Painful decade long journey. 34 yo | 3x HT

[track_rat]

27 minutes ago, BDK081522 said:

Great story of redemption! You chose wisely with Eugenix. Both doctors perform outstanding work. I don't think your hairline in the center is created to low. Once the hair grows out and you get some density it will look perfect and I wouldn't think you'd want to remove any of those grafts. Are you able to share a picture of your beard donor area immediately post op and one or two week photos. Just trying to get an idea of how fast this area heals as it seems to heal quicker than the occipital area from what I've seen. Thanks for your detailed review as well!

Thanks man. I appreciate the support.

Of course. I’ll get some photos up tonight after the gym. I have no shortage of beard progress photos. Let me choose a few good ones and post them up. 
 

I’ll prelude with saying that I was consumed with anxiety that I’d lost my beard and traded my face for a little hair up top. My beard has been with me for many years and is not something that I was prepared to lose. 
 

The good news is the initial week’s shock subsides and the empty patchiness starts to fill in. I still have some more holes to fill, but everyday I take photos I noticed new black dots scattered throughout. 
 

Dr. Bansal has assured me as well that she only extracted something to the tune of 40% of my under chin / neck beard hairs. So when at full potential, the slight sparseness should (key word on should) be undetectable to an untrained eye.

I bet this becomes less of an issue the longer you wear a beard, but I wear a pretty short trimmed and neatly lined beard. 

 

 

[Gatsby]

@track_rat you have been to hell and back (heading straight to heaven after your surgery from Eugenix)! I can relate in that I had two punch graft surgeries at 18 years of age and was left butchered all along my hair line and in my donor region. I can appreciate what you have gone through. I spent 25 years under a hair piece to hide the damage (and my baldness). I'm looking at sometime in the first half of next year to have surgery with Eugenix myself.

Patience is the hardest thing and trying not to be perfectionistic is even harder! Those lower fine hairs on your forehead only add to the natural result that you are heading for. I know how hard it is to trust surgery again when you've been butchered a couple of times. But Dr Pradeep and Dr Arika have a decade and more of expert experience under their belts. You have gone (in my opinion) to the best clinic in the world to repair your situation and to get you back to a great looking head of hair. I can already see how well the surgery has gone but try and suspend any anxiety of the surgery until you get to a year from now. You will have no regrets and will have your life back and then some! Wishing you all the best and I look forward to following your journey!

[track_rat]

1 hour ago, Gatsby said:

@track_rat you have been to hell and back (heading straight to heaven after your surgery from Eugenix)! I can relate in that I had two punch graft surgeries at 18 years of age and was left butchered all along my hair line and in my donor region. I can appreciate what you have gone through. I spent 25 years under a hair piece to hide the damage (and my baldness). I'm looking at sometime in the first half of next year to have surgery with Eugenix myself.

Patience is the hardest thing and trying not to be perfectionistic is even harder! Those lower fine hairs on your forehead only add to the natural result that you are heading for. I know how hard it is to trust surgery again when you've been butchered a couple of times. But Dr Pradeep and Dr Arika have a decade and more of expert experience under their belts. You have gone (in my opinion) to the best clinic in the world to repair your situation and to get you back to a great looking head of hair. I can already see how well the surgery has gone but try and suspend any anxiety of the surgery until you get to a year from now. You will have no regrets and will have your life back and then some! Wishing you all the best and I look forward to following your journey!

Hey Gatsby. Thank you, my friend. Your supportiveness and encouragement is really helpful right now. I can appreciate that you’ve been through a rough go of it as well. Wishing the best for you and I’m here to answer any questions I can about my experience with Eugenix.

Sending good vibes your way. Hope we all have a good light at the end of the tunnel. Let’s stay in touch, cheers.

[track_rat]

2 hours ago, BDK081522 said:

Great story of redemption! You chose wisely with Eugenix. Both doctors perform outstanding work. I don't think your hairline in the center is created to low. Once the hair grows out and you get some density it will look perfect and I wouldn't think you'd want to remove any of those grafts. Are you able to share a picture of your beard donor area immediately post op and one or two week photos. Just trying to get an idea of how fast this area heals as it seems to heal quicker than the occipital area from what I've seen. Thanks for your detailed review as well!

Hey BDK - as promised, please see some beard progress photos. Approximately 1,800 grafts were removed from my lower chin and neck area.

 

Day of extraction:

 

2 days post op freaking out in the airplane bathroom.

 

3 days post op, home.

 

6 days post op

 

13 day post op. Some redness. More hairs sprouting everyday. I’ll post again in a few days.

 

Edited September 2, 2021 by track_rat

[Melvin- Admin]

Looks like it’s definitely filling in.

