Hair Transplant repair

[RTC]

Hi all,

In 2018 I got a HT from Asli Tarcan.

Needless to say, they destroyed my donor area (over-harvested), gave me a pluggy hairline, inserted hairs at the wrong angles, and left my recipient area full of holes and sparse.

After four years of SMP and experiments in growing my hair out, I'm ready to try to repair it.

I had a good chat with Dr Eibi Inieko of the Chiswick Hair Clinic in 2021 who was very realistic in his approach, but I decided not to pursue it at that time. I personally know someone who he gave an excellent result HT result to.

I will be going to see him for another consultation this week as I'm ready to take the plunge.

Just want to know if anybody has any advice based on the following pics.

1. I would like to improve the pluggy, unnatural hairline.

2. Fill in the sparse areas above my hairline (especially on the corners where I have two holes basically)

3. Possibly camouflage donor area

[RTC]

The corners are especially bad but don't look too bad in the pic above as I have SMP.

 

Has anybody dealt with a situation like mine and got it repaired?

[Melvin- Admin]

Can you post more pictures of the donor it looks depleted.

[Ajamilo]

why not go to dr. mwaba? @mustang had amazing donor repair with him

[RTC]

7 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Can you post more pictures of the donor it looks depleted.

 

[RTC]

3 minutes ago, Ajamilo said:

why not go to dr. mwaba? @mustang had amazing donor repair with him

I've never heard of this doctor - is he in the UK?

 

[Britanium]

Just now, Aslitarcan sucks said:

I've never heard of this doctor - is he in the UK?

 

Belgium.. 

[Britanium]

It’s going to be prove difficult when the donor area is already over harvested. Some of the best repair guys are Dr Bisanga, Dr Mwamba, Dr Feriduni and @DrTBarghouthi

[RTC]

Thanks JC, going to research all now

[Britanium]

8 minutes ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

Thanks JC, going to research all now

Check out Dr Pinto also 👍🏽 

[NARMAK]

OP, how does your beard look when grown out? In cases like yours, it might be necessary to use it but the beard is not a perfect match and ideal. However it's become typical in patients to sometimes help repair. 

You want to come here for advice and honesty so please don't be discouraged by any of the responses. They're trying to be helpful but honest so that other people maybe viewing this can avoid a similar fate. 

The honest truth is, your donor looks really bad. Anybody ethical may actually not take you on unless you explicitly know how bad the situation is and realise the huge limitations you may face. 

My honest advice to yourself might be to grow the hair longer to see how it might look and hide the donor area and i genuinely think you will have to use hair concealers to try and make it all blend. 

What ethnicity are you and what was it that lead you to Aslic Tarcan? 

Also, age and any medication you are currently taking might be helpful in users offering you advice. 

I'm really sorry you went through this, and sincerely wishing you can with some help manage the situation where you can overcome things even just a bit. 

[civic]

It is best for you to not look at price but quality at this point, donor supply appears very limited, not much can be further harvested , if you can pull off shaved sides and back with SMP, i think it would be the best route.

[RTC]

6 hours ago, NARMAK said:

OP, how does your beard look when grown out? In cases like yours, it might be necessary to use it but the beard is not a perfect match and ideal. However it's become typical in patients to sometimes help repair. 

You want to come here for advice and honesty so please don't be discouraged by any of the responses. They're trying to be helpful but honest so that other people maybe viewing this can avoid a similar fate. 

The honest truth is, your donor looks really bad. Anybody ethical may actually not take you on unless you explicitly know how bad the situation is and realise the huge limitations you may face. 

My honest advice to yourself might be to grow the hair longer to see how it might look and hide the donor area and i genuinely think you will have to use hair concealers to try and make it all blend. 

What ethnicity are you and what was it that lead you to Aslic Tarcan? 

Also, age and any medication you are currently taking might be helpful in users offering you advice. 

I'm really sorry you went through this, and sincerely wishing you can with some help manage the situation where you can overcome things even just a bit. 

Hey Narmak,

Thanks for the honest reply.

 

My beard is very thick thank God, I also have a surplus of chest hair if needed.

I do realise the donor is not great but at this point I am exploring every option to fix this terrible job. My hair is currently long, and while it does cover the patches on the top to an extent, a life of hair fibers and constant worrying about if anyone can see my patches is very draining indeed. I really want to be able to move through life with a 'normal' head of hair, even if it's not perfect.

