6 months post FUE / 1,100 grafts / need advice!

[ilikecheese]

I started my hair transplant journey a couple years ago when I was in a pretty poor financial state, thus leading me to turn to a hair mill. I got a procedure of 800 grafts that more or less failed. 
 

Fast forward to last fall, I was in a much better financial situation and pulled the trigger on a 1,100 graft transplant (unshaven). The reasoning behind going unshaven is that I have a very client facing career, so I had to keep it hidden during the “ugly duckling stage.”

While I clearly have results from the procedure, and fully realize it will continue to better, I can’t help but wonder if I’ll need a follow up. I’ve been comparing my photos to many on several forums, and their 6 month progress looks astonishing comparatively. I’m hopeful that these are just the high responders, but want to err on the side of caution and start planning for a second procedure if necessary. photos of the journey below. 

Pre-procedure for frame of reference  

 

Immediate post-op

 

post-scabbing

3-month

6-month (today)

 

I appreciate everyone’s help  sorry for the long post - new here  

thank You!

 

 

[Berba11]

I’m having a hard time trying to decipher whether your progress is behind schedule a bit, or if you’re bang on schedule but the graft count was too low to meet your expectations. 
 

The immediate post-op work looks quite dense, but redness, blood and swelling can make things look busier than they are. The immediate post-scabbing pictures look a little light in density by comparison, and the 6-month updates appear to more closely resemble the 7-day (ish) post-scab pictures. 
 

What I will say is that you can expect to see improvements over the next few months, and in the meantime what you’ve been left with looks natural - thin, yes - but natural all the same which is good. 

[asterix0]

Would you mind sharing who your surgeon was?

I won't sugarcoat it and say it will be much better, but certainly there is another 2-3 month runway where you can expect 10-20% improvements. 

[Rawkerboi]

You still have six months left and you will see some improvements, too soon to judge anything but why haven't you mention the name of the surgeon?

[ilikecheese]

Apologies, it was Dr. Bankovska Elza in Europe. 
 

10-20% likely wouldn’t allow me to wear my hair backwards or buzz cut like I’d prefer, so is it safe to assume I should begin looking for an additional, small (500 graft?) procedure?

[Walker Paper]

You should look for a better surgeon... I assume you need around 1500 grafts for the hairline and behind it to be able to comb your hair back

[ilikecheese]

1 hour ago, Walker Paper said:

You should look for a better surgeon... I assume you need around 1500 grafts for the hairline and behind it to be able to comb your hair back

1,500 additional grafts, or 1,500 total (including the recent procedure)?

looking at options for an unshaven procedure currently. 

[Walker Paper]

Additional 1500 grafts... yes, it's possible without shaving

Edited May 21 by Walker Paper

[Al - Moderator]

I'm feeling the same way as @Berba11. It looks like they transplanted dense enough, but it's hard to tell if they just didn't grow or if you are a slow grower because it looks like you do have a few shorter hairs and some others look very thin. I'd like to see an update in about two months, so we can know for sure. 

 

[ilikecheese]

1 hour ago, Al - Moderator said:

I'm feeling the same way as @Berba11. It looks like they transplanted dense enough, but it's hard to tell if they just didn't grow or if you are a slow grower because it looks like you do have a few shorter hairs and some others look very thin. I'd like to see an update in about two months, so we can know for sure. 

 

Thank you for the feedback, do you think it’s worthwhile to start follow-up procedure discussions now or wait a couple months? If I need a subsequent operation, would like to get it scheduled by end of year. 

[Al - Moderator]

2 hours ago, ilikecheese said:

Thank you for the feedback, do you think it’s worthwhile to start follow-up procedure discussions now or wait a couple months? If I need a subsequent operation, would like to get it scheduled by end of year. 

 

My feeling is that most Drs you ask now are going to say to wait a couple of months to get a better idea of what's required, but I don't want to discourage you from asking around either. Just keep in mind that may be their answer for now.