Dr. Konior 1,124 Grafts FUE (Crown)

[Melvin- Admin]

33 minutes ago, aaron1234 said:

Haha, indeed it is!  

You look 10 years younger, 12 years later. That’s amazing, definitely one of the most impressive transformations.

[aaron1234]

3 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

You look 10 years younger, 12 years later. That’s amazing, definitely one of the most impressive transformations.

Thanks Melvin, I really appreciate it.  It's been one hell of a ride.

[kramer79]

A journey that is a perfect example of proper donor management.

How was your laxity before starting your HT journey and through the process of getting multiple FUTs ?

[yesplease]

It would be very informative to see your strip scars and donor area in general following all of these procedures, if you felt comfortable sharing.

 

Either way, great result, enjoy it.

[aaron1234]

25 minutes ago, yesplease said:

It would be very informative to see your strip scars and donor area in general following all of these procedures, if you felt comfortable sharing.

Sure!  Below are day 3 post-op donor shots that reveal my battle scars in all their glory.  They aren't pencil thin, but they aren't a problem either.  I'll restate that the scar from my first surgery (labeled below) was considered too high by both Dr. Ron and Paul Shapiro, so it was not excised in subsequent procedures.  The mole biopsy was done because Dr. Paul thought it looked suspicious during my surgery.  He was right, it was a mild dysplastic nevus. 

[aaron1234]

57 minutes ago, kramer79 said:

How was your laxity before starting your HT journey and through the process of getting multiple FUTs ?

Laxity was about average, even from the beginning.  I did prepare for my surgeries by doing scalp exercises which may have helped. 

[kramer79]

What is the shortest you can go down in the donor region without the scars being detectable?

[aaron1234]

1 minute ago, kramer79 said:

What is the shortest you can go down in the donor region without the scars being detectable?

I would guess around a 4 or a 5 guard.  I don't use clippers, my stylist always uses scissors for the sides and back.

[giegnosiganoe]

How come Konior didn't use the same scar that Shapiro did?

[aaron1234]

4 minutes ago, giegnosiganoe said:

How come Konior didn't use the same scar that Shapiro did?

He did on the right side, but not on the left side.  I'm pretty sure it was a simple judgement call to get more grafts.

[Britanium]

Loving those temple points ! And yes the FUT scars are not too bad at all. 

[champybaby]

5 hours ago, aaron1234 said:

I would guess around a 4 or a 5 guard.  I don't use clippers, my stylist always uses scissors for the sides and back.

I opted for a five to play it safe after my second FUT. I'm getting that scar filled in about another month or two using beard. Gut tells me I'll be thanking myself 10, 20 years from now. Plus, I really miss buzzing the sides shorter ....

Any plans for getting your scar filled with beard?

[aaron1234]

2 hours ago, champybaby said:

Any plans for getting your scar filled with beard?

Nah.  Any grafts I get are best used on top.  My scars aren't noticeable unless my hair is soaking wet. ☔

[kramer79]

2 hours ago, aaron1234 said:

Nah.  Any grafts I get are best used on top.  My scars aren't noticeable unless my hair is soaking wet. ☔

Do you think they are noticeable because there are multiple scars?

So after being in the pool it's noticeable to the general public?

[OliverAtom]

On 2/10/2021 at 4:40 AM, aaron1234 said:

Alternate thread title, "Maniac gets 7th transplant?!?!" 🤪  This post requires some background.  I had my first FUT at 28, rushing into it without doing my due diligence.  I wasn't botched, but I had cobblestoning and multi-haired grafts in the hairline.  Thankfully it was only 1k grafts and my donor still had plenty to offer. One year later, Dr. Paul Shapiro and the good folks at SMG performed a game-changing FUT (2,348 grafts), removing the multi-haired grafts from the hairline, creating a more natural hairline and providing a significant density boost to the front.  Seeking more density, I returned to SMG two years later for a 3rd FUT (2,000 grafts).  The photos from these procedures are documented in my blog, linked below in my signature.  I'm forever grateful to the SMG team and highly recommend them.

In 2015 I noticed a decrease in volume in the front, but I knew my options were becoming more limited.  I set up an appointment with Dr. Konior.  Noticing my limited scalp mobility he said, "I believe your days of strip surgeries are over."  However, he did notice some laxity on the sides of my head above my ears.  I had a decision to make; either begin FUE or do two small strips to make use of the localized laxity I had left.  I'm probably a NW5-6, so completely maxing out on strip made sense to me.  In the summer of 2015 Dr. Konior removed a strip on my left side that yielded 771 grafts and he sprinkled them throughout my frontal tuft.  The pictures below are from another clinic for an elective surgery not hair-related, but they still show a significant increase in volume in the front at just six months post-op (before on the left, after on the right).  

Two years later I returned to Dr. Konior and he removed a strip on my right side that yielded 558 grafts.  These grafts were implanted just behind the frontal tuft, reinforcing the center bridge.  I do not have pictures for this specific procedure but the improvement was also noticeable.  

