Regular Member Friedman Posted October 9, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2018 Ok, Here are my pics after 2 1/2 months, roughly. I've been hitting the Rogaine, PRP, and microneedling pretty hard... At this point, I do feel I'm still a few weeks away from looking as good as I did pre-Op. Some of the new hairs do seem to have grown, and I'd say my hair looks a bit stranger than it did before, and my hair has darkened a bit. Now it's just a waiting game, of course, for my old hairs on to to add length and for the new hair to come in. My donor area looks totally fine already. I got sunburned, and that is starting to peel, so I also have some white flakes in my scalp. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member 2941grafts Posted October 9, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted October 9, 2018 Did you consider taking DHT blocker? I think they worth trying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted October 10, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted October 10, 2018 On 10/9/2018 at 11:50 AM, 2941grafts said: Did you consider taking DHT blocker? I think they worth trying. I did consider it, but I don't want to take a pill that messes with my hormones. From my reading, I do agree it does appear to be safe and have minimal side effects in most, but not all men. At present, I'm going to stick with these four treatments: (1) hair transplant, (2) Rogaine, (3) micro-needling, (4) PRP. Seems there are high-quality RCT results in favor of all four. If these don't work, or if my transplant looks funky, I think I might just go bald... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted November 8, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted November 8, 2018 OK, Now I'm close to 3 1/2 months out. I'd have to say I've continued to see steady improvement. There now is more hair on my head than there was pre-surgery. It's starting to look better. I think I'll probably need a touch-up still (i probably needed 4,000 grafts, not 2,700), but it's actually better than I feared in the weeks after my surgery. Also, I bet I can lighten the new hairs when I go from northern Europe down south for winter, after I spend some time in the pool and sun. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyT Posted November 9, 2018 Share Posted November 9, 2018 13 hours ago, Friedman said: OK, Now I'm close to 3 1/2 months out. I'd have to say I've continued to see steady improvement. There now is more hair on my head than there was pre-surgery. It's starting to look better. I think I'll probably need a touch-up still (i probably needed 4,000 grafts, not 2,700), but it's actually better than I feared in the weeks after my surgery. Also, I bet I can lighten the new hairs when I go from northern Europe down south for winter, after I spend some time in the pool and sun. Thanks for doing this mate. I’m considering this clinic as well. After everything You wrote I’m at 50/50 if I’ll go there or save some more money and go elsewhere. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted November 9, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted November 9, 2018 ^Hey Tommy. At a minimum, I would consult with 2-3 doctors in person, and get advice about hairline, and recommended number of grafts. Important to do that to get your questions answered (angles, color, exact hairline, etc.), and to get a consensus on grafts. My recommendation at this point is probably to not use Talizi -- for all the reasons I wrote above. If you do, negotiate hard. In terms of actual results, it's positive so far, but I still think I needed more grafts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyT Posted December 26, 2018 Share Posted December 26, 2018 Hey @Friedman any update on Your progress? After doing some more research and consulting I decided to give this clinic a shot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted December 27, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2018 So, my hair has continued to get better. I'm not sure I had a clear image of how I wanted my hair to look before the operation. However, at 5 months, I see substantial improvement. If one year of Rogaine plus microneedling improved my hair thickness by a noticeable 5-7%, then my hair transplant improved it by about 50-70%. I still would like more thickness up front, but now I think I'd have been good with 3,000-3,500 grafts. I just wet my hair, or I'd send hair pics. Also, for blonde guys transferring hair from darker areas, I feel like my hair did lighten up a bit in the sun. Lastly, I was worried about the direction of the grafts. They look fine. This wasn't an issue for me. If you do Talizi, at least request the main surgeon (I forget the guy's name now...) and not the idiot who was there when I went. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TommyT Posted December 27, 2018 Share Posted December 27, 2018 Thanks so much @Friedman Actually Your hair looks great at 5 months given that it’s still a ~year to the final results! You don’t look like balding guy whatsoever. Cute elephants too! 😁 Yes I’ll go with Akaki (main surgeon) and see what happens next. Best of luck and thanks again for sharing Your experience! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted December 27, 2018 Regular Member Share Posted December 27, 2018 Here are some more pics. Definitely not perfect. There are still some thin spots. But much better than pre-op. And, these pics are with uncombed hair and not-great lighting. My overall judgment is that my hair looks much better than pre-op, and good relative to what I feared in the immediate post-op stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted January 25, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted January 25, 2019 Here is the official 6 months out pics. And here is a pic pre-ops, that was also before any Rogaine. And here is after a year of rogaine + microneedling: Quite a substantial difference. I also did 5 months of PRP after the surgery. No idea how much that helped. The surgery probably did the most. On the whole I'm pleasantly surprised, even if I should have done 3,500 rather than 2,700. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted July 17, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 17, 2019 So, I'm starting to feel like my new hair up front is thinning in a big way... Part of this may be the natural cycle of the hair. Part of it could be that I was less diligent about microneedling and Rogaine for about 3 months this year (now back on it full time...). Part could be that I got my hair cut shorter and traveled, and saw myself in a mirror in bright lights;( Is one year too soon to start seeing regression after a transplant? My one year is coming up in a year. I'm still leaning toward doing a second transplant... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted July 17, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 17, 2019 Anyway, here are some pics almost a year out. Soon after a hair cut, which may bias the results against the transplant, as my hair could be longer. Any thoughts? I'm thinking of going back for one more. Feeling lazy though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member MarshallUK Posted July 17, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted July 17, 2019 Surprised how well in actually looks now, as I thought the graft num ers were far to low. I personally would try and add more density probably around another 1000 or so just behind the front to boost the cover but you have come along way from the start and overall looks well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted July 20, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 20, 2019 So, update here, Dr. Akaki, the guy I was originally recommended to at first, now just works in Russia, and has left Talizi. I found out because I emailed the clinic asking about what they would recommend for a follow-up. As a result, I'm now in the market for a new doctor. I think I'm going to go to Western Europe this time. No Georgia, no Turkey, no Ukraine. Austria or Switzerland would work. I care less about price. Any suggestions? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted July 21, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 21, 2019 Shamelessly bumping my own thread here... Any recommendations for doctors in Northern Europe? More advice on #s of grafts? Should I fill in my temple area? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted July 21, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 21, 2019 (edited) double post Edited July 22, 2019 by Friedman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted July 23, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 23, 2019 So, I put in my details and uploaded some photos to some surgeon, and they suggested not doing surgery, but actually doing a combination of topical finasteride and minoxidil for 8 months first, and suggest that they've had patients do really well with this combo, plus PRP. I am a bit skeptical. I did 14 months of minoxidil + microneedling before surgery, and while I did see some mild benefits, the key word there is mild. The Hair Transplant was a real game changer. Does anyone have real success with adding in topical finasteride to a minoxidil + microneedling regime? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted July 23, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted July 23, 2019 Update: Here is an overview of 5 RCTs with topical finasteride: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/29601622 Here are some of the results: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/results/NCT03004469 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted February 8, 2020 Regular Member Share Posted February 8, 2020 Unfortunately, no results yet to report for my topical finasteride. The reason is I couldn't get the stuff until September. In November, my dose ran out, and I was travelling, and even forgot to bring my minoxidil with me, and went 3 weeks with nothing. Everything I read suggests this should be a major setback for my hair, as you have use this stuff continuously. Since around Jan 15th, I've been using this treatment regime religiously -- topical finasteride + minoxidil + microneedling. One issue is that you really don't want this stuff to get in your eyes. I wear contacts, and so sometimes it does. I had to switch to using glasses. This is a real downside of this treatment regime. I'm only patient enough to give this stuff until May to work its magic. After that, I'll do another HT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted April 22, 2020 Regular Member Share Posted April 22, 2020 So, it's not totally clear yet, particularly since I've gone a long time with no hair cut thanks to quarantine (long hair papering over my lack of thickness perhaps), but my sense is that this treatment regime -- topical finasteride + minoxidil + microneedling -- is working. You might consider giving this treatment regime 6-9 months before trying a hair transplant. It's been a bit over 3 months, which was preceeded by a one month break from any hair treatment. Is this too soon to see results? I'm only about 85% sure I see improvement. And, I'm not yet to be where I want to be, but at this point, I'm willing to wait until June or July to gauge progress before I think about another HT. Compare to pre-ops and pre-treatment, it's night and day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted December 4, 2020 Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2020 For those interested (not sure there are), I no longer think my current treatment regime: -- topical finasteride + minoxidil + microneedling -- is going to see any noticeable results. I was quite positive at first, but I seem to think I've seen some hair thinning. This may just be my paranoia. I now have given the topical finasteride + minoxidil about 10 months, and can't say I see any benefit. I fear I might have regressed a bit even. Even before, I had been doing minoxidil + microneedling. Thus, I'm going to look into another transplant. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted December 4, 2020 Senior Member Share Posted December 4, 2020 3 minutes ago, Friedman said: For those interested (not sure there are), I no longer think my current treatment regime: -- topical finasteride + minoxidil + microneedling -- is going to see any noticeable results. I was quite positive at first, but I seem to think I've seen some hair thinning. This may just be my paranoia. I now have given the topical finasteride + minoxidil about 10 months, and can't say I see any benefit. I fear I might have regressed a bit even. Even before, I had been doing minoxidil + microneedling. Thus, I'm going to look into another transplant. Which Dr/Clinics are you looking at for your next Ht? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Friedman Posted December 4, 2020 Regular Member Share Posted December 4, 2020 Well, I cannot leave Russia, so that limits me quite a bit... Was thinking now is a good time to do, given social distancing, closed-down nightlife, etc. etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Britanium Posted December 4, 2020 Senior Member Share Posted December 4, 2020 2 minutes ago, Friedman said: Well, I cannot leave Russia, so that limits me quite a bit... Was thinking now is a good time to do, given social distancing, closed-down nightlife, etc. etc. I’m not familiar with anyone in Russia. Hope you have some good choices! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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