I am so worried about my FUE HT looking unnatural - it's stopping me from taking the plunge! Will a HT ever look 100% COMPLETELY natural?

[T218HT]

So I really want a HT, am a good candidate, and have done my research on doctors.

The thing is that I am SO scared to get it done because of it coming out unnatural.  Even the best doctors I've seen have unnatural results.

Am I crazy?  

[LaserCaps]

7 minutes ago, T218HT said:

So I really want a HT, am a good candidate, and have done my research on doctors.

The thing is that I am SO scared to get it done because of it coming out unnatural.  Even the best doctors I've seen have unnatural results.

Am I crazy?  

No, you're not crazy.  And I truly empathize.  It all boils down to - who do you trust?  Research, look at photos of results, particularly of those completed in a single visit. Consider,  most practitioners are under the impression grafts compete for blood supply. They feel the need to leave a separation in between grafts and will ask you to return a year later to work around the separations and add density.  They'll explain they're placing a foundation to which you can add density down the road. You might even require a third visit to add density.  This work in progress approach will have you questioning results for years.  

Undoubtedly, if you've shown the propensity to lose, you'll continue losing hair.  What are you currently doing to mitigate the progressive nature of this condition?  

[T218HT]

22 minutes ago, LaserCaps said:

No, you're not crazy.  And I truly empathize.  It all boils down to - who do you trust?  Research, look at photos of results, particularly of those completed in a single visit. Consider,  most practitioners are under the impression grafts compete for blood supply. They feel the need to leave a separation in between grafts and will ask you to return a year later to work around the separations and add density.  They'll explain they're placing a foundation to which you can add density down the road. You might even require a third visit to add density.  This work in progress approach will have you questioning results for years.  

Undoubtedly, if you've shown the propensity to lose, you'll continue losing hair.  What are you currently doing to mitigate the progressive nature of this condition?  

Well I have stopped losing for the most part (or so I think haha), but I am just so worried about this unnatural thing.

I wish there was a doctor that was 100% undoubtedly natural looking results!  

Maybe Dr Laorwong?

[mr_peanutbutter]

unnatural hairlines from dr konior or fuegenix? where?

Edited September 2, 2023 by mr_peanutbutter

[Fue3361]

There has never been a 100% natural hair transplant.  95%?  Sure.

[asterix0]

With the right doctor yes you absolutely cannot tell.

But singles in the front, the right angles, the right asymmetry, all the components have to be on point for it to look correct. Many Turkish hair mills are a dead giveaway, as they lack all of this. 

[Fue3361]

2 hours ago, asterix0 said:

With the right doctor yes you absolutely cannot tell.

But singles in the front, the right angles, the right asymmetry, all the components have to be on point for it to look correct. Many Turkish hair mills are a dead giveaway, as they lack all of this. 

I highly doubt there is a single hair transplant that can’t be seen with careful inspection 

[asterix0]

1 hour ago, Fue3361 said:

I highly doubt there is a single hair transplant that can’t be seen with careful inspection 

What real world situation will you be in where a person will be inspecting your hair up close to tell if it's a transplant, and that they would even know what to look for?

The only obvious way is if they inspected your donor area, there will be scarring there no matter what you do. 

[Vann]

On 9/1/2023 at 10:40 AM, T218HT said:

So I really want a HT, am a good candidate, and have done my research on doctors.

The thing is that I am SO scared to get it done because of it coming out unnatural.  Even the best doctors I've seen have unnatural results.

Am I crazy?  

If you are this hesitant to proceed, I don’t think you’re completely ready to take the dive in. 
 

Any surgery should be your last attempt, if everything else is exhausted, because once you go under the knife. You do not revert the damage done.

 

although I will say your concerns are perfectly warranted. It’s difficult to make any decisions that are life altering. Just understand that if you get perfect results (if all goes well) you’ll be ecstatic. If not you’ll wish you can undo. But in reality, what is done is done. 
 

take all the time in the world deciding your surgeon, get the tests you need to get done locally, rule out any outliers that can potentially be harmful. Do all your due diligence you can before making a surgical approach. However, remember, even if all is done well. A hair transplant is an illusion not a perfect remedy. There is no perfect hair transplant on go number 1. 
 

my best advice… if you are willing to wait, get on a wait list with a great surgeon that’s over 1.5+ years out and see if verteporfin makes a breakthrough. If it does, bring this up with your surgeon and see what they’re willing to do. 

[T218HT]

6 hours ago, Vann said:

If you are this hesitant to proceed, I don’t think you’re completely ready to take the dive in. 
 

Any surgery should be your last attempt, if everything else is exhausted, because once you go under the knife. You do not revert the damage done.

