3025 graft fue Hasson & Wong (Dr. Wong)

[FollicleFella]

Week 3 update

Slowly but surely feeling all healed up! Redness seems to have gone all the way down in the past 10ish days. Scabbing dissipated within the past 7ish. Have returned to light exercise in the wake of this, as well as doing my first scalp massage for a couple minutes today. I haven’t had my hair this short since I was a kid and it really helps to see just how much diffuse thinning has been occurring on the top when compared to the sides (and how much the combover hides). Some different angles/pictures but they’re all right under both a skylight/wall light to hopefully give the best visibility. Surprisingly (but not uncomfortably) still numb to a degree through the recipient area but that is slowly lessening as the days go by. Happy growing all!

[Pbaird98]

Looking good bro, healing up well 👍🏿

[Gatsby]

Looking good @FollicleFella 👌

[hockeyman]

Everything is looking great. Do you seem to be shedding many of the transplanted hairs yet? I can relate to what you're saying about a buzzcut revealing the true extent of your diffused thinning. I experienced the same revelation when I buzzed down. 

[FollicleFella]

12 hours ago, hockeyman said:

Everything is looking great. Do you seem to be shedding many of the transplanted hairs yet? I can relate to what you're saying about a buzzcut revealing the true extent of your diffused thinning. I experienced the same revelation when I buzzed down. 

Right? It was like pulling the curtain back on my own shadow puppetry ha. Frankly pretty stoked my hair looked as good as it did if this was the reality beneath the surface.

Tbh…I haven’t noticed an increase in hair fall much. Maybe my expectations about “the shed” were dramatized, maybe the hairs are so small that I don’t notice, or perhaps I just generally shed enough already that the current state of things doesn’t stick out in a particular way. 
 

All that to say: if I didn’t preemptively know that shedding the transplanted hairs was a thing, I would not be aware of it based on my current circumstances.

Edited October 26, 2022 by FollicleFella
Grammar/word order

[FollicleFella]

1 month update! Wow that flew by.

1st pictures here are right up in the light.

For compare/contrast purposes here’s a picture of the entire top:

 

and then a normal one in a room midday,  no added light:

nothing really to report other than we’re definitely in the ugly duckling phase where ones hair looks worse than when you began haha. Thankfully it’s growing and getting darker/more filled in by the day. Numbness remains, but I’m not super worried about it after having talked to the doctor and learning this is normal for a lot of folks even at 6+ months. No discomfort and I’ve largely returned to life as normal. 

Thinking about doing prp at some point. Would like to take advantage of this short hair and get to a dermatologist to see about my dandruff situation.

Any tips from anyone much appreciated! Happy growing all

[hockeyman]

Things are looking great. The redness in the recipient area is really fading. How is your donor looking? Are you happy with it?

[FollicleFella]

7 hours ago, hockeyman said:

Things are looking great. The redness in the recipient area is really fading. How is your donor looking? Are you happy with it?

Yeah if you get up in there close (the recipient area) you can see the border of where work was done if you were to look for it but thankfully for me noticeable redness dissipated around week 2-3. At this point I’m not really self conscious about being out and about with my hair (other than wishing it were a bit longer/fuller on top of course, to the degree that shaving it highlighted the growth distinction between the back+sides and the top at this point in my life). 
 

Haven't thought twice about the donor area since the operation which I suppose is the best outcome. Didn’t have any pain/discomfort there and I’ve been buzzing my back + sides down to a 1 guard or less the past two weeks (since scabs went away) to clean up and give the appearance of a longer/more full top. Don’t notice anything out of place or different in the area at this length.

FWIW I haven’t told anyone yet about my procedure other than my family. Frankly I’m just waiting to see if it turns out well before I start advertising it haha. But that to say: everyone just thinks I’ve buzzed my head and to my knowledge doesn’t think anything further about it. I have friends who would definitely inquire otherwise I think if that were different ha.

Point being that the experience has been minimally socially invasive. YMMV but after 3 weeks I felt confident that there wasn’t anything “off” about my appearance necessarily.

 

[hockeyman]

That's good to hear about your donor. I appreciate the regular updates, and look forward to seeing your growth kick into high gear in the coming months. 

[FollicleFella]

4 hours ago, hockeyman said:

That's good to hear about your donor. I appreciate the regular updates, and look forward to seeing your growth kick into high gear in the coming months. 

Right on man! Glad it’s helpful and happy to continue as long as it is. It’s cathartic for me as well in processing the whole experience. Now that I’m out of the acute recovery phase I may switch over to a every 2 or 4 week posting schedule so there’s some more progress between updates. Hope the fin is continuing to work out for you.

[hockeyman]

So far so good with the fin in terms of no side effects. Application is still problematic in terms of getting it rubbed into the scalp as opposed to coating the hair. Are you considering giving it a try?

[FollicleFella]

On 11/2/2022 at 6:04 PM, hockeyman said:

So far so good with the fin in terms of no side effects. Application is still problematic in terms of getting it rubbed into the scalp as opposed to coating the hair. Are you considering giving it a try?

