3394 FUT by Mr Ball @ Ziering London

[HairsGone]

Hi all, I thought I'd post some pics of my recent FUT with Mr Ball.

 

I'm 35 years, NW 6, and have been gradually losing hair for the past 5 years. I started Propecia 4 months ago and intend to start Minoxidil in the coming days.

 

Initially I was keen on FUE but online consultations with several surgeons including Dr Doganay and Dr Edrogan advised me that me donor was not of adequate quality to provide the required number of grafts. Hence I decided to go for FUT.

 

Overall I was happy with my experience with Mr Ball and his team at Ziering London. They look after you and didn't get fed up of me watching almost a whole series of 24 during the day!!

 

I'm now day 14 and everything seems to be healing well.

 

Here's the breakdown:

Total grafts 3394

356 singles into hair line, 2173 grafts into frontal third/half, 1221 into crown

Breakdown 1s 810, 2s 2202, 3s 382

 

It's just a bit frustrating now having to wait for the final outcome.

[HairsGone]

Pre-op Photos:

[HairsGone]

Day of Surgery:

[HairsGone]

Now day 14:

[TakingThePlunge]

Congratulations! I wish you the best of luck. Please keep us posted on your progress.

[HairsGone]

Thought I'd update my thread. I'm now 3.5 months post-op and in the past month have noticed more growth coming along. The frontal view I think frames my face much better than before but the top view shows how sparse the hair is at the moment. Hoping for continued growth which hopefully will improve things. Do you think my growth is as is expected at this point? Thanks

 

 

Edited October 25, 2015 by HairsGone

[TR3B]

Donor looks good I'm surprised you couldn't get FUE.

[don174]

How's it coming along bud. Must be close to 6 months now

[HairsGone]

I'm now 5 months in...

[kujii]

It's still 5 months but hopefully it thinkens up remarkably. But looking at this pic and what you posted at pre-op, in not too happy with the results considering large amount of grafts were used. But like I said, it's still early. Hopefully thinks change in the 8-9 month mark

[1978matt]

I think it looks about right and should improve in the next 5 or so months. I don't think it will be very dense due to the area covered, less than favourable donor etc. A second session may be required.

[HairsGone]

It's still 5 months but hopefully it thinkens up remarkably. But looking at this pic and what you posted at pre-op, in not too happy with the results considering large amount of grafts were used. But like I said, it's still early. Hopefully thinks change in the 8-9 month mark

 

I recognize its not dense but I'm realistic that I can't go from NW6 to great hair in 1 sitting of 3394 grafts. However I feel it is a big improvement from where I started. Here are some more pics of when I tried to grow my hair without a hair cut for 8 weeks...

[HairsGone]

7 month update...

[Dolph1969]

That's great compared to your pre op pics. I would be pleased with that.

 

I would try some toppik and not use gel, to add a bit more density.

[Britanium]

Doing well at 7 months in ! will you opt for a second HT?

[HairsGone]

That's great compared to your pre op pics. I would be pleased with that.

 

I would try some toppik and not use gel, to add a bit more density.

 

Thanks. Yes I know the wax makes it look thinner, but I don't like Toppik as my hair can get slightly wet during the day at work so it just comes off! Need to find something better

[HairsGone]

Doing well at 7 months in ! will you opt for a second HT?

 

Thanks mate. I am considering my next FUT with either Dr Hasson, Dr Rahal, Dr Feriduni or Dr Bisanga. I will try to consult with them and take things from there.

[Mick50]

Big improvement still early days

[Petchski]

Yep, big improvment from pre op, all you need now is added density.

 

Mega session with someone like Hasson + Wong 3/4k grafts and you'd probably be set after that.

[thisguy1]

I'm 35 years, NW 6, and have been gradually losing hair for the past 5 years. I started Propecia 4 months ago and intend to start Minoxidil in the coming days.

 

Here's the breakdown:

Total grafts 3394

356 singles into hair line, 2173 grafts into frontal third/half, 1221 into crown

Breakdown 1s 810, 2s 2202, 3s 382

 

 

 

Will watch your case. Your hair on top is probably where I was in late 30s but with less lost on the crown.

 

Just curious on your decision to do crown and rest of scalp in same session. Was it your suggestion or the HT doctor?

 

My HT doctor - when I gave my goals - advised on ignoring crown and attacking top/front 80%, with emphasis on hairline and framing face and then less density as you go backwards since there is a lot of real estate to cover. That seems to be typical advice for those of us with advanced loss who will need 2 pretty large sessions.

 

p.s. your graft count total doesnt add up to the individual pieces - I only noticed because I was trying to figure out how many you used on hairline and scalp vs crown. You wrote: 356+2173+1221=3750. But your breakdown of grafts of 1s, 2s, and 3s does add up to 3394 so there appears to be a mixup in how many went to diff parts of your scalp.

 

Your yield was also only 1.87 hairs per graft which is relatively low. I think 2.1 to 2.3 is average and I've seen people here with 2.5+. So that probably hurts the illusion of density a bit too.

 

I think you made a big improvement in hairline and crown actually but then it lacks a bit on top of scalp and density is lacking because you sort of went for "some" coverage everywhere rather than focusing your 3500 grafts in certain areas and then ignoring others. Hence why my general question on if that was your decision or the docs. No right or wrong answer - I've seen some people opt for your route as well as they want everything at least covered to a degree.

 

By the way it's only month 7 - you will get thickening from here for half a year, and even more potential growth in new few months as well. So will help with some of the density as well.

 

Good luck and I'll be curious what you do with your 2nd one if and when.

Edited February 17, 2016 by thisguy1

[HairsGone]

Just curious on your decision to do crown and rest of scalp in same session. Was it your suggestion or the HT doctor?

 

p.s. your graft count total doesnt add up to the individual pieces - I only noticed because I was trying to figure out how many you used on hairline and scalp vs crown. You wrote: 356+2173+1221=3750.

 

The decision was made by the surgeon. I had indicated before surgery that I only wanted to have one procedure so as much coverage as possible. Before the surgery he indicated he would go as far back as possible but probably stop before the crown. However on the day he decided he could add some to the crown also and I was happy with that decision. Does it make a difference if you do like I had done then add density to whole area on 2nd transplant vs just focussing on one area at a time?

 

Not sure why numbers don't add up, I double checked and those are the numbers I was emailed by the surgeon.

[thisguy1]

The decision was made by the surgeon. I had indicated before surgery that I only wanted to have one procedure so as much coverage as possible. Before the surgery he indicated he would go as far back as possible but probably stop before the crown. However on the day he decided he could add some to the crown also and I was happy with that decision. Does it make a difference if you do like I had done then add density to whole area on 2nd transplant vs just focussing on one area at a time?

 

Not sure why numbers don't add up, I double checked and those are the numbers I was emailed by the surgeon.

 

No, I think if that was your instruction to him - then he followed your instruction.

 

Well the difference is cosmetic really. You get covered everywhere but less density now vs more density if you focus on certain areas ... but then open areas elsewhere. If you waited 5 years between surgeries it probably would make more of a difference only in the cosmetic sense.

 

When you go in for a 2nd HT they will just shave down that area again and then place more grafts in the areas you already went into and build your density. One advantage with your method is the crown usually takes a good # of grafts and is much more difficult to judge how many, so if you are content with crown coverage after HT#1 then you can focus all your HT#2 on top and hairline instead.

 

Strange on the #s - I'd double check with the clinic and see what happened. If you truly got 1200 on crown and had 3400 total then that left you 2200 for rest of scalp which would make sense relative to your result i.e. density levels.

[HairsGone]

I prefer the way mine was done, ie covering most of the hair loss area with some hair, albeit lower density than if just one area was focused on. This way my crown isn't left completely bald and I don't have the sudden drop in hair compared to if just the front half was transplanted and then there would be a big bald area at the back. I feel that looks unnatural. But I assume that may be be better given most surgeons seem to operate in the latter manner.

Edited February 17, 2016 by HairsGone

[HairsGone]

Here's the breakdown:

Total grafts 3394

356 singles into hair line, 2173 grafts into frontal third/half, 1221 into crown

Breakdown 1s 810, 2s 2202, 3s 382

 

 

Strange on the #s - I'd double check with the clinic and see what happened. If you truly got 1200 on crown and had 3400 total then that left you 2200 for rest of scalp which would make sense relative to your result i.e. density levels.

 

I received more information from my surgeon re the numbers:

Total grafts 3394

2173 grafts into frontal third/half, of this 356 singles went into hair line

1221 into crown

So the numbers do add up!

[HairsGone]

I'm now at 11.5 months and this is probably almost the final result. The crown may improve slightly over the coming months. Overall I'm happy with the outcome from the number of grafts used and am grateful to Mr Ball for the result. As you can see from the pre-op photos I've come a long way.

 

Next week I'm having HT no. 2 with Dr Karadeniz in Istanbul. I will be having another FUT and possibly FUE on day 2 with the aim of getting as many grafts to improve the density. I'll start a new thread with this next week.

 

PS For anyone interested in Mr Ball, although I had my surgery when he worked at Ziering, he now has his own clinic and can be found at http://www.themaitlandclinic.com/

 

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2016 by HairsGone