Is this shock loss? (concerned)

[pkipling]

So glad to see this worked out, especially considering how worried you were about it. Based on that photo, the donor area looks perfect and a HT is undetectable.

[thatoldchestnut]

Great news man, your hair looks terrific

[RyanVodka]

hello everyone, I am sorry to revive this thread again but it seems I was wrong about the improved donor. It believe my hair was just longer than I previously thought. I just had my hair buzzed down to a 3 guard two days ago and it appears it is basically just as thin as it was 3 months ago. I am now over 7 months post op, any hope that this was shock loss is basically gone.

 

Ultimately I believe that my donor area was just too conservative and was over harvested as a result of it. I've noticed that nearly all the top surgeons in Europe go outside of the 100% safe zone in order to give the best cosmetic result. I understand the logic behind being ultra conservative but in my case I think it was a mistake to extract like I was going to become a norwood 7 at the expense of density. I really wish more of my donor would have been utilized including the back and sides of my head. Here is an image of a lorenzo procedure simliar to mine, notice how much larger of an area the grafts have been extracted from.

 

At this point in time I would recommended going elsewhere for FUE.

Edited April 10, 2015 by RyanVodka

[gillenator]

Ryan,

 

The reality may be that you are going to need to wear your hair length at least 1/2 inch or longer just like your previous update pic dated March 17th.

 

Some would say that that you could potentially add density to the over-harvested area with beard grafts or other donor as a last stage effort.

 

If it were me, I would leave it alone for now. Grow it longer and then take another look at it after one year.

[pkipling]

Sorry to see that the density isn't any better. The previous picture you posted on 3/18 looked great and was very promising. Fortunately (though I'm sure not ideal for you at this point), your hair seems to look really good at that length. So you can keep it longer until you're able to come up with a game plan and/or the issue resolves itself. At the slightly longer length, I don't even think the lack of density is noticeable.

 

Have you reached out to the doctor to get his feedback/opinion?

[Sean]

RyanV, did you just post an update that is not visible on your thread? Is it awaiting moderation for some reason?

[RyanVodka]

Hi sean, none of my posts are awaiting moderation. I was going to post and update and ended up deleting it. As you know I'm just having another rough day. Dr. R had his assistant email me somewhat recently and basically said my thinness is a result of my hair characteristics which is complete bullshit. I had an average to above average density and medium caliber dark hair. There is no way I should be having people commenting on the thinness of my donor when its 1/2 inch and longer after 2200 grafts.

 

During my second procedure there was a different extractor other than mike doing a portion of my grafts who was clearly less experienced than mike was. I am convinced that it was bad extracting or a severe reaction to a second FUE procedure that caused my donor issues.

 

I am just heart broken that I spent all this money and here I am 9 months post op with a donor way worse than what a FUT procedure would have gave me. Honestly don't know what else to say but obviously you know how it feels. Just went to my barber and even at 5/8ths of an inch he was staring at the back of my head confused asking why the hair was so thin. When I take pictures of the donor close up it seems like there is a decent amount of hairs that aren't as thick as the rest. I am still trying to hold out hope that some how the second procedure caused some hairs to weaken and that they will eventually return.

Edited June 4, 2015 by RyanVodka

[Sean]

Were you told you were not a candidate Prior to surgery to begin with? I thought Mike was the only one doing extractions, who is the other person? Young or old? Did the doc do extractions too? Di you have matches throughout or intermittent ones in donor only? Like is it one long natch or spots of patches in groupings? Hope your issue resolves, ive been putting rogaine but not much difference. How ling has it been now? You had 2 procedures too?

[RyanVodka]

I was told prior to the procedure that I had "plenty of donor left". My first procedure was only 1200 and my second was 1000. Notice this picture here how insanely thin it is in certain spots it is noticeable at basically ANY length. The whole donor looks thin but mostly there are two spots behind each ear that are most noticeable, its been 9 months since my procedure so basically there is zero chance of it being shock loss.

 

I look at the pictures and honestly cant believe the amount of money I spent to get this kind of result.

Edited June 4, 2015 by RyanVodka

[win200]

Curious about the clinic's response to this. To my relatively uneducated eye, it LOOKS like over harvesting; it has that moth-eaten look. Honestly, the barest area--on the left side, near the birth mark--looks like a strip scar. Occasionally the tails of strip scars get a little extra shock loss due to tension, and it kind of resembles that.

[RyanVodka]

The clinic said thinness at low buzz length is to be expected with my hair type, they offered a free smp session. I emailed them back and said Its not thin at low buzz, its nearly transparent at an inch. It doesn't make sense for me to fly across the country for a free smp session. I feel it is the clinics job regardless of hair type to make sure the donor will be acceptable density following the procedure. I basically got the "whoops, guess you didnt have as much hair left as we thought" come get some tattoos put on. Even with unfavorable hair characteristics I dont see how 2300 total grafts could tap out my donor. Not sure what to do at this point but I know that SMP is not going to give me the results im looking for.

