3rd Hair Transplant Failed - how can I fix this?

[3rdtimefail]

Hi everyone,

Welp...i screw up big time and I regret my decision. Im really not doing well mentally or emotionally because of it.  I went to Turkey for my 3rd hair transplant (they performed a DHI transplant) and I don't see any results at the 5th month mark...I understand full results take 12 months im currently at the 5 month mark, I am seeing ZERO new hair growth and so I am of course extremely worried.

I reached out to the clinic directly and they claim that I did not mention that this was my 3rd hair transplant, otherwise they would have "definitely performed an FUE procedure" and they would have advised on realistic expectations since "the third hair transplant will never be as good as the first or second". First of all, I 100% told them in person, during my consultation that this was my 3rd hair transplant. We discussed that in person, so that should have been addressed before they went ahead with the procedure. 

I dont want to throw the clinic under the bus as I am still waiting to see how they handle this situation but I would love to know how I can expect to move forward from this. As I mentioned earlier, im really not doing okay...I am so regretful and im not sure how/ if I can recover for this. 

My first hair transplant was an FUT (age 25), my second was an FUE (age 28) and the third was a DHI (age 31). My donor area is now over harvested and I wonder if I can ever get another hair transplant at all.  I really am not looking for a bunch of people to tell me how stupid I am, I am looking for help/ advice.  Im honestly heartbroken and Im freaking out everyday....checking the mirror 50 times a day.

Prior to my procedure they also did SMP to help camouflage my baldness but I absolutely hate the results....as you can see in the pictures below, the SMP is completely faded in the center of my head (where I am nearly bald)  and its obviously noticeable near my temples/ hairline. 

Can anyone advise what I should do next and if there are any doctors that can help fix this?

 

[shiba1985]

DHI is not a harvest technique. The clinic is jacking you around and gaslighting you at the same time. Which is not surprising given the quality of work. 

There is no easy way out of this, if a way at all. If you are not happy with the way its looking right now, probably best bet is to shave it all off, and try SMP look. 

Sorry you had to be subjected to this.

Edited April 1, 2022 by shiba1985

[3rdtimefail]

40 minutes ago, shiba1985 said:

DHI is not a harvest technique. The clinic is jacking you around and gaslighting you at the same time. Which is not surprising given the quality of work. 

There is no easy way out of this, if a way at all. If you are not happy with the way its looking right now, probably best bet is to shave it all off, and try SMP look. 

Sorry you had to be subjected to this.

Geeez man....you really think my only option is to shave it off and go SMP? i dont think I ever want to touch SMP again. 

Iv heard of people having up to 4 or 5 HTs....extracting hairs from the neck beard or chest. Anyone think that can be an alternative option for me in 6 more months? im absolutely torn...and just want to find someone who can help me.

[Mike10]

which clinic?

[JoeMan]

I'm very sorry to see this happen to you. I can tell that it's mentally draining you and I hope you find a solution.

I'm not sure there is an easy solution but possibly Eugenix can help you? They seem to be the best at really tough cases.

Don't jump into anything quickly as I'm worried you could get scammed again if you base a decision on your emotions currently. This will take time, so do your research and listen to people that have been through this before. I haven't, but plenty on this forum have, so maybe they can help. 

@Gatsby maybe you can help here by giving real life experience on how to proceed? 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by JoeMan

[MAIZE1694]

20 minutes ago, 3rdtimefail said:

Geeez man....you really think my only option is to shave it off and go SMP? i dont think I ever want to touch SMP again. 

Iv heard of people having up to 4 or 5 HTs....extracting hairs from the neck beard or chest. Anyone think that can be an alternative option for me in 6 more months? im absolutely torn...and just want to find someone who can help me.

I'm sorry you're going through this.

Some things to keep in mind

- Its only 5 months. Wait until about 10-12 months before you freak out.

- Have some perspective. We're all fighting a losing battle. You're not slick bald. There's plenty of hair on your head. If this HT fails you can salvage some donor+beard hair for even better coverage. And hopefully you won't choose another hair mill for the procedure.

- You're gonna need to keep the back and sides super short for now + stop staring in the mirror all day. What's done is done. Look forward. There's still time for recipient area to improve.

- There are doctors who can fix this, but it won't be cheap.

 

[JoeMan]

Also can you post pictures pre operation then directly post operation? This might help to see where hair was placed. 

Also, naming the clinic would be helpful. I'm sure they won't offer a refund and at best if they offer to fix it would you trust them? 

Edited April 1, 2022 by JoeMan

[MAIZE1694]

8 minutes ago, JoeMan said:

Also can you post pictures pre operation the directly post operation? This might help to see where hair was placed. 

Also, naming the clinic would be helpful. I'm sure they won't offer a refund and at best if they offer to fix it would you trust them? 

I would like to see pics of the donor pre operation also.

I agree with naming the clinic.

Although the tone of the thread is already set, what if you had a great result at 5 months? Would you not share the name of the clinic? Of course you would. Transparency is important here.

Also, are you on finasteride?

Edited April 1, 2022 by MAIZE1694

[shiba1985]

37 minutes ago, 3rdtimefail said:

Geeez man....you really think my only option is to shave it off and go SMP? i dont think I ever want to touch SMP again. 

