Am I a diffuse thinner? Did I get enough grafts in the midscalp? 2500 graft HT by Dr. Yaman

[mojones]

Hello, I had a transplant for 2500 grafts at the hairline and midscalp. I personally thought I had a decent hairline but wanted to improve it and gain some density in my midscalp. Only 500 grafts were in the midscalp and the rest was in the front. My question is did I get enough grafts in the mid scalp to cover my baldness? Right now I’m in month 5 with bad shock loss, probably cause of not being on finasteride (bad side effects). Can anyone shed some light on my hair and if it’s diffuse and if I got enough grafts? 
Pictures in order: pre transplant (baldness covered due to hair styling), shaved head before operation, post-op, then the last two pics are from last month (shock loss, but I had a little bit of a similar hair loss pattern thought not as much)

[Steeeve]

It’s very hard to tell if you suffered with diffused thinning pre-transplant from the pictures you shared. It’s just too difficult to tell if the loss existed with your hair cut so close to your scalp. We would need to see a top down with your longer hair styled so as not to hide the extent or the loss. If those pictures exist then they would be a huge help for anyone here to help guide you.

As far as the work goes; It looks good but did the clinic lower your hairline with that many grafts? 2000 grafts are a lot and your hairline looked great as it was. It’s hard to tell what that many grafts were used for in the front by the pictures posted.

I’m really not trying to stoke any flames but I, personally, would be very upset if I went in for a diffused frontal third and then received the majority of my grafts in my hairline with a few thrown in to the area with diffuse loss.

At 5 months that’s about what you would expect to see whether you were on meds or off. That’s really dependent on the individual’s healing process. I think it looks pretty good-I’m just not sure what all the grafts in the front were used for.

You could reach out to the clinic and doctor to get their take on it, though I don’t know that it would give you any clarity…but it might give you clarity. You could also reach out to a reputable clinic recommended by the community here, share your story, pictures, and overall feelings about what’s going on and see if they could provide any guidance.

This is just my 2 cents. I actually would love to see how this turns out at 12 months. I hope you get it figured out! ✌🏻

[Gatsby]

I don't know what you pre op density was like in the mid scalp. But 500 grafts is not going to go far enough. Especially since MPB is progressive. It's like trying to hit a moving target.

[josha]

Looks good 

[mojones]

On 1/7/2024 at 11:09 PM, Steeeve said:

It’s very hard to tell if you suffered with diffused thinning pre-transplant from the pictures you shared. It’s just too difficult to tell if the loss existed with your hair cut so close to your scalp. We would need to see a top down with your longer hair styled so as not to hide the extent or the loss. If those pictures exist then they would be a huge help for anyone here to help guide you.

As far as the work goes; It looks good but did the clinic lower your hairline with that many grafts? 2000 grafts are a lot and your hairline looked great as it was. It’s hard to tell what that many grafts were used for in the front by the pictures posted.

I’m really not trying to stoke any flames but I, personally, would be very upset if I went in for a diffused frontal third and then received the majority of my grafts in my hairline with a few thrown in to the area with diffuse loss.

At 5 months that’s about what you would expect to see whether you were on meds or off. That’s really dependent on the individual’s healing process. I think it looks pretty good-I’m just not sure what all the grafts in the front were used for.

You could reach out to the clinic and doctor to get their take on it, though I don’t know that it would give you any clarity…but it might give you clarity. You could also reach out to a reputable clinic recommended by the community here, share your story, pictures, and overall feelings about what’s going on and see if they could provide any guidance.

This is just my 2 cents. I actually would love to see how this turns out at 12 months. I hope you get it figured out! ✌🏻

Would you say the grafts implanted in rows is okay?

[Steeeve]

13 hours ago, mojones said:

Would you say the grafts implanted in rows is okay?

I think the work looks good. If everything grows out then that wouldn’t be an issue whatsoever.

[mojones]

On 1/11/2024 at 1:30 PM, Steeeve said:

I think the work looks good. If everything grows out then that wouldn’t be an issue whatsoever.

Thanks! I wanted to ask about something you mentioned. I think the reason the surgeon spread out the grafts rather than just targeting the frontal half or something was because I have a diffuse hair loss pattern. I guess he wanted to spread the grafts throughout where he saw less density. This may have been a bad approach as I still had native hairs nearby. Idk if this approach is ever done?

[Steeeve]

@mojonesFrom the photos you posted it doesn’t look as though the doctor spread the grafts out enough. It looks like he targeted the hairline with 2000 grafts and then spread 500 grafts throughout your frontal third/mid scalp. If your goal was to rebuild your hairline and bulk up a little behind it then that would be a good approach. If you wanted to build up the entire body of your frontal third overall then this may not serve you well in the future especially if you’re not able to tolerate finasteride. You’re going to continue to chase the loss with more transplants. This isn’t bad, necessarily, but it can be a hassle.

To answer your question, It’s pretty common for doctors to place grafts in between existing hairs in order to bulk up the density. I don’t think it’s ever a bad approach for people with diffuse loss as long as the doctor performing the procedure has experience doing this and consistently gets good results doing it.

All that you can do at this point is wait it out and see how everything grows out. I do feel strongly that you should reach out to your doctor and at least one other reputable surgeon, if not more, to get everyone’s input.

 

 

Edited January 30 by Steeeve