3 months FUE 2027 grafts, crown + hairline. Min spray & 1mg Fin daily. Signs of life & optimism on hairline, prayer hands & patience for crown

[crownheightz]

3 months FUE 2027 grafts, crown + hairline. Min spray & 1mg Fin daily. Signs of life & optimism on hairline, prayer hands & patience for crown.

To add: I was on 1mg finasteride daily for 2-3 years before procedure, but only began minoxidil following procedure.

I used cabooki hair fibers (on the crown only) for the last few years, which generally did the trick. I was worried that as time passed, however, I would continue to lose hair and the Velcro effect, leaving the fibers to look caked-on. 

My crown went through shock loss and the fibers did in fact looked badly caked-on for the first two months after procedure. I also had lots of pimples during the second month. I’m feeling better about the concealing effect now at three months. 

I’m feeling good about the hairline. I was pretty conservative there. I did not want to lower the hairline drastically but, rather, buffer it to a more solid mature hairline. 

My biggest concern is the mid scalp gap and crown density. I’m not sure why they didn’t do a better job blending the crown into the frontal hair. Best case, I will be combing over; worst case (and more likely) the doc knew the crown would never reach that density anyway.

My pragmatic guess is that after a year I will still have to use some hair fibers on the crown but that the velcro effect will be much improved and more natural looking. Eventually I will look into SMP for density to finish the job.

My hair is currently clipped with a #8 guard on top, #3 on sides. I would like to get to a #5 buzz, so that there is less contrast blending into the thin crown, but right now I still need a little extra length to cover the ripe temples.

3 months:

1 week:

 

Day after:

 

Morning of procedure:

 

A few weeks before, lines I photoshopped for Doc reference:

Edited September 26, 2021 by crownheightz
Added info

[Britanium]

I’m so sorry but this does not look like a good transplant. Where did you go ? 

[crownheightz]

6 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

I’m so sorry but this does not look like a good transplant. Where did you go ? 

Do you say that based on the post-op pics or the 3-mo results? 

Edited September 26, 2021 by crownheightz

[Britanium]

The graft count is very low. And not accurate, this is not just over 2k worth. The grafts that have been implanted do not follow a good pattern whatsoever. Please show the donor area. You would have needed a lot more to make a adequate change in the density for the hairline and crown. 

[Britanium]

Please mention the clinic/Dr you went too. Seems like the work of a Bosley/chain clinic or hair mill. 

[Britanium]

Looking at the pics I would say around 500-750 max grafts have been implanted.

[crownheightz]

Bosley KC. I know how people feel about Bosley so I don’t need a piling-on there. I’m open to critique, as I also have my own concerns, but I do think it’s a bit conspiratorial to eyeball and assert a 500-750 count when the doc gave me a specific post op figure of 2027. A lot of the temple grafts were covered up by longer hair so you can’t really see what’s going on there post-op. Unfortunately, I don’t have good hairline post-op pics because I didn’t want to touch the area and pull up the existing hair for a better photo. 

The clinic had recommended more like 2200-2500 grafts, but I went conservative mostly for financial reasons. 

TBH, I’m already pretty okay with my hairline. The crown, we’ll see, but I don’t expect full density. Rather, I am hoping for a significant improvement as compared to the situation before. As mentioned, I will continue fibers until SMP for density is viable next year.

Anyways, here is post-op donor area:

 

[Britanium]

I have seen Bosleys work for over a decade and it’s fair to call them out on graft numbers. They have being doing poor work and giving inflated graft counts in all of their chain clinics. I hate calling out poor work but it has to be done, they have not implanted what they have taken from the donor area. Other members will chime in and give their thoughts also. It annoys me they still get away with transplants like this in 2021. Go look at other transplants from a decent Clinic and you will see the huge differences. 

[WhiteyUK]

Wow ... this is not great to hear

@JohnAC71when you say they are not implanting what they are taken out. What the hell are they doing with the grafts then. I mean if your taking X amount out, why not implant X amount back.

Just curious 

[Britanium]

Transaction rate. Depends on the clinic/dr/tech who is doing the procedure. I don’t want to derail the thread though. Just that I was concerned in what I saw. It’s not good work and we do have to be honest in our feedback. My worries here are poor density in both areas, and it’s not been blended with the current hair. 

[crownheightz]

I don’t think my post-op crown graft density looks significantly different than this post by @EvoXOhio

He covered a marginally wider crown area, and it’s easier to see what he had done up front. I’d be glad to see similar results in the end. 

