LeonBlack

Recipient hair looks great! Sorry to see that your scar stretched like that.

I drove for all of mine so not sure on that end. I would think fine to fly the day after procedure. Staples, you can get removed at home. PCP, urgent care, etc.

2 nights. I stayed on Long Island near where his office was. Procedure Friday. Stayed Thursday and Friday night, drove home Saturday.

Konior top notch….. but 35k/procedure

I have seen a few 5K+ from HW on this forum. I don’t think I’ve ever seen over 4K from Bloxham here, or his YouTube videos. my strip goes from here to ear, actually a bit past the ears. Couldn’t be any longer. Only way is to take a wider strip. perhaps some patients have the scalp laxity for that and/or a they use a different closure technique to maintain a thin scar without too much tension leading to stretching. On my second FUT, he used internal sutures, in addition to the usual staples, to maintain a thin scar. That one was just under 3K. If he said he could’ve safely gotten me 5k+ on a single procedure, I would’ve paid and done it. Granted full coverage needs 6-8k+, so needs 2nd procedure either way for high Norwood. Larger was not advised for me.

Same as mine. Planned to do “as much as safely possible” on first. Ie max size strip while minimize stretching risk. Got ~3800. Wasn’t sure I’d ever want to do crown…. Til 6 months later when I saw how good front looked and accentuated my bald crown. Always very responsive via email with questions and concerns pre and post op. travel time with days off work (if production based), hotel, airfare, etc do jack up the price though

Probably what I’d do if lived around there.

I agree, regarding the effect of keeping it short on the sides… Except, don’t forget that with a properly placed FUT scar, you can fade it down below as low as you want. I go from a three over the scar down to a 1. Also, being mindful of age and profession. Not all lend themselves to keeping the sides buzzed up tight all the way

Sorry, but I’m not sure what his wait time is like. For my most recent, I specifically requested a date that was about six months out (working around my schedule and holidays) and it was open. I did not look into first available.

I do agree that would be the wise decision. Don’t intend to hijack this thread… But I acknowledge I have not made the optimal decision on that aspect. I used topical minoxidil for over a decade. definitely noticed I would lose more hair whenever I briefly stopped it. Hair loss nonetheless substantially progressed from Norwood 2 in my early 20s to I believe a 6 before my first hair transplant, as seen in my linked post. I tolerated finasteride somewhat, not perfectly, but not terrible. It was stopped for one to two years at a time, directly before/after having each one of my kids. Perhaps that was misguided, but it made my wife feel safer. Frankly, don’t know that I saw a difference on it, even when steadily taking it for a year or more. Perhaps I could’ve switched to dutasteride, or if more recently, added oral minoxidil. All that said… At the time of my first hair transplant, the only residual hair I really had was the miniaturized patch in the mid scalp.I asked my doctor his opinion. He did not think it was worth taking medicine for the rest of my life to preserve that small area that was already on its way out. At this point, reasons I could think to take it would be preserving the lateral humps, and back of crown, just in case I was destined to go from a 6 to 7. Also, possibly prolonging the lifespan of my transplanted hairs. I have made the conscious, and perhaps unwise, decision to just let it ride, given all that. Several thousand scalp graphs left available via FUE, not even including my thick beard.

Thanks. Im definitely happy with it thus far. re meds…. I am not. Used topical min for years and fin intermittently ( I know wasn’t optimal). Continued to progressively lose. Was so far gone pre HT that I didn’t see the point of indefinite meds.

Example of a high Norwood with FUT x 2 for full coverage (me). Cost about 30k. Frontal half grown in, back half 3 months post op. Small FUE shortly after for temples. Plenty of donor in the tank if needed, ie I progress to NW 7. I am super impressed by what Zarev/Pitella are doing, and acknowledge I have my biases….. but I think it’s still TBD if the FUE grafts taken from outside the conventional safe donor zone will stand the test of time.

Nothing terribly exciting, but will start monthly updates to document. Some early growth on temples at 2 months. More sprouting on crown at 3 months. 14 months after front half. Pre op for baseline.

Pictures 2.5 months out from FUT crown, 2 months FUE temples, 14 months frontal half FUT, after a haircut with 3 guard over the scar, tapered to 1.5 below. 100% hair on top of my head is transplant at this point, residual miniaturized midscalp is gone. Added baseline, 1 year post first FUT, post op temple to consolidate this long thread . I included some current (2.5 month post op) scar pictures, showing both the remaining shock loss around it, trichophytic effect with hairs going through, widest area in the back at 3 mm, hard to find on the side, about 1 mm. Can still see some layering of hair effect over the scar at this point, with the shock loss. That disappeared after my first procedure about four months out. Now just waiting on the growth over the next few months…