Fast forward to the summer of 2020.  I had originally booked a 500 graft, no-shave FUE procedure with Dr. Konior to address my crown.  Covid happened, everything shut down, and my public engagements were cancelled. Dr. Konior was kind enough to aim for a higher graft total and I was happy to shave my head in order to make the most of the surgery.  Even though I put "crown" in the title, Dr. Konior only used about 700 of the 1,124 grafts in the crown, a similar number to what @1978matt had done.  The remaining grafts were placed throughout the front and 70 grafts were used on each side to recreate the temple points.  I'm thrilled with the results at the 8th month mark, and I have a feeling that I'm pretty close to being a finished product. It gets stated often on this forum, but I cannot recommend Dr. Konior highly enough, not only for his surgical talents but also his longterm planning.  

Total FUT: 6,977 - Total FUE: 1,124 - Total Grafts: 8,101

 

Wow!!! This is an amazing work on that Crown!

And it´s yet 8 months, I´m pretty sure that will improve ...

Supercongratulations and thanks for sharing 😉

 

[aaron1234]

50 minutes ago, kramer79 said:

Do you think they are noticeable because there are multiple scars?

So after being in the pool it's noticeable to the general public?

Oh, that's definitely true.  I used to live in a condo with an outdoor pool, and I only used it at night.  I think that would have been true even with just one scar.

26 minutes ago, OliverAtom said:

Wow!!! This is an amazing work on that Crown!

And it´s yet 8 months, I´m pretty sure that will improve ...

Supercongratulations and thanks for sharing 😉

 

@OliverAtom Thanks! And I completely agree!

[Melvin- Admin]

12 hours ago, aaron1234 said:

Sure!  Below are day 3 post-op donor shots that reveal my battle scars in all their glory.  They aren't pencil thin, but they aren't a problem either.  I'll restate that the scar from my first surgery (labeled below) was considered too high by both Dr. Ron and Paul Shapiro, so it was not excised in subsequent procedures.  The mole biopsy was done because Dr. Paul thought it looked suspicious during my surgery.  He was right, it was a mild dysplastic nevus. 

Perfect example of maximizing with FUT.  How many grafts you guess you got left? You got some beard hair too!

[aaron1234]

6 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

 How many grafts you guess you got left? You got some beard hair too!

Not sure, but Dr. K said that I have more left in the tank.  We'll see what he says at my one year check up which I plan to do in-person over the summer. I guess I have around 1k grafts left since my donor region still looks reasonably dense.  I do have beard hair but I did laser hair removal on my neck years ago because I kept getting ingrown hairs when I shaved.  Oh well!

[anotherhairlosssufferer]

Man what amazing results! 8k grafts and more left?! That is nuts, I should have gone with the FUT   Did you have above average donor density? I doubt I'll have more than 4-5k given how my donor looks after only 2k FUE grafts

Also you said your front thinned a little after the first procedure - was that the transplanted hairs or native? I started paying more attention to the longevity of transplanted hairs as there are cases where it's not permanent.

[aaron1234]

@anotherhairlosssufferer

Do I have above average donor density?  Definitely not.  Pretty much about average, maybe less so. In fact, I have some mild retrograde alopecia in the nape area which doesn’t help.

Was the thinning transplanted or native hairs? Now that’s the million dollar question.  It would be naive for me to say that every graft that initially yielded, out of the 8K grafts I’ve had implanted over the past 12 years, is still producing hair today.  If they did then I doubt I would have needed to fill in gaps in the frontal third over several transplants.  That being said, at the age of 27 I had a significant response in the frontal, mid-scalp, and crown regions from two years of taking 1mg finasteride.  I highly doubt that all of the native hairs finasteride regenerated 13 years ago are still with me today.  It would be impossible for me to definitively say that a thinning region was due to expired transplanted or native hairs when I got the transplant among native hairs in the first place.  In short, I don’t know for sure but possibly a little bit of both.  I know that’s not exactly comforting, but rest assured I didn’t wake up one day with all of my transplanted hairs on my pillow.

[Spanker]

What a success story. 

 

Aaron and I go way back in the hairloss game. Im really happy about this and your overall outcome and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.  He is like the Mr. Rogers of the HT world. Total class act. Congrats buddy. 

[giegnosiganoe]

Hey one other question, I'm curious what made you decide to switch from Shapiro to Konior?

[aaron1234]

6 hours ago, Spanker said:

Aaron and I go way back in the hairloss game. Im really happy about this and your overall outcome and it couldn't have happened to a nicer guy.  He is like the Mr. Rogers of the HT world. Total class act. Congrats buddy. 

So if I'm the Mr. Rogers of the HT world, does that make me..... 🤔 Aaron Rogers? 😁  Thanks for the kind words my friend.  Still have fond memories of hanging in Chicago.

[aaron1234]

2 hours ago, giegnosiganoe said:

Hey one other question, I'm curious what made you decide to switch from Shapiro to Konior?

Dr. Paul Shapiro retired from surgery and I was living in Chicago at the time, so the switch to Dr. K made sense.  SMG and Dr. K are both equal partners in my successful outcome, grateful to them both!  My only regret is my first surgery.... live and learn.

[RandoBrando517]

Knowing what you know now, would you have gone FUT first?