Partial Shave FUE - 2340 Grafts - Dr Manish Mittal, London - 10/01/23

[Speoj]

On 2/19/2023 at 9:17 AM, Spring15 said:

Nice clean work. Any reason you chose not to shave your head? I felt it more tidier to have it shaved off

Thanks mate. Yes, quite a few reasons, went into more detail on a post before the op. It's on my profile but the link is here. 

It was essentially so that I could keep my same hairstyle. Which has always been a short back and sides, longer on top pushed forwards to cover my hairline. Going partial shave has meant that once the scabs were off, I could style my hair as usual. Before the scabs came off though, I had it tied up in the central plait seen in the op pic for the first week and a bit then just rocked a slick back around the house to make sure no hair got caught. Kept spraying saline on the hairline anyway so that meant the native hair stayed wet and away from the recipient area. 

[mydadisbald]

On 2/25/2023 at 12:59 PM, Speoj said:

I didn't have any issues with going partial shave and I'm really glad I did. I did quite a bit of research in the years running up to the HT, knew the risks and in the consultations I specifically said I wanted to go partial shave. 

On the day of surgery I pushed for it still and acknowledged in some cases it wouldn't be advisable. There's the risk of infection and native hair getting stuck in scabs and dislodging them. If you have any miniaturisation / thinning elsewhere then if you go full shave additional grafts can be places there, but if you go partial shave that's not an option. So for me if I had a thinning behind the forelock then partial shave wouldn't have been an option. 

But in my opinion, for my case, I felt the benefits mentioned in the original post far out weighed the risks. The only people who know I've had work done are the people I've told, and that works for me. 

 

This is really useful to know. TBH I wanted to to partial shave, but wasn't sure after his comments. I feel like it's something I'll need to continue thinking about.

How long did you have your hair tied / pinned back after the transplant, before just letting it do it's thing as normal? 

[Speoj]

1 hour ago, mydadisbald said:

How long did you have your hair tied / pinned back after the transplant, before just letting it do it's thing as normal? 

 

Until the scabs came off. So day 14 or so. With the swelling subsiding the top knot started to feel a bit tight / hurt a bit at around day 9, so undid it and slicked my hair back with a comb after that for the last few days until I was sure all the scabs were finally off by day 14 

Edited February 26, 2023 by Speoj

[Nelly]

On 2/25/2023 at 1:33 PM, Speoj said:

Thanks mate. Yes, quite a few reasons, went into more detail on a post before the op. It's on my profile but the link is here. 

It was essentially so that I could keep my same hairstyle. Which has always been a short back and sides, longer on top pushed forwards to cover my hairline. Going partial shave has meant that once the scabs were off, I could style my hair as usual. Before the scabs came off though, I had it tied up in the central plait seen in the op pic for the first week and a bit then just rocked a slick back around the house to make sure no hair got caught. Kept spraying saline on the hairline anyway so that meant the native hair stayed wet and away from the recipient area. 

Hair looks good mate, you have adequate density at the front so if he wasn’t going to do any work in those areas, makes sense to go partial shave. As you’ve said you can flip your hair forwards. I wasn’t as fortunate I had more aggressive hair loss so opted for complet shave look. Looking forward to seeing your results develop. Should get stunning density along with a natural look. I think you did the right thing by going conservative with the design too. Probably why he was able to dense packin

[londonboy9030]

On 2/25/2023 at 1:18 PM, Speoj said:

Glad to hear the consultation went well mate! Yeah for sure, I felt pretty at ease with Mani at the consultation, and it's one of the reasons I went with him. And on the day his demeanour definitely made me less nervous. 

Sounds like a good plan mate. I think do as much reading as you can about post op care. I did a post on here about a post op shopping list on my profile, here's the link. Russ will send an information pack so you'll know what to expect and you'll get a goody back with the stuff you'll need but always good to go to a pharmacy beforehand to get some essentials. I also filled the fridge with loads of quick easy food to make and pot noodles etc. I spent my recovery playing playstation lol. 

That s gonna be my plan as well haha. I m praying actually that weather continue to stay cold and i dont have to come out too much during April/May time.

