Botched transplant, I don't know what to do, need your helps

[baldstan]

Hello everyone, I feel so hopeless as I write these. I wish I were not in this situation but what is done is done. I am currently looking for the most logical solution for myself and need your advice.

I had a 4500 FUE hair transplant in July last year and I wish I hadn't. I didn't do proper research, it was a bit of a panic hair transplant and I regret it very much. I started researching to fix this situation, but I was always frustrated overall. My hair loss is progressing towards NW7 (I guess). Not a day goes by without me thinking about and researching this situation. I wake up in the mornings thinking about my hair, I constantly regret the mistake I made.

I am 24 years old now and I just graduated from university. Dealing with these at one of the most important points of my life is overwhelming me. I need your help to find a logical solution to this situation.

Second hair transplant option:

First of all, I have not used fin until now. I didn't even know that using finasteride was a must with hair transplantation. Also, the side effects scared me a lot. I don't know if I want to use it or not. And I am only 24 years old. I don't know how long this type of product can be used. And if I stop using it, my hair loss will continue. I don't think it's right for me to have a second hair transplant so early and quickly. Also, maybe it's because of my frustration, I don't know, but I doubt that a hair transplant will give me the density I need at this age. I don't have enough money to have a transplant from a good surgeon anyway, and due to my country's economy, it will take me a long time to save that much money.

Hair system option:

At this point, I thought that the hair system might be a solution for me, but I have some questions about it.  I know that my hair loss will continue and probably my back and side hair will weaken and 4500 grafts were taken with HT. Can I continue to wear the hair system in this case? I aim to use the hair system for many years because I have no other choice, I cannot take it off and shave my hair when I get bored because the HT scars are there. My second question is that to prevent such a situation, it comes to my mind to transplant the transplanted grafts back to the donor area before switching to the hair system, but I don't know if it makes sense or not. If I do such a thing, will the wounds that may occur have side effects on the hair system, will the skin become sensitive? I can switch to the hair system without direct restocking. This would probably be the fastest way for me, but it could also be the case if the roots I transplanted died. This may affect my chances of future hair transplantation.

As a result, hair transplantation seems impossible for me at first. Going the hair system route seems more logical at this point, but should I go directly to the hair system, should I restore the roots to the donor and go through it, or maybe I can have a repair transplant with the transplanted hair, create a hairline and attach a hair system to the back?

I know I asked a lot of questions and maybe they are stupid questions but I am really confused and I need help. If you could please answer and at least help me reach a logical conclusion, I would be very happy. If you have different suggestions, please let me know. I want to stop thinking about this problem as much as possible and move forward.

Before transplant:

after transplant:

 

current situation:

left side of hairline:

 

donor situation long and short:

 

[Al - Moderator]

This is a very bad hair transplant. It's a bad hairline design. It should not be rounded down so much at the corners. The grafts are not angled correctly. They are pointing straight up rather than angled forward. You have low growth of transplanted grafts. Fixing this would require punching a lot out along the hairline and re-transplanting them. It would probably take two surgeries to get the desired result with repairs.

Since you asked about a hair system, yes that is an option. You could/should try that and see if it works for you before trying any transplant repairs. You probably wouldn't need to use a hair system forever. You may be able to use it for maybe 10 years while you are still in your 20's and 30's and then go for a hair transplant again when you are older and may not need to have such a low hairline or as dense hair to look your age at that point.

 

[Al - Moderator]

Looking at this some more, I'll tell you to at least get a few consultations from good Drs about repairs and see what they say. You may be able to make a better decision then. Have a look at our recommended surgeon list

https://hairtransplantnetwork.com/best-hair-transplant-surgeons

 

There are also several members on this forum who needed repairs such as yours. You should take a look at some of those. I did a quick search for repairs, but I didn't filter through this to find specific cases. However it should give you a place to start looking at other repair cases.

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/search/?q=repair&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=24

 

 

[AB2000]

If you decide to go with FIN and minoxidil to hold onto your existing hair, then look into the use of hair loss concealers. The common type are ones like Toppik, which are powders that can be added to thinning hair to create a good illusion of density.  The other product is Dermmatch, which is a cosmetic. An applicator applies the product to the scalp and hair and also has a very good concealing effect. I think it might work easier if you were to use these on shorter hair.

