Painful decade long journey. 34 yo | 3x HT

[Melvin- Admin]

The crown is growing well, of course some of the hair is wiry and coarse, common even with non-beard hair. How is the hairline? Can you share some photos. 

[track_rat]

6 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

The crown is growing well, of course some of the hair is wiry and coarse, common even with non-beard hair. How is the hairline? Can you share some photos. 

Thanks, Melvin. Sure I’ll take some photos this evening and will post. 

[Etownone]

Are you taking fin/minoxidil?  

[track_rat]

2 hours ago, Etownone said:

Are you taking fin/minoxidil?  

Yes, daily for several years now.

[Etownone]

These are the months where it will start to grow.   I'm rooting for you bro.    

I know your stress... Been there.   I've just had my 6th HT,  and I had some beard grafts placed un my crown too. 

But looks like you have enough where you can get it to look great with hair fibers for now.   I used to use dermmatch for years,  but switched to toppik.   Both are great.  

How's the front looking? 

[track_rat]

Guys, here are a bunch of front photos. I’m really open to any feedback or suggestions here. I believe this is considered harsh lighting, but I took these tonight unstyled to show what’s going on.

 

I’m still plucking and trimming the Unger hairs in the corner.

I brushed it up for this photo so strands are in the same direction.

 

 

 

Edited February 20, 2022 by track_rat

[MazAB]

Hey @track_rat crown always takes a bit longer than everything else. Looks like you have a ton of little fine hairs forming around the hairline which will become much more refined in the coming months ahead. I'd say you are on track. It's always a good thing and encouraging to see month over month progress.

[track_rat]

Thank you Maz. Appreciate the feedback. 

[Ryan Daniel]

@track_ratHello sir, 

I understand that you might be concerned every time you check yourself in the mirror. It can be a difficult time but you gotta be patient before making judgement. I gotta admit after looking at your donor area I thought there is no hope for you, but at the same time you had two things that were in your favor: Excellent hair characteristics and you were being taken care of by one of the best Doctors we have on the planet.  Try and spend less time in front of the camera checking yourself constantly. Trust me I did that as well in my first procedure, it can be exciting and nerve-racking! Always remember that whatever happens with this result, it is always better than how you start  Eugenix have given you a very good hairline, it is already showing that its full of soft singles. The crown area will take a while to grow and thicken up, it is full of beard grafts after all which taken much longer than regular hair follicles to mature and dense up

Anyway, you are very early and patience is definitely key here as many of the fantastic people commenting have told you.

One thing that concerned me was were the grafts that were old grafts on a temple side were extracted still manage to grow back? Did you discuss this with the clinic? 

 

As for now, wish you happy growth sir!  

[track_rat]

5 hours ago, Ryan Daniel said:

@track_ratHello sir, 

I understand that you might be concerned every time you check yourself in the mirror. It can be a difficult time but you gotta be patient before making judgement. I gotta admit after looking at your donor area I thought there is no hope for you, but at the same time you had two things that were in your favor: Excellent hair characteristics and you were being taken care of by one of the best Doctors we have on the planet.  Try and spend less time in front of the camera checking yourself constantly. Trust me I did that as well in my first procedure, it can be exciting and nerve-racking! Always remember that whatever happens with this result, it is always better than how you start  Eugenix have given you a very good hairline, it is already showing that its full of soft singles. The crown area will take a while to grow and thicken up, it is full of beard grafts after all which taken much longer than regular hair follicles to mature and dense up

Anyway, you are very early and patience is definitely key here as many of the fantastic people commenting have told you.

One thing that concerned me was were the grafts that were old grafts on a temple side were extracted still manage to grow back? Did you discuss this with the clinic? 

 

As for now, wish you happy growth sir!  

Thanks, Ryan. Your comments are appreciated. As for the temple grafts, I’m not sure why there are so many still there in the corner. It’s possible they were hiding the day of surgery? Shaving or plucking that corner was a daily routine for several years. The Drs. said this can be easily addressed in the future.

[Melvin- Admin]

The hairline is slowly starting to grow in, looks to be progressing, though, I do believe not shaving led to shock loss, which has significantly delayed the growing process. The recovery period was a lot longer. I believe the next few months will show a lot more growth and refinement. 

[track_rat]

17 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

The hairline is slowly starting to grow in, looks to be progressing, though, I do believe not shaving led to shock loss, which has significantly delayed the growing process. The recovery period was a lot longer. I believe the next few months will show a lot more growth and refinement. 

Thanks, Melvin. They actually did shave the recipient areas:

 

[Etownone]

The way Melvin did the side by side Pic shows how far you've come.  Definitely an improvement. 

I do that a lot, collage pics from different angles, side back, front....   To see where I started and recent to see the progress.   

 

[Melvin- Admin]

2 hours ago, track_rat said:

Thanks, Melvin. They actually did shave the recipient areas:

 

It’s not shaved, the hair behind the hairline is long. Im talking shaved head. Even I’ve had some shock loss, and I shaved. Would’ve been worse not shaving.

