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X-Men - SMG 2901 Grafts Strip

Peachy

Peachy

Member
Hi Everyone,
For heads up I've been around for sometime on the forums and have recently done the deed after many years of trying to get the necessary downtime in the bag. After much thought and discussion I've decided to give something back by posting my results. Although I have changed my profile to maintain my anonymity, hope you all understand.

Ok then, I'm off to work on the write up, back soon.
X-Men
 
bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
congratulations on your recent surgery dude......cant wait to see the pics buddy.

warm wishes bn
 
Peachy

Peachy

Member
Hey Bullitnut, thanks mate. Anyways here it is.

2901 grafts 5935 hairs by Strip €“ Dr Ron Shapiro



The statistics



1 Hair FU €™s 514 Grafts 514 Hairs

2 Hair FU €™s 1799 Grafts 3598 Hairs

3 Hair FU €™s 529 Grafts 1587 Hairs

4 Hair FU €™s 59 Grafts 236 Hairs



Two strips taken



Strip 1 Width 1.2 Length 21.5

Strip 2 Width 1.3 Length 7.5



For all Newbies I €™d recommend reading Bullitnut and Mashers accounts, as these go into great detail. My experience echo these in that I €™ve received first class service and care throughout.



Research Research Research


I first started losing my hair in my early twenties, which I €™m sure many would agree can be deeply upsetting. I steadily progressed in my forties to a Norwood 5. I €™m truly happy for those guys that can deal with their situation and are happy with the shaved down look, although one of my pals who insists he doesn €™t care always wears a hat when he €™s out. Several years ago on a flight I was reading the glossy and came across an article promising to deal with hairloss so I got in touch. Always being a bit suspicious I did some surfing, which flagged up the forums out there. Thankfully this avoided me making a massive mistake by reading and seeing the experiences of others. For many months I spent hours, too many probably, reading through the forums amazed by some of the transformations whilst being shocked by some treated so badly. Eventually I took some photos and sent them away for an initial assessment. Since then I have personally met with several representatives of the leading clinics including Dr Ron Shapiro himself in Feb 2009.



Meds


Maybe not for everyone but I decided to start on the meds, Nizoral, Fin and Rogaine. This stabilised further hairloss and I €™m sure grew some back in the lateral hump region. I €™ll post a picture so you can judge for yourself. After 2 years or so any further growth seemed to have evened off.



Downtime


I decided that the HT route was for me but the main problem was getting the downtime needed as I deal with a lot of people in my work, eventually I got several weeks leave and I was good to go. I decided to run with SMG as in my opinion Dr Ron produces consistently superb work and the most natural hairlines out there. Thankfully SMG accepted me as a suitable candidate. I booked for December as its hat wearing time, short days and fitted in with my work schedule etc.



The Procedure


I can €™t improve on Bullinuts account other to say that all the staff are awesome, so friendly and helpful with nothing being too much trouble. They will bend over backwards to help and truly care about your welfare. A big shout for Dr Ron, Janna, Matt, Jennifer, Tom and the technicians (sorry I can €™t remember all your names). I was quite nervous in the morning but didn €™t need to be as everything was so straightforward; I had no pain at all only mild discomfort and promise the dentist is much much worse. I selected a couple of films to watch but slept right through them with the day flying by quickly. Once back in the hotel I applied gel packs to keep the swelling down and applied the graftcyte spray every half an hour, although I had very minor swelling under my right eye on day 5 but luckily this didn €™t amount to much. Top tip though take a travel pillow as it takes the pressure off of the closure and with this I slept all night only being woken by my alarm. I walked to SMG the following day for a hair wash but took thing easy for the next few days.



Although I didn €™t record events in general my staples could not be seen as my hair was long enough to cover things up. I wore a peaked cap out until day 7 and after that did not need it anymore, I just looked like I had a dodgy haircut. No one stared or noticed. I €™ve had mild discomfort in the strip and every now and then when I snagged a staple. I stopped the painkillers after day 1 as they made me feel a bit sick. The hairs started to shed at day 10 which I €™m happy about as I hope to grow in slowly. The staples came out at day 11 which feels soooo much better and meant I could ditch the travel pillow. The removal was probably the most painful part but still nothing to worry about.



Ok that €™s about it for now, but hope to get some pictures up soon. Special thanks to Dr Ron, Janna, Bigmac, PB, NN, NGTGB (where did he go?), Tim UK, Bullitnut, Masher, Spex, Garageland and many many others.
 
