My horrible HT story - 4500 grafts

[AlG83]

Hi,

I had an FUE HT for 4500 grafts in October and it’s been 5 months now. 
 

I have been following this forum for a while and I’m now sharing my story because I feel hopeless and out of options.

I have been living with anxiety and depression for the past few months. I rarely go outside unless I have to and I can’t sleep at night. This experience ruined my life..what’s worst than being bald? Well, having a bad hair transplant and not being able to shave your head or grow it.

I will not be naming the clinic because the goal of this post is to get an honest opinion   on my situation and advice how to proceed forward.

Right after the surgery ended, I realized I’m in BIG BIG TROUBLE looking at how the recipient area was transplanted.The plan of the surgery was to transplant all of the 4500 grafts in the frontal hairlines and middle of scalp to get a good density. After the hair transplant was done, I was surprised that the grafts were spread over the whole bald area including the crown ( even I know that grafts are valuable and should not be wasted on the crown first). The crown was even transplanted at a higher density than middle of scalp. Please see first and last pictures.

Second, they COMPLETELY DESTROYED my donor area. The back of my head was not evenly harvested and looks so patchy with scars everywhere. In the first few months I was living with hope that it is shock loss and it will improve but I’m at month 5 and it has not improved much.They also over harvested my donor area by going outside the safe zone. Not only this thins out my crown, but also the grafts taken have a high risk of falling out in the future since they are not DHT resistant. The reason why this hurts is because these errors can’t be corrected. Until this day I can’t understand how any clinic can make such a mistake. Every time I look at my donor area, I hate myself and get depressed for choosing this clinic. Please see picture2 and let me know what your think.

As well, In the first few months I was living with hope and waiting for the hair to grow but my issues just continued to pile up and I could not catch a break. The more my hair grew, it did so at every direction and in the wrong angles with so many multiples in the hairline. This just destroyed me because I went to this clinic after asking them if they use microscopes and they confirmed. Plus, the doctor opened the channels himself.

After I brought these issues up with the clinic, I was told that everything looks fine in there end, that I’m just being paranoid and I should wait 12 months for the final results. Also, I was told that the reason I’m being so anxious is because I did not prepare myself mentally to have a hair transplant and I should seek help. Well, I’m a logical guy and I analyze things for living and I also understand that I’m only month 5 and it’s part of the waiting game. But, I really feel that all of the issues I brought up are valid and they won’t correct themselves in a year. Please let me know what you think.

Now to the options part. I’m not interested in SMP so that leaves with two options:

1- seek a reputable doctor with a good track record with repair surgeries and hope I have enough donor and beard hair to fix this mess. But, I could not tolerate medications so what if I continue to lose my hair.

2- give up on the recipient area and restock the donor area with both donor and beard hair to allow me to go back to shave my head ( I understand that I will still have some scars but I’m willing to live with small amount of scars) I have already reached out to Dr Mwamba, Dr Bisanga, Dr pekiner and HLC since they all specialize in donor restocking.

if I go with option 1, I will have to wait at least a year to see how things develops up top, but option 2 can be done anytime now.

Please let me know what you think or any other option you would recommend.

lastly, I would like to hear from anyone on this forum who has had a bad hair transplant and how were they able to cope with it. Being in such situation is extremely overwhelming and I don’t wish it on anyone.

thanks,

 

 

 

Edited March 6, 2020 by AlG83

[83mjs]

Mate I'm sorry it does look like the work done was sub par, although as you know at 5 months there is still plenty of time for improvement.

I would say that your donor area does look patchy yes but to the average person on the street I don't think they would look twice at it, I don't think it looks awful. It's not as bad as you think.

Best thing to do I think is consult with some top-tier surgeons (I see you've already started) and see what they say, also given a repair is inherently more complex in person consultations would be best.

It is recoverable and it's not as bad as you think. You look fine from what I can see.

[mayerr90]

Hi Mate it doesn't look bad. I think you should be patient some.

[147break]

Your donor area doesn't look too bad to me. I can see why you're bothered by it but it will look normal to the average person. The only bit that might catch somebody's eye is the patch above the ear. Best of luck with it mate, this is definitely fixable IMO

[KarmaPolice]

I'm pretty sure SMP can easily cover up those patches at the back, so you're fine and it doesn't look that bad. 

That being said it doesn't look like the procedure was carried out professionally and they've more or less put you in a lose-lose situation, you need to get yourself a refund. 

[ITA]

@AlG83 I think the first thing you had to do on this forum was to indicate the name of the Clinic / Surgeon where you had the procedure, especially after what you were told "paranoid", "that you had not prepared yourself psychologically enough for a transplant  ".... As absurd as they answered.

[HairFunk]

This is a very sad case to read. Shame you've had to go through this ordeal! 5 months means you are half way through the growth phase and you will get more growth, though you may have some shock loss in the donor. You may have to consider some Scalp Pigmentation treatment though if nothing improves moving forward. Hope all works out!

[kirkland]

I can understand very much how overwhelming the feeling can be for you. I had an SMP treatment go wrong and now I have a permanent red 'tattoo' on my scalp. Won't take my hat off in public, feeling embarassed even around your family, refusing to go out at all if not necessary. I have been going through it all like you. But there is hope! You have options! It might be just shock loss and over time it will recover. So take some time to see what happens in the donor and then recipient. If it does not come back in donor, get some SMP. It will blend in those patches nicely. You might want to consider an FUT treatment if you don't have good growth. Between FUT and a BHT, you can rock a good head of hair again and not feel ashamed to go outside!

[Melvin- Admin]

Give it more time, I will be creating a thread on my own shock loss story, but my hair has improved a lot, at one point it looked very similar. 

[tesla007]

Brother it doesn't look bad. Stay happy and give it a little time.

Please mention the name of the clinic. We are all in the same boat as you. It will help others in taking a decisive decision.

[bismarck]

Don't jump the gun -- I've seen results that started like this that ended up beautifully. Be patient, get on meds if you can, keep a healthy lifestyle, try not to look into the mirror too much.

Some users have suggested an infrared cap might also help, though I'm not sure about this.

[miko]

Please, which clinic/surgeon did it to you? 

[LonelyGraft]

On 3/28/2020 at 9:57 PM, bismarck said:

Don't jump the gun -- I've seen results that started like this that ended up beautifully. Be patient, get on meds if you can, keep a healthy lifestyle, try not to look into the mirror too much.

Some users have suggested an infrared cap might also help, though I'm not sure about this.

Please define “healthy lifestyle” and how it would help this patient 

[bismarck]

7 hours ago, LonelyGraft said:

Please define “healthy lifestyle” and how it would help this patient 

Low androgen activities and high cardiovascular health. It's a big topic.

[LonelyGraft]

1 hour ago, bismarck said:

Low androgen activities and high cardiovascular health. It's a big topic.

I’m still not sure what you mean. Are you implying that lots of cardio decreases androgen levels? How can any of what you’re describing help his transplant?

[83mjs]

1 hour ago, LonelyGraft said:

I’m still not sure what you mean. Are you implying that lots of cardio decreases androgen levels? How can any of what you’re describing help his transplant?

I *think* it's been proven that endurance sports e.g. marathon running or long distance cycling crush T levels, anecdotally I know when I trained for a marathon my sex drive plummeted as the miles went up. How this relates to hair loss isn't clear to me. For example Chris Froome is balding very badly. If it was as simple as hammering the cardio to halt hair loss that would be great but I am not convinced.