zx_toth

2nd hair transplant with Dr Rahal - 2069 grafts FUE … and it begins. the results won’t be as dramatic as my 2015 before-after as I am only adding density I lost over the 8 years. No real change in the hair line boundaries. Before Post op pre-op with shave. Sorry out of order pics

Looking at these new pictures to the older pictures uncomfortably reminds me I am aging … 8 years later. Face is more droopy lol, more grey hairs … oh well. I’ll work on losing 15 lbs and the face should improve its shape a bit. Usually I would keep the sides shaved at a #2-3. The sides are a bit scraggly as we are not supposed to have a hair cut for 6 weeks before the procedure. Makes things look less neat. anyway - you may not be able to see however there is a bit less density on the front-sides which was present 8 years ago. The front had more volume from the front which has noticeably been absent for a few years. Again wouldn’t be a big deal - I mean come on I’m in my mid-40s now but when you are as vain and most of us are on this forum … let’s be honest, we are … then that volume loss is less desirable. since I’ve got the time to heal, the money to pay for this and the utmost confidence in Dr Rahal I’m more than happy to dive back in and lower the hair line just a tad, bring the temple points forward a bit and increase the density. It will likely be my forever hair after that because honestly it didn’t really change over a decade so don’t expect much to change in another 10 years. Never say never but 10 years from now I’d probably looking more at a face lift than a hair transplant lol. Yes and FYI yes the Botox keeps the forehead smooth at 45 years of age.

After 8 years I am going back for a second hair transplant with Dr Rahal. Going to increase density, bring forward the temple points and lower the hair line a bit - the last point is a bit of hair greed. the transplant has held up very well over nearly a decade however there either has been some native hair loss in the previous area of combined native and grafted hairs or I’ve just become obsessed with minutia again like I did before. Hadn’t taken finasteride for probably 5 years if the 8 - restarted it about 3 years ago as I started TRT and was concerned about having higher testosterone and accelerating hair loss. I had a great 8 year run and would be happy with how it actually is but I am really looking forward to get refining the hair just a bit more. Procedure is on April 17th. Will post once I have some images to post; pre/post.

Oh yes the scab phase, how I don't miss that phase :-) I thought the scabs would never fall off. Strangely I almost got used to them after sometime. Happy growing! Z

This is going to be a killer result ... I remember looking at my freshly minted hairline thinking 'no way thats going to be my new hairline' .... I looked at your new hairline in the pictures and giggled like a girl thinking that is going to be awesome and super dense. Congratulations, look forward to seeing your hair's evolution - or rather revolution! :-) Z

Great result although I was a bit misled as I didn't understand how 660 grafts took you from a Norwood 4 to a Norwood 2, but I guess that is the 6000 grafts you had before this last 660 grafts. Looks fantastic, congratulations on completing the journey! By the way do you have a picture of the sides, to see your temple points? Thanks. Thanks for updating. Z

I was never given a caliber measurement for my hair though I was told I had good hair characteristics. I can't comment much more than that though ... I don't have curly hair as you can see which seems to have the best cosmetic results though I don't have extremely thin wispy hair either. :-) Z

Squeezing in some time to post here. These are pictures of my 6 month post-op results a day after I got a hair cut. The sides and back are shaved to a grade 2. I am over the moon with the results with still plenty more time to grow. Not sure how the results will improve from here on in as I would be ecstatic if they even stayed like this but I guess Ill take some more thickening and additional hairs popping out if they want to :-) Like me you may be able to detect a bit of 'something' in back of the head if you look for it, not noticeable in person I would say as you don't sit still for people to stare at the back of your head for 15 seconds straight. It doesnt bother or worry me at all - to be crude for a second its like getting a bigger schlong but also getting a scratch on your balls in the process... I am so happy with the former that I couldn't care about the latter. Still using Rogaine twice daily, no oral medications, no hair thickening agents. Best of luck to everyone else on this journey!

