Garageland

Looks great! Congrats to you and good luck on your next procedure, looking forward to following your progress again.

Thanks very much for your comments guys I appreciate it.

Hi London, Stabilised should mean that you have halted your loss and hopefully if someone is taking Propecia and it is effective you should halt or significantly slow down the loss. Of course this isn't always the case for every patient and some will continue to loss hairs. You can never be 100% sure that is has totally stabilised but the only way you are really going to know if you have stabilised your loss is to take some photos today in good lighting and then some consistent photos in 6 months. If you were loosing a lot of hair every day when washing your hair or on your pillow or when brushing your hair etc before you took the medication you should have a good idea whether it is being effective as you should visibly loose less hair.

Fullness, Bonker is referring to you as being a repair patient because of your previous surgery which was unrefined it is a term to call patients that have had previous poor work a repair case. In your case it was a case of adding grafts around your existing transplanted hairs. If larger needles or blades were used in your previous surgery some scarring may have been evident that will result in slower growth. Guys we are at 6 months Fullness is not concerned about his growth at this stage but he would like more, do we expect to see more of course we do. Let's judge this result when it is a result at the 12 month stage. Yes there was a large number of grafts used and yes they were spread over a large area initially the crown was not going to be touched but as the number of grafts was more than initially expected the decision was taken to cover the crown and all the balding area. Please continue to update the forum Fullness and I will look forward to meeting with you in person to assess things in the near future.

I will be again holding my regular free consultations in Central London at the Thistle Hotel in Marble Arch on Saturday June 28th. The consults will be one on one with myself a hair transplant veteran who has had 5 transplants spanning over 18 years. I will be able to explain our procedure in detail, answer any questions you have regarding surgery, show you what a transplant can look like on a Norwood 6 and take clear photos for a recommendation from either Dr Hasson or Dr Wong. If you would like to meet with me in person or for more information please email me on ukconsultant@hassonandwong.com or call 0757 8164162. David

Month 8 The hairline continues to thicken and after a haircut yesterday I thought I would try a new hair style out, feedback is welcome.

I would need to see some clear photos with dry hair to be sure about the crown but it makes sense that you need some gaps to place new transplanted hairs or you are going to kill the native hair that you currently have called transecting. Net result of nil. Talk to your GP about how finasteride will affect you with your T levels if he thinks you could be ok then give it a try but be mindful that very few GPs know much about the medication other than the possible side effects that you or I can read about. I wish you all the best.

In a consultation with the Doctor he would be able to clearly assess whether you have miniaturisation of the hair shaft in other areas of your scalp. This refers to whether your hair shaft has got thinner which is expected as you get older but it is to what extent. Donor management is important and you don't want to be thickening the hairline and lowering the temples if you had the potential requirement for future thinning in other areas. You appear to be in good shape but the dry photos of the top of your scalp are kinda blurry. Personally I wouldn't touch the crown it looks fine and I don't think a transplant would be possible as you just don't appear to have lost enough hair here. Body hair is limited really to beard and chest hair but when you have a good supply of head hair you should always use that in the first instance as the match is obviously much better to the surrounding hair. Rogaine can work for some and might be worth giving a try as you say you don't want to take anything like Propecia. That said propecia may work for you in improving the crown to the stage where it may no longer bother you. At this stage I don't think you should consider a transplant and stick with what you have if it does not bother you that much. If the crown gets worse over the years then you can always revisit the idea.

Hairtoday, Thanks for posting your photos most guys on here would be very happy with your hair as it is today and it seems that your loss that you suffered all those years back at 19 was just the transition from a juvenile to an adult male hairline with the temples receding and a slight thinning and recession in the hairline. You have a good head of hair, the crown when wet is a little visible but so is the vast majority of guys. Whether you do something or not is how much it bothers you, everyone will give you opinions that your hair looks fine but it really depends on how you feel. You seem although not checking your donor hair and the top of your scalp carefully for miniaturisation to be in good shape and could strengthen the hairline and temples a fraction to good effect. Would it drastically change your appearance, no not really and whether it would make you happy only you can answer that.

