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FUE at Hair Dr Clinic, Leeds (Dr Arshad) – 2500 Grafts – 13-Jan-2021

Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
At 8 months you’ve had quite a bit of growth. Hopefully, you get a good burst of growth in the following months to boost the density. You now have a hairline that will frame your face. Have you tried styling it upwards to see how it looks?
 
H

HT2021

member
Hi Bigmac - thanks once again for the kind words. I have briefly tried styling it upwards, but that just seems to expose the gaps for now, so I think it's better left to do its own thing!

To be honest it's pretty liberating to go out to meet people without doing anything to my hair first - it used to take forever to try and style it in such a way that the receding wouldn't be too obvious, so I'm loving not even having to think about it before I go out!
 
H

HT2021

member
Some photos from the 9-month stage here. It's still getting denser every month which is great, and in a certain light it looks pretty full!

In most lighting, there's still quite a lot of visible scalp. I thought I'd add a few photos of my hair when wet, to show that there are some patches where it's fairly dense, and some patches where it's completely bare still. So it all seems to be progressing well, but there's still a long way to go before it gets filled in.

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Kevboy

Kevboy

Valued member
It looks thin when the hair is pushed upwards, easy to see the different density but combed down looks much better as it hides more scalp. I would keep it styled flat which looks good.
 
B

Baldingman23

Valued member
Your hair looks to have the same characteristics as mine and is the same colour also. Month 9 was when I started to see the biggest improvements. Hold in there @HT2021
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
It definitely looks better flat as it gives a better illusion of density right now. You still have time for more growth and density, although I’m not sure how much denser it will eventually look as the 2500 grafts were placed over your frontal half.
It’s possible you may opt for a second HT to add to the frontal third as this was quite bald pre op. Your donor looks to be in very good condition.
 
H

HT2021

member
It definitely looks better flat as it gives a better illusion of density right now. You still have time for more growth and density, although I’m not sure how much denser it will eventually look as the 2500 grafts were placed over your frontal half.
It’s possible you may opt for a second HT to add to the frontal third as this was quite bald pre op. Your donor looks to be in very good condition.

Hi @Bigmac - thanks once again for your incredibly valuable insight. Your message was actually a big reality check for me, as I'd had total faith all this time that there was a lot more density to come, and it was just a matter of time. Your comment was the first time I've considered that this might actually be pretty close to the end result, and that I might soon have to be looking at another procedure.

On the positive side, I can still feel plenty of stubbly hairs coming through, so presumably there is still growth occurring. I had a video consultation with the clinic a few weeks ago where they were happy with the progress, and I'll hopefully have an in-person consultation at the start of December. So I still have hope for a good result when I get to the 12-month stage (this Saturday will be the 10-month mark).

However, I am getting really concerned about the lack of density so far - I had a haircut the other day that was fairly short (probably a mistake in hindsight) and that really exposes how visible the scalp is. The growth still seems quite sporadic, a lot of the hairs are quite isolated (there's often gaps of around 3mm between hairs), so at the moment I have the appearance of someone with quite advanced balding. I'll keep my fingers crossed that I'm just a slow grower like you @Baldingman23 , and that there's more to come.

Pictures from earlier today:

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WhatsApp Image 2021-11-11 at 13.55.39 (1) 2.jpeg
 
D

djkillab

Valued member
It definitely looks better flat without a wet look product. Still a way to go but I personally wouldn't be that happy with it at this stage
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
At 10 months there is still time for improvement and you’re feeling new hairs popping through which is a good sign. Percentage wise, it’s a small number who do experience enough growth in the final months to make them happy with the result.
As I said earlier, the area you had transplanted was a large area for 2500 grafts. Your frontal third was basically bald.
It will be beneficial for you when you go back to the clinic to have them count how many hairs/grafts have grown in the bald area and tell you what the density is.

I know you were originally quoted 2000 grafts and then advised another 500 would be better. What was discussed about density and expected outcome prior to surgery?

The last two pictures you added does show the area to be thin with gaps. I don’t know if the gaps are where grafts have failed to grow, were not planted there or they are still waiting to push through.
I hope it’s the latter and the growth happens at this late stage.
 
H

HT2021

member
Thanks for your advice - hopefully I am one of the lucky few that gets late growth. I sent the above photos to the clinic earlier and they said that everything was on track, so I will try to stay patient for the next few months! I'll definitely ask them to assess the current density - thank you for the tip.

