FUT 3185 with Dr. Rahal - day after pics

[ontop]

Yes budd I bet it goes a snail pace but here comes the exciting times.

Looking great buddy you came a long way in a less than half of year & more to come.

[Tj287]

Hey Ernie, looking great so far! Your temple points are amazing - I am very jealous! I have to say even from month 3 you could tell how fantastic the general shape and hairline design was looking. I didn't know about Rahal before my procedure (looking back I cannot believe how lucky I was that one of the very first sites I visited was H&W!) but now I've seen his work on you and others I would definitely say he's up there as one of the very best in the world.

 

Everything looking great and I'm looking forward to your 6 month update - you're exactly one day shy of 3 months ahead of me.

[Ernie]

went down to a #4 today on the sides and back. Can't see scar, which is nice. The 'dent' is gone.

 

It might look like you can though, as i tried my best to rub out the post-gym "hat head"

[Ernie]

6 months pics below. I think I sprouted about as much as I'm gonna sprout from 3.5 months through month 5.

 

Now, it's probably just going to thicken up, which I've been told has a "big effect" when all said and done around the 12 month mark.

 

There's also a progress pic below as well. Hairline still see-through, but we'll see how the next few months go.

 

After crawling around this forum endlessly for 6 months, I have a couple of "beliefs" -- feel free to give me your thoughts?

 

1. Early growers such as myself tend to get the best results

2. For early growers, post-6months is generally "just thickening of hair caliber" and "not too much NEW growth/sprouting"

3. There really isn't much of a 7-8 month new growth burst like some people say -- at least not if a HT recipient has had quite a sprout early on.

 

NOTE -- I'm quite pleased with Rahal's work thus far :-)

[Tj287]

Looking great, Ernie! I'll be honest, your hairline doesn't look see-through from where I'm sitting! Results also look very natural - congrats.

 

I'm sure there will be a big change for you over the next 6 months as things mature. I can't comment with personal experience on on your views as I'm a fair bit behind you on the timeline, but I've seen previous posts where the difference from 6-9 months is quite significant. I've also read more than once that by 6 months you've got a very good idea of what the foundation for your HT is, and then it's just improvement from what you've got in place.

 

Regardless, it's already looking good - you must be very pleased!

[ontop]

Ernie looking great.

 

Lets have a reality check from around your 1 month mark.

you came a long way & proberly some maturing to come.

congratulations buddy im well happy for you.

Edited August 16, 2016 by ontop
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[Ernie]

Ernie looking great.

 

Lets have a reality check from around your 1 month mark.

you came a long way & proberly some maturing to come.

congratulations buddy im well happy for you.

 

Ontop,

 

Thanks buddy! Oh yes I certainly have NOT forgotten the brutal early months and the "shocking shock loss." I'm very very pleased with my 6 months results.

[ontop]

Your welcome buddy,

yep your case is unique as yep, you did have that shockloss in the first monnth but dam, you definitely stepped it up from month 2 onwards, so really the uggly duckling stage for you was short lived as you became a very early grower which shows at just 6mths now so anything else from now on is definitely a bonus I guess from your point of view.

 

Yep looking good, Doctor done a first class job on you for sure.

Enjoy!

Edited August 16, 2016 by ontop
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[Ernie]

One more, in favorable lighting

[ontop]

Okay, okay ernie ive stroked you enough today...but I say it again FANTASTIC! Feel better you lucky son of a bitch lmao.

[Transhair]

Amazing transformation. It still manages to hold up in those pictures with the sunlight shining on it.

[Ernie]

Thanks transhair,

 

Now I'm just hoping for density to increase, as seen below -- wet hair, and combed up/back to show thickness and gap concerns.

 

Statistics say that 6 months = 60%, so lots to look forward to I hope :-)

[ontop]

You greedy focker....lol

[techdan]

Hey Ernie,

Thanks for all of your posts through this process. It was this thread that helped me decide to do FUT with Rahal, which I completed on July 29th. I had a very similar situation to yours - he packed 2,854 grafts into a virtually identical area. Our post-op scars looked identical. The attached shots are me 3 weeks in.

 

I have a few questions for you, if you don't mind:

1) I'm fussing a bit about my native frontal hair shock loss (similar to what it seems you went through). At what point do you feel your native hair stopped shedding? I assume all (or most) of your transplanted hair shed?

2) I noticed you counterpunched the ugly duckling phase with a #3 shave at around 3 months. Nice work. What's the earliest you think you could have done that move? Could you have pressed to a #2 shave? Did you have enough growth to have been able to make that move even earlier, say at 2 months? Did that shave expose the scar in any way?

3) My back hair growth is slowly hiding the scar as you can tell from the picture. At what point did you feel that you had enough growth in the back to comfortably hide the scar?

 

I get that all cases are different and all that, but your help with these questions would be much appreciated. Many thanks, Dan

Edited August 17, 2016 by techdan

[mav23100gunther]

Looking real good Ernie. What a difference 2 months between 4 & 6 made huh?

[Ernie]

Looking real good Ernie. What a difference 2 months between 4 & 6 made huh?

 

Hey Mav! Big difference yes. How's ur head of hair doing these days? You're about 7.5 months now, right?

[Ernie]

Hi dan, to answer your questions...

 

1) I'm fussing a bit about my native frontal hair shock loss (similar to what it seems you went through). At what point do you feel your native hair stopped shedding? I assume all (or most) of your transplanted hair shed?

 

All native hair shed a bit after the transplanted hair. By 45 days I looked my worst. Then all hair slowly started growing back

 

2) I noticed you counterpunched the ugly duckling phase with a #3 shave at around 3 months. Nice work. What's the earliest you think you could have done that move? Could you have pressed to a #2 shave? Did you have enough growth to have been able to make that move even earlier, say at 2 months? Did that shave expose the scar in any way?

 

2 months would have been too early to buzz it all to a #3. Three months at the earliest for me and it looks like, perhaps for you too. Yes it exposed my scar. Not the scar itself, but there was an obvious "dent" from shock loss above/below my scar. I STILL am yet to risk a #2 shave. But #3 suits me fine.

 

3) My back hair growth is slowly hiding the scar as you can tell from the picture. At what point did you feel that you had enough growth in the back to comfortably hide the scar?

 

4 months, 1 week was when shock loss had fully come back (so no more "dent"

 

----

Sorry if these timelines seem so far away man. I feel your pain. But you will be looking tip-top by Xmas :-)

[techdan]

The days definitely drag and I'm tempted to just shave my whole friggin head again (I actually don't care about the scar). I'll keep powering thru it.. for sure in the grand scheme of things, dealing with a string of bad hair days isn't really worth crying over..

 

Thanks for the support and insight.. will keep you posted on my journey.

[mav23100gunther]

Hey Mav! Big difference yes. How's ur head of hair doing these days? You're about 7.5 months now, right?

 

Yup, I'm almost at 8 months and my hair is absolutely great. If it stopped today, I would be happy and everything would be perfect. I no longer need Toppik into the hairline. Still have a lot of very fine whisky hairs that need to mature, so it's really still going to get better and better, but in terms of aesthetics, I don't think the maturing of these whispy hairs will make too much of a difference. Know what I mean? In fact my frontal 3rd is so dense, that it really draws attention to midsection of my head where there is miniturization. Remember that Dr Rahal left this region alone. It is easily masked with Toppik, so I am not in a rush to get back into the chair, but I am considering PRP treatment with Dr Cooley, and is something I may look to address in 5 years,

[Ernie]

Here's the first pics I've posted of my frontal third HT in direct sunlight outdoors. Took these today at 6 months, 5 days.

 

I'm in the process of growing my hair long so I can slick it back (i.e. like the actor Michael Douglas), haha.

 

However, I think that when my hair is shorter than in these pics it looks a bit better. Right now my hair is at an unruly length.

 

Would love to know your thoughts if you have any.... Cheers.

[techdan]

dude, it looks awesome. I hope my result is as solid as yours. you're so lucky to be 6 months past surgery.

[ndubya]

I think it looks damn good at 6 months. You have more to come. Congrats!!

[Ernie]

Thanks techdan and ndubya.

[Tav1]

Looks great at only six months Ernie. I hate to tell you this, but you're not done. Looking at your progress (and based on my own experience), I'll bet you'll be even happier in the next few months. Most that grow on your sort of timeline really see progress yet again in the time between where you are now and nine months.

 

So it will only get better - just sit back and enjoy that ride.

[MrBurns]

WOW! This is seriously inspirational! I seriously hope my results are even close to as good as yours. This is absolutely amazing. I'm sure you are thrilled

 

Your per-transplant loss photos look very similar to the loss i have (ok maybe you weren't as bad off as me) *CROSSES FINGERS