Dr Hasson | November/December 2022 | 3872 FUE Grafts | 22M

[mister_25]

2 minutes ago, Zoomster said:

Your donor will be absolutely fine …I very much feel your concerns as I’ve been through the wringer 3 times now with the same donor anxiety around months 1 to 4 ish ….it’s like we know the recipient area is boxed off and asleep for a few months now let’s go and obsess over the next nearest thing ..aha..the poor old donor …and the little divil In 99% of cases bounces back and surprises the hell out of us …except your Surgeon …you’re good to go @mister_25

Thanks man for the reassurance, it means alot coming from the GOAT himself.

[Gatsby]

57 minutes ago, Zoomster said:

Your donor will be absolutely fine …I very much feel your concerns as I’ve been through the wringer 3 times now with the same donor anxiety around months 1 to 4 ish ….it’s like we know the recipient area is boxed off and asleep for a few months now let’s go and obsess over the next nearest thing ..aha..the poor old donor …and the little divil In 99% of cases bounces back and surprises the hell out of us …except your Surgeon …you’re good to go @mister_25

Well said @Zoomster. 👏

[Z--]

For a month in, this looks really clean; donor are looks great and the itching goes away before month 2, so hang in there. Sorry to see the scratch, but I doubt you lost many grafts - the area looks super small. 

Really wish more people posted indicating the different lighting conditions like you do. It’s super helpful when comparing the growth. Keep it up bro!!

[mister_25]

11 minutes ago, Z-- said:

For a month in, this looks really clean; donor are looks great and the itching goes away before month 2, so hang in there. Sorry to see the scratch, but I doubt you lost many grafts - the area looks super small. 

Really wish more people posted indicating the different lighting conditions like you do. It’s super helpful when comparing the growth. Keep it up bro!!

Cheers bro, I would really like to mimic the old pre-op photos but I lost my phone on the one day it snowed in Vancouver, hahaha. I want to be as transparent as possible.

I also don’t think I lost any grafts from the scratch, it was three and a half weeks in and no hair came out of that spot when I cleaned it gently and after a shower, although the spot was irritable for a few days. No bloody grafts from what I’ve seen.

It’s actually quite funny, that we consciously will try our hardest to not pick and scratch at the transplanted sites but we will do it in our sleep, really puts self sabotage in perspective.

[Chrisno]

@mister_25 another update coming soon, I hope? Following your growth with enthusiasm, I have my op with Hasson in June

[mister_25]

5 hours ago, Chrisno said:

@mister_25 another update coming soon, I hope? Following your growth with enthusiasm, I have my op with Hasson in June

Yeah I'll post my update in a about 4-5 days when it hits 2 months. Here is a short brief update without any pictures (except the one below)

• I have started Oral Minoxidil since the beginning of January. I take it in 5mg daily. I was originally going to start Topical Dutasteride along with Finasteride but Dr Hasson said that he wanted to reassess and see what Oral Minoxidil could do for me before deciding Topical Dutasteride.
• Itching was very severe until about 5 days ago or so. I had alot of those hairs with the skin/bulb attached and I would rub off gently cause they got so itchy. Here is a photo of what I'm talking about. A nice 5-6 hair right here.

• Pain in the donor/recipient site subsided at around the end of Week 5. Itching however really accelerated on Week 4-6.
• Shedding increased massively since the last update, On Week 5 when washing my head for about 20 seconds I would count around 60-70 hairs on my hands. Shedding Slowed down at Week 6 when about 90% of my hair had shed. I went from acceptable but little bit of a thin buzzcut to a bald man in about 7-10 days. I would probably say something like 95% of my transplanted hair has currently shed.
• Native hair has been shocklossed on the front and the crown. The crown is pretty severe and looks almost slick bald whilst my front is also in a pretty bad spot. Part of the Ugly Duckling Phase. The midscalp has grown in fine but now that it is buzzed I can see how much I lost. It was better than I was expecting but not as good as I was hoping. Right now I look worse than my pre surgery but I would say a bit better pre finasteride.
• Redness has gone from a more aggressive red to a pink. I've been careful and avoided exposure to the sun.
• I've had quite a few pimples in the donor area, I tend to accidently scratch them out before they develop into a full fledged pimple that I would have to pop. So far as of today I've popped 3-4 pimples on my recipient sites (3 in the front, 1 in the crown)
• Donor has grown in longer, I would say 5-10% of my donor has recovered since the last update. It looks much more acceptable now in normal/less harsh lighting but the second I stand in the wrong angle/direction it looks pretty bad. The left side (which is the side I had more grafts taken out of) feels thicker/healthier and is longer whilst my right is lagging behind. Looking at photos I took at Day 9 it was quite clear (if your looking for it) where my shock loss was going to be once my hair grew out longer
• I've also noticed my beard shedding since about 4-5 days ago, not really visible as of yet but every time I touch my beard around 5-10 hairs come out each time. I would imagine that would be because of Oral Minoxidil if anything.
• On some days my recipient at the front feels very dry and almost looks flaky/scaly. Although after a wash it settles down and looks back to the reddish desert that it is.

