kiwik

Seems like a good and clean job: small irregularities in the hairline to make it look natural, no row implantation, gradually decreasing density. All this for only €2550, looks like you won the lottery! Happy growing :)

[Update: 7 months] I don't see a lot of change anymore, there has definitely been a lot of thickening since the last update, but no new growth. I'm quite happy with the result, I don't think I could have expected more coverage than this from only 3400 grafts. One thing worth noting is that I have a few double grafts in the hairline (but to be honest, I am not really bothered by that). I hopped on topical fin (Finagen from Hemiacosmetics, a fin+min blend) a couple of few weeks ago and am currently experiencing some shedding. Doc told me to wait for the crown to stabilize before having another transplant, so that's what I'm going to do.

Hi, the bloody bits will be gone by day 13. Actually, you might not look too bad from above, depending on how the implanted hair covers the redness of your scalp. I spoke at a conference 3 weeks after my HT and I was fine.

Well they gave you a very dense hairline, but they didn't implant a lot of grafts behind it, so there will be a difference in density for sure. You're only at 6 months though, there's still a lot of maturing to come, your hair will end up looking thicker than this. Where did you have your procedure? Do you know the number of grafts?

As I said, this is only in harsh lighting, and most people don't even notice it, but since we're all hair transplant weirdos who look at the back of our heads, we tend to overthink things a little 😅 Also, this really depends on your donor area. If you have very fine hair and a lot of grafts avaliable in your donor, you may be able to have a lot more grafts taken without it being noticeable at a #3 guard.

I had 3400 grafts extracted. My procedure was only 7 months ago though, so it might still get a bit better.

Well, there's two things that are noticeable after a transplant: 1) the individual scars ("white dots"): that depends on the punch size used for extractions (which itself depends on your hair characteristics), and your skin. For me, those are practically invisible at a #2 guard already. 2) the general outline of your donor area: it is obviously going to be less dense than the surrounding hair, and if you have had a lot of grafts extracted, this will show (also depending on your skin colour and hair characteristics). For me, this is noticeable in harsh lighting at a #3 guard, and even at a #4 guard in extremely harsh lighting.

Wow, if you could smell the smoke on the tech's hands, they surely hadn't washed their hands properly 🙄 that's a red flag to be honest.

Finasteride won't make any difference on your donor, but minoxidil might help it grow back faster. If you're fine with how the rest of your donor looks at this length, then you should be fine with this side as well once the shock lost hair has grown back! :)

It might be a bit of both, although there is no exact definition of overharvesting. Except for someone with a really exceptional donor, extracting 5000 grafts will always leave some noticeable difference in density, and you'll have to wear your hair a little longer than in the pictures. What I can tell you for sure is that it's going to get better!

Hi, do you have any pictures of your donor taken right after the procedure? That might help us see whether or not you were overharvested. It will get better than this for sure, but I can't tell you how much better.

Hi, this is nothing unusual, my scalp was red until week 10. Where did you have your HT and how many grafts were transplanted?

It may be a bit of both to be honest. The fact that they punched in a straight line along the border of the shaven donor area makes it more noticeable. The bigger patches look like shock loss. It will definitely get better than this, don't worry too much for the moment!

To be honest, 6 months seems a bit early for a donor repair. Some of the hair might still grow back in the coming weeks/months. Do you have any post-op pictures of your donor, taken in the first two days after surgery?

Ask for a precise estimate of the number of grafts that can be extracted from your donor, and for a long-term strategy. For most people, one HT is not enough, but it can make you happy for a few years before you need a second one: it's important to know how many grafts you may need for the second HT, and how many will be left in the donor area after the first one.

Your future NW seems to be 6 (although you should have a doctor confirm you're not headed towards 7). This means you'll need at least 6k grafts in total, possibly even 8k depending on your hair characteristics. I believe good short term results can be achieved with two surgeries (that's the strategy my surgeon suggested in my case, which is quite similar to yours), and you might have to go back for a third HT in 10 years or so when you have lost more native hair. You can ask Bisanga or de Freitas for advice, I don't think anything would be "too challenging" for them, although I've never seen reports on such big cases treated in their clinics. Anyway, if they say you're a good candidate, you'll be in safe hands with them.

Great! Just know it might take a lot longer than that to fully recover ;)

Hi @AlexIce, did you get an answer from the clinic?

Looks like shock loss to me. Don't panic, it may take a long time to recover. Can you tell us which clinic you went to?

This looks like such a clean job, the extraction pattern is amazing. I like how they kept your natural hairline as well. Wish you all the best!

To be honest, you seem to have got good growth from these 3500 grafts. Your surgeon just got waaaay too ambitious with the hairline: bad planning, but not so bad execution.

The techs (who I was told are actual nurses) were French.

[Update: 5 months] I've seen some thickening in the last weeks, but not much new growth. There are finally a few dozen small hairs sprouting in the donor area: the recovery has officially started! But I have a feeling that's it's going to take a few more months before it looks completely normal again.

The short term results of a transplant do not really depend on the use of fin or min. However, the results you usually see in pictures are of people that weren't completely bald: what you see is the transplanted hair + the remaining native hair in the area. If you're not on medication, the latter won't stop thinning after your transplant, and the result won't look as good anymore a few years down the road.

How long ago did you have surgery? Also, if you had good hair apart from the temples, why did they fill such a big area with grafts?