1,427 FUE / 9.03.2021 / Dr. Dorin

[Glasswing]

I'm 31 years old and have been worried about my hair since 2011. Specifically, my receding hairline. I began taking pictures and eventually got on finasteride in August 2015, and minoxidil foam in September 2016.

 

Choosing a Doctor

I feel that I could've spent forever on this step and still not have been confident in my choice. I looked at tons of patient results form tons of doctors, read all the comments, etc. In the end, I wanted a reputable doctor, and ideally someone I didn't have to fly to. I was also pretty set on getting an FUE over FUT. Well, as luck has it, there are some reputable doctors in NYC, which is just an hour from me without traffic, that perform FUE procedures. I only had two consultations; one with Dr. Dorin in-person, one with Dr. Wesley virtually.

Dr. Dorin was first. He was honest with me, which I appreciated. As in, he didn't promise unrealistic expectations. He said that with one procedure, it would likely still lack the density that one desires. Apparently many of his patients opt to come in for a second procedure (or more) to add that. It seems that Dr. Dorin does lean conservative with his graft counts compared to others. In some of the example pictures I'd seen from him, the hairlines were wildly curvy. While the one he drew on me also had intentional imperfections, it was a lot more subtle than some of the others I had seen from him.  In the end, he estimated 1,200 grafts for me, and claimed that I'd pretty much need an FUE procedure due to my hair characteristics. It cost $175 which could be used toward the procedure.

Dr. Wesley was next. This was a virtual consultation with a dated webcam, so of course it wasn't ideal circumstances. But there's a reason for that, and it's that an in-person consultation with him was $400. Granted this could also be used toward the procedure, but I just thought this was too much. For whatever reason, virtual was free, so I went with that. And it went alright. Viewing my webcam, he estimated 1,600 - 1,800 grafts. I did like the idea of potential higher density than the comparatively low estimate of 1,200 from Dr. Dorin. Prior to this, we had actually communicated briefly by email where he estimated 2,000. But there were a few things that turned me off. In contrast to Dr. Dorin, it felt like he was trying to promise me the world. He really talked himself up, mentioning that I wouldn't believe how many celebrities he's worked on, that his practice is the best in the business, etc. Whether or not that's all true, it rubbed me the wrong way. I also didn't like that he noticeably looked down on the fact that I chose to do a virtual consultation instead of in-person, citing that it wasn't a big deal since the $400 could be used toward the procedure. And it felt to me that he really wanted to end the call quickly. And he mentioned holistic medicine which is kind of a trigger word for me.

There were others I considered, but they either were too logistically inconvenient, or too unknown, or only seemed to dabble in FUE. What made me end up going with Dr. Dorin was his honesty, reputation, experience, and lower price (although still prohibitively expensive. It's NYC). I'd be lying if I said I didn't want to throw away the initial $175 I had spend on the consultation. I know that's a terrible thing to let impact this decision. My worries with Dr. Dorin: will I be satisfied with the density after one procedure? Is his signature hairline going to end up looking more realistic in the end?

The Procedure

For better or worse, I ended up going with Dr. Dorin. I managed to get an appointment which was around 2 months out, for September 3rd 2021. After a lot of questions back and forth, to which Peter was quick to respond, the day finally came. My friend drove me early in the morning, and I went in at 7:15 for my 7:30 appointment. There was some waiting involved throughout the day, but kind of your typical doctor experience. I met a nurse first who gave me an orientation. Later on, Dr. Dorin arrived and came in to draw out the planned hairline again, trying to be close to the original consultation. Again, I kind of liked it and trusted that the unevenness would end up looking more natural. I tried to nitpick since it was my last chance, to make sure it wasn't lopsided. He called me on my criticalness and said if I was worried about such miniscule details then I may not end up being happy with a transplant in general, as there will always be imperfections. He did alter it ever so slightly and agreed that if I was going to say something, now would be the time. He measured it and looked at it from a few angles, including in a mirror over his shoulder. I basically went with what he had originally drew out, and Peter took some pictures. Hopefully that was the right move.

