Dr. John Diep - 3,619 grafts FUT

[Aurelius]

This is a review for Dr. John Diep (MHTA Clinic).

I met with the Dr. in December 2019 and he advised a FUT process to partially restore hair on the front top of my head. Due to a cancelation, I was able to have the procedure mid-February 2020. I am extremely pleased with the results and particularly happy about the design of my hairline. During my research it was not easy finding pictures and descriptions that clearly described what someone at my age and with my level of hair loss might experience if I were to pull the trigger on hair restoration.

I hope that my post here may help others be more prepared if they choose a similar procedure and perhaps also help in making various decisions related to the procedure. I'm not one to post personal information but I do feel compelled to share my experience as this can be a life altering decision.

Please note that this is my experience only and I am not advocating that anyone choose or not choose to do hair restoration. I am only sharing what has happened in my case.

My views:

• There is nothing to be ashamed about if you are losing your hair.
• There is nothing to be ashamed about if you want to restore your hair.

Why I chose to restore my hair:

• Mild but consistent hair thinning since mid-thirties.
• Rapid hair loss after prostate cancer at age 55 (successful prostatectomy - no chemo/rad).
• At 58, when I looked in the mirror, I believed that I looked 15 years older than I felt.

Why I chose Dr. Diep:

• I was able to find many positive reviews and some online pictures of Dr. Diep's work that were relevant to me.
• I wanted a doctor that performs a LOT of hair restorations.
• Consistent theme of reviews was "natural hairline" and "hairline artist." I wanted an age-appropriate hairline.
• The online description of the process as somewhat clear; the in-person meeting answered all remaining questions.
• I spoke with a couple of other well-known specialist who did not impress. Cost and location were not differentiators for me.

Restoration particulars:

• Date: February 2020
• Norwood 4
• Procedure: handful of various pills, comfortable chair, 15-20 minute conversation, the next thing I remember was being driven home. I was given lunch but I don't remember eating.
• Length: All day, early morning start.
• FUT 3,619 grafts. Front hairline and top of head toward crown.
• Opted for AminoFill and A-Cell injections.

Post-Op:

• Most of the pain was along the incision line which for me was "U" shaped from behind mid-ear on each side. Some pain in the new hair area but minor.
• I was prescribed narcotics but I only took Advil for a few days and the pain was manageable.
• The first 2-3 nights, sleeping was very uncomfortable. Every night after that was progressively better.
• Complete numbness on both sides of the incision. This began to improve after a couple of months. 100% nerve recovery below the incision after 6 months. About 95% nerve recovery above the incision after 11 months.
• I was meticulous in following scalp and hair cleaning instructions. The incision area needs a few weeks of consistent attention.
• In-office suture removal at 3 weeks.
• I was back to a vigorous workout schedule after one month.
• I wore a hat in public for about 3 weeks, always protected against the sun.
• I've been taking finasteride just in case it helps promote growth. No side effects for me.

I am planning on a second and final FUT procedure with Dr. Diep in the next few months to restore hair on the crown. This will take approximately 2,000-2,500 grafts.

These pictures span from procedure date to nine-months post: Days 1 and 2; Months 2,3,4,5,7,9.  Please excuse any lack of photo quality.

[Melvin- Admin]

Holy crap 😱 that looks freakin amazing. I’m shocked you got that density for under 4k grafts. 

[Britanium]

Very nice result for that amount of grafts. Thanks for the detailed write up! 🙏

[aaron1234]

Excellent result!  

[MichaelD]

Holy shit. That looks amazing!

[Skyb]

Somebody the other day called me a Dr Diep “fan boy” and it’s because of results like this!! My god   this has to be in the top 5 results I have ever seen in my life. Hair line is perfect and it looks like he took you from a class 6 to damn near full coverage. You look decades younger. I stand by my statement putting Diep as one of the best. 

[naakmuka]

Wow! Homerun result!

[giegnosiganoe]

It would be great if you can show more revealing photos, such as parting your hair down the middle, or from directly above so we can more clearly see the non-transplanted areas

[yesplease]

Wow, that's a great frontal third restoration and an excellent hairline. Good for you!

For completeness sake, since you said he restored hair in the midscalp and towards the crown as well, it would be great to see a top down shot. 

How is the scar healing up and maturing? Any shots of that?

 

[deitel130]

Great result.

[Aurelius]

15 hours ago, Skyb said:

Somebody the other day called me a Dr Diep “fan boy” and it’s because of results like this!! My god   this has to be in the top 5 results I have ever seen in my life. Hair line is perfect and it looks like he took you from a class 6 to damn near full coverage. You look decades younger. I stand by my statement putting Diep as one of the best. 

Thank you. According to Dr. Diep I'm currently Norwood 3. I still have a way to go to restore the crown, but just having the hairline and front top restored has been a major change in the way I look and feel.

[Aurelius]

15 hours ago, giegnosiganoe said:

It would be great if you can show more revealing photos, such as parting your hair down the middle, or from directly above so we can more clearly see the non-transplanted areas

Happy to do so. Please see below. These photos were taken this morning (11 months post). I am trying to use bright light here so follicles are more conspicuous. Sadly, haircuts are hard to come by atm due to the CA stay-at-home order.

[giegnosiganoe]

Thanks for the added photos, and congratulations on the results.