[track_rat]

7 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

It’s not shaved, the hair behind the hairline is long. Im talking shaved head. Even I’ve had some shock loss, and I shaved. Would’ve been worse not shaving.

Oh I gotcha. That makes sense. Thanks for the heads up - very good to know if we do anything in the future. 

[BDK081522]

2 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

It’s not shaved, the hair behind the hairline is long. Im talking shaved head. Even I’ve had some shock loss, and I shaved. Would’ve been worse not shaving.

Why do you think shock loss is worse with longer hair? Even when fully "shaved" for the procedure it's not razor and hair is still present in and around the transplanted area. Just curious why implanting in front of or around longer hair would cause more shock than implanting around hair that is a couple mm in length?

[Melvin- Admin]

36 minutes ago, BDK081522 said:

Why do you think shock loss is worse with longer hair? Even when fully "shaved" for the procedure it's not razor and hair is still present in and around the transplanted area. Just curious why implanting in front of or around longer hair would cause more shock than implanting around hair that is a couple mm in length?

Because it’s a lot more difficult for the surgeon to place grafts in between long hairs. It will cause more trauma to the surrounding follicles to implant in between long hair. Even long hair surrounding the transplanted area can get shocked, according to several world renowned physicians. Believe me, I did not want to shave either, but felt it was the best way. 

[Etownone]

28 minutes ago, BDK081522 said:

Why do you think shock loss is worse with longer hair? Even when fully "shaved" for the procedure it's not razor and hair is still present in and around the transplanted area. Just curious why implanting in front of or around longer hair would cause more shock than implanting around hair that is a couple mm in length?

I think it's just a myth...  

I had multiple HT,   DR Dorin in NY said it makes no difference,   and I just had one with Dr Mwamba and he said the same thing.   So I left the top long.   I feel it's more work for the Dr,   but as long as I'm not getting charged more.   Worked better for me.   

[BDK081522]

Yea I certainly think it's more challenging for the doctor to constantly be moving longer hair out of the way but I still don't see why it would cause more trauma or eventual shock loss. It may be true but just doesn't make sense in my mind. 

[Melvin- Admin]

9 minutes ago, BDK081522 said:

Yea I certainly think it's more challenging for the doctor to constantly be moving longer hair out of the way but I still don't see why it would cause more trauma or eventual shock loss. It may be true but just doesn't make sense in my mind. 

I had a conversation with Konior and Sethi, they both said without question longer hair leads to shock loss and is more difficult for them, doesn’t mean they can’t or won’t do it, but both said it’s best to shave. For that reason, I shaved. 

[Curious25]

How many grafts were transplanted in your hairline ? 

[track_rat]

1 hour ago, Curious25 said:

How many grafts were transplanted in your hairline ? 

Hey Curious - 600 grafts to strengthen the hairline.

[Curious25]

You are, as you yourself already understand, unfortunately a very complicated case. 
 

Limited and damaged donor from previous surgeries, combined with poor yielding history and scar tissue in the recipient areas, makes for this to be a very ambitious surgery to take on. 
 

Your crown seems to be coming on ok, for the amount of grafts that were transplanted there. 
 

It’s still too early to judge your hairline or overall results in general, but I suspect to achieve the density of a hairline you would be satisfied with, from how I have perceived your posts, you will need more than 600 grafts to achieve this. 
 

I don’t however think only transplanting 600 to this area was an oversight on behalf of the clinic, as there is a higher likelihood you would t grow as well as what a virgin scalped patient would do - so a small and steady approach is both more responsible, and superior. 
 

Keep positive and keep up with the updates , there’s still time for improvement, and you will hopefully have reserves left elsewhere from BHT and maybe scalp, for further surgeries, should you wish to pursue them. 

[track_rat]

5 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

You are, as you yourself already understand, unfortunately a very complicated case. 
 

Limited and damaged donor from previous surgeries, combined with poor yielding history and scar tissue in the recipient areas, makes for this to be a very ambitious surgery to take on. 
 

Your crown seems to be coming on ok, for the amount of grafts that were transplanted there. 
 

It’s still too early to judge your hairline or overall results in general, but I suspect to achieve the density of a hairline you would be satisfied with, from how I have perceived your posts, you will need more than 600 grafts to achieve this. 
 

I don’t however think only transplanting 600 to this area was an oversight on behalf of the clinic, as there is a higher likelihood you would t grow as well as what a virgin scalped patient would do - so a small and steady approach is both more responsible, and superior. 
 

Keep positive and keep up with the updates , there’s still time for improvement, and you will hopefully have reserves left elsewhere from BHT and maybe scalp, for further surgeries, should you wish to pursue them. 

Thanks man. I really appreciate the feedback. This is reassuring and slow and steady is the race for my situation. Thankful for this community.

[track_rat]

Hey all. Crossed 7 months. I’ll share some better photos on Friday after a hair cut. Pictures usually look a little more tidy after a cut. Just out of curiosity, are there any examples on this forum that you know of that involve some beard hair extraction from the scalp? Trying to gauge what scarring and healing would look like. Thanks in advance. 

Right out of shower:

 

Blowdried:

Blowdried with a little product to get it to sit:

 

Prior to surgery: