5000 grafts from ASMED… looking for advice and recommendations for future repair

[Here4hairs]

Hi All,

As the title says I made the dumb decision of going through a transplant with Asmed clinic back in the beginning of 2022. I am 30 years old and started taking dutasteride 0.5mg qd. I would say i was diffuse thinning well on my way to nw6 before starting meds. I remember debating having transplant surgery many years ago when I initially found ASMED. Unfortunately after many years of deliberating I pulled the trigger and failed to do a deep dive into due diligence which I take full accountability as I could have avoided this by seeking a much better clinic. I had 5000 grafts implanted in what ended up being a ring like shape. Starting off I was pretty far gone so my result considering how advanced the hair loss was is decent. However reviewing threads like Miko I too have low density and difficulties with see through nature of hair especially if styled up. Many red flags arose as I went through this process that I overlooked or overestimated the faith I put into this clinic to do the right thing by me the vulnerable patient. Things overlooked was lack of reception of personal input or redesign of hairline by dr erdogan, no willingness to discuss staged options considering my likely need for more than one operation due to advanced loss, among other things. My advice to many looking for a transplant would be to find forums like these to find honest and real reviews, especially in turkey, as the government helps subsidize the medical tourism advertisements and what you will find on sites are far from typical results.

Anyway back to the transplant they ended up marking off basically what seemed like my entire scalp for transplant and it wasnt until the two day operation had finished that i knew they planned to transplant the hair in a ring pattern and completely ignore the midscalp.

Post transplant there was minimal follow up from the clinic and aside from me reaching out to ask the occasional post op question to my “patient advisor” the clinic took no interest in the progress or result of my transplant - in my eyes a doctor or team that does not care about the result of their work or satisfaction of their patient is what really makes ASMED a hair mill.

I am now 20 months post op. Continuing dutasteride and added oral minoxidil 2.5mg qd about 8 months post op to help with the density. Overall I think I was fortunate to not walk away completely botched especially after seeing some extremely Unfortunate patient stories from asmed on here.

Overall I am grateful as the result Has still granted me a cosmetic improvement. And i know transplant provides the illusion however i think the result still could have been better especially when i see the difference in repair stories on here. While I cant change my mistake but I can be extra diligent to hopefully improve the future. I am awaiting availability to consult with dr cuoto (earliest would be 2025 when they take appointments again), de freitas (pending response from team), and dr lorenzo. I look forward to hear your guys advice on how tO best get a result I can be happy with. I think we can all relate tO hating what we see in the mirror from stupid hair loss. 

 

Sorry the pictures are likely going to upload out of order. I think theyre pretty self explanatory and like i said i am happy enough most days however with shorter hair and styling up the low level density of the transplant is much more noticeable. I can try and snap better pictures highlighting the transparent nature of hairline and frontal region in sunlight for reference dont have many of those as I avoid taking those pictures as best i can.

[Ccd99]

Honestly it does not look bad at all.

You just need a 2nd surgery to add more density, and address the thinning spot on the mid-scalp.

I think another 2000-3000 grafts would finish everything off nicely.

[StillAlive]

You look pretty good man, that's what you can realistically expect from your first HT. It's a huge cosmetic difference for you. Keep in mind, transplants only provide an illusion of density, they are not meant to completely restore you to your pre-MPB state. 

If it still bothers you that much, you can go in for a second density pass, alternatively, a bit of Toppik would turn your hair into concrete down the middle

[Jackdaniels]

To be honest your result with Asmed looks pretty good man.
Remember hair transplants are an illusion of density and you will never achieve native hair’s very high density.

You can always do a touch up to add some density but that’s doesn’t mean that your first surgery wasn’t successful.

[Mark Powell]

Unfortunately, perfect results cannot always be achieved with hair transplant. I think it's a good result. The goal should be to get better than before and look natural! If you expect perfection, the result may not make you happy.

[Rawkerboi]

Your Hair Transplant looks fine. 

As rest of the members said, hair transplant is the illusion of density. 

No matter what you can not get original density via Hair transplant. 

Some pictures which you have uploaded are taken in very harsh lighting conditions which obviously exposes the Hair Transplant. 

Frankly speaking you don't need a second Hair Transplant, there is no guarantee that after second HT you will be satisfied. 

[Here4hairs]

Thanks for the honest feedback everyone. Yeah I would say for sure I was fortunate with how my final result came back compared to many others. I feel very lucky for that reason. Part of it may be hair greed on my end looking to improve density ill have to take some photos after a haircut as my hair is extra long currently. The other part as we all know is future thinning. While I hope that is minimized by the medical therapy, it also makes me cautious to rush into anything. Having to even wait for the in person consults in a way is a blessing altogether. 
 

Of note though, there were two other men having their procedure done the same day as me. One from Germany, one from France (im from US). Both guys when chatting said that they had hired hair mentors who said ASMED was best of the best. Just found that to be a bit interesting is all. I also get ASMED Dental emails now - I guess theyre trying to turn into a conglomerate corporation!

[ScottishGuy21]

Hair transplants are illusions of density yes but that’s a little bit of a cop out. A decent  transplant means you can have your hair in various styles / lengths and feel comfortable. If you can’t then you are right to question the end results

Naturally however if you are higher up the Norwood scale it may be more difficult to create such an illusion and you have to be realistic with your aims. It’s about balance.

Edited August 21, 2023 by ScottishGuy21

[A_4_Archan]

@Here4hairs

They did a good job...and your look is totally changed...good that you are on medication which will help you to hold on to your native hairs for long....i don't think right now you should go for a HT as you have got enough hairs on your head and sometimes goin for a surgery with this can be counterproductive...i think at this moment you are a better candidate for medication and other non surgical therapies which will help your to improve your hair caliber and that will provide you with more coverage ...

[Melvin- Admin]

If I’m being honest. This looks like a satisfactory result. Its not perfect, but hair transplants are never perfect. If you compare your results to someone like @miko they’re a lot better.

Having said that, there’s room for improvement. You have a solid foundation to build upon. I think the hairline could be a bit softer with more micro-irregularities. I think a widows peak would look killer. 

 

[Here4hairs]

Thanks @Melvin- Moderator! Definitely appreciate it. Yeah I agree I think part of it is always embracing realistic versus desired expectations. Overall this has been life changing and a win. I think if I could maintain this id be more or less set for life. Its funny you say that as I wanted a widows peak but was basically advised against it by dr erdogan. Maybe ill go for a touchup in a year or so just to add a little density to frontal region/add the widows peak