Edited June 5, 2015 by RyanVodka

[gillenator]

Ryan,

 

IMHO, doing SMP is just a quick fix and not a viable one. I would not do it.

 

There is always the possibility that adding grafts to the thin area will thicken it up and doing it with a surgeon who does the extractions himself. You would basically be doing a "donor replacement" session. But IMHO, that would produce the best result with your own real hair shafts.

 

I did not know that someone other than the surgeon did your extractions.

[Sean]

I was told prior to the procedure that I had "plenty of donor left". My first procedure was only 1200 and my second was 1000. Notice this picture here how insanely thin it is in certain spots it is noticeable at basically ANY length. The whole donor looks thin but mostly there are two spots behind each ear that are most noticeable, its been 9 months since my procedure so basically there is zero chance of it being shock loss.

 

I look at the pictures and honestly cant believe the amount of money I spent to get this kind of result.

 

Ryan how long is that, under what guard? I did grow mine out and was wondering if yours was similar ? I took an outdoor shot, you can see the halo on the sides were just one part of extractions were done. This is just one side of my head

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/attachments/viewattachment.cfm?attachid=40050&forumid=1

 

 

Hope your shockloss area continues to improve so that it isnt noticeable. It is hard to have people point out things like this, esp at work, At least for me.

[RyanVodka]

Hi sean thanks for the response. The last picture I posted was of my hair was a bit longer than a #5 guard. It appears from your picture that we have similar spots behind the ears where hair was either damaged or over extracted. It is my opinion that our Dr's extraction process is flawed. The donor extraction area is too condensed and not enough time was spent determining if there would be enough hair left for adequate coverage. It seems the doctors in Europe take much more care in making sure only a certain percentage of the donor is extracted from each area. The person responsible for contacting me from the doctors office says the Dr, is willing to try to help make things right, however I'm not sure its even worth going through the process of using donor to cover the over extractions.

Edited June 16, 2015 by RyanVodka

[Sean]

Ryan, any updates? Did the doc or clinic ask you to get some sort of a biopsy test done for citrical alopecia? Either before the procedure or now?

[Melvin- Admin]

Ryan, in looking at your pictures it definitely does look like over harvesting, but in my humble opinion, that is no where near as bad as a strip scar not even close, as a matter of fact, a lot of men who are balding already have thin spots above their ears, its called retrograde alopecia, although I know you are upset and this should never be the case, it does not look unnatural in my opinion, you still have plenty of donor hair left from the looks of it, a simple solution would be in the future to harvest more hair from the surrounding areas, this will in turn even out all of your donor area and blend in with the thin spot.

 

I got the same thing you do, but honestly no one has even noticed or said anything this is with a zero guard. I'm also the same age basically, i'm 29 but ill be 30 in October.

 

[jsmyth]

I don't know if you will see this RyanVodka. I had a consult with Dr. Rahal for similar hairloss as you and was recommended 1200 grafts. I want to go FUE but I want some information from you. I saw that you needed another 1000 FUE after your initial 1200 FUE. Care to elaborate on what was wrong after the initial procedure (from your photos it looked good). I am also concerned about the shockloss you experienced in the donor area. I am currently 26 years old and have been on finasteride for 4 years without losing much of anything.

[Andelf]

Lately I am getting thoughts that I am getting stress hair loss and thinking about trying some anti anxiety meds like Klonopin and although I do know that it has nothing to do with my hair, I think that if my stress level would come down, my hair loss would stop either.. does it sound logic? :confused:

[gillenator]

Sometimes anti-anxiety meds can induce hair loss so it would pay to read up on any side-effects of these medications.

 

Stress alopecia usually manifests with a patchy type of hair loss so sometimes we think it's stress related and it's not.

 

It never hurts to get an opinion from a medical professional....

[pkipling]

Lately I am getting thoughts that I am getting stress hair loss and thinking about trying some anti anxiety meds like Klonopin and although I do know that it has nothing to do with my hair, I think that if my stress level would come down, my hair loss would stop either.. does it sound logic? :confused:

 

I would strongly urge you to find other ways and techniques to manage your stress than taking medication, as there will always be a risk of side effects with any drug - increased hair loss potentially being one of those as Gillenator pointed out.

 

I don't know the ins and outs of what is causing your stress and do believe that there are instances where medication is necessary, but we live in a culture that tends to want to take medication to deal with the normal stress and anxieties of life as a first resort instead of a last. Getting to the root of what is causing the stress and anxiety and finding more healthy, productive ways to manage that is going to be much better for your overall health than taking a drug as a quick fix - and you'll be much happier in the long run.

[gillenator]

Good advice and well stated....