Ugly duckling phase has been a bit harder for me because of the donor shockloss, I can hide under a hat like I have been for years to cover the top but a beanie in Australia summer to cover the back of my donor looks weird/strange and isnt comfortable.

Would also like to say that I have a second procedure in June 2024 to address the crown/midscalp. Depending on how donor I have available for the possibility of a Norwood 6 I might have my hairline altered (not lowered) and my temples strengthened.

If anyone has any questions/feedback let me know.

[mister_25]

Hey Everyone, 2 days shy of my 2 months update but I thought that it was exactly one month since the last photos I shared on this thread so here it goes.

2 Month Update:

As said in the post above ill recap some experiences over this month with less detail

1-2 Month Experiences

• Started Oral Minoxidil, as of recent I've noticed more beard hairs in the sink/shower and it being a little bit thinner in two spots.
• Itching was severe during Month 1, but mostly has diminished on Week 7.
• I have been gently rubbing on the recipient sites and sometimes I get these hairs with bulbs attached, see previous post for images.
• Pain has subsided at the end/beginning of Week 5/6
• Shedding really picked up a day or so after my 1 month update. Within 10 days I lost 95% of the transplanted hair, maybe even more.
• Native hair has been completely shocked on the crown, maybe with a tiny bit starting to grow back. 
• Native hair has a majority shocked out in the front, with a small forelock standing.
• Redness has gone down to a shade of pink, the discomfort has also lifted in the recipient sites and is now smoother but still sensitive to touch (although lightly)
• I've had about 3-4 pimples, maybe a extra one forming just below my midscalp. 
• On two days, I've noticed a flaky/scaly look on my frontal forelock. It looks like a build up of deadskin. It isn't a issue though as when I had a shower it disappeared, but did it gives me concerns when I saw it.
• I still have not cut my donor hair, so what you are seeing is from a no guard shave to 2 months worth of growth.
• I believe that the donor is 15% better than the last update, If I could put it in a percentage or number.
• I would say Full Sensation has returned in Donor and Recipient

Now with those done of what I experienced I will tell you how I feel about my situation, I think its important to share this as I was going in thinking I could go through the Ugly Duckling phase like it was nothing and treat it like it was "part of the process" but it never really did go that way.

I will say that I feel like how I was before the surgery other than mild-moderate sensitive in the recipient sites. The only difference in my behavior/experience is that I tend to stress eat more (not eat more, just eat poorly) because of the anxiety of my donor and that I avoid wearing hats/headphones and helmets indoors.

How I feel throughout 1-2 Months in

When I look at my hair on top now, I think I'm about as bad as I was, maybe a bit better than before I was on Finasteride. You can see my Finasteride/Minoxidil journey through my signature. When I look at the top of my head (recipient sites + midscalp) deep down I'm able to remind myself its part of the process and a good amount of my worry disappears, I still look for maybe tiny hairs that break through the skin but am not too disappointed or upset when I don't see any. No growth that I can see as of yet as to be expected.

The Donor area has been keeping me in a feeling of anxiety since the third week. I had my suspicions of my donor on my Day 9 Photos, when you look carefully there is a mild decrease in density in those day 9 photos but that would be invisible to the common observer. Now that the hair has grown in longer, it is quite clear which areas are stronger and which are weaker. When I see cases and even videos from @Melvin- Moderator of shock-loss I can describe it as "Blotches/Patches resembling Alopecia Areata with your skin being very visible rather than the hair" in my case I can describe my shock-loss situation as "60% or more of my donor growing in diffusely". I don't believe I've been overharvested as the post-op photos show that the harvesting is clean and even with spaces in between, but even in spite of knowing this something in me thinks there is something genuinely wrong with my donor area. Leading with this feeling I've contacted the clinic and they have given me the following answers

• It is common for hair to grow in slower after a Hair Transplant. It will not grow further than 1/4 inch a month.
• My hair regrowth (referring to the donor) has been at a expected level for two months.
• That hair isn't always the same from one side to the other and this isn't uncommon. (I will say that in some photos where I tried to expose retrograde alopecia, it did look like my right side was a tad bit worse but overall nowhere near to the levels that photos show)
• Since I had my hair very long, I wasn't able to detect these changes in density of my donor (makes sense, but I feel like its a extreme amount)
• That hairs grow individually at their own pace and it will not be uniform regrowth from one area to the next
• This Regrowth won't start until Months 3-5.