Peachy

Peachy

Member
Starting Point Jan 2008 (grade 4 buzz I think)
 

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Peachy

Peachy

Member
Feb 2010 - 2 Years on Meds although my hair is longer
 

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bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
I agree regarding the latteral humps...they do look to be slightly improved dude;)

and its good your hairloss has stabalized on the meds.

nutster

 
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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi X - men.

I`m pleased you`ve had a positive experience with SMG and good to hear the meds have made an improvement.

I`ll look forward to seeing your surgery pictures.

Heal and grow well.

bm.
 
janna

janna

Valuable Member
Here are before and 1 day post op pics for X-Men

Good to see you've made it back home safely.

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Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Thanks for adding the pictures Janna.

X - Men the comparison pics really show an improvement with the meds,the HT work looks nice and clean.

Nice job.

Cheers bm.
 
bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
i agree the ht looks great....looking forward to following your progression

please keep us updated...best wishes

nutster
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Hi X-men.

How have you healed as you`ll be 3 months post op round about now, how is the donor scar.

Cheers bm.
 
Nervousnelly

Nervousnelly

The Coolest Member
The work is certainly very refined and I am sure will make a huge cosmetic difference. Looking forward to following the progress.

NN
 
bullitnut

bullitnut

4 awesome repairs with SMG
Will make a huge difference to his quality of life once grown in....looking forward to updates
 
Peachy

Peachy

Member
Hi guys, yes all healed and in good shape. I shed about 95% and no one noticed a thing so I got away with it. All that planning and strategy worked out fine. The only comment I had was the bad hair cut...lol! I had to keep the back and sides long for about 6 weeks to allow the shaved donor area to grow out, boy was I glad when I was able to even things up.

The scar was a bit itchy for a while and I've had a few minor spot size lumps along it. I assume this was hair growing through the closure? These have all gone now and I have real trouble finding the scar. The ol head felt a bit tight for a while but has eased up tons.

Have had a few orrid spots in the recipient which were a bit painful. These seems to come and go in phases, but I couldn't help squeezing them...the relief (sorry Janna). All clear at the mo. Again assume this was those bad boys coming through. The top of my head was numb for a good 8 weeks I'd say and I still have a little numbness on the vertex. I'm nearly 4 months now and have had growth mostly on the left side but I think I must be a slow grower, although I can be impatient at times the gradual change suits the strategy.

Already suffering from hair greed though....doh!

Will try and post some photos when I get a chance. Maybe now would be a good time to make a comparison.
X-men
 
Bigmac

Bigmac

Administrator
Staff member
Good to hear it all went well post op and you`ve healed up nicely, i`ll look forward to your picture updates.

Cheers bm.
 
janna

janna

Valuable Member
X-Men wrote:
Already suffering from hair greed though....doh!


Already?! Too bad as you have a long ways to go but it is amazing how time flies. Enjoy Spring and Summer and before you know it, it'll be Christmas time again when you'll have your full results. It's best if you can put the growth part of it out of your mind. It's difficult I know but it'll help now that you're past the folliculitis phase, which would be a constant reminder of your procedure.

It's normal to have one side growing while the other side lags behind. At 4 months post op, it's too early to say you're a slow grower, especially if you are seeing some growth now. Good luck with it in any regard. Thanks for the update.
 
Peachy

Peachy

Member
Hi Janna, hope you and the team are all keeping well? Say a big hello to Dr Ron and the gang for me. Sorry if I gave the wrong impression earlier I'm very happy with the progress, everything is going just as I'd expected. Spex was right take down the mirrors and get on with life. As for hair greed we always want more and now I'm looking towards the crown...darn those mirrors!

Anyway I've taken a couple of photos today, hopefully they will load fine. So this is just over 3 1/2 months and imo shows the growth. Let me know what you think???
 

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Peachy

Peachy

Member
Just over 3 1/2 months - Length 17mm.
 

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janna

janna

Valuable Member
Hey, no need to apologize. Your comments are perfertly normal. ;)

Not much growth at 3 1/2 months post op but that's typical. The results will come in nice and gradual so it'll be difficult for people to suspect a HT. But eventually, I would think people that know you will certainly see a difference by end of the year. How will you explain it? Then after your crown is addressed and you have no sign of loss - well, a good predicament.


Those are good photos. Thanks again.
 
Peachy

Peachy

Member
Gulp...yeah I need some kind of excuse up my sleeve I guess. Any suggestions? By the way just made up a couple of comparisons that show how far things have come to date.
 

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