Johnboy71, Fullness has had a lot of grafts but these were spread over the entire balding area including the crown which was a large area to cover. From his photos I think he is on track as I mentioned in my post the scar tissue from the previous HT may be a factor for him.

Thanks for updating the forum Fullness. Sometimes the best way to compare your progress is to put photos side by side. Although the lighting is different there has been a clear improvement and you can expect more to come over the coming months. Scar tissue into the recipient area from your previous HT can be a factor in slower growth for repair patients. Thanks again for posting.

Pepperoni, I missed your post earlier and have just read it through in it's entirety and I have to say I really hope you have a wonderful outcome and can free yourself of the system. The donor scars that you received were nothing short or horrific and I had 3 previous FUT's with similar pattern of scarring back in the 90's. I have never shaved down to your level to expose them like you have before your surgery. Who carried out the old work? I am following your case very interested as I have seen how beard hair can be very effective into strip scars so please do update your case as it will be of interest to many on here. The healing 7 days after looks excellent. So am I right in saying you are going in for another 3000 grafts? Are you going to place beard hair on top or just into your scars again? Good growth to you.

I agree with Spanker the scar doesn't look wide enough to try a revision and there would likely be minimal if any improvement add to that it seems a little low it is best to leave it alone. You should consult with a fue surgeon to place scalp or even beard hair into this area if you are limited in scalp hair and have a good beard. What are your plans for the top are you going to keep it shaved short?

Nightman, It is very frustrating being a slow grower and watching patients have a good improvement at 6 months but do not despair slow growers do exist and I understand what you are saying that there is very little you can do except be told be patient and wait. One patient that posted on here was a slow grower and concerned about his growth right up to the 8 month mark and was in regular contact with the clinic. Part of the problem was that he was cutting the hair very short once he got to the 9 month mark he grew the hair out and was ecstatic about the result when he came to Vancouver for a personal event and popped into the clinic to show his results. Here are links to his threads on this site 6 Months and concerned about growth http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/168387-6-month-update-dr-hasson-4120-grafts.html 13 Month result by patient http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171315-4120-fut-dr-hasson-13-months-fantastic-results.html Hair transplant patient of the week http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171329-hair-transplant-patient-week-redmans-4-120-graft-fuss-dr-hasson.html Here's the result in all it's glory when he visited the clinic in Vancouver http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/172326-dr-hasson-4120-grafts-15-months-fut.html So don't despair and keep the faith.

Winston, It looks like shock loss to me as it is patchy and is better in some areas than others. If the donor closure was tight then this can happen at 1 month the scar is still healing and you will not now the full outcome of what the scar is going to look like until you reach the 6-8 month mark. The shock loss will come back around months 4-6 and I fully expect you will be in a much better position. I have seen this on quite a few occasions. Try not to panic, have you reached out to your Doctor and ask his opinion. As for hair length I would tell your barber to scissor cut your hair any buzz cut is going to expose that area at this stage. My advice is open up to your barber and explain the situation before he starts to cut it you don't want to end up with it too short and feeling more self conscious.

All the best with your surgery later in the year. Yes is the simple answer if you are out in strong sunlight and cannot wear a hat a very high spf is going to be required at all times. You can carry a small spray around with you, it is the down side of living in such a warm climate.

Thanks for all your positive comments I think I have finally found my sweet spot in terms of length it is now just a case of finding a barber that can cut it to that each time. Dutch as for the SMP it varies from person to person in my case I think a touch up at the year mark would be necessary.

