Is This A Failed FUE Result?

[mmaguy]

Hello I had an FUE procedure on January 25th, 2021. Sorry for only one before photo, as i was very unhappy with my appearance and made sure there were no before photos in my phone because I HATED to look at them. I would like others opinion on this job. I was told I would need 2 surgeries, and this is the result of my first one, with a focus on the hairline and the middle of my head, and a small amount on the crown. (They said this would be helped more in the second) (ALSO i know there is no before photo showing the crown clearly, but just know it was 90-95% bald already.) I have included results from 12 months(shorter hair) and 13 months (hair grown out).

Edited March 1, 2022 by mmaguy
Forgot to include info

[LaserCaps]

Several concerns,

Most doctors are under the belief grafts compete for blood supply so they feel the need to leave a separation in between grafts.  First procedure, thus, give you a "base" with a very "thin" looking result.  A second procedure, which seems it was they told you, would then give you more density.  My first question, where did the doctor learn to do hair transplants? Does he have a Fellowship in hair? 

By looking at the photos you posted, (and thanks for the good quality), it seems you are experiencing thinning on your sides and back.  You are dipping in the back.  Perhaps the current result is partially due to this.  The first thing I would do is get on all medical modalities not only to retain, but to see if you can improve your donor.  (Propecia, Rogaine, PRP, Laser). Give them a good year.  In the meantime, you could consider SMP. This would buy you some time.  

Were you on any regimen prior to your procedure? 

What happened during the initial consultation? Why did you decide to put transplants in the crown from the get-go? Just curious.  Did the doctor try to dissuade you from doing this or did he just go along?

How many grafts did you do? 

[Melvin- Admin]

How many grafts? Are you on medication?

[asterix0]

Who was your surgeon?

[mmaguy]

6 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

How many grafts? Are you on medication?

3700 Grafts. Biotin & Collagen. 

[mmaguy]

35 minutes ago, LaserCaps said:

Several concerns,

Most doctors are under the belief grafts compete for blood supply so they feel the need to leave a separation in between grafts.  First procedure, thus, give you a "base" with a very "thin" looking result.  A second procedure, which seems it was they told you, would then give you more density.  My first question, where did the doctor learn to do hair transplants? Does he have a Fellowship in hair? 

By looking at the photos you posted, (and thanks for the good quality), it seems you are experiencing thinning on your sides and back.  You are dipping in the back.  Perhaps the current result is partially due to this.  The first thing I would do is get on all medical modalities not only to retain, but to see if you can improve your donor.  (Propecia, Rogaine, PRP, Laser). Give them a good year.  In the meantime, you could consider SMP. This would buy you some time.  

Were you on any regimen prior to your procedure? 

What happened during the initial consultation? Why did you decide to put transplants in the crown from the get-go? Just curious.  Did the doctor try to dissuade you from doing this or did he just go along?

How many grafts did you do? 

3700 Grafts. I used Rogaine, but stopped it because I hated it after 5 years of everyday use. Now I only use Biotin, and Collagen. I was told that they would just do the front and middle region, and the crown would be done on the second procedure. The day I arrived for the surgery, They said they would do the whole area. I am Considering wearing the hair short and getting SMP. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Just now, mmaguy said:

3700 Grafts. I used Rogaine, but stopped it because I hated it after 5 years of everyday use. Now I only use Biotin, and Collagen. I was told that they would just do the front and middle region, and the crown would be done on the second procedure. The day I arrived for the surgery, They said they would do the whole area. I am Considering wearing the hair short and getting SMP. 

I think wearing your hair short and blending the sides to the top would be the best option. You have some hair, but definitely need another two or three hair transplants. 

[mmaguy]

2 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

I think wearing your hair short and blending the sides to the top would be the best option. You have some hair, but definitely need another two or three hair transplants. 

Thank you for your advice 🙏🏽

[Ryan Daniel]

First of all, your hair is dark and curly... which is usually the best candidate for hair transplantation according to most experts 

Secondly as most have said, it is normal that you need at least 2 high quality hair transplantation procedures to cover up an entire area of balding. In your case front to back.

There is one thing that bothers me though regarding your photos.. 

 

In the areas that I've highlighted the transplanted grafts seem to be tight and densely packed... however according to your 13 month post-op photo that you have shared with us it seems to be completely thinned out and non-existent in the back of the head. 

At first I thought this might be a side affect from quitting minoxidil, but this cannot be the case.  It may be the case that your native hair that was holding on due to minoxidil fell... but you have had a lot of grafts implanted there, meaning you must still have some sort of coverage whether or not it looks thick or thin. 