Overall, Trusting the process is quite harder than it sounds. Maybe its the pessimist in me but Its hard to keep optimist through this stage. I imagine this is a pretty standard feelings to many people under going their hair transplant journeys.

2 Month Photos:

I have attached some 2 Month Photos. In a few days when I get the chance I will recreate the exact same lighting conditions as the Month 1 Photos (Early Morning lighting) but otherwise here are some photos I've taken in Bathroom Lighting (which is quite harsh when its overhead)

Top (A little bit of wet hair):

Front:

Left Profile Shot:

Right Profile Shot:

Higher Quality Donor Shot (There is a thread I made yesterday showing additional photos):

A quick comparision from last months Donor Photo:

Would love feedback especially in regards for the growth in the donor. I personally believe that it's underwhelming in length for 2 months but I do trust Dr Hasson's judgement in the matter so I'll try not to worry about it.

Would also like to ask, has anyone started having grey hairs sprouting after the surgery? I don't know if its because of the surgery or because of genetics (My Father started going gray at 18 with it starting to become noticeable at my age 22)

Edited January 27, 2023 by mister_25

[mister_25]

Hey everyone, there have been two developements on Week 9 that I thought would warrant a minor update. One of them if true is a good update and the other is a new concern that I’m not sure if it is hair transplant related or not. I have emailed the clinic but I would like to hear if anyone else has had something similar happen to them.

New Growth?

A few days ago I was looking carefully at the recipient site because I believed I was developing a pimple and noticed these very small, short stubble hairs that are barely through the scalp. Some are a bit longer than others and others are much shorter. But I believe all of these were shorter than the transplanted hair shown in my post op photos. What do you guys think?

Lump under the donor area

Yesterday I had some pretty intense itching on my donor and eventually I felt what was this small lump just underneath my donor. I’m not entirely sure what to make of it and am awaiting a response back from the clinic, thankfully it’s not on the donor area itself which makes me question if it’s transplanted related or not. It’s not really visible in this photo but this is where it’s located if it’s any value. Circled in red.

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by mister_25

[mister_25]

3 Month Update: (91 Days)

Hey Everyone, just a couple hours shy off my three month update. Here are some experiences throughout the month

• I noticed some few new transplanted hairs sprouting about a week after my 2 month update. These sprouts have grown in length and you can clearly see the beginnings of growth now.
• Itching returned half way into month 2 and I experienced a heavy shed on my donor for a few days again, maybe about 100 small short hairs for about 3-4 days. Didn't notice my donor worsening or anything just hairs on my hand after the shower.
• I had a lump just below my donor area, I thought it might be transplant related so I emailed the clinic and they said it was probably a ingrown hair due to the way I described it. Its gotten smaller but it is still there. I did also visit a specialist in dermatology and hair transplants locally and they think it might not be transplant related and is probably a fatty lump. Said specialist also inspected my donor area and didn't seem very hopeful for the state of my donor. But did tell me my current density (as in the hairs that have sprouted) when he shaved a small isolated spot was about 50 hairs or less per cm2
• My beard had a massive shed, probably about 40% of my beard hairs have remained.
• My hair looks much better in person rather than these photos I will present, I am still far below my baseline but It has made strides as of recent (past 2 weeks)

These pictures were taken in the same bathroom with the same lighting as Month 2.

Front:

Front Left Tilt

 

Front Right Tilt

Top Down (Midscalp and Crown):

Donor

Left Side Donor Profile Shot:

Right Side Donor Profile Shot:

 

Right now I still feel like I'm far below baseline, but I have noticed improvements week by week and its a slow process. I feel like the reason why I'm not above baseline is because I started Oral Minoxidil when I was 10 weeks off topical minoxidil (due to the procedure) and have gone through a shed both in the beard, and in the donor and recipient site. So my Ugly Duckling Phase is not only transplant related but also medication related.

When I'm looking with handheld mirrors, in person my donor looks likes its improved but the camera really does show the damage of my donor, makes me doubt if I've made any progress in it at all.

What do you guys think? How am I looking for 3 Months?

