DIRTRIDER67 PICS 2 1/2 month update w/pics

[CCS]

CCS, are you saying that you think i need 2500 more grafts? i was originaly scheduled for 2000 and the doctor said i only needed 1500. are you thinking i need more for better density?

I'm not saying you NEED more, but I am saying that 1500 will be noticeably less dence than the rest of your hair. Looks like you filled in 75cm2 or maybe 100. So that means you got 15-20 per cm2. Maybe that is only 50. I'd have to look at the pic again. But if it is only 3 inches square, that is still about 60 cm2, so 25 per cm2. Mine is 30 in the thinnest areas. While it looks a lot better than 15, which was a lot better than nothing, I can tell 30 will look thin. Even my 45 areas, which I know have not matured yet, still look a bit too thin. I know full density for me is 60, and as picky as I am, that is what I will get. But I think 40 would satisfy you. So you may need another 900 to get to 40, and you may need another 100 to move your temples forward a little at their bottom. 1/4 inch at the point, and then slanted back, is better than no pint at all, and you want them to be at least 60 degrees. More is better for lower norwoods, but full temples do not look good with a high hairline. Everything goes in a certain order, and you need to stay in that order so that the temples match the height of the hairline or it will just look odd. you should post some picks of your temples, where I can see the hairline too, and I'll tell you what would look best with the minimal grafts.

 

[dirtrider67]

thanks for your opinions.

if i remember correctly, i had 30 square centimeters to be covered with 1471 grafts. i have a pinhead okay! so would this make my density 49cm2? anyway, my hair on the top is thinning and i just want to match it with the hair transplants. i don't mind the thinning look being i am almost 40. who knows, i may change my mind after the hair starts growing in.

 

[vegeguy]

Hey DirtRider

Looks GREAT!!!! I am pulling for you too...

 

[Guest]

dr67,

If you had 49 cm2 done, it should look pretty good and you're right, at our age we don't need high density to look good. Let it grow out and then you be the judge.

 

[CCS]

wow that is a lot of density for one procedure. I'm sure it was a lot more than $4 a graft.

 

[dirtrider67]

i'm pretty sure that it was 30 sq cm that was covered with hair transplant's [15 sq cm per side] and i know i got 1471 follicular grafts. so am i calculating this right by dividing 1471 grafts into 30 sq cm? i remember the dr telling me that the max he could do was 60 cm2 depending on how fine the hair is. my hair is very fine. but i forgot to ask how much density he was actually able to do. so any help calculating this would be great.

 

[CCS]

well it works out to 49. I'm just saying that is pretty dense. I guess 40 of fine hair is not too dense. I'm just used to 30 being the max. I heard the best FUE has 5%. I don't know what the stats are for strip. I would think most of the loss would come from the edges of the donor strip when it is first cut out, if the doctore does not have a very small blade that can be turned easily. If it is 1/4 inch wide, it will probably go in a near straight line and kill half the follicles it passes. I wonder how doctors get around that, and who reports the 5%. The doctors doing the procedures? And if a follicle is in telogen, I don't know if the discetors could see it and implant it or if they would think it is just skin. Maybe FUE has an advantage there, since they only take what they can see. They just have to go in at the correct angle and not kill any follicles somehow on each and every time, whereas a strip is probably easy to cut up once it is out.

I don't know why FUE would have a moth eaten look unless they were all taken from the same area instead of spaced apart, or the dot scars where pigmented.

 

[CCS]

I'd still take a fine line scar over 5000 dot scars any day. aside from that, if they can go in at just the right angle every time, and not tramatise anything when they pull it out and break off the bottom end, FUE does have a much better potential for high yield. Not sure which actually works otu to have the higher yield, or the smaller scar. I just have 900 grafts to go to reach my goals, so I'm just going to finish up with strip, in the same spot again. If something goes wrong, I'll put hairs in the scar with FUE later.

 

[Guest]

Actually, the larger procedures usually have the doctors' lowest graft prices. Some tier the graft price such as, $4 per graft up to 2500, and then $3, and even $2 for anything above that level. Obviously I am not speaking for anyone in particular.

