Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 9, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 Hi All. Been reading posts on this site for several years and want to begin by saying ‘Thank You’ to those that have come before me. Without the countless hours of watching the progress and results of others, I’d never have had the confidence to give a HT a shot. I recently took the plunge and had an FUE performed. I don’t plant to go into details about the surgeon or the facility. I’ve seen in other posts where unconscious bias about a given surgeon sways the type of feedback received. So like some others I’ve seen on this site, I plan to omit surgeon ID until month 8 (arbitrary date). Until then hopefully focus will just be on the results. I will go into details about the surgeon/clinic in a few months time, but for now I have only positive things to say about my time there. Surgeon, technicians, clinic - everything was top notch. Ok, so here’s my story quickly. My hairline began receding in my late 20s, and now in my late 30s it had progressed to being well on its way to a solid Norwood 3a. I’d met with reps of the clinic who’d both felt I was a candidate for somewhere between 2500-3000 grafts. Upon arrival at the clinic, however, Dr took one look at me and said that due to the fine/thin nature of my hair, that he was reluctant to proceed with anything less than 4000. After quick contemplation I agreed with his advice and we proceeded as follows: Day 1: 2,633 Grafts 404 singles 1639 doubles 590 multi's (~5,452 hairs) Day 2: 1,717 Grafts 113 singles 1109 doubles 495 multi's (~3,816 hairs) Total: 4,350 grafts 517 singles 2748 doubles 1085 multi’s ~9,268 hairs Here are the pics. 2 photos taken morning of surgery Surgery Day 1 Surgery Day 2 Several pics following surgery with post-op date noted on the pic. I should note I am sensitive to epinephrine so the team had to use the a lot less epi when injecting my scalp with the anesthesia. The lack of epi caused more bleeding and bruising (and pain) than normal, but the team handled it all like pros. Eager to hear any feedback folks have and happy to answer any questions as well. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member CosmoKramer Posted March 9, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 Hi Looks like you’re progressing well, the donor bruises at first glance to me looked a bit scary but healed up nicely. You got a lot of grafts done for just your frontal 1/3 so you should get a nice dense result. Do you know what your total donor capacity was and have left for any possible Ht down the road should you require need it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 9, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 Thanks Cosmo. Ya, the bruising frightened me at first bc I’d never seen anything like it in other posts. Dr felt confident it would dissipate though, which it did, thankfully. I didn’t inquire about my donor capacity so I don’t really know the answer to that one. Wonder if they have it noted in my record and could tell me if asked? Hoping I don’t need another, at least not anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member CosmoKramer Posted March 9, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 20 minutes ago, SprayPaint said: Thanks Cosmo. Ya, the bruising frightened me at first bc I’d never seen anything like it in other posts. Dr felt confident it would dissipate though, which it did, thankfully. I didn’t inquire about my donor capacity so I don’t really know the answer to that one. Wonder if they have it noted in my record and could tell me if asked? Hoping I don’t need another, at least not anytime soon. Nice! Yeah, your Doc should be able to tell you your graft donor amount info. Good luck growing, will be following your updates 👍🏻 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted March 9, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 looks great. happy growing. everything healed well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Jhonny Posted March 9, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 Looking at your pre op pics I would have guessed 2500grafts would have done a good job on you but you obviously went for high density and with a surgeon that work that way...I guess I know who he is LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member home1212 Posted March 9, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 2 hours ago, Jhonny said: Looking at your pre op pics I would have guessed 2500grafts would have done a good job on you but you obviously went for high density and with a surgeon that work that way...I guess I know who he is LOL blue background give it away? LOL 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spaceman Posted March 9, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 Looks really good so far. Day 10 donor pics look fantastic. Density is amazing. Are you taking Finasteride? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Upshall Posted March 9, 2019 Share Posted March 9, 2019 Lol was it Hasson or Wong??? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member txtransplant Posted March 9, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 What am I looking at here? It looks like the donor hair mostly all came from the sides and pretty high up and not the typical back safe zone? I must be missing something here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Mr S Posted March 9, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 9, 2019 4k grafts does seem excessive. Should be a great result with that many grafts though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Poseidon Posted March 10, 2019 Regular Member Share Posted March 10, 2019 Was all that brown debris normal after a hair transplant? Ouch?