Then Rita came in and gave me some valium and anesthetized the whole back and sides of my head. This was the most painful part, but tolerable, and she was great. I believe the harvesting stared around 10am, when Dr. Dorin and Catherine came in the room. I pretty much couldn't feel a thing after all the anesthesia, so that wasn't bad. But having to wear a mask for most of it was a bit uncomfortable, as well as some of the positions, mostly face down and on my side. Only way I knew it was happening was that I could hear the whirr of whatever the gadget he was using was, and the force it pushing into my head. But no pain. When I started to feel it, I said something and he applied more anesthesia. The harvesting was done with some breaks. A little over 600 the first time. Then a little over 600 again. As he was finishing with the second part, he said it looked like he could get some more if needed, but we would wait to hear the final tally. The final tally was over 1,300, over 100 more than the estimate. But I told him to use his judgment and feel free to take more if he felt it would improve my results. I was hoping that he would since I had been concerned all along that 1,200 was too low. He did take more.

Final Tally = 386 Single / 915 Double / 126 Triple / 1,427 total

I was happy that the number grew, although I also new it meant I would have to pay for each of those additional grafts. Quite a bit of money. Nonetheless, this step was done. I had my lunch, which I brought, and then it was onto the next step. Rita came back to numb the hairline. Again, a bit painful but tolerable. Dr. Dorin came in again with Catherine to make 1,427 incisions. Counting to 100 over and over. Again, I felt nothing, just heard the sound of my flesh being stabbed. Or I assume that's what the sound was. This was actually the quickest part, maybe an hour. The implantations into these incisions was done by a few people, but not Dr. Dorin. I believe it was Catherine, Kim, and Alex. I was upright and kind of watching Netflix on the TV for this part, but also nearly falling asleep. Because again I felt nothing and it took a while. It seemed that Dr. Dorin rarely came in to check on their progress, although I can't say for sure. And with that, it was over. Finished around 5pm. I went to the bathroom, looked at myself in the mirror, and got really depressed. My hairline, the density, even the way they trimmed down my hair. I thought I had made a mistake. But I had to go and have Peter take some more pictures. He said it looked really clean and I'd heal fast. Dr. Dorin saw the final results for the first time and said it looks great. Still, I felt really depressed in this moment while I waited for my friend to arrive and drive me home. I was given a baseball cap to wear out, and didn't want to be seen by anyone. I just wanted to be home.

Afterward and Current

After I got home, I looked at it some more, took some pictures, and I regained some optimism. That's where I am now. Still unsure if I made a mistake. Still hoping it will, at the very least, look a lot better than it did before the procedure, but hoping for incredible results. I've been spraying it every hour with some ATP solution they gave me, as directed. I slept the first night elevated in my reclining couch with an airplane pillow. I was given some gauze cover which I laid on top of my airplane pillow. Good thing, because whenever I woke up, the back of my head was wet with sweat or oozing blood or both. Probably both since it was quite wet but light red. And that's what I will continue for the next few nights. Tonight I'm supposed to dip a sponge in a shampoo/water mixture and lightly pat it over my head.

Edited September 4, 2021 by Glasswing
Updating accuracy of information

[Future Hair Doc]

Dr. Dorin is an awesome surgeon and an even better guy. One of the most ethical people you'll meet and I agree, he has his patient's interest at heart. Please keep us posted and happy growing.

[Glasswing]

Thank you.

It's been exactly one week from my surgery, so time for an update and review of the past week.  Well, you probably all already know the gist. Mostly just let my head heal, applied copious amounts of aquaphor to the back of my head before bed in an effort to lessen scarring, sprayed both the grafts and back of my head with ATP spray given to me by the office to lessen scabbing, slept elevated on the couch every night even though I was only told I needed to the first 3 nights, took baths daily starting on day 3 I believe, dabbed my head with a shampoo-covered sponge while in the bath, and constantly debated whether the whole thing looks good or not. I'm fortunate enough to be able to work from home this past week and next. The only thing slightly out of the ordinary was that my head did swell for the first 3 days, which was a bit annoying if only because it made me like looking in the mirror even less. But the only real "ailments" that I still have is that the back of my head towards the top is a little sore, and the front where the grafts were transplanted is still numb. But those really don't bother me much at all.

 

But today was an important one, because I was able to finally take an actual shower for the first time. And with it, cleared up a lot of the scabbing over my grafts. Honestly I didn't even realize I had that much. But a lot came off, so that's good. Pretty sure I didn't lose any grafts so far, no blood or anything. I also decided to finally to trim my hair, trying to blend the top into the back and sides more. Still doesn't look great, but sure looks a lot better than it did. Oh and I also used minoxidil foam again for the first time since before surgery. I continue looking into the mirror, ever so closely, trying to decide if I like it. Whether it's going to end up looking good. I am concerned that my left side looks a little more sparse, and for some reason the hairs shorter, than the right side. Not sure what the hair length difference might mean. Nonetheless, here's the pics of the progress so far.