 

Ops now booked in for 12/04 so hopefully by the time it s really hot (i.e. July, i would have gone past the 3 months ugly duckling phase, and can actually travel around with a hat

[Speoj]

On 2/26/2023 at 11:44 PM, Nelly said:

Hair looks good mate, you have adequate density at the front so if he wasn’t going to do any work in those areas, makes sense to go partial shave. As you’ve said you can flip your hair forwards. I wasn’t as fortunate I had more aggressive hair loss so opted for complet shave look. Looking forward to seeing your results develop. Should get stunning density along with a natural look. I think you did the right thing by going conservative with the design too. Probably why he was able to dense packin

Thanks mate. Yeah it was a god sent, this was me on day 16 post op looking windswept lol. Shaved down the sides more to try and blend the donor area. Pretty much the first social thing I did after the op. But I totally appreciate partial shave isn't appropriate in a lot of cases. Because they shaved back into my original hairline it has made styling my hair through recovery more difficult than before the op but it was always going to be the case. Being back on minixodl helped give it more texture for styling, hopefully it's also helping speed up regrowth

[Speoj]

On 3/1/2023 at 7:19 PM, londonboy9030 said:

That s gonna be my plan as well haha. I m praying actually that weather continue to stay cold and i dont have to come out too much during April/May time.

 

Ops now booked in for 12/04 so hopefully by the time it s really hot (i.e. July, i would have gone past the 3 months ugly duckling phase, and can actually travel around with a hat

That's well exciting man! Not long to wait now. Lucky to get a booking so soon after reaching out to them. 

I think you'll be right about the weather thing, it's been pretty grim here in London last few weeks and I reckon it'll continue to be so for your op. Definitely get a decent umbrella for op day so you can go from the clinic straight into a taxi without worry of rain / prying eyes. The morning of my op it started to pelt it down with rain so I bought an umbrella when I got off at Farringdon station. There's a Boots around the corner from the clinic. It was still raining when I left the clinic that evening so was glad I picked one up. 

[Speoj]

Here's my 2 month update. I've been growing the donor area out. Still very much in the ugly duckling stage. Still pretty red. The front of the forelock where it was shaved back and reinforced with more grafts is looking pretty thick, the native hair is bouncing back well and the new grafts around them are giving a good illusion of density at this stage which with any luck will continue to grow out and thicken up. 

One thing I did notice at this stage was the very tips of the transplanted hairs look a fraction darker / thicker than the subsequent growth behind it. Which is really interesting. Because I know there are two camps of thought on this; transplanted hairs keep their original characteristics VS they adapt to their new position and adopt the characteristics of the hairs around them etc. My thoughts are in line with the first camp on this, that body hair for instance will always be body hair. To explain a bit better, in these photos you can see that the new transplanted hair have thicker tips for the first 1mm or so then they get slightly thinner after it continues to grow. Not sure whether this is to do with that or just part of the new hair cycle. It's not something I am concerned about, but thought I'd mention it because I found it interesting. 

[Speoj]

Here's the 2.5 month update (11 weeks today).

The redness in the transplanted area is finally starting to fade. The right side is coming through a lot stronger (first image). The day of the op Dr Mani did mention the left was the weaker side and the natural regression was worse on that side anyway, so interesting to see the left side is still trailing along behind. Think this is fairly common for one side to develop faster than the other, seen it in other cases. I've parted the transplanted hair slightly on the left side to show the patches still yet to grow through.

Edited March 21, 2023 by Speoj

[Nelly]

9 hours ago, Speoj said:

Here's the 2.5 month update (11 weeks today).

The redness in the transplanted area is finally starting to fade. The right side is coming through a lot stronger (first image). The day of the op Dr Mani did mention the left was the weaker side and the natural regression was worse on that side anyway, so interesting to see the left side is still trailing along behind. Think this is fairly common for one side to develop faster than the other, seen it in other cases. I've parted the transplanted hair slightly on the left side to show the patches still yet to grow through.

Plenty to come in mate.. the fact you’ve already started to show some signs of growth. Your tip theory is unique 

[JohnCasper]

Should be seeing nice growth in the coming weeks.  Keep us posted.

[londonboy9030]

On 2/25/2023 at 1:18 PM, Speoj said:

Glad to hear the consultation went well mate! Yeah for sure, I felt pretty at ease with Mani at the consultation, and it's one of the reasons I went with him. And on the day his demeanour definitely made me less nervous. 

Sounds like a good plan mate. I think do as much reading as you can about post op care. I did a post on here about a post op shopping list on my profile, here's the link. Russ will send an information pack so you'll know what to expect and you'll get a goody back with the stuff you'll need but always good to go to a pharmacy beforehand to get some essentials. I also filled the fridge with loads of quick easy food to make and pot noodles etc. I spent my recovery playing playstation lol. 