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 10, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 10, 2019 (edited) 20 hours ago, Spaceman said: Looks really good so far. Day 10 donor pics look fantastic. Density is amazing. Are you taking Finasteride? Thanks! Started fin immediately post-op but then had to discontinue because of another med I was on. Plan to resume when regiment of other med is over. Edited March 10, 2019 by SprayPaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 10, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 10, 2019 18 hours ago, txtransplant said: What am I looking at here? It looks like the donor hair mostly all came from the sides and pretty high up and not the typical back safe zone? I must be missing something here. Not sure. I was face down in a pillow during the extractions but assuming they know what they’re doing. Would leave that question to folks on this forum who know more. I do know that the majority of the bruising was on the sides where the skin is thinner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spaceman Posted March 10, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 10, 2019 3 hours ago, Poseidon said: Was all that brown debris normal after a hair transplant? Ouch?? Epinephrine is a vasoconstrictor and helps control bleeding during surgery. Less epinephrine means more bleeding during surgery and more bruising and scabbing afterwards. But by three weeks out the scabbing and bruising was gone and the work looks good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 11, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 11, 2019 Day 32 photos below - some taken with flash, some without. A majority of the transplanted hair has shed at this point. Recipient area of my scalp remains partially numb/desensitized. Pink skin discoloration is prominent. Ugly duckling phase in full effect. 🦆🦆🦆 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarsanUk Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 Hasson and Wong? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 20, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 20, 2019 Day 46. Completely shedded at this point. Trying to keep the rest of my hair really short (#1 clipper) to detract from obvious, but it is what it is I guess. The rest of my hair grows pretty quick (this is 5 days growth) so I’m shaving the non-recipient part of my scalp weekly. Definitely not an ideal look at the office, but hoping it’ll all soon pass and begin to fill in. Redness still quite prominent. Overall, just a rough period in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairlossPA Posted March 20, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 20, 2019 really excited to see this result man. hang in there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member PlzRespond Posted March 20, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 20, 2019 Did the doctor mention if the extra bleeding or scabbing can affect final results? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Baldrick101 Posted March 20, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 20, 2019 That is some serious dense packing!! Do you know how many he packed in per sq cm? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 21, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 (edited) 9 hours ago, Baldrick101 said: That is some serious dense packing!! Do you know how many he packed in per sq cm? Thanks. He did mention the measure, but it was said so quickly in the context of the initial discussion that morning that I don’t recall the estimate. I do know that his goal was to pack as densely as possible given the thinness/fineness of my hair type. Edited March 21, 2019 by SprayPaint Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 21, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 21 hours ago, PlzRespond said: Did the doctor mention if the extra bleeding or scabbing can affect final results? That was a major concern of mine and I asked about it frequently during the procedure. I was told by both the Dr and the technician doing the extractions (who was amazing by the way) that while the extra bleeding made their jobs a bit more difficult, that it wouldn’t impact the results. As for the scabbing, although it was likely more excessive as a result, I was just more patient in allowing the scabs time to fall off. Only once or twice did I see what may have been a follicle come off with a scab. I try to use those Day 21 photos as a metric... all the scabs are gone at that point but the implanted hairs (pre-shed) pretty much all seem to still be in place. So I’m trying to take that as a positive indication. Time will tell. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Legend007 Posted March 21, 2019 Senior Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 U headed for a good result .. ur pre-op pics are kinda like mines .. it’s good that once u got the scabs off n most the hairs are still there .. it’s a very good sign that those grafts are anchored, implanted properly, deep enough to hang around but not too deep to cause an ingrown hair .. that’s my understanding of it also a good sign that ur native hair grows fast .. so the transplanted hair will too .. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member SprayPaint Posted March 21, 2019 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 21, 2019 Thanks @Legend007 ... fingers crossed 🤞 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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