Iv heard of people having up to 4 or 5 HTs....extracting hairs from the neck beard or chest. Anyone think that can be an alternative option for me in 6 more months? im absolutely torn...and just want to find someone who can help me.

your donor area looks pretty badly harvested in the pictures you posted. It may recover some with time but how much only time can tell. 

If you have good beard and chest hair, yes fixing it is an option. However this is not a magical solution. It will be at best acceptable, and probably not "awesome hair". On top of it , it will be VERY expensive and will require multiple sessions. I am stereotyping a bit, but given that you went to a no name clinic in turkey, I am assuming you are somehwat on a budget. (nothing wrong with that, we all are so please dont take it negatively). 

If you are not, and money is not an issue then sure it is salvageable to some degree but dont expect stellar results.  I mean yeh people that have 4 or 5 hair transplants only look good if they plan it properly from the 1st transplant. Most people dont recover from 3 bad hair transplants completely. 

[civic]

The good news is you have enough hair on top to use Toppik, finasteride can help stabilize or slow down further loss, if you are ok with taking it. The overharvested donor area would require a very professuinal surgen who can fix it with body hair.

[NARMAK]

Firstly really sorry this happened to you. 

The clinic are definitely not being honest it seems in some ways. DHI and FUE are basically just the same sort of thing. It's a modified version of FUE so them saying "We would have used FUE instead" is pure BS and feel free to set them on fire with gasoline, and run them over as many times as you want metaphorically because they are a disgsuting Horror Mill and not taking any responsibility at all. It will help other users avoid the same clinic and similar gaslighting 

Personally i am not sure how your beard is, but from the small glimpse it looks like it could be used to help alongside some smart use of SMP in the donor area etc. 

Beard and chest hair usually is turned to as a source of hair to assist when these sorts of things happen and Eugenix and a few others have showcased cases on here that use that combination. 

Ultimately i think you should not hyper focus on this and make yourself more upset at the situation. Try to use concealers for now to help. 

Regarding medication, have you ever take Finasteride etc.?

[Etownone]

Damn.   I feel your struggle bro. 

Couple things. 

Since this is your 3rd HT,   I hope you are on some medication.   Minoxidil comes in oral form which is much easier, and of course there is finesteride.  You should be taking both or at least the minoxidil.  If you are worried about finesteride,  You can take small dose amounts of finesteride from a compound pharmacy, (.25mg) 

2nd, You still got options.   If you don't like the smp in the front cause it's too obvious.  There's a simple laser removal procedure you can do that is quick and won't affect the hairs.  There's a guy on these forums called MUSTANG that did it.    He can help you out.   Dude is a legend.   You should really REALLY read his story.   

You still got months of growth to come so it will get better.   So, My donor isn't great either.   So what I do,  I buzzcut the bottom part of it at a 4, and buzz cut top part of donor area at a 6.   And mine looks fine.   I think if you do the same, you'll be ok.   

3rd.   I was in a similar situation like you...   After years of HTs and winning the hair game.   I stopped all the meds,  and I had a huge setback.   My donor area was depleted and I had a section in the middle front that got weak.   I thought I was screwed,  but now there are Dr's out there that have taken HT to the next level and are fit farming using chest/beard hair to repair donor area.  https://www.fueclinic.com/services/surgery/fit-farming/

So as a last option..   You can do what i did.   I had to have another HT.  I went to Dr Mwamba, and he got over 1000 beard grafts and he was able to find over 1000 scalp/nape grafts to fix my weak spots and do some repair in my donor area.   I just had the surgery 2 months ago.   But,  man...  I feel extremely lucky to have found that Dr and had my procedure done.  

[ITA]

Dude, are you sure your scalp is healthy?  I see a little redness here and there, maybe I'm wrong, it could be a camera effect, but at this point I would also consider making a thorough examination of the same.  There are diseases such as LPP that are not visible to the naked eye, not even the top surgeons, often notice, so, before choosing another clinic / surgeon (and this time I recommend you go there with lead feet), you should do a thorough examination of the scalp, a biospsia would be ideal.  This is what I feel like recommending you.  Good luck

[mcr7777]

I'm very sorry for your situation.  It's very distressing I understand. I'd recommend seeing a dermatologist to rule out autoimmune like LPP.  Make sure you find a derm that specialises in hair/alopecia.  This is what I have - diagnosed after a HT.

These conditions are common causes of poor HT results- and derms and HT clinics can't easily diagnose them in many cases..  Don't even think of another treatment before you get your scalp checked for LPP.  My guess is LPP is the cause of many bad results on this forum - and many people don't realise as it's so difficult to get it diagnosed properly.

Do you have any itching of the scalp? 

Edited April 8, 2022 by mcr7777

[SeanT1]

When did you get SMP done? It looks very faded

[BaldReaper]

On 4/1/2022 at 5:37 AM, shiba1985 said:

DHI is not a harvest technique. The clinic is jacking you around and gaslighting you at the same time. Which is not surprising given the quality of work. 

There is no easy way out of this, if a way at all. If you are not happy with the way its looking right now, probably best bet is to shave it all off, and try SMP look. 

Sorry you had to be subjected to this.

Cant he just shave without SMP?