My 7th Hair Transplant Surgery - FUE Scalp, Beard Hair, FUE Into Scar, PRP

[DavidAnderson]

Apologies for the delay in these updates but here are Day 9 for people interested in the recovery after FUE. Of course most don't have to contend with several FUT scars but you can see just how quickly the extraction sites, recipient area in my crown and under my chin have healed.

 

Day 9 19th February 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 12 Post op 22nd February 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 26 Post Op 8th March 2017

 

 

 

 

 

 

[1978matt]

Nice to meet you in person he other day david. Didn't realise you'd had another surgery not long ago.

 

I didn't really see the back but the front looks really solid with a nice uniform density. You can't ask for much more than that!

[Melvin- Admin]

Hey David,

Hope all is well, I’d love to see the update, you must be on what month 8? Hope everything is growing well mate.

[Sultsay]

Very nice write up David, we are all eager to see the latest up dates on your progress.

I will also need one or two more FUEs to increase the density in my scalp using body and scalp hair.

Can you clarify if Dr Ball uses motorised or non motorised device for hair extraction?

Does he transplant body hair( chest/back hair) to scalp?

 

Many thanks

[DavidAnderson]

HT Soon- Thanks for the message and I hope all is good with you, it's funny on the plane back from Prague from the ISHRS conference Dr Ball commented that my crown was looking improved and that we needed some take some photos. I picked up a bug and have not been in the clinic the last couple of days so will do that next week.

 

As you have seen I have not been active on the forums just down to my workload in being day in at the clinic seeing patients rather than online, but I want that to change and be more active on here. As for how I feel about the crown I have noticed a number of spiky hairs over the months and I can tell the beard hair in the crown compared to the scalp hair. For a large crown like mine with the numbers we used I was not expecting much of a change.

 

It is interesting that I have very curly beard hair when grown long so have been tending to keep my hair shorter than the pre op photos so a proper like for like is only possible with more growth. I also prefer it shorter now. I also stopped Propecia 4 months ago.

 

As for the donor I have seen decent improvements here, my barber can cut my hair shorter sides and back without the same worry that I used to have. We only filled in the worst parts of my donor scars but it now looks like just a slightly reduced density area rather than scar tissue.

 

Under my chin looks amazing I would not know I had any hairs extracted density looks unchanged and the healing was perfect. I just realised I didn't post my shaved face photos from May. I will do this now.

 

An 8th procedure is in the planning to use some more donor scalp hair in the crown and some more beard hair in the scars and repeat PRP.

 

Sultsay- Thanks very much, updates to come I promise. Dr Ball uses a motorised punch he is favouring Dr Devroye's hybrid punch. We have not done a huge amount of body as in chest hair but is something that we are looking into. Interesting lecture on that subject at the conference in Prague last week.

[DavidAnderson]

Here's my chin two months after surgery (not the greatest of shaves)

 

[Melvin- Admin]

Wow the beard looks impeccable, I’m considering doing another 1,000 or so grafts and then possibly transplanting some beard hair to the donor area to make up for the loss in density, do you notice any difference in th beard hair as opposed to the scalp hair in terms of growth time, growth rates etc? Can’t wait to see the updates.

[Annonymous]

Having had PRP myself with one of the best in the game, I'm very skeptical of it's efficacy David. Is there anyway you can point to the improvements you've had from PRP. For me it just causes a massive shed, and in the long term it seems as though it would do more harm than good.

 

Platelet rich plasma therapy has been found to be very efficient treatment(almost all the cases) specially in case of male pattern baldness. PRP is a procedure that involves using components(plasma) of a patient's own blood to promote stimulation of hair growth. As all the procedures PRP will also have its pros and cons. Every patient is different, hence depending on the clinic and the surgeon variation in results will be there.

[cueball16]

Fascinating read. I'm impressed with how well the beard area has healed up. I've been thinking about beard hair into my scar next time round

[AB2000]

Even before the FUE you had come a long way. Will be interesting to see your 1y results.

[Triple7]

The last 20 years have had to be an emotional roller coaster for you. I have a ton of respect for what you do with all of your documentation and photos. It really helps guys on the forum. I agree that you looked great and have came a long way even before your last FUE. I wish you the best of luck!

[DavidAnderson]

Finally and sorry for the delay here are my one year post op results of my surgery back in February 2017. To recap around 670 grafts from a mixture of scalp and beard hair were placed into the left left side of crown. As I wear my hair sweeping across from left to right, this was felt to give the best impact from such a small number of grafts into an area that if donor supply was not a problem, 3000 grafts could have been used.

 

At first I noticed the beard hair as it grew in much coarser and was very wavy but in the last few months it seems to have softened and is now easier to style, it blends very well with the scalp hair around it. The results from such a small number of grafts have made a nice impact in this area.

 

 

As for the scar, I have been able to have the confidence to have shorter haircuts which was my goal. The growth in the scar tissue has been good, it was around 150 grafts in the area shown below and around 100 into the high scar by my temple. The area around my ear was the most troublesome but this has helped hide the scar. I still feel a second pass of grafts is needed to increase the density though. When placing into scar tissue you need to place grafts at a lower density because of the blood supply to the scar is more restricted.

 

 

Despite having over 9000 grafts removed from my donor it still feels ok. I have not noticed the 650 scalp hairs from my donor and I still feel that we could take more hair from certain areas above and below my scar by FUE in the future.

 

As for the donor area under my chin, the recovery was incredible and healed so quickly. I have not noticed 274 grafts missing from here and would happily pass through this area again to extract more grafts. I only wish is that my beard hair wasn’t so white!

 

Thanks for all your comments.

[Ffx305]

Hey David, what are your thoughts with the PRP?

[826]

Hi David, I'm 33 and have been thinking of getting FUE for years. I have a few questions:

 

1) Without the hair transplants, what would your Norwood rating be now?

 

2) As someone who has had multiple hair transplants of different varieties, what is the best advice you could give to me?

 

Thanks.

[DavidAnderson]

Ffx305- It is difficult to say in my case as I was off Propecia for most of last year, I have not lost anymore hair despite doing this. We have seen some very promising results and have some on our website. Like every non surgical treatment, results will vary from patient to patient but in the vast majority of cases patients saw an improvement. We have a number of cases who have continued treatment several times now over the last 2 years and are seeing really nice improvements.

 

826- I am a Norwood 6 with an above average sized head and a large area of coverage of grafts. Without seeing your photos I would advise you to take your time and have several in person consultations with a shortlist of recommended surgeons in the first instance.

[826]

Thanks for the advice. I'm a Norwood 3.

 

I think you've gotten a great result. To think, you'd naturally be a Norwood 6.

[ej]

Hi David I hope all is good

 

You have come along way with your repair you look great!

 

I read a while back that Doctor Ball uses hyperthermasol as a holding solution for grafts.

If I remember correctly he said he was suprised more docs didnt use it as it increases yield considerably.

 

Have you found this to be the case not only for yourself but in general with your clients?

 

All the best

 

ej