Should I get second hair transplant?

[Hairybiker]

I am 5 months post op -1600 grafts. I am not happy with the way it is going. They refused to transplant any hair in the temples as they said I am too young (32). I am going to be left with a great forelock but with very receded temple points. Any advice? Should I get a second transplant to fill in the temples a bit elsewhere? I am also on finasteride and Regaine and feel like I am maintaining what I have got.

They also charged me £7.50 a graft which is very expensive. I reckon it would take about 800 grafts to fill my temples in.

[TommyLucchese]

At 5 months you've barely started growing - you'll be surprised how good a conservative hairline looks at 12 - 18 months when it's all grown out. 

Sit back and relax! There's a long way to go.

£7.50 is a lot - what doctor did you go with?

[Britanium]

+1 to above. Could you share some pics please? 

[Hairybiker]

1 hour ago, JohnAC71 said:

+1 to above. Could you share some pics please? 

The top 2 photos are what my hair looks like 5 months from the transplant. Third one is day after transplant and first one is my hair 18 months ago. I have been on finasteride for 6 months. Could this improve the temples any further?

[Britanium]

Are you in the Uk? If so I would consult with Dr Arshad/Dr Reddy and Dr Edward Ball. Although I’m curious who you went too for your first Ht? 
Fin will help retain what hair you do have all the time you stay on it.

For 5 months out it looks ok. But yes if it was me I would be looking to improve the frontal third further. 

Edited December 4, 2020 by JohnAC71

[Hairybiker]

1 minute ago, JohnAC71 said:

Are you in the Uk? If so I would consult with Dr Arshad/Dr Reddy and Dr Edward Ball. Although I’m curious who you went too for your first Ht? 
Fin will help retain what hair you do have all the time you stay on it. 

I'm based in Ireland. I don't want to name the surgeon. Does it look like it was a good job? Will the result get much better? The temples annoy me but as I said they would not fill them in.

[Britanium]

I think I may know who it is. But yes what’s done looks fine and is growing. But it could be improved upon. Another clinic would be able to do this for sure. I don’t consider that 31 years of age  is early. Let’s say you stay on fin and then look to get another ht after yours has reached 12 months.

[Hairybiker]

3 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

I think I may know who it is. But yes what’s done looks fine and is growing. But it could be improved upon. Another clinic would be able to do this for sure. I don’t consider that 31 years of age  is early. Let’s say you stay on fin and then look to get another ht after yours has reached 12 months.

How many grafts do you think it would take? I have considered Dr Nel. Are you familiar with his work?

[Britanium]

4 minutes ago, Hairybiker said:

How many grafts do you think it would take? I have considered Dr Nel. Are you familiar with his work?

Difficult to say looking at the pics. I’m not familiar with Dr Nel. The top 3 I would consider in the Uk I mentioned above. Although if your willing to travel there are some very decent Drs in Europe too. Dr Bisanga for example. 
Or you can consider HDC @Doron Haratiis the rep. 
I know it’s early days for you as you still have another 7 months of your current ht to grow out. You maybe happy at the end of it. But if not it’s good to plan ahead and do plenty of research in the meantime.

 

Edited December 4, 2020 by JohnAC71

[Doron Harati]

@Hairybiker if you want another procedure you must wait 9 months, honestly I don't understand why they didn't cover the temples.

[Hairybiker]

29 minutes ago, Doron Harati said:

@Hairybiker if you want another procedure you must wait 9 months, honestly I don't understand why they didn't cover the temples.

I don't understand either especially as I am on finasteride and my hair loss has been very slow -started at 16. How many grafts do you think it would take? 

[Melvin- Admin]

5 months is too early to consider a second procedure. Give it another 5 months before thinking about another one.

[Doron Harati]

3 hours ago, Hairybiker said:

I don't understand either especially as I am on finasteride and my hair loss has been very slow -started at 16. How many grafts do you think it would take? 

Your photos in black, it's hard to say.. Let's say minimum 1500 grafts rough estimation, that also depends if we need to lower the hairline by 1cm which I am not sure, please mail on private with more clear photos and I'll help you with better estimation, I am the representative of Dr. Maras at HDC clinic in Cyprus.

[DenverBuff1989]

@Hairybiker one of the worst things about hair transplants is when you know you're going to get a bad or unsatisfactory result, but you must wait 10-11 months before getting a 2nd procedure (trust me I know). As others have said, you must wait at least 9  months before a 2nd procedure, bc the new doc must clearly see where the previous transplant hair was placed, make sure no grafts are randomly still growing bc you don't want new grafts placed on the existing ones. 

Some ppl are telling you to wait and see for 5 more months, maybe some miracle will happen. I have been in a similar situation, and I believe you need to trust your gut. 5 months is enough time for a general assessment. Its your hair, you look at it all the time and have a best judgement on it.

What you should do now to put your mind at ease is start researching other HT docs, and book something so you can get a repair job immediately at 10 months or so. 

For the age thing, 32 is not "young" at all to be getting a HT (I am 31 myself fwiw). At 32 your hair loss pattern should be fairly established. I will say tho, some docs have told me they don't operate on the crown until at least the age of 40, bc crown transplants are a b*tch and crown loss can be more variable in its loss progression. But in terms of the front and temples, no reason at 32 you can't have temple work done. 

Totally random, unsubstantiated pondering, but it kind of makes me wonder maybe the operating doc did not have the confidence or talent to work on your temples, so made some excuse up about your age. 

