Crown regrowth is slower?

[Amiele]

31M, on finasteride and minoxidil. In the second week of March 2021, I had 2,500 grafts via FUT (trichophytic closure) method transplanted to my hairline and crown, and exosomes injected (Direct Biologics) into my vertex. The procedure was performed by a reputable transplant surgeon in the U.S.. I've attached pictures that were taken under harsh lighting. 

In my opinion, my hairline looks fantastic compared to what it used to look like, and my crown has thus far filled in nicely, although I wonder if my crown is lagging behind in regrowth. I can buzz down to a 3.5 guard and still not see the scar - which is fantastic. But I'm not sure I'd want to do another FUT. So if I would like to achieve the illusion of maximum density (within realistic expectations) in the crown I would need to get a second procedure via FUE? 

There appears to be mixed opinions across realself.com and surgeons’ websites on the regrowth timeline for the crown…some say 12 months, some say up to 18 months. Can I expect any changes in my crown from now until 15 months? I cannot find any results on the internet of people who saw changes in the crown after 12 months. 

 

(P.S., I used Toppik for the first time today – applied it to my crown, and my god I have not felt that confident since I was in undergrad) 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 22, 2022 by Amiele
need to label images

[Melvin- Admin]

Looks really good, who was your surgeon?

[Gasthoerer]

Crown is always delayed. It did not believe it myself until it happened to myself^^

Just check my thread. Crown was approx. 1.5-2 month behind hairline - maturing even longer. Baseline reached around month 6.5 in crown. Significant improvement between 8.5 and 13. Afterwards I did not check any further. 

 

[Al - Moderator]

This looks very good. The crown is still a bit thin, but it looks very natural. A thinning crown is rather normal when both frontal and crown work is needed. You want to get the front filled in fully and then use whatever grafts are left to fill in the crown as best as possible. That usually gives the best overall look when you don't have enough grafts to cover everything. My guess is you wouldn't like it as much if the crown was filled in and the front was too thin.

Crowns do tend to take a bit longer to grow in and mature, so while you may get some minor improvements in the next few months, it won't be a big change. You can go for a few hundred FUE to increase the density, but you may be better off leaving it alone for a while and see where your hair loss goes. You don't want to use too many grafts in the center of your crown and then have the balding area expand outward over the years and not have enough donor grafts left to fill it all in.

 

[Britanium]

Yeh for just about most of us the crown definitely has slower growth. Quite possible to see improvements right up to 18 months. Mine has been at least a couple of months behind the usual time frame. Excellent pics by the way ! Very clear. 👍🏽

[Britanium]

Oh and yes it would be nice to know who the Dr/Clinic was ? Thanks 🙏 

[Amiele]

11 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Looks really good, who was your surgeon?

Dr. Jerry Cooley, MD 

[Britanium]

6 minutes ago, Amiele said:

Dr. Jerry Cooley, MD 

Good choice of Dr 👍🏽

[aaron1234]

Looks like a successful HT to me.  Congrats!

[stephcurry30]

Looking really good. The doctor did a great job. Who was your surgeon?

I would stick with hair fibers until you go for another ahir transplant to add density to the crown. 

[Britanium]

18 minutes ago, Amiele said:

Dr. Jerry Cooley, MD 

@stephcurry30

[Amiele]

26 minutes ago, stephcurry30 said:

Looking really good. The doctor did a great job. Who was your surgeon?

I would stick with hair fibers until you go for another ahir transplant to add density to the crown. 

Thanks! I went to Dr. Cooley!

Do hair fibers affect hair growth/clog hair follicles? 

[Britanium]

21 minutes ago, Amiele said:

Thanks! I went to Dr. Cooley!

Do hair fibers affect hair growth/clog hair follicles? 

Absolutely not at this late stage 👌

[Amiele]

4 hours ago, BeHappy said:

This looks very good. The crown is still a bit thin, but it looks very natural. A thinning crown is rather normal when both frontal and crown work is needed. You want to get the front filled in fully and then use whatever grafts are left to fill in the crown as best as possible. That usually gives the best overall look when you don't have enough grafts to cover everything. My guess is you wouldn't like it as much if the crown was filled in and the front was too thin.

Crowns do tend to take a bit longer to grow in and mature, so while you may get some minor improvements in the next few months, it won't be a big change. You can go for a few hundred FUE to increase the density, but you may be better off leaving it alone for a while and see where your hair loss goes. You don't want to use too many grafts in the center of your crown and then have the balding area expand outward over the years and not have enough donor grafts left to fill it all in.

