2,123 FUT Grafts with Dr. Rahal (Oct. 8, 2015; second procedure)

[Aftermath]

Looking great so far! Looks like your on par for a great result

[win200]

Mainly wanted to include these pictures to showcase the degree to which the right side is lagging. The left side looks, by and large, done--it's thick, it's dense, and it's fully integrated in my prior hairline. You couldn't tell where the new hair begins and the old hair ends to save your life.

 

The right side is very different. As you can tell, you can easily see the old hairline very prominently behind the new grafts. I had my hair cut by someone new last week, and she asked, "What happened to this patch here?" I definitely get eye drift towards that area, and a couple folks have asked "what's going on" with the area. I usually put some Dermmatch on that temple because it just looks so out of sync with the left side.

 

That said, I'm not upset about it. Either it fills in and all is well, or we throw a few hundred grafts in to bring it up to par. I've never worried about a lack of follow through by Dr. Rahal, so I'm sure I'll end up very happy one way or the other. The left side looks totally outstanding.

[home1212]

By 12 months that right side will catch up and will blend in thickness/density with your native hair as it appears your left side has already. I had the same issue, one side had quicker growth than the other - it all blended together for me by 8 months or so...

[win200]

By 12 months that right side will catch up and will blend in thickness/density with your native hair as it appears your left side has already. I had the same issue, one side had quicker growth than the other - it all blended together for me by 8 months or so...

 

Yeah, it's definitely too early to throw up my hands. There would just have to be a significant degree of thickening for it to be something that I would be happy with, but who knows--I've been surprised before. And I don't mind going in for a touch up, so I'm hardly panicking.

[Dutchie]

Here's the best thing about going to Dr. Rahal, aside from the great work: the guesthouse. The guesthouse sits immediately next door from the clinic, so it's a whopping fifteen second commute back and forth

15 seconds is way too long. I demand the guesthouse be moved closer.

 

Do you have any idea how many people have died from simple 15 second walks??

[win200]

15 seconds is way too long. I demand the guesthouse be moved closer.

 

Do you have any idea how many people have died from simple 15 second walks??

 

It's unacceptable that I can't simply sleep in the operating room.

[Dutchie]

It's unacceptable that I can't simply sleep in the operating room

I think we should start a Facebook support group.

 

I'm here for you, man

[esrec]

From perfect hair to "perfecter" hair.

 

Coming along Win! 5.5 months is still super early (says the guy at 5 and a wk and not happy yet )

 

It's actually common for one side to lag a little behind. There really is such variability.

[thisguy1]

15 seconds is way too long.

 

"That's what she said." - Michael G. Scott.

[Aftermath]

Any updates win? Hope all is going to plan for you?

[win200]

Hey guys,

 

Sorry for the long time between updates. Work has been busy, and I've just been enjoying the new hair and keeping my thoughts elsewhere.

 

Bottom line is that for the most part, the hair looks great. The design is natural and youthful, and the new hair is gradually blending in more and more seamlessly with the native hair.

 

The only drawback is that, as I flagged before, the right side is relatively pretty thin. I still use Dermmatch on it daily to avoid looks/comments. You can still easily see the original hairline in this area, whereas it's totally invisible on the left side. At 7 months I doubt that this will totally resolve itself--there would have to be significantly more growth in order to mimic the result on the left side. But I'm not upset, and it's just part of the process. At worst, I'll swing back by Rahal's to have a few hundred more grafts popped in. This was the side that was more receded, so natural to expect that it would take more effort to get a fully acceptable result.

 

Also worth noting that the scar looks significantly better than at one month, which is unusual. I think the issue is that at one month, the hair hadn't started growing through the scar. (The closure was tricophytic.) Now, though, there is hair growing through all of the scar. I keep my sides at roughly a 2.5 guard, and at that length you can see that there is *something* there, but it's not a bare scar area. The scar is visible almost only on the side, and due to the fact that the hair geometry on the side of the head is more easily disrupted by removing a strip; when you close the scar, some of the hair angles don't match, so there is a line where there is a clear change in the direction and "flow" of the hair. Plus, the hair that grows through the scar tends to do so at odd angles.

 

Also, pay attention to the temple point on the right side--Rahal grafted that entire area, and it looks FLAWLESS. I was nervous about that, because it's such a tough area to match the angulation of the hair. I also had native hair all throughout there; he wasn't creating a new temple point, just reinforcing. Huge risk of shock loss, which never happened. I'm blown away by that work in particular. You can ever-so-slightly see that the grafted area is "darker" due to the fact that the hair from the back of my head is jet black and coarser than in the front, but there is no indication that he worked in that area.

 

Interesting as well that the angles of the hair on the right side of my head point backward, whereas on the left side they point straight down. It actually makes it a little easier to see the scar on the right side, because the hairs run parallel to it instead of going straight down and covering it.

[win200]

And here's a closeup of the troublesome area in the right side.

 

All of these pictures were taken opposite a window, so there was fairly bright natural light illuminating the hair. There is no Dermmatch in any of these pictures, and no flash was used. I was on four hours of sleep, though, so I apologize for looking rough. :eek:

[esrec]

Looks great man.

 

Your hairline was already top notch beforehand, now its even better. And I actually think the side that's lagging will resolve itself some. You have a good about of hair in that area, not many gaps, so it should continue to mature, You're still relatively early in the game.

 

Also, scar looks good. We have similar complexion/hair, im a little more dark skin, but at 2.5 guard, that is solid. It too should clean up nicely over the next 6 months.

[Spanker]

You do have some course hair. I don't know what's up with your right side. I would wait it out before you decide anything on that. I am conflicted. I do not think your balding will progress too far, but I would hate for you to use any more grafts on such a small area, but I would hate to be so close to perfection and not quite make it. Tough call. My worry would be that you lose more and can not match density so you have a dark strip in the front. I doubt it but stranger things have happened.

[win200]

You do have some course hair. I don't know what's up with your right side. I would wait it out before you decide anything on that. I am conflicted. I do not think your balding will progress too far, but I would hate for you to use any more grafts on such a small area, but I would hate to be so close to perfection and not quite make it. Tough call. My worry would be that you lose more and can not match density so you have a dark strip in the front. I doubt it but stranger things have happened.

 

Totally agree. I do think, though, that I'll do something about it if it doesn't resolve. It looks just fine with Dermmatch, but then again, I didn't go through two surgeries to have a permanent problem area that always needs to be covered up. Plus, a few hundreds grafts would do the job. If for some reason I lost significantly more hair, that many grafts wouldn't be a make-or-break difference. Plus, I'm on Avodart and Propecia daily with one 2.5mg weekly dose of Avodart, so I'm doing virtually everything possible to stop further loss. (There doesn't appear to be any difference in my hair since my June 2012 procedure, so if there is loss, it's very, very slow.)

 

But either way, the Dermmatch does the trick for the time being, so I can make a decision about the right side in 3-5 months.

[alessi]

hey win,

 

how much do you find yourself shedding on a daily basis (in between transplants i mean), like your native hair.

 

ive been on fin for 9 months, and considering rahal

[mav23100gunther]

And here's a closeup of the troublesome area in the right side.

 

All of these pictures were taken opposite a window, so there was fairly bright natural light illuminating the hair. There is no Dermmatch in any of these pictures, and no flash was used. I was on four hours of sleep, though, so I apologize for looking rough. :eek:

 

Any update? Has this improved at all?

[Orangerade]

Any updates to this case?

[alessi]

any update?

[jcs87]

going through all the patient posted rahal results and would love to see how this turned out??

[Kiwi Guy]

any update to that right side? very interested in rahal

[win200]

Hey, I actually just had a third procedure with Dr. Gabel--look for a separate thread with lots of pictures!

[win200]

New thread is here: 

 

[jcs87]

32 minutes ago, win200 said:

Hey, I actually just had a third procedure with Dr. Gabel--look for a separate thread with lots of pictures!

wow, thought it was a long shot you'd ever come back to the forum. glad to see you responding!

[win200]

2 hours ago, jcs87 said:

wow, thought it was a long shot you'd ever come back to the forum. glad to see you responding!

Yup, just kind of moved on after I got the hairline I wanted--people always tend to drift once their issue gets taken care of.