Got a hair cut today ... a style I would have NEVER got in my previous state of hair. The pics are quite low resolution for some reason ... poor lighting and iPhone 4S camera spells grainy pictures. Should be getting my iPhone 6S in a couple of weeks so that will be an improvement in pictures here on in. The sides and back are a guard 2. I was trying to see whether I could see any tell tale FUE scarring but with the poor resolution I can't get a good picture of the back. Of course I would rather not have them but if I do I wouldn't really care to be honest as the trade off is worth it for me. Ill take some pics on the weekend with my good camera and good lighting to see whether any scarring can be seen at a guard 2. I don't notice any scarring on the sides where they also extracted from so I should be able to see any scarring with direct vision there but I don't see anything. I am going to cultivate this look for a while, let the top continue to grow and keep the side shaved, see how I like it. Not sure if this hair style is 'on the way out' already or not but I could never pull it off before so for me it is in ... lol. Z

Thanks davehhh, Glad I can help on your own quest for hair reclamation. I was concerned about my forelock because there was miniaturization on either side of the forelock meaning that over the next few years it would further move inwards and get smaller. I could notice this miniaturization quite dramatically before surgery - I would say a half a centimetre in the left side of the forelock less so on the right though that area was more recessed anyway. The density of the forelock in general was/is fairly thick but like you not as thick as behind. Dr Rahal transplanted densely into the area where it was minaturizing because those hairs would be gone in a few years anyway - so no loss if they were shock lost. The integration is so awesome that its hard for me to tell where the integration starts, I often forget where my old hairline is within my hairline. Certainly on the outside I know I never had hair but looking at pre-op pics I can't really visualize now where my old hairline was. Again kudos to the surgeon. As far as how much he reinforced it my understanding is that in the hairline I have 60 grafts per cm2 while in the rest of the frontal third I had implanted 45 grafts per cm2 ... in the front it would mostly be single hair grafts to give a softer appearance while just behind the hairline it would be more double and triple hair grafts so in fact I would have similar hairs per centimetre transplanted in that miniaturized area. I had asked him specifically if I would benefit aesthetically if we kept it 60 grafts per cm2 all throughout the transplanted area and he said no it would not be a visual improvement because of the above mentioned logic that more hairs per graft would make it a more even appearance and would be a waste of grafts as they would not visually benefit the appearance. That is being honest because a money hungry surgeon would see it as a way to agree with the patient and add an extra 500 grafts or so because I was willing to but he assured me this was the way to go. If you have the financial means to go ahead with a hair transplant and it is bothering to the extent that it does anyone that bothers signing up to a forum I would suggest contacting Rahal's clinic and having an initial consultation and discussion. They are low pressure and don't force you to do or sign anything in the beginning. Reading peoples' posts it seems that once hey have a good result the only regret is that they hadn't done it sooner. I think the timing for me was perfect. About 6 years ago I had actually put down money to do a FUT with Dr Rahal's clinic but cancelled due to the demise of my first marriage but in retrospect am happy that I waited and went when Dr Rahal had perfected his FUE technique and started offering it widely. I feel that in 4 years time or so Ill go back get a check up to see when I might need a touch up as I would want to keep up on any maintenance. Because my hair had been fairly stable with only slow changes in the hairline from age 21-37 I probably will be ok but don't want have to start looking weird before I go back. Saw a chap going in to see Dr Rahal with fantastic looking result and was told perhaps in 4 years time he would need a touch up, so that is the type of check up I would want to do once in a while when I am in Ottawa area. Best of luck. Z

