zx_toth

Thanks everyone for the positive comments. I have to agree on this point. Some people's growth at 3-4 months quite dramatic compared to others and it always seems to signal an excellent outcome. You can certainly bet I have been scouring the forum for examples of growth at 3-4 months and comparing mine to those pictures with great interest. The forelock/hairline was brought down by over 1 cm - perhaps ?1.2 cm. With the creation of the widow's peak the lowest point probably reach 1.3 centimeters below my original pre-op hairline. Dr. Rahal was definitely assessing the proportions of my face carefully to ensure it fit well - measuring my proposed hairline to my brow, brow to nose and nose to chin - to make sure one was not out of portion with the others. I remember in my initial meeting with Dr. Rahal he drew a very conservative hairline ... I mean very conservative - hairline 0.3 cm lower which I wasn't totally satisfied with. In my opinion it was way too high and didn't address the 'sloping forehead' that my hairline recession had caused that I had hated so much. Its that point in the skull where your forehead is mostly vertical than takes a quick angle change as it starts to create the dome of your head. My hairline was a couple of centimetres into that 'dome' area. I was still excited to proceed with the prospect of addressing future hair loss and figured I could still negotiate a lower hairline leading up to the actual day of the operation. I had chatted with the patient advisor Chad Cooper - who is great by the way and told him my concerns about wanting a lower hairline after having paid the deposit and date scheduled for my appointment. I felt at 36 years of age, holding at a Norwood 3 for near a decade, and having genetics that didn't seem to go past Norwood 3-4 - I thought I could get away with a lower hairline. I was anxious about the hairline design right up until Dr. Rahal drew it the day of the surgery when he blew me away with my 'dream hairline' without my saying a word about the design, besides my preference for the addition of a widow's peak. I suspect he and the patient advocates closely communicate patient concerns as all my concerns were laid to rest with a few strokes of the pre-op pen across my forehead ... haha. Here is a zoomed in picture pre-op of the hairline design close up. I think that the space between each set of lines is 1 cm, so you can see its over 1 cm. Sorry for the long winded answer but thought the details may be interesting for some

Thanks Rawkerboi! I thought I would add a picture of pre-op versus now. Because I see it on a daily basis and I needed a reminder as to where I started and thought I would share. It is hard to get the exact same level of forward leaning as in my pre-op picture but I tried the best I could. I also tried to use harsh lighting to make the hairline as see-through as possible ... so I had light above me and directly shining on me as well.

Might as well throw up a picture - 3.5 months, two different lighting conditions - both natural light just different directions from which the light hits.

Thanks ... looking forward to this. I was with a medical school classmate of mine who is interested in practicing in cosmetic medicine on the side i.e. botox, fillers and so on. I had told her before my surgery that I was undergoing a hair transplant. I told her because we are pretty good friends as well as because I knew she would be very fascinated by my procedure. Long story short I saw her a week ago and she said that already at 3 months it looked quite good - the new hairs created a distinct hairline. Of course I was quite suspicious of her compliments saying 'I know it is still sparse but I am at only 3 months with 9 months left of growth'. I told her that I had from time to time used a product - Dermatch - to thicken the appearance up, had not used it that day but whether she thought I should use something to thicken it or whether it looked ok. She said it looked fine so I decided to give up using the Dermatch. Although I know it still is sparse looking, to the 'non-critical' eye - which is an important clarification - they would not really notice anything 'weird' about my hairline. Yes if one was critical and looked they would notice the sparseness. But I think I want the freedom to not have to do any daily colouring with Dermatch. One day I was really sweating from the heat and touched my hair ever so lightly and my fingers were covered in brown colouring ... that I can live without ... the rest of the day I was paranoid it was going to run down my face. It didn't but I was worried that I would look like a freak if it did. Looking at the date today I see that it is exactly 3.5 months ... cool. Start a heavy rotation at school - general surgery - 100 hr work weeks ... so I will likely not even think about my hair for the entire month. Further my hair will be under a surgical cap for most of the month as well. Ill try to do updated pics at 4 months but it will be crazy busy so I might not be able to until 5 months. Will see. Z

I agree with all said here. No need for me to repeat here. The clinic has proven in my opinion with excellent visual documentation that there indeed has been growth in accordance with the number of grafts used in relation to the area transplanted. This might have not been the visual change the patient had hoped for but is within what should have been realistically expected by the patient given ongoing hair loss/minaturization, the size of the area, and the notorious difficulty of crown work. I think there has been a visual improvement from 13 months to 17 months. A full refund seems a bit much considering the work was done, growth and improvement has been had .... free grafts would be more than generous by the clinic. Although I feel for the patient I feel that the clinic can't be doing work for free just because the patient didn't have realistic expectations.

Looking great ftpicks! What changes have you noticed from 5 months to 10 months? I mean your hair looked great at 5 months for sure ... Did you notice a significant change in density? I am sure you did but just curious because your 5 month shots were so incredible. Take care buddy. Z

Month 2 to 3 direct comparison. I am pretty pleased with what I see ... month 2 definitely sucked for me in terms of self-confidence and worrying and hiding my hair. Month 3 is better because my hair all over is longer so I can hide things easier by pulling forward hairs from behind to give the illusion of density with the assistance of the Dermatch when needed.

3 month update. I find it hard to take high quality images - of course my macbook air built in camera is the reason for the lower quality image - hopefully it shows the progression that I see in the mirror over the month. Though it is in person where you can appreciate the changes the most. I am very much looking forward to month 4! because it seems some people are getting some really good progress at 4-6 months. I might be able to stop with Dermatch altogether if month 4 goes well. Z

This is a fantastic result. What a transformation - indeed from looking his age of 39 to looking 26 years of age! Great stuff. Myself about to turn 37 I think these transformations are very cool. Would love to see an update of possible. Z

Fantastic result. The patient must be overjoyed with the result. Makes him look much younger.

