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as Dewanye said, I would try to wear a hat as much as possible; for the most part, the grafts are safe from being damaged at 3 weeks post-op; however, the main concern with the sun is micropigmentation of the "new" graft skin;

madrugao, it does not look like the doctor performed ultra-refined work; as Bill mentioned, now you have to wait it out and see how the results come in; However, a Coalition doc could perform a 2nd surgery and be able to camoflage the existing work if you are not happy with the results. how many grafts did you receive? do you have any pre-op pics; also, are you on meds?

4. humans shed 100+ hairs a day on their head; even people with no Male Pattern Baldness; they are probably native hairs going through their natural shedding cycle; I think you are more consious about your hair now, thus you are noticing it more;

1. the chances of side effects are very slim; I've been on it for 7 years with none; 2. they say at 7 months that you are 60-70% there; you will definitely have a lot more thickening/maturing of the new hair which will add density; also you still may get a small amount of grafts that haven't sprouted--the majority of the grafts have probably sprouted by now, though; it takes a full year to evaluate your final results; Spec has an article about the time factor and it shows the results of a patient that improved dramatically from 8 months to 14 months post op. 3. you should wait at least a year before a 2nd ht; to make sure your donor area is healed and scalp laxity returns and also to evaluate the results from ht 1;

thanks guys for the piece of mind

I am 8 months post op; yesterday I had a graft with hair that was inflamed--it was basically an acne pimple right where the hair grows; I took a sterilized fingernail clipper and popped it; it bled, but not oozing out or anything; that can't damage the graft can it? the graft is more deep from what i understand; wouldn;t you have to literally dig it out to damage it? just hoping I didn't do any damage; thanks

I am 8 months post op; yesterday I had a graft with hair that was inflamed--it was basically an acne pimple right where the hair grows; I took a sterilized fingernail clipper and popped it; it bled, but not oozing out or anything; that can't damage the graft can it? the graft is more deep from what i understand; wouldn;t you have to literally dig it out to damage it? just hoping I didn't do any damage; thanks

hairdini, to use an analogy, 400 grafts would cover enough "acreage" for an eyebrow approximately; it is not a lot.

as has been mentioned on this forum, there are no guarantees with any surgery; however, if you go to a coaliton doc, the issue with the HT "not taking," will not be a concern. What I me by "not taking" is the grafts not growing. if you follow your post-op directions this will not be an issue; maybe this girl had a different definition of "it didn't take." maybe she expected her ex to have a full head of hair and didn't understand how HT's work. compared to 2000, the majority of doc's now use standard follicular units, mimicking the natural units of the hairs; in the 2000 time frame, I think a lot of docs were still using micro-grafts. In summary, if you go to a coalition doc, I would not worry about, getting a bad HT.

hairdine, surgery for 400 grafts is not worth the hassle; you probable wouldn't notice any differance from that small amount of grafts. for my 2nd surgery I did only 1000 for a "touch-up." looking at your pics, to me the density looks good; if you do have another surgery, IMO I would do 1000-1200 grafts to make it worth the downtime and the hassle of going through the process; even 1000-1200 grafts are still considered small surgeries.

well, bodyfat is distributed everywhere throughout the body; thus, the higher your bodyfat the more "fat" your face will be; at 5'10 180 lbs I would guess that your bodyfat isn't too high; guessing 12%; if you get your bodyfat under 10% your face will definitely be "leaner" looking; however, you can't change the genetic shape/structure of your face; if you have a round face shape/structure you can't change that; propecia/advordart should not have any effect on your face roundness; it hasn't on me, anyway;

I would have expected much more density with 5200 grafts;

I went to Dr. Aronovitz in October for a HT; very professional and good staff; I was pleased with the whole experience there; also pleased with the results so far; I would definitely go back in the future if I need/want another HT; from what I understand though, I thought Dr. Tessler was retired?? I'm almost certain he doesn't perform HT's anymore; they still keep the name Tessler and Aronovitz, however; the only downside, if there is one there would be the fact that I don't think they perform very large sessions; I think most are under 2000; in my case, I didn't need a large session; you will be in good hands

st, Firts, I would get on med--most importantly finasteride to stabalize and maintain your hair; it is hard to assess your hair loss from the pics; I will say that 1200-1500 is not a lot of graphs and I do not think it is worth going throught surgery for; I would shoot for 2000-2500 grafts if your are going to go throught the journey of a HT; it appears you have a lot of hair--maybe wait and see how the meds work; I would keep researching, though; you've come to the right place.

