1400 grafts fue first time HT

[buzzsrs]

Hey everyone, just found out about this site. I just had a HT by a doctor that is not recommended by this site. If I had been a frequenter here before, I may not of chosen him. But what is done is done. I am here to share my experience and hopefully receive your help along the way. Up to this point however my experience has been positive so I am not here to bash him by any means either. Hopefully my results will be positive. However do not think I took the easy way out and chose him blindly. But rather there are many positive cases and patient experiences that come from his work that can be found all over the internet, and his hairlines (my main problem) looked fantastic and natural. But at the same time with all of your opinions and expertise I will be able to make the best call and know for sure if he is worth recommending and returning to.

 

My story:

 

I've noticed hair loss probably since twenty five. Knowing what i know now i would probably have noticed it much earlier. I am currently 29 years old and I am, I believe, a norwood 2??? Mybe you all could help me gauge it better. I do not remember what i was told.

 

My father has a full head of hair and my grandfather on mothers side has at 75, id say a norwood 4, with slightly more miniaturization due to old age.

 

I have slight hair loss and like to keep my hair short, however if my hairline was thicker i would definitely keep it longer as well. My hair is very curly/wavy as it gets longer.

 

Anyway my experience to this point has not been bad. I went in and the dr seemed very competent. He had very good bedside manners, and definitely does seem to want to do good by you. He gave me 400 free grafts as I had only paid for 1000. I had offered him another two thousand dollars and he rejected it. The reason he gave me the extra 400 was because to strengthen the hair line I already had, in order to avoid another visit in the very near future, he had to use almost all the thousand grafts. Hence to lower the hairline a tad he would need some more. Although he did warn me that by lowering it a tad, i would probably have to come back to strengthen the lowered hair line and side temples if that is what i wanted. The procedure was an fue transplant. The day of the procedure I left and felt fine. I was very hesitant to put my head down on a pillow that night however, due to how weird it felt and thinking I would damage the donor area. The reason I felt weird, was not pain per say, but numbness from the anesthesia, coupled with the swelling from the saline used to tighten up your scalp, and make it easier to work on. However once i got over that I felt fine. I must say, post op, due to the A-Cell, the donor area looks a wretched mess. And you are not supposed to shower off the A-Cell for 48 hours. However once i did shower it looked much better. The Donor pictures I am going to show you, are from the next day, but still pre-shower. It looks much better now. Once completely healed i will shave down donor area and take a picture for all to see what it looks like. I slept with my head propped up on several pillows (45 degree angle) and experienced VERY little swelling. Don't know if the pillows did the trick or what. Now I am at day five and willing to answer all questions I have time for as honestly as possible. Please feel free to critique and encourage as much as you would like.

 

Also I have some questions for all of you:

 

The Dr. says that at 5 days you can start putting neosporin on the recipient area in order to help soften the scabs, and try and remove them. He said after five days that if the scabs are not bleeding you are not damaging the grafts. Is this true? Because I need these scabs GONE ASAP!!!! Any suggestions in doing this would be awesome.

 

Also I am very weary of taking finasteride, I've read so much negative publicity on it. What are the stories about it here?

 

Also I have been thinking about taking Rogaine foam. What do you all think? I never have taken any rogaine, and want to know if it is worth it. I know it is not permanent and just helps with miniaturization by extending life cycles. However, will my good, non dying hair become dependent on it as well? What if i stop taking it?

 

Also what do you think of my hair loss? At 29 is it severe? what should i iexpect going forward?

 

All of your help would be greatly appreciated

 

 

Thanks!!!

[Dutch]

Congrats on your operation, hope you grow well.

For scabs, I used vitamin E oil as recommended by the surgeon.

