consequence

It varies but for me 4-8 weeks.

I can only seem to find about 8 patient submitted cases from Zarev, but a lot of people have put him on the "top 10 of 2023" list here. Are there more of his cases posted by patients elsewhere? Or are you guys going off of cases that his clinic itself has posted?

Thanks bro 😎

5 months: Overall it looks good on the right, still thin on the left. It seems like most of the hairs have grown, just immature caliber. Even feeling them, they're more "silky" like baby hairs -- they will hopefully coarsen up. Hopefully left follows the right, but if not will consider a minor touch up. Google's ITA matrix and Skiplagged to see what's out there, then Cheapoair, Momondo and Kayak for specific tickets.

What medications are you on? Will you be doing anything else like PRP or laser helmet to promote recovery?

Was this question for me? I don't think I'm at the point yet to consider a touch up -- way too early at 5 months. I'll wait till a year and reassess, will cross that bridge when the time comes. I really didn't use the mosqueta for more than a day as my redness went away on its own pretty fast. No supplements other than avodart, ketoconazole and oral minoxidil that would relate to hair loss. Generally following a carnivore/mediterranean diet with organ meats and vegetables.

I used 5 mg gummies I believe. Also being in a different time zone was tricky. Those first 2 weeks were pretty rough. There's not much known about PRP in the post op setting. Dr. Couto said it would interfere with the natural hair growth cycle, but then he has recommended it to some of his patients from what I've heard, so I think he takes it on a case by case basis. Also the risk of damaging the new follicles through the physical trauma of the needle, though this could be avoided by injecting above and letting gravity allow the liquid to diffuse down (and hold it in place with a mild elastic tourniquet for an hour or so). My left frontal line is looking a little corn-rowish which is making me strongly consider it. Generally the feedback you'll get here is people will say "give it till a year and then consider" or "PRP doesn't work" (though I think the data is reasonable that it does help with density in the non-surgical setting). My hunch is that in the post op setting it increases density but not yield. No one knows if it's more effective within the first year or waiting till afterwards, this is all just inductive reasoning (read: broscience) at this point. I suspect it doesn't matter. No strong peer reviewed double blinded and adequately powered research one way or the other at this point. The studies would not be difficult to do and not that expensive as you're using the patient's own blood, so just machine time. But a surgeon, or group of surgeons, needs to actually take initiative and do the d*mn thing. Perhaps at a future international conference, but that's not in a time frame that's helpful for me. Similar thought process applies to using lasercaps, though as their mechanism might be similar to minoxidil I'm not sure they would have much of an impact either way. Again really pathetic the absence of good research and standardization as far as technique and recovery in surgical hair restoration. Very backwards field in a lot of ways. If my density hasn't improved at 6 months, I may consider it. Still on the fence.

A good hat has a UPF of 40, it still doesn't block out all the sun. I'm not a fan of the gallons of pesticides they use to maintain the green either. Is there something you can do indoors for awhile?

Hard to say without pictures, try to post carefully and in similar lighting conditions to pre-shed. A general H&P is where to start -- what meds are you on? Are you taking any other medications/drugs, prescribed or otherwise? Any other medical conditions? Life stressors or changes in lifestyle?

Yes I responded there as well. Good luck man, you're in good hands.

I tried to avoid all heavy lifting after surgery. You can ask any questions in the forums so if others have them they can be answered publically. Buena suerte.

Hey @wprevil I answered these questions in the first post of my own experience thread (see the tagline). Dr. Couto is extremely personable and easy to get along with. His staff is excellent. The only issue I had going to and from Spain was dealing with my luggage after the surgery -- the airport staff wouldn't lift my luggage onto the rack and I couldn't do any heavy lifting so I had to ask other passengers to help, and they were kind of annoyed. Hotel and logistics stuff is all in my first post, it was a while ago so I don't remember the details off the top of my head but I did my best to provide a step-by-step guide. You're in good hands. Just trust the process.

Here's another shot as I think some of the last posts' were a bit blurry. The density of the left frontal line and further back is still sparse but nothing else to do but wait.

This whole thing is such a rollercoaster. Important not to keep a baseball bat in your emotional tool kit in the beginning. If you figure out how, let me know. 😅

4 month update. Not much has changed, hard to tell from the pics maybe but coming in on the right, a bit stringy/sparse on the left:

This looks fine to you for 11 months? Looks like we found the clinic's account. 🤪 Either that or you just scrolled to the bottom of the thread and looked at the post repair pics without reading any of the actual post text.

Now it's time for the waiting game. *cue Jeopardy theme song, 12 month long version* Best of luck and keep us updated!

Money is often an issue so people have no choice or they don't want to deal with the hassle of getting consults etc all over again.

It seems like post repair you've improved a lot. If you're still unhappy you can try PRP to thicken things up. I'm not sure who is the "best" for revisions, everyone has their favorite on this -- definitely need to do your own research.

Are those after pics at 12 months? If so that is perhaps a 25-40% yield. Not many cases where there is such a deviation from the standard of care as to have a possible lawsuit but I think this is one of them. The peak years from most surgeons are from 40-60, at least as far a studies on error rates. Earlier than that and they don't have the experience yet, later and they've kind of clocked out. And even if not, as you've pointed out, manual dexterity becomes an issue. Your surgeon just lent his license to the techs and collected payment. F*cking sociopath and an embarrassment to the profession. And what's worse is he knows what he's doing and doesn't care. And there is literally almost no regulation on hair techs in the United States at the current time. The legal system is extremely bad at enforcing a standard of care for medicine because it's money driven not based on ethics or morality. This is why this forum is so important. Was the surgeon even in the room during the placement? God your experience really just infuriates me. I'm so sorry man.

I brought surgical caps (like you can get at a convenience store or on Amazon). I stayed in my room mostly afterwards so didn't need them, but did use them on the flight back to the USA.

My redness went away on its own but I have brown skin so was almost imperceptible even post op. Couto recommended me Rosa Mosqueta for redness in the evening and non-alcoholic aloe vera in the morning in his post op instructions.

@Dr.Keser_s Translator Did he start doing this recently? I had heard the comment a few times from folks here Keser didn't use magnification. Always surprised me because the glasses are relatively cheap -- I just assumed he found them uncomfortable and felt confident seeing the grafts with his naked eye. @formesenlairHis results are the best of the Turkish docs, at least from patient posted results here. If that's the country you want to have your surgery, he is the man to see. There are other great options in Europe as well, but Keser is in my opinion one of the top and ahead of most American docs.

Thanks for your comment. I got a response from Dr. Couto and he basically said not to start PRP mid way through recovery because it interferes with the natural growth cycle and could delay my results. If I had started it from the beginning it would have been okay, but not mid way through. I actually did have PRP above the surgical bed at my vertex 1 month before and 1 month after, but I never had the guts to inject it directly into where the hair was transplanted. I think *maybe* the injector might have gone a little into the transplant bed on the right but who the frick knows. In any case, I'm not going to second guess the Lionel Messi of FUE -- just going to just take his advice, stay healthy and pray to the Hair Gods.

One of the most natural in the industry. Happy growing, enjoy the rollercoaster of recovery.