1,661 grafts with Dr. Luis Nader in Feb 2023

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

  I was hoping to be posting with more excitement, but feeling a bit concerned after seeing the pattern of my grafts. I had a surgery a couple weeks ago with Dr Luis Nader in Reynosa Mexico where he implanted 1,661 in my temples and hairline to fix my receded hairline. I went with Nader because I couldn't find a single bad review on any forum and because I live in Texas. Scheduling was a breeze and I got on his calendar 2 months prior to the surgery, and I was super grateful for the quick turnaround because I know he's super busy and sometimes hard to reach. My experience with Nader was and has been great, he's extremely responsive and is there for you after your surgery to answer any questions and to keep tabs on your progress. He even gives you his phone number to text which he responds promptly to.

  My issue is, there's a noticeable gap between my implanted hairs and my old hairline on my left temple. I am well familiar with the shedding phase and shock loss, but this gap became noticeable just 3 days post surgery. And given the pattern of implantation, the gap makes sense. The fact is:

1. My left temple was more receded and thinner than the right temple to begin with.

2. The grafts on my left side don't go as far back as the grafts on my right side and there's a gap in the center left portion.

  Double whammy. What do you all think of the gap? Will it be cosmetically noticable when hair grows in? I wanted to be able to wear my hair buzzed or long with no issue and not have to worry about covering a gap. 

Left: My origin hairline, as you can see, I'm thinner and more receded on the left to begin with. Right: The graft pattern the morning after the surgery

2.5 days post op:

6 days post op:

6 days post OP birds eye view:

11 days post OP:

I love my hairline design, the right side looks phenomenal, and I would still recommend Dr Nader, but I'm feeling pretty bummed overall. Dr. Nader has been very responsive and has reassured me that he'd fill in the gap for little or no cost if the issue is still there after regrowth, but he wants to give it some time to see how things fill in before making a judgement.

Even though Nader is wonderful, frankly I'm a little upset by the situation when it's kind of obvious (at least to me) that it'll need filling in. My whole goal was to get it right in one surgery and to see results in 8 months, which I feel like is a very reasonable expectation given that I was like a NW2.5/3. Not to have to get a repair job and have to wait 20 months to really get my hair back.

What do you all think? Are my concerns misplaced? Would love to hear that I'm overreacting and this will be fine lol

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

Also is there hope for oral minoxidil + dermarolling to bring the old hairline forward a little to fill in the gap? I had been taking 2.5mg oral minox for 6 months, stopped on Feb 9 for my surgery on Feb 14 and resumed OM on Feb 19th. I will likely resume dermarolling 3 months post OP.

[Henry]

I personally think this would be fine. I've seen this kind of pattern before where there's a noticeable gap between grafts and hair immediately post op and it still exists when everything grows out but, i never see people being too bothered by it. 

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

Thanks for your input @Henry I hope you're right! Either way Dr Nader said we'd check back in in May and if the gap is prominent we'll schedule a repair as soon as the scalp is healed.

@Melvin- Moderator @Gatsby @GoliGoliGoli @GaryJ Would love to know what y'all think as HT experts or as people who have had work with Nader!

[GoliGoliGoli]

I don't think you're going to notice any gaps once it grows in. That said, one of the amazing benefits of working with Nader is how he stands by his work. But I really don't think you're going to be anything but pleased with the final results. 

[Redmann]

All that everyone said above - It really is still early days in your case. Good luck and keep well!

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

Thank you all for the reassurance! Will keep this updated with my progress

[O Hare 57]

Your along way from final judgement so I wouldn't worry yet.  Small gaps that you can see in the first few weeks tend to blend together when your hair grows out.  Anyone getting a procedure should expect that they may need a 2nd or 3 transplant.  There like coats of paint.  One coat will rarely look even and perfectly uniform.  Not to mention hair loss is progressive so you may develop bald spots 10 or 20 years from now that you'll want to fill in.  Once you go the surgery route once its hard to ever accept the final result and you'll always want perfection but rarely will get it.   I have had 7600 grafts at great expense and your hair looks better than mine. 

[Gatsby]

I think you will be fine. You can always contact Dr Nader with your concerns. But it’s really way too early to even be worrying about anything. All the best.

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

Hi everyone, yesterday was exactly 5 weeks post op! Here are my pictures from yesterday. I haven't really shed much. Maybe a little in the last week, but today when I showered I noticed only one transplanted hair shed. Hoping this means I'll shed lightly...

 

The first three photos are pre-op. Next 4 are from yesterday (5 weeks post op)

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

Here's more progress pics. Below is March 7, 15, 18, and 22 respectively. Sides of my head are def growing faster than the top of my head though. Probably will trim the sides with a 2 guard here soon. Again surgery was Feb 14, so minimal shedding.

[airporteffect]

You healed up very well, brother! This will be a fantastic result.

[CandyButler]

On 3/23/2023 at 11:09 AM, SoonToBeThomasShelby said:

Hi everyone, yesterday was exactly 5 weeks post op! Here are my pictures from yesterday. I haven't really shed much. Maybe a little in the last week, but today when I showered I noticed only one transplanted hair shed. Hoping this means I'll shed lightly...

 

The first three photos are pre-op. Next 4 are from yesterday (5 weeks post op)

Thanks for the pics, it helps me trusting Dr. Luis Nader. I am a college student who is worried about finishing my essay writing project owing to my lack of writing skills, which is why I am looking for the website https://studyclerk.com/buy-college-essays This service supports me in purchasing a college essay. I am really delighted with the outcomes achieved by the creators of this website. I won first place in my class.

Thanks for the pics, it helps me trusting Dr. Luis Nader.

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

8 week update:
Hair has shed, but not all of it, still a significant amount remains and has grown.

The skin under in the transplanted area is really flakey and feels almost scabby again. Can't tell if it's dandruff or what. I didn't really have a major dandruff issue before the transplant. Anyone else experience new flakiness in that area?

 

[1028]

I got a transplant with Nader about a month before you so I’m a few weeks ahead. I did experience a weird texture on the transplanted skin which only went way within the last 2-3 weeks. 

RE your dermarolling comment: I’m 3 months in now and I cannot imagine dermarolling anywhere near the transplanted hair right now. Seems like it would be very painful and counterintuitive while it’s healing. 

That said, everything looks great from your pics so far! You have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. 

Edited April 22, 2023 by 1028

[A_4_Archan]

You are right on your track to get a good outcome ....evrythn is looking good at this stage...Happy Growing and keep updating ...

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

8 hours ago, 1028 said:

I got a transplant with Nader about a month before you so I’m a few weeks ahead. I did experience a weird texture on the transplanted skin which only went way within the last 2-3 weeks. 

RE your dermarolling comment: I’m 3 months in now and I cannot imagine dermarolling anywhere near the transplanted hair right now. Seems like it would be very painful and counterintuitive while it’s healing. 

That said, everything looks great from your pics so far! You have a lot to look forward to in the next few months. 

Looking forward to your next update. Did you do or apply anything to your scalp to help with the scalp texture? Did you have dandruff in the area too? I wonder if it's cuz I have been applying coconut oil and rosemary oil once a week. 

 

And yeah you're right re: dermarolling. Def won't be doing that anytime soon. Maybe at like the 6 month mark

[1028]

3 hours ago, SoonToBeThomasShelby said:

Looking forward to your next update. Did you do or apply anything to your scalp to help with the scalp texture? Did you have dandruff in the area too? I wonder if it's cuz I have been applying coconut oil and rosemary oil once a week. 

 

And yeah you're right re: dermarolling. Def won't be doing that anytime soon. Maybe at like the 6 month mark

I used a combination of aloe vera (super cheap, you can buy a while leaf for like a dollar and it lasts weeks) and hydrocortisone to reduce redness and mitigate the texture. I’ve also been shampooing with Nizoral every other day which helps with the dandruff for sure. 

I’ll post an update today or tomorrow— I think the 2.5 month mark is where my regrowth really started 😄

[SoonToBeThomasShelby]

I am about 90 days post op. I am really worried about my scalp in the transplanted area and the resulting hairs. The temples are covered in a thick crust. It doesn't burn or itch, but it's like crusted over. I can't tell what the heck it is. Whenever I try to google anything, I just get sebhorric dermatitis, but I've never had that before. You can see in my previous photos that I didn't have any crusting. Can a hair transplant cause me to get dermatitis? Whenever i try to massage the scabs off in the shower, gobs of hair come out with the scabs. Should I just shave my head and clean off all the scabs and let the hair grow again?

I can't even take a good picture of what it looks like, with my hair being black the scabs just end up looking like blurry hair.

Has anyone else suffered with this?