My FUE With Dr Rahal - 2502 Grafts

[mattj]

Anybody who has been on these forums for a long time might remember me. I was associated with Dr Rahal for many years as a patient and as a consultant. My procedure with Dr Rahal was in February 2013 and I had 2502 grafts in an FUE procedure.

 

Here is my initial thread, detailing my experience. More photos can be found here.

 

Pre-op photos:

 

 

The next morning:

 

 

 

I experienced very quick growth, as I guessed I would as my hair (and nails) have always grown very fast. I had worn a hat for the first three months but even that was longer than necessary.

 

Here is my update.

 

 

I took some more at six months (with product):

 

 

At the time I had a lot (and I mean a lot) on my plate with regard to my personal life. I stopped working for Dr Rahal and dropped out of the forums. I know a lot of people at the time wondered where I went and I can't stress enough just how happy I am to answer questions. I'm not shy and you won't offend me.

 

Since that time, my life has improved dramatically. I now have a soon-to-be fianc? (shhh, she doesn't know yet!) and a young son who is currently 13 weeks old.

 

 

I've been keen to get back on the scene, so here I am and here are some photos I've taken recently.

 

Edited May 16, 2017 by mattj

[kramer79]

Congratulations on the birth of your son!

 

Hair looks good. Are you on finasteride? Was there a specific reason you chose FUE over FUT?

 

Thanks

[mattj]

Thanks! Having a child certainly changes things.

 

I took Finasteride for many years, but after a brief spell of being without it I realised that I had been experiencing side effects without realizing it. So I stopped completely. I've had no noticeable loss since then.

 

I consider my hairloss to be stable or at least very slow. It started around 15 years ago.

 

I chose FUE because I prefer my hair to be shorter. I just think I look better with shorter hair.

[mattj]

I'm uploading a few more. I want to show the result under different lighting conditions, and with and without product.

 

I've stood under harsh light under the sun and in many a bathroom, and what amazes me is how I can't discern between the transplanted area and the native hair. Both in density and texture. Of course my native density probably isn't at 100% of what it once was, but it's close.

[kramer79]

Wow the hair looks amazing.

 

When did you stop taking fin?

[mattj]

About four years ago. I'm not anti-Fin at all, but after taking it for eight years I realised it wasn't for me.

 

Back to the FUE/FUT question: my level of hair loss could have required more grafts than I had. An FUT session would have lowered my hairline more - but I wanted FUE and my goal, walking in, was to fill in my receded temples and eliminate my hairloss. Now my temples are closed I can do what I want with my hair. It's a very liberating feeling.

[lakes9925]

wow!! now thats a great hairline (soft and natural) I think the trick of making it look so good is not over densing it... not sure why everybody desires such a bold dense hair line.

[mattj]

Thank you! You wouldn't believe the number of people I've spoken to and told about my HT procedure. I'm very open about it. Nobody can tell. If done right, an HT can be very natural.

[Spanker]

That is a pretty conservative hairline, I do like the plan that you went for. You didn't go too crazy with it. Very natural.

[kramer79]

Ya i agree, it's very natural

 

4 years...I guess you are a relative example of what stable hair loss is without fin...Your hairloss is naturally slow enough for you to probably keep up with any future loss you may encounter.

 

Again, very nice work, Rahal really did a great job

[mattj]

I think a lot of people do experience only very slow hair loss. Unfortunately there are those for whom it is very rapid. I do consider myself very lucky.

 

When I first realised that I had receded (and I'm guessing other people probably noticed it before I did - I was very oblivious back then!) I jumped on the Fin with huge hopes of re-growth. I think we all hope we'll be one of those rare responders who reverse our hairloss completely. I can't be certain but it's possible that it made things worse, slightly. I think that during the early stages of my Finasteride use, I went from a mature hairline to the obvious recession that you see in my before pics above.

 

My feelings about my HT are that I restored my hairline back to how it was in the earlier, pre-Finasteride stages of my hairloss when it was barely hair loss at all. I rarely took photos of myself back then, but my hair now looks how I remember it back then.

 

So yeah, a combination of genetic good fortune and a top-notch HT procedure have left me very happy with my hair now, at age 36.

[Dolph1969]

Nice Matt. Great hairline choice, that will age well.

[mattj]

Thanks, Mr Lundgren

[Lochtide7]

On 5/10/2017 at 11:12 AM, mattj said:

About four years ago. I'm not anti-Fin at all, but after taking it for eight years I realised it wasn't for me.

 

Back to the FUE/FUT question: my level of hair loss could have required more grafts than I had. An FUT session would have lowered my hairline more - but I wanted FUE and my goal, walking in, was to fill in my receded temples and eliminate my hairloss. Now my temples are closed I can do what I want with my hair. It's a very liberating feeling.

So I too have been thinking of a Rahal transplant for 4 years now, I essentially just want to fill in my temples and maybe a bit in the front of the widows peak, like lowering it from say an 8-head to 7.5-head (think of 4-head 4 fingers) - its the temples that really bug me most! and people still will know I have a big forehead, which is fine, I just HATE my temples so badly, its makes styling impossible each morning, and when I wear the hair-line hairs downward towards my eyes I could likely change the 7-head into something that's close to a 4-head, which is good enough for me!

[newpatient99]

Amazing results, you must be very happy! The transplanted hair looks very soft too and blends in very naturally with the native hair. The pre-op work is also one of the cleanest I've seen too. 

Is there a reason you opted not to restore the temporal points?