Regular Member GrowingHair Posted February 12, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted February 12, 2019 Thanks Guys - I also have the itching and occasional tightness on my scalp. Your assessment of why makes sense to me. No growth for me yet either along the incision, but the scar does seem to be healing well. I'm going to try and get a haircut and hope the lady can leave enough around the spot so it doesn't show too bad. It helps knowing all this is temporary, and really helps being able to talk to you guys about your experiences! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted February 13, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 13, 2019 12 hours ago, GrowingHair said: Thanks Guys - I also have the itching and occasional tightness on my scalp. Your assessment of why makes sense to me. No growth for me yet either along the incision, but the scar does seem to be healing well. I'm going to try and get a haircut and hope the lady can leave enough around the spot so it doesn't show too bad. It helps knowing all this is temporary, and really helps being able to talk to you guys about your experiences! Yeah, you seem to have more shock loss in the back than I do. Other than that I think it looks well. Here a couple of pics of mine. I am trying to hold off getting a haircut as much as I can for sanitary reasons and because I don't want them to do anything that might make the shock loss on the left more visible. My left side is looks lighter when I am near a light, but hopefully most people shouldn't notice anything unless they are staring directly to my left side. Day 62 Back Left side Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GrowingHair Posted February 13, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted February 13, 2019 Your shock loss looks much better Merlin, and the scar line looks very faint. Mine was only in the back middle which is interesting. Hard to see good native hair go missing, even if it's temporary! Makes it hard to try and style right now for us, but the native hairs should start growing soon I'd assume. I believe you're at about 9 weeks and I'm at 8 so it shouldn't be long. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted February 14, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 14, 2019 On 2/13/2019 at 4:38 AM, GrowingHair said: Your shock loss looks much better Merlin, and the scar line looks very faint. Mine was only in the back middle which is interesting. Hard to see good native hair go missing, even if it's temporary! Makes it hard to try and style right now for us, but the native hairs should start growing soon I'd assume. I believe you're at about 9 weeks and I'm at 8 so it shouldn't be long. My scar line indeed improved a lot over the last couple of weeks. It used to look similar to yours not long ago. We are getting there 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mikemorrow2000 Posted February 18, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted February 18, 2019 Wow Merlin that looks like great work. I had 3,122 grafts transplanted in 2009 by Dr Cooley. Still extremely satisfied with the work. I had seen the most growth between the 4th and 5th month. After 7 months it was thicker than ever and continued getting thicker the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th month. It is all very individual so don't get discouraged. Make sure you take the Propecia (Finasteride). That helps a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted February 19, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 19, 2019 6 hours ago, mikemorrow2000 said: Wow Merlin that looks like great work. I had 3,122 grafts transplanted in 2009 by Dr Cooley. Still extremely satisfied with the work. I had seen the most growth between the 4th and 5th month. After 7 months it was thicker than ever and continued getting thicker the 8th, 9th, 10th and 11th month. It is all very individual so don't get discouraged. Make sure you take the Propecia (Finasteride). That helps a lot. Thanks. I am taking the Propecia (tried 10+ years ago with side effects so I wasn't taking it until after the surgery) and I am very slowly raising the dosage to avoid side effects; so far, so good. It caught my eye that a few really tiny and thin hair are coming up at the front. Not sure if they are transplants or hair revived by Propecia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GrowingHair Posted March 7, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 7, 2019 Hey Merlin - how are things progressing for you? I believe you're at the 12 week mark now. I too noticed some tiny hairs growing which I also assume is from the Propecia. I have some hairs starting to grow in the shock loss area around the scar line, but it's still pretty bare. Hope you are doing well - we're getting close! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted March 12, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2019 On 3/7/2019 at 3:56 AM, GrowingHair said: Hey Merlin - how are things progressing for you? I believe you're at the 12 week mark now. I too noticed some tiny hairs growing which I also assume is from the Propecia. I have some hairs starting to grow in the shock loss area around the scar line, but it's still pretty bare. Hope you are doing well - we're getting close! I would have replied sooner but the notification went to spam. Things are going well. I had a haircut about two weeks ago. Still able to hide the shock loss. I think some hair are slowly coming back there. On the other hand, the growth on the front is going strong (it's noticeable, I dont have to look for it). It still looks like hair loss/bit funny since the hair there are very short compared to the existing hair. I assume that the crown is growing too, hard to tell back there due to practical reasons. Definitely both areas have ways to go (just got started) and I am pleased so far. I will post pics sometime in the next few days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GrowingHair Posted March 12, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 12, 2019 That sounds really good Merlin, exciting times! Are you seeing growth from the transplanted hair in the front or your native hair growing back? I notice and feel a lot of shorter hairs along the front that I assume are revived by the Propecia, not sure though. Very glad you're doing well, wish you good growing ahead 🙂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted March 14, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 14, 2019 (edited) On 3/12/2019 at 4:25 PM, GrowingHair said: That sounds really good Merlin, exciting times! Are you seeing growth from the transplanted hair in the front or your native hair growing back? I notice and feel a lot of shorter hairs along the front that I assume are revived by the Propecia, not sure though. Very glad you're doing well, wish you good growing ahead 🙂 As you can see from the picture below (sorry it's a little bit out of focus) there is new growth. Some of it must be from the transplants. I wish you good growing ahead too!🙂 It seems that a spring on our heads is coming 😁 Day 91 Pics Front Crown Left side scar/shock loss Edited March 14, 2019 by Merlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GrowingHair Posted March 14, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 14, 2019 That looks good Merlin! I think the crown shows great growth in particular. Exciting times for sure, been a patient few months to get here and well worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mephesto Posted March 21, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 Hey Merlin, how long did you stay in NC for? And how was the travel back to California after the surgery? Did you still have to wear the saran wrap? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted March 21, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 20 minutes ago, mephesto said: Hey Merlin, how long did you stay in NC for? And how was the travel back to California after the surgery? Did you still have to wear the saran wrap? I went to NC on a Wednesday, the procedure was on Thursday and left town the next Wednesday which I will make it 7 days with overnight stay. The travel back was fine. I had the saran wrap under a beanie and I even sprayed a couple of times during the flight. The doctor offered a second spray bottle as long as I would use it, and I did use it. I continued the saran and spray for about 10 days after. I am pretty sure it was an overkill, but I was off work anyway so it was easy to do. Plus, in December no one will bat an eye if they see you with a beanie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mephesto Posted March 21, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 23 minutes ago, Merlin said: I went to NC on a Wednesday, the procedure was on Thursday and left town the next Wednesday which I will make it 7 days with overnight stay. The travel back was fine. I had the saran wrap under a beanie and I even sprayed a couple of times during the flight. The doctor offered a second spray bottle as long as I would use it, and I did use it. I continued the saran and spray for about 10 days after. I am pretty sure it was an overkill, but I was off work anyway so it was easy to do. Plus, in December no one will bat an eye if they see you with a beanie. Thank you! Good to know what I might be going through. I'm worried about walking through the airport with a saran wrap stuck to my head, but I think hiding it in a cap/beanie might be a good idea Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GrowingHair Posted March 21, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 Spring is here - noticing a lot of growth up front in the last 2 weeks. My wife says the crown is starting as well, but it doesn't come across well in the pictures yet. I hope yours is continuing to grow Merlin - here we go 🙂 Pre surgery and picture from today below (13 weeks) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted March 21, 2019 Administrators Share Posted March 21, 2019 Growth looks excellent for three months. 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. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mikemorrow2000 Posted March 21, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) You'll get more thickness up to about 6 or 7 months. Looks good now though. Dr Cooley says "the more you look at it the slower it grows". Edited March 21, 2019 by mikemorrow2000 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted March 22, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 22, 2019 (edited) On 3/21/2019 at 9:22 AM, GrowingHair said: Spring is here - noticing a lot of growth up front in the last 2 weeks. My wife says the crown is starting as well, but it doesn't come across well in the pictures yet. I hope yours is continuing to grow Merlin - here we go 🙂 Looking great! Your hairline is forming as well. For both us, I would say pretty good so far . On 3/21/2019 at 10:52 AM, mikemorrow2000 said: You'll get more thickness up to about 6 or 7 months. Looks good now though. Dr Cooley says "the more you look at it the slower it grows". Dr. Cooley told me that too before I left his office . I try not to look at them, but is hard not to notice when hair are growing in front of you . BTW, here are two better (I hope; pic quality) pictures of my front: Day 99 Edited March 23, 2019 by Merlin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted March 22, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 22, 2019 20 hours ago, mephesto said: Thank you! Good to know what I might be going through. I'm worried about walking through the airport with a saran wrap stuck to my head, but I think hiding it in a cap/beanie might be a good idea The clinic will give you cap when they send you home after the operation. To clarify, I used the saran/beanie for about 10 days after my return, so about 17 days total. Again, that probably wasn't necessary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member GrowingHair Posted March 22, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 22, 2019 That looks really good Merlin! I see a lot more growth than on your prior pictures. How is your crown progressing relative to the front? I always read the crown is slower than the other areas, and believe I am seeing that with mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Kiwi Guy Posted March 23, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 23, 2019 Starting to look good mate, wait until it grows in around the 9 month mark, I bet it looks full! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted March 23, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 23, 2019 12 hours ago, GrowingHair said: That looks really good Merlin! I see a lot more growth than on your prior pictures. How is your crown progressing relative to the front? I always read the crown is slower than the other areas, and believe I am seeing that with mine. Thanks. It's hard to tell on the crown, so far so good. 38 minutes ago, Kiwi Guy said: Starting to look good mate, wait until it grows in around the 9 month mark, I bet it looks full! Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member home1212 Posted March 24, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 24, 2019 really love Dr. Cooley's meticulous work, congrats and contd' growth and healing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member mephesto Posted March 24, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 24, 2019 Hi Merlin, why did you choose FUT over FUE? I'm mostly doing it for the better yield and livability, but FUE is very tempting Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Merlin Posted March 24, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 24, 2019 5 hours ago, home1212 said: really love Dr. Cooley's meticulous work, congrats and contd' growth and healing Thanks 18 minutes ago, mephesto said: Hi Merlin, why did you choose FUT over FUE? I'm mostly doing it for the better yield and livability, but FUE is very tempting When I was talking with another clinic for FUE, they told me for the same amount grafts, I needed 3 days of operation, that they will trim all of my hair, and that they will have to use some beard hair. Ailene from Dr. Cooley's office also pointed out that since my skin is very light (when not in the sun much) and my hair dark, that doing FUE will put me at risk for a "moth" like appearance at the donor area. In summary I did FUT because: Less time at the clinic and cost for the same amount of grafts. More yield (more grafts survive FUT vs FUE). Aside from the donor scar, the rest of the donor area will be intact. Dr. Cooley has a reputation of excellent work and that his incisions/scars heal really well. No need to cut my hair to number 1-2 for the operation. Status update I noticed that it takes less effort to hide/cover the areas with missing hair. I will probably post new photos sometime in April when the progress should be more obvious (compared to the previous photos). 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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