Is this a failed transplant? 8 months post-op 2,700 grafts done at HLC.

[bloodhound]

Hello,

I had 2,700 grafts transplanted via FUE on my temples by HLC Clinic in Ankara, Turkey in April (8 months ago). I had been on Finasteride-only for a year prior to the transplant, and I have not used another medication up to this point.

The results in the beginning were great, but I noticed early that there was a patch on the right temple and it hasn’t filled in completely after this time.

I have considered the fact I could be a late bloomer, but when I check closely I don’t see any sign of new hair follicles, just emptiness in the space I hoped to be filled with hair. Others have had better results in lesser amount of time and it’s disheartening.

I contacted HLC 6 months in and was told to wait until month 9 to reassess. This is in no way a slight to HLC, they are a great clinic that produces great results, It just seems like i’m unlucky and it’s causing me to lose hope. I really need this to work out—It’s life or death. 

What should I do? Apply Minoxidil and see if the grafts will come alive, get another procedure, wait it out? Please help,

 

Thank you. 

 

Edited December 20, 2021 by bloodhound
grammar

[HappyMan2021]

has the left side temple grown in fine, its only the right side that has this emptiness? interesting.

I don't see any last-minute miracle growth happening here. This is not good for 8 months. 

Edited December 20, 2021 by SadMan2021

[Fabulous]

Do you know the name of the doctor who worked on you ?

[Calvin]

I agree with sadman... Maybe you should negociate a repairwork with the clinic ASAP

Strength my friend 

[Fue3361]

Like I said on reddit, things aren’t looking great.  But yeah, at 9months contact HLC again and tell them you deserve a repair job since they didn’t deliver.  Id be very surprised if they refused to repair it for free.

 

That said, maybe you get lucky and minoxidil helps it to start growing?

[Fue3361]

All of this is even more a shame since your post OP pics look very clean.

[Berba11]

7 hours ago, bloodhound said:

It’s life or death. 

No it absolutely isn't. Why would you say this?

For whatever reason some grafts haven't taken. It's no big deal and will probably just require a small touch up. Frustrating? Sure. But not the end of the world, about as far removed from "life or death" as you can imagine and is surely a potential outcome you knew could happen from your pre-op research...?

HLC should, if they're an ethical clinic, have you back in for a slight touch up to improve the lagging area.

[asterix0]

The post op pictures look very clean.

I can only think that the grafts were transected and thus didn't grow. That is really unfortunate, I hope things turn around for you man. What made you pick your particular doctor/clinic?

[Gasthoerer]

25 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

I can only think that the grafts were transected and thus didn't grow.

Transection is not the reason for a poor survival in most cases and also not in this case. Grafts are small organs which have to be connected to the blood supply by the body...sometimes they don't or the graft is traumatized from the mechanical stress on them. 

In my humble option this is unfortunate but not "a failed transplant". There is a small chance the area will recover, otherwise a small 200 FU touch up would settle everything. This is not unnormal as it happens quite often. It might still make sense to with a dermatologist to see if there is an underlying condition in that particular area. 

[FUT4000]

11 hours ago, bloodhound said:

Hello,

I had 2,700 grafts transplanted via FUE on my temples by HLC Clinic in Ankara, Turkey in April (8 months ago). I had been on Finasteride-only for a year prior to the transplant, and I have not used another medication up to this point.

The results in the beginning were great, but I noticed early that there was a patch on the right temple and it hasn’t filled in completely after this time.

I have considered the fact I could be a late bloomer, but when I check closely I don’t see any sign of new hair follicles, just emptiness in the space I hoped to be filled with hair. Others have had better results in lesser amount of time and it’s disheartening.

I contacted HLC 6 months in and was told to wait until month 9 to reassess. This is in no way a slight to HLC, they are a great clinic that produces great results, It just seems like i’m unlucky and it’s causing me to lose hope. I really need this to work out—It’s life or death. 

What should I do? Apply Minoxidil and see if the grafts will come alive, get another procedure, wait it out? Please help,

 

Thank you. 

 

How was your post op care? do you have an immediate post op photo?

[bloodhound]

8 hours ago, SadMan2021 said:

has the left side temple grown in fine, its only the right side that has this emptiness? interesting.

I don't see any last-minute miracle growth happening here. This is not good for 8 months. 

Left side isn’t super dense, but much more viable than the right side 

[bloodhound]

6 hours ago, Fabulous said:

Do you know the name of the doctor who worked on you ?

It was split between 2, Umut and Cenginz 

[bloodhound]

4 hours ago, Calvin said:

I agree with sadman... Maybe you should negociate a repairwork with the clinic ASAP

Strength my friend 

What should I say? I was told to keep waiting

[bloodhound]

4 hours ago, Fue3361 said:

Like I said on reddit, things aren’t looking great.  But yeah, at 9months contact HLC again and tell them you deserve a repair job since they didn’t deliver.  Id be very surprised if they refused to repair it for free.

