12 month retrospective

[ScottishGuy]

Just realised that I am now 12 months post op so I thought I'd write a little about the ups and downs since last year.

 

I started researching HTs around 6 months pre-op. Before that I didn't really know what options were available, and just decided to accept my hair loss. However, I was becoming more unhappy with my appearance as my hair loss progressed so I decided to investigate HTs and I found this board.

 

Pretty quickly I was impressed by Dr Rahal's work, so I booked a surgery for 4 months later. As I've posted on other threads, I did consider backing out of the surgery, but so far I'm glad I went ahead with it.

 

Here's my summary of the 12 months since surgery:

 

Month 1): A lot of change in this month. One minute you're bald, then you have hair, then you're bald again and look worse than ever. I was mentally prepared for this but it still sucks. I stayed in Canada for the entire month so I felt somewhat relaxed because I didn't have to meet anyone I knew. There is absolutely no way I could go out without a hat during this period.

 

Month 2): Nothing at all happens during this month. It's pretty tough. I looked like a freak, and no hair was growing yet. I was just hoping to get back to a pre-op look, but it wasn't happening. I think this is the toughest month. Still stuck under a hat and avoiding people.

 

Month 3): Things start to turn around during month 3. The first half was very difficult - I was starting to look slightly more normal but my head was still pink and I had a bit of acne. Plus I was applying rogaine onto bare skin so that looked bad too. During the second half of the month hair starts to sprout and I had a lot of doubts about whether enough hair would grow.

 

Month 4): Things are really starting to look better now. Around half way through this month I finally got rid of my hat, and started to get back to normal life. Actually, I kind of forgot about the HT.

 

Month 5): Lots of growth. I started to become aware that some areas were growing better than others but accepted that this is common and I shouldn't worry. I started a new job so I didn't spend much time thinking about my hair.

 

Month 6): I don't notice so much change from previous months and wondered: is this it? I felt my hair looked pretty good at this stage (on par with other Rahal patients), but I wanted more density.

 

Month 7->11): Maybe a small improvement in density, but honestly not a lot of change. I don't think I was a fast grower exactly, just a 'normal' grower. Maybe my hair grew in at full thickness from the start because I really didn't see the big improvement that others see in the latter months of the HT maturation.

 

Month 12): I'm happy that I don't have to try and conceal my hair loss with a horrid combover anymore. Pre-op I only had a small amount of hair left in the center-front area so I don't think I was fooling anyone by trying to spread it out over my temples. I also don't need to worry about wind blowing my two strands of hair in the wrong direction or whatever, which is great.

 

On the -ve side I still have quite limited styling options. My hair is coarse and doesn't seem to sit well in any style apart from combing forward. Maybe this will improve over time. As is often the case with HT, my hairline is a bit see through when combed back and could do with a slight touch-up in some areas.

 

One other thing I've noticed anecdotally is that I do have more success in 'bar and club' situations (if you get my meaning). I am still very shy, but people will approach me more often than before, which is quite nice

 

Thanks again for the support and feedback of everyone on this board.

 

SG