Likewise @civic SMP isn't a great option for me as you can't enjoy something as simple as going out in the sun without applying SPF to the back of my head or it'll fade.. I realise this sounds nitpicky but I'm tired of stressing about my hair on a daily basis.

To answer your questions, I am middle Eastern and I went to asli Tarcan due to cost concerns and because their social media presence was excellent. I currently don't use any medications and I'm 36. Learned a very bad lesson.

Edited March 6, 2022 by Aslitarcan sucks

[Ryan Daniel]

The hair on top isn't the worst thing ever, but the donor area makes me really upset 

[Fue3361]

They butchered his donor.

 

That said, if it was me, I’d also want to fix that hairline.  Corners look really bad.  Maybe carefully depleting the donor even more and some beard hairs could do the job.

 

 

[Ajamilo]

Honestly is bad but not so bad as long you have thick beard and chest hairs. . Since your recepeint is good and perhaps need some grafs to fix the density on your hairline the main consern would be your donor area.
maximum 1000-1500 grafs would fix it so no worry. Do consultation with Dr.mwamba and see what he has to say

Good luck and update us

[NARMAK]

4 hours ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

Hey Narmak,

Thanks for the honest reply.

 

My beard is very thick thank God, I also have a surplus of chest hair if needed.

I do realise the donor is not great but at this point I am exploring every option to fix this terrible job. My hair is currently long, and while it does cover the patches on the top to an extent, a life of hair fibers and constant worrying about if anyone can see my patches is very draining indeed. I really want to be able to move through life with a 'normal' head of hair, even if it's not perfect.

Likewise @civic SMP isn't a great option for me as you can't enjoy something as simple as going out in the sun without applying SPF to the back of my head or it'll fade.. I realise this sounds nitpicky but I'm tired of stressing about my hair on a daily basis.

To answer your questions, I am middle Eastern and I went to asli Tarcan due to cost concerns and because their social media presence was excellent. I currently don't use any medications and I'm 36. Learned a very bad lesson.

Thank you for replying. 

Being with a good beard means that grafts selectively could be taken from there and placed hopefully if necessary. 

In terms of being taken in by social media and cheap prices, you're unfortunately not the first person to have been taken in by this tactic and unfortunately will not be the last. All we can hope for is people like yourself sharing your stories helps save other people who come across this from the same fate. If you happen to use Reddit, sharing your story on places like R/Tressless and similar will hopefully also help people. Make an alt account if you want anonymity i guess. 

Eugenix is in India and not too far if you want to at least give them a message for consultations but there's also a bunch on the recommended list maybe you can reach out to. 

I would say that the pictures you posted don't show SMP when it was being used but i completely understand your concern around applying sun block all the time and fading of SMP. 

The truth is, SMP does fade and your environment just might be making that happen sooner but you may have to manage your situation as best as you can until you're able to repair. Growing the hair longer in the donor area, how does it look? Do you have any pictures and with SMP when used as well as hair fibres? 

Right now a combination of wearing hair longer to cover the donor area or completely shaving it down to a low fade and using SMP to fill the donor scars in could work. You probably will want to use a hat of some sorts, maybe find one that looks stylish and helps block the sun. Sun damage is bad for you generally so it's a good idea to try and protect yourself. Maybe a wide brim hat will help. 

Fibres for the corners and a brand that can withstand heat and sweating might be useful for the time being and staying away from too many swim based activities unless you are able to maybe wear a tight swim cap around the head. 

There's a high possibility you will have to probably use beard grafts in the donor area and a combination of any salvaged scalp hair in an extremely depleted donor area combined with body hair. Now, this is where my warning to you comes. You are a repair case. The damage that's been done to your hair makes it significantly harder, probably even more than i'm able to emphasis to get the result you may be hoping for. As long as you understand there's a huge possibility that things could even possibly look worse because of potential further shock loss and trauma, and are willing to take that risk, you genuinely may not want to go for a repair even. 

Getting it right the first time usually helps but there are people who even going to the best possible place the first time have had poor results and that's why some people warn don't get a hair transplant. Especially if you are not prepared for that bitter disappointing possibility. 

I genuinely hope you do find a solution OP, you're just a bit older than me and the same age when you got your hair transplant. I would probably ask that you think about posting some before pictures and probably start medication like Finasteride because it could help save the hair you have around the crown where it doesn't look like you had a transplant. Especially because if you lose any more hair, i genuinely don't think you'll have enough to cover it with whatever is left in your scalp donor. 

[RTC]

Thanks for the dose of reality =/

In regards to shock loss, I was under the impression that was a temporary phenomenon, not permanent?

I do agree that I should probably brace myself for a less than perfect result, and in fact Dr Mwamba has already been in contact for a potential plan. But it's long one and not as simple as I may have initially anticipated.

In terms of wearing fibers and wearing hats constantly - i have been down that road, and it becomes very draining and bad for confidence. You're never fully able to just 'be free' - always having to worry if something is out of place, wearing hats in inappropriate situations like at work etc

[NARMAK]

1 hour ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

Thanks for the dose of reality =/

In regards to shock loss, I was under the impression that was a temporary phenomenon, not permanent?

I do agree that I should probably brace myself for a less than perfect result, and in fact Dr Mwamba has already been in contact for a potential plan. But it's long one and not as simple as I may have initially anticipated.

In terms of wearing fibers and wearing hats constantly - i have been down that road, and it becomes very draining and bad for confidence. You're never fully able to just 'be free' - always having to worry if something is out of place, wearing hats in inappropriate situations like at work etc

I think it's good you are getting in touch with people like Dr Mwamba and as for permanent or temporary. It's hard to know which will happen but it's a possibility you need to be prepared for happening imo. 

I know you worrying about the hat suggestion and so on but you're in a literal catch-22 with whatever you do until potentially a repair solution could free you to do things as you might want to. 

Consult with Dr Mwamba and other high quality clinics and hopefully you find a way forwards. You're still a relatively young guy and got time on your side to address this. 

[RTC]

After some deliberation, God willing I will be moving forward with Dr Mwamba. Have a consultation (in-person) scheduled for next month and hopefully the procedure in a few months.

I got opinions from two other respected Doctors in Belgium and also Dr Eibi Inieko, but the stars aligned with Mwamba and he just seems the right person for the job based on his plan. All the other doctors sounded great too, but like I said Mwamba just seems like the best fit.

Plan is to try and 'homogenise' the donor area and take maybe 1-1.2k grafts from there and use it to fill in the temple gaps and hairline area. Unfortunately removing plugs is out of my budget so we will not be doing that. 

After that, we can potentially do donor restocking using Body hair to improve the back of my head. I can't wait!!!!

Edited March 21, 2022 by Aslitarcan sucks

[Britanium]

5 minutes ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

After some deliberation, God willing I will be moving forward with Dr Mwamba. Have a consultation (in-person) scheduled for next month and hopefully the procedure in a few months.

I got opinions from two other respected Doctors in Belgium and also Dr Eibi Inieko, but the stars aligned with Mwamba and he just seems the right person for the job based on his plan. All the other doctors sounded great too, but like I said Mwamba just seems like the best fit.

Plan is to try and 'homogenise' the donor area and take maybe 1-1.2k grafts from there and use it to fill in the temple gaps and hairline area. Unfortunately removing plugs is out of my budget so we will not be doing that. 

After that, we can potentially do donor restocking using Body hair to improve the back of my head. I can't wait!!!!

Awesome news 👍🏽 Glad to hear you now have a plan in place to move forward 👌

[RTC]

So I visited Dr Mwamba today in Brussels and had a good consultation with him.

The op will be done over two days, with the front being strengthened with approx 1800 grafts and then donor restocking of 200-300 grafts similar to @mustang.

I will not let myself get carried away with expectations just yet though, but I am hopeful.

[mustang]

1 minute ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

So I visited Dr Mwamba today in Brussels and had a good consultation with him.

The op will be done over two days, with the front being strengthened with approx 1800 grafts and then donor restocking of 200-300 grafts similar to @mustang.

I will not let myself get carried away with expectations just yet though, but I am hopeful.

I am here as well and went to the clinic today to get a prescription

Shame we didn't cross paths!! 

[RTC]

I did see someone walking around with a fresh FUE in the clinic, I take it it wasnt you 😃

[Britanium]

3 minutes ago, Aslitarcan sucks said:

So I visited Dr Mwamba today in Brussels and had a good consultation with him.

The op will be done over two days, with the front being strengthened with approx 1800 grafts and then donor restocking of 200-300 grafts similar to @mustang.

I will not let myself get carried away with expectations just yet though, but I am hopeful.

Good to hear this ! Look forward to seeing the work 👍🏽