These products stop being useful once your hair loss progresses past a certain point; there needs to be some amount of thinning hair to work with.  You are early enough to make use if these, so maybe experiment with them. There is a learning curve.

[HappyMan2021]

who was the doctor?!?! 

there are a lot of red flags with this situation 1) naturally progressing to NW 7 2) Not on meds 3) 24 is too young to get a HT 4)you might have already set yourself up for a long and expensive repair journey

At this point, all you can do is start consults with good doctors and see what they recommend. 

if repair is indeed the option, be sure to ask in your consults if you have enough donor grafts available to do electrolysis and simply zap and kill the existing transplant hairs that are incorrect. Simply killing them, instead of extracting-re-implanting elsewhere, then implanting a new graft in the original spot - may be alot quicker and less costly of a route for you to be repaired. But this method is 100% dependent on having a generous donor count left, and also what your end-goal expectaitons are

3 hours ago, Al - Moderator said:

Since you asked about a hair system, yes that is an option. You could/should try that and see if it works for you before trying any transplant repairs. You probably wouldn't need to use a hair system forever. You may be able to use it for maybe 10 years while you are still in your 20's and 30's and then go for a hair transplant again when you are older and may not need to have such a low hairline or as dense hair to look your age at that point.

I agree with this, and in fact @baldstan I think you might be a perfect candidate for a hair system

Not going to lie, you are in a cr*p situation being so young, needing a repair, and naturally already having advanced balding. I think the wise, long-game plan is to get used to wearing a system for the rest of your 20s

In your 30s, hopefully your hairloss will be more stable, your HT expectations may change that what they are at 24, and you will likely have significantly more money on hand than you do now, which will enable you to go to good doctors instead of who you went to previously. 

Edited July 29 by HappyMan2021

[Berba11]

5 hours ago, baldstan said:

I know I asked a lot of questions and maybe they are stupid questions but I am really confused and I need help.

I think it's clear that you're in a bit of a panic and your thinking is getting a little ahead of itself (which is understandable). I think what you need to do now is simplify your thinking and develop a game plan to first address the bad surgery you've had. For now, forget about finasteride**, hair systems, what Norwood grade you'll get to etc...

You have three major issues with your HT result (let's start with the first two):

1. Pretty much everything is wrong with the hairline: pluggy, low density, unnatural design & shape, hair sticks up in poor directions
2. The donor area looks overharvested

You can correct both of these issues by having the transplanted grafts removed again via FUE and placed back into the donor area. I'd encourage you to check @Paul_'s repair surgery with Dr Ed Ball in the UK. He totally reversed his transplant and restocked his donor in the depleted areas. This is essentially what you might want to replicate. That brings me to:

3. Cost; Repair costs tend to be high with top surgeons, and you've suggested this will be difficult for you.

Typically when we talk about great surgeons who excel at challenging repairs we think of surgeons like Dr Feriduni, Dr Ball, Dr Bisanga, Hattingen etc... None of these come cheaply. That said, pretty much all good surgeons will have repair cases that we never see or hear about. You might want to reach out to some of the really good surgeons in Thailand like Dr Loarwong, Dr Ratchathorn etc and get their thoughts. I'd be tempted to ask about reversing the transplant and reusing the grafts by putting them back into the donor area. If they've done this sort of thing before, you might be onto a winner at a more budget friendly price than the top European surgeons I mentioned.

 

 

 

**On finasteride... Whether you decide to try it and maintain your native hair or not will have no bearing on your current HT result. But if you do go down the route of reversing the transplant and successfully restocking the donor, you'll inevitably be in a situation where you'll be thinking about what to do next. One option is nothing: put the experience behind you and go bald gracefully. The other is to continue to pursue hair restoration surgery as a way of combatting hair loss, so being on finasteride sooner rather than later will [hopefully] help you maintain your native hair and mean having to take less grafts out of an already depleted and compromised donor. Even if you managed to improve your donor area, it will not be as ripe as it was before your bad surgery. Note that we're getting into the long, long grass here and thinking about a strategy that assumes you have a successful repair and re-emerge as a candidate for future surgery. In my view we're thinking too far ahead but I suppose what I'm trying to suggest in short is that there's no harm in starting with finasteride now in order to put you in good stead once you've resolved the bad surgery issue - but I want to stress that your focus should be on getting a repair irrespective of whether you do or do not try finasteride, so don't get side-tracked or overwhelmed thinking about things that are not directed at improving your current situation.