From memory, Dr Arshad suggested the extra 500 grafts to a) lower the hairline a little, and b) to go a little further back than the area that had hair loss (i.e. towards the crown), in order to future proof that area. I can't remember specific discussions about density now, other than reassurance that that amount of grafts should be sufficient to give me good coverage.

To your last point, this photo from Day 12 seems to suggest that there were plenty of grafts added - far more than have currently grown through - so I guess that narrows it down to a large number of grafts either failing, or just not having grown through yet. As you say, fingers crossed for the latter...

Day 12 (3).jpeg
 
L

lightmare

member
Though it’s tricky to do with the natural hairline staggers, you can try counting the number of hairs in your hairline from day 12 and now. I counted about 50ish in your current left side photograph versus just about 70ish from day 12. Though the larger scabs make it harder to count. Like you said it looks like they are not yet all accounted for, and that’s just the hairline which grows faster than other parts IIUC. Hopefully the rest grow in and that nice layering effect and extra thickening will help too.

I am on a similar journey (# of grafts and total area) and am also starting to question the density of my own transplant, though I’m almost 4 months behind you, and I am rooting for you.
 
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H

HTL33

member
Ho
Thanks for your advice - hopefully I am one of the lucky few that gets late growth. I sent the above photos to the clinic earlier and they said that everything was on track, so I will try to stay patient for the next few months! I'll definitely ask them to assess the current density - thank you for the tip.

From memory, Dr Arshad suggested the extra 500 grafts to a) lower the hairline a little, and b) to go a little further back than the area that had hair loss (i.e. towards the crown), in order to future proof that area. I can't remember specific discussions about density now, other than reassurance that that amount of grafts should be sufficient to give me good coverage.

To your last point, this photo from Day 12 seems to suggest that there were plenty of grafts added - far more than have currently grown through - so I guess that narrows it down to a large number of grafts either failing, or just not having grown through yet. As you say, fingers crossed for the latter...

View attachment 27773
Hopefully you are a lucky late grower mate!
 
T

TBH

member
Hopefully you get some more density mate, although as bigmac said, and judging from other transplants that I've seen, you probably needed at least 4k grafts to get the thickness that you're probably after. Without trying to be negative, I reckon you'll need another op to get to the finish line of having a full head of hair. At least you're at the stage now where you don't look like you have any balding when your hair is grown out and flattened a bit in the front (ie grow your hair about 3 inches longer than you have it at the 9 month stage and that should cover the top).
Does anyone know why quite a few of us have had density issues?
 
S

subterfuge

member
Does anyone know why quite a few of us have had density issues?
I wish I knew the secret, but I guess it's compliacted otherwise everyone would be getting the same results.
I used to watch the vids by Juan Couto (I think he's supposed to be one of the best) and he'd seem to produce these THICK hairlines with a few thousand grafts.
And then other surgeons would use the same number of grafts and the density wouldn't come close.
I wonder what part of the process is the reason for the varied results. Is it to do with how they're extracted? How long the grafts are sitting for? Something about the incisions? Or presumably all of them things are way too obvious and surely the surgeons would be able to 'learn' the best way fast if it was as easy as that. So i'm still left wondering what it is. Maybe it's more about the recipient of the transplant. Maybe some people's bodies aren't as receptive to the preocedure and it takes a certain skill too adapt to each person or something.

I have no idea lol. But I do find it kind of strange how results can vary so massively for sometimes that is seemingly fairly simple. Could an average surgeon watch Juan Couto giving a transplant and 'learn' something important that he doesn't do that he could then use to massively improve his results?
 
H

HT2021

member
Though it’s tricky to do with the natural hairline staggers, you can try counting the number of hairs in your hairline from day 12 and now. I counted about 50ish in your current left side photograph versus just about 70ish from day 12. Though the larger scabs make it harder to count. Like you said it looks like they are not yet all accounted for, and that’s just the hairline which grows faster than other parts IIUC. Hopefully the rest grow in and that nice layering effect and extra thickening will help too.

I am on a similar journey (# of grafts and total area) and am also starting to question the density of my own transplant, though I’m almost 4 months behind you, and I am rooting for you.

Wow, your eyesight is better than mine! Thanks so much for the insight, and for taking the trouble to count. Hopefully that last 25% is still to come...

Fingers crossed for you too! If it's any help to you, this is how things were looking for me at the 6-month stage - it has come quite a long way since then, even if it is still more patchy than I would like. I think the growth often accelerates from around 6 months, so I don't think you need to worry about lack of density just yet.