[crownheightz]

I am not concerned by the density nor blending up front. I was just trying to stop the islanding in its tracks, and already the modest sprouting is accomplishing that visually when I look in the mirror. 

[EvoXOhio]

5 minutes ago, crownheightz said:

I don’t think my post-op crown graft density looks significantly different than this post by @EvoXOhio

He covered a marginally wider crown area, and it’s easier to see what he had done up front. I’d be glad to see similar results in the end. 

EvoXOhio here. I’m going to have to respectfully disagree. First off the area they covered on my crown was MUCH bigger (see attached pic), and also my grafts were more densely packed. Mine were also multi-unit grafts and we have no idea if yours were. But on top of that, keep in mind that I was not happy at all with how my crown turned out. The multi-unit grafts and the fact that I wear it long are the only thing that made it look decent when combed. I posted several photos on there where I push the hair aside and you see tons of scalp. The only saving grace for me was adding SMP 10 months later. Without it I would have been stuck wearing my hair a certain way or forced to get a second procedure. But SMP only works if you get enough hair and enough density. 
 

I have to agree with others that it looks like you only got 500-700 grafts. I wouldn’t be surprised if a lot of them don’t take either. Your crown is going to be super sparse, there’s going to be that gap between your crown and mid scalp that they didn’t do for some reason, and I wouldn’t be surprised if your hairline is not only very sparse but also containing lots of multi units. 
 

I know you don’t want to hear how bad Bosley is, but what they’ve done to so many of their customers is very unethical and they should have their licenses taken from them. I hate to be that blunt but I hate seeing them screw over good people such as yourself. 
 

the good news is now you’ve found this forum so when you plan your second procedure to fix this in a year or more, you’ll be educated. 
 

 

[crownheightz]

Not to get too sensitive and defensive, but it seems pretty implausible that they pulled 2k grafts from the back of my head, and left upwards of 1500 on the table to get me out the door sooner. That really doesn’t match with my general experience with the clinicians. 

@EvoXOhio I remember that you weren’t happy with your crown and followed up with SMP for density, which is another reason why I mentioned your post. 

I’ll follow up w pics over the next few months. 

[Britanium]

Out of curiosity how long was the hair transplant itself ? Was it a Dr and techs doing the work or was it just a tech based procedure ? Thanks 🙏 

[EvoXOhio]

8 minutes ago, crownheightz said:

Not to get too sensitive and defensive, but it seems pretty implausible that they pulled 2k grafts from the back of my head, and left upwards of 1500 on the table to get me out the door sooner. That really doesn’t match with my general experience with the clinicians. 

@EvoXOhio I remember that you weren’t happy with your crown and followed up with SMP for density, which is another reason why I mentioned your post. 

I’ll follow up w pics over the next few months. 

I don’t think they extracted anywhere near 2000 grafts. I bet it was more like 1200-1500. Then of those I suspect they transected like half and weren’t able to use them. 
 

it may seem implausible to you but this is literally what Bosley is known for. What they do is borderline criminal. 

[Britanium]

To clarify I don’t think they did pull 2k from your donor area. But we can agree to disagree. The other members will also give their opinions. 
@Doron Haratiis the HDC rep and very good with numbers. 

[crownheightz]

Understood, thanks for clarifying. I’m not gonna count the donor holes in the pics, but I hear you. 
 

I was at the clinic 730a-330p. As I recall, the doc extracted the grafts and cut the recipient slits, then the techs slid the grafts in. 

Edited September 26, 2021 by crownheightz

[Doron Harati]

20 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

To clarify I don’t think they did pull 2k from your donor area. But we can agree to disagree. The other members will also give their opinions. 
@Doron Haratiis the HDC rep and very good with numbers. 

Let's assume for the discussion that the clinic did harvest 2000 grafts, I don't know what expectations the paitent had for density, as he mentioned he wanted to save money.

If we want high density result about 40-55 hairs per 1sq cm, I would roughly assume (with crown measurements) that ONLY the crown needs around 2000+- grafts which also depends how many double and triple grafts the donor have.

It's a matter of how every clinic handle the grafts, how much of absorb % to the recipient area and the hair angles.

Personally, when we predict low density It's less than 40 hairs per 1sq centimeter, less than 30 we prefer to decline the case.

[digi23]

13 hours ago, crownheightz said:

Not to get too sensitive and defensive, but it seems pretty implausible that they pulled 2k grafts from the back of my head, and left upwards of 1500 on the table to get me out the door sooner. That really doesn’t match with my general experience with the clinicians. 