I'm 37 years old and this is likely the best hair line I've had since high school. I never felt like I was going 'bald' or seriously receding until I was probably 26. A couple of instances that have stuck with me throughout the years when I think back. I specifically remember a tiny bit of miniaturization in the front-right side (not quite temple) in high school and not understanding what was happening. I was not too worried about it and just would get that trimmed to the scalp as it was annoying. I remember a few times people saying 'you are going bald' when in fact I just had started off with a high forehead with a tiny bit of miniaturization starting. I remember when I was in my early- mid twenties I grew my hair long to shoulder length and liked the look. After watching 'Blow' with Johnny Depp where he had his hair long and swooped to the side I had an acquaintance say 'Why are you wearing a comb over, are you going bald?' I laughed and moved my hair around showing him I was not anymore than a Norwood 3 but just liked the style at the time. Had that look for several years and at times I really noticed how temples were quite deeply recessed, or more so anyway. Still looked ok in pictures I thought. Didn't bother me too much but wondered whether my hair would stabilize. I remember by my mid-twenties long hair started to look stupid because my forehead had recessed a fair bit and the temples recessed a fair bit more so there was no density when combing my hair back and cut it shorter and generally have kept it shorter since. That solved the problem of deepening temples as I could 'fan out' the hair in the front and create an illusion of temple hair coverage. From the age of 26 onwards I have at varying times become quite obsessed with my hair loss, with a couple years here and there where I generally didn't care to others where it has driven me mad (almost). Ive noticed the last 3 years it had been increasingly difficult to cover the temples with that 'fanning out' of the front hairs as the miniaturization was obviously continuing on the temples and was about to 'reveal' the true extent of my hairloss in the next couple of years if I did nothing. Now at 5 months post-op I am SO relieved that I no longer have to ensure my hair is 'just so' to look fuller. I can wake up side of the bed and have a hairline that looks like any 25 year old norwood 2 at the gym ... haha. Being in medical school at an older age means that I still go to the campus gym where undergrads go ranging in age from 18-26 typically (26 being that masters degree age person) and of course no surprise a large number have solid Norwood 1-2 hairlines and I constantly see this and this skewed demographic of course made me even more conscious of my hairline. Im not concerned with getting old as much as I am going bald, if that makes any sense - graceful aging 'fit with a full head of hair' :-) Way more information than you asked for but these random instances popped into my thoughts. Not a compliment I was looking for but thanks, I guess ... lol.

No I have not used any product in my hair besides the application of Rogaine foam twice daily in those pictures. I bought Derm-match and used it maybe a handful of times in the 2-3 month post-op phase as I was uncomfortable with how it looked at that time but haven't used it since month 3. I actually threw out the Dermmatch on a recent cleaning purge ... it was expensive stuff for only using it 5 or so times several months back ... oh well it made me more comfortable with my appearance back then.

I am now a few days past my five month post-op with Dr. Rahal. Things seem to continue to thicken and grow of course. I am very happy with the results already and even if things became stuck at these results I would be a 98% happy customer ... but with 7 months left of growth and maturation I am expecting to be a 100% satisfied customer. The hair is thick for sure, growing at a slower rate than my native hairs and each time I get a hair cut the shorter hairs are always the transplanted hairs, which creates a wave of hair in the front of shorter hairs probably a inch or two shorter than the native hairs. Not noticeable from a non-critical viewer's eyes though. The right temple which was the more recessed temple is aesthetically 'cured' however again with critical observation - especially after applying Rogaine and the hairs clumping a bit together it is a bit less dense than I would be comfortable with if my hair were to ever get wet in public. Having spoken with Rahal's clinic I was told that new hairs tend to pop out until about 9 months so that this area will get denser and continued maturation of the hair follicles would occur to 12 at which time the transplanted hairs will grow the same speed as the native hairs. So even if I can get my right temple just a little denser I will be content and I have no doubt that it will as I have seen a few stubble hairs here and there within the temples, though its hard to see with the longer transplanted hairs obscuring the view. Again this has no real aesthetic benefit from where it is currently - as to me it looks great still - just to calm my critical eye just a tad more :-) As Ive said all along I would highly recommend Dr. Rahal's clinic to anyone as even by 4 months post-op I had already let go of my hair insecurities. One thing I smile about whenever I see us transplanted hair guys post pictures, especially Norwood 3s or 4s who get transplanted to a Norwwood 2 - we always like to grow our hair as 'TALL' as possible and spike it up in the front as we like to proclaim now 'Look how dense and spiky my hair is!! Hear me ROAR!!" ... I am doing the same thing and will see how tall and bushy I can get it ... that whole 'pompadour look' that so many of us had wished we could achieve years ago. Z

Interesting hair styling options, both pre and post-op. Good growth! Z

Great result already! Right there with ya, as I am coming up on 5 months. Z

Have to agree, this is going to be a nice result with great facial framing. Will make you look years younger. Z

haha ... this is funny stuff. Keep us posted.