Glad to hear.

I am considering it, but I’d really like to leave it until what I feel like is the last option has lapsed (given my past experience w/ fin). Not responding well to the meds made me consider surgery more seriously (and in knowing that it’d be multiple over the years) because of a lack of other options. If they work and you tolerate them I’d say ride that gravy train as long as you can pre surgery, if you even end up needing it. Seen a lot of guys get significant regrowth with fin/min/dermarolling.
 

Being disappointed with the transplant would be whack but is probably what it’d take for me to embark on another fin journey, or if this one is good yet doesn’t want to hold up 5+ years etc. Then yeah, I’m open to it down the line but would like to exhaust my time that I can confidently go sans meds. Definitely going to start dermarolling at some point in the future. The idea of wound healing/blood, oxygen flow makes enough intuitive sense to me that I’d be willing to try just to see.

[hockeyman]

That totally makes sense. Sounds like you have really thought things through. I haven't looked into microneedling too much. I should have asked Dr. Wong's opinion when I had my consult. 

[BaldingEye]

On 11/1/2022 at 10:50 PM, FollicleFella said:

1 month update! Wow that flew by.

1st pictures here are right up in the light.

For compare/contrast purposes here’s a picture of the entire top:

 

and then a normal one in a room midday,  no added light:

nothing really to report other than we’re definitely in the ugly duckling phase where ones hair looks worse than when you began haha. Thankfully it’s growing and getting darker/more filled in by the day. Numbness remains, but I’m not super worried about it after having talked to the doctor and learning this is normal for a lot of folks even at 6+ months. No discomfort and I’ve largely returned to life as normal. 

Thinking about doing prp at some point. Would like to take advantage of this short hair and get to a dermatologist to see about my dandruff situation.

Any tips from anyone much appreciated! Happy growing all

Everything is looking great. Now is a tough time seeing all that hair falling... but it will all grow back!
PRP could be a great plus. 
Happy growing!

[FollicleFella]

On 11/4/2022 at 6:34 AM, BaldingEye said:

Everything is looking great. Now is a tough time seeing all that hair falling... but it will all grow back!
PRP could be a great plus. 
Happy growing!

Appreciate it my friend! Happy growing to you as well. Definitely looking into prp.

[FollicleFella]

On 11/3/2022 at 9:38 PM, hockeyman said:

That totally makes sense. Sounds like you have really thought things through. I haven't looked into microneedling too much. I should have asked Dr. Wong's opinion when I had my consult. 

He said it was good to go after 6 weeks from the operation (dermarolling).

Interestingly I just hit him up to get his thoughts on prp and he said I could do it but it would probably be a waste of time and money haha. Thought you’d be interested as you’re considering surgery with him. No complaints but I was interested in that take. Will have to do some more research.

[BurnieBurns]

3 hours ago, FollicleFella said:

He said it was good to go after 6 weeks from the operation (dermarolling).

Interestingly I just hit him up to get his thoughts on prp and he said I could do it but it would probably be a waste of time and money haha. Thought you’d be interested as you’re considering surgery with him. No complaints but I was interested in that take. Will have to do some more research.

Is that to say he thinks derma-rolling is a waste of time as well? Or that PRP is a useless if you're already derma-rolling?

[hockeyman]

That's good to know about the dermarolling. Thanks for info.

[FollicleFella]

11 hours ago, BurnieBurns said:

Is that to say he thinks derma-rolling is a waste of time as well? Or that PRP is a useless if you're already derma-rolling?

Hey man,

He said the dermarolling was cool 6 weeks post op and no further about it, which to me implies he does think there’s some benefit to it otherwise he probably would’ve said something, a la:

PRP was an entirely separately broached issue to which his assistant wrote me “Dr. Wong does not recommend PRP. You can have it at anytime but he does not feel it has any benefits.”

I guess all one can do is research/self test within their financial means and comfort. Bias is a tough thing to sort out in this realm lol. Of course the people who sell prp want to push its legitimacy and it’s another money making avenue for the industry (on something of a subscription model at that). What’s also potentially true is that Dr. Wong is a long practicing surgeon whose been around long before prp became mainstream so it’s not unreasonable to consider that maybe he’s got an old school bias towards something that does indeed help but isn’t on his radar for whatever reason. All speculation on my part. What I do know is that he has a vested interest in my procedure turning out as well as possible so if he did think prp would be even somewhat helpful he’d probably mention so.

Going to have to do some more research personally. I know they use prp for healing in other parts of the body so it’s not like it’s just some hair restoration-centric topic, unless of course the Dr. was speaking specifically in the context of prp towards hair growth and not its other medical applications.

happy growing!

