hey all...

i had just found this site but wish i had months ago. I am 24 and have been losing hair for about 2-3 years now. After having mulitple consultations with several doctors, i finally got my first HT 4 days ago, but after reading a lot of these posts im kinda secoind guessing it a little. I was a Norwood 2? so I guess my hairloss wasnt overwhelming, aside from overall thinning on top, i had the 'widows peak'. I had approx 800 grafts put in, exclusively on the hairline and peak corners. I could have done more but my doc wanted to achieve maximum density, especially in the hairline. I have great donor hair, so that wasnt a prob. I am not ignorant, knowing that with my young age, a second surgery is inevitable, once the rest of the hair goes. Any advice for me?? should i have gotten more grafts, or was it good to save the precious donor hair for the future?? Will I experience a lot of shock loss?? Gotta say that I am unsure with my decision

after1.JPG (249 Kb, 319 downloads) 2 Days After Op

who did your surgery?

After consulting with several different doctors, i found a private practice in Manhattan by Dr. Law and felt most comfortable with him.

Spirall,
I am sorry to say that it does not look to me as a good work. Mine was looking similar to yours when I had HT. Ordered rows of graft placement. Did your doctor do FUT or is it Micro and Mini?

-Jagdish

I had an FUT. You said that it looks similar to yours... how did urs end up coming out? You have any b4 and after pics i can check out?

Spirall,
Doing a search for Dr. Law on this site, I found the following entry:

"Hey BStephens. I live in the New York area and recently had a repair done by Dr. Alan Feller. I am about 2 months post op. My original was done by Dr. Law in NYC and it looks very pluggy. When I went for a consult with Feller, I was suprised when he told me he had a transplant himself and let me run my hands through it. Totally natural. Then another of his patients was coming in for suture removal from his second HT with Feller. His hairline looked completely natural as well. At that point I was feeling so stupid I hadn't come to Feller in the first place, but was also relieved that I found some one to correct my work. The next 6 months or so will tell how I turn out. You should check out his website: www.fellermedical.com None of his pics do justice to what his work looks like in real life. Thats what you have to do. See the work in real life. I made the mistake the first time of only looking at pics and thinking that all HT docs on this website were of comparable skill. Do a consult with Feller, and do what ever other research you need to do. If you don't have much donor hair left, you really have to make this one count."

If you're unhappy with your results, maybe a consultation w/ Feller, True, or Bernstein is the next step. Given your pattern of loss, it looks as if a great many more grafts could've been transplanted--hard to say w/o seeing your hair grown out to full length. You also seem a bit young to be having such minimal work done. Are you on Propecia, or were you counseled to begin using it 6-9 months before your transplant? Keep doing your homework with resources such as this forum, and make a more informed decision next time if you are unpleased with your results. Good luck!

You can find my pictures here. My HT has all characteristics of a worst HT anyone can imagine. Big incisions, Micro and Mini grafts and wrong angulation.
I hope your HT does not turn out like mine. Yours is FUT and if the incisions are not big, you should be fine.

-Jagdish

Spirall08,

Thanks for posting your pics and sharing your story. I've not heard of Dr. Law and 800 grafts isn't that many, but they aren't sprinkled over that big an area so hopefully you'll achieve a little density. did Dr. Law say the number of grafts per sq. cm. you were able to achieve? If not, you might ask him. You'll really need around 45 grafts per sq cm for the appearance of density.

Whether or not you should have gotten more grafts at this point really doesn't matter. At your age, it's probably better to error on the side of caution as you did. Shock loss varies, if you do experience it usually you'll see some within the first month or so. Since it appears the majority of the grafts you received were placed where there was very little hair hopefully you won't have much. Probably the areas next to your native hair. As long as the native hair wasn't in the final stages of loss, it should come back. You just have to wait and see.

One thought..........your hair is very short in the pics. Is this the way you normally wear it or were you advised to cut it short for the HT? You'll achieve a more full look with longer hair and be able to obtain better overall coverage.

Best of luck to you with post-op. Be patient and look in the mirror as little as possible. In 2-3 months hopefully you'll start seeing some sprouts...........it takes time.

L'Anonyme,
Thanks for the recomendation. Ill keep these doctors in mind if/when corrections are needed.


Hairbank,
im not sure how many grafts per square cm i got, but u can be sure thats one of the first things i am gonna ask when i go back to get the stitches removed. as for the length, i cut it short for the HT, which after reading some of these posts turned out to be a good idea. thanks for ur sound advice, and ill do my best to keep patient although its very very hard.

IMO, your doc should have gave you a prescription for propecia and sent you on your way and told you to come back in 5-6 years if your hairloss has stabalized. I think that was unethical to operate on you--at only 24 at a Norwood 2.5 ish.
I agree with L;Anonyme, you must get on Propecia now, or you are going to loose the hair behind the transplants and you will be forced to get more transplants-IMO

I think it was a good job...and you will look better and feel better about your appearance. I don't think people should always wait till they are old to do this..no matter how ethical it is. The best years of your life are right now..not when you are old..I don't think propecia is the answer for most..unless you don't have much of a sex life anyway and you don't mind making your orgasms smaller...

quote:

Originally posted by Lon:
I don't think propecia is the answer for most..unless you don't have much of a sex life anyway and you don't mind making your orgasms smaller...

What kind of bullshit is a comment like that? A "friend" of mine is on Propecia and is still having WILD orgasms. Of course, this guy is 20 years old, but still...don't BLOW things out of proportion. The issues with that pill happen in, what, 2% or less of users? Yeah.

Honestly that 2% is way off...I think even the drs. that are promoting it would admit that. The facts are that dht has function in the body. One of them is to produce ejaculate. So even though you can still have an orgasm using propecia, it will not be what it could have been having not used a dht blocker. Those that only have sex once or twice a week won't notice it much. Those who have sex daily will notice. Everyone I have talked to has had at least a small effect from dht blockers..unless its applied externally to the scalp in a lotion.Most men won't admit its effecting them..its a macho thing..

quote:

Originally posted by dhuge67:

quote:

Originally posted by Lon:
I don't think propecia is the answer for most..unless you don't have much of a sex life anyway and you don't mind making your orgasms smaller...

What kind of bullshit is a comment like that? A "friend" of mine is on Propecia and is still having WILD orgasms. Of course, this guy is 20 years old, but still...don't BLOW things out of proportion. The issues with that pill happen in, what, 2% or less of users? Yeah.

I noticed the differance but sex is still fun and less of a mess to clean up on those solo flights. The glass is half full not half empty.

Sex once a day?? Dude, I am still practically male model material; my wife is super freakin' hot AND we're swingers so we have a LOT of fun there but we STILL don't have sex once a day. Once everyday? Holy shit, who are these people?

Well..it averages about once every other day..actually