Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted September 7, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted September 7, 2013 So I got the HT done by Patrick Tafoya in Tampa, FL. 2000 grafts is what I paid for. He said that he actually extracted a little over that amount(2,090 is the number he gave me), but when I look over my head, I can't imagine that there's anywhere near 2,000 on my head. He also did some on the crown, which I didn't attach a pic for, but my crown wasn't terribly balding. I've read some horror stories about NG so now I'm worried. I've attached pictures from before the HT, 3 days after, and then how it is now. The picture is technically from 7 days ago but it looks exactly the same. Basically, a bunch of the hairs have fallen out(which I was told is supposed to happen) but there are still quite a few hairs still in and just hanging around, basically making it look terrible. From 6+ feet away, my head looks like it did before the HT, but when you look up close, it's pretty bad. I've read that the growth will start 3-4 months after, but after reading some horror stories about the grafts being spaced too far apart, or many not growing at all, I'm just worried. Any comments, either positive or negative, would be appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member ScienceHair Posted September 10, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted September 10, 2013 Danny, I know it can be hard, but try not to stress yourself out or worry too much. What's done is done. Hopefully some of the experienced members will jump in here and take a look at your pics. Best of luck to you and I hope you see some great results down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member james84 Posted September 10, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted September 10, 2013 Try and relax pal, you are not even 2 months out. It is perfectly normal at this stage to look like you did before the procedure. Give it 3 months minimum, in this time you will have a better idea and even if you don't that is still normal as some patients don't see great growth until month 5-6. Patience is key. Keep us updated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member scar5 Posted September 11, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted September 11, 2013 Can't speak about the condition of the grafts under the skin, but the surface looks good to me. Don't look for any improvement for at least three months and even then, don't freak out if only a few hairs come through. At five months you will have a good idea. At six, it's time to ask, did it work or not, even though more grafts will come in. Of course, the clinic will say wait 12 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TakingThePlunge Posted September 11, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted September 11, 2013 The work looks good. Nice design. You had plenty of area covered in the front alone. Looks like +/-2000 to me. 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...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted September 19, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 19, 2013 Wow, these replies have been comforting. I guess the main thing that worries me is that there are still hairs that haven't fallen out yet even almost at the 2 month mark. And when looking close at the follicles where the hair has fallen out already, all I see are the pin holes that were made and no hair at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member CaddyTad77 Posted September 19, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted September 19, 2013 If this was month six or seven then you would have cause to be concerned. But as you heard before its still to early and the stage your in whats happening is normal so don't stress out to much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member CaddyTad77 Posted September 19, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted September 19, 2013 A random thought, why don't homeless dudes ever go bald? I live in a major urban city and all the homeless guys have great heads of hair, year round tans even though we have terribly cold, blizzard condition winters. Always wondered.....Things that make you go mmmmmmm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted September 29, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 29, 2013 I was just looking over some videos that I made back when the HT was first done, this picture was 4 days after and my main worry is the spacing between grafts that once the real hair grows that it will look really thin. I can't seem to find a SINGLE before/after picture that showed a closeup of the grafts like this and then the "6-8 months later" picture. Can anyone point me in the direction of some if you know of any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member CaddyTad77 Posted September 29, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted September 29, 2013 A long time ago I had a Bosley Doc tell me that he was getting calls from patients of his saying" It's been seven months, and nothing is growing" and he told me that it takes a year or longer. Is that true? Always wondered. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted September 29, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 29, 2013 A long time ago I had a Bosley Doc tell me that he was getting calls from patients of his saying" It's been seven months, and nothing is growing" and he told me that it takes a year or longer. Is that true? Always wondered. I've never heard that. Everywhere I've ever read has said a hair cycle is every 3-4 months so that's when you'd first see growth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted September 29, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted September 29, 2013 It takes 12 months for a hair transplant to fully mature. By the 3rd month, all implanted grafts should shed and you will first begin to notice signs of new growth. From that point forward, you should see steady improvement until the 12 month mark. However, results shouldn't truly be evaluated (in my opinion) until month 12. Hope this helps! "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted October 1, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 1, 2013 It takes 12 months for a hair transplant to fully mature. By the 3rd month, all implanted grafts should shed and you will first begin to notice signs of new growth. From that point forward, you should see steady improvement until the 12 month mark. However, results shouldn't truly be evaluated (in my opinion) until month 12. Hope this helps! When you say "by the 3rd month" do you mean the beginning or end of the 3rd month? I'm 9 weeks in and while most of the original 2000 are gone, there are still enough that haven't fallen out that it looks pretty bad. My main fear is that when I look at the surface on my head where the grafts have fallen out, all I see is skin, there are no dots of where the hair was inserted. You know when you shave your head bald and you can see the individual hole that each hair is in, I don't see hardly any where the hair was transplanted and I can't find any pictures of others around the 2-month mark so be able to compare it to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted October 2, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted October 2, 2013 Danny, The values are definitely not "hard and fast" rules. Patients are unique, and it is not unheard of to still have grafts (even partially growing grafts) inserted during the 3 month period. I also wouldn't worry too much about analyzing the implanted scalp at this phase as well. Altogether, it is still very early, and you're probably safe to relax a bit and wait for the new growth. Good luck! "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted October 14, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 14, 2013 Currently on Week 11 and there has been no growth at all of the transplanted hairs. Some of the transplanted hairs have never fallen out, so those are the ones you can see on the sides. It seems like month 3 and 4 is when the growth is noticeable for others but I'm still very much in "ugly duckling mode" even though I'm almost at the 3 month mark(in 2 weeks). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abcd0000 Posted October 14, 2013 Share Posted October 14, 2013 I'm on week 10 and the growth seems similar (some grafts have remained, others are gradually sprouting, some seem to be still dormant and invisible). Wait and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Rothki Posted October 15, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted October 15, 2013 Hopefully they all come through and have the same hairline in your first pics because that hairline actually looked pretty good on you! I will be watching this one because those neograph machines seem to be a bit dodgy My Hair Transplant Blog! My Hair Transplant Thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member greatjob Posted October 15, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted October 15, 2013 At 3 months the most you should realistically expect is to return to how you looked prior to surgery. You really aren't going to notice any real growth until probably around 5 months. If at 6-8 months you haven't seen any improvement then it's time to worry, right now it is very typical to not see any growth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted October 16, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 16, 2013 At 3 months the most you should realistically expect is to return to how you looked prior to surgery. You really aren't going to notice any real growth until probably around 5 months. If at 6-8 months you haven't seen any improvement then it's time to worry, right now it is very typical to not see any growth. What sucks is that the transplant office said I should expect to see hair growing 3-4 months in, and even set me up with a 3-month post-op-appointment(in 2 weeks) so they definitely stretched the truth there. I also was expecting ALL of the transplanted hair to fall out eventually, but there's still enough hair that hasn't fallen that it just looks bad. I will be watching this one because those neograph machines seem to be a bit dodgy That's the main reason I've been so worried, because there seems to be a large amount of negativity towards neograft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member greatjob Posted October 16, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted October 16, 2013 What sucks is that the transplant office said I should expect to see hair growing 3-4 months in, and even set me up with a 3-month post-op-appointment(in 2 weeks) so they definitely stretched the truth there. I also was expecting ALL of the transplanted hair to fall out eventually, but there's still enough hair that hasn't fallen that it just looks bad. I think most clinics wrongfully downplay the recovery time post-op. Unless you have minimal loss it is going to take months before you resemble anything like you did pre-op. I've heard many clinics claim you can go back to work completely undetected days after a procedure, that is just a flat out lie. I have attached pics from my last procedure 2 months, 3 months, 4 months