2,904 Graft FUE From Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Josephitis (Shapiro Medical Group)

[Superwario]

Just received my FUE procedure from Shapiro Medical Group in Bloomington, MN. I have had a ton of thinning from front to crown area beginning at 28 years old, and currently I am 35. I have always still maintained a decent hairline so that made the doctors job a bit easier since they did not need to recreate a hairline, but I suppose the natural hairline will eventually go as well, but hope not!

I was on the waiting list for the procedure for a year, and they still currently have a one year wait. I flew in from out of state for the procedure. Matt Zupan was my advisor the entire time prior to surgery and my primary contact, and he was amazing and answered all my questions. It seems like I could call/text/email anytime and I'd get a response within an hour.

The office staff was as nice as can be, and both Dr. Shapiro and Dr. Joe were amazing and welcoming. I primarily worked with Dr. Shapiro as he made all the incisions and Dr. Joe worked on the FUE extraction. The nurses were great and I had 2-3 nurses working on me to place the grafts with Dr. Shapiro supervising the procedure. Dr. Shapiro asked if I wanted to also have Exosome injections which I had not heard about prior to arriving at the clinic, so I did some research back at the hotel after the first day and didn't see convincing evidence of it helping so I opted to not have the Exosome injections done.

The first day was about a 3 hour day where Dr. Shapiro made about 2,400 incisions. He indicated that this was so growth hormones can start entering into the wounds and so the hair will transplant more firmly and quickly.

The second day was an 8 hour day, and consisted of the FUE extraction, 600 more incisions to clean up gaps and edges, and the implantation of the grafts.

For both the 1st and 2nd day they numbed the entire scalp and above the eyebrows so I literally did not feel a thing. Just lie back, relax, and watched movies on their Apple TV. They ordered me a lunch the 2nd day as well.

The following are my 2,904 Graft breakdowns:

1 Hair's - 296

2 Hair's - 1631

3 Hair's - 977

For a total of 6,489 Hairs.

See below for my before photos and my photos 2 hours after surgery. I will post the Before photos that they took in the office when they send them to me, and I will also post updates regularly to show progress. Let me know if you have questions and I will try to respond.

BEFORE:

AFTER SURGERY

Day 5 photo updates, the donor is healing up nicely and has minimal scabbing at graft sites:

 

[Kevboy]

This is the second time in succession this hair loss pattern has been posted. What Norwood did the clinic classify it?
The transplant work looks brilliant. 3000 grafts in that area will look

 

[Superwario]

This is the second time in succession this hair loss pattern has been posted. What Norwood did the clinic classify it?
The transplant work looks brilliant. 3000 grafts in that area will look

Thanks buddy! I didn’t ask them, but I’ve been told I’m a Norwood 6 with a persistent juvenile hairline. So a bit different than the traditional scale.

I’ll have to find the post that your talking about to compare against my hair.

 

[Kevboy]

It is this post

Dr. Feriduni | 3455 FU | June 2022

Hello everyone :) I'm 34 years old and I'd like to share my balding and hair transplant story. I've started losing hair since 23 (or even 22 but I did not notice much). I didn't get on meds because I was reading all the big bad things and side effects of finasteride and it got me very scared...

www.hairlossexperiences.com

 

[Kevboy]

I have not heard about the incisions made the day before and the growth hormone effect. It sounds very interesting. I will definitely follow your progress.

 

[Bigmac]

Welcome to the forum Superwario.
Your hair loss pattern is one that’s not seen too often online. Everything sounds like the surgery went smoothly. Having the incisions made the day before surgery will lessen the time sitting in the surgery chair. I’ll ask Dr Ron or Dr Joe about the growth hormones kicking in. The work looks densely packed which should fill the area nicely. At 5 days post-op your healing looks very good.
I see they never placed any grafts in the crown. Are you taking any hair loss meds to improve it? Or do you plan on another surgery for the crown?
I`ve had surgery with Dr Ron, Dr Paul and Dr Joe. I’ll be following your journey with a keen interest.
Looking forward to your next update.
Heal and grow well.
All the best.
Bm.

 

[Superwario]

Welcome to the forum Superwario.
Your hair loss pattern is one that’s not seen too often online. Everything sounds like the surgery went smoothly. Having the incisions made the day before surgery will lessen the time sitting in the surgery chair. I’ll ask Dr Ron or Dr Joe about the growth hormones kicking in. The work looks densely packed which should fill the area nicely. At 5 days post-op your healing looks very good.
I see they never placed any grafts in the crown. Are you taking any hair loss meds to improve it? Or do you plan on another surgery for the crown?
I`ve had surgery with Dr Ron, Dr Paul and Dr Joe. I’ll be following your journey with a keen interest.
Looking forward to your next update.
Heal and grow well.
All the best.
Bm.

Thanks for the analysis!

I really wanted to fill in my crown but the maximum they do is 3,000 grafts at a time, and they said it wouldn’t leave enough density in the front area if I went all the way back.

I’m taking oral minoxidil and oral fin to see if it helps. No plans for a second surgery anytime soon.

 

[Bigmac]

A tiny sprinkling of hair fibres would go a long way in helping conceal your crown, that’s if you are bothered about it. Your hair loss regimen will hopefully revitalise dormant and miniaturised hairs over the entire thinning area but if it can help the crown out more, that would be great. I’ve seen some people have amazing improvements from the meds. How long have you been on that regimen?

Here is a video from when I used fibres.

 

[janna]

Hi Superwario,

The healing is coming along very well! The donor healing at 5 days post op is amazing!!
Looking forward to following your progress!

 

[Superwario]

A tiny sprinkling of hair fibres would go a long way in helping conceal your crown, that’s if you are bothered about it. Your hair loss regimen will hopefully revitalise dormant and miniaturised hairs over the entire thinning area but if it can help the crown out more, that would be great. I’ve seen some people have amazing improvements from the meds. How long have you been on that regimen?

Here is a video from when I used fibres.

I started the meds a month prior to surgery. I used to take finasteride but stopped because I was experiencing some brain fog and was trying to have kids at the time as well.

I very strongly did not want to take meds, but Matt Zupan from SMG talked me into it so I’m giving it another shot.

 

[Bigmac]

What dosage are you on? My nephew got brain fog on 1mg but seems ok on 0.5mg.

 

[Superwario]

What dosage are you on? My nephew got brain fog on 1mg but seems ok on 0.5mg.

Currently on daily 1mg finasteride, and 2.5mg minoxidil. Also supplementing with Vitamin D, biotin, zinc, and magnesium.

I might cut down to the 0.5mg finasteride if the fog returns or move to 3 times a week.

 

[Bigmac]

I’d try cutting it down, maybe even every other day taking it if you do get the brain fog again.
Hopefully, you’ll be ok and this regimen you’re on will improve your hair.

 

[loui]

I assume you might be deep into the ugly duckling phase, but hows it going for you, any updated photos?

 

[Superwario]

Here are my 6 month update photos. Coming in well I think, but still deceiving as I have not had a haircut in 2 months.

I can still feel a lot of implants about 3-4 mm on my scalp when I brush my hand through my hair that have not yet grown and hopeful that they are still yet to go from dormant to active phase. I think full re-growth for most people is around 8-12 months, so still giving it time.

Still taking oral minoxidil and finasteride daily as well.

 

[Superwario]

Pictures after my recent haircut.
Still on oral minoxidil, it seems to keep my existing hair from falling out.

 

[janna]

Looking great with more thickening coming in the next 6-8 months!

 

[Kevboy]

Excellent improvement for 6 month.

 

[Bigmac]

That`s a very good improvement for 6 months. The density is increasing a lot. The meds should be helping too.
Thanks for the update.

 

[headon]

You are in the best of hands. Only after 6 months it's a huge improvement and, as Janna says: "The best is yet to come." Good luck to you!