 

although I will say your concerns are perfectly warranted. It’s difficult to make any decisions that are life altering. Just understand that if you get perfect results (if all goes well) you’ll be ecstatic. If not you’ll wish you can undo. But in reality, what is done is done. 
 

take all the time in the world deciding your surgeon, get the tests you need to get done locally, rule out any outliers that can potentially be harmful. Do all your due diligence you can before making a surgical approach. However, remember, even if all is done well. A hair transplant is an illusion not a perfect remedy. There is no perfect hair transplant on go number 1. 
 

my best advice… if you are willing to wait, get on a wait list with a great surgeon that’s over 1.5+ years out and see if verteporfin makes a breakthrough. If it does, bring this up with your surgeon and see what they’re willing to do. 

Are you saying a transplant will NEVER look 100% natural?  No matter who I go to?

[Gatsby]

On 9/2/2023 at 12:40 AM, T218HT said:

So I really want a HT, am a good candidate, and have done my research on doctors.

The thing is that I am SO scared to get it done because of it coming out unnatural.  Even the best doctors I've seen have unnatural results.

Am I crazy?  

You are not crazy and once you have had surgery their is no going back. There are some great results for sure. But if you are already worried about how transplants look, my concern is that you may not be happy with your results even if your transplant is a home run. In the nicest way possible I don't feel that you would make a good candidate for this reason. Some people have average results and are over the moon. Some people have brilliant work done and regret the whole thing.

[T218HT]

14 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

You are not crazy and once you have had surgery their is no going back. There are some great results for sure. But if you are already worried about how transplants look, my concern is that you may not be happy with your results even if your transplant is a home run. In the nicest way possible I don't feel that you would make a good candidate for this reason. Some people have average results and are over the moon. Some people have brilliant work done and regret the whole thing.

UGH, great.  I guess it will never look 100% natural.

[Fue3361]

8 hours ago, asterix0 said:

What real world situation will you be in where a person will be inspecting your hair up close to tell if it's a transplant, and that they would even know what to look for?

The only obvious way is if they inspected your donor area, there will be scarring there no matter what you do. 

I’m talking about recipient specifically.  There are always telltale signs.  Under the wrong lighting and with hair up, it is never 100% perfect.  Slight bump here or there, a multi or two, the way the hairline meats the temples, lack of baby hairs, multies 1-2 rows behind singles, hair color discrepancy, among many other factors.  It can get damn close to unspotable.  But not perfect, we’re not there yet.  

[Scree]

I claim that a hair transplant does not need to be perfect. People don't focus on your hair nearly as much as you think. Hell, if your forelock is good, you can have severely receded temples and most people won't think of you as bald. If you decide on a surgeon intelligently, based on sound research, you have done everything you can to make your result optimal. Ultimately, it doesn't have to be perfect it just has to be (significantly) better than it used to be. You can always go back for a touch up.

Edited September 4, 2023 by Scree

[StillAlive]

1 hour ago, Scree said:

I claim that a hair transplant does not need to be perfect. People don't focus on your hair nearly. Hell, if your forelock is good, you can have severely receded temples and most people won't think of you as bald. If you make decide on a surgeon intelligently, based on sound research, you have done everything you can to make your result optimal. Ultimately, it doesn't have to be perfect it just has to be (significantly) better than it used to be. You can always go back for a touch up.

This.

If you over-analyze everything, you will only drive yourself crazy. One HT will not be enough and it will always be something else. A good HT surgeon can make you look like you have a full head of hair and provide a significant improvement over your previous, balding or bald look. Always remember, it's an illusion, an approximation. That being said, it can look quite natural and you don't even have to go to a top tier surgeon for that. 

[Turkhair]

7 hours ago, T218HT said:

Are you saying a transplant will NEVER look 100% natural?  No matter who I go to?

Yes. You’re clearly paranoid about it and not really a good candidate. 

For example, look at HugoX result (Zarev patient). It’s an incredible transformation and super successful transplant. But at the same time it can also look unnatural and bad if HugoX wants it to. He grows his hairs out very long and shows it in the best possible way. That’s what it is about, but that’s not the full reality. 

You might get the same result or you may not even get close. He had close to 11k grafts taken, you may not have the same number. 

 

Try to understand what Gatsby said above. Some people have average results and are over the moon. Some people have brilliant work done and regret the whole thing. 

It’s game over once you go past Norwood 3. 

[T218HT]

Guys am I wrong for wanting something to look the best that it can?

When you go get your teeth done, don't you want it to look natural?  Breasts, cheeks, anything?

Fortunately for all other surgeries, it looks natural.  But I am just asking if a HT can EVER look 100% natural.  Like will the hair in the front ever look exact?  Like original?