Day 183 (1) - Copy.jpeg


I am rooting for you

Pun intended? ;)
 
H

HT2021

member
Hopefully you get some more density mate, although as bigmac said, and judging from other transplants that I've seen, you probably needed at least 4k grafts to get the thickness that you're probably after. Without trying to be negative, I reckon you'll need another op to get to the finish line of having a full head of hair. At least you're at the stage now where you don't look like you have any balding when your hair is grown out and flattened a bit in the front (ie grow your hair about 3 inches longer than you have it at the 9 month stage and that should cover the top).
Does anyone know why quite a few of us have had density issues?

Thanks @TBH - yeah, it definitely looks way way better than it did, it just looks like it might fall short of what I thought I was getting. I think you're probably correct on too few grafts being used for the coverage I was expecting.

I'm slowly accepting that I might have to go through the whole process again, when I had assumed it would be all done with by the end of the year, which is taking a bit of getting over. But at the same time, having come this far, it's not the end of the world to have to get it finished off if it means I can feel good about my hair again!
 
T

TBH

member
I wish I knew the secret, but I guess it's compliacted otherwise everyone would be getting the same results.
I used to watch the vids by Juan Couto (I think he's supposed to be one of the best) and he'd seem to produce these THICK hairlines with a few thousand grafts.
And then other surgeons would use the same number of grafts and the density wouldn't come close.
I wonder what part of the process is the reason for the varied results. Is it to do with how they're extracted? How long the grafts are sitting for? Something about the incisions? Or presumably all of them things are way too obvious and surely the surgeons would be able to 'learn' the best way fast if it was as easy as that. So i'm still left wondering what it is. Maybe it's more about the recipient of the transplant. Maybe some people's bodies aren't as receptive to the preocedure and it takes a certain skill too adapt to each person or something.

I have no idea lol. But I do find it kind of strange how results can vary so massively for sometimes that is seemingly fairly simple. Could an average surgeon watch Juan Couto giving a transplant and 'learn' something important that he doesn't do that he could then use to massively improve his results?
Yeah I have seen Couto's, those hairlines do look phenomenal. One thing to remember is though that even the very best surgeon's aren't going to plant at more than 50% of the original density( at least on a regular basis), so the end result is always going to be to give the illusion of a full head of hair. Which is why when we show the transplanted areas in pictures, without styling the hair, it will look far thinner.
I'd be interested to see some of Couto's mid tier result patients with wet hair/ hair pulled back etc.

That's why the honest and clear forum posts/pictures can be so helpful, as people can accurately assess the results of a tranplant, rather than comb through instagram and feel like there's has been a failure in comparison. Length, style, product and lighting can all make a huge difference in how the end result looks.

I've attached some photos below to illustrate this. This guy is one of Feriduni's top clients, and had just over 3000 grafts to the front. Lets face it we'd all love a result like that and the guy looks incredible. However the last photo (with the mic) is actually how he looked before he had the surgery! I don't know about you but after my 2 transplants i'd be incredibly happy with his before hairline! So if you didn't have his base beforehand, then a comparison to his results for your own is ultimately pointless...

But yeah I think a combo of surgical skill (including the techs), experience and the recipient's genetics and hair quality are probably the main factors in the success. I have read elsewhere that Dr Raghu Reddy states that around 15% of the follecularly challenged guys that have a consultation with him are actually good canditates for a hair transplant!
 

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T

TBH

member
Thanks @TBH - yeah, it definitely looks way way better than it did, it just looks like it might fall short of what I thought I was getting. I think you're probably correct on too few grafts being used for the coverage I was expecting.

I'm slowly accepting that I might have to go through the whole process again, when I had assumed it would be all done with by the end of the year, which is taking a bit of getting over. But at the same time, having come this far, it's not the end of the world to have to get it finished off if it means I can feel good about my hair again!
Yeah , as I said buddy I would definitely get your mindset around another one being a definite requirement.

With that said, at 10 months there is still time for some more grafts to come through and thicken up, which would leave less work to be done the second time. Also your donor area looks fantastic and you've covered a very large area with those 2500 grafts, which means once you grow your hair out more and get say anoth 1000 to 1500 strategically placed grafts in the less dense areas, will most probably mean you're left with a fantastic result!
 
H

HT2021

member
Thanks - I hope you're right! I'm still feeling plenty of stubbly hairs growing through, but as you say, I suspect it won't be enough to fill in the existing gaps (these photos are from earlier today, after a shower and without any styling).

I have my in-person consultation on Dec 6th, so I'll see what they say and report back!

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