It's worth using regaine and propecia to save your native hair, definitely

Edited March 19, 2012 by Dutch

[JustOne]

Hey man ,

I dont think your hair loss is bad at all.. and your surgery looks clean and refined... Im sure you will have a good result in a years time . Medical therapy would be very useful for your case . . I would suggest finasteride and rogaine for maintaining your locks . Im 25 years old and have been on finasteride for 6 months , no sides and I feel great. same as ever... but I only take finny Monday Wednesday and Friday, im my opinion there is no point on taking it everyday, the half life of the drug is long enough that taking it every other day is suffient . If you wanted to try finasteride I would say start by taking .5mg every other day for a few weeks and see if you get mild sides... if you don't then i;m sure it will be safe to take 1mg every other day... well thats what I did because i was terrified of the drug as well . anyways man , congrats on your recent transplant , I think it will turn out great...hope this helps a bit.

[buzzsrs]

i appreciate all the feedback. I am definitely afraid of finasteride though. Ive always been against putting chemicals in my body. id need a whole lot of positive feedback before i use it. Also my job entails i stay in shape, anyone put on a lot of weight on finasteride? anyone feel like they lost the zest for life? like a walking zombie? loss in sex drive? just seems so weird to block a necessary hormone in the body. sorry for sounding like such a nonbeliever. but dont let my skepticism fool you, i definitely appreciate the advice and testimonials.

[buzzsrs]

thanks bud

[orlhair1]

Work looks good.

[RCWest]

Whoever your doctor is, he seems to know what he is doing. He performed Follicular Unit Transplantation instead of the old Mini/Micrografts of the '90s that some doctors still use.

[InfoSeeker2]

Hi Buzzsrs:

 

Were you okay the day after FUE surgery? Okay, meaning were you able to drive and do other normal (light) activities? I have to fly next day of FUE surgery and am little concerned if I will be alright for 12-13 hours of flight.

 

Thanks!

[buzzsrs]

have not frequented the site recently. but yes physically i was fine. looked frightful, hopefully u do not have to take your hat off at the airport lol. but i was fine. sensitivity lasts a good ten days but you will survive an airplane trip. if he is using acell, i would recommend not going back the next day because your donor area will be so bloody and you will make a mess of the airplane, so bring a towel if you do, and maybe a doo-rag as horrible looking as they are.

[buzzsrs]

quick questions to anyone with the time to answer. I want to know how long the redness lasts, it has been almost a month and looks like it may just now be subsiding. is that normal? also will all of the hair fall off? it has been a month and i have enough left to fill in with some mascara. also when will my old hair that fell out due to shock start growing back? same waiting time as implanted hair or quicker?

[buzzsrs]

This redness has been killing me. But i have found something that works. At least for anyone with a buzz cut.I am sure many of you have thought of this already but for those that are new or just had a HT this may be something to consider. I bought some really good flesh tone concealer. I put it over the red area. then i blend it in with those triangular little cushion things they give you at makeup counters. Then once blended in, i took a mascara that matched my hair well, and that had a good soft applicator, and put it over the remaining hairs. Even with very few remaining hairs, it looked very full and excellent. Overall the redness was gone and so were the bald spots. Difference was night and day.

[Nasser1]

Thanks you for sharing your experience.

 

When you say redness, do you mean in the recipient area ? I thought redness is normal for up to 2-3 weeks after the procedure. Have you contacted your doctor regarding this ?

 

Is it fading or still red ?

 

Thanks again

[JustOne]

Hey man , in regards to finasteride ... im 26 years old been on it for about 7 months now.... no sides at all ...and my zest for life is even greater because i know im doing what i can to save my hair.

Keep it zesty, keep it fresh. kirkout

[buzzsrs]

I am speaking in regards to the recipient area. It has been six weeks and still very red. It all depends on your skin color but it often times lasts for more than 3 weeks. Im on 6 weeks and it has barely started to fade. I am guessing it will last me more than most due to being fair skinned. It is definitely annoying, but now that i can hide it I feel much much better.

[buzzsrs]

Awesome thanks for sharing your experience with me man.

[MTL30]

hey buzzrs I am looking forward to see your results,I have a similair hair loss has you. Good luck!