Thanks mate ! Defo will start my own thread as well - my ops day of 12 April is coming up soon, getting quite excited, especially having seen your good results after just a few months

[Speoj]

On 3/21/2023 at 10:06 PM, Nelly said:

Plenty to come in mate.. the fact you’ve already started to show some signs of growth. Your tip theory is unique 

Thanks mate! Ha yeah not heard anyone else talk about it but thought I would mention it 

 

On 3/25/2023 at 12:54 PM, JohnCasper said:

Should be seeing nice growth in the coming weeks.  Keep us posted.

Thanks John, will do! 

 

On 3/25/2023 at 5:13 PM, londonboy9030 said:

Thanks mate ! Defo will start my own thread as well - my ops day of 12 April is coming up soon, getting quite excited, especially having seen your good results after just a few months

Nice one man! Hope your recovery has been smooth 

[Speoj]

Here's my 3 month update, those emptier patches have started to fill in now and the redness is fading

Edited April 27, 2023 by Speoj

[londonboy9030]

On to great things already ! I m so jealous as i m only day 15 in now haha.

 

Apart from fin & min, are you taking any biotin for faster hair growth?

[Melvin- Admin]

Looking 👍🏼 

[Speoj]

Here's my 3.5 month update. My donor has fully grown out now to it's pre-translant state and is as thick as ever. The ugly duckling stage is finally over!

Here's progress so far with wet hair and slicked back (other than the first two which are pics of how the donor is currently) 

The redness has gone and each week the regrowth is improving. Confidence has bounced right back. I've never tried to rock a slick back before but I've started to around the house, it'll be a little while before I feel like I can go out and about with it but after the transplant I'm a lot less bothered about have to keep pushing my hair forwards to cover my hairline. I still do though, the transplanted area is still growing through and doesn't blend with my native yet because it's early days. But it's been nice to get through the shed and already I've started to feel good about it. 

No one who I haven't told has guessed yet that I've had work done. Case in point; I was in bed with a new person I've been seeing and she slicked my hair back with her hand and said "aw you've got a second mini fringe, that's cute" and I smiled and just said "yeah that's just the way it grows" and shrugged it off. That "mini fringe" is the native hair at the front that was shaved back during the op which is still growing out and not as long as the native hair behind it that wasn't shaved back 😂 She was none the wiser. And I will tell her, at some point, but when I want to and not from her noticing that it looks off.

So if someone couldn't tell in as close proximity as you can get whilst looking directly at my hairline that I had work done, then well that's good enough for me. 

@londonboy9030 Thanks mate! Hang in there dude it takes time.

Regime: 5% Kirkland liquid Minoxidil, every evening and the occasional morning when I remember. 0.25mg generic Finasteride daily. Nizoral twice a week. Daily Biotin, Vitamin D and a Multi-Vitamin.

(sorry some of these photos are showing up sideways, can't work out how to correct it, might need admin assist @Melvin- Moderator)

Edited April 27, 2023 by Speoj
Adding more info

[Mark w]

Looks great, I am booked with the same dr this year and wondered what the doctors thoughts on doing it as a partial shave? I have customer facing job and scared of the full shave. At what point did you discuss it with Dr Mani and also have there been any negatives about partial shave. ? Thanks 

[Nelly]

2 hours ago, Speoj said:

Here's my 3.5 month update. My donor has fully grown out now to it's pre-translant state and is as thick as ever. The ugly duckling stage is finally over!

Here's progress so far with wet hair and slicked back (other than the first two which are pics of how the donor is currently) 

The redness has gone and each week the regrowth is improving. Confidence has bounced right back. I've never tried to rock a slick back before but I've started to around the house, it'll be a little while before I feel like I can go out and about with it but after the transplant I'm a lot less bothered about have to keep pushing my hair forwards to cover my hairline. I still do though, the transplanted area is still growing through and doesn't blend with my native yet because it's early days. But it's been nice to get through the shed and already I've started to feel good about it. 

No one who I haven't told has guessed yet that I've had work done. Case in point; I was in bed with a new person I've been seeing and she slicked my hair back with her hand and said "aw you've got a second mini fringe, that's cute" and I smiled and just said "yeah that's just the way it grows" and shrugged it off. That "mini fringe" is the native hair at the front that was shaved back during the op which is still growing out and not as long as the native hair behind it that wasn't shaved back 😂 She was none the wiser. And I will tell her, at some point, but when I want to and not from her noticing that it looks off.

So if someone couldn't tell in as close proximity as you can get whilst looking directly at my hairline that I had work done, then well that's good enough for me. 

@londonboy9030 Thanks mate! Hang in there dude it takes time.

Regime: 5% Kirkland liquid Minoxidil, every evening and the occasional morning when I remember. 0.25mg generic Finasteride daily. Nizoral twice a week. Daily Biotin, Vitamin D and a Multi-Vitamin.

