At 6 months and very concerned

[beaverbuzz]

I don't want to sound like a dick, but if it is sparse, then it doesn't look natural. The whole point of a transplant is to mimic nature, by creating an illusion of density. There is no illusion of density right now. Trust me, I had very realistic expectations for this procedure, that is why I have been so disappointed with my results. However, I know that getting upset is not going to help the matter, so I am remaining as cool as a cucumber until 12 months

[chrisdav]

Hi Beaverbuzz

 

Give it more time.

 

Let us all know your thoughts at 12 months and update us either way.

[RichFrog]

I agree at the edge of the temple points look a little thin, Like the others have said, are you happy with your hairline? Do you have pics of that ?

[..]

Looks to me it Does need another little pass along them temple points , Left side more so. Would the doc be kind enough to do though that is the question

[hdude46]

any progress?

[Libero1978]

honestly, I don't see any improvement either. I don't wanna demoralize you, because other pals are insisting that everything will be ok. after 8 months, there should be some improvement. I will be happy to learn the name of clinic or doctor as you didn't mention.

[s2thoudriver]

The only thing that i can notice here is the design.

 

It may be an illusion with the pictures, but from what i can see, the temple points seem too far forward and too pointy in design, making the hairline look more receding and bringing the temple points more into view from the front shot.

 

If you look at the distance between the edge of the eye to the temple point and the brow to the temple point, it looks a little too short, which subsequently elongates the face.

 

Maybe it's the camera angle but maybe it would be better to keep the temple points the same as before the FUE and lower the hairline by e.g 10mm.

 

You could laser some of the temple point off to take it back and round it off, then have another 1,000 FUE to lower the hairline at the receding points.

[beardywierdy]

How did one poster know it was SMG, when the OP had never mentioned it?

[chrisdav]

Beardy, I have researched SMG myself before I had my own hair transplant as they are one of the leading hair clinics and looking at a number of presentations of their patients from the past to present, my own intuition would suggest this.

[beaverbuzz]

Update. 9 months. No noticeable growth. Still looks unnatural due to the poor yield. Still have to wear a hat to social outings. I never wore a hat pre-surgery, so you can imagine how my self confidence is these days.

 

I started using rogaine foam to try and speed things up, but did not react well to it. Have since recovered though...

 

There is nothing wrong with the hairline design. Even with the poor yield, I can see if the density were to increase, it would look fantastic. I would take a nicely designed NW2 over a NW1 any day of the week.

 

I attached some pictures. These are without a flash.

Edited October 1, 2012 by beaverbuzz
Adding pictures

[Janna]

If the hairs are transplanted hairs that never shed, they'll pull out easily like before so that new growth can occur. If they are new growth from your procedure, then the kinkiness of the hairs will settle down a bit after a growth cycle or two.

 

I know you've been communicating with Dr. Shapiro and he's explained his reasoning for going conservative on you. It's certainly easier to add grafts in another procedure than transplant too many grafts at one time and deal with the consequences that can happen. I agree with you that adding in the sparse areas will definately look a lot better. It's too bad you've had to go through these unpleasant stages. As always, we stand by our work and will add more hairs to get you to where you want to be. Thanks for the update.

[Janna]

When I replied, your 9 months pics were not yet posted. I'd have to disagree with your estimate that only 30-40 hairs have grown on each temple corners and another 30-40 each on your temple peaks. I think your estimation is on the low side. However, we still stand by our work and we'll take care of you.

[beaverbuzz]

Thanks for the comment Janna.

Just to clarify though, I did say 30-40 hairs in the temple peaks (the triangle part), not the corners. Its impossible for me to guess with the hairline and the corners because there is native hair there.

Dr. Shapiro has been great; I still trust his skill and vision. Nothing has changed there.

I guess I have confirmed who did the surgery now

[stinger99]

im i the only one reading this , seeing the pics and saying WTF. his hair looks amazing, thick and natural looking.

[PupDaddy]

im i the only one reading this , seeing the pics and saying WTF. his hair looks amazing, thick and natural looking.

 

No.

 

 

beaverbuzz,

 

Ultimately, it isn't for anyone but you to say whether you should or should not be happy with how your temple peaks are looking in the context of your hairline advancement. It is your head and face, after all. However, Janna articulated what others have observed: You have gotten a good amount of growth of the transplanted peaks hair, and the kinkiness of those hairs will subside over time as they go through a couple of growth cycles and mature, making them blend better with the temple hair behind it. If you decide in a few months that you still want to bulk them up some, Janna has said that Dr. Shapiro is happy to do it. Until then . . . .

