Rahal Hair Transplant

@Turkhair,

To be honest, I’ve been hearing that a hair loss cure is about 3 to 5 years away for about 40 years. They’re still saying the same thing. As close as the researchers say they are getting, there still doesn’t seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel so to speak. That said, thankfully today’s top surgeons have advanced surgical hair restoration, especially FUE and can provide men suffering from hair loss with exceptionally dense and natural looking results.

Now, your statement about having to go to Turkey to obtain a top-notch hair transplant… I’m not sure where you’re thinking on that one originates but be careful. While there may be some decent hair transplant surgeons in Turkey, Turkey is a hotspot for botched hair transplants and other cosmetic procedures.  The inexpensive price is typically what lures individuals there, but please just be careful and do your due diligence in researching all surgeons you are considering.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@zlasevom,

I read through everything you shared and to be completely honest with you, I believe you are completely fine. There’s nothing you shared that I believed would have damaged or injured your newly transplanted grafts at any point.  You yourself said that you didn’t see any blood when you bumped your head and didn’t see any lost grafts.   Also keep in mind that the spirit of postoperative instructions are more important than the letter so to speak. In general, it’s just a good idea to avoid any strenuous activity in order to protect the grafts.  But a number of people have sex and masturbate shortly after surgery and do not damage their hair transplant in any way.

The truth is, it’s a lot more difficult than you think to damage your hair transplant post up. So as long as you’re not engaging in any overly rough or combative activities that’s going to cause strain on your hair transplant for the first couple of days to a week, you should be completely fine.

if you are really concerned and one more specific input on your procedure, feel free to post your surgical detail and  some photos of your scalp before surgery, immediately after the procedure and what it looks like today.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@zenmu,

To be honest with you, it really depends.   Everyone thinks age matters but in reality, each patient should be considered based on their individual circumstances. For example, let’s say a 20 year old went to a hair transplant clinic and is now in need of repair procedure. In a case like that, then it very well may be appropriate to operate on that individual in order to make their situation right.  There may also be other cases where operating on somebody younger is appropriate however, as a general rule, younger patients have higher expectations and are prone to panic at even the smallest signs of hair loss.  Since restoring a completely full head of densely packed hair is not possible, operating on a young patient under those conditions would be an appropriate.

The bottom line is, while age is certainly a consideration at our clinic in determining whether or not we will operate on them, their particular individual circumstances ultimately matter more.  That said, Dr. Rahal does and will turn patients down for surgery if operating on them is not in their best interest.   

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant

@Boba91,

5 days  is a little on the early side for temporary shock loss but it’s certainly possible. If you noticed a change in your donor area from the first day to the fifth day, then it very likely is early shot loss. I suggest posting some photos of your donor area immediately after surgery and now for additional feedback.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@Youth_Again,

At seven days postop, the newly transplanted follicles are deeply rooted underneath the surface of the scalp and could not be dislodged without surgery. Therefore, what you are seeing is likely just the hair shaft along with a scab and not the root of the follicle.  Patients who lose newly transplanted grafts typically experience pain and blood in the area where the graft was dislodged and this what only be in the first couple of days anyway. Like I said at seven days postop, it would be almost impossible to lose a graft without undergoing surgery.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant

This patient underwent a 2225 graft (5396 hairs) procedure via FUE with Dr. Rahal in Febraruy, 2020.  He is thrilled with his results.  You can view his surgical details and hair count breakdowns below.

********************

1 haired FUs - 335
2 haired FUs - 795
3 haired FUs - 955
4 haired FUs - 144
5 haired FUs - 6

Total # Grafts - 2225
Total # Hairs - 5396

Recipient Area Size - 56cm2

Recipient Graft Density - 40
Recipient Hair Density - 96.4

Average Hairs Per Graft - 2.43
Hair Caliber - 44 microns

********************

This patient started experiencing hair loss for only a few years prior to his hair transplant in early 2020.  He was 34 years of age at the time of his treatment.  A few weeks before surgery, he started finasteride and started taking Rogaine immediately post-op as well.  At only 4 months post-op (when most patients just only start seeing new signs of growth), he was already very happy.  So he sent the following to us at 4 months:

Family history of hair loss was reported on his fathers side only, maximum was a Norwood class 4.  

You can view his before, post-op and after photos below.  Feel free to let us know what you think 

Collages

Individual Photos

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant                                                                        
 

@holec7,

hair transplant surgery works on the principle known as donor dominance. In other words, the properties of each  transplanting has retains its properties from its origin.  So whatever natural color The hair would have been in the donor region, it would also be in the recipient area when it grows in.

