FUE HLC Ankara | NW 5/6 | 5762 Grafts | November 2022

[Drew-83]

INTRO:

Hi all, I am 39 years old and have had an aggressive form of AA since the age of 26.
I tried different drugs for a long time, first 2% minoxidil then 5% for several years, then combined with finasteride and then only Fina to then abandon everything since in the end I didn't get any visible benefit.
At a certain point, however, reading on various forums, I decided that perhaps there was no other choice than a transplant and in 2018 I resumed using finasteride prepared in a pharmacy and started making the first contacts with clinics around the world.
The virtual and face-to-face consultations with famous surgeons did not bode well, some did not even consider me suitable for a transplant, others, such as HLC, estimated a too low number of UFs for me, max 2500 from donors and another 1000 from shaving. but for a NW VI like me they weren't even enough to cover front and midscalp.
So I let a few more years go by, in the meantime I continued taking finasteride every day and resumed contact with the clinics in 2021.
The same clinics that rejected me this time evaluated me as suitable for a transplant, with even 5,000 grafts estimated.
After very long evaluations, I then decided to have HLC operate on me, who estimated around 4000 grafts (included those from the beard) to cover only the front and midscalp.
I chose them after having seen several cases similar to mine on various forums with results that I considered satisfactory, also due to the fact that they use the bht, stick and place and because the doctors are the ones to operate.

PRE-SURGERY:

On the first day in the clinic I was seen directly by Dr. Özgür, who estimated a total number of about 10,000 grafts from my donor between  back and beard.
For this surgery, however, they would have stopped at 5750 grafts, still better than what was estimated online.
Thus, with the help of the other doctors, we found a compromise for a hairline that was not too aggressive and that could guarantee me greater density in other areas of the head.
For the front the area to be covered was 50uf/cm², for the midscalp 40/cm², for the crown 30uf/cm².
I was hoping with this number of grafts to be able to reserve something for the crown already now or in any case restrict the area of the scalp from the vertex as much as possible, after all my goal was homogeneity, but the doctors told me that by lowering to 35uf/cm² on the midscalp the density would have been unsatisfactory.
Seeing myself reflected straight in the mirror, with the hairline drawn, however the bald area remained not visible, so I cheered myself up at least a little...So the next day surgery starts.

 

SURGERY:

The operation was distributed in 6 sessions on 17-18-19 November.
Both extraction and incision were done by Dr. Cengiz, supported by two assistants.
The anesthetic was given at the beginning of each session and I can say that I didn't feel any relevant pain.
However, the anti-inflammatory is also supplied, but, that apart from one night I didn't need to use it during my stay in Ankara, perhaps because the medicines taken in the morning had already had their effect. On the last day all the useful information for the post is released and in this regard I took the opportunity to ask Dr. Cengiz a series of questions that I had prepared in those days.
The next day the bandage was removed and I was ready to go back to Italy.

 

 

Pre-Operation

 

 

Post-Operation:

 

[davidn]

This will become interesting!

So, the plan is to do a 2nd surgery on crown?

[BaldGuy]

You are going to get good coverage with this number of grafts on that specific area. With the second procedure it will be a massive transformation. I will following your jurney ! Happy growing !

[Drew-83]

Thanks guys, I don't know at the moment if I will have a second crown surgery, first I will evaluate the result of this surgery.

In this regard, I share the total report of the implanted grafts_

[davidn]

We all root for you.

[davidn]

Ah yes, would also be interested in which clinic you have consulted with who first considered you not a candidte and then changed their opionion due to donor improvement with Finasteride except hlc?

[Vann]

On 12/11/2022 at 11:15 AM, Drew-83 said:

Thanks guys, I don't know at the moment if I will have a second crown surgery, first I will evaluate the result of this surgery.

In this regard, I share the total report of the implanted grafts_

wow thats a lot of multiple grafts. I am also surprised you used beard grafts for areas outside of your crown. Was there any planning to use your beard?

 

Also do you have any immediate post op photos of your extractions? (other than the implanted areas)

Edited December 12, 2022 by Vann

[euge]

That should bring a good density, still I`d go with 35uf/cm² for midscalp, and do the crown area also.

@Drew-83 Can you share your thoughts for the crown area, density, amount of graft ? (My case is kinda close to yours)

Thanks for sharing

[Drew-83]

On 12/11/2022 at 5:22 PM, davidn said:

Ah yes, would also be interested in which clinic you have consulted with who first considered you not a candidte and then changed their opionion due to donor improvement with Finasteride except hlc?

Koray, Feriduni contacted twice.

 

@Vann and @euge there is not planning now for the crown, maybe 30 uf//cm² as said in pre-surgery with Dr. Özgür, but it's all a matter in the future, the result of this first surgery will have to be evaluated first, and the quality of the donor too.

These are other photo immediately post-operations, next days will update

 

[Drew-83]

Hi all, these pictures were taken 10 days after operation.

 

[Vann]

Wow your donor looks pretty good for 10 days. I bet you’re excited to get those scabs off

[Drew-83]

17 hours ago, Vann said:

Wow your donor looks pretty good for 10 days. I bet you’re excited to get those scabs off

My donor was good, only in the neck I had a strong itch, then slowly it disappeared.  No dot is noticeable, also because I keep my beard quite long.  

The scabs disappeared a few days after these photos.

Now I am almost a month, hairs are just falling out... next days I trywill post.

 

[Drew-83]

Here I am with the pictures taken one month after the transplant. The fall of the transplants was quite copious, I didn't expect it so much already after 3/4 weeks ... better times are expected...

 

 

[Vann]

Haha yes the ugly duckling phase starting is definitely not the best. But as time progresses you forget how ugly it really used to be and contemplate that it wasnt that bad. Stay strong, look forward to the next update.

[Gobrel]

Great result!

 

Which clinic was this? I did not get the name.

[Drew-83]

Hi all, is it a normal behavior to continue losing some hair, considering that the first two months have passed and for a certain period I have not lost any more (let's say at least twenty days)? I'm not talking about an enormous amount of hair, let's say can count it on the fingers of one hand.

[Vann]

On 2/3/2023 at 9:05 AM, Drew-83 said:

Hi all, is it a normal behavior to continue losing some hair, considering that the first two months have passed and for a certain period I have not lost any more (let's say at least twenty days)? I'm not talking about an enormous amount of hair, let's say can count it on the fingers of one hand.

Absolutely. It’s shockloss at its finest. It’s always different for everyone. Me for example I had shockloss

to native and transplanted hairs. My transplanted hairs started around 3-5 weeks and my native hairs got shocked between the transplant and in my crown. It’s a slow recovery and it does take time. 
 

I didn’t shed any hairs like I usually do for the first 5-6 months and only in the beginning of month 6 I began to shed normally. Even if I pulled my hair it wouldn’t shed/fall. 
 

now everything, in my opinion, is kinda getting into that smooth balance of routine hair cycle. 

[Drew-83]

I owe you an update, this is after the 4 month, I will cut the receiver shortly as well and take photo.

 I feel it has grown a bit over the whole area, the density is still low in my opinion.  it would be more noticeable with wet hair.

 

[Happyhead]

Looking good! Thanks for the update.

[euge]

Looks really good! And density too. Any plans for the crown area?

[Drew-83]

16 hours ago, euge said:

Looks really good! And density too. Any plans for the crown area?

Yeah, maybe after the next summer 

[Drew-83]

And here we are...the 6th month just passed.  I honestly thought something better, the density is too low given the number of grafts implanted only in the front.  below you can see photos of dry and wet hairs. 

Moreover, for a few days now I've been noticing that during the shower I find some hair in my hands, fine and often short, definitely from transplants...

 

Edited June 1, 2023 by Drew-83
Added as last photo front area under natural light ...what do you think? it certainly doesn't seem the best situation to be in the sixth month with that amount of grafts grafted

[Drew-83]

10 months passed ...I've resigned myself now...  I will hear from the clinic soon and want to understand why I had to spend more than 14k EUR to get to this bad result.

[GeneralNorwood]

Postop picture is not good quality, but i see that there is definetely lower density of grafts in red area (midscalp). They focused more on frontal region and lateral humps. And your growth on the front and lateral humps looks ok. 

They should have implanted more grafts on the midscalp, but it would be 6000+ grafts procedure. 

So generally final result is propably because of the way that they planned the procedure. 

[Vann]

Looks like poor survival rate… I wonder what caused this. It’s strange, you certainly have growth on other parts but it’s not consistent.

 

please do keep us updated on any changes or correspondence you get from them. 
 

also do note that beard hairs take longer to grow, so you may need more than 16 months.

Edited August 31, 2023 by Vann