And if so, what do you ask to get that look?  And who do you go to?  The best in the game?

Sorry if you don't think I am a good candidate, but I don't think it's wrong to ask these questions.

I don't care if I have a full head of hair.  I just want the spots mostly covered, and to be able to shave my head with a 2 or so.

[Vann]

11 hours ago, T218HT said:

Are you saying a transplant will NEVER look 100% natural?  No matter who I go to?

 No one’s hair looks 100% natural, your definition of natural is not the same for everyone. 
 

even then, you are working to get an illusion under the best circumstances. 95% is probably best outcome… 100% is unrealistic

[T218HT]

4 minutes ago, Vann said:

 No one’s hair looks 100% natural, your definition of natural is not the same for everyone. 
 

even then, you are working to get an illusion under the best circumstances. 95% is probably best outcome… 100% is unrealistic

OK I appreciate this realistic response.  Do you think it would look more natural with short hair (like a 2 clip) (if the donor area doesn't scar bad that is).

[Vann]

Just now, T218HT said:

OK I appreciate this realistic response.  Do you think it would look more natural with short hair (like a 2 clip) (if the donor area doesn't scar bad that is).

It’s usually best longer, the shorter your transplanted hairs are the easier it is to see scalp… 

If your donor isn’t depleted… sure you can keep it short. 

[T218HT]

1 minute ago, Vann said:

It’s usually best longer, the shorter your transplanted hairs are the easier it is to see scalp… 

If your donor isn’t depleted… sure you can keep it short. 

Well like I said I understand it's not going to be a full head of hair, but "better".

I'm not asking for much, just a natural hairline and it looking good short that's all haha

[BackFromTheBrink]

23 minutes ago, T218HT said:

Well like I said I understand it's not going to be a full head of hair, but "better".

I'm not asking for much, just a natural hairline and it looking good short that's all haha

If you want to shave your head to a 2 guard, surgery really isn't for you.

On your point about naturalness, I was with you until you brought up other cosmetic surgeries. 

They're not going to give you a 100 percent natural result - they will look good, but if inspected under a microscope will be inferior to nature.

[T218HT]

2 minutes ago, BackFromTheBrink said:

If you want to shave your head to a 2 guard, surgery really isn't for you.

On your point about naturalness, I was with you until you brought up other cosmetic surgeries. 

They're not going to give you a 100 percent natural result - they will look good, but if inspected under a microscope will be inferior to nature.

I think you know what I meant.  I believe hair transplants are the toughest of all surgeries to "look natural" since it's not skin/body it's a totally different thing.

And why isn't surgery for me?  Because I like my hair short?  I just don't want the bald there!  haha

[SuperC]

1 hour ago, T218HT said:

Well like I said I understand it's not going to be a full head of hair, but "better".

I'm not asking for much, just a natural hairline and it looking good short that's all haha

Looking better doesn't always mean looking good.

39 minutes ago, T218HT said:

And why isn't surgery for me?  Because I like my hair short?  I just don't want the bald there!  haha

I'm not sure that you have realistic expectations. If not, you're setting yourself up for disappointment.

My native hair density is somewhere around 75-80 grafts per cm^2. My recent transplant has filled in my hairline at about 45 grafts per cm^2 at the front, tapering off as it moves back toward my native hair and begins to overlap it.

The transplanted hair will grow and look better than the bare skin that was there before. But at short length, it will still look bad against the higher density areas where my native hair still grows. I'll likely need to grow it out a few inches before it all blends nicely, and if I weren't willing to grow it out, I'd probably have been better off not having the procedure at all.

Even if I were to have a super dense transplant by an elite surgeon where and 100% of the transplanted grafts survived, there are still things like angulation and hair texture to consider, which can still easily create a visible contrast between the native and transplanted areas at a short length.

I think a natural-looking result depends heavily how you grow and style it. Wearing a buzz cut or similar almost completely defeats the purpose.

Edited September 4, 2023 by gaz9318054

[Will_the_way]

39 minutes ago, T218HT said:

I think you know what I meant.  I believe hair transplants are the toughest of all surgeries to "look natural" since it's not skin/body it's a totally different thing.

And why isn't surgery for me?  Because I like my hair short?  I just don't want the bald there!  haha

I just don’t think your expectations are realistic man. You want to be able to shave your head, but also want a 100% perfectly natural result. These two things usually don’t go hand in hand. Most hair transplants will look best grown out since it is an illusion of density, and the ability to create that illusion dwindles as the hair gets shorter. No cosmetic surgery will ever look 100% natural. Want to know why? Because it isn't natural.