FUT Philippines

[fortuneplant]

FUT + PRP. About 1600 grafts~US$3000. Almost half a century old. NW2.

 

My hair noticeably thinned on one particular three months stretch when I was 28 years old. Then as mysteriously as it happened, it stopped. The next 20+ years, my hair slowly thinned and receded. Life. Normal stuff. So, what does this mean? You'll still care about your looks even when you're 50.

 

My transplant wasn't planned. I was in a party and bumped into an ex- colleague whose wall of forehead is now sporting a not bad looking mane. I wasn't angsty about my head. Just wished it had more density. We got to talking and he basically said forget the medications and just go straight to hair transplant. He mentioned a doctor's name. (Am I allowed to mention a name?)

 

I had a consultation the week after, spoke to the doctor, her technical staff, and some patients. To cut the story short, I made the decision to do the surgery right there and then. Paid the deposit, did the blood work, and booked my transplant seven days after.

 

The surgery took the whole day. Every thing went well. No pain. No swelling. Minimal scab. Every one was easy to work with

 

Here are some of my pics - pre-ops, the first two weeks, and taking off the strip's sutures. Will update as I find time and the other photos.

 

What are my expectations: Cosmetically better looking hairline - if not actually thick, that I'll shed my hair within a month's time, my donor/recipient area will be reddish for 2 quarters, will not cut my hair for four months or so and will wear a cap. I expect hair growth on the fourth month. (I wrote this down early on to remind myself to be patient.)

 

Note: After the transplant, started on Fin, Biotin, MSM, and Laser Cap 3x/wk.

Edited January 26, 2018 by fortuneplant

[fortuneplant]

Month One

 

Pretty much shed most of the transplanted hair and a bit of shock loss. I was actually hoping this happen as fast as possible so I can start growing new hair.

 

Both the donor/recipient areas are reddish and easily noticeable. My donor is still numb and my Fut strip at the back of my head is...not really painful, but definitely irritated.

 

I have no scabs and had minimal scabs from the start. Cleaned my head everyday, twice a day, with baby shampoo. I slept on a reclining chair the first 7 days after the operation. (Neck pillow is a life saver.) Had one big pimple during the month and applied 5% benzoyl peroxide; it was gone in two days time.

 

My recipient area was occasionally dry and I applied cerave moisturizing lotion. I have not exercised for a month.

Edited January 26, 2018 by fortuneplant

[fortuneplant]

Month Two

 

Two months of Fin and I noticed that I feel....er, randier.

 

I was a bit surprised to find out I still have some hair to lost - pretty much most of the transplanted hair and minor shock loss. So I'm back to where I started. Actually, a bit worst since I have shock loss.

 

My donor and recipient are still noticeably reddish. I was hoping that if I shed all my transplanted hair and if the frontal site was not reddish, I would be able to NOT wear a hat on some occasions. (No one would noticed my back since both the strip and redness are covered by my hair.)

 

I started to do some light exercise on week six. I am already using regular shampoo. My head still feel a bit numb and there's still slight pain on the back of my head.

Edited January 26, 2018 by fortuneplant

[SWdan]

Thanks for the updates. Looks like everything's going as planned.

[fortuneplant]

Month Three

 

- Both my donor and recipient areas are still reddish.

- There's no numbness anymore in my recipient area and no pain in the donor area. Both are normal except for the reddish color.

- Hair growth starting in the donor area. *excited*

 

So far, everything is as expected.

Edited February 22, 2018 by fortuneplant

[Justin77]

Looking good fortuneplant! Looks like you're right on track.

 

A bit confused by your timeline though, you posted your Month 1 results on January 23, Month 2 on January 26, and Month 3 on February 11. When was your surgery date?

[fortuneplant]

Thanks Justin77. My HT was last October. When I started posting, my photos were all over my hard drive so I posted as I found them. I'll be on my fourth month next week and my photos will be on the correct timeline by then.

Edited February 16, 2018 by fortuneplant

[fortuneplant]

Month Four

 

Finally! My photos and timeline are on sync. I went for my fourth month post-ops check-up just the other day. Both the doc and technician were happy with my progress. They both said my hair growth is faster than normal.

 

- Color around my recipient area looks normal. No discernible redness.

- My strip scar is healing nicely. It's discernibly less reddish than before. I wonder if there'd be hair that'd sprout to cover the strip more?

- I haven't cut my hair since my HT.

 

 

My first 3.5 months, I hardly glanced at my head. But the last two weeks, I kept looking/scrutinizing at my hair every chance I got. I even got a cheap USB microscope to check up on areas that look blank - turns out there are hair popping all over. =)

[SWdan]

Month Four

 

Finally! My photos and timeline are on sync. I went for my fourth month post-ops check-up just the other day. Both the doc and technician were happy with my progress. They both said my hair growth is faster than normal.

 

- Color around my recipient area looks normal. No discernible redness.

- My strip scar is healing nicely. It's discernibly less reddish than before. I wonder if there'd be hair that'd sprout to cover the strip more?

- I haven't cut my hair since my HT.

