HatMaster

Thank you for the nice comments. I'm incredibly happy with how things have gone and feel like I'm looking better than I have in a long time (maybe ever). I am currently considering whether I want to go back for a smaller second procedure. My donor still feels quite thick compared to the top, and I wonder if a second pass would take me from "not really balding" to "good hair". My priorities would be: 1) Filling in the crown / rear scalp areas that weren't touched or are still sparse 2) Reinforcing the midscalp behind the hairline 3) Potentially lowering the hairline a bit in the corners since I went with a pretty conservative hairline the first time around (see picture below) Curious if you guys think there'd be a cosmetic benefit or if I'm better off keeping the donor grafts in the bank in case I have further loss (although meds seem to be working well for me). I'd be looking at 1500-2000 grafts max, depending on donor assessment.

I’m just about 8 months post op now. The right temple and left rear area near the crown are still slow but I think have been gradually thickening up. I haven’t had a haircut since the last update so my hair is longer than in previous photos. Although I’m still hoping for a bit of improvement overall I’m thrilled by the progress and would be happy if this is my final result.

Personally I think his response is straightforward and reasonable. The only piece that seems “off” to me is that they don’t have a precise graft count with classifications. At least for FUE I think this is almost always noted and made available to the patient. I agree with other comments that if you want to dive deeper into specific questions about your surgery, you’ll need to sit down with your surgeon (maybe a video call would work if it’s too inconvenient to visit physically?) and/or consult with another doctor. Since your doctor stands by his claims, it’s unlikely you’ll get a refund unless another doctor examines you and directly refutes what he’s saying. Even then, you’d probably have to involve the legal system. So, to be honest, I think you’d be best off moving on. For what it’s worth, I think your result looks great.

To clarify, I did not have any work done on the crown.

Hi all, here are some pics of the hairline and crown as well as a video. Actually I don’t think my crown is too bad, my balding started in the temples and then affected the mid scalp and especially the area in front and to the left of my crown. Regarding my nw classification, I definitely feel like I was quite bald before surgery and even more so before I started meds. So I was also surprised that several clinics told me I was nw3. In my opinion, though, the classification is not worth fixating on. Both surgeons and people experiencing hair loss ultimately deal with their specific pattern, not how it maps on to a textbook model. I covered everything about price and logistics in my original post. I accepted the prices that were offered and did not negotiate. https://streamable.com/wla5uc

Hi all, I’m just about 7 months post op. Still hoping for further thickening but I’m already so happy with the results. I like the way I look and have received many compliments from friends and family.

Hi all, I’m about six months post op now. The transplanted hair is still quite thin everywhere, especially in the right front and rear left areas. However, I’m already very happy with how it looks straight on. I feel like I’m looking better than I have in a long time. If this were the final result I wouldn’t be satisfied, but I still have many months for further growth and thickening 🙏. One note on the design: the hair on the left side of the airline goes more up and to the side than I expected. My natural hair in that area grew more down over my forehead and to the side, similar to the right side of the transplant. I don’t mind the look because it adds some natural texture to the hairline, but it’s a bit different from what I expected. I didn’t think to mention it or show old pictures to the surgeon during the design phase, so I’m not sure how he would have known. The area was obviously totally bald before the transplant. I checked in with the surgeon a few days ago since I feel like the growth is a little behind most reports I’ve read. He didn’t seem concerned and just said to give it more time. For fun I included a pic of my hair while skydiving in 2021, before I started any medications. It’s not a fair comparison (shorter hair, bad angle, extremely harsh lighting), but it made me appreciate the progress so far 😀.

Yes, I have seen that post. I’m hoping I’m just a slow grower as the left side only picked up recently. But I will certainly be contacting the doctor if it doesn’t improve in the next month or two. FWIW, I don’t have the scalp tightness he describes, and my pinkness has been fading.

Getting back on the monthly update schedule. I’m now 5 months post op. Growth has picked up steam, and I now feel like my appearance is well above baseline. It felt nice to receive positive comments over the holidays from friends and family that I hadn’t seen since before the operation 😀. Onward!

It's an excellent result. Your hair looks youthful and natural. Congratulations! What are your future plans? Back for round 2, stick with finasteride, etc?

It’s an amazing result. Seems like the medication has helped too - your crown looks a lot better.

Maybe people have reported good results (at least initially) without medication. For any individual case, it's impossible to say how the results would have been with a different medication regime. Dutasteride and minoxidil are well established as effective hair loss treatments, and I would be taking them even if I hadn't undergone a transplant. The evidence for the supplements is much weaker, and I'll probably stop taking them after my supply runs out.

Hi all, the four month update was delayed due to travel. I’m now 4.5mo out from the procedure. My results aren’t too exciting are so far, but growth is definitely underway. Hopefully things will round into shape in the next month or two 🤞. Medication regimen is unchanged, and donor area looks good.

He said I would likely start seeing growth 3-4 months after the operation.

Thanks man! Appreciate the positive energy 🙏. Sorry, I don’t have pics. I recall that they were, but my hair was very short at the time, and shedding started by 3 weeks after the procedure, so it was hard to tell.