~3,200 graft FUT with Dr. Konior - March 8, 2021

[Zinedine]

On 3/11/2021 at 6:20 PM, Egott92 said:

Hi all,

Since everyone on this forum has been instrumental in my years of research for the best surgeon for me, I figured I'd pay it back by making this thread about my 3,200 FUT frontal restoration procedure with Dr. Konior. I traveled from Miami to Chicago for the procedure.

Dr. Konior initially scheduled me for a 3,000 graft FUT to restore the front hair line and densely pack. He ended up extracting around 3,200. It's only been 48 hours since the procedure, so I don't have any exact counts yet. I'll ask and get the exact numbers and types of grafts (singles, doubles, triples, etc) during my check ups this week.

DAY OF SURGERY:

I arrived at 6:30AM and quickly began the in-person consult with Dr. Konior. My first impression was exactly why I consider him to be one of the best in the business. We literally spent over an hour discussing the perfect hairline design for me. He tweaked it every few seconds for at least 20 minutes until it was perfect. As others have noted, he's a true perfectionist. I initially was nervous to ask for a slightly more aggressive hairline, but we both agreed on an age appropriate yet significantly lowered hairline that nicely filled in my temples. I promised to stay on finasteride/minoxidil for life (I already have been on moxidil for 4 years, and topical finasteride for 1 uear) so I can at least maintain my native hairs. 

After the 1 hour consult and agreement on the hairline, it was time to go into the operating room. I was given medication to help me relax and dose off. Every time I woke up, Dr. Konior was right by my side. I don't think he ever left the room except for when I had my own breaks for lunch and bathroom. I was extremely comfortable. Like others have mentioned, the only slightly painful part was the injection of the numbing agent in the donor area. The best part of this entire experience was that there was no rush. We had all day, I was the only patient he was seeing that day, and he did  the entire procedure with only minimal help from technicians (based on what I could feel/hear -- my eyes were covered with a gauze). The primary technician has been with him for 27 years. 

It was a long day. The procedure ended at around 9PM. So, 6:30AM until 9PM. Since the procedure, I've had some discomfort on the incision line (to be expected) but the recipient area doesn't hurt at all. The pain relief meds have definitely helped tons.

PRE-OP PHOTOS:

 

 

PRE-OP HAIRLINE DESIGN

POST-OP (between 1-2 days after procedure):

 

 

I'm pretty swolen, so I'm sure once the swelling goes down so too will the hairline height. Either way, I'm thrilled thus far. You can tell it's really nicely/densely packed. Once I receive the exact numbers I will update the community. 

Lastly, I just want to say thank you all for sharing your experiences on this forum. I hope to pay it forward with this post and future updates.

Now, the waiting game..

 

 

Wow, this looks just perfect! Beautiful work by Dr Konior.

Gonna be an outstanding result! Thanks for showing your updates.

 

[Sparky]

new growth at 1.5 months? this result is going to be insane!

[Melvin- Admin]

40 minutes ago, Sparky said:

new growth at 1.5 months? this result is going to be insane!

Damn HRN OG haha

[Egott92]

On 5/6/2021 at 9:31 AM, Zinedine said:

 

 

Wow, this looks just perfect! Beautiful work by Dr Konior.

Gonna be an outstanding result! Thanks for showing your updates.

 

Thanks for the kind words! Fingers crossed :)

 

On 5/6/2021 at 5:31 PM, Sparky said:

new growth at 1.5 months? this result is going to be insane!

I think the oral minoxidil + finasteride is playing a big part here. Thanks!

 

 

[Egott92]

Hi all! 

Here are the 2 months post-op updates. I think it's all pretty average for 2 months. I was hoping for a bit more since I'm taking oral fin and oral minox, but that's just me being greedy.

You can see a small red area in the recipient zone where I recently popped a pimple. I've been getting small pimples on the recipient area for the last month or so. Apparently this is normal as hair starts to grow. Dr. Konior told me to lightly scratch them in the shower once they've formed a head so the puss can come out (gross, I know).

Other than that, no major updates. Scar is finally healing a bit and itchiness around recipient area is pretty common at night. 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

[makehairgreatagain]

Looks very normal. Keep being patient.

[Melvin- Admin]

Looks absolutely normal for two months.

[notsosure]

Looks good to me, man. I'm 1 month and 2 weeks in now. I shaved my head again with the 1 guard, so it wasn't so uneven. Almost all of my recipient hair has fallen out now. Still definitely have that pink coloring in the recipient area like you do. I'm excited to see how your hair looks when you start getting all the tiny little hairs popping up out of the scalp. I think you'll be about 3 weeks ahead of me. I started Rogaine at week 3. Thanks for posting your update and good luck!

[Egott92]

5 hours ago, notsosure said:

Looks good to me, man. I'm 1 month and 2 weeks in now. I shaved my head again with the 1 guard, so it wasn't so uneven. Almost all of my recipient hair has fallen out now. Still definitely have that pink coloring in the recipient area like you do. I'm excited to see how your hair looks when you start getting all the tiny little hairs popping up out of the scalp. I think you'll be about 3 weeks ahead of me. I started Rogaine at week 3. Thanks for posting your update and good luck!

Totally normal! I think we'll both start seeing some real preliminary results in about 2 months. The wait is killer, but hopefully worth it. Smart move with the rogaine - there's some research suggesting it lessens shock loss of recipient hair (maybe even expediting final results). Thanks for the comment man. Looking forward to following your progress too!

[Egott92]

6 hours ago, makehairgreatagain said:

Looks very normal. Keep being patient.

Getting my crown done by Dr. Konior in January. If I can get even half of your crown results I'd be in heaven! 

