I've had 3 FUT hair transplants, totalling 4500 FUT grafts planted; I'm now saving up for a FUE procedure

[MichaelfromCalifornia]

Hello, I'm a recent member and no stranger to HT surgeries, I hope to help to be a positive contributing person here,

Brief Background:

I'm a 48 year old male

When I first started my hair transplant journey, my head hair initially looked like the actor, Peter Boyle at one time in his life, (only hair on the side with almost nothing on the top) *photo of him attached

Since about 2013 until now, 2022, I've had 3 FUT hair transplants, totalling 4500 FUT grafts planted

I'm now saving up for a FUE procedure and I wish I did my research on if a FUE procedure was better, but I was young and impatient

Based on my finances, I will have enough money $15,000 in 3 years for a FUE procedure at a reputable FUE HT doctor, who said he could plant 3,000 FUE grafts

*Believe me, I wish I could do it sooner

The FUE Hair Transplant doc looked at a lot of my donor area and even the horizontal slight FUT scar in the back of my head and said I'd be a good candiate for FUE grafts at his clinic to produce my goals: enough weight on the front, the front-left, and the front-right so that my head hair wouldn't be wisped away to the side in light coastal wind (I live in So. Cal not in the windy city of Chicago), to not have to fan or spread out my head hair, or not have to apply Hair Fiber product, *which by the way you might note, that the hair fibers look sort of like dull flat in color (kind of unnatural) and they require lots of hair spray and upkeep (not workable at the gym when a person sweats a lot)

The results as I've posted / attached are not optimal.

The hairline isn't solid and it looks murky

Let me explain, the hairline is disjointed, sort of like ^ ^   ^  ^ ^^  ^ not a solid dense ...............

*Often my head hair needs fanning with my comb so that there aren't gaps

I don't use any anti-aging therapy like Testosterone Replacement Therapy which can deplete head hair

What I do now to make the "less than optimal result" of my hair transplants better:1

1) I apply Hair Fibers, you know the type that one sprinkles on and I need to use a lot of hair spray

*But, when I sweat, some of the hair fibers fall onto my forehead

Haven't lost much head hair since my most recent HT procedure in 2016:

Since my last procedure in approximately the year 2016, I haven't been losing much head hair

I can probably thank using every day Finestride (propecia) every day as well as Minoxidil every day, routinely and religiously applied as something that has kept most of my head hair to my current age of 48 years old

Question:

Barring, God forbid, Cancer or some other malady which might cause my head hair to fall out rapidly,

Would waiting 3 years until I have enough disposable income money ($15,000) be a waste in terms of me sort of like treading water and that in 3 years, I'd need much more than $15,000 of HT surgery, but might need $30,000 due to the hair loss over those 3 years?

Thanks in advance for any constructive help, thanks 

 

Edited May 13, 2022 by MichaelfromCalifornia

[Britanium]

Welcome to the forum 👋

Have you seen the recommended list:

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/best-hair-transplant-surgeons
 

If you are prepared to travel then you would have access to many more decent choices, unless you’re lucky enough to have some top Drs/Clinics close by. If not then look further afield, you many find someone particularly suited to your needs. 

Edited May 13, 2022 by J.A.C

[MichaelfromCalifornia]

29 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

Welcome to the forum 👋

Have you seen the recommended list:

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/best-hair-transplant-surgeons
 

If you are prepared to travel then you would have access to many more decent choices, unless you’re lucky enough to have some top Drs/Clinics close by. If not then look further afield, you many find someone particularly suited to your needs. 

Thanks, I'm not willing to travel outside of California for a procdure. I have too many responsibilities here in Calif. Thanks.

[Britanium]

6 minutes ago, MichaelfromCalifornia said:

Thanks, I'm not willing to travel outside of California for a procdure. I have too many responsibilities here in Calif. Thanks.

Ok you do have Dr Diep, Dr Carmen & Dr Mohebi you could consider, all of which are forum recommended. 

[MichaelfromCalifornia]

Just to add 1 more thing,

3,000 FUE procedure seem like a lot of FUE grafts on top of the recent 3 photos I've attached in order to just add more weight to the front region and make it dense and fuller.

I really don't like where I'm at now:, and I have a simple, modest dream:

a) I don't like using hair fibers to fill gaps,

b) nor do I enjoy taking out a pocket comb and pocket spritzer spray and a bottle containing some hair gel that fits in my pocket, and every 20 minutes in light So. Cal beach coastal wind to fan my hair back into place

c) nor is it fun to spend 1 minute to 1.5 minutes spreading the hair out and about with a comb after a shower so that the hair isn't disjointed

By the way, The procedure used will be a NeoGraft FUE and according to the person I spoke with at the office, out of the procedure, there's generally 3 %  of the overall transplanted grafts that would not "take" or survive and would fail.

