Dr Bisanga FUE 2000 - March 2019

[cg90]

On 1/10/2021 at 7:23 PM, Curious25 said:

OP updated the thread literally 7 days ago? 

Apologies, I didn't see the last OP post at the time of commenting.

At what point are you allowed to use toppik?
I'm thinking this would ease the pain of the ugly duckling phase for those social events where wearing a hat isn't acceptable.

[Curious25]

3 hours ago, cg90 said:

Apologies, I didn't see the last OP post at the time of commenting.

At what point are you allowed to use toppik?
I'm thinking this would ease the pain of the ugly duckling phase for those social events where wearing a hat isn't acceptable.

It would always be best to ask your surgeons opinion on this matter, as opinions vary between clinics. 
 

My personal trail of thought on this, is to avoid using toppik and even hair products in general during the initial 12 months post op, to really ensure Im giving my new grafts the best chance of survival and health as possible. 
 

That’s definitely on the extreme end of precaution as I have seen lots of guys on here wear hair product post op from 1 month onwards, and still yield great results. 

[SearchingMan]

Did they suggest you using any shampoo after the operation?

[BOW32]

Hi Chaps, 

First of all, apologies for missing the 2 year update, and apologies for only just seeing a few of your PM's this morning  - I do still like to login from time to time to keep on top of any new research and to see which docs are currently producing the best results, however rarely get a chance to take pics and dedicate a bit of time to uploading and making an actual post, so today with a bit of downtime on this sunny sunday morning, I have taken a range of photo's which will mark 2 years, 1 month and a week or so, roughly.

-1, Jan 2019 2 months prior to the surgery.
-1, back combed out of the shower in bathroom lighting. 
-4, wet and forward facing into the window of natural daylight. 
-3, dry and forward facing into the window of natural daylight.
-1 of beard potential 

Seeing as though its passed a bit of a landmark of 24 months, I thought I'd summarise a few points of where things are at. 

-NOT EVERY DAY IS A GOOD HAIR DAY!! You have to just accept this. There are limitations 'a one hit' transplant can get you. Some days it looks good, some days in the wrong light and with the wrong length, you will ask yourself whether you have even had anything done?! I have found it is a combination of acceptance, learning what styles work best, what length looks best, and what lighting it will look strong, and what lighting will make it look weak. This particular length I have it at just now, is where I feel most confident, and can make it look pretty good all the time. 

-My hair was at it's best between 6-18 months post surgery. This was the perfect balance of when the transplant grew in, and still retaining a few more native hairs than what I have just now. I have naturally lost small amounts of ground in this time, as to be expected in my case, however aesthetically I still feel in a good place. 

-It still amazes me to see what a difference it has made, and is far, far better than where I was at beforehand. My original plan I set out with was all about damage limitation, and trying to keep on top of ever looking like 'a balding person', with planned out multiple surgeries between the ages of 30->50+. I feel like I'm fortunate enough to (unfortunately) be a balding person who has an ok donor and beard/chest relative to combatting my projected balding pattern, and I'm at peace with the idea of undergoing more surgeries down the line as and when required - as well as being at peace with the limitations of what sort of density transplants can achieve with my hair type. 

-My initial target was to not have to have another (small) procedure before March '22, and so far fingers crossed, I'm confident this will be the case. I have had signs of mid-scalp thinning since 2018, which you can see in one of the photos below, head tilted forwards. When wet, and in bright light, to people in the know, it is noticeable. When dry, and layered, not even 2 hair transplant surgeons could tell whilst I was speaking with them, until I pointed it out for them to look at more closely, so I'm not too beat up about that at the moment, and take encouragement that it hasn't changed much at all, in the 2 years since surgery. 

-I still don't take any medication such as finasteride/dutasteride/minoxidil. I understand, and fully aware that with finasteride in particular, I would likely be able to strengthen my midscalp area, and be set for a good 5-10 years without having to think about another surgery, however for me and my current state of play and lifestyle as a whole, they are just not something that I would consider taking at all. That's not to say that in 10 years from now, I may have a completely different perspective, and potentially be more open into looking at starting on them. As you grow older you understand things change, so depending on what my circumstances are in future life, what I prioritise, where my career is at, relationships, family etc. it may well be a consideration then. I have respect for everyone who chooses to go down the medical route, so would hope that people could equally respect my decision on this. 

-I feel that the only ever 'bone to pick' with my results, was a small area of lesser density, between my centre point and right temple. On reflection, I believe the most likely explanation was that there were some native miniaturised hairs to have been in the area, which was why it was left alone. The reason I say this is because it has weakened more as time has gone on, therefore it would make sense for those hairs to have now gone or be close to fully gone - whereas when it was less apparent, they would likely still have been there, just thinner and weaker than the transplanted hairs next to them. Either way, it's nit picking, and not something that keeps me awake at night or that I would call a concern. When I eventually go for my second procedure, 5 healthy doubles just behind the softer single grafts in the hairline will do the trick  

-I want to be aggressive, and aim to be able to extract a further 8,000 grafts from my scalp. This, combined with hopefully 1500 -2000 BHT grafts from under my chin. I haven't ever spoke to anybody regarding BHT, so from the photo I have added today, would be interested in knowing what people who have an idea about this roughly estimate could be possible. My neckline is freshly shaved from 30 mins previous to taking the photo, and I always leave upwards from my adams apple at the same length as the growth on my cheeks, however shaped up.  

Anyway, sorry for the long winded post today - I do feel compelled to give back to this forum when I can, because I will be forever grateful for the amount of content and information that is available on here. It has educated me on hair restoration as a whole second to none, and ultimately led to me choosing Dr Bisanga, where he and his team have been able to amazingly turn my hairline around, and set me up for what has been a really great last 2 years on both a personal and professional level (aside from a global pandemic doing its best to ruin a large portion of that!). 

All the best, and will pop in when anything of note crops up! 

 

[BOW32]

On 3/13/2021 at 1:10 PM, SearchingMan said:

Did they suggest you using any shampoo after the operation?

Baby shampoo (mild shampoo) for the first 4 weeks from the point at which you are able to start washing it again. I think from memory i could start washing again from 2 weeks after surgery? 

[Britanium]

Wow 🤩 thanks for the update ! After 2 years your looking really great 🙏