Thanks guys! I am less than a week from 3 months now and will post pictures on the 3 month mark. I have actually stopped using coverup as I don't notice any significant redness and furthermore a sparse amount of grafts have covered any residual redness that may be there anyway. The hairline is really starting to take shape, to the point where when I look in the mirror that is the hairline I see ... not my old hairline. Went out to the bar with two of my best friends 3 weeks ago and they were making fun of me for wearing a hat the whole time knowing that I have been receding over the past few years ... they haven't seen me since my HT procedure ... I quickly rebutted with my own insult slinging at them - one is going prematurely gray, the other is prematurely wrinkly, so I have my own material at them - along with reassurances that they don't need to worry about me as I was using everything at my disposal to create a miracle. They had no idea what I was talking about but continued to pick on me wearing the hat. Went out a couple of times again with these bozos I call friends and applied Dermatch and it shut them up pretty quick. One of my friends was staring at my hairline either wondering 'where did his receded hairline go?' or 'What kind of paint do you have applied to your scalp?' ... thankfully I know him well enough that if he detected any faux hair/color he would be the first to announce it to the world so I am thinking it is the former. They won't see me until Christmas now so I will be at 6 months at that point and will be golden. I have also gone without any Dermatch when in public and around people I don't know ... so I am becoming less and less conscious about the whole hair thing as time goes on ... its hard to put a price tag on that type of budding freedom. Z

Closer up.

As a disclaimer; there is no gap or balding area within the forelock ... its just how the Rogaine foam has clumped the forelock a bit making it look that way.

Here are some pics from 9 weeks post op now, so a little more than 2 months. Ill post more frequently now as I just needed to stop obsessing so much about my hair and the first 2 months was hard where you are always hiding it and stressing about it. Now it doesnt bother me so much though I still put on some cover up/make up to hide the redness you see in the picture. So some early growth, sprouting here and there. My left side is coming out faster than the right side. My Right side is the one that is more deeply recessed and 'uglier' so looking forward to this catching up. As a side not I worked with a physician who OBVIOUSLY had FUE. He was a Norwood 6 and had an obvious wall of hair in the front placed with decreasing density behind which was quite sparse. It looked a little artificial but I didn't think to much of it. Then I saw that he had some strange artificial thinning areas in his donor which looked really odd/artifical. He was examining a patient and I was behind him so I leaned within 6 inches of his donor area and noticed he had obvious FUE scarring in the area where they had over harvested .... BUSTED. Too bad they over harvested. His created hairline does give a sparse framing that is more aesthetically pleasing than without but I wonder what others not in the know about FUE think is odd looking about his hair.

THIS! ... I can live with 90% survival + No scar compared to 95% survival and the dreaded strip scar.

Wow, what a great transformation ... and only at 6 months!! I was thinking originally that it is a large area to cover and might not get great coverage but you have great coverage. And what a big leap in appearance from 3 to 4-5 months! Glad you are enjoying the new hair! Z

I would say people are not looking at your forehead creases. Almost everyone above a certain age has these and I don't look at people's forehead creases though I do look at people's hair when it looks unnatural. I would concentrate on getting the right look with Toppik that you are comfortable with but using less and investigate another hair transplant if that is what you want.

This. The microphone analogy is perfect. I look at the Toppik pictures and think 'something looks strange' and it is the abnormally high density, that you can't see scalp at all. And indeed the comparison athlete picture is a young black guy who has very different hair characteristics than you so it is not a fair comparison. Agree that you should use Toppik more sparingly and behind the hair line. Z

Nice result and very detailed/excellent photos! Z

No grafts popped out when you climaxed did they? Your post made my day ... haha.

I appreciate the encouragement and good thoughts. Thanks.

Looks great Raiden! You must be very happy. I am very much looking forward to the 6 month mark. I don't want to wish my life away but the 6 month mark seems golden for most people.

I should mention pimples .... 4-5 on the right temple area and 1 on the left temple ... man I hope they are a result of hairs ready to bust out because otherwise as a usually acne-free person they are really irritating/annoying. Great look eh? look of deep recession, shaved head and pimples .... luckily I am already in a relationship as I wouldn't be getting any dates anytime soon otherwise.

It has been 5 weeks since my FUE with Dr. Rahal. Not much to report. - 90% of my grafts have fallen out. - I still continue to have redness in the recipient area which I loath. I use my wife's concealer and powder to take away 95% of the redness to the point people don't even notice redness. - I have been using Dermmatch to thicken some areas so I don't look so bald, though I look terrible with short hair and significantly receded temples which I always hid before with longer hair. - People I know have take double takes when they see me, which I hate because I know they are thinking 'whoah, I didn't know he was so receded ... and he is going bald'. I am keeping my chin up as much as possible. By that I mean I am trying to keep my spirit's up not physically elevating my chin to hide my hair ... haha. - I wear a hat as much as possible ... which is all the time unless I am working in the emergency department where I can't wear it, though my colleagues see me so I am not enjoying my run ins with my colleagues because of my hair or lack there of .... oh well. I just have remind myself to keep confident as I always have and 'own this' ugly duckling state. - I have some grafts which have remained, not fallen out and grown. I know this because they are hairs in areas I never had hair before and they have grown long. However for the most part because things look patchy I have shaved areas where there is not any density worthy of keeping these hairs. No pics at the moment, will wait until there is something to see.

The patient seems like he is in his late 40's to early 50's from the coloration of his hair and thick eyebrows, so I don't think he has much to worry about regarding becoming a Norwood 5-7 in his lifetime so I think he is safe to use as many grafts as he wants for some frontal third work