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5,000 FUE * Mid-June 2018 * Progress


CosmoKramer

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Looks really good, how does friends and loved ones react to your before and after results? Have you influenced anyone that knows you to also have this procedure done? 

Do you wish you would have done this sooner? 

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@CosmoKramer looks great. Congrats! 

How do you feel about the texture of the hair? How long does it take for hair to start feeling smooth / laying naturally? I notice a lot of guys appear to have what looks to be coarse curly hair following a HT while only some small other minority of guys seem to get a smooth look to the hair. 

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@CosmoKramer looks great. Congrats! 

How do you feel about the texture of the hair? How long does it take for hair to start feeling smooth / laying naturally? I notice a lot of guys appear to have what looks to be coarse curly hair following a HT while only some small other minority of guys seem to get a smooth look to the hair. 

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1 hour ago, Qneedhair said:

Looks really good, how does friends and loved ones react to your before and after results? Have you influenced anyone that knows you to also have this procedure done? 

Do you wish you would have done this sooner? 

Thanks! @Qneedhair

My friends and family at first were very very skeptical that any Hair Transplant would give me a good result because they did not know how much the procedure has advanced in the surgical process compared to the old methods so it was important for me to educate them on how much better and safer the techniques have advanced. To be honest some of them thought it was just an ok result at my 2nd or 3rd month but when they see my progress now they are amazed.

Yes, I’ve had a few friends and several relatives ask me many questions and are also considered getting an Ht done because of my outcome at this point. As my progress has gotten better I’ve been more open and happy to discuss it with those that are interested.

As for you’re question if I wished I would have done this sooner....I would say Yes and No.....Yes it would have been great if I was able to get this Ht done back in my late 20’s or early 30’s and saved me those years of worry and stress but also No because the FUE technique and process wasn’t as refined as it is now and also because I only started to loose the majority of my hair within the past 7 years, which I’m actually glad I did at my still sorta young age because now I don’t have to constantly worry about how much more native hair I’ll loose down the road and beyond the transplanted new hair areas and having to chase and play catch-up with more procedures. I think my timing/finances/level of hair loss/technique advances all came together at a good time for me to get it done now rather than years ago.

Hope that helps 👍🏻

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1 hour ago, SprayPaint said:

@CosmoKramer looks great. Congrats! 

How do you feel about the texture of the hair? How long does it take for hair to start feeling smooth / laying naturally? I notice a lot of guys appear to have what looks to be coarse curly hair following a HT while only some small other minority of guys seem to get a smooth look to the hair. 

Thanks! @SprayPaint

I feel the texture has much improved now at my 9th month and since i am letting my hair grow and get long. In my case I have salt and pepper hair with a mix of grey and white hairs (aging 😩) and it’s always been natural wavy and tricky to control but I’ve started to use a good natural hair conditioner and when styling, a good matte paste and I gotta say it helps a good amount to feel smooth and have the hair lay they way I would like it. The important thing is finding the proper way to style the new hair which can make it look better and natural.

Yeah, I think that there is a small minority of guys with perfectly straight hair that get the same look to their new Ht hair but that the majority go through the frizzy wavy look, but it does improve in texture.

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Thought I’d post a few more 9th months photos using a different camera and in different (also a bit harsh) lighting that shows the mid/crown/vertex area dry with no styling product or concealer.

I had 1,500 grafts placed in the area and I feel it’s much better than pre-op but it’s still see through and needs more density and thickening, I’m hoping that happens now from months 9-12.

Has anyone seen much more improvement from a similar crown area and grafts implanted post 9months?  

Honest opinions and input is appreciated! 🙂

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9C03374E-5E10-41F2-8CB3-8AEFB0B66837.jpeg

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Dude! Your hair looks fantastic! I hope you continue to see some growth in the crown over the next few months, but either way, it's something that you can address with a second pass in the future. The crown is typically the trickiest part. Hopefully, this is something you've discussed with your surgeon and you each have a gameplan of sorts.