Sir, I hope you had a good word with your clinic about this because this is clearly something to do with graft care and management while or before they were implanting them.  

I mean... I don't want to exaggerate, but I'm sure you took care of your head in the first 10-15 days right? 

 

For now, I wish you good luck on any decision you make regarding this situation and always feel free to let us know. We're all here to help each other 

[HappyMan2021]

do you want to share the name of the surgeon/clinic? that will add so much more clarity to your situation. 

[AB2000]

It looks like you still have a decent amount of donor hair to work with, should you want to use a doctor with a better track record.  Also, your beard looks to be another supply, should you need it.  For some people it's not best to use beard grafts because of the difference in appearance between fine head hair and scraggly beard planted onto the scalp, but in your case they look much the same.  You should be able to correct from this first FUE procedure and get a better result down the line.

Edited March 1, 2022 by AB2000

[NARMAK]

Without any pre-surgery pictures it's difficult to determine what your hair situation was and whether you may have benefitted from trying Finasteride. 

I do think the fact they told you that you need 2 surgeries can be an honest sign but also used by less scrupulous clinics to try and get you back in the chair 12 months later to make more money. 

The difference is that a reputable clinic will usually concentrate density imo in the frontal area and then usually go to the back and crown with density. 

I do know some clinics that are reputable will do it in two passes too front to back so you do have a light covering too. Eugenix did this it seems with @Zoomsterbut in his case, he still had a pretty solid look imo and the 2nd procedure more recently added to that. 

[Britanium]

Was this a HOI/Asli Tarcan type place? Was there a Dr involved at all? It’s clear the growth/yield was poor. Your going to need to choose a better clinic going forward. And if you want to prevent more loss then you should consider a med regime that includes Fin. In your favour you do have a strong beard which could be utilised of needed. I would be considering the likes of Dr Bisanga, Dr Mwamba, Dr Lapunzula, Dr Feriduni and @DrTBarghouthi(Vertex) for your next transplant. Or maybe Dr Bicer or Eugenix. Be good to know where you went for your first procedure? 

[Drish]

Seeing the graft placement in the post-op pic, it does kind of look like Asli, HOI or NHT job!

[mmaguy]

20 hours ago, JC71 said:

Was this a HOI/Asli Tarcan type place? Was there a Dr involved at all? It’s clear the growth/yield was poor. Your going to need to choose a better clinic going forward. And if you want to prevent more loss then you should consider a med regime that includes Fin. In your favour you do have a strong beard which could be utilised of needed. I would be considering the likes of Dr Bisanga, Dr Mwamba, Dr Lapunzula, Dr Feriduni and @DrTBarghouthi(Vertex) for your next transplant. Or maybe Dr Bicer or Eugenix. Be good to know where you went for your first procedure? 

Yes it was a “Hair Mill” type clinic. I will share the name after speaking with them

[mmaguy]

16 hours ago, Drish said:

Seeing the graft placement in the post-op pic, it does kind of look like Asli, HOI or NHT job!

you are correct

[Britanium]

8 minutes ago, mmaguy said:

Yes it was a “Hair Mill” type clinic. I will share the name after speaking with them

Please do 🙏 It will help someone else if they are looking/choosing. Places like Cinik/HOI/Asli Tarcan etc are well known for giving poor results.. Appreciate it 👍🏽

[mmaguy]

On 3/1/2022 at 12:04 PM, Ryan Daniel said:

First of all, your hair is dark and curly... which is usually the best candidate for hair transplantation according to most experts 

Secondly as most have said, it is normal that you need at least 2 high quality hair transplantation procedures to cover up an entire area of balding. In your case front to back.

There is one thing that bothers me though regarding your photos.. 

 

In the areas that I've highlighted the transplanted grafts seem to be tight and densely packed... however according to your 13 month post-op photo that you have shared with us it seems to be completely thinned out and non-existent in the back of the head. 

At first I thought this might be a side affect from quitting minoxidil, but this cannot be the case.  It may be the case that your native hair that was holding on due to minoxidil fell... but you have had a lot of grafts implanted there, meaning you must still have some sort of coverage whether or not it looks thick or thin. 

Sir, I hope you had a good word with your clinic about this because this is clearly something to do with graft care and management while or before they were implanting them.  

I mean... I don't want to exaggerate, but I'm sure you took care of your head in the first 10-15 days right? 