@EvoXOhio I remember that you weren’t happy with your crown and followed up with SMP for density, which is another reason why I mentioned your post. 

I’ll follow up w pics over the next few months. 

To be honest with you, I had 2500 grafts and the back of your head does NOT look like 2027 extractions but I might be wrong.

 

This is 300 ish then approx 300 ish to the other half of the back, then probably 300 ish on both sides. So 1200-1500 maybe max.

 

You can compare extractions to my head of 2550. There should not be an extreme difference but it is.

 

I would call this fraud if it says 2027 on your paper signed by the Dr.

 

Edited September 27, 2021 by digi23

[JDEE0]

17 hours ago, crownheightz said:

Not to get too sensitive and defensive, but it seems pretty implausible that they pulled 2k grafts from the back of my head, and left upwards of 1500 on the table to get me out the door sooner. That really doesn’t match with my general experience with the clinicians. 

@EvoXOhio I remember that you weren’t happy with your crown and followed up with SMP for density, which is another reason why I mentioned your post. 

I’ll follow up w pics over the next few months. 

To be completely frank, you're being extremely naive, but I don't blame you for it or think it's your fault; you just got duped as many others have been before you and as many more will be in the future.

It may seem as though you were in ok hands after you meet these clinicians as I'm sure they were probably perfectly pleasant people who were nice to you, and I bet you felt somewhat comforted by the fact that this was a clinic in your home country, with American doctors/techs performing the procedure and not some back-alley clinic in Turkey where anything can happen... But the problem is that this is completely untrue, the HT industry is the Wild West rife with conmen and cheaters out to make a quick buck above all else (which includes your finite donor area and quality of life/happiness). Bosley are perhaps one of the worst offenders. 

If I'm being honest, and I really do hate to say it, but this looks like some of the poorest work I've come across in a minute, particularly in regards to the recipient area. The grafts are implanted very sparsely, there's no discernible implantation planning and whatever method/tool they've used to do so almost makes this look like a micro-graft procedure from the 80's when looking at the post op pics. Luckily, the donor (whilst not great either) doesn't look particularly bad, as there are no signs of over harvesting, extracting too close together etc. This is very good news as it means you should be fine going forwards in the future.

Now, in regards to the 2k potentially being extracted but not actually all implanted, it's hard to tell as your native hair is covering some of the recipient zone at the front, but even so, I do agree that 2k weren't extracted (1500-ish looks more accurate to me) and I also think they actually implanted less than that unfortunately (maybe 800-1000 max).

Again, it is extremely naive to think that this doesn't happen all the time with dishonest HT clinics, it's very common for them to want to extract as quick (and therefore as carelessly) as possible to increase their daily turnover and subsequent profit margins. In doing so, the transaction rate will inevitably be much less favourable than if they did things properly (i.e. slow and controlled), and as a result, yes, all the grafts extracted may not have been implanted as some were likely dead/destroyed the second they were excised from your head. Although I think it was more like 500 or so left on the table than 1500. 

It's just extremely poor planning at the end of the day, sorry it happened to you, I feel for you and it makes me angry that this happens, but it's not the worst situation to be in at all as you've not really been 'damaged' by the looks of things. I would get in touch with some real Dr's if I was you and plan for another round of surgery somewhere (a lot) more reputable.

[pkipling]

OP - I definitely don't want this to be a pile on, so I hope that you know that we're all speaking with the best of intentions and to not lead you astray. Not to mention, it's also important for us to point out when work doesn't look like it's supposed to so that any newcomers who are lurking and looking for guidance can get accurate feedback on what is and isn't considered to be quality work. 

Unfortunately, the work here isn't of the same caliber that we've come to expect in the hair transplant industry, particularly on this forum. And it's not conspiratorial in the slightest to point out that the pictures do not reflect the numbers you were told you received, nor is the quality of the work what we would consider to be elite. (Compare the picture above of Digi23's donor compared to yours for a visual reference.) I also speak as someone who almost got a hair transplant with Bosley and to this day I thank my lucky stars that I was pointed in a different direction. This isn't a criticism of your choice to use them at all, and I hate that they're still successful in roping guys in - but it honestly infuriates me that in this day and age with so many reputable surgeons out there doing incredible work that Bosley is still able to get away with this. I don't understand how they're still in business and I really hope you get good results from this, despite the story the pictures are telling us.

You do seem to have managed your expectations, which is always a good idea for any of us when getting a HT. And so I hope that the end result is satisfactory to you... And if for some reason it isn't and you end up needing a follow up procedure, please utilize this forum to research some really reputable surgeons and choose one who has a great track record.