Despite some of the hate Dr Diep receives on here, he does seem to get great growth.

[Aurelius]

12 hours ago, yesplease said:

Wow, that's a great frontal third restoration and an excellent hairline. Good for you!

For completeness sake, since you said he restored hair in the midscalp and towards the crown as well, it would be great to see a top down shot. 

How is the scar healing up and maturing? Any shots of that?

 

Thank you. I just posted a top down shot above. The scar healed up nicely and it was barely noticeable that last time I had a real haircut. There is still minor numbness above the scar on the right side, 100% nerves on the left side. Please see photos of scar areas taken this morning. Brushback of scar on both sides as best as I could. Since my next procedure will use the same scar line, I am asking Dr. Diep to tighten that up as much as possible for minimum noticeability.

[Melvin- Admin]

4 hours ago, Aurelius said:

Happy to do so. Please see below. These photos were taken this morning (11 months post). I am trying to use bright light here so follicles are more conspicuous. Sadly, haircuts are hard to come by atm due to the CA stay-at-home order.

Wow, I have to say that looks absolutely excellent. Shocking it’s less than 4k grafts. Do you plan on doing the crown?

[Aurelius]

17 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Wow, I have to say that looks absolutely excellent. Shocking it’s less than 4k grafts. Do you plan on doing the crown?

Thank you Melvin. Yes, Dr. Diep will do the same FUT procedure with an estimated 2K - 2.5K grafts.

Hoping for similar results with perhaps a slightly easier recovery

[Melvin- Admin]

18 minutes ago, Aurelius said:

Thank you Melvin. Yes, Dr. Diep will do the same FUT procedure with an estimated 2K - 2.5K grafts.

Hoping for similar results with perhaps a slightly easier recovery

That’s gonna finish it off nicely. Very happy for you man, when are you gonna get the next procedure?

[Aurelius]

6 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

That’s gonna finish it off nicely. Very happy for you man, when are you gonna get the next procedure?

Thanks. As soon as possible. Hopefully around the same time a COVID vaccination comes my way.

[Melvin- Admin]

5 minutes ago, Aurelius said:

Thanks. As soon as possible. Hopefully around the same time a COVID vaccination comes my way.

Nice man, I hope you come here and share your journey with us.

[Aurelius]

18 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Nice man, I hope you come here and share your journey with us.

Yes, will do.  Thanks.

[Fahri]

Wow, such a transformation. Very impressive! Thank you for sharing.

[js2020]

AWesome to see a great result. If you don't mind me asking, why doing a another FUT instead of FUE?  Is it to tighten FUT scar much as possible?

*You might aready know this info. I was told by Dr. Diep to avoid working out for about 6 months to avoid stretching the scar, mainly weight training, said walking was ok.  Also reading ws2020 post that he got steroid shots for recovery and tightening the scar and his FUT scar looks great.  Maybe he can do the same for your 2nd?

[Skyb]

That top view looks killer! Diep deff know how to place the grafts for maximizing coverage. Funny I noticed my fut scar and numbness is very little compared to my first session. Even the scar area looks less dramatic. First surgery   I deff rushed back into the gym to soon and got some stretch back. This time around I’m going to ensure a pencil thin scar Line by staying in a vegetative  state for six months or maybe I’ll live like a monk in top of the mountain till it fully heals. Jk!!! 

[Aurelius]

On 1/27/2021 at 2:20 PM, js2020 said:

AWesome to see a great result. If you don't mind me asking, why doing a another FUT instead of FUE?  Is it to tighten FUT scar much as possible?

*You might aready know this info. I was told by Dr. Diep to avoid working out for about 6 months to avoid stretching the scar, mainly weight training, said walking was ok.  Also reading ws2020 post that he got steroid shots for recovery and tightening the scar and his FUT scar looks great.  Maybe he can do the same for your 2nd?

Thank you. Dr. Diep suggested that my graft yield will be better with FUT and I have the scar anyway. If I could get the same result with FUE it would be tempting since recovery is easier (so I hear). On the other hand, the scar could be tightened a bit on the right side although it's not as high a priority to me as restoring the crown. I will be discussing FUE vs FUT and scar tightening with him in the next few days.  Based on you comment (thank you) I'll also discuss the steroid shots. Meanwhile, I am scheduled for the procedure in October.  

[Aurelius]

On 1/27/2021 at 7:24 PM, Skyb said:

That top view looks killer! Diep deff know how to place the grafts for maximizing coverage. Funny I noticed my fut scar and numbness is very little compared to my first session. Even the scar area looks less dramatic. First surgery   I deff rushed back into the gym to soon and got some stretch back. This time around I’m going to ensure a pencil thin scar Line by staying in a vegetative  state for six months or maybe I’ll live like a monk in top of the mountain till it fully heals. Jk!!! 

Thanks! I'm glad to hear about the scar after your second session. I'm curious how your overall recovery after second session is comparing to your first? And I did the same thing - I got back to exercise fairly quickly since 1) I was going crazy and gaining weight just sitting around watching hair slowly grow and 2) my hair grows a lot faster when I exercise and I figure the blood flow is good for general recovery. That said, I tried my best to stick to cardio low impact. I'm not unhappy with my scar but I can't claim that my exercise did not make it larger. Depending on what I can glean from this forum, I may dial exercise back a bit if I opt for FUT. Thanks again.