Non-shaven FUE w/ Dr. Path 10 years after my FUT?

[johnnyrotten1999]

Hi All,

I am in my late 30s and had an FUT with Dr. Path in Bangkok about 10 years ago. It was a great decision and it really filled in my receding hairline around my temporal areas. 

However, 10 years later, my temples are starting to thin again. I have been contemplating getting a new transplant on the same area to add some density. You can see in the attached photos what I am experiencing. Full context, I have been on oral finasteride since I was 18 and have been a somewhat regular user of minoixidil and Nizoral over the past decade. Trying to get more regular on those 2 meds. No other health issues to speak of.

I have 2 questions:

1) Is it normal to experience significant thinning in the recipient site, even a decade later? I had read that the transplanted hair should be resistant to DHT. My native hair around the thinning temples is still in place and thick for the most part.

2) Does anyone have experience with a non-shaven FUE, particularly with Dr. Path? He did a great job on my first transplant so I would be happy to go back to him but I read on this forum that he is more of an "FUT specialist". I have also read some mixed things about non-shaven FUE.  It would not really be possible with my current work situation to get a fully shaven FUE right now.

Thanks everyone!

[mr_peanutbutter]

you need to share pics from directly after the surgery (including donor) and then pics from lets say 2-3 years post op so we can compare

[A_4_Archan]

@johnnyrotten1999

Transplanted hairs are not DHT resistant but they are less prone to DHT bt they may get thin in the long run...

Dr path is a good surgeon and its not that he is FUT specialist ...actually you can say he is more experienced with FUT but that doesn't mean he is bad with FUE...i have seen many cases where he did FUE and produced decent outcomes....though if you wish you can also explore more surgeons and than you can decide with whom you should go after seeing results of all other doctors and doing consultations with them....

[Daniel A]

Hello,

Really nice to see an HT result after 10 years. May I know how recent did your temples started thin? If it happened quite suddenly, it might not be because of DHT. What I’m thinking is a synchronized telogen phase for your transplanted hair or telogen effluvium. Your non-transplanted hair was thick so if telogen effluvium happened, they might still look thick. But your transplanted area wasn’t really thick, so after TE the area looks thin.

If it has been thinning for a while and your hair thinned slowly, then it’s another atory. And please take my opinion witha grain of salt, I’m not a doctor.

[johnnyrotten1999]

Hey All,

Thanks for your feedback. I have included some photos from pre-op which shows that my temples were totally bald. I have also got some immediate post op and some photos which were taken around 9months-1year.

I only started noticing this thinning a year ago but it has not improved in the meantime. If anything it has gotten worse. That said its still a lot better than it was before the HT.

I am leaning toward having Dr. Path do a non-shaven FUE which he says would transfer the approx. 1500 grafts I need to my temples to fill in the thickness. Since it has actually been 11 years since my last HT I consider this procedure a huge success. I was well aware that it wouldn't necessarily last forever but I thought I would lose more of my native hair rather than the transplanted hair during the last decade.

If anyone has feedback/experience with a non-shaven FUE, especially as a 2nd procedure for density, I would really appreciate it!

[johnnyrotten1999]

I recently had some more HD photos taken of my hairline and sent them to Dr. Laorwong. He estimates 1500 grafts to fill in my temples with an FUE procedure. You can see them below. 

Dr. Laorwong also said he could shave my donor site below the FUT scar rather than the entire back of my head so I can keep it concealed more easily. He will also be able to leave my hairline recipient area unshaven and place the new grafts in between my preexisting hair.

As Dr. Laorwong seems like a great doctor for the FUE procedure and offers a very competitive price, I wanted to know if anyone else had gone to him for a similar case as mine. I trust his guidance but can I get away with only taking donor hairs from below my FUT scar? Any thoughts on filling in the hairline for additional density without shaving the recipient area?

Edited August 22, 2023 by johnnyrotten1999

[MissMyLongHair]

Wow, so you've been on Fin for 20 years? I doubt mine will look that good in 15, I'm guessing you don't have much aggressive baldness in your family.

[hairman4321]

@johnnyrotten1999 - what would be the difference between a non-shaven FUE and a shaven FUE?
I would have thought nothing, just that non-shaven takes longer (and therefore costs a bit more) because the doctors have to move the other hairs out of the way when they extract them.

[johnnyrotten1999]

On 8/23/2023 at 1:07 PM, MissMyLongHair said:

Wow, so you've been on Fin for 20 years? I doubt mine will look that good in 15, I'm guessing you don't have much aggressive baldness in your family.

Yes ever since I was 18 and have only been off for a few weeks at a time when traveling and unable to restock quickly. I don't know how "aggressive" my MPB is in the family but my father, brothers, most cousins suffer from hairloss, some more than others. Since my hairloss started to become noticeable by the time I was 16 I am thankful finasteride was available and I had 0 side effects from it. Now I am finally getting on oral minoxidil since I always hated using the topical version. Am trying to be regular with some micro-needling, caffeine shampoo and keto shampoo as well. I still plan to get a 2nd HT in the coming months since I don't think these other methods will do much for regrowth, probably just hold the loss off a few more years.

[johnnyrotten1999]

@A_4_Archan You mentioned that you have seen solid results of Dr. Path doing FUEs. I wanted to ask if you can share those with me. Are they on this forum? I can't seem to find any when I use the search bar. Only results of his FUTs. thanks!