 

For now, I wish you good luck on any decision you make regarding this situation and always feel free to let us know. We're all here to help each other 

thank you for taking the time and pointing out those things. i am about to have a conversation with the clinic about this. I want to go to them again. It is indeed techs performing but the doctor was present. Do you think me telling them about my concerns will impact my second procedure in my favor? Im hoping I can tell them i am unhappy, and that they will give me a better team of techs. I know maybe a different clinic would be better, I will explore some options, as my flight is in 6 days. Anyone who sees this I also encourage you to reply your opinion

 

[Britanium]

1 minute ago, mmaguy said:

thank you for taking the time and pointing out those things. i am about to have a conversation with the clinic about this. I want to go to them again. It is indeed techs performing but the doctor was present. Do you think me telling them about my concerns will impact my second procedure in my favor? Im hoping I can tell them i am unhappy, and that they will give me a better team of techs. I know maybe a different clinic would be better, I will explore some options, as my flight is in 6 days. Anyone who sees this I also encourage you to reply your opinion

 

Please, please do not consider going back to the same clinic ! Your literally in the hands of another tech team, could be worse, might be better ? Those are not good odds for anyone. You will literally start running out of your finite donor area. Another poor growth procedure and your going to be in a worse position.

Its better to lose a deposit than waste more of your donor area. Nobody should have to ask for a better tech team. A Dr present but not do any of the work is not what you want, you need one that’s at least doing the incision step. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Have you spoken to any repair doctors like Mwamba, Bisanga?

[Britanium]

Like most Hair Mills they will literally tell you everything you want to hear. Yes sir we can give you the best Tech teams,  no sir this will be much better result this time… your first result was actually fine etc, etc. In reality? Same thing will most likely happen... it’s a mistake you don’t want to make twice. 

[TheGreatPretender]

12 minutes ago, JC71 said:

Like most Hair Mills they will literally tell you everything you want to hear. Yes sir we can give you the best Tech teams,  no sir this will be much better result this time… your first result was actually fine etc, etc. In reality? Same thing will most likely happen... it’s a mistake you don’t want to make twice. 

This is the "foul me once, foul me twice" kind of situation. If this was a reputable doctor I would give it a go since they have a reputation to defend. On this case its just not worth it, I know it sucks to take the L but I guess op will have to accept that the clinic didnt give him the results he needed, this is why reesearch is very important. 

[mmaguy]

On 3/1/2022 at 12:04 PM, Ryan Daniel said:

First of all, your hair is dark and curly... which is usually the best candidate for hair transplantation according to most experts 

Secondly as most have said, it is normal that you need at least 2 high quality hair transplantation procedures to cover up an entire area of balding. In your case front to back.

There is one thing that bothers me though regarding your photos.. 

 

In the areas that I've highlighted the transplanted grafts seem to be tight and densely packed... however according to your 13 month post-op photo that you have shared with us it seems to be completely thinned out and non-existent in the back of the head. 

At first I thought this might be a side affect from quitting minoxidil, but this cannot be the case.  It may be the case that your native hair that was holding on due to minoxidil fell... but you have had a lot of grafts implanted there, meaning you must still have some sort of coverage whether or not it looks thick or thin. 

Sir, I hope you had a good word with your clinic about this because this is clearly something to do with graft care and management while or before they were implanting them.  

I mean... I don't want to exaggerate, but I'm sure you took care of your head in the first 10-15 days right? 

 

For now, I wish you good luck on any decision you make regarding this situation and always feel free to let us know. We're all here to help each other 

Hey i forgot to mention, I did VAPE marijuana very heavily during recovery. And sometimes i would smoke it. 90-95% vapor though. Could this have had an impact?

[Britanium]

6 minutes ago, mmaguy said:

Hey i forgot to mention, I did VAPE marijuana very heavily during recovery. And sometimes i would smoke it. 90-95% vapor though. Could this have had an impact?

It’s known to constrict blood vessels, but who knows how much impact it would have had.. pretty impossible to tell. To give yourself a fighting chance next time it’s well worth doing everything you can to maximise the chances of a better result. 

[AB2000]

25 minutes ago, JC71 said:

It’s known to constrict blood vessels, but who knows how much impact it would have had.. pretty impossible to tell. To give yourself a fighting chance next time it’s well worth doing everything you can to maximise the chances of a better result. 

The other candidate for this result is hair transection.  If the doctor/techs extracted the curly hair out improperly that would have killed off some percentage of the FUE grafts.  Either way, it's a very bad idea to go back to the same place.  There are other doctors out there who can give this guy a great outcome.