Seriously though... so happy for you. 

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I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My views/opinions are my own and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.

Check out my hair loss website for photos

FUE surgery by Dr. Mohebi on 7/31/14
2,001 grafts - Ones: 607; Twos: 925; Threes: 413; Fours: 56

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17 hours ago, pkipling said:

Dude! Your hair looks fantastic! I hope you continue to see some growth in the crown over the next few months, but either way, it's something that you can address with a second pass in the future. The crown is typically the trickiest part. Hopefully, this is something you've discussed with your surgeon and you each have a gameplan of sorts.

Seriously though... so happy for you. 

Thanks much! @pkipling for the compliment and comment, much appreciated!

its definitely been a tough journey but it’s definitely been worth it. I’m aware that it can take up to 18months even 24 months to see the full result and I’m hopeful for more improvement and crown growth but yeah it’s the trickiest part I agree, and I “only” had 1,500 placed there so if needed I believe I have the additional grafts available to add another 1,500 grafts to the crown at any future procedure I chose to do, but for just 9months I’m very happy to be honest.

Thanks again!

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So, it’s been several days post my 9th month post-op and I’ve decided that at this point I feel comfortable naming the doctor and clinic that I chose as I am very happy and pleased with my results thus far, as I said I would when I felt I was satisfied and happy even though it’s a few months short of my 1 year mark. 

 
I feel doing so may help those that are stressing out and concerned with their progress that have also posted their progress and hope my progress is some comfort to them to ease their worries as I had many worries myself over the course of my progress.
 
I had my procedure with Dr Erdogan at ASMED in Istanbul, Turkey.
 
A bit of a backstory....
I had been researching getting a Ht procedure done for a few years but the cost and undergoing the surgery and recovery really scared me and put me off, so I began checking out the forums, real self, YouTube and in early 2017 I decided I would ONLY go the FUE route and only with a doctor that utilized the ARTAS robotic fue method as it seemed from all the info I had read that it would be less painful and less stressful on the donor grafts. Then I discovered how also expensive it was and I wasn’t much impressed with the results I had seen so I decided to do more research. 
 
I then came across Dr Diep’s work from his YouTube videos and honestly thought his posted results were too good to be real or true but I learned with more info that he was the real deal, unfortunately much too out of my budget range so I sadly ruled him out. Also discovered some other clinics here in the US but they too were also priced out of my budget.
 
At this point I also discovered Dr Erdogan and ASMED and really was impressed by their results but was also very skeptical if too good to be true and I had ruled out traveling overseas especially to Turkey given the political tensions at that time. I had never traveled overseas before and I could not do so due to my worry and anxiety especially going to a country I had never been to before by myself for a many hours-long 2-day medical procedure.
 
Going through my options and also discovering many more clinics based in Turkey from YouTube and Instagram I decided I couldn’t let fear stop me from doing something for myself that I had wanted to for a long time. After researching how the FUE methods were done by various clinics it all drew me back to Dr Erdogan and ASMED for their manual extraction methods/tools and the high amount of grafts they were doing to give good coverage and results for a reasonable price that I needed, so in Spring of 2017 I submitted my information and photos to ASMED thru their website just to see and got a reply a few days later, it was disappointing because if I recall I was turned down by Dr Erdogan at that point and he recommended getting on Finasteride, which I did and left my ht plans on the back burner.
 
Fast-forward to May of 2018 and decided to take another stab at my ht options and took some photos with longer hair in my donor area and sent them to the patient coordinator and see what Dr Erdogans opinion was this time. I was happy to hear that he said I was now suitable for the procedure and recommend 5,000 grafts, I was happy with that so I asked my coordinator for available openings and funny enough they had a sudden opening for the mid-June, just a few weeks away otherwise the next available was at the end of September....I am not the type to rush into anything I like to analyze my options but this needed a decision right away....I decided to bite-the-bullet and get out of my comfort zone and booked it, even before I booked the plane tickets or anything. Thankful everything fell into place for me to go ahead and go for it, the finances/procedure opening/time-off to recover etc.
 
