 grafts why didn't you go to Konior?

So I would’ve loved to have gone to Konior, but the waiting list so ridiculously long that I didn’t want to wait for years on what I believed would be a relatively easier procedure to do. I wasn’t asking for any hairline lowering or crown work.

1 hour ago, shiba1985 said:

What you refer to as temples is not your temples. It’s the lateral portion of the frontal hairline. Still not a good result. How much refund would you say you would call acceptable? I agree 2k is ridiculous. 

Honestly, I just want them to publicly apologize and admit they screwed up. The money, while it sucks a bit to lose it, doesn’t really concern me like the wasted grafts do. I’d easily pay 30k for 1100 grafts if I can be certain they give a good result.

36 minutes ago, TorontoMan said:

How long have you been on dut? I agree that $2k is not enough compensation, I would want at least half, as it looks like you only got half the grafts to grow. Not all is lost for you of course, looks like you do have strong hair behind the hairline and could likely get this revised with great success. 

I’ve been on .5mg Dutasteride since Jan 2020 and 2.5 mg of oral minoxidil since last year. I’ve been on on 1mg of topical Dutasteride 1x week for 2 months and started 1mg pyrilutamide this week. Overkill, absolutely yes, but I want to do all I can. 
 

The silver lining is that I probably lost 200-300 grafts since both sides were about evenly distributed from the over 1100 grafts. The right side, while not impressive, is ok. The second transplant still doesn’t have the density I want after 6 months but it’s been a decent improvement.

I unfortunately didn’t take too many post op photos, but here are a few photos taken 2 days after the surgery. 

I had an absolutely terrible result from True & Dorin’s practice in Manhattan back in March 2021. Here were my results at the one year mark. The transplanted area was exclusively at my temples. The rest of what you see is all my native hair. As you can see, the density was so bad, embarrassingly thin. I know Dr. Dorin is praised on this site, but that entire practice did a really bad job, and he should be reconsidered at the very least when looking at American doctors. When I went to my one year follow-up, Dr. Dorin was unapologetic about the result, which made me want to cry. Instead of expressing any remorse, he tried to say my hairline receded behind the transplant and that’s why it looks poor. I vehemently couldn’t have disagreed more. My native hair has been strong and I’ve been on an intensive amount of hair loss drugs, including Dutasteride and oral minoxidil, which have worked very well. I simply don’t believe that much recession could have occurred in one year. 
 

Anyway, I was given a refund of $2k, which may have been nice, but that doesn’t make things right because I care about the result more than the money. I’m trying to receive my preop photos and will post those when I get them, but their office coordinator has been snarky, cold in his responses, and is trying act like my disappointment is a complete surprise to them, which makes me even more upset.  
 

I currently had a second hair transplant with another doctor and am awaiting the results. I’m 6 months into the second, and I’m getting nervous about those results too, but I digress. 

Anyway, I hope this post causes those of you to, at the very least, seek other options when deciding on your hair restoration surgeon.

5 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

who was the 2nd doc?  For your next procedure I think you should plan on traveling. 

Just because a city is big and fashionable does not mean it has good HT docs. For example there are no good HT docs in London or Paris either. 

I feel like Manhattan has some very competent hair surgeons who should be able to deliver a decent result. I just asked for temple reconstruction, not for something more involved like crown or hairline lowering work. However I will travel next time if this one turns out to be a failure. I really hope it isn’t!!! I’m 29 and have probably used up half my donor supply at this point.

I’ve had two hair transplants. The first was back in March 2021. It was 1150 grafts fue exclusively to the temples. It was done by True and Dorin in Manhattan, and it was a big failure. They did a very poor job and offered me a 2k refund for a 11k procedure. Both doctors True and Dorin admitted but to a lesser degree than me. Pictures from the first transplant are included.

I had a second fue transplant of 1550 grafts by another doctor in Manhattan in July 2022. The grafts were placed in the same area as the last one. I’m at 6 months now, but I’m fearing another poor outcome. The density just isn’t satisfactory. Overall, I’ve spent $22k and have had almost 2700 grafts to the temples, so I’m expecting some good density, but I’ve been quite disappointed. I’m trying to stay hopeful. Pictures(last 4) from the second transplant are attached as well. What does everyone think?