CCS, not sure where you are getting that 5% figure from but IMO to date, strip in the right hands still produces the highest yield graft for graft. And yes, microscopically prepared grafts can be produced from the strip specimen with very little waste. And certainly don't believe for one minute that any doctor has zero waste. If you hear that, someone's trying to sell you.

My other skepticism with the various isolated extraction methods is that it seems that the FUE docs continue to try to decrease the diameter size of the punches, yet that can drastically raise the transection rate. And yet they have not consistently if ever published their yields using 1mm punches! Who is "proving and publishing" their transection rates with FUE? And the reason they are trying to decrease their punches is the obvious patient concern of reducing the visible scarring from FUE, and especially so with the larger sessions. You read about it all of the time. So and so is using a .50 mm punch now! BUT, do they tell you that very few patients would fit the criteria to use instrumentation so small? Or maybe, just maybe it's partially a strategy of competition between the FUE docs. I think they call that marketing!

FUE is not for everyone, Strip is not for everyone, hair transplants are not for everyone! That's why it is so critical to do enough research and get physically evaluated. :wink:

 

[Guest]

dr67,

I still think you are going to like what you see 12 to 18 months post-op! :wink:

 

[LookingGood!]

I'd still take a fine line scar over 5000 dot scars any day. aside from that, if they can go in at just the right angle every time, and not tramatise anything when they pull it out and break off the bottom end, FUE does have a much better potential for high yield. Not sure which actually works otu to have the higher yield, or the smaller scar. I just have 900 grafts to go to reach my goals, so I'm just going to finish up with strip, in the same spot again. If something goes wrong, I'll put hairs in the scar with FUE later.

The jury is still out as to which produces a better yield. The blowhards over on HLH think otherwise but they are just cheerleaders.

 

[dirtrider67]

just wanted to make an update: this morning i was sitting in my car waiting and looked in the rear view mirror at my transplanted area. low and behold i noticed 100's of new hairs popping up. maybe even a 1000 or more. it's more like peach fuzz but they are starting to grow. how exciting.

by the way, i did not have a FUE procedure. it was a strip procedure using pinpoint technology. depending on how my first procedure turns out, i may do about 200 FUE to make the hairline look natural. but i will wait a year to see how the results turn out.

 

[LookingGood!]

Good growth to you D R!

I am as excited as you are about the fuzz. I look in the mirror and say to myself YES! YES YES!!!! Of course with the fist pumping!

 

[dirtrider67]

LG....how are your implants doing? i'm getting about 30% growth 2 months post op. but, they are looking more like pubes than hair. kinda wirery and thin. is this normal???

 

[dirtrider67]

here is a new pic at 2 1/2 months. the grafts seem to be growing in good. i am hopeing that only half are growing and the other half will start sprouting out soon. it seems very dense at this point so i'll give it another few months to determine whether or not i want to do more work. what do you guys think so far? does it look like all 1471 grafts are growing?

ps...the zits or ingrown hairs have been very painful.

 

[CCS]

I think 75% are growing. Just look at a centimeter on a ruler and picture that square on hour head and count. you could have memorized the density post op. But looking at the patterns and evenness of spacing, I think most have grown in. But at 2.5 months, 50% is very possible. Maybe even less than that are growing. I was at 30% at 2.5 months last time.

 

[dirtrider67]

thanks for your input CCS...if i am only at 50% now, then i would be totally happy with 50% more growth. i guess time will tell. i think i might buzz it all down to a #7 so it all blends in. it kinda looks funny with the existing hair longer than the transplanted hairs. maybe if i do that, they'll all grow out the same length.

 

[LookingGood!]

thanks for your input CCS...if i am only at 50% now, then i would be totally happy with 50% more growth. i guess time will tell. i think i might buzz it all down to a #7 so it all blends in. it kinda looks funny with the existing hair longer than the transplanted hairs. maybe if i do that, they'll all grow out the same length.

I dont see how either one of you guys concocted those numbers. I would say that at 2.5 months about 30%. More will come be patient.

 

[dirtrider67]

that would be great if i was only at 30% growth but i think i am at about 50%. i guess time will tell. it's pretty cool to have hair growing where it hasn't grown in 15 years. i will post more pics as the hairs keep growing.