Hello Guys -- I dont see many pictures of Black / African American guys up here and decided to post a picture or two -- I recently had Strip surgery completed 3 weeks ago. 1800 Grafts. I have been loosing my hair since puberty (crazy) I was about 14 when I started and now I am 28.( I was SLICK ON TOP) It was kinda hard at first but you begin to accept it -- I have tried it all Drugs, Wigs, paint, Toppik...I finally get enough money and guts to do -- A Hair transplant. Before it was mainly a money issue -- in college and just starting out. Now that I am settled and have money to do this I figured I would -- I will continue to post my progress.

2weeks.jpg (161 Kb, 922 downloads) 2 weeks Post

Looks good

Welcome aboard.. who did your surgery and how many grafts didyou get ? Now its the waiting game and the host of emotions that go with it

Good luck
JB

FHOH-

Thanks for posting pics. It's a little tough to tell from the pic you posted but, from appearances, if you got 1800 grafts you may need near double that to have any density. Do you have other pics that may help pull things in prospective a little better? Who did your HT?

I went to Dr Conti in DC --- I had 1800 grafts done -- I think that I will ultimately go to complete another procedure in about 1 year. These are all the pics for now

Fullheadofhair,

Are the grafts only in the 1/3 region? I did not get to 1k let alone 1,800. I wish you the best but from your three pics I looked at day 2 & 12 I would hope some one with more experience chimes in on your pics. I have added a link below of a guy with some what of a similar case for you to view.


look at these pics of Jagdish

On the picture...did a lot of grafts already fall? As far as the numbers go, I am not sure how it works with Af-Am hair, I know it's curly and that may make 1800 seem fuller.

quote:

Originally posted by FullheadofHair:
Hello Guys -- I dont see many pictures of Black / African American guys up here and decided to post a picture or two -- I recently had Strip surgery completed 3 weeks ago. 1800 Grafts. I have been loosing my hair since puberty (crazy) I was about 14 when I started and now I am 28.( I was SLICK ON TOP) It was kinda hard at first but you begin to accept it -- I have tried it all Drugs, Wigs, paint, Toppik...I finally get enough money and guts to do -- A Hair transplant. Before it was mainly a money issue -- in college and just starting out. Now that I am settled and have money to do this I figured I would -- I will continue to post my progress.

quote:

bayscholar

bayscholar.....You pics look nice -- looks like more than 900+ grafts 3 month growth is great!
Your hair loss pattern looks similar to mine -- I did have some thinning going towards the crown and a little to the crown but most were to the front (hair line and mid).

Thanks for sharing your results!

[QUOTE]Originally posted by John_in_NC:
On the picture...did a lot of grafts already fall? As far as the numbers go, I am not sure how it works with Af-Am hair, I know it's curly and that may make 1800 seem fuller.

John_in_NC -----

Yes many of them fell out...well most of them ...Most came out when I did the daily washing and removing of the crusting on about day 10. I am hopeing that because of the thickness of my african american hair that I will received a satifying result! If not I will go back in about a year and complete a second procedure. I will probably go back in a year anyway but I want to insure that all is grown ini before I schedule another procedure. Right now its just the waiting this is hard. I was talking with my wife tonight and she was asking me if I think it will grow -- Man thats a scary thought!

FHOFH,

Sorry as I did not mean to increase your heart rate with my post, as I too am on the long road to hair growth...be patient and postive it is best for growth. Yes you probably have a very coarse hair/thick shafts making your grafts harder to judge, hopefully it will give far more coverage then the two pics you posted did justice. You have the right attitude and realize at our age(which I think you mentioned is 28 me too) that another ht is very likely to get the results you desire. Lastly you should tell your wife to figure out how she wants your hair styled when it comes in.

Good growth to you FHOH

bayscholar-- The pics I posted are only from 2 weeks out..so the hair that you see is only from what has not fallen out from the procedure -- the doc told me that I should not begin to see hair growth until about the 3rd month! I have my fingers crossed

Fullhead, welcome and good luck with the new hair growth. Be patient, it will grow in time. I am going in for my third in January. I had my second HT in DC by Dr Halford who is out of the area or I may have gone back to him for a third. I am going to Baltimore for my next surgery with Dr. Vogel. How is your strip scar doing? Is it visible with the length of your hair. Us pasty white guys and strip scars do not go well together! How was Dr Conti and is he out of VA Beach?