[NM156]

6 hours ago, Egott92 said:

Hi all! 

Here are the 2 months post-op updates. I think it's all pretty average for 2 months. I was hoping for a bit more since I'm taking oral fin and oral minox, but that's just me being greedy.

You can see a small red area in the recipient zone where I recently popped a pimple. I've been getting small pimples on the recipient area for the last month or so. Apparently this is normal as hair starts to grow. Dr. Konior told me to lightly scratch them in the shower once they've formed a head so the puss can come out (gross, I know).

Other than that, no major updates. Scar is finally healing a bit and itchiness around recipient area is pretty common at night. 

Thoughts?

 

 

 

Patience, patience, patience. I too was a little worried after two months. The growth will come in after the shed  and I trust you will be very happy.

Patience, you went to one of the top docs in the industry .

 

 

 

[Egott92]

4 minutes ago, NM156 said:

Patience, patience, patience. I too was a little worried after two months. The growth will come in after the shed  and I trust you will be very happy.

Patience, you went to one of the top docs in the industry .

 

 

 

Yep - I’m patient. I expected this and I’m aware it’ll be at least another 2 months before I start seeing growth. 

[Pablito]

7 hours ago, Egott92 said:

itchiness around recipient area is pretty common at night

I'm at 7 weeks post op and I have the same. All day no itching but when I lay my head on a pillow to finally get some rest, the itching starts. I contacted my surgeon and she told me that it is likely that new hairs that are starting to poke through the scalp can cause it.

[notsosure]

37 minutes ago, Pablito said:

I'm at 7 weeks post op and I have the same. All day no itching but when I lay my head on a pillow to finally get some rest, the itching starts. I contacted my surgeon and she told me that it is likely that new hairs that are starting to poke through the scalp can cause it.

Wow, new hairs at 7 weeks? Nice!

[Egott92]

2 hours ago, Pablito said:

I'm at 7 weeks post op and I have the same. All day no itching but when I lay my head on a pillow to finally get some rest, the itching starts. I contacted my surgeon and she told me that it is likely that new hairs that are starting to poke through the scalp can cause it.

The itchiness is very common during the growth phase. I think it’s also partly psychological (at least for me). When I’m laying in bed with no distractions I start to hyperfocus on different sensations. In our case, it may be the itchiness. Has your doctor recommended any solutions? Raw aloe vera leaf (not the processed stuff) has helped when it’s unbearable. If your scalp is dry, ask your doctor if you can lightly spray some Aquaphor ointment. That has helped most of all, but it does leave the scalp oily.  
 

 

[A Fue Good Men]

Dr. Konior and Dr. Nadimi have some of the cleanest looking post op areas in both recipient and donor. Their attention to detail is undeniable 

[makehairgreatagain]

18 hours ago, Egott92 said:

Getting my crown done by Dr. Konior in January. If I can get even half of your crown results I'd be in heaven! 

Your crown looks a lot better than mine when I started so you'll be a great candidate! Please document it! Not enough crown cases on here.

[Egott92]

3 minutes ago, makehairgreatagain said:

Your crown looks a lot better than mine when I started so you'll be a great candidate! Please document it! Not enough crown cases on here.

Do you think? I feel like mine is more diffuse than yours. I definitely will document it though! 

[makehairgreatagain]

I'd agree with you. How many grafts are you needing?

[Egott92]

1 minute ago, makehairgreatagain said:

I'd agree with you. How many grafts are you needing?

I’m going for a max FUE harvest, so probably 2,200. But I was hoping to maybe get at least 300-400 of those to beef up the front if needed. 

[A Fue Good Men]

10 hours ago, Egott92 said:

I’m going for a max FUE harvest, so probably 2,200. But I was hoping to maybe get at least 300-400 of those to beef up the front if needed. 

What do you mean by max fue harvest? Is that the maximum Dr. Konior does in 1 day?

 

what is the reason for wanting to go fue rather than fut for the second surgery?

[Egott92]

4 minutes ago, 5BetaReductase said:

What do you mean by max fue harvest? Is that the maximum Dr. Konior does in 1 day?

 

what is the reason for wanting to go fue rather than fut for the second surgery?

Correct. Max FUE is ~2,000-2,200 grafts and max FUT is ~3,000-3,200.

Mostly because recovery wasn't fun since it's a more invasive procedure relative to FUE, and I don't want another linear scar. I may eventually do a smaller FUE to fill in the FUT scar so I can wear my sides short.

[A Fue Good Men]

1 minute ago, Egott92 said:

Correct. Max FUE is ~2,000-2,200 grafts and max FUT is ~3,000-3,200.

Mostly because recovery wasn't fun since it's a more invasive procedure relative to FUE, and I don't want another linear scar. I may eventually do a smaller FUE to fill in the FUT scar so I can wear my sides short.

Gotcha, makes sense. I believe with a subsequent fut, they remove from the same area so you just have that one scar.

[Egott92]

7 minutes ago, 5BetaReductase said:

Gotcha, makes sense. I believe with a subsequent fut, they remove from the same area so you just have that one scar.

I see. I still have some time to decide and potentially switch to FUT, but the 2 weeks post-op with sutures in was brutal. I really don't want to go through that again. I'll see how the frontal results come in and decide if the extra 1,000 grafts from FUT might be worth the pain.

Edited May 13, 2021 by Egott92

[A Fue Good Men]

22 minutes ago, Egott92 said:

I see. I still have some time to decide and potentially switch to FUT, but the 2 weeks post-op with sutures in was brutal. I really don't want to go through that again. I'll see how the frontal results come in and decide if the extra 1,000 grafts from FUT might be worth the pain.

Are you already booked? If so, what’s the wait like?