 

 

My first 3.5 months, I hardly glanced at my head. But the last two weeks, I kept looking/scrutinizing at my hair every chance I got. I even got a cheap USB microscope to check up on areas that look blank - turns out there are hair popping all over. =)

 

Wow, you can barely see the scar. Everything looks like it's coming along well.

[fortuneplant]

Thanks SWdan. I am looking forward to a trim next month. Just saw your HT thread, am amazed that you trimmed your hair yourself after HT.

[Justin77]

Looks great fortuneplant - lots of growth in the past month! I just officially hit my 4 month mark 3 days ago so we're on the same hair transplant schedule

 

I know what you mean about checking your hair all the time, I'm doing the same myself, and it's much worse now that I'm 4 months in. I keep having "Is this it?" paranoia which I know is completely illogical considering the timeline. Although I haven't bought a microscope yet lol, but maybe I should!

[fortuneplant]

I know. The microscope is a bit overkill. Haha

 

Luckily, the thingamajig just cost about US$20 and it's reassuring to see new hairs popping out that are invisible to the naked eye.

[fortuneplant]

Month 5

 

The first three months was chill. I hardly glanced at my HT. The 4th month was about excitement because of the hair growth. The fifth month - looking forward to inspect my hair every chance I am in front of the mirror :-) but some anxiety has set in. What if this is as thick as it gets? Yes, I know. It's still too early and lots of growth still to come...but the density question do creep into the the back of my mind. Am glad there is a community here to know that what I am feeling is normal.

 

This month, my HT is thicker and while my donor is still reddish, it's also lighter than the previous month. My original expectation is that the reddishness will take six months to go back to normal. So far so good - the recipient's color is normal while the donor at the back is within expectation. And if the reddishness take longer to heal, my hair can cover it.

[Justin77]

Looks great! Big change from month 4. At this point I think you can rest assured that you will have an excellent result. I've decided to just stop looking at my scalp up close in the mirror because it seems virtually impossible to judge progress that way.

[fortuneplant]

Thanks Justin77. Both of us hopefully should be having big smiles in a few more months.

[brad007]

Great to see the results!

 

Cheers

[loss66]

Great Result

[fortuneplant]

Month 6

 

I was sooo looking forward to month six. I had this thing built up in my mind that month six is the month that my hair would be cosmetically much better. The month where I will see real growth.

 

Unfortunately, I am also going through a mini shed. Not a big shed but significant enough for me to noticed every time I wash my hair. (Yes. I know this is normal. I didn't panic. Sad though.)

 

So i guess the shed and growth even out each other.

 

My donor area is still light pinkish. I was expecting it would disappear by this month. I guess my donor just heals slower; my recipient is normal.

 

 

P.S. I had my first trim since my HT. I just went to an unknown barber and had my sides and back trimmed.

[fortuneplant]

Month 7

 

The general quality of my hair is better this month - shinier, softer, more healthy looking.

 

I think I got more improvement in thickness than in density. This is the first time where I find myself waking up in the morning, looked at the mirror, and didn't feel like I have to put a hat on when under the soft morning light. While I would be disappointed if my improvement stopped at this point, it's tolerable as I've tested my hair out with Toppik and it looked fantastic with the concealer.

 

My back/donor is still pinkish. This bugs me only when I am having a haircut. I guess I have to wait out the year before it vanishes.

Edited May 19, 2018 by fortuneplant

[SWdan]

Coming along great..!

[fortuneplant]

The hair quality is improving but new hair growth has slowed down.

 

Using a microscope, I can see new hair popping out. But I am now doubting if I can get the density that I am looking for. There's still four more months until I reach a full year, by then I'll decide if a second HT is warranted - probably a mini FUE adding about 500 grafts.

 

On a more positive note, my donor area is going back to normal. Well, half of the strip is light pinkish while the other half is normal.

Edited June 20, 2018 by fortuneplant

[fortuneplant]

Month 9

Not much to say. Some improvement in density. My hair quality is curlyish/stringy.  (I guess it'll take some time to normalize and straigthen.) My donor area is like last month, more than half of the strip's color is normal, while the rest is light pinkish. The strip healed very well. If you run a comb through my donor, it looks normal.

[Tbcruz]

Hey any update ?

[Rawkerboi]

Lovely results..

Please update us

[fortuneplant]

Month 11

What Two Months Can Do

Two months ago, my hair has this stringy quality. Today it looks normal. Two months ago, I was contemplating if I needed to do a second round to add density. Now I feel like it's ok as is.  Under harsh light, there is a bit of a see through effect, but then I see other people's hair and realized it looks normal. 

I have gained around an 1 inch of hair relative to my original hairline; 3 fingers space now between my hairline and eyebrow instead of five before. My FUT strip healed very well, no sign of scarring and is indistinguishable from the rest of my head. (My hair cutter can't find it at all.)

I'm still expecting improvement in the next six months.

 

Current regimen: Finasteride 0.5mg (4x/week), Laser Cap (4x/week), liquid silica/vitamin B/C/D/Fish Oil (daily).  I've dropped minoxidil/biotin/msm.

 

 

 

Edited September 29, 2018 by fortuneplant