 

That said, maybe you get lucky and minoxidil helps it to start growing?

This is a nightmare 

[bloodhound]

4 hours ago, Fue3361 said:

All of this is even more a shame since your post OP pics look very clean.

Shouldn’t that mean the grafts took?

[bloodhound]

4 hours ago, Berba11 said:

No it absolutely isn't. Why would you say this?

For whatever reason some grafts haven't taken. It's no big deal and will probably just require a small touch up. Frustrating? Sure. But not the end of the world, about as far removed from "life or death" as you can imagine and is surely a potential outcome you knew could happen from your pre-op research...?

HLC should, if they're an ethical clinic, have you back in for a slight touch up to improve the lagging area.

Hey, appreciate the reply but you can’t decide what is or isn’t life or death for me. I was counting on this to work out the first time heavily, I knew it wasn’t impossible for it to fail.. but I hadn’t seen a fail from them up to the point I got the procedure done. 

I don’t know how many grafts it’ll take to fill in, it might be a big chuck of my donor, but if it didn’t work the first time why would it work now. Beyond frustrating this is a nightmare

[bloodhound]

1 hour ago, asterix0 said:

The post op pictures look very clean.

I can only think that the grafts were transected and thus didn't grow. That is really unfortunate, I hope things turn around for you man. What made you pick your particular doctor/clinic?

I’m not sure what the cause was to be honest, but yea, unfortunate is accurate. I went with HLC because they had great reviews and results for a fair price, even if you check now lots of people get amazing results from them, seems like i’m just unlucky. 

[asterix0]

2 minutes ago, bloodhound said:

I’m not sure what the cause was to be honest, but yea, unfortunate is accurate. I went with HLC because they had great reviews and results for a fair price, even if you check now lots of people get amazing results from them, seems like i’m just unlucky. 

Where did you check the reviews? I just did a quick search on this forum and found unsatisfied patients who didn't have expected growth just like yourself:

 

[HappyMan2021]

14 minutes ago, bloodhound said:

Left side isn’t super dense, but much more viable than the right side 

very interesting....was there 1 tech who worked on the right side and a different tech who worked on the left side?

Maybe the left side tech was much more inexperienced and for whatever reason screwed up. I'm really not sure, if all else is equal, why the left side would have more growth than the left. 

[asterix0]

5 minutes ago, bloodhound said:

I’m not sure what the cause was to be honest, but yea, unfortunate is accurate. I went with HLC because they had great reviews and results for a fair price, even if you check now lots of people get amazing results from them, seems like i’m just unlucky. 

It is not your fault so don't feel bad, many clinics have unfortunately deceptive marketing that mask how things truly are. 

Just understand that if something is very cheap, there is usually a catch. What if you were buying a car but was offered one at 10% of the going market price. Would you be skeptical about what you are getting?

 

[ITA]

I don't think a top-tier clinic like HLC could have gone wrong and trasected the grafts, as I'm sure they will meet the patient with a free touch-up, but I would recommend @bloodhound to visit a dermatologist before undergoing the touch-up.

[bloodhound]

8 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

Where did you check the reviews? I just did a quick search on this forum and found unsatisfied patients who didn't have expected growth just like yourself:

 

Just saw this post today, we literally have the same problem. 

I checked all over online, and with cost in mind I weighed the pros & cons, chances of success and failure and made my decision based on that

[bloodhound]

9 minutes ago, SadMan2021 said:

very interesting....was there 1 tech who worked on the right side and a different tech who worked on the left side?

Maybe the left side tech was much more inexperienced and for whatever reason screwed up. I'm really not sure, if all else is equal, why the left side would have more growth than the left. 

One did the extraction, and the other did the implementation. I don’t know either, someone had the exact same thing happen to them i’m seeing. I’m going to take someone’s advice here and see a dermatologist for an answer 

[bloodhound]

10 minutes ago, asterix0 said:

It is not your fault so don't feel bad, many clinics have unfortunately deceptive marketing that mask how things truly are. 

Just understand that if something is very cheap, there is usually a catch. What if you were buying a car but was offered one at 10% of the going market price. Would you be skeptical about what you are getting?

 

Thank you. I wasn’t deceived into going there my decision was based on the reviews and the fact surgeons did the work. The price is fair compared to USA/Canada, but for Turkey it’s considered high, definitely more than the hair mills people go to.

I had a budget and did what I thought would yield the best results given the price. Some people have amazing results from them, I’m just unlucky it looks like 

 

 

[bloodhound]

10 minutes ago, Egy said:

I don't think a top-tier clinic like HLC could have gone wrong and trasected the grafts, as I'm sure they will meet the patient with a free touch-up, but I would recommend @bloodhound to visit a dermatologist before undergoing the touch-up.

Thanks for the suggestion, I’m going to do that. Should I ask if they can see if there’s grafts underneath?