[Britanium]

1 minute ago, MichaelfromCalifornia said:

The procedure used will be a NeoGraft FUE

Neograft is outdated, who is the clinic/Dr out of curiosity? 

[MichaelfromCalifornia]

38 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

Neograft is outdated, who is the clinic/Dr out of curiosity? 

I'm sorry, I don't mention names to keep things confidential.

There are at least 2 doctors who do Neograft FUE procedures here in Southern California, USA

If I could vent, 1 of the 3 FUT hair transplant doctors was quizzical on why my results were poor after at least 1 FUT surgery and then he or she said I didn't have alopecia, yet becuase of the poor results, she or he didn't feel comfortable taking my money, I insisted since I heard his or her Reputation / reviews was or were good, but he or she didn't feel comfortable either telling me that an FUE procedure is definitely a better, more productive alternative (maybe because he or she didn't do FUE procedures)

Edited May 13, 2022 by MichaelfromCalifornia
edited to mention there are at least 2 Neograft docs in So. Cal

[MichaelfromCalifornia]

Something else related to this topic which may be helpful if someone is using hair fibers until they get a HT surgery

Those hair fiber companies, whether it be boldify or caboki or toppik claim that the hair fibers aren't bad for the pores or roots or scalp

But I noticed that if I sprinkle some on the front top of my hairline, I then apply Hair Spray...because you got to apply a lot of hair spray to keep the hair fibers in place, what happens is that the hair fibers get sort of liquified and are spots on the scalp, not visible but it is probably a good idea to wash off the hair fiber spots from the scalp and all of the hair fibers when a person comes home from any type of outdoor event or outing or social engagement.

*The hair fibers contrary to these companies' claims, may stuff up or clog the head hair pores, causing hair loss? I don't know.

Maybe you'd like to add your experience on what happens if boldify is applied to the scalp in terms of either speeding up hair loss or not speeding it up?

Thanks, again, everyone.

Edited May 13, 2022 by MichaelfromCalifornia

[MichaelfromCalifornia]

I just wanted to thank everyone for their patience in reading this.

I type about 55 words per minute so this is all easy for me

Hopefully, I provided some insight into FUT procedures for total newbies to this cosmetic surgery

I'm going to do a search on this forum's field not for any doctor, but for "hair fibers" in a bit

*You know I had a *burning desire* back in 2013 to get a hair transplant and I had disposable income to spend

Honestly, I was in a place that is different from today, I was using anti-aging Testosterone and p.e.d. (performance enhancing drugs) as an athlete and that may or may not have had something to do with the poor results but it also...

also it created a mindset of not looking at both the forrest *and also looking at the trees

I was younger, and impatient. I don't know for the life of me why I didn't just wait and research

Now, currently, I'm at a place where I don't have only head hair on the right or left side of my head, just above my ears (the Peter Boyle photo, God rest his Soul), but instead.....

But I'm at a lot more head hair, but it's like not dense enough, I mean if I have to fan or spread the hair and carry portable gel, spray, a pocket comb then dude, that's simply not enough, and it's a freakin' bummer

I really know that 3 years is a bit of time to save up $15,000 for a FUE procedure to drop 3,000 FUE grafts on the front zones 1, 2, 3, and a little over zone 4 (I don't want any resources spent on the crown or cap)

But, hey, I've come so far...and it's been a learning experience, and I simply don't feel like quitting.

I was so bummed out 2 days ago that i was seriously considering a hair system...imagine....shaving those precious pricey FUT head hair grafts to *bond* a hair system that needs about $1500 or more in yearly expenses

I know that I wrote a lot, but again I type fast & hopefully it's useful info. to some newbies...and

it's not declarative, the aim of this post is to get some constructive advice

*So who's with me?

**Do I have a chance at finally realizing my goal with 3,000 FUE grafts (all things being equal, as in God forbid, I don't get any disease that causes sudden and a lot of hair loss).... and what *wash out the hair fibers every night, *making sure the hair fibers are not clogging the pores on my scalp when I return home before sleeping?

The FUE doc who looked at my donor areas, said I do have enough donor hair for 3,000 FUE grafts

Is this a good goal to finally achieve? Or is it a waste of time and money? and ineffective

or once I've gone this far in my journey for head hair, it would suck to quit? or suck to settle for the rest of my lifetime of hair fibers and other ways of working around it  as in a hair replacement system / toupee, when I'm 65?

Thanks so much for any constructive advice,       (and have a fun and safe and informative, productive weekend, members)

 

 

Edited May 14, 2022 by MichaelfromCalifornia

[didu911]

You might want to add good quality pictures, can't answer your questions otherwise. 

[Mountinvan]

My suggestion is that you are arbitrarily tethering yourself to SoCal. The whole procedure can be done with 3-4 days travel. You have H&W in Canada or Gabel--both have excellent results and are close to your range with a little extra saving. Do yourself a favor--spread your net wider. But if you need to stay where you are, check out Carman. Research...research...and choose wisely not conveniently.