Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 25, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 (edited) Okay, I took some slightly better pictures. I have very thick hair everywhere except directly in my crown area. I lost this area of hair when I was 17 going on 18. I have not lost any noticeable amount of hair since. My plan is not to do one transplant and be done, nor go for absolute ultimate density. I am in this for the long haul and I just wanted a thicker crown to match my hairline and hair density elsewhere, and avoid using concealers after every swim or shower. I decided to go with 250 multiple fu's in the central location with a few mm section of slightly dense single fu's placed behind them (going toward the posterior of my head). This packing of single fu's behind the mfu's is very hard to see unless I take extreme microscopic pictures. So as I said, The MFU's are surrounded by semi dense single fu's on all sides and mostly within the existing hair. You can see about half of the mfu's, the rest extend into the hair anteriorly (toward my face). The second picture I took shows the single fu's at the VERTEX which are placed very sparingly. I was told I have ultimate donor density (enough to cover my entire bald head twice), but I still wanted to be cautious in this vertex portion to save plenty incase I ever do bald down the back of my head extremely far (and not be stuck with a halo of hair). A lot of the scabs from the central mfu's are already coming off. It is shocking when I see pictures of the back of my head looking thick and full, knowing that It is very much not the truth. Very tired of dealing with it. So that is my story. Nothing exciting. Though I feel it will work for me until I lose some more hair or want to get ultimate density when I get a few years older. Edited March 3, 2012 by AndrewsStory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member StaggerLee123 Posted February 25, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 This looks a bit strange to me as well. Not quite sure what is going on here, you seem to have a lot of swelling around the grafts. The grafts themselves seem to be very large. With 1000 placed in the crown I would expect your crown to look a lot more uniform one day post op as well. This could just be some random swelling so I would return to the clinic if it is bothering you and have them take a look. Sorry I can't be of more help. Good luck let us know how things are progressing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 25, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 I was hoping not to hear that haha. The clinic is over 5 hrs away. It is a very reputable surgeon and clinic. Thats why I'm confused. Perhaps as you said, it is simply excess swelling. Should grafts be bleeding on day 1 still? they are dried blood for the most part, but a few still have a little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member StaggerLee123 Posted February 25, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 Sorry I was not more thoughtful, I guess I could have worded that differently. Yes you will see some dried blood in the grafts on day one, that is definitely nothing to worry about and totally normal. Maybe what is going on is that the grafts are swelling in a random fashion and that appears to make it look uneven. Dr. Beehner has shown some excellent work so I would not worry too much about it at this point. I bet after a few days things will settle down and look a lot more uniform. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member StaggerLee123 Posted February 25, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 You should really call the Dr if you are very concerned. I'm sure he gave you a direct line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member StaggerLee123 Posted February 25, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 You mention your circulation, do you have high blood pressure? In your last pic it looks as if two of the grafts are poking up a bit... they look like grains of white rice, but other than those two all the rest seem to be nestled down into the skin. I know when grafts are very hydrated they look like grains of rice. Have you been spraying on Grafcyte a lot? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairthere Posted February 25, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 (edited) Andrew, Frankly I'm a bit shocked by this. It looks like you had very few grafts placed, and judging by the size of those scabs, they look like large grafts (perhaps minis). In fact, this looks very similar to the work I had done by Joseph Karamikian about 6 years ago, and the results were not good. Take a look at my web site and you'll see an example of what a true-follicular unit dense-packed crown should look like post-op. Of course pictures can always be deceptive, but these particular ones do not display ultra-refined, modern HT work, IMO. Also, that amount of grafts for that size area is not a lot. Hopefully Dr. Beehner can chime in here for a better explanation. Edited February 25, 2012 by hairthere I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 25, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 I had high blood pressure during the initial consultation because I was pretty nervous. From there on out I relaxed. I do not have high blood pressure as I sit here. I just took it at 128 over 76. Why does mine look so much different then yours? Were those photos taken immediately post op. Now I am actually very concerned as to what happened here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairthere Posted February 25, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 25, 2012 Andrew. Yes, mine were taken immediate post-op. Again, the large scabs would indicate usually that large grafts were used. Now, multi-hair grafts are not necessarily bad, especially if used in areas like the crown. But the spacing and amount used is what concerns me. I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 26, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2012 (edited) Okay I took some better pictures. I don't believe those couple hour post op photos were representative of the situation. These appear to look better in my opinion. You may disagree. I am not well versed on this subject matter compared to some of you experts. I do however have confidence in the doc who performed the surgery so I am still not concerned. A large portion of transplants also went into an area more anteriorly (anatomically speaking toward the direction of my face) and these cannot be seen. The smaller grafts can be seen all over now. We did agree to do a few Multiple follicular unit grafts in the central portions of the mid scalp to get max density. I believe from the aerial view with my point and shoot, all that was visible were some of the larger multiple unit grafts which were still bleeding a little. These are snap shots from various points. Shows what is going on which is not visible in above picture. Tell me if these still look wierd to you. I just took a shower so all the little grafts are inflated. Edited February 26, 2012 by AndrewsStory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NEWHAIRPLEASE Posted February 26, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2012 Andrew Not quite sure what you have going on there, BUT it certainly does not look good...I know you probably don't want to hear that but something is definelty going on...Dr. Beehner has been doing great work and I know he does great work, this just don't look lie his work!! I would certainly get ahold of him and get some answers...ALSO, contrary to what some have stated on here, I don't think bleeding in the recipient area is a very common occurrence...I may be wrong, but I was to notify Dr Rahal, by his cell phone, if I experienced any bleeding in the recipient area...anyways good luck and I hope you get some answers.. Newhairplease!! Dr Rahal in January 19, 2012:) 4808 FUT grafts- 941 singles, 2809 doubles, 1031 triples, 27 quads My Hairloss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 26, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2012 Okay I will contact him. What does not look right about it? I have asked and been told that the tissue turning white was normal due to absorbtion of water. I'm curious what exactly looks "incorrect" about it so I can research it and discuss it with him when I speak with him. Thanks Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 26, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 26, 2012 I just spoke with him. He said the small white tissue look is normal after being saturated and the larger grafts placed in the mid scalp containing 4 to 5 hairs are all facing forward and will create nice density and look great. I'm a bit confused now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairthere Posted February 26, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 26, 2012 Andrew, Ok these pics are indeed better and show what looks like to be more grafts (did you take the original pics down?). The spacing still looks to be a bit far apart, but the multi-hair grafts could make up for that. Dr. Beehner does appear to do quality work, so all you can do now is trust in that fact and wait for your result. Keep in mind though that a crown can take up until 18 months to fully develop. I am 1 year post-op from crown work and still feel hairs just poking through. I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 27, 2012 Wow this thread is a mess haha it is all over the place. I updated the original first post with some pictures and an update and details. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NEWHAIRPLEASE Posted February 27, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 27, 2012 Wow this thread is a mess haha it is all over the place. I updated the original first post with some pictures and an update and details. Andrew....I hate to say anything derogatory about ones work, so I am not to try and give you a my opinion, those pictures in your first post looks to me like that was work that was done 30 years ago.... Again, Dr Beehner is doing great work, but at this point, IMO, I have to question the size and spacing of all those grafts in the crown....I f you don't have " filler " hair or a lot of native hair in the crown, which it doesn't look like you do....I think when those grafts come in they are gonna stick out like a sore thumb!! I hope Im wrong!! Newhairplease!! Dr Rahal in January 19, 2012:) 4808 FUT grafts- 941 singles, 2809 doubles, 1031 triples, 27 quads My Hairloss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NEWHAIRPLEASE Posted February 27, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 27, 2012 Okay I went back and looked at all of AndrewsStorys post in this thread...He may have edited it, but I don't see one time in a post where he mentions Dr Beehner... So just for the record, unless I read over it and missed it, Im not sure Dr Beehner performed this surgery... At any account, the procedure from the crown photos look to be very old work...as in, work that was being performed a long time ago! Newhairplease!! Dr Rahal in January 19, 2012:) 4808 FUT grafts- 941 singles, 2809 doubles, 1031 triples, 27 quads My Hairloss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 27, 2012 I must agree, the grafts do look rather large. He said they were only 3 to 5 hairs per graft in the center, surrounded by the single fu's. Don't you think the single fu's surrounding the mfu's will throw variation in there, hence making the mfu's not "stick out"? And are those extra large for mfu's or do you think it is just the way the scabs have formed, it has only been a few days. I value your opinion. Either way I will have to wait and see. I find it hard to believe though he could not envision an ultimate result when placing these. He must have some grand scheme in mind when all grows in that possibly is not obvious by the picture of just the larger mfu scabs. Atleast it is all center mass and in the future I can have refined work done around the periphery and a hairline created if I eveer need to do so? Or are these mfu's in your opinion a death sentence for lack of better words. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 27, 2012 OkayI went back and looked at all of AndrewsStorys post in this thread...He may have edited it, but I don't see one time in a post where he mentions Dr Beehner... So just for the record, unless I read over it and missed it, Im not sure Dr Beehner performed this surgery... At any account, the procedure from the crown photos look to be very old work...as in, work that was being performed a long time ago! Yes, Dr. Beehner did perform this surgery. I took out his name from the original post because I did not think the pictures were very representative of the work done. I do feel as though the new pictures I just posted are a fair representation of the work now though, so I was hoping to hear some better insight. This whole situation has me a bit perplexed. As in why you would say this is so alarming, when he would consider it fairly standard. Again, are the multiple FU's that "extra large?" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairthere Posted February 28, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) Andrew, Ok, so the multis are those big scabs in the upper part of your crown and the bottom portion is singles. I am guessing the multis have the big scabs and the singles are smaller scabs and thus making it tougher to spot them in those pics. Edited February 28, 2012 by hairthere I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 28, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 28, 2012 (edited) Andrew, Did Dr. Beehner place grafts in just the front half of your crown/vertex, or do they go all the way to the back? I will say, even with multis (and 255 is not that many) the amount of grafts you had are not a lot for that size crown. And I am a bit perplexed by the positioning of the grafts. Sorry this just does not look like very good work (from the pics you have presented at least). Hopefully Dr. Beehner can chime in here and explain what's going on exactly. **Also, I would not go back and edit any more early posts as they make the entire thread very confusing for everyone involved and it will be tougher to help you sort this through. Sorry you're right I won't be editing any more previous posts. He placed the Multiple follicular units (255 of them to be exact) in the area you can see as well as more toward the front of my head into my existing hair. Behind and around these multiple follicular units he placed 673 single follicular units. These single units are what were placed toward the back, behind and around the multi's. It says exactly on my receipt... small multi-fu grafts (4-5 hairs each) 255 total. Follicular unit grafts (1-3 hairs each) 673 total. The pictures do not display the follicular unit (1-3 hairs each) grafts well. All I can see from a bystander perspective is the multi's which are the scabs. But i'm not sure if that is really a huge factor, as it seems you say the multi's themselves are odd too? Edited February 28, 2012 by AndrewsStory Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NEWHAIRPLEASE Posted February 28, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 28, 2012 Andrew Here is what I am seeing...and I may be way off...so someone correct me if Im wrong....The larger grafts may look or blend fine for the current state of your hair....however, if you lose more I just think they are really gonna stick out...go to my website and look at the grafts I had place in my crown 20 years ago...they look very similar to yours and " too me " they stuck out something terrible..Dr Rahal FUE out a lot of those larger grafts in my crown when I had my surgery in January..again, we may be jumping the gun here, my personal opinion though is it may look good now,but not always...and Im almost certain when I say this---up close, it will never look natural...and too me that is the most important part of a transplant...I wanna be able to get my hair cut, have the hair dresser stair at the top of my scalp and not be able to tell!! With micros, they can tell, with follicular units in the hands of a quality surgeon it becomes virtually impossible to tell..unless the scar is revealed!! Newhairplease!! Dr Rahal in January 19, 2012:) 4808 FUT grafts- 941 singles, 2809 doubles, 1031 triples, 27 quads My Hairloss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NEWHAIRPLEASE Posted February 28, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 28, 2012 Andrewsstory You didn't do anything wrong..you were simply sharing your results and asking questions...you didn't come on here looking to blast Dr Beehner...he deserves the right to not be criticized from his previous work record....your character speaks for itself...it says a lot about the person you are showing you are worried about Dr Beehner..I just don't see the need to EVER use this kind of old school grafting technique .however, Im pretty sure Dr Beehner knows that there is a thread discussing one of his patients results...as hairthere said, I would just like to hear from Dr Beehner.. Newhairplease!! Dr Rahal in January 19, 2012:) 4808 FUT grafts- 941 singles, 2809 doubles, 1031 triples, 27 quads My Hairloss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member AndrewsStory Posted February 28, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 28, 2012 Mannn. I have too much going on right now to be worried this much about this. I don't know what to do. Okay. I guess we will just wait to hear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TakingThePlunge Posted February 28, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted February 28, 2012 Andrew, Take a deep breath and try to relax. I know from personal experience how disconcerting it can be when your results don't meet your initial expectations. However, given that you are not even at the growth stage yet, I recommend adopting a wait and see attitude. I know that is easier said than done but it is really the only option you have at this stage to help maintain your sanity over the coming months. Remember, you have a skilled and experienced Coalition physician behind you who has already stated that he believe this will produce a natural and aesthetically pleasing result. This should help ease your mind a bit. In the even you do have subpar results, Dr. Beehner will undoubtedly do everything in his power to rectify the situation to your satisfaction. This is true not only because he has a stellar reputation to maintain but also because he is a genuinely caring individual. Regarding the larger grafts you see, Dr. Beehner's recommdation profile on the HTN states the following, "He performs both all-follicular unit procedures and also “combination” ones, which feature the use of approximately 70% FU’s (follicular units) and 30% DFU’s (double follicular units with 4-5 hairs per graft)," Dr. Beehner does believe that this approach offers the best density in some patients and I believe his track records supports this. I'm glad that you have maintained open communication with Dr. Beehner. I have contacted him and asked him to comment on this thread also. Best of luck! Please continue to update us on your progress. David - Former Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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