 

DUDE, YOU DON'T NEED TO WEAR A HAT! Sorry to shout. Please do not take offense, but might I ask whether you, like a lot of people (myself included), might have some OCD/perfectionism tendancies? I think it is fair to say that you have become fixated on your temple peaks. They might not yet look 100% like you ultimately want them, but they absolutely do not look unatural or call attention to themselves or negative attention to you in any way. I promise. You have an amazing head of hair and a handsome face of which your temple peaks are a tiny part of the whole – and those peaks, as is, look better than most guys’ out there (certainly better than mine) by themselves and, especially, in context with the rest of your hair, your face, your head, and the total YOU.

 

I apologize if I am out of line or if I offended you, but it is actually painful to read that you feel compelled to wear a hat in public and social situations only because the transplanted hair of your newly-advanced temple peaks isn’t yet as dense and mature as you would like. I am not saying that your pain isn’t real; it obviously is. I am saying that it isn’t necessary or rational and truly hope you come to see that and start enjoying your new and improved hairline (including the front, temple corners, and temple peaks) and the additional cosmetic appeal it has given you. If you and Dr. Shapiro decide to tweak things a bit later on, fine, but I promise you are good to go -- hell, great to go -- right now.

 

Want more assurance? I showed my girlfriend your after pics when your hair was grown out more. I gave her no background or anything, and just asked her what she thought about this fellow (you) and his hair. She said, “Wow, he looks great! Does everyone’s transplant turn out this well?”

[StevieG80]

I'm just wondering, why were you reluctant to mention SMG at the beginning? I'm not trying to belligerent, it's an honest question.

 

I'm just curious as to why people don't mention the surgeon's name when they're not happy with the results. I thought it was a legal issue, but it's clearly not the case.

[beaverbuzz]

Here is a better hairline shot, with my hair pulled back.

Edited October 1, 2012 by beaverbuzz

[chrisdav]

From that picture,growth doesn't look very good.

[beaverbuzz]

Yes, the right corner is especially bad.

[beaverbuzz]

This was my hair grown out before surgery. The pre-op pics is a buzz cut so a little harder to see how my hair fits my face.

Edited September 27, 2012 by beaverbuzz

[MAGNUMpi]

Hi Beaverbuzz,

Your hair looked PERFECT before your HT. I hope you get the hair that you initially wanted but I have to ask...why did you decide to risk a surgery like this?

I am so used to seeing guys who really NEED a transplant on here.

You are already where most of want to be hair-wise. I would be thanking my lucky stars if I were in your shoes.

Hope things work out.

M.

Edited August 30, 2012 by MAGNUMpi

[Davis91]

Beaverbuzz,

 

Your hair did look very good before the surgery, but I understand from the buzz pics that you might have wanted to shape up the temples. If your geners are good for lack of hair loss on the parents side, consider carefully how much more you want to mess with the temples.If you think that you will have not much more hair loss then maybe spare a few grafts, but otherwise, if your geners aren't good, think about leaving it alone. You looked very good buzzed and you still have that option with FUE. The more you tap that donor supply though, the more moth-eaten look you will have at shorter grades.

[Davis91]

Genes, not geners. sorry.

[beaverbuzz]

MAGNUMpi: Its safe to say hair loss affects us all differently. One only needs to look at hairloss forums to see people taking extreme measures to go from a NW1.5 to a NW1. Like I said in an earlier post, I actually prefer recession in my hairline; however, I wanted to tweak it a bit. The thing that bothered me the most was the asymmetric hairline. I don't think this was irresponsible given the stability of my hair and the number of grafts I needed.

 

Davis91: Thanks for the insight. You have made a similar comment that my brother made to me when the lack of growth became apparent. The donor area is definitely a concern of mine now as I am going to need a repair now. I was never told what my donor is like so I am not sure how much is there either.

 

I have stayed at a NW2ish since I was 18. I am not sure how much farther I will go; however, I do know I cant live with the way my hair is now, I am going to need to get it repaired. On the right corner it is see through. I can't even put toppik there because you end up seeing the fibers on my scalp.

[KO]

Dude I cannot see anything wrong with your hair. If you think you needed an HT. I need to go jump off a building.