[Hairybiker]

32 minutes ago, DenverBuff1989 said:

@Hairybiker one of the worst things about hair transplants is when you know you're going to get a bad or unsatisfactory result, but you must wait 10-11 months before getting a 2nd procedure (trust me I know). As others have said, you must wait at least 9  months before a 2nd procedure, bc the new doc must clearly see where the previous transplant hair was placed, make sure no grafts are randomly still growing bc you don't want new grafts placed on the existing ones. 

Some ppl are telling you to wait and see for 5 more months, maybe some miracle will happen. I have been in a similar situation, and I believe you need to trust your gut. 5 months is enough time for a general assessment. Its your hair, you look at it all the time and have a best judgement on it.

What you should do now to put your mind at ease is start researching other HT docs, and book something so you can get a repair job immediately at 10 months or so. 

For the age thing, 32 is not "young" at all to be getting a HT (I am 31 myself fwiw). At 32 your hair loss pattern should be fairly established. I will say tho, some docs have told me they don't operate on the crown until at least the age of 40, bc crown transplants are a b*tch and crown loss can be more variable in its loss progression. But in terms of the front and temples, no reason at 32 you can't have temple work done. 

Totally random, unsubstantiated pondering, but it kind of makes me wonder maybe the operating doc did not have the confidence or talent to work on your temples, so made some excuse up about your age. 

I have already been doing my research for surgeons. I could start the ball rolling now by booking a few consultations and have a transplant booked for a few months time.

What I will say is that my hair transplant has improved things considerably so not a complete disaster. However it feels like an unfinished job that I paid over the top for. I still have very receded temples which makes styling very hard. 

Will I still have to wait until month 9/10 even though no hair was transplanted into the temples? 

[DenverBuff1989]

@Hairybiker If the temple region is clearly defined and a doctor agrees to do it now, then sure I don't see the harm in doing it now. But are you 100% satifisfied with your forelock growth as it is right at this very moment?

Say you get a HT on your temples next month, but then in 5 months you decide you aren't happy with your forelock, its not as dense as you want, etc. Then you'd need a 3rd HT to fix the forelock. Whereas if you wait 10 months to fix your temples, you can fix the temples and do a touchup on the forelock and any other areas as well. 

So yea if you are completely happy with your forelock now, even if there is no more growth on it, and a doctor is good with doing your temples now, then sure I don't see a problem doing it now. 

[Gasthoerer]

I am trying to be very honest:

- It looks like you have a great result, especially as we you are only at month 5.

- If the hairline is appropriate or not is not possible to tell from the pic one (!) pic you have presented, which by the way gives the impression that the hairline suits you.

If you really ask for advice and not just: "Nahh, you have to wait until month 12" or "Just go for it bro", we need pics from several angles (frontal, both sides etc.) focusing on the front and some pics from the status of your donor and crown.  

[Hairybiker]

2 hours ago, Gasthoerer said:

I am trying to be very honest:

- It looks like you have a great result, especially as we you are only at month 5.

- If the hairline is appropriate or not is not possible to tell from the pic one (!) pic you have presented, which by the way gives the impression that the hairline suits you.

If you really ask for advice and not just: "Nahh, you have to wait until month 12" or "Just go for it bro", we need pics from several angles (frontal, both sides etc.) focusing on the front and some pics from the status of your donor and crown.  

Here are a couple more photos. My crown is not that bad. Some slight thinning but nothing major. Finasteride has actually improved it.

[Hairybiker]

I have had a consultation with the clinic that did my first transplant and they have said that they would now fill in the temples. They said they refused to do this originally as I was not on on finasteride and they were unsure how my hair loss would progress. I understand this now.

Should I go with the clinic that did my first transplant or somewhere else that may be cheaper? The positives with the first clinic is that it's close to home, they know my history and they did deliver a good result. They can also do it in a couple of months time so it's a quick turnaround. The negative is that they are very expensive (£7.50 a graft) but I can afford it.

What are your opinions?

[Britanium]

10 minutes ago, Hairybiker said:

I have had a consultation with the clinic that did my first transplant and they have said that they would now fill in the temples. They said they refused to do this originally as I was not on on finasteride and they were unsure how my hair loss would progress. I understand this now.

Should I go with the clinic that did my first transplant or somewhere else that may be cheaper? The positives with the first clinic is that it's close to home, they know my history and they did deliver a good result. They can also do it in a couple of months time so it's a quick turnaround. The negative is that they are very expensive (£7.50 a graft) but I can afford it.

What are your opinions?

Personally I would choose another clinic. Dr Arshad is excellent choice (just for example) and he just happens to be better value too (£3-4 max) per graft.

That’s if you are aiming to stay in the Uk. 

[Melvin- Admin]

If you weren’t happy the first time why go back? A good clinic would at the very least give you a substantial discount for returning after not being happy.

[Hairybiker]

2 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

If you weren’t happy the first time why go back? A good clinic would at the very least give you a substantial discount for returning after not being happy.

They have said that they are going to give me some free grafts. 

[ITA]

If you are satisfied with your first surgery and you have no budget problems, I would recommend that you return.

[BLE123]

Wow, £7.50 per graft, that puts this surgeon as one of the most expensive in the world.

It's hard to tell from the photos provided but the work looks good, 1600 grafts seems a bit overkill for the area treated though?

[Hairybiker]

44 minutes ago, BLE123 said:

Wow, £7.50 per graft, that puts this surgeon as one of the most expensive in the world.

It's hard to tell from the photos provided but the work looks good, 1600 grafts seems a bit overkill for the area treated though?

They put some grafts in the forelock and bridge area where I already had hair to thicken it up a bit. I have attached what it looks like now. I think the work looks good. It's just frustrating about the temples. They say they will give me some free grafts if I go to them again.