A big cosmetic improvement already! Z

Thanks all for the positive comments. Yes there was a period where there is varying lengths to the hairs. Even if you get a hair cut the transplanted hairs tend to grow slower than the native hairs around. It is "obvious" that they are different lengths however if you already have/had minaturized hairs in the areaa you can't tell which are miniaturized or newly transplanted, unless of course you never had any hair in the areaa. Some people seem to get regular hair cuts once able to to keep the hair the same length. I have had a hair cut once a month since month 2 but still the lengths end up being different. Let it be known though the common Joe would not know they were 'transplanted' as that is the last thing they would think those hairs represented, but rather that you were balding in the are ... though the truth is you are actually un-balding in the are I would say months 1, 2, and 3 to a certain extent looked a 'little off' while now in month 4 I am pleased with my appearance. I got a hair cut yesterday and my barber who I hadn't seen for over a year noticed some 'strangeness' in the area because the hairs were less dense and shorter than else where. He didn't know what was going on 'have you been shaving this area here?', I said 'no, I just leave it as is'. He was of course staring very closely at 4 month progress and could tell something was up in the area. I didn't feel like telling him. Probably by 12 months he won't have much to say about the area. Thanks mav! funny question. Being married with a kid, I don't routinely put myself in a situation where I can 'get attention from the opposite sex', or don't pursue to see if I can get a phone number or an extra notch on the bed post. I have always acted confident with the opposite sex, dressed reasonably well, been in shape and so on so I have never had a problem in that department. I still get my regular smiles and looks from the opposite sex but haven't noticed any 'statistically significant' increase i.e. from going from dud status to Brad Pitt fame. I think more interest from the opposite sex would be noticeable to guys who have a hair transplant who previously had low confidence and all of the sudden start acting confidently, putting themselves out there and then are naturally more appealing to women. When you feel more confident you put yourself out there, usually dress better, work out more and so on and it converts to better dating/relationship status. I do feel better about my appearance to be sure, however I wouldn't let my dislike of my previous hairline affect how I carried myself or acted on the dating scene, though to be honest I did style my hair to hide my recessed hair line and was careful in rain/wind when with females.

This is great transformation! No wonder you have more confidence ... thanks for the update and best of luck. Z

Thanks Rawkerboi and Hairshopeing! The neat thing is that no one in my circle of people know anything is different. Dr Rahal really created a natural hairline that doesnt seem to draw any attention ... bad attention that is. Also I would always pull my hair forward and down to hide the receded temples so it would never appear as it does in my pre-op picture I just attached. So people wouldn't see the pre-op vs 4 months post-op look now when they look at me, just that I style my hair somewhat differently than before Z

A bit of free time ... here are two pictures at a a bit past 4 months. Very pleased. I still am looking forward to more growth in the temples and thickening of the hair grafts. In photos and to non-critical viewing it is a HUGE improvement over my previous receded appearance ... now the final 8 months I am excited to see what further improvements will come so that even when I closely inspect I will be satisfied. I have no doubt that it will get there. So happy I went to Rahal's clinic! Because I cant imagine having to continue to stress out about my hair and spend effort in worrying about that. Now I can concentrate on other insecurities :-) Z

This is my concern as well, that it will look 'corn row'-like. Of course only time will tell. Best of luck, keep us updated.

Great result! Thanks for the ongoing and detailed documentation of your journey. Best of luck with your new mane and credentials! Z

Solid result at such an early stage! Looking forward to following your results. Z