 

Thanks for the info. Yes, I don't expect to see major changes going forward, and you make a great point about balding progression and adequate donor supply.

To quote @Gasthoerer  "I am happy with the outcome and hair greed has arrived" 

I'll discuss my results with Dr. Cooley when I see him in a few months. I think I made the correct decision in not attempting to have both my hairline and crown density restored in the first procedure. 

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

Amiele,

While it’s possible that the crown may be growing a little slower, keep in mind that you have a large balding area in the crown and the truth is, it takes a lot more grafts to re-create any kind of density. In fact, the crown is typically referred to as the “black hole” for grafts.  Essentially, this means that even when you experience full growth, Your scalp will still show through unless of course, you either have enough density which is hard to re-create when the crown has a large balding area or, you have longer hair that will essentially lay over top making it appear thicker.

In looking at the pictures, it looks like you’re experiencing growth probably just as fast and as thick as the hair transplanted in the hairline. It’s just that it’s easier to re-create a dense hairline than it is the crown. This is due to several factors including the size of the area that needs to be transplanted/covered. graft placement, hairstyle, length of hair, etc.

Hair grows differently in the crown than anywhere else on the scalo.  Crown hair grows in a natural whorl pattern which essentially is more circular in nature and as a result, doesn’t re-create the shingling affect like the hairline and frontal region of the scalp. The shingling affect helps create the illusion of density which simply doesn’t occur in the crown.  

Hairstyle can also help make the crown appear thicker especially if you wear your hair longer.  For example, I wear my hair long and typically pulled up in a man bun.  To be honest, with this style you can’t even tell that I have any signs of thinning in the back whereas when I used to wear it short it still looked good but it was obviously and notably thinner than the rest of my hair.

I hope this helps 

Rahal Hair Transplant 

 

[Gasthoerer]

On 2/19/2022 at 4:59 PM, Amiele said:

To quote @Gasthoerer  "I am happy with the outcome and hair greed has arrived" 

Haha, nice one. But be careful, greed is the path to the dark side 😉

[Britanium]

Just now, Gasthoerer said:

Haha, nice one. But be careful, greed is the path to the dark side 😉

Hmmmm wise one you are 🤣

[Amiele]

I wanted to add some updated photos taken at 18 months post-op. Also, does anyone have any thoughts on how many grafts I would need to fill in my crown – to add enough density to make it look as if I'm not balding? Thanks. 

 

 

 

 

[Gasthoerer]

Your crown is similar to mine, but maybe a little smaller (but best if you would measure it). Considering that you will lose all natural grafts in that area and keep the few transplanted ones, I say you need around 2000 FU especially if you work into the adjacent regions. 

[Zoomster]

On 2/19/2022 at 6:40 PM, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

Amiele,

While it’s possible that the crown may be growing a little slower, keep in mind that you have a large balding area in the crown and the truth is, it takes a lot more grafts to re-create any kind of density. In fact, the crown is typically referred to as the “black hole” for grafts.  Essentially, this means that even when you experience full growth, Your scalp will still show through unless of course, you either have enough density which is hard to re-create when the crown has a large balding area or, you have longer hair that will essentially lay over top making it appear thicker.

In looking at the pictures, it looks like you’re experiencing growth probably just as fast and as thick as the hair transplanted in the hairline. It’s just that it’s easier to re-create a dense hairline than it is the crown. This is due to several factors including the size of the area that needs to be transplanted/covered. graft placement, hairstyle, length of hair, etc.

Hair grows differently in the crown than anywhere else on the scalo.  Crown hair grows in a natural whorl pattern which essentially is more circular in nature and as a result, doesn’t re-create the shingling affect like the hairline and frontal region of the scalp. The shingling affect helps create the illusion of density which simply doesn’t occur in the crown.  

Hairstyle can also help make the crown appear thicker especially if you wear your hair longer.  For example, I wear my hair long and typically pulled up in a man bun.  To be honest, with this style you can’t even tell that I have any signs of thinning in the back whereas when I used to wear it short it still looked good but it was obviously and notably thinner than the rest of my hair.

I hope this helps 

Rahal Hair Transplant 

 

Hi 

Would it be possible to see a pic of your man bun style ..it might solve a lot of guys crown concerns including my own 

thanks a lot 

[GoliGoliGoli]

How many grafts went into your crown in your first HT?