Regular Member northman Posted April 21, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted April 21, 2022 Before Until now I was a lurker around here and it was really informative if nothing else. I'm in my late 20s and have never had a perfect hairline. In my peak at 19, i had two cowlicks one on the rightside and one on the leftside of my front hairline corners. With a widows peak to top it off. In retrospect i probably started losing hair around 22 but i didn't realize till i was 24 when a patch went "missing." This is cause i kept it medium on top and faded on the sides. That's when I started hair saving steps etc & also looking up doctors Diep, Wesley, Ziering, Arocha but waited years till I finally took the dive in 2022. I decided on Arocha. His representative Al deserves alot of credit as well. I met with arocha and my problem was an eroded hairline and diffuse thinning right in the front. We went over a suitable hairline and methods to maintain minitutizing hair around the front. I didnt realize we needed to slightly rebuild my left temp peak, it had got that bad.New hair day I got the procedure done on a Wednesday. I get nervous for just about anything so it was no surprise here to me, but arocha and all his staff was great and patient. The pre meds helped too. Arocha and assistant did all the graft removal, then Arocha did the incisions for the recipient area and also the PRP injections. The technicians did the graft placements. Took about 10 hours and I was pretty satisfied with their work and was actually starved more than tired.Post Op Arocha called to check in afterward the next day and I went in for a cleaning on day 2. According to everyone my donor area was healing extremely quickly. Which was good cause day 1 it looked.... ravaged. During the first week my head felt like a cinder block. I couldn't do much of anything without being nauseous. The outside of my head might've been healing, inside was something else. But, no pain no gain. Interesting note is there was very little swelling, only I noticed certain small points around my forehead day 2 and 3. Pictures include before hair loss, peak erosion, and post op. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Melvin- Admin Posted April 22, 2022 Administrators Share Posted April 22, 2022 Glad to see another afro case on the forum. Dr. Arocha has always impressed me, definitely will be following your progress closely. I’m a paid admin for Hair Transplant Network. I do not receive any compensation from any clinic. My comments are not medical advice. Check out my final hair transplant and topical dutasteride journey: View my thread Topical dutasteride journey Melvin- Managing Publisher and Forum Moderator for the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, and the Hair Loss Q&A Blog. Follow our Social Media: Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin, and YouTube. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted April 22, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted April 22, 2022 Yes I liked Dr. Arochas work and took a chance. Now's the waiting game. Glad to be here to share. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted April 24, 2022 Valued Contributor Share Posted April 24, 2022 Post-op work looks great! I’ll be following along! Happy Growing!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted May 4, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 4, 2022 meant to post awhile back this is day 10. still had a lot of scabs. they didnt want to budge and I was scared to pick them. i had started washing my hair regularly in the shower on day 8. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted May 4, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 4, 2022 this is day 20. during this last week the donor area goes through spells where it itches bad and still has sore spots. one spot bled just a little from my "light" scratching unfortunately. man i learned from that. other than that my thin native hair is starting to grow around the recipient area so it can be hard to spot new hair underneath the curls. but its growing little by little which is nice since nothing was there for years. taking it day by day. one picture in natural daylight. the other with flash on. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Blacklurker Posted May 11, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted May 11, 2022 How much did he charge per graft Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member John1991 Posted May 14, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted May 14, 2022 If - as I suspect based on the pictures - all the grafts are placed in the thinning region and the final outcome will not be a lowering of the hairline so much as a vast improvement in the existing one, I think this will be good. I will say this is one of those things where your hair texture makes it quite different to judge than non-black transplants. Hope it turns out well. I found the position of my head for the placement of the grafts to be very uncomfortable - to the point where I had to take a couple of 5-10 minute breaks during my transplant. And my entire procedure was only 6 hours total for 2600+ grafts. I can only imagine how exhausting that 10 hours must've been notwithstanding you probably didn't have neck discomfort. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Vann Posted May 18, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted May 18, 2022 Thanks for the update. Do you have any pictures of the donor zone after and some pics right after the implantation/extraction? Follow my first hair transplant journey 3,252 Grafts a minimum of 6,712 hairs June 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted June 13, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 13, 2022 2 month update 4/13-6/13 A lot of shedding and pimples happening now. Most of the shedding was week 4 and 5 and I panicked cause I thought it was me washing my hair too rough but Dr. Arocha reassured me it was normal at this time haha A side issue is the itching. That's one thing I never saw feedback about with FUE. My donor area itches and is actually sore in some spots. But I'm using aloe vera. It seems to sooth it a little. I think there was some shock loss? near the edges of the thickest hair. And also on my left temple since its more thin than my right temple now. I don't really know. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted June 13, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 13, 2022 On 5/17/2022 at 8:58 PM, Vann said: Thanks for the update. Do you have any pictures of the donor zone after and some pics right after the implantation/extraction? sorry for late post. I can get some it'd be good to compare Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted June 13, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 13, 2022 On 5/13/2022 at 10:51 PM, John1991 said: If - as I suspect based on the pictures - all the grafts are placed in the thinning region and the final outcome will not be a lowering of the hairline so much as a vast improvement in the existing one, I think this will be good. I will say this is one of those things where your hair texture makes it quite different to judge than non-black transplants. Hope it turns out well. I found the position of my head for the placement of the grafts to be very uncomfortable - to the point where I had to take a couple of 5-10 minute breaks during my transplant. And my entire procedure was only 6 hours total for 2600+ grafts. I can only imagine how exhausting that 10 hours must've been notwithstanding you probably didn't have neck discomfort. Thank you. Yeah the doctor told me my texture could maybe help with final density but we'll see. The hair type also made things take longer. You lay face down on this massage table like bed and I get congested easily, so it was kind of bad but hope those hours will be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Vann Posted June 13, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted June 13, 2022 20 minutes ago, northman said: 2 month update 4/13-6/13 A lot of shedding and pimples happening now. Most of the shedding was week 4 and 5 and I panicked cause I thought it was me washing my hair too rough but Dr. Arocha reassured me it was normal at this time haha A side issue is the itching. That's one thing I never saw feedback about with FUE. My donor area itches and is actually sore in some spots. But I'm using aloe vera. It seems to sooth it a little. I think there was some shock loss? near the edges of the thickest hair. And also on my left temple since its more thin than my right temple now. I don't really know. To begin with you were already losing in a diffuse pattern so some of it may be shock loss along with shedding around the transplanted which may have caused you more worry. i think this looks very normal and you don’t need to worry about it. Shedding at 4-5 weeks is a little later than some who shed between the first 11-14 days. But everyone has their own pace. i think you have some thinner hairs that are still there so once you hit months 4-5 I think you’ll grow fast. Just my speculation nothing concrete but just wait this out patiently. also just to note make sure you keep your head covered and out of the sun since it is summer time. The sun can be very harmful to transplanted hairs early on so make sure you take precaution against that. Happy growing and thanks for the update. 1 Follow my first hair transplant journey 3,252 Grafts a minimum of 6,712 hairs June 2022 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted June 13, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 13, 2022 5 minutes ago, Vann said: To begin with you were already losing in a diffuse pattern so some of it may be shock loss along with shedding around the transplanted which may have caused you more worry. i think this looks very normal and you don’t need to worry about it. Shedding at 4-5 weeks is a little later than some who shed between the first 11-14 days. But everyone has their own pace. i think you have some thinner hairs that are still there so once you hit months 4-5 I think you’ll grow fast. Just my speculation nothing concrete but just wait this out patiently. also just to note make sure you keep your head covered and out of the sun since it is summer time. The sun can be very harmful to transplanted hairs early on so make sure you take precaution against that. Happy growing and thanks for the update. Yeah i just washed literally when it hit 4 weeks and a lot transplanted hair came out. I was shook a bit lol But thank you for the feedback. I'm the only one that I know of that would even do this, so nobody really to talk to outside the forums. And yeah my floppy fisherman hat will come in handy in this Texas heatwave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Mycroft Posted June 14, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted June 14, 2022 (edited) Definitely some shock loss but that's a reasonable expectation given that the area was diffused. This doesn't mean that the shock loss is permanent, but you may need to wait a few more months before they come back. Nothing to be concerned about just yet. Too early to really see much appreciable growth in most cases but long enough that shedding has already kicked in. Edited June 14, 2022 by Mycroft 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted August 25, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 25, 2022 (edited) month 4. The native hair was wild so i just cut it for the first time since the surgery. I had to use a #3 guard. There's new sprouts everywhere and the hairline has some that aren't really big...yet? I did figure the front would be the slowest to grow. The left temple seems okay for now but it could be the haircut being low that it blends in. I'll see by next update. The donor site has one or two spots that itch still. Overall some progress is better than none Edited August 25, 2022 by northman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member mrmane85 Posted November 19, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted November 19, 2022 How's it going? Any updates you can share @northman? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member stephcurry30 Posted November 26, 2022 Senior Member Share Posted November 26, 2022 OP hope everything is coming along nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted December 22, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 22, 2022 (edited) On 6/13/2022 at 1:07 PM, northman said: 2 month update 4/13-6/13 reposting month 2 since it vanished and for progress. Edited December 22, 2022 by northman pic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted December 22, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 22, 2022 (edited) I haven't been able to post like I hoped but took just a few photos overtime for myself and i'll get to it and post them. september first 2 pic october 3rd pic november 4th pic Edited December 22, 2022 by northman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted December 22, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 22, 2022 (edited) 8 months december. similar to november. my widows peak has filled in and the hairline. hoping it fills in a little more behind the hairline but coming from nothing i'll let it finish doing its thing. (if it's not done, we'll see) Edited December 22, 2022 by northman date 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Yan bio Posted December 22, 2022 Regular Member Share Posted December 22, 2022 Afro hair has such great characteristics for transplant. Your results are great and density looks like is going to be phenomenal! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member northman Posted December 22, 2022 Author Regular Member Share Posted December 22, 2022 30 minutes ago, Yan bio said: Afro hair has such great characteristics for transplant. Your results are great and density looks like is going to be phenomenal! thanks for the comments. Density was one of my main concerns from the beginning and I appreciate the results so far. we'll see where it ends up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member futureresearch Posted April 23, 2023 Regular Member Share Posted April 23, 2023 Any updates? Also thinking about going to Arocha soon, was there a waitlist? Also how's the donor? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valued Contributor Steeeve Posted April 24, 2023 Valued Contributor Share Posted April 24, 2023 I second an update although at 8 months this looked really solid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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