[bald-and-bearded]

What a story @track_rat!

Did you ask the doctors what norwood pattern you are heading towards?

 

[track_rat]

Just over two week update. Thanks everyone for the support and comments so far. I’ve found this outlet to be extremely helpful with my anxiety and coping. 

Crown:

 

Left side is going to be challenging. It was weak prior to surgery, and I’m concerned that I’ve made things more difficult for myself in the future (and my barber). Hopefully that’s not the case, as everything is one length right now. In a few weeks I’ll have my barber come over to work on a blend to see how things look.

 

Right side looks fine.

Right temple area where all of the dirty Dr. Unger hairs were removed. I think in a few months I’ll visit my local Dr. who’s been helping me to remove any lingering hairs there and place wherever. For now I’ll trim them and let things heal. Still baffles me how and why Dr. Unger did this.

Hairline. Does anybody else have experience with stray baby hairs like you see below? Should I pluck them?

 

Edited September 3, 2021 by track_rat

[Curious25]

On 9/1/2021 at 7:10 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

I’m basically getting the same area done in my crown. Did you choose to not shave? I don’t wanna shave my head, but what did Arika say?

Nice, good for you Melvin. When are you booked in, and how many grafts are you estimating? You going for scalp and BHT? 

[Curious25]

Congrats on the courage to share your story OP, I wish you the best, and will subscribe to follow your journey

[track_rat]

On 9/3/2021 at 10:31 AM, Curious25 said:

Congrats on the courage to share your story OP, I wish you the best, and will subscribe to follow your journey

Thank you, Curious. Hoping for the best as well and trying to stay positive. When you’ve had two statistical anomaly failures from good surgeons, it’s incredibly hard to trust and you easily convince yourself that you’re in for a third blunder.

While I’m here, I wanted to share just over 2 week beard photos after a shave and trim. It’s still patchy, but Dr. Bansal says it will fill in a lot more. Redness has gone down considerably. The shaved area shows no visible scarring.

 

 

Edited September 7, 2021 by track_rat

[MachoVato]

This is going to be a great transformation! Sethi and Bansal from Eugenix are the talent you needed. I'll be watching this thread.

[Gatsby]

Quote

This is going to be a great transformation! Sethi and Bansal from Eugenix are the talent you needed. I'll be watching this thread.

+1 I totally agree and look forward to your journey!

[track_rat]

26 minutes ago, MachoVato said:

This is going to be a great transformation! Sethi and Bansal from Eugenix are the talent you needed. I'll be watching this thread.

 

6 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

+1 I totally agree and look forward to your journey!

You guys are awesome, thank you. Hoping for the same.

I’ll check in with you all soon.

[track_rat]

On 9/2/2021 at 6:12 AM, bald-and-bearded said:

What a story @track_rat!

Did you ask the doctors what norwood pattern you are heading towards?

 

Hey man - Dr. Bansal said a III C or IV C.

[track_rat]

Hey all - 3 week update on the beard. Redness is almost all gone. Below my shave line you can see there is no scarring from the procedure. It’s filling in more by week, I hope undetectable in the coming weeks and blends with my top of chin beard. I didn’t realize how much I loved my beard until the fear entered my mind that it would never be the same. I’m encouraged by the regrowth, and it’s only been 3 weeks.

I don’t keep hair below that shave line. So I guess if I ever need a touch up, I’ll ask Dr. Bansal and team to only use that area. Seems like a good reserve.

Hairline hasn’t shed much and is growing. Crown is shedding a little bit. Hope that’s normal.

Cheers

 

[Melvin- Admin]

On 9/6/2021 at 9:41 PM, track_rat said:

Hey all - 3 week update on the beard. Redness is almost all gone. Below my shave line you can see there is no scarring from the procedure. It’s filling in more by week, I hope undetectable in the coming weeks and blends with my top of chin beard. I didn’t realize how much I loved my beard until the fear entered my mind that it would never be the same. I’m encouraged by the regrowth, and it’s only been 3 weeks.

I don’t keep hair below that shave line. So I guess if I ever need a touch up, I’ll ask Dr. Bansal and team to only use that area. Seems like a good reserve.

Hairline hasn’t shed much and is growing. Crown is shedding a little bit. Hope that’s normal.

Cheers

 

I’m following your thread closely, as I’m getting almost the same thing. It’s definitely filling in just three weeks. How’s it he crown? 

[Britanium]

@track_ratlookimg forward to a update man 👌

[track_rat]

Hey guys. I apologize for the delay. I’ve been in quite a haze of depression regretting the procedure and feeling as though I’ve sacrificed my face for some hair in the crown. I would give anything to be back where I was. I really took my prior look for granted.

The Drs continue to reassure me and field all of my questions. They have been very patient with me and are telling me that many beard hairs are in telogen phase and will grow back in my beard. They’ve also assured me that anything that I don’t like can be fixed. They’re kind and caring, and are asking me to give this time since it’s only been 1.5 months. We talk almost daily and they are very supportive.

I wanted to post here for your honest feedback. I’m quite down right now.

That said, here are my 1.5 month results. 

The beard looks quite bad. I hate how there’s a line drawn on my mandible. The Drs say there is still a lot of regrowth to happen. And if I don’t like it ultimately they will reinforce with body hair. 

 

I shaved for the first time in 10 years the other day because of how bad things look. 

My before photos make me cry:

 

I’m unhappy with the sideburns extraction and wish I never did that. I wear a short haircut and buzz fade my burns to my head. I should have known better but I had a but I surrendered to the Drs completely when I got to India in hopes that they would realize my dreams for a better head. They have worked miracles in the past, and all my research led me to them.

Below you’ll also see my previous problem area (below strip scar) appears to have gotten worse with the extraction. One of my goals for the procedure was to have this reinforced so I can continue a short cut. There are some beard hairs implanted, so let’s see how it turns out. 

Another one of my goals was to have the Unger hairs removed in this corner and overall have it cleaned up since this is where I part my hair. There was some extraction, but this could use further cleaning up.
 

 
 

Another goal was to fill in the ARTAS circular scar below. There are a few beard hairs in there. I hope that this hides when grown. Time will tell.

And now the crown. I don’t know what to think. The Drs say this is to expectation so far. Can you tell me what you think? Do you think my native hairs will come back to provide some coverage or do those die off or not grow anymore?

 

All in all I feel like I’ve made a horrible mistake and sacrificed my face. I think depression makes you only think the negative, so if there are any positives here please let me know.  really appreciate your unbiased feedback here.

 

Edited September 29, 2021 by track_rat

[track_rat]

All that said, I suppose the silver lining is that I have some scalp hair donor reserve for touch ups and that the Drs are going to see this through with me and offer to correct anything that might be needed once we see the full picture in a few months.

[digi23]

I dont get it? You are at 1.5 months and growth usually STARTS after 3 months and becomes fuller after 6 months and forward? You did work in the CROWN which usually takes 9-12 months to see a result. You got to be patient.

 

[track_rat]

27 minutes ago, digi23 said:

I dont get it? You are at 1.5 months and growth usually STARTS after 3 months and becomes fuller after 6 months and forward? You did work in the CROWN which usually takes 9-12 months to see a result. You got to be patient.

 

It’s the extraction on my face and loss of beard look that I’m troubled by.

But honestly thank you for the reminder to be patient. I really need to just trust that things may be ok.

Edited September 29, 2021 by track_rat

[digi23]

9 minutes ago, track_rat said:

It’s the extraction on my face and loss of beard look that I’m troubled by.

But honestly thank you for the reminder to be patient. I really need to just trust that things may be ok.

I would do something like this, but keep it long so it looks really full. Your beard is great. Forgive my paint skills  I think you will be pretty happy in 12 months when you have crown filled, denser hairline and awesome beard.

Edited September 29, 2021 by digi23

[track_rat]

9 minutes ago, digi23 said:

I would do something like this, but keep it long so it looks really full. Your beard is great. Forgive my paint skills  I think you will be pretty happy in 12 months when you have crown filled, denser hairline and awesome beard.

Thank you so much for the idea. I suppose I am entering the phase of acceptance and trying new looks out. I’m hating the shaved look, so will grow it out again and try this. If only extraction wasn’t done so high, I probably would’ve been happy.

[digi23]

Just now, track_rat said:

Thank you so much for the idea. I suppose I am entering the phase of acceptance and trying new looks out. I’m hating the shaved look, so will grow it out again and try this. If only extraction wasn’t done so high, I probably would’ve been happy.

Yes I think you need to come to realisation that you need to compromise something, I mean to even it out and finally get a filled crown and maybe do a design like I show you for the beard for it to look really thick and clean would not be so bad in my opinion. 

We are also always our own worst critics, I have less beard on my whole face than the beard you have left under the chin. Your beard is 1 in 100 000.

[BDK081522]

The area on your neck where the extractions were taken from lines up very well with where most men would shave a beard line. The neck hair is very unsightly and should be razor shaved anyway so I don't think your actual beard area is affected much by the extraction pattern. Just create a beard line where the density begins to lessen and noone would ever be able to tell you had beard extractions from the he area. This is a very common beard design. You're in the heart of the ugly duckling stage so mentally it is very hard to accept what has been done when looking in the mirror. Just give it time and you will start to see progress on your hair and will be more accepting of the new beard design.