I’m not going to go into the details of handling from airport to hotel to clinic and the procedure as that’s been perfectly covered by others on this forum but I would like to add, as a person with a major fear of heights and flying and doctors and any surgery and blood and needles I have to say Dr Erdogan and his team were very reassuring and gentle and calming and helpful and always put me at ease and i thanked them for that, they are very professional and know what they are doing.
 
I can’t speak for the recent criticism from a couple or a few of their other patients on this forum but only to say that in my “bro-scientific” opinion ones biology and any possible stress could have a big impact on what kind of results one gets, I decided to stay in Istanbul for an extra 7-nights past the 5-nights included by the clinic as I did not want to rush off for home and risk any type of infection or stress or issue from the 2-day procedure. I wanted to be sure that should anything arise that I could go to the Clinic and the Doctor and have them handle it and to rest and be stress free and free of the scabs before I would board an airplane for the long trip home and I’m so glad I did. Is there a correlation between air pressure from going home the following day or two that may damage the implanted grafts I don’t know but I didn’t want to take the chance give all the time, money I’d spent and endured so what’s an extra week for something that will benefit me for years to come.
 
I will continue to update my progress here but thus far I’m very pleased with my results and thankful to Dr Erdogan and his staff.
 
If anyone has questions Im happy to answer.
 

 

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1 hour ago, CosmoKramer said:

I can’t speak for the recent criticism from a couple or a few of their other patients on this forum but only to say that in my “bro-scientific” opinion ones biology and any possible stress could have a big impact on what kind of results one gets, I decided to stay in Istanbul for an extra 7-nights past the 5-nights included by the clinic as I did not want to rush off for home and risk any type of infection or stress or issue from the 2-day procedure. I wanted to be sure that should anything arise that I could go to the Clinic and the Doctor and have them handle it and to rest and be stress free and free of the scabs before I would board an airplane for the long trip home and I’m so glad I did. Is there a correlation between air pressure from going home the following day or two that may damage the implanted grafts I don’t know but I didn’t want to take the chance give all the time, money I’d spent and endured so what’s an extra week for something that will benefit me for years to come.

I've thought about this recently and think if going abroad there maybe something in staying and and resting for a week after a procedure rather than rushing off a day after or so afterwards. A HT is still surgery at the end of the day and it can't do no harm staying over for a while longer and giving the body a chance to recuperate. 

After a HT, the body needs time to heal and for some people, flying can compromise blood circulation which is probably a very important factor in healing and ensuring grafts have the best possible conditions during the period they anchor. Again everyone is different, but maybe worthwhile spending some extra time at the location.

Just to be clear did you stay an 7 extra nights in total or 7 extra nights on top of the 5 nights included by the clinic making it 12 nights?

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Just to add, your results have come along very nicely and there's a massive positive difference compared to where you were pre HT so congrats. Regarding the crown, 1500 has given you pretty decent coverage and you may well get some more density in the next few months but generally the crown needs a lot more grafts to make a real dent on the density front. Clinic were absolutely right to put the emphasis towards the front of the head and seeing as they can only put in a certain number of grafts in a session, a lot of people go in for a 2nd procedure to add in  more density in the crown with say another 1000-1500 grafts if it's an issue they'd like to address, obviously donor supply permitting. 

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17 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

I've thought about this recently and think if going abroad there maybe something in staying and and resting for a week after a procedure rather than rushing off a day after or so afterwards. A HT is still surgery at the end of the day and it can't do no harm staying over for a while longer and giving the body a chance to recuperate. 

After a HT, the body needs time to heal and for some people, flying can compromise blood circulation which is probably a very important factor in healing and ensuring grafts have the best possible conditions during the period they anchor. Again everyone is different, but maybe worthwhile spending some extra time at the location.

Just to be clear did you stay an 7 extra nights in total or 7 extra nights on top of the 5 nights included by the clinic making it 12 nights?

