Dr. Kaan Pekiner FUE+BHT 3895 (2007 FUE + 1888 BHT) 28/12/2019

[SLA]

So you have come MILES from where you started.

The other thing is that when we take a picture from directly above it will always show imperfections, but that is not the view in most real world situations. Your last photo from straight ahead looks much more full.

It is true that a couple of more thousand grafts would be able to fill in and make a lot more dense so, it might be worth exploring for sure!

If not, dermmatch, hair fibers or even SMP could do the trick.

Also, as you get older, this will increasing look more age appropriate.

Hope this helps!

[Melvin- Admin]

If you look at the before and after, the change is drastic. You say you don’t believe in BHT as much anymore, I feel the opposite after seeing this.

[Portugal25]

11 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

If you look at the before and after, the change is drastic. You say you don’t believe in BHT as much anymore, I feel the opposite after seeing this.

I guess I was just hoping for more density due to the fact I had such a mega session with beard grafts.

There isn’t many other threads with 1888 beard grafts in one surgery so it’s difficult to compare mega session beard grafts results. 

For my third and hopefully final surgery I’m struggling if I should again chose a Doctor doing mega sessions of BHT or a Doctor that isn’t versed in BHT but can do a lot using very few scalp graft. 

[asterix0]

@Portugal25 Why are you not on finasteride + minoxidil?

Also, are you sure you only lost native hair and not some transplanted hair?

[Portugal25]

7 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

@Portugal25 Why are you not on finasteride + minoxidil?

Also, are you sure you only lost native hair and not some transplanted hair?

I’m not on Finasteride because I’m already a NW7 and I get nasty side effects. 
Not sure if I also lost some of Dr. Rahal’s transplanted hairs into the front along with all the native hair.

Edited October 1, 2021 by Portugal25

[BDK081522]

@Portugal25 I think it looks fantastic! After seeing Melvin's side by side you no doubt received a stellar result. I think you're getting caught up on the fact that 1888 BHT grafts went into your crown and you expected dense coverage. Yes that's a significant amount of grafts but you have to keep in mind, you were a slick bald NW7. 1888 scalp grafts sometimes doesn't even give a dense hairline let alone full coverage on such a huge area as yours. Keep in mind that usually beard grafts are thicker in diameter but they're all single hair grafts. If you had 1888 scalp grafts undoubtedly you would have had many multi grafts. Well say an average of 2.2 hairs per graft. That would have given you 4,153 hairs. With the same amount of beard grafts you got 1888 hairs so this was never going to give full coverage. Your result is excellent and you just have to realize the limitations of hair restoration and adjust expectations accordingly. I do think your donor has more capacity for harvesting but you need to go to a surgeon who is highly skilled at donor management and making few grafts look like many. 

Edited October 2, 2021 by BDK081522

[asterix0]

36 minutes ago, Portugal25 said:

I’m not on Finasteride because I’m already a NW7 and I get nasty side effects. 
Not sure if I also lost some of Dr. Rahal’s transplanted hairs into the front along with all the native hair.

Understood I'm sorry to hear you had side effects, however even from the "ideal" safe zone, hair transplants unfortunately aren't always complete safe in the long run.

I would look into topical anti-androgens and minoxidil, as minoxidil has anti-androgen properties as well, in addition to strengthening existing hairs.

[Curious25]

It’s certainly an improvement. And your donor to me, still looks like there is 2000+ scalp grafts available - which strategically placed throughout your recipient would make a huge difference IMO. 
 

I’ve seen nice density increasing on patients in similar positions to yourself from Dr De Freitas. and Lorenzo - however if you are concerned about doctors being conservative with your donor, Eugenix always seem to be able to fully stretch out patients donors to their full potential, without leaving them looking thin.
 

What happened to you taking finasteride by the way, i thought you came back from this surgery with Pekiner really adamant you had to take it? 

[ITA]

I agree with many of the members who write that where you started from you have reached a good result, and that your expectations were probably higher, even considering your age, you are no longer in your 20s, plus you have not posted a selfie like they do in many, but you have shown pics under intense artificial light, so in the worst situation.  Yes, you still have many options, density effect SMP, Eugenix with beard hair or even other skilled surgeons with few grafts who can work wonders.

[Gatsby]

I have to add to others that your results today are nothing but a massive transformation to where you started. We all compare our hair transplants to some kind of a 'Brad Pitt' expectation and this is 'psychologically' normal (but totally unrealistic). One thought that came to mind is have you factored in the shorter anagen phase of beard grafts to scalp grafts. This is to be expected. Wishing you all the best!

[Curious25]

If I were you, I would search for a skilled doctor who has a reputation for maximising patients scalp donor, whilst maintaining ethics - and really look to push for another 2000 scalp grafts. 
 

I would then focus only on the zone that is outlined in pink, and push for 1300 grafts in the green dotted section, and 700 in the blue. 

The heavy focus on the front section helps reinforce your frontal aesthetic - which IMO is the most important part improving ones appearance in hair restoration - and despite no direct hairline work being applied, the surgeon should aim to work back to front in this case, and reaching your frontal section with lower grouped FU’s. This in turn will further solidify a weaker crown , and when the hair is grown to an appropriate length, you can take advantage of more layering  techniques, back combing from front to back for instance. 
 

The 700 grafts in the blue section will help add to reinforcing your crown area, and again, assist with layering techniques you can apply from front to back. 
 

The reason I have left the remaining part of your crown, is because it appears age appropriate - the layering from the back will provide the ability to ‘comb over’ if you wish . . And the natural direction of hair fall in this section, falls downwards, covering the balding area just above your occipital region. 
 

Food for thought anyway, 

[harry_potter1]

This is great value for money result IMO. 

less than 4K graft, almost half of them from beard hair, big area to cover and you posted photos in harsh light (older room light photos are way better) , for work done that is less than 2.5€?  Come on now. 

 

The only result I am disappointed at is Rahal, it is one of those typical results where the doctor wants you to look amazing after 1 year, rather than building a long term plan. The surgery was planned on the idea that Finistidrine will stop your hair loss, a bet that is lost. 

I think both hairline and crown are complete work considering your case, if you can manage to get another surgery in the mid scalp area @Curious25 mentioned, it will be almost perfect result. 

PS: Why did you opt for FUE rather than another FUT?

[Portugal25]

1 minute ago, harry_potter1 said:

This is great value for money result IMO. 

less than 4K graft, almost half of them from beard hair, big area to cover and you posted photos in harsh light (older room light photos are way better) , for work done that is less than 2.5€?  Come on now. 

 

The only result I am disappointed at is Rahal, it is one of those typical results where the doctor wants you to look amazing after 1 year, rather than building a long term plan. The surgery was planned on the idea that Finistidrine will stop your hair loss, a bet that is lost. 

I think both hairline and crown are complete work considering your case, if you can manage to get another surgery in the mid scalp area @Curious25 mentioned, it will be almost perfect result. 

PS: Why did you opt for FUE rather than another FUT?

I opted for FUE because I wanted a mega session of beard grafts to compensate for the lack of donor area.

I should have had another FUT and then go with FUE+BHT like Dr. Pekiner initially advised. 

[harry_potter1]

7 minutes ago, Portugal25 said:

I opted for FUE because I wanted a mega session of beard grafts to compensate for the lack of donor area.

I should have had another FUT and then go with FUE+BHT like Dr. Pekiner initially advised. 

Yeah, I think he was right tbh.

That said, I still maintain that overall result is really awesome, even if there is/was room for improvement. 

[Melvin- Admin]

On 10/31/2021 at 6:41 AM, Portugal25 said:

I opted for FUE because I wanted a mega session of beard grafts to compensate for the lack of donor area.

I should have had another FUT and then go with FUE+BHT like Dr. Pekiner initially advised. 

I believe another FUT would have been better. If you already have the scar, it’s really beneficial to go again, then finish off with BHT + FUE.

[SLA]

Yeah....it looks really good!

[MachoVato]

I think it looks pretty dang good!

My advice is to grow it out. I haven't cut my front and mid scalp in about 3 months. I have pretty good density, but it's changed my look dramatically. Try something like this.

 

[Vann]

any updates?