 

 

[mister_25]

Here are some bonus photos

Left Side Zoomed In

Right Side Zoomed In

Edited March 1, 2023 by mister_25

[Chrisno]

From all the cases I've reviewed, I would say this is right on track in terms of growth. Everyone can't be early growers  I think it's looking good, and things will loot a lot fuller over the next 4 weeks as growth settles in!

[hairlossPA]

following. hang in there brother

[mister_25]

Hey everyone, Wanted to include a small update at 3.5 Months.

Outside of growth/photos. My beard shedding from Oral Minoxidil has finally slowed down. I can also say that I am about 2 months into Oral Minoxidil and havent had anything from what I've seen that are side effects. Redness has gone down further which are shown in these photos. They went from a medium pink to a light pink

Here is a brief update on my donor. Keep in mind in both of these photos I've pushed/brushed my donor hair down with my hands in the same exact way. So this is me actively trying to hide scalp in both photos (without doing a combover). Taken in the same room under the same lighting. (Bathroom Lighting)

Month 3:

Today:

The cameras really do show the damage and discrepancies with hair to scalp way more than in person, to be honest when I took the photo today I was expecting it to look a lot better/fuller than what the photo actually shows, but I would still say these past two or so weeks have been pretty massive for the state of my donor and I can hide it much better, the way the scalp shines under the hair in bright lights/poor angles is much duller and "quieter" than before if that makes any sense. Hopefully this will continue to improve until its not noticeable at all.

I feel like I'm approaching baseline everyday. my frontal forelock feels like its at baseline, but was concealed more with the long hair I had previously. The midscalp still needs a way to go, but it was also somewhat weak and was concealed by my long hair before the operation. The crown still has shown little change but I'm not expecting growth as we all know that crowns take longer to grow in.

Overall, I'm feeling much better about my donor as the improvements have really skyrocketed and are quite evident that things are looking in my favor. But still not that happy yet to go outside without a hat which is doing a majority of the job concealing. I didn't show the left side of my donor here but there have been improvements as well (Although not as significant due to the extent of the shock loss was on my right side)

I will also buzz my donor down at around the 6 month mark or earlier when I believe the donor discrepancies are mostly invisible. Which should be when it grows in some length. That way I can start from zero and grow it out nice and even without there being different groups of length.

Edited March 19, 2023 by mister_25

[kiwik]

Wow that's a massive improvement in such short time! My donor looks a bit like yours after two months, I'm hoping for a similar recovery

[mister_25]

4 Month Update: (122 Days)

Hey everyone, here is my 4 month update. I would also like to state that I feel like I am now returning into baseline when it comes to how it affects my day to day living. No more beard shedding, no donor shedding, scalp feels totally normal now. 

Would also like to say that the road to recovery to get to where I was before baseline was not easy, and it turns out that my midscalp is a bit more miniaturized/bald than I first thought and in certain angles it can look very exposed and very thin. I have not included a photo of this but I might if it becomes a problem in the future. Although I do intend to get a second surgery to address these issues

As shown in my 3.5 Month update, my donor started to make a major turn around and within the span of a month I would say I'm anywhere between 70-80% recovered. If I wanted it to look bad I can but about 70-80% of the time it looks like what it is in these photos.

All of these photos are taken in the same bathroom as last month, and the month before that. So same lighting conditions

Donor:

Left Side Donor:

Right Side Donor:

Now here are some photos of my hairline, midscalp and crown.

Front:

Left Tilt:

Right Tilt:

Frontal Tilt 1:

Frontal Tilt 2:

Top-Down Crown:

Zoomed in Left:

Zoomed in Right:

I feel like I am still worse off than where I was before surgery, but I am starting to really catchup now. My midscalp is much more obvious without the very long length I had to cover it. Also the new growth is very apparent in the bald areas rather than the miniaturized areas and I can really see some big change just around the corner. 

As for the crown, I'm starting to feel short stubby hairs that I didn't have before. So I imagine I'm about a month or two away from having anything visible.

My expectations for next month is that the growth should start to really take shape and I will probably have a semblance of a hairline when looking at me front on. With maybe the beginnings of growth in the crown. Is that a realistic expectation?

Let me know if I'm on track for 4 months, I personally believe that I'm a bit behind the curve when it comes to the average patient but I feel like I am still in the realms of "everything looks fine and as to be expected"

Edited April 1, 2023 by mister_25
Added Zoomed in Photos that I forgot.

[Davies]

This looks like a good job and showing some early signs of growth. I'm marking this thread as very interested in Hasson and Wong results. 

[Z--]

Things look on track - glad most of the shock is recovered. Imo you prob will hit baseline around month 5 and then it’s growth from there to around month 6. 