Yes, this was exactly my thinking and reasoning, surgery is surgery and it can complicate things if you just rush off for home in my opinion.

I stayed in Istanbul 7 extra nights on top of the 5-nights so close to 2 weeks, the extra cost at the Radisson Blue was worth it to me, met lots of great people also going through the procedure and did a little tourism.

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10 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Just to add, your results have come along very nicely and there's a massive positive difference compared to where you were pre HT so congrats. Regarding the crown, 1500 has given you pretty decent coverage and you may well get some more density in the next few months but generally the crown needs a lot more grafts to make a real dent on the density front. Clinic were absolutely right to put the emphasis towards the front of the head and seeing as they can only put in a certain number of grafts in a session, a lot of people go in for a 2nd procedure to add in  more density in the crown with say another 1000-1500 grafts if it's an issue they'd like to address, obviously donor supply permitting. 

Thanks!

Yeah, looking at my pre procedure photos I submitted last May, not even a year ago, I see how far my progress has come and am happy and thankful, I’m also realistic and agree with you, the crown for my area of loss needed many more grafts but I’m glad that Dr Erdogan chose to concentrate on my frontal area and use the best available grafts for my frontal third. If I get more growth and improving from here on out it will be a bonus and if I think I might need it i would not hesitate to have another procedure to top things off even with my fear of needles and air travel haha :)

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7 minutes ago, Craig2412 said:

Congratulations mate, fantastic results you must be thrilled, especially looking at before photos.

Would you mind sharing your hair thickness? 

Thank you! I am!

Im honestly not sure and don’t remember my hair caliber thickness number but I’ll look to see if I can find it and will post it.

By the way, good luck with your progress! I’ll be following it 👍🏻

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Thank you that would be much appreciated. 

Must be so nice with not just a great result but also having the freedom to style your hair differently. That’s partly why I went ahead with a HT. Not just for confidence but also hopefully having the ability to push my hair back or styling different.

Did you use any supplements after your procedure to try and help growth? 

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48 minutes ago, CosmoKramer said:

Yes, this was exactly my thinking and reasoning, surgery is surgery and it can complicate things if you just rush off for home in my opinion.

I stayed in Istanbul 7 extra nights on top of the 5-nights so close to 2 weeks, the extra cost at the Radisson Blue was worth it to me, met lots of great people also going through the procedure and did a little tourism.

Ah OK. If I decide to go abroad, I was planning on staying 7 nights post-op but sometimes think maybe few more nights might be better. Saying that, Istanbul would be just under a 4 hour flight for me, so not too long.

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16 minutes ago, Craig2412 said:

Thank you that would be much appreciated. 

Must be so nice with not just a great result but also having the freedom to style your hair differently. That’s partly why I went ahead with a HT. Not just for confidence but also hopefully having the ability to push my hair back or styling different.

Did you use any supplements after your procedure to try and help growth? 

You’re welcome!

It is nice to be able to grow my hair out and style it back, i hadn’t done so in over 15 years! 

Yeah, I agree the self-confidence boost is a big factor in my decision to just get it done given all my fears and worries and like the saying goes No risk No reward. It’s been nice being able to try out different styles but it can be tricky as the new hair grows it does need time to settle in and blend in, even for me but the best part is not caring how messy the hair looks now and having to look for a hat in a panic before you can come in contact with people haha.

Yes, I took and still do, several supplements:

-MSM

-Biotin 

-Multi-Vitamin Gummies

-Nettle Root Extract

-Clean Grass-Fed Whey Protein for Post workout shakes.

 

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10 minutes ago, Fozzie said:

Ah OK. If I decide to go abroad, I was planning on staying 7 nights post-op but sometimes think maybe few more nights might be better. Saying that, Istanbul would be just under a 4 hour flight for me, so not too long.

7-nights sounds reasonable to me, and if your are close than good, my flight was 10-hours back to the USA so I wanted the scabs to be fully healed and off before I traveled back home.

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