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2000 grafts FUE (8 months and 2 weeks) result


newpatient99

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I'll try to get my pre-op pictures soon. I'm going to post them myself because I want to edit them in specific way to conceal my identity. I was in between a NW 2.5 and 3, very strong donor, I wasn't really balding except only in my hairline. 

I was hoping my result was be better at this point but I know there's still time for improvement. As you can see from the pics, the density isn't there yet but there also are some grafts that just sprouted not too long ago in the front of the hairline. The temporal points are especially lacking in density, but to the doctor's credit, during my follow up a month ago, he did acknowledge the temporal points didn't look good and he would do a touch up in a few months if they still haven't filled in (not sure if he meant that means he'll do the touch up for free, but hopefully that's the case).

My other concern is the transplanted hair isn't soft like my native hair, the texture is almost pubic hair like, and that's very evident in the temporal points. Is this normal?

As far as my experience during the procedure goes, my surgeon was extremely nice and his facility is gorgeous, it doesn't look like a clinic, it looks like a vacation house and that really makes you feel more relaxed. His techs were also very friendly and constantly asked me during the procedure if I was doing ok, if I was feeling any pain, and if I needed to take a quick break. They also did a great job of following up, I believe they would call me very 2 months to ask how I was doing and always encouraged coming in for a check up. And if you plan on taking Fin, get your prescription from My surgeon it's insanely cheap. I believe I paid like $20 for 3 months supply. 

I posted this in another thread, but after my FUE, all of my discomfort in my donor eventually went away except this HUGE bump that still hasn't gone away. It looks like a giant bald spot and it has a jelly like texture. When my surgeon checked it out a month ago, my hair was super long and covering it so the extent of it was hard to see, but he said it was ingrown hair. However, when I cut my hair short and the bump was visible, it looks pretty bad and it's worrying me. If someone can shed some light on this and let me know if this is common? I want to get this treated ASAP...

Is there treatment that makes it go away faster?

 

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1 hour ago, jj51702 said:

Is that spot totally bare? I had a spot like that last year that was totally bare (literally just skin) and it was diagnosed as alopecia areata. It definitely didn’t have a jelly like consistency tho.

I'm not sure if it's totally bare, from the pic and from feeling it, there appears to be a few strands of hair. Was yours a lump/bump though? Like I said, mine is a lump which has a jelly/fatty texture. There's a little pain if I put pressure on it, if I press too hard, it feels like it will pop. 

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Hi Newpatient99, 

Thank you for sharing those pictures, I can certainly see what you mean about how the hair looks. Have you reached out to to your surgeon for his input on your case? Also, to confirm your surgwon did not extract the hair follicles? I am assuming that the hair follicles were extracted by both the surgeon and a technician in tandem am I correct?


I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

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On 9/4/2018 at 10:44 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

Hi Newpatient99, 

Thank you for sharing those pictures, I can certainly see what you mean about how the hair looks. Have you reached out to your surgeon, for his input on your case? Also, to confirm your surgeon, did not extract the hair follicles? I am assuming that the hair follicles were extracted by both the surgeon and a technician in tandem am I correct?

Hi Melvin,

I went in for a follow up a month ago and my surgeon did agree with me that the density in the temporal points were lacking at 7 months and 3 weeks. He said to wait until after 11 months and see where I'm at before deciding if a touch up procedure is necessary. As far as the lump goes, he said it looked and felt like ingrown hair, however my hair was long at the time and it was hard to see it. I scheduled an appointment to go in this Thursday for another follow up. 

My surgeon did not extract the grafts, one of his techs extracted all of them. 

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5 hours ago, newpatient99 said:

I'm not sure if it's totally bare, from the pic and from feeling it, there appears to be a few strands of hair. Was yours a lump/bump though? Like I said, mine is a lump which has a jelly/fatty texture. There's a little pain if I put pressure on it, if I press too hard, it feels like it will pop. 