As far as dyed hair, it really doesn’t matter what color you died it. Because when it grows back in, it will retain its natural color from its origin. Of course, you can always dye your hair again to the color you choose after it grows in.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant

@FinallyHT,

The best thing you can do to cultivate and expedite the growth of your hair transplant is to follow your surgeons postoperative instructions.  No miracle lotion or potion will help your hair grow faster and fuller and no hat nor cap will make your hair thicker.

Non-surgical solutions such as minoxidil, finasteride and laser therapy may help you to keep the existing hairy you have by slowing down, stopping at university effects of male pattern baldness.

You  said that your doctor suggests that you take dutasteride. Have you first tried finasteride and it didn’t work for you? I ask because most individuals try finasteride and only if it is not effective are they typically suggested to try dutasteride.  This is because dutasteride is a more potent medication that blocks both type I and type II 5-alpha reductase as opposed to finasteride which only blocks the first type.  There is also more potential for side effects while using dutasteride than finasteride.

I hope this helps 

Rahal Hair Transplant

@Kdegen,

it’s obvious that you are a tremendous responder to hair loss medication. The combination of both oral finasteride and minoxidil often have a synergistic affect and provide more benefit together, then either of them as a standalone treatment.

You are certainly one of the blessed where you don’t necessarily need to undergo a hair transplant, surgery to fill in any thinning areas since the medication seems to have done the job quite well. However, you could always undergo the procedure simply to refine the hairline, temple points, or address any areas that you feel require it.

At 34 years of age, I do feel that surgical hair restoration is a potential option for you if you decide you want it. In my opinion, however, keep up with a nonsurgical treatments to help maintain the hair that has recently regrown.

Best Wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@gogo123,

When it comes to questions like this, my answer is typically this… “Use common sense“.  In other words, the 5 to 14 Day range that you were given is more of a guideline then it is a hard fast rule.

At the end of the day, it’s a good idea to follow the post office instructions your physician gave you. However, If you ultimately have gentler sex on the fourth day and it doesn’t interfere with the newly transplanted hair, then it’s not going to affect your hair transplant result in any way.   However, you will certainly want to avoid anything on the rougher side or anything that makes you sweat profusely.   I also suggest asking your partner not to run their fingers through nor pull your hair.

My advice to use common sense the first week or two out from hair surgery also applies when it comes to exercising and other activities that people do on a regular basis.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@DTXHair,

A lot of people are concerned about the way the donor looks after their hair transplant. In fact, it’s sometimes even looked worse a couple weeks to a couple months after the procedure and only starts looking better sometimes between 4 to 6 months. It can even take up to a year to look completely normal.

The above is due to was referred to as “shock loss“ which I’m sure you know  is a specific form of telogen effluvium that occurs due to the trauma to the scalp during surgery.  Any terminal hair (or in other words, strong, healthy natural hair) that is not in any miniaturization state will usually return if “shocked” while any miniaturizing hairs, such as natural hairs in some stage of male pattern baldness in the  recipient area likely will not.

Long story short, patients go through many phases after her transplant surgery which is why Dr. Rachel and others always have patience to wait for year before evaluating the final result. This includes the donor and recipient areas.

so, your post is a good one as it shows that The hair restoration journey is a process and it takes time to get to the final result.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@bakerjin,

While it’s not a good idea to be aggressive while working off the scabs in the shower, at 11 days out from your hair transplant procedure, the follicles will have set and have become deeply rooted underneath the surface of the scalp.

In other words, the follicles are safe underneath the surface of the scalp and though you may have found scabs and hairs in your fingernails or in the shower, etc., the follicles are safe and sound and will begin regrowing hair between 3 to 5 months post-op.

The above post is a general timeframe that most patients relate to in terms of the beginning of new hairtransplant growth.  Long story short, I don’t believe you damaged the hair root/follicle and I expect you will see everything grow normally when the time comes.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@Boba91

i’m not sure if I understand the question. In looking at all of the photos you presented, I’m still not seeing a really clear picture of what’s going on other than what looks like an exceptionally thin donor area.

And if your donor hair is as thin as it appears in the photos, then you wouldn’t likely be a good candidate for hair surgery in the first place.

Also, I suggest posting some clearer photos of the sides and back of your head. The second photo looks like it was photo shopped and doesn’t even look like it’s an actual photo.

But generally speaking, there’s not too much you can do to repair a thinned out donor area. If your donor is thin due to some type of hair loss condition such as diffuse unpatterned alopecia (DUPA), you can possibly consider talking to a doctor about using finasteride which might help thicken thinning areas.

if your donor area is thinned out because of a previous hair transplant procedure and your donor area was over harvested, then you could consider scalp micro pigmentation (SMP) which is a micro tattooing procedure which can be used to provide an illusion of thicker and denser hair in the thinned out areas.