[Zinedine]

Coming along very good... thanks for all the photos... keep those updates coming

[Melvin- Admin]

Donor has completely healed, looks like you’ve turned the corner growth is happening. This is gonna be an exciting next few months. Thanks for sharing your high-quality review. Its posters like you that make our community invaluable.

[mister_25]

I wanted to include a update here because I am feeling a bit perplexed and would like to hear if this looks relatively normal especially for the timeframe.

4 Months 2 Weeks /  Beginning of 3 Weeks. 

After looking at my hair closely for the past two-three weeks since the four month mark, other than the transplanted hairs getting longer/a little bit thicker. It feels like that when I compare in some photos that the new growth is rather minimal to almost not there. Whilst looking in some others the growth looks more packed with finer baby transplanted hairs. When comparing to other posters four months marks and five months mark and if possible a 4 and a half month mark. I feel like I am behind the curve a bit.

I feel like I can say now that I am at baseline except for my crown which is a bit thinner as I had longer miniaturized hairs doing some heavy lifting. As for the crown I have felt and seen a few tiny hairs that barely have sprouted through. So I think I'm just at the very beginning stages of crown growth. I have included a photo of my crown about 5 days later after I first started to feel those tiny hairs.

On a more positive note, I can say that when I try to make my donor look bad I really struggle now. When I part the donor I can still see some rather moderate to large gaps but they are filling in over these two weeks rather rapidly.

I have included some photos of my hair over the past few days. I know that three weeks in reality is rather small but when your watching it closely it feels like a eternity. But I also wanted to include some photos here that I took on the 1st of April (the day of my fourth month mark) for comparison.

As always I took these in the same bathroom with the same lights turned on. I believe all of these except for the crown shot I took in the same exact spot, so the only difference that would shake things up really is the slight variation in angles.

1st of April: 

On 4/1/2023 at 7:13 PM, mister_25 said:

and it turns out that my midscalp is a bit more miniaturized/bald than I first thought and in certain angles it can look very exposed and very thin. I have not included a photo of this but I might if it becomes a problem in the future. Although I do intend to get a second surgery to address these issues

This is one of the two photos I took that I was referencing above.

Day 139:

Day 141 (Yesterday): (Highest Quality photo I could get:)

Day 142 (Today: 21st of April):

Front

Front Tilt:

Left:

Right:

Crown (15th of April):

How is everything looking? To be honest in my opinion so far its not met my initial expectations but lined up rather accurately with what @Z-- said below;

On 4/8/2023 at 12:11 PM, Z-- said:

Things look on track - glad most of the shock is recovered. Imo you prob will hit baseline around month 5 and then it’s growth from there to around month 6. 

 

[BurnieBurns]

Great to hear the donor is recovering. Everyone id different on the path of growth and it's simply too early to say. Typically people will see a trend of big growth between 5 - 6 months. If there was no growth I'd be concerned but over all it's in the 'normal scope' of what to expect

[mister_25]

5 month update

A day late for 5 months, not much is happening right now in terms of recovery as I’ve returned to baseline in native hair and generally day to day living. The only thing worth noting is that I’ve been getting a few pimples in the very front of my hairline, which I do not pop because they haven’t developed white or yellow heads. As for growth, it didn’t seem like much happened over this month until I compared to last months photos. Which goes to show that you should always compare to where you were before to where you are now.

I also included a photo showing favourable lighting conditions which is just a photo taken in my second bathroom without the overhead lights.

As for the lack of crown and mid scalp photos, I will post them in about a day or so or in a couple of hours, I just don’t have the time for it. But if I had to sum it up in words, midscalp looks a bit weird due to how much thicker it is compared to the front, in certain angles and lightings a thin part is exposed. Looks somewhat close in terms of density and volume to my baseline photos before surgery. Crown is starting to match baseline again as the miniaturised hair I had before surgery is starting to get length which concealed it partially.

Updates from now will probably be shorter in text due to the less frequent HT related occurrences.

Let me know what you think. I tried to take higher quality photos compared to normal and will try my best replicating it to the same standard. Saying that I took these photos with bed hair hahaha.

 

Edited May 1, 2023 by mister_25

[stephcurry30]

looking good! Here comes the growth!

[Kent]

Looks great. Right on track. Wait till you hit the 8 or 9 month mark - you’ll be tickled pink. Hair transplants rock!

[mister_25]

Here are the crown/midscalp photos as promised, to be honest to me it looks like little to no new growth as of yet which to me is quite concerning, but things may change in a few weeks or months.

Crown:

Top Down Photo: 

Frontal Tilt: