Thanks for the reply Thanatopsis, I had the frontal 1/3rd done...and to be honest I am not overly pleased with the results..
I think the placement is fine but density was greatly underestimated which is disappointing as I was told I would be very happy and only need one pass for really great results... I would have much preferred to have gone for a larger number of grafts then have to go throw this all over again so soon.

creepingback,

I know it is frustrating to go thru what we go thru for such a minimal result. I do not know if in your case you had the best donor to work with. Your scar was pretty show thru for some time, glad that is better now. I think your hair shafts may be just be so fine that it is a uphill battle for coverage. I sort of have the same problem.

I do think the Doc seemed to do a good job and chances are any other Doc would have given a similar result with the same # of grafts.

I do hope you are a late bloomer and I also think you will improve further with time as this fully matures.

Good luck my friend,

Creepingback,

I would have to say that for the 2100 grafts things are likely as you would suspect, especially given the texture of your hair. Even the scar is more visible than most would be. Things certainly look very natural and blend very well to native hair. I understand that it would be somewhat disappointing but things definitely do look better. It does suck, but another 1500 would make a huge difference for you.

creepingback,

Thanks for coming back and sharing your 1 year results.

I agree with what most of our members have already told you.

It does appear a bit thin overall, but given your hair characteristics, I'm not sure that you could have achieved much more hair density with only 2100 grafts.

What are your thoughts at this point moving forward?

Falc

Thanks for all your replies... I pretty much agree with all your comments! My hair is blond and baby fine, I don't believe that was really taken into account when we had decided on the grafts needed to cover...

With that said I believe my doctor did a great job and would use him again...just kinda got my hopes up and expected to have had far more density...

I guess I well have to do it again to achieve the results I was hoping for... do you think FUE would be an option? I really don't want to deal with the scar again....guess its time to start saving again.

Fue will further thin your donor which could make it more difficult to cover the strip scar you already have. Yield would scare me too, since strip seems to be safer for the follicles. Throw in the expense and I think that strip is better since they will take out the old scar and who knows maybe produce a better one. Yep save up, maybe H&W is worth checking out next time?

I think the work looks very clean.. Again with 2000 plus you will get a nice foundation but it is not going to give you a complete look with his degree of loss and hairtype. It's tough to judge in the beginning..

As far as scrutiny, I think it is ironic that we get SO many people complaining about horrible doctors and butchering but when we provide a list of proven credible docs, we are called biased.
Of course there are other non coalition docs which can provide superior results. I dont see anyone on here claiming these are the only ones who can. What I do see is a list of proven , ethical doctors with a documented track record with real live people to support it.. If someone wants to risk their money and head with someone else, by all means, do it . BUT without any reviews or documentation you are basing your decision on assumption and that we have seen can be dangerous.You don't really know what you will get as far as quality.

unrealistic expectations strike again!
newbies take note.

I should say that my unrealistic expectations was a result from information given to me by my doctor.

then that was wrong of your doctor and i wouldnt use him again.

I re-read through the thread, and I do feel bad for you Creeping -- without a doubt, I feel that your doc instilled you with false, unrealistic expectations. Doctors should truly err on the side of caution; as patients we all have a natural inclination to dream and think of great results that are coming our way, and it is imperative that a doctor temper this with words containing zero hype and conservative expectation.

The work itself seems solid, though; and without a doubt it can serve as a nice foundation for a future procedure if you so choose.

Along with the importance of selecting a quality physician to perform your hair transplant surgery, expectations and goals are vital.

I agree that a physician needs to sit down with all of their potential patients and educate them about what they can expect.

On the other hand, sometimes as patients, we hear what we want to hear and can be blinded with dreams of new hair follicles.

I know that Dr. Katz (my first hair transplant surgeon) talked to me about being realistic. Though I listened to him, I still had hopes that this surgery would give me more than was promised.

Clearly, additional surgeries were needed to achieve proper hair density.

But we live and learn.

Creepingback,

My encouragement to you is that you do still have a nice hair transplant result and that you can use this as a learning experience moving forward.

Best wishes,

Falc