and 8 months post-op. Sorry the 2 and 3 are blurry, I never intended to post them they were just for me to track my progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted October 17, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 17, 2013 I think most clinics wrongfully downplay the recovery time post-op. Unless you have minimal loss it is going to take months before you resemble anything like you did pre-op. I've heard many clinics claim you can go back to work completely undetected days after a procedure, that is just a flat out lie. I have attached pics from my last procedure 2 months, 3 months, 4 months and 8 months post-op. Sorry the 2 and 3 are blurry, I never intended to post them they were just for me to track my progress. Wow thanks for those!! You're right, the local HT ads say nobody will be able to tell, no downtime, etc... not true at all. I'm lucky I work from home or I would've felt like a freak for the first few weeks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 23gulfstream Posted November 20, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted November 20, 2013 Hello Danny. I have been still researching around the net and browsing others results. We must of had a transplant around the same time. I went to Dr. Paul Glat in Philadelphia and had my surgery on August 20th 2013. Stephen Archibald actually did the procedure. He is their Neograft expert. Dr. Glats office did roughly 100 procedures this year previous to my surgery and they have been doing it for years. I've heard nothing but great stories and their office and staff is First Rate across the board. I had a little over 1300 grafts done. I think 1357 or something like that. Anyway, I kind of have the same thing going on. I have some thick small grafts that never shed and are dormant or growing very slowly. My father is a machinist and has an optivisor that magnifies things pretty significantly. I'm not exactly sure of the magnification but he can see things with it that the naked eye cannot. We have been monitoring the growths and I am told there is a great deal of baby fine hairs starting to grow. I am so excited to see the results. The only people that know are my mom, dad, sister and girlfriend. I am still trying to figure out what I am going to tell people this summer when I have a way better looking head of hair. hahaha. I would relax and let the results come. I too am very curious how you can achieve coverage with 1300 grafts consisting of 1-4 hairs per graft but from all the videos and other peoples procedures it looks like it does. This procedure is the closest thing to magic that you can get for hair loss treatments. I will see if I can get some pictures up of my 1-3 month status soon. In the meantime, just sit back and relax and be excited of the results that will come. The hard part is over and I'm sure you donor area is healed and grown in by now so just chill. I am looking forward to staying up-to-date with progress as we both move forward through this. Do you want to get excited? Watch this video I found on youtube. Simply amazing results. This guys was in way worse shape than me and only received less than 200 grafts more than me. The results are INSANE!!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted November 22, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 22, 2013 Hello Danny. I have been still researching around the net and browsing others results. We must of had a transplant around the same time. I went to Dr. Paul Glat in Philadelphia and had my surgery on August 20th 2013. Stephen Archibald actually did the procedure. He is their Neograft expert. Dr. Glats office did roughly 100 procedures this year previous to my surgery and they have been doing it for years. I've heard nothing but great stories and their office and staff is First Rate across the board. Great post. My hair has actually seen a large increase in growth in the last month. I would say 1 month ago my hair was still sparse but somehow in the last 30-ish days, most of it has grown. I'm not naive to think that it will be as full as my natural hair, because the grafts aren't as close to each other, but it's much improved and I will post a picture saturday since I always take a picture every saturday to document the progress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dannyboy785 Posted November 23, 2013 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 23, 2013 I just got my head shaved today so that the new hair would be the same length as the rest of my head and I have to say that I am surprised as how even it looks. Of course there are still grafts that haven't grown or have just sprouted, plus the current grafts aren't as thick as they will be in a few months so I have to say that all of my worry from a few months ago was for nothing. Just for fun, I've attached a photoshop that I did back when I took my pre-op picture in the mirror, and then I also just took a pic wearing the same shirt at the same angle and it's neat to see how close my photoshop was to the real thing, and the real thing should be even better a month or 2 from now. Today is exactly 17 weeks since the operation. Almost 5 full months since the operation. I'll take better pictures with a more high resolution camera in a few weeks when the hair looks hopefully even better than it does now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Rothki Posted November 23, 2013 Senior Member Share Posted November 23, 2013 Looking good man! Looks like its getting better My Hair Transplant Blog! My Hair Transplant Thread Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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