HDC Transplant Dr Maras - 2,798 grafts August 2012 - 31 Year Male

[Greg187]

Hi all

 

First of all a little introduction to my story on hair loss etc. My name is Greg and I'm 31 years old.

 

I have always had a high hairline/forehead and looking back over photos from 2004-2005 I could tell I was receding quite a lot at the temples. However, this never bothered me and my hair was something I just never really cared a great deal about.

 

I recently found a photo from holiday in the Caribbean though with my girlfriend from 2009 and was shocked at my hair loss! I literally had a huge forehead and a tuft of hair in the middle. My crown/vertex area was fully intact though.

 

Fast forward to 2011 and a customer facing role which I thoroughly enjoy and all of a sudden the "comments" and "jibes" start to flow on a regular basis. My colleagues taking the p*ss saying "Baldy" and "Bald Headed Freak" and of course even my brother and his mates.... "1,2,3, Forehead !". It just goes to show that whilst I was never particularly vain and didn't care a great deal about hair loss, after the torment and spiteful comments started it became a very real problem for me.

 

So, in February 2012 I went to see George the Patient Coordinator at HDC for a consultation. He was very good and suggested a FUE transplant of 3,000 grafts. FUE was always going to be my first and only choice.

 

Anyway, I decided to try REGAINE Extra Strength Foam first as I had not been using and meds and just assumed hairloss was something you could not do much about over the last decade! How na?ve I was back then and like I said not vain at all.

 

The REGAINE Foam had helped and I think even regrew some hair, but in June 2012 I decided to bite the bullet and schedule a procedure as planned with HDC in August 2012 for the 3,000 grafts via FUE suggested. This ended up being a total of 2,798 grafts with 2,490 at the front and the rest in the Crown/Vertex area.

 

I have since been back again (October 2013) for a further procedure as I was unhappy with the frontal density (HDC agreed to rectify kindly) and also wanted the Crown/Vertex area treated with a greater number than 300 grafts as per last time. 300 Single and 300 Double Grafts were implanted into the vertex area and approximately 350 Triples to the Front third of my hairline to add density.

 

This thread will detail my FIRST transplant results as obviously I am in the early stages for the recent one.

 

So, here is what I looked like in February 2012.

 

Greg

 

Oh and my current Regimen is REGAINE Extra Strength Foam twice a day, REGAINE Liquid at night, Revivogen Scalp Solution at night, I wash 2-3 times a week with a Nizarol alternative (RegenePure DR) and Revita and Alpecin the other days. I refuse to take Propecia due to the side effects and a past horrendous experience with a similar drug called Roaccutane that I took nearly 9 years ago.

Edited January 10, 2014 by Greg187

[Greg187]

 

Firstly, may I say how brilliant HDC and the entire team are. From George, to the Technicians Janet and Giuseppe, to Dr Maras, to the Driver Eugene, to Dr Yiannis Voskos, everyone! They are a truly fantastic team.

 

 

 

 

They looked after me from start to finish and made the whole experience as pleasant as possible. For these reasons alone I would highly recommend them.

 

 

 

 

So without further ado, the FUE grafts implanted and break down is as follows:

 

 

 

 

DAY ONE

Single 336

Double 446

Triple 297

Total 1079

 

 

 

 

DAY 2

Single 415

Double 921

Triple 383

Total 1719

 

 

 

 

The hairline was constructed on Day One and the Crown/Front Third on Day Two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

These pictures are a few days post op too.

 

 

 

 

Greg

 

 

Edited January 10, 2014 by Greg187

[Greg187]

Updates as and when I took them. Apologies I was not very good at this - I will be better this time round I promise!

 

This photo is from December 2012 which initially shows very good growth for only 4 months in.

 

Sorry I know the quality isn't great.

[Greg187]

A few more photos from April 2013 which highlighted the gaps in hairline etc.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Greg187

[Greg187]

Unfortunately after that things seemed to stall massively and I was seeing very little if any growth. The following hairline photos were taken in July 2013 nearly a year after the first surgery.

 

I know bright lighting does not help, but lets be honest we have to go out and about in all types of lighting and I am in an office in an artificial lighting environment pretty much 9-5.

 

I was pretty despondent about the hairline results if I am brutally honest and was having to use Caboki to thicken things up and prevent more embarrassing situations.

 

There appeared to also be a large gap in my hairline frontal third on the side as seen in pictures.

 

The Crown photo was taken in April 2013 and there has been minimal improvement since.

 

Greg

Edited January 8, 2014 by Greg187

[Greg187]

Here are the latest photos taken from November 2013 when I went back for my 2nd transplant session. The lighting makes a world of difference as you can see!

 

Crown Transplant - November 2013 compared to August 2012

 

 

 

When you compare them like this you can see the improvement! I wonder what another 600 grafts will do.....

 

Hairline and Top View Photos:

 

 

 

 

 

And I'm hoping for better hairline density.

 

Greg

[saudbs]

Hi Greg

 

I think your results are good. I will be happy if I get result like yours.

 

My FUE was also done by Dr Maras last month and I agree they are a great team. Hoping to get good results

 

Thanks,

[mm015]

This looks great. What do your colleagues and brother/friends say? Do they know you had FUE?

[JohnnyDrama]

You've already had a BIG transformation! These extra 600 will just add to that and be the cherry on the cake. Have always liked Dr Maras and HDCs work.

[Greg187]

Hi all

 

Thanks for the comments. I do think the 600 in the crown and 300 triple grafts in frontal third will make a huge difference. It's nice to have a framed face now too!

 

After the procedure in August 2012 I had quite a lot of redness plus the head was fully shaved so it was fairly obvious to most people "something" had been done. My friends and family think the results are brilliant, but of course we are our own worst enemies when it comes to self-image. I told my mum, bro and closest friends I was having it done.

 

I'm going to grow my hair longer and style it. I shaved it short after the last procedure which looked pretty bad as a result of shock loss etc.

 

I'm hopeful for more improvement over the next 8-10 months and I believe my regimen is retaining most of my hair.

 

Best of luck all

 

Greg

[Greg187]

Also, I do have a pretty significant issue with my hairline.

 

The single grafts that HDC implanted grow in direct contrast with my native and other implanted hair behind the hairline. They grow vertically and to the left. This is very frustrating re styling as I ideally wanted to brush my hair forward and cover up the hairline if you understand what I mean. This is near impossible to do now.

 

If the density was thicker behind it wouldn't be so much of a problem but as there is the transparent effect it makes things more noticeable. Not sure if this will ever change or I just need to accept it.

 

Greg

[saudbs]

Good news is you got your hairline back.

 

I just need my hairline back doesnt matter if they grow east or west lol

[rev333]

MASSIVE DIFFERENCE GREG!

 

especially when the hair is at a short length

 

all you needed is to beef it up, which you just did

 

any pics post-op DAY 1-2 of your HT 2?

 

did they change the hairline or transplant within HT 1 ?

[Greg187]

MASSIVE DIFFERENCE GREG!

 

especially when the hair is at a short length

 

all you needed is to beef it up, which you just did

 

any pics post-op DAY 1-2 of your HT 2?

 

did they change the hairline or transplant within HT 1 ?

 

Hi mate

 

Please see below for new thread following HT2.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/showthread.php?p=2376987&posted=1#post2376987

 

I'll keep that one alive from now on and updated with progress pics.

 

They didn't change the hairline as I am happy with it, but density behind it was definitely needed so they planted around 336 triple grafts and 14 quads there.

 

Thanks

 

G

[scooter]

I think your HT looks great, I really like the hairline.Thanks for sharing