nxsov, As Dewayne said, you should definitely get on finasteride (Proscar) to stabalize your hair loss; with your level of loss, you are going to have to have realistic expectations; it is highly unlikely that you will be able to achieve even the illusion of a full head of hair; you will have to go with a conservative hairline also, to conserve grafts; I would recomment a doc that does mega sessions, like H and W; get as many grafts as you can get for the frontal third to frame your face; then you can do a second pass to refine/add more density going back; you are going to want to get at least 3000 grafts for the first pass if your donor allows, more if you can get it; you need to plan on spending 12-15000 on your first surgery if you get a megasession; I hope I don't sound harsh; just being honest; I've had 2600 grafts and I was a NW 3, and I still would even like another surgery; continue to research;

this question is very broad; you have to consider age, genetics, meds/no meds etc; for example if you are in your 20's and your hairline is reeceding than chances are it will continue to recede; it may be very slow, especially if you are on meds; if you have aggresive MPB and are not on meds it could progress fast; almost all males, even those who do not have MPB, will develop a mature hairline and some recession as they get older; a 60 year old who has a full head of hair still has some recession; if you have MPB and are in your 20's/30's chances are your hairline will continue to recede; with meds the process can be slowed down, or possible stop if your MPB isn't aggressive; you will have to give us more details if you want an answer customized for your situation

baldeagele, 6 months is very early, still; as far as growth estimations, at 6 months you are only 50-60% of the final results of the HT; the hairs will continue to thicken, thus providing more coverage; also the hairs will "mature" and become more manageable over time--they will "blend in", if you will, with the native hair in the area; wait a full year before evalutating the results; also the HT hairs will continue to mature and become more manageable up to 2 years post-op;

an ethical doctor, such as the coaltion docs, will take into consideration the possibility of future loss when removing the strip from the donor area; factors such as age, genetics, meds/no meds all need to be taken into consideration for HT surgery in general; if you are a 5a, I would say that there is a general idea where you are headed as far as further loss; also meds are a huge factor; if you are on finasteride further loss in the crown/back area may not be an issue; however, an ethical doc will plan for a worse case scenario; that is part of planning long term when getting a HT; it is not an exact science with "black and white answers." In summary, make sure you have a reputable doc that will look at your HT options now, with regards to the future;

I don't see any cosmetic differance really, however, that is normal at 4 months; no way that 85-95% are "already grown." this is the time when everything is just beginning to happen;

with genetics, it is not cut and dry; you can inherit a "combination" or "blend" if you will from each side; of course looking at the MPB of the men on either side does give indication/signs that you could be predisposed to MPB but the exact mechanism is very complex thus impossible to predict;

priv, I'm being honest; you are going to want a mega-seesion if you have the donor for it (4000+ grafts) to really be satisfied and make a cosmetic differance; make sure the doc has the ability to do a large session; the healing and wating is a long time and pschologically very hard; I would hate for you to go through with a small session and be disappointed; as wylie said, you will probably need/want another session anyway, but go for the largest session to cover the frontal 1/3 at the first shot; H&W does mega-sessions; however, looking at the pics, not sure if you have good donor or not to have a large session; anything under 3000 grafts I feel you will be disappointed with the results.

hey ng2gb, hairbank, who used to post here a lot, took propecia eod and said he got great results; even had a little growth up front I think; search some of his posts; also I remember seeing a study that .5 mg/day is almost as effective as 1 mg/day; half the dose would probably give less side effects if somebody is predisosed to getting side effects; never had any myself

Hey NN, IMO for some unethical doctors, all that matters is $$$$$; sad but true;

not sure what you mean by "Asian hairline." Can you elaborate further....

my concern is that there is not going to be much density; i added the numbers and it appears he got 1650 grafts which is a small amount for a large area; the patient will definitely need/want another pass to be satifsfied.