[baddecisions]

@HappyMan2021 and @Berba11 have provided really good advice. Read their messages and try to stay calm.

Being a repair patient is really tough. In this forum you can find many people on the same situation, you are not alone in this.

Congrats on having graduated at the university btw. 

[Paul_]

It's saddening to read what you are going through (and you are definitely not alone, many others are similarly afflicted these days)

Once you have a poor start in the HT world, it's much more difficult to overcome it and still come out of it with a natural looking result. I think the posters above covered most all realistic options to remedy it

I would obviously lean towards some kind of reversal as I was a similar situation, as with poor results in both hairline and donor it's easier to correct course than to keep going

You're young and HT repairs tend to be expensive, but you are in a position to fix this in time, you are not a lost case

• As everyone mentioned, run the consultations with the top repair doctors, and use that time to put that university degree to good use, get a job, work your ass off and save money
• at a later stage, you can see with the doctors that would accept your case if they can't get you a discounted rate, by adapting to their schedule, fully documenting your case, volume discount, etc
• The clinic who did this to you should not be allowed to practice anymore. Talk to them to return at least a large part of your payment, on the basis of poor results being their fault and that you will anyway have to pay several times as much for repairs. Take your dad if you're going  physically there to talk to them, to support you

Finally and I can't stress enough how important it is, throughout all this crappy period don't stay alone and depressed. Family and friends love you with or without an amazing head of hair, and they understand you're suffering. Discipline yourself to sleep, eat, work, and exercise.

You will get through it in the end, stay strong and don't hesitate to ask for further help

Edited July 29 by Paul_

[baldstan]

thanks, @Al - Moderator I am really thinking about using the hair system. Even though it is difficult to maintain, I would be happy if it would last me until my 30s. Then I can reconsider a hair transplant. 

14 hours ago, Al - Moderator said:

Fixing this would require punching a lot out along the hairline and re-transplanting them. It would probably take two surgeries to get the desired result with repairs.

When you say retransplanting, are you talking about donor re-grafting or a correction in the recipient area? 

14 hours ago, Al - Moderator said:

Since you asked about a hair system, yes that is an option. You could/should try that and see if it works for you before trying any transplant repairs.

I will probably try it but the thing I am not sure about is whether I should have the retransplant to the donor area. If I do something like this, will there be a negative effect on my hair system use, or if I don't, for example, can it be corrected after I quit the hair system after 10 years?

[baldstan]

14 hours ago, AB2000 said:

If you decide to go with FIN and minoxidil to hold onto your existing hair, then look into the use of hair loss concealers. The common type are ones like Toppik, which are powders that can be added to thinning hair to create a good illusion of density.  The other product is Dermmatch, which is a cosmetic. An applicator applies the product to the scalp and hair and also has a very good concealing effect. I think it might work easier if you were to use these on shorter hair.

These products stop being useful once your hair loss progresses past a certain point; there needs to be some amount of thinning hair to work with.  You are early enough to make use if these, so maybe experiment with them. There is a learning curve.

thanks for the advice I can use these products while I save money but I think there needs to be a fix eventually

[baldstan]

thank you for your advice @HappyMan2021 I will try to consult with a good surgeon, and probably I will go with a hair system way till my 30s and my expectation at that age won't be a very dense end low hairline with respect to the situation

13 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

if repair is indeed the option, be sure to ask in your consults if you have enough donor grafts available to do electrolysis and simply zap and kill the existing transplant hairs that are incorrect. Simply killing them, instead of extracting-re-implanting elsewhere, then implanting a new graft in the original spot - may be alot quicker and less costly of a route for you to be repaired. But this method is 100% dependent on having a generous donor count left, and also what your end-goal expectaitons are

with the hair system way do you suggest doing this (electrolysis or restocking) before using the hair system or should I go with the hair system directly and consider the repair when the times come?