I don’t know where you are located but if you are somewhat local to Toronto or Ottawa Canada, Dr. Rahal does also offer SMP so if you’re somewhat local and interested, feel free to send me a private message and I’d be happy to talk with you more about it.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

@Med,

Generally speaking, those with a advanced Norwood 7 classifications will not have enough donor hair to restore a completely full looking head of hair, especially with high density.

Even if you have exceptionally dense donor hair, you still have to consider supply versus demand. There is only so much supply and demand for hair is so much greater than the supply available.

Essentially, you would have to harvest every single follicular unit in the donor area and move it to the top and even then, full coverage and density would not be achievable. It would also be unethical to perform such a procedure.

That said, if you do have the donor for it,  an experienced surgeon may be able to re-create a conservative, age-appropriate hairline with some mild density and then taper back as far as possible. You may be able to get as far as the mid scalp region but covering the crown won’t be likely.

Also keep in mind that non-surgical solutions are not proven to grow hair in completely bald areas.  What they might do for you is preventing you from losing any more hair and even reverse the miniaturization process for those hairs that are not yet fully destitute.  But based on the photo you presented, it doesn’t look like you have much if any natural hair left on top of your head.  Thus, don’t be surprised if your non-surgical treatment regimen doesn’t do anything to bring back any of the previously existing hair on top of your head.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant

This patient received 2509 grafts (5566 hairs) via FUE with Dr. Rahal in early 2020 and is very happy with his results.  

His surgical data including hair count breakdowns are below.

*********************

1 Haired FUs - 445
2 Haired FUs - 1208
3 Haired FUs - 721
4 Haired FUs - 133
5 Haired FUs - 2

Total Number of Grafts - 2509
Total Number of Hairs - 5566

Zones Treated - 1,2,3
Recipient Area Size - 59.5 cm2
Recipient Graft Density - 42 FU/cm2
Recipient Hair Density - 93 FU/cm2
Hair Caliber - 52 Microns

*********************

He was 34 years of age at the time of his procedure and started experiencing hair loss only a few years prior.  

His family history of hair loss ranges from a Norwood class 4 to a class 7.

While he didn't use any non-surgical hair loss solutions prior to his surgical treatment, he did get on both finasteride and minoxodil immediately following surgery.

Here is a snippet from an email that he sent about his result:

*********************

********************

You can view his before and afters below.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant
 

Yo@Recession1,

it’s a little difficult providing you with a graft estimate without knowing more about your situation which typically comes from an evaluation/assessment from Dr Rahal.

Also, it’s difficult to see how much hair you’ve actually lost in the photos as it looks like you still have a pretty full head of hair.   

But assuming you’re a candidate…in other words, you’re age-appropriate, you have viable donor hair, your hair loss pattern isn’t overly advanced, etc, I’d guesstimate approximately 1500 to 2000 grafts to re-create the hairline and add some density to the frontal third 

Please note that this is not an assessment by Dr. Rahal or our clinic. This is just my personal opinion based on a very limited information and the few photos that I have 

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant 

@letooshay,

Some patients are natural “bleeders” and in that chance, it’s not a whole lot can do to minimize this.  

Also, some patients bleed more during hair transplant surgery because they’re taking medication or doing something that thins the blood. This is why  our clinic and a lot of others provide patients with a list of preoperative instructions that when followed, will assist with making the procedure go as seamless as possible.

Of course, some surgeons are using techniques that are much more refined than others.   By making smaller incisions and using smaller punches, there is typically less bleeding and faster healing times.  It also allows for more densely packed follicular unit in the area.

At the end of the day though, it does look like you had a decent result that looks natural. The good news is you can always go back or choose another clinic to add density. 🙂

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

@Savemyhairline,

A lot of people struggle with the very same thing and it’s especially more difficult when you’re only a couple months out from your hair transplant.  Around this time, patients often look their worst because not only did all of the transplanted hair shed temporarily, but mini experience shock loss of natural hair in and around the transplanted area.  On top of that, some patients are still experiencing postoperative redness and inflammation and even possibly pimples in and around the transplanted area.

so as I’m sure you’re already aware, trying to look natural and inconspicuous is a bit on the difficult side in and around this time period, often called the doldrums and/or the ugly duckling face.

Weddings and/or other formal events in particular are difficult because you can’t just hide your hair transplant under a hat.

now, it’s a little difficult to give you specific advice without seeing photos of  what your hair looks like before surgery, immediately postop and today.   Some of what you may or may not be able to do will depend on where the transfer that area is, the length of your hair, the amount of area that you feel looks like somethings different that your family and friends might notice, etc.

So without knowing this information, I can only give you some general advice.

You could always try some kind of topical concealer like Toppik, DermMatch, Couvre, etc.   You can also try coming and styling your hair differently to cover any areas that you are concerned about, etc.  

