1700 grafts to my crown. 9 month results very concerning

[Crownie86]

In 2013 I had my first hair transplant, almost 3000 grafts to the frontal third, hairline, and crown. My results are great and I'm very happy. However I did decide to undergo a second transplant for more coverage in my crown. In January I had about 1700 grafts put into my crown and I'm now 9 months post op and feeling disappointed. To me the crown appears to be a little better but I can still see a lot of scalp and now the area around the transplant has gone very thin. When I voiced my concerns I was told that the transplanted hair is growing great and that my hair loss has continued around the crown, despite the fact that I have been on Finasteride for 5 years and use Rogaine twice daily. I first noticed this area about 4 months after the surgery and thought it was just shock loss and that it would grown back. It didn't but it has stabilized and hasn't gotten any worse. My question is, is it really plausible to assume that this area suddenly began balding rapidly right after my surgery and now has stabilized itself or is it more likely that something went wrong during my surgery? I've read stories where shock loss didn't grow back and I just want some more opinions about my case. I don't want to say which surgeon I went to until I make it past the 12 month mark because I was told it may turn around in the next few months, but he is very highly recommended on this forum. I was told that I may just need to use concealer from now on, but the whole purpose of me getting my crown transplanted was to eliminate the need for it, or make it to where I didn't need very much. Outside of "just use the concealer" I was given no other avenues of fixing this and I feel very disappointed that I paid so much money for it to look worse than before. What do you guys think?

[densedream]

I hate to say this but I doubt it will get better. Crowns are difficult area for many doctors. I'm surprised nothing grew at all it seems. Is the doctor recommended here? If so, ask for a refund.

 

edit: I see that your Dr. is Paul Shapiro. They are a reputable clinic and I'm sure after that allotted time goes by and you still have no growth, they will make it right with a refund or perhaps another procedure. But tread lightly because your crown could open up and get bigger.

[RadioRunner]

Dr. Shapiro is a top HT Surgeon. I've read on this site multiple times that the crown takes longer to grow than the hairline or midscalp does. Every time I read post which concerns a lack of growth in the crown area, the most frequent recommendation is to wait the full 12 months as the crown often takes longer to see the full results. And while the crown is frequently referred to as the 'black hole' of hair transplant surgery, I think because of your relatively small area of balding, 1700 grafts should absolutely show a noticeable improvement from your pre-op pics. Hopefully you will start to see results in these next couple months.

 

May I ask if your HT was FUE or FUT?

[Crownie86]

Update: I heard from Matt Zupan today and we discussed my concerns and my results. I want to say first that he neither scolded me for my thread or asked me to take it down. They are, however, going to supply more detailed pictures than the ones I posted to give a more thorough representation of my results. This just shows how professional and sincere they are, which is why I chose them in the first place. Matt called me around 8:30 pm, way past when they close which means he took it upon himself to call me in his personal time to accommodate my work schedule, which is really impressive. I also want to say that I didn't mean to imply that Dr Paul Shapiro isn't a good surgeon or that I was ripped off in any way, so if I came across that way it wasn't my intention. They have always been very accommodating to me even before I decided to move forward with a surgery. In fact they at first refused me because of my age and instead put me on Propecia and Rogaine when they could have easily just taken my money and done the surgery. After a few years we moved forward with surgery. After discussing my results for a while I am happy to say that after my HT is fully matured they have agreed to do a free surgery to address any concerns I still have. This is obviously huge and more than I could have asked for. I will update this thread as time goes on and will post the photos ASAP when I receive them. And to answer RadioRunner, both my surgeries were FUT.

[ModernHair]

Wow...that's an amazing practice that Dr. Shapiro runs! First class customer service! Give it some more time to grow and hope it all turns out fine @Crownie86.