Ok yeah, mine def did not feel like that. It was just normal skin but totally bare. I’d check with arocha again and get more direction. Maybe even visit a good derm to see what they say. Good luck 

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4 hours ago, jj51702 said:

Interesting, I thought in the US the doctor had to do all the harvesting.

Some only do the incisions, some will do the harvesting with a tech, most doctors I believe don't do the implanting. 

Edited by newpatient99
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The hairline is young, need to let the hair mature a full year before we can assess the final cosmetic outcome.

It has the wiry look that recently sprouted hairs have before they settle down and tame.

That being said, it is possible a second pass to refine that hairline may be in order.

 

 

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Hair loss patient and transplant veteran. Once a Norwood 3A.

Received 2,700 grafts with coalition doctor on 8/13/2010

Received 2,380 grafts with Dr. Steven Gabel on 9/30/2011

Received 1,820 grafts with Dr. Steven Gabel on 7/28/2016

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Wow, did we have our HTs on exactly the same day (Dec 20th)?

Can you share immediate post OP pics?

Not trying to be a downer but the hairline work doesn't look very good (lack of density + pluggy appearance due to several multi FUs at the hairline).

Edited by jimbrann
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On 9/6/2018 at 10:17 AM, jimbrann said:

Wow, did we have our HTs on exactly the same day (Dec 20th)?

Can you share immediate post OP pics?

Not trying to be a downer but the hairline work doesn't look very good (lack of density + pluggy appearance due to several multi FUs at the hairline).

Not quite, I had mine beginning of January :)

Yes, my surgeon is going to email me my pre-op and same day post-op pics and I'm going to post them here. 

How's your result looking so far? 

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It is unpardonable that we are in the year 2018 and with what these doctors charge these results.

 You have the front line full of multiple units, so you see the "doll hair" effect, the temples barely show growth and in 8 months, I do not think there is much improvement.

 I thought in the United States the doctors are in charge of the majority of the operation, but is the same as everywhere, the technicians end up doing everything, only at 10 times higher prices.

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Hey everyone,

Thank you for all your input, I do want to be fair and let you all know that my surgeon did reach out to me after finding out who I was and we had a good conversation in person. I'll give another update once my surgeon gets back with me via email with the pre-op and immediate post-op pics. I forgot to mention that I am 30 years old and Asian, I know different ethnicities have different hair textures. Long story short, we've talked about moving down the hairline just a tad bit in about 2-3 months so none of the multi-grafts are visible. That way I'll be creeping up on that one year mark before a touch up is performed. 

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I'm glad your surgeon, reached out to you, did he explain what happened with your specific case? It would be great if your surgeon, could respond to the community to shed some light on what may have occurred during your procedure that led to multi-follicular units being placed in your hairline. As it has been known for quite some time that only single follicular unit grafts are to be placed in the front of the hairline.  Either way, I am glad you are on working this out directly with yiur surgeon. 

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I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice.

Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey

View my thread

Topical dutasteride journey 

Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog.

Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube.

 

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On 9/6/2018 at 7:56 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

I'm glad yiur surgeon reached out to you, did he explain what happened with your specific case? It would be great if your surgeon could respond to the community to shed some light on what may have occurred during your procedure that led to multi-follicular units being placed in your hairline. As it has been known for quite some time that only single follicular unit grafts are to be placed in the front of the hairline.  Either way, I am glad you are on working this out directly with your surgeon.

I don't want the doctor to feel cornered so I'm going to post the pre-op and immediate post-op pics first to allow a better assessment. Unless some of my single hair grafts magically grew into multi-grafts post-op, I guess the techs weren't on their A-game that night. My donor is strong, but not that strong lol. 

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On 9/6/2018 at 7:28 PM, newpatient99 said:

Hey everyone,

Thank you for all your input, I do want to be fair and let you all know that my surgeon did reach out to me after finding out who I was and we had a good conversation in person. I'll give another update once my surgeon gets back with me via email with the pre-op and immediate post-op pics. I forgot to mention that I am 30 years old and Asian, I know different ethnicities have different hair textures. Long story short, we've talked about moving down the hairline just a tad bit in about 2-3 months so none of the multi-grafts are visible. That way I'll be creeping up on that one year mark before a touch up is performed. 