 

And some closeups from today as well:

Tonight I will sleep in an actual bed again for the first time, and probably throw some moisturizer on the grafts in an attempt to loosen any of the scabs that still remain.

 

Edited September 11, 2021 by Glasswing

[Gokuhairline]

whats up bro ? where do you live ? also, any reason for not shaving your head completely ? and are you planning on continuing taking finas and minox in 2 weeks ?

[Glasswing]

17 minutes ago, Gokuhairline said:

whats up bro ? where do you live ? also, any reason for not shaving your head completely ? and are you planning on continuing taking finas and minox in 2 weeks ?

I'm in New Jersey, an hour from Manhattan. I didn't shave it down for the surgery, because I was told it was good to leave some length for the doctor to judge hair direction when implanting grafts. Plus I figure the grafts will probably fall out soon anyway, and regardless I can try to cover up some of it with the length I have on top. I never stopped oral finasteride, and I started topical minoxidil again today.

[Gatsby]

@Glasswing I have seen some excellent results from Dr Dorin. You have chosen an excellent surgeon so look forward to your results and thanks for sharing. All the best!

[Glasswing]

Thank you! Fingers crossed.

Does anyone have a theory why the hairs on one side appear longer? And does it matter?

[stephcurry30]

Posting to keep track of your progress. I have the exact same hairline!

[Glasswing]

Two week update. My concerns:

The two sides still look noticeably different to me.

I don't know if the density will end up being enough to make me happy.

I have a hard time not touching the area, feeling for hard pieces and trying to rub them off. I exacerbate some of the hairs falling out because of this, but I guess they're going to fall out regardless, so not a huge deal?

I'll be going into work for the first time on Monday. A bit nervous about that, but I already told everyone so that takes a lot of pressure off. Otherwise I still hide away. But I don't look as ridiculous as I thought I might at this point.

@stephcurry30 nice, welcome. I take it you haven't opted for a procedure yourself, yet?

[Gokuhairline]

right side looking a bit "lighter/less dense " then the left side but i dont know maybe that is normal , it will turn out great.

[digi23]

Looks nice, wow almost no redness, I have so much redness around where the grafts were planted about 9 days ago. Your hair looks good to go outside without a hat even now. Happy growing! 

Edited September 18, 2021 by digi23

[stephcurry30]

It looks good to me (srs)

Let us know how the return to office is and if any of you co workers recognize the hair transplant

[Melvin- Admin]

Everything is looking right on track, very excited to see this grow.

[Glasswing]

Thanks, all. As I continue to feel around the area, I notice more and more hairs falling out. There's no blood and I don't see anything that I'd consider to be the root of the hair. I assume this is all to be expected at this point, and is of no concern?

[Gatsby]

Everything is right on track and it's way too early to be assessing anything at such an initial early stage. You are doing/have done all the right things. You just need to do the hardest thing now which no one has yet been able to perfect and that is patience! All the best!

[Glasswing]

Thanks! I'm pretty patient, we'll see how it goes. Here's my third week update. Shedding definitely in full force.

[Gokuhairline]

looks good.

[Glasswing]

Thanks. Week four update, not much to add since last time.

[Gokuhairline]

nice bro . on track .

[Britanium]

All good for this point ! 👌

[Glasswing]

Not much excitement at this stage. Lost pretty much all the hairs, but here's some more pics that I still continue to take weekly:

I suspect there won't be much excitement for a few more months, but I'll be damned if I skip a week.

Edited November 1, 2021 by Glasswing

[Gokuhairline]

niiiice. any moment now til the hair storm as they say...ps pretty cool ur taking weekly pics, it will make a nice collage when you hit a year and will be cool to see week by week...so yeah don't skip a week lol we will all be dammed

Edited November 1, 2021 by Gokuhairline
adding more...

[Supe]

Hey Glasswing, I hope you're doing better and that "hair storm" is raging. I wanted to ask what was the total cost,  if you don't mind me asking

[MBJ48]

@Glasswing it's looking good. I just had a virtual consultation with Dr Dorin and asked for an in person one too (sometime in December). Did you say you paid for the consultation? They didn't say anything to me about a payment for the in person consultation, so just curious.

I also don't plan on shaving my head. I want to try and avoid looking like I have been butchered by a barber as much as possible. 

[Gokuhairline]

updates ??? 3 months + 4 days how's it going bro ?