2000 FUE - 1 year post op

[jlw4622]

1 year post op. Some opinions about my progress would be greatly appreciated. I have my own opinions but thought I'd get some others before sharing. I had 1500 grafts in the crown and 500 just in front of crown area. These pictures are wet hair

 

I will release more info about procedure, doctor etc if people are interested and I have other photos also

[ontop]

Definitely improvement, the crown is notorious to suck up a lot of grafts & slower growth rate compared to the front which is probably to do with the blood supply in getting to the top of the mountain.

 

My advice is to wait until the full 18 mths before you make your final judgment also if your not on any meds I would definitely look into it as that could help you protect any native hair on the outside of the crown or even thicken up of what you have there which can make a world of difference.

 

Yes would like to see more picture's & your thoughts.

[Spanker]

That is about what I would expect from 1500 on that crown. I think it looks like good work.

[jlw4622]

I agree that I need to wait for the full 18 months. These 1 year pics were taken about a month ago now and I think there has been some more growth since then.

 

I'm not on any meds other than vitamins. I tried Regaine but it gave me chest pains and headaches so I stopped using it. I've thought a lot about Propecia but the potential side effects are too high for me even if they are very small in chance.

 

Honestly, I have mixed feelings about the procedure. I was fully aware that the crown requires a lot of grafts, so never expected to have a completely covered crown at the end of it, but did think I would get more growth than I have.

 

I spoke to my doctor who put the lack of growth down to pimples that I got post op causing the grafts to go into resting (catagan) phase. He recommended another 1000 grafts to touch up the area. I'm concerned that this will deplete my donor area, which will be needed in other areas in the future, but the Dr doesn't seemed to be too concerned about this which I find odd

 

I've attached some more pics and tried to match up before and after

[ontop]

Yep you would think that 2k grafts would of put a bigger dent in that crown but like I said it sucks up more grafts that people or even doctor's may think.

Not sure you get anymore growth at this stage but maturing I can see happening over the coming mths.

I would definitely wait it out at least another 6/8mths & if I was you I would definitely think about medications as you are set to be chasing your tail with that crown & a loss of native hair surrounding the transplanted grafts.

This is a personal choice only you can decide.

Edited September 1, 2016 by ontop
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[Shadow of the EMpire State]

Marginal improvement. Would have expected more for 1500 in that space.

[voxman]

The pics show very good improvement in the results of hair transplant..

 

And your post show very normal reply adding to your post count so you appear to actually contribute to the forum instead of being a shill for a Dubai Hair mill.

[Bill - Seemiller]

There is some definite improvement but admittedly, wet hair will make it appear thinner and, when you look at the pictures and thumbnail form, it looked pretty close to the same. But when you blow them up, you can clearly see a lot more hair in the after picture but because the crown is notorious for requiring a multitude of grafts to fill the bald area, you will likely need a lot more grafts to thicken it up to the point where it's not completely noticeable. But you know longer have a bald spot, it's just thinner there now. So it's a clear improvement.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Spanker]

Here is the deal IMO. If.you arent on fin or even minox, this is probably the best your transplant will look for just this procedure. With hairloss like that at 30, you have fairly aggressive hair loss and with no meds youbare throwing grafts into a losing battle. It is hard enough on meds but without my guess is that you eill never be happier with it than you are now. Some may disagree but that is my opinion of the unfortunate truth.

 

I do not think the procedure was a failure though.

[Rawkerboi]

Agree with Spanker.

Without medications and attacking your crown with 1500Grafts this is the result which you have to accept!

If you had been on Finasteride and Minoxidil, the story would have been quite different.

[jlw4622]

Thanks for your honest responses.

 

It's interesting that a few of you believe this is a good result for 1500 grafts when my Dr thinks that pimples caused the grafts to go into resting phase. From some of your comments, it does not seem like another 1000 grafts will cover the area as my Dr suggested either.

 

There is definite improvement as I can now cover the spot easy enough with a bit of Toppik and hair styling it is completely unnoticeable. This could not be achieved before the procedure.

 

I agree I am fighting uphill not taking any meds. Fin is still something I am strongly considering but me and the missus are looking to start a family soon so I do not want to risk anything that could harm that. Maybe afterwards!

[acting]

It's the waiting game. You really need to wait at least 18 months, and even a full 24 months to see final result. I wouldn't do another procedure until at least the 20 month mark. But I do see an improvement from your 'before' and 'after' pic at the 12 month mark. good luck!

[BaldingBogger]

I don't agree meds are a pre-requisite across the board for hair transplantation.

Not every one needs them and am proof of that myself.

 

It's possible that bald spot won't progress that much further. Every individual is different.

There's plenty of guys in their 50's and 60's sporting just a similar bald spot the same size of a small egg. Without progressing 'full cueball'

 

My loss pattern was well established before I took the plunge meds were of no use as my hair was robust everywhere else with no minutarisation

 

In this case bottom line it needed more grafts for the area covered

[GraftChaser]

Jlw4622,

Wanted to know the surgeon's name, if it's okay with you.

[pkipling]

I don't know the exact details of your donor area, but generally speaking you should have considerably more than 3,000 grafts total to work with... So even if you did another 1,000 grafts in the crown, that shouldn't deplete you. Do you have any plans of working on the front and are needing to save grafts for that, or are you satisfied with how it looks?

 

As already mentioned, the crown is the most challenging part of the scalp to restore, so all things considered your results look good for the amount of grafts you got.

[JoFu]

It's the waiting game. You really need to wait at least 18 months, and even a full 24 months to see final result.

Completely agree....

[HairThereAndEverywhere]

I think this is a marked improvement especially since you probably have lost native hair since last year. The good news is, now the stuff that you see lightly covering your crown will not fall out. Whereas before you may have had similar coverage but it was gonna go.

 

The bad news is, without meds, you're going to continue to lose hair. I, personally, could not handle the side effects of Fin but I take Rogaine and whatever BS vitamins people suggest. I don't necessarily agree with the 'youre gonna be chasing your hair loss forever' philosophy. The fact is all the medications that currently exist only delay hair loss, not completely stop it. I know plenty of people on Fin who kept losing hair, just at a slower rate than they would have. So I believe no matter what you do, if you get an HT you will be chasing your hair loss until you lose all the hair you were gonna lose.

 

It's true, if you don't take meds you're probably gonna need a total of 3 or 4 HTs. And probably will have to dip into beard and/or chest hair. But there's plenty of people on these boards, who have been on Fin for 10 years, who are ALSO on HT 3 & 4.

 

You could go get another HT now if you'd like and fill in that one small spot. But I wouldn't try and make that crown any thicker. Just keep it thin and use Toppik. Save the grafts for the front third. I feel that's the best you can hope for. And with Toppik, it probably looks close to perfect.