Thanks for the new photos. You mentioned balding crown with plugs first and I see your concern there like you I have a small amount of mini grafts in my crown that I wanted to camouflage a bit. If I were you I would seriously consider refining the hairline and building up the mid scalp in your first session of scalp hair this would hopefully cover some of the plugs in the mid scalp and for the plugs in the crown I would work with a Doctor that can remove them and re-distribute them into your mid scalp that for me would be stage one. The scalp hairs are going to be important to place in the hairline and that is why I said use them here first. As for the hairline hair that is too low I would also consult with an FUE Doctor about the possibility of removal if you have tried many times to laser them away without success these could then be used further back into your scalp. Stage two could be to deal with the scar either a revision if the laxity is there or by placing beard hair into it. This will hopefully in turn allow for a shorter haircut in the future. Stage 3 could be to add a light coverage in the crown with any remaining scalp hair or beard hair but I think with the size of crown your may have to accept that it will remain bald or very thin, stage 3 really depends on how far you wish to continue the journey. I really do wish you all the best and please keep us posted as I am very interested in following your case.

Daniel, Thanks for posting your story you have been through it for sure, I read through your story and the good advice that has been given but I have not seen what you would like to do? What bothers you the most? 1. Crown 2.Front and mid scalp 3.Wide donor scar You are not going to be able to deal with all 3 in one go as you are fully aware so I think it is a case of prioritizing what you do based on what bothers you. My case was a little similar in that I would have liked to improve all areas but in the end I put the grafts into the front and mid scalp on the advice of Dr Hasson for me it was the right decision, although I initially wanted to improve the crown. The best cosmetic improvement to how you and others see yourself is face on in the hairline and frontal area spreading the grafts too thinly over the crown may not make you happy in the long run but only you can answer this. If you wish to wear your hair forward as you do then attacking the crown first and working forward may be the best option. You appear to have nice hair characteristics in quite coarse and curly hair and if you have good beard hair then that is great. If the scar bothers you most then a stand alone scar revision or beard hair into the scar are you two best options imo, your scalp hair will be best served on top. In your photos is pic 8 the most recent and after the 2500 grafts with Dr Feller and pic 6 the before? As for choice of Docs it really boils down to who you get a good feeling for and want you wish to achieve, research is the key and many on here will have a different opinion on who you should choose but it is who is best for you that matters.

So we have reached the 7 month stage and the hairline and front continues to get thicker. I can still feel a little bit of stubble coming through and some of the new hairs are still quite short and wispy. I will try some new hair styles once I get to the full one year mark but for now my hair seems to naturally want to fall over to this side despite wearing it back for many years. Everything has now has recovered in terms of the scar healing and the feeling at the back of my head above the scar has returned fully.

Thanks Mickey. Here's the video I am having problems embedding the Video and showing the photos for some reason.

This patient from the UK had a previous failed FUT surgery with another clinic abroad at the young age of 19 he was unsure of the number of grafts that he received. He contacted me in 2012 and I recommended that he start on propecia which he did a few months before his surgery in April 2013. Dr Hasson transplanted 4814 grafts to the front, mid scalp and approaching the crown. The crown has shown some improvement from Propecia alone. I was able to meet up with this patient last month to take some photos and video. He is now enjoying his life as a 25 year old should be and is not worrying about his hair.

Make sure you are pressing firming and moving the scalp not just the hair up and down it will be tough on the biceps to start with. Some people find it easier to rest their head on a table with a towel on top and do it that way. There is little chance of traction hair loss but some patients will not do the exercises correctly to get the best benefit.

Some great advice already and maybe your hair does grow straight upwards and when it is buzzed short the scalp becomes more visible. Once it grows longer it lays back down and covers more scalp, the answer for you is keep it longer. Maybe the person who cut your hair went very short in the middle of your scalp before I started to notice my hair loss I used to have a flat top and this did exactly the same. Your hair looks decent but I agree you should look into taking propecia you are too young to consider surgery at this stage and you have no requirement for it. Enjoy your life.

Part of my enjoyment is seeing how a transplant can change someones life for the better when a patient has a great transformation it is not always just in about their hair but also can restore confidence and self esteem. Therefore it was great to catch up with this patient who had surgery with Dr Hasson in September 2011 approaching 3 years ago It was a beautiful sunny day so I asked if he wouldn't mind having a few photos taken in the overhead sunlight.