Now, if you don’t have that much shark loss, you might even look just like you did prior to surgery by the time you go to the wedding. In that case, nobody should notice or say anything.

so if you want to post some photos of what your head and hair looks like before surgery, right after surgery and now, we can give you some more specific feedback.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplant 

@Heisenberg,

When I see your name, I immediately feel like quoting “Breaking Bad”, but I’ll restrain myself  🙂.

honestly, it doesn’t matter the brand of Pillow you use however, there are different types of pillows depending on your sleeping style/pattern.  For example, there are pillows for stomach sleepers, side sleepers and back sleepers.  Since it is ideal to sleep on your back in an elevated position for the first week or two after hair transplant surgery, I suggest looking into buying a back sleeper pillows or you can sample these hello is that any mattress or bed shop.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

@Tracer3000,

Before answering your question, I do want to suggest strongly that you wait until maturation before drawing any conclusions and making any decisions. Maturation is between 12 and 18 months.

The reason for this is simple.  Transplanted hair only typically starts to break through the scalp between 3 to 5 months.  So at four months, you’re only seeing a fraction of the hairs that are going to break through the scalp and grow.  You say that there are definitely not any single Hairs underneath them. How do you know this? If they haven’t broken through the scalp yet,  you wouldn’t visually see them.   What you are seeing now may not be what you see in several months.

now, I’m not getting that there’s a possibility you are correct. So if at maturation, you still see that there are multi-haired grafts in the hair line, there are certainly options. One is to extract the multi haired follicles Which may not be the best option because it will leave you with scarring at the hairline.  Another, which is typically more favorable is to camouflage the multi-haired grafts by transplanting single haired grafts in between and around the multi haired grafts  

Either way,  in my opinion, I would wait at least until you are at eight months postop but to be safe, 12 months is ideal.   Between now and then, do your research and number of your selection down to a couple outstanding surgeons with a proven track record of producing excellent results… and then consult with them when the time comes to go over your options.

when the time comes, you are certainly welcome to contact me privately and I can set up an information session with Dr. Rahal who can assess your situation and go over the best options for you.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

@DavidJ,

Hair loss is a progressive condition and though finasteride was working well for you for 4 years, as you said, you’ve noticed that your hair is starting to thin more recently.

It does make sense logically to consider switching from finasteride to dutasteride but before you do so, I do suggest that you speak to your physician about this.

Keep in mind while the medication dutasteride is more potent than finasteride, it also comes with a greater potential of side effects. This is because dutasteride blocks both type I and type 5 alpha reductase enzymes while finasteride only blocks type two.   As a result, less dihydrotestosterone aka DHT can be produced which means, reduced hair loss.

So while dutasteride wasn’t technically tested nor FDA approved for the treatment of hair loss, logically and in practice for many hair loss suffering men, dutasteride is certainly more affective in treating male pattern baldness.  On the other hand, The possibility of side effects is certainly greater. So again, I do suggest speaking to a physician prior to switching medication.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant
 

@Jamie_Finndust,

While it is certainly a normal procedure for patients to be provided with documentation before undergoing hair transplant surgery, there should be no secrets in any of the documentation as the clinic should have gone over everything with you already.  That said, you should be given ample time to read over everything and you should certainly be entitled to copies of the documentation, especially documentation you were asked to sign.

I hope this helps

Rahal Hair Transplant

@Jamie_Finndust,

Other than keeping your scalp clean, there really isn’t anything you have to do to your hair or scalp to prepare for hair transplant surgery.  That said, your surgeon should have provided you with some pre-operative instructions which likely include a list of dos and don’ts. Just be sure that you follow those.

I hope this helps.

Rahal Hair Transplnt

@Mr. Clean,

Information sessions can be scheduled quite quickly with Dr. Rahal.  While the actual session may sometimes with a patient advocate/representative, all evaluations go through Dr. Rahal.   Thus, even if the doctor doesn’t happen to be present for your particular information session, for example, any information presented by a patient advocate about your case would be directly from the doctor’s assessment.

Keep in mind that if you are going to shave your head prior to a session, it would be better if your hair was long enough to evaluate the thinning areas both (recipient and the donor area).

Feel free to contact me privately if you’re interested in a no obligation  information session with Dr. Rahal.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant 

@inthemix,

I don’t know much about your situation however, keep in mind that hair transplant surgery is great at restoring hair to completely bald or thinning areas of the scalp.  However, surgical her restoration does nothing to slow down, stop or reverse the effects of male pattern baldness.

Also, if you are currently using hair loss medication and it’s helping you slow down, stop or reverse the effects of genetic alopecia… eliminating these medications from your treatment regimen will not only cause your genetic balding to continue but you will also lose any of the hairs that have been saved by the medication.

Long story short, I would speak to your surgeon about whether or not he feels that non-surgical solutions should be a part of your short and long-term hair loss restoration plan. There are typically more cases than not where nonsurgical solutions are beneficial.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant