ALittelTeal

Looks incredibly natural and growth has really taken off over the last three months. Congrats!

You owe it to yourself to see if you can get used to the shaved/buzzed look. I got a HT without fin and regret it constantly. I can't stress this enough - try cutting your hair shorter now and save yourself the nightmarish hassle of future procedures that in all likelihood will not give you the results that you hope they will.  

Would love an update on how everything is going!

Truly astounding result. Congrats man!

Would love an update!

Hi AStark - Have you seen continued improvements beyond 1 year?

Totally agree with the above poster. I see nothing in the pics provided that would ever make me want to wear a hat out. 

Are you on meds? Sometimes HTs can cause real shock loss to the hairs that were already miniaturizing in the recipient area

This looks like the kind of HT that could be conducive to rocking a buzzcut as well, with the hairline still framed.

Wow. Have to love how the hairline is taking shape. How long did it take for your redness to subside?

Would love an update to see how things are coming along!

Would love to see an update!

1 hour ago, Berba11 said:

As above; consider finasteride &/or minoxidil. Remember that you are in fact very young and your hair loss will likely progress so you'll be chasing your hair loss down with multiple HT's. I certainly couldn't afford one when I was 22, never mind needing more! 

I also can't stress this enough... If you've not rocked a buzz cut for a good while to see how you like it then you're skipping a vital step. You look like you wear your hair quite short anyway so a buzz would look cool. It hurts my head how many people start looking into HT's before they've tried the easiest, cheapest, safest and usually very good-looking option first - especially for very young guys. Surgery should always be the absolute last resort. Take your time!

This is spot on - take the leap now and see if you feel comfortable with the buzzed look, it will save you untold amounts of time, stress, money, etc...

I've been applying 2x/week and I'm getting pretty close to considering stopping xyon topical dut. No sexual sides, but still getting lingering ball pain that has not subsided and def messes with my peace of mind. My hair is certainly worse around the hairline since having started. Crown may be doing a little better, but that could very well be the oral minoxidil.  

I can say after several months of using Xyon dutasteride 2-3x a week that I have gone through a terrible shed and my hair has not recovered. There may be some hope for the crown as I think I can feel some vellus hairs, but tbh that has thinned too and remains to be seen. I will power through for another few months, but it's been very difficult mentally. No sides from me. 

Would love to see an update on this!

Would love to see an update!

Would love an update!

Must feel good to know that growth is still happening. Maybe the lighting is playing tricks but I feel like I can see more density, especially around the corners. 

I’m probably as critical as anyone for cases like these given that my experience with FUE had even less results at the 18 month mark and I’m considering Shapiro should I opt for a second pass. That being said, I feel like I am seeing some solid growth between Months 5 and 6? I’m open to people telling me otherwise, but I would be incrementally optimistic after seeing the progression over the last month. I say this as someone who last month thought that your growth was in fact disappointing. Regardless, I’m sorry that you have had to wait as long as you have and still wrestle with the frustration and doubt of a potentially poor outcome.

Would love an update on this!

2 minutes ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

Since you already started id continue. since the scars and the transplanted hairs are already there you dont have the option of balding „naturally“ anyways.

This is a fear of mine. On one hand, the yield on the first pass was so low that there may not be that many unruly hairs to take care of. On the other hand, there is still a little bumpiness to the skin where some of the implants happened. I know I can wear my hair as short as a 2 guard on the sides and back, but I don't know how "normal" the top of the head would look at that length and if it's something that I could manage around. Either way, it's something that I am unlikely to know until I ever just do it and get a buzzcut 

I did this with 1275 grafts, and it was discreet enough that 6 days later I just looked like I had matted, messy hair and a crappy fade when I walked around without a hat when I was on vacation. However, I could not have worn my hair like I usually wore it in the office without it being noticeable. I didn't have manageable hair that could be worn in the office for ~5 weeks later, and it was another 5-8 weeks after that of just looking like I had significant thinning on the frontal third due to the shock loss from the procedure. In hindsight, I also think the no-shave approach should only be done with docs that have a great reputation for doing so (if at all), and the one I chose did not fit the bill there and as a result have less density now than I did before the FUE. If I were to ever do a procedure again, I think that I would go with the fully shaved approach to get the best results and just own the fact that I had the procedure. But that is easier said than done...

And these are today. As far as the prior transplant, the yield was clearly just low. The angles as best I can tell aren’t terrible. Not perfect and still can be difficult to style along with the native hair, but that is likely to be the case with any FUE. Appreciate the comments from everyone so far, definitely goes to serve as a good reminder to me that my scrutiny of it is far higher than others

These are the pre-op pics (Dec '21)