[baldstan]

hey @Berba11 thank you for your support and suggestions.

I will try to consult with the surgeons that you mentioned. As you said there is a problem and it must be fixed. restocking is a good option but

13 hours ago, Berba11 said:

One option is nothing: put the experience behind you and go bald gracefully.

Even if there is no scar after restocking there are already scars from my old HT and the reimplanted graft won't be equal to the taken graft at the donor area so it will look weird. also probably I don't want to get a second transplant so early, So using hair systems makes sense to me. I want to do restocking and use the hair system till my middle 30s. after that maybe I can make a new transplant. what do you think about getting a retransplant and using a hair system after that? Is it possible

[baldstan]

@baddecisions Thank you for your support and congratulations, my friend 

[Berba11]

21 minutes ago, baldstan said:

hey @Berba11 thank you for your support and suggestions.

I will try to consult with the surgeons that you mentioned. As you said there is a problem and it must be fixed. restocking is a good option but

Even if there is no scar after restocking there are already scars from my old HT and the reimplanted graft won't be equal to the taken graft at the donor area so it will look weird. also probably I don't want to get a second transplant so early, So using hair systems makes sense to me. I want to do restocking and use the hair system till my middle 30s. after that maybe I can make a new transplant. what do you think about getting a retransplant and using a hair system after that? Is it possible

Personally I'm not a fan of hair systems. If I were you I'd get the bad grafts taken out, put them back in the donor to improve the visible appearance of the donor and then probably just move on with life. Will your donor look as good as new? No. But you could probably supplement the donor by taking some beard and chest hair and having that placed into the donor as well in order to get you back to baseline.

Hair systems (in my opinion of course!) don't really look so good, and there's that stigma or fear of people finding out you're using one (unless you "own it" and tell people). They just seem like an unnecessary burden to go through.

[Doron Harati]

In general it's too early to have HT at age 23, however I don't see you're gonna be NW7-6, right now seems you'll be NW4-5 in the far future.

Your donor been overharvested, probably they did 4500 grafts in 1 day surgery only, BUT your donor looks strong above the average so you still have enough grafts for more surgeries, this job is only for high skilled MD who will punch your donor properly and gently.

If you'll do a repair you must understand you can't undo your result, but you can make it better by camouflage the current hairline with single grafts to gain higher density with more natural look and cover behind the hairline till around the NW3 area so the density will produce homogenous appearance.

In my opinion a hair system will hurt your existed hair, you need more "clean" area for this, so it's better to use fibers.

I myself a repair patient, so my advice for you to take your time for a repair research, dont put a deadline, I was emotionally devastated when after Arenamed the hair mill in Turkey botched me, BUT I took my time for a research without a pressure, a good surgeon will manage your donor so you'll have enough grafts in the future if your hairloss will continue.

[Berba11]

4 minutes ago, Doron Harati said:

If you'll do a repair you must understand you can't undo your result

You definitely can (see the two cases below). Would it be fair to assume then that the OP wouldn't be able to get the kind of repair shown below at HDC?

 

[HappyMan2021]

4 hours ago, baldstan said:

with the hair system way do you suggest doing this (electrolysis or restocking) before using the hair system or should I go with the hair system directly and consider the repair when the times come?

Only absolutely electrolysis if you are 100% certain you are going the hair transplant route

If you are going the hair system route, electrolysis is optional

 

[Grouse]

Def look into SMP for your donor scars. I've seen some pretty compelling results for both fully shaved and those that keep growing their hair out.

[Paul_]

1 hour ago, Grouse said:

Def look into SMP for your donor scars. I've seen some pretty compelling results for both fully shaved and those that keep growing their hair out

Rather than a hair system with its limitations, SMP might indeed be a better/easier option, allowing you to rock a buzzcut for now then decide a few years down the line which way you want to go

[baldstan]

hey @Paul_ thank you for your support and advice. I also checked your re-transplant. happy for you It's good to see you fixed the situation. I want to ask you that cuz you made a re-transplant. Do you think the hair system can be used after re-transplant to the donor? Or will the recipient area react differently than normal? after recovery of course

 

2 hours ago, Grouse said:

Def look into SMP for your donor scars. I've seen some pretty compelling results for both fully shaved and those that keep growing their hair out.

1 hour ago, Paul_ said:

Rather than a hair system with its limitations, SMP might indeed be a better/easier option, allowing you to rock a buzzcut for now then decide a few years down the line which way you want to go

I don't think I'm planning to have SMP done right now. I'm not sure but as far as I know, I think hair + SMP won't look good on front.

[baldstan]

7 hours ago, Berba11 said:

But you could probably supplement the donor by taking some beard and chest hair and having that placed into the donor as well in order to get you back to baseline.

The donor can be brought to a certain level, but what should I do about the current punch scars in the recipient area? Won't it look bad?

 

On 7/28/2024 at 8:18 PM, baldstan said:

there are already scars

[Paul_]

28 minutes ago, baldstan said:

hey @Paul_ thank you for your support and advice. I also checked your re-transplant. happy for you It's good to see you fixed the situation. I want to ask you that cuz you made a re-transplant. Do you think the hair system can be used after re-transplant to the donor? Or will the recipient area react differently than normal? after recovery of course
I don't think I'm planning to have SMP done right now. I'm not sure but as far as I know, I think hair + SMP won't look good on front.

Heya, thank you. Paying it forward now

I don't see any reason why your restored donor would behave any differently. I can't feel any difference, maybe slightly more sensitive but that's about it

When it comes to hair systems, I would ask @Gatsby directly, he has ample experience. In my humble opinion, while I have never used it, I would see the maintenance and discomfort when working out, showering, etc as not worthwhile. SMP has none of that, and quite the contrary having a bit of hair makes it more believable. I remember Pierre (another repair patient who clued me in to TMC) had it for quite a while and buzzed it all down (after his botched HT and before his repairs), that's why I mentioned it to you. Link here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiwy8pvM5z4

18 minutes ago, baldstan said:

The donor can be brought to a certain level, but what should I do about the current punch scars in the recipient area? Won't it look bad?

there are already scars

Yeah, I can see the indentations a bit. Skin resurfacing (laser) might improve that. What worked well in my case was punching out the grafts again. Dr Ball had explained at length to me how he was choosing the punch size as to remove the pitting or cobblestoning effects when re-extracting. I was beyond happy to hear he had a fix to it, had almost lost hope with my heavy pitting on one side

[Berba11]

57 minutes ago, baldstan said:

The donor can be brought to a certain level, but what should I do about the current punch scars in the recipient area? Won't it look bad?

 

there are already scars

As Paul has said from his own experience, often punching out bad grafts that have caused issues to the skin can actually resolve or at least improve the skin. If you punch the grafts out and have a little bit of blemishing or a few marks, you have to ask yourself two questions:

1) will it look worse than what you currently have? (I think it definitely won't look worse!)

2) what options will you have to cover that area more appropriately and mask any marks on the skin? (another HT, hair system, SMP etc...)

Like I said from the outset, I think you need to really focus on getting fixed before anything else. Once you've reversed the bad work or found some kind of correction to the bad work that you're satisfied with, then you can start to think about your next moves. Take everything one step at a time.

[primo]

Damn they gave you the Mickey Mouse temple closures, everything went wrong from design to execution. But it seems your donor was above average, I think you can get the remaining grafts for the repair without issue. If you arent on meds yet, I'd suggest going on dutasteride 0.5mg

May I ask what was the doctor/clinic? I think they should be shamed for eternity and blocked from performing hair transplants ever again. 

Good luck on your repair, please dont cheap out and go to reputable doctor known for repairs.

[Al - Moderator]

On 7/29/2024 at 7:42 AM, baldstan said:

When you say retransplanting, are you talking about donor re-grafting or a correction in the recipient area?

I was thinking about correcting the recipient site, but you could put them back into the donor instead. The thing about that is you end up spending a lot of money to get nowhere. A lot to think about.