I'll say this, for your benefit and hopefully a shift in prospective, but why would you go to the same surgeon after this?

You shouldn't have a HT out of pure convenience. If the right surgeon isn't close, you need to travel. There's a reason why people travel worldwide for their operation. This is your hair and grafts we're talking about, the latter of which is limited.

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In my last pics, my hair was pulled back so I decided to comb my hair up and see how it looks and I'm encouraged to see that it definitely looks better. Multi-grafts and density are still an issue but most of the grafts look a lot softer and more natural. My biggest concern is the hair in the temporal points don't blend in well and look too rough, I've heard recreating the temporal points is the hardest challenge for even skilled doctors and only a handful of doctors are able to make them look good. With that being said, these pics are more encouraging now for a good final result. I do feel obligated to point out this was taken with a 2k camera so flaws will definitely be more prominent than in person.

#bigforeheadproblems

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Greetings Hair Transplant Network community,

 

I would like to thank all of you for taking the time to support our patient. Hair restoration surgery has always been a team sport. The amount of work involved is too great for one person to do it all. There is an ideal amount of time that tissue should be out of body, not to mention that it is best for the patient to have the work completed as efficiently as possible. 

 

There are four full time hair techs in my office. Their main task is to trim tissue under microscopes, and to place the grafts. Not one of them has ever “punched” donor tissue in an fue procedure. Harvesting donor tissue in an fue surgery is performed only by a licensed certified practitioner. 

 

I personally stand 100% behind the work performed at Arocha Hair Restoration. Due to HIPPA stipulations, I cannot discuss any patient’s medical information, without their permission nor can I confirm or deny that a patient is mine without said permission. I will say however that while obtaining this permission is usually not difficult, there are very rare instances when such permission is requested but is subsequently denied. One can only speculate as to why. Therefore, I can only speak to how our procedures are carried out, generally speaking.

 

My approach is to create a natural hairline that maximizes the framing of the face, while following short and long-term guidelines based on the individuals condition, donor/demand ratio, and hair characteristics. Of course, the transition zone is build with one hair grafts, ideally with finer caliber in the forefront of the hairline; and larger caliber as we progress toward the define zone. A patient with coarse hair is challenging, as even a one hair will appear bold. This issue is only exacerbated further when the coarse hair is black and on fair skin.  However, using only nape of the neck and retro-auricular follicles will usually yield finer caliber hairs. A two hair graft placed in the forefront of the transition zone can be softened by using a tiny punch to remove one of the hairs, or by working in front with the finer one hair grafts available. Touch-ups are sometimes needed; when they are, it is prudent to allow enough time for the transplant to grow out. It commonly takes 12-18 months for not only all of the grafts to emerge but for the fullness, the texture and overall characteristics of the hair transplant to fully mature. Thank you all, and have a good weekend!

 

 

Edited by ArochaHair
posted incomplete answer

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Doc,

 I appreciate you posting and sharing what you can given that you haven’t received the necessary permissions to be specific. However, you can clearly see that 2 haired follicular units appear to have been placed in the front row of the hairline in this case. 

 Now, the only possibility here is that he had some natural hair in front of these two haired follicular units  but somehow, they were lost after surgery.  I’m guessing however, that even if there were some natural hair is in front of the two haired graft, that it would have been appropriate to place some transplanted single hairs in the front  since any natural hair remaining could have been lost. 

@newpatient99

 Please contact your surgeon and give him the necessary permission he needs  to provide the details of your case here on this forum.  

 Since the community has concerns, as to why, we would all like to read an exclamation about your case. 

Best wishes,

Bill

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I can tell my surgeon is very compassionate about his patient's progress, he actually called me from his cell today to reach out to me and took over 30 minutes to speak with me addressing my concern. As long as my name and face aren't revealed, he has my permission to go into specifics concerning my case. 

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