 

[FollicleFella]

A little 6 weeks action for the bros (and me)

Pics in front of a window + overhead lighting 

Shedding has been mighty lame. Coupled with the short cut it rather exposes the area prior to how it did when I had my hair longer pre op. Feels like between the transplanted hairs + grafts falling out + hair cut that this ugly duckling phase gave me a window into what 2-5 years down the line would look like without surgery. I suppose this is part of what can be meant by the ht adage “it gets worse before it gets better.” All that drama aside, the rate of my hair growth at 6 weeks here has me confident that by the 3 month mark I’ll have the length for the coverage that I’m looking for.

Also, went to the derm, yes I have seb dermatitis. Was prescribed some gel but going to talk with dr. Wong about it first and probably hold off on that for awhile out of an abundance of caution. Haven’t washed my hair in a few days here/just waking up, but that generally does the trick. Still washing with just baby shampoo, again, out of an abundance of caution. Another hair care change I’ve made is not getting my hair wet unless I’m going to wash it. As a chronic long hot showerer my whole life I’m sure that hasn’t helped matters.

If you look closely at the bottom picture, you can start to make out a distinction between the untouched northern (crown) and southern (frontal half) portion of my scalp where I had the work done. I can see filling this crown in 18-24 months from now depending on how it’s all going. Maybe see where the temples are at and get them touched up on the same session. That said, we’ll see what coverage is like when the transplant/native hair regrows and is longer at the year+ mark. I could be totally fine with it and knowing that I’ll probably need multiple surgeries definitely has me wanting to space them out as much as possible.

Happy growing everyone! 
 

 

Edited November 15, 2022 by FollicleFella
Spelling

[hockeyman]

Looks like you're right on track for 6 weeks. Seems like the time is going by quick. I'm anxious to see where you're at by the 12 week mark. I'm following a couple of other recent Dr. Wong cases. One guy (2022 grafts FUT) just posted his 5 month results and he's looking fantastic. That'll be you soon. I may take a page out of your book and start thinking of my scalp in geographic terms. I think my crown will be referred to as the Outback - somehow it seems fitting - a desolate and somewhat barren landscape.

[FollicleFella]

23 hours ago, hockeyman said:

Looks like you're right on track for 6 weeks. Seems like the time is going by quick. I'm anxious to see where you're at by the 12 week mark. I'm following a couple of other recent Dr. Wong cases. One guy (2022 grafts FUT) just posted his 5 month results and he's looking fantastic. That'll be you soon. I may take a page out of your book and start thinking of my scalp in geographic terms. I think my crown will be referred to as the Outback - somehow it seems fitting - a desolate and somewhat barren landscape.

Haha I got rainforest dreams with an Outback landscape. Man the time has seemed both eternal and lightning quick. I appreciate the vote of confidence! I’ll have to check these other Wong cases out. This is definitely as bad as I’ve felt about my hair since noticing my thinning 2 years ago with the short cut + shock loss. It’s forcing me to face that insecurity more directly however and expand more substantively where I draw my confidence from. Hope to be looking back on this time with a renewed sense of gratitude and vegetation up top in the near future.

[Gatsby]

@FollicleFella for someone who is smack bang in the middle of the ugly duck your hair is ahead of the pack. Wait until you hit months 3-4. 👌

[Zinedine]

On 11/15/2022 at 3:33 PM, FollicleFella said:

A little 6 weeks action for the bros (and me)

Pics in front of a window + overhead lighting 

Shedding has been mighty lame. Coupled with the short cut it rather exposes the area prior to how it did when I had my hair longer pre op. Feels like between the transplanted hairs + grafts falling out + hair cut that this ugly duckling phase gave me a window into what 2-5 years down the line would look like without surgery. I suppose this is part of what can be meant by the ht adage “it gets worse before it gets better.” All that drama aside, the rate of my hair growth at 6 weeks here has me confident that by the 3 month mark I’ll have the length for the coverage that I’m looking for.

Also, went to the derm, yes I have seb dermatitis. Was prescribed some gel but going to talk with dr. Wong about it first and probably hold off on that for awhile out of an abundance of caution. Haven’t washed my hair in a few days here/just waking up, but that generally does the trick. Still washing with just baby shampoo, again, out of an abundance of caution. Another hair care change I’ve made is not getting my hair wet unless I’m going to wash it. As a chronic long hot showerer my whole life I’m sure that hasn’t helped matters.

If you look closely at the bottom picture, you can start to make out a distinction between the untouched northern (crown) and southern (frontal half) portion of my scalp where I had the work done. I can see filling this crown in 18-24 months from now depending on how it’s all going. Maybe see where the temples are at and get them touched up on the same session. That said, we’ll see what coverage is like when the transplant/native hair regrows and is longer at the year+ mark. I could be totally fine with it and knowing that I’ll probably need multiple surgeries definitely has me wanting to space them out as much as possible.

Happy growing everyone! 
 

 

Worst moment after a hair transplant... but in 5-6 months that will look fantastic. Thanks for sharing.

[A Fue Good Men]

Six weeks post op is likely very safe to start using shampoos like Nizoral and tgel to address your seb derm. However, clear it first with your doctor