(sorry some of these photos are showing up sideways, can't work out how to correct it, might need admin assist @Melvin- Moderator)

Looks great. You’re ahead of the game mate. Should be a belter! 

[Gatsby]

Man you are a fast grower! That story about the 'cute mini fringe' was funny!🤣 Looking good! 👌

[mydadisbald]

Hi @Speoj how’s it been since your last update? 

[Speoj]

On 4/27/2023 at 10:09 PM, Mark w said:

Looks great, I am booked with the same dr this year and wondered what the doctors thoughts on doing it as a partial shave? I have customer facing job and scared of the full shave. At what point did you discuss it with Dr Mani and also have there been any negatives about partial shave. ? Thanks 

Thats cool that you've already booked with Mani. Bet you're looking forward to it!

I've already written a fair bit about reasons for going partial shave, the pros and cons and Mani's perspective etc on this post and have a previous post dedicated to it on my profile, have a read if it's still of interest. 

[Speoj]

On 4/27/2023 at 11:50 PM, Nelly said:

Looks great. You’re ahead of the game mate. Should be a belter! 

Thanks mate! Thats proper encouraging 

 

On 4/28/2023 at 1:35 AM, Gatsby said:

Man you are a fast grower! That story about the 'cute mini fringe' was funny!🤣 Looking good! 👌

Thanks Gatsby! Ha yeah I found it too funny to not mention it, goes to show that outside of the HT community no one really has a clue lol

[Speoj]

Here's my 6 month update!

Sorry it's been a while, work has been crazy and to be honest I haven't really been thinking about the HT as much the last few weeks / months. Which I suppose is a positive. I couldn't be happier with my progress at this point. I'd be quite content if this is the extent of the growth but there is a full 6 months+ to go before final results which is proper exciting. 

The first few images here are me with wet hair and slicked back, then dry hair held back and then finally how I usually have my hair at the minute and the donor area (the return of the mullet lol) 

I turned 30 last week. When I was originally planning the HT I wanted to do it early in the year because it fit in with a gap at work but also so that I gave enough time for regrowth before my birthday. And I've been glad to see some early progress. In the days after my birthday on separate occasions two girls at work thought I was turning 25. So that's a bit of a result lol. My confidence in how I look and feel hasn't been this good in years, maybe ever. I'm still with the person I mentioned in the previous post, after we gained some trust I did end up telling her all about the HT, and even showed her this post, she found it all interesting and was supportive. I haven't told any of my friends yet but I'm telling myself that if I'm asked directly about my hairline improving then I would talk about it, until then I don't feel the need. 

On my birthday weekend I went swimming in a river with a bunch of mates and for the first time I wasn't embarrassed about getting my hair wet, instead after I plunged my head under the water I then slicked my hair back. No one batted an eyelid but it felt like a significant moment in my HT journey and worth documenting.

[Nelly]

On 6/18/2023 at 6:41 PM, Speoj said:

Here's my 5 month update!

Sorry it's been a while, work has been crazy and to be honest I haven't really been thinking about the HT as much the last few weeks / months. Which I suppose is a positive. I couldn't be happier with my progress at this point. I'd be quite content if this is the extent of the growth but there is a full 6 months+ to go before final results which is proper exciting. 

The first few images here are me with wet hair and slicked back, then dry hair held back and then finally how I usually have my hair at the minute and the donor area. 

I turned 30 last week. When I was originally planning the HT I wanted to do it early in the year because it fit in with a gap at work but also so that I gave enough time for regrowth before my birthday. And I've been glad to see some early progress. In the days after my birthday on separate occasions two girls at work thought I was turning 25. So that's a bit of a result lol. My confidence in how I look and feel hasn't been this good in years, maybe ever. I'm still with the person I mentioned in the previous post, after we gained some trust I did end up telling her all about the HT, and even showed her this post, she found it all interesting and was supportive. I haven't told any of my friends yet but I'm telling myself that if I'm asked directly about my hairline improving then I would talk about it, until then I don't feel the need. 

On my birthday weekend I went swimming in a river with a bunch of mates and for the first time I wasn't embarrassed about getting my hair wet, instead after I plunged my head under the water I then slicked my hair back. No one batted an eyelid but it felt like a significant moment in my HT journey and worth documenting.

Mate this looks ace! You’ll get a lot more density and the hairs will soften over the next 6-12 months. Do you have a Birds Eye view too with hair pushed back. Love the story of coming out of the water. Hair restoration is great especially when you are selected as a good candidate.