Fullhead,
Just saw you other pics. Your scar looks good after two weeks, will continue to get better over time. Good luck!

NoBuzz-- Yes Dr Conti is in Virginia Beach, Richmond and DC -- They were very nice throught the whole procedure. The scar is healing well It seems that that the area around the scar (where they had to shave me) is not growing as fast but it could be just me. I read somewhere that sometimes after a strip surgery the area may be traumatized and possibly take longer to start growing than normal. GOod luck with the surgery in Jan and thanks for the support!

What did he charge per graft?

Hi -- It was 3 bucks per unit

I have attached my 2 month update -- I have started to grow some new hair -- I have also attached pics of the back donor area

If you look you can also see so smaller hairs -- not in great focus -- I noticed that I have been growing in hair in places that did not have tranplants -- I have been using saw palmeto and nioxin -- these areas have been bald for years -- I mean slick -- its exiting to see hair grow there -- at first they were blonde -- and now they are starting to turn darker and are more visible -- my wife can see then now!

2months_growth.jpg (222 Kb, 324 downloads) New growth

Here is a pic of the back

2months_back.jpg (178 Kb, 247 downloads) New growth

Hello FullheadofHair,

Thanks for posting your pictures and a bit about your experience. I'm actually seeing this thread for the first time even though you posted initially on Oct 18th. So if my calculations are correct, you can't quite be at 2 months yet. You would have had surgery on Oct 4th or somewhere around there? And since it's only Nov 23rd, you are more like 1.5 months yes? Sorry...I tend to be as concise as possible.

Anyway...regarding your pictures...I'd say 1800 grafts will give you some hair, but it does look like you are covering a pretty big area and it won't give you much density. Do you have any pictures directly post op you can share with us?

You're 1.5 or 2 month pictures show just what I would expect at this point....no growth. You won't start seeing any growth most likely until at least 3 months, which is the average.

So am I gathering correctly that you were completely bald on the top 2/3rds of your scalp? That's what it appears anyway from the pics I am looking at.

Anyway...I wish you much success and happy growing. Just realize with 1800 grafts, you will not have the density you want for such a large area of coverage.

Falc

Hi Falc -- these are my two month pics....When I originally posted -- I posted the message on the 18 of october -- My surgery was on the 29th of sept -- which made me 2 weeks and some days.
SO therefore on Friday -- the 24th which is today -- makes 8 Weeks (2 months)

I know that they say you dont start growing hair for 3 months but I HAVE NEW GROWTH -- the top of my head was bald before. After all of the scabs fell off (after surgery) there were still some transplants remaining but most fell off. The hairs you see are mostly new growth. Some are the transplanted hairs that have grown longer. Since most people dont grow until after 3 months -- I attribute my growth to the pills and shampoo (Saw Palmetto and Nioxin)

Yes the top 2/3rds were slick as a baby's bottom just 2 months ago!

As far as having enough density -- Fortunately I have taken that into concideration and will make preparations when necessary for another procedure, but not too prematurely though. I have a long time before that decision is made. I will wait about 9 months until all new hair has grown in. Fortunately being black (hair texture and skin color) helps with density issues and getting better coverage.

More pictures in time

Fullheadofhair,

THank you for the reply. Ah...that makes sense on the 2 months pics. I could have just been really tired that night .

I'm glad to hear you've been having some early growth. That's always encouraging. You are in for a lovely ride. Don't be discouraged if not all your hairs start growing at once...some might not start for a few more months, though if you are lucky, sooner right?

It sounds like you have thought things out pretty well regarding density...and I'm glad to see you are keeping your expectations reasonable for this surgery.

Please do keep us posted and happy growing

Falc

Falc, yes it can be discouraging -- my wife tells me that I am obsessed with this hair loss thing (laughing) I am always looking at the downside in it all. What if the hair does not grown -- what if this -- what if that...you know -- there is no turning back now! 7500 grafts for you -- what a joy -- back to normal!

Happy Holidays to you!