Considering second surgery

I'm thinking about having a second round to fill in my crown and the back third of my head. I've been quite happy with the growth at the front but the back is still pretty thin and I've probably lost hair there since the procedure

Having contacted New Age Clinic, they've suggested another round where they could gain a further 3500 grafts using the same technique. Will keep this blog updated!  

16 months post-op

It's now edging closer to the 18 month mark (which will be in July) so I thought I'd update this. Overall, not much change in the crown area although I think I am still losing more hair from the back of my head. I'm not so bothered about it because the front is looking pretty good - especially when I put a bit of concealer in it. Although I'm a bit disappointed about the back half of my head, I remember Dr Ilker saying there is still donor hair available which could be used for that.

Looking a bit ropey today! The hairline doesn't look quite as thick in real life, it's probably the lighting.

Back view - still losing hair I think. But on the upside you really can't see any scarring

Crown. Definitely more hair there than pre-op, but not quite as dense as I'd like. 

Crown View update @ 13 months

Quick update on the crown. There's a zone at the back which is definitely imroving. If it grows long and thick enough, it should help a lot disguising the crown hairloss. I think it's already showing progress.

this is the area where I'm looking for growth

Top view, 6, 9. 12 months

Not a huge amount of change in the last three months, but apparently it should keep thickening up for at least another six months. 

Some embarrassing "Before" photos

It's a bit cringey to look back to 2012 / 2013 when these photos were taken. I was developing the "island of hair" you see quite often. I used to keep it short because it looked better that way - imagine what I looked like when I needed a hair cut! We are our own worst critics, I'm definitely no exception. But looking at these photos makes me feel a lot happier about how my hair looks now. Even taking the step to tackling it is a big one, and I know I've still got a long way to go before I get to a point where I don't feel self-conscious about it. But it's great looking in the mirror and not being horrified!

The 'island' of hair

I also had a big gap at the front

It looked better short.

Taken on my phone, 12 months after

12 Month Post (almost!)

It's been a long year (technically five days before the one year mark), but a good one. I've probably said so before but we all think we're gonna be that guy whose hair grows in quickly and looks utterly transformed after six months. For me, because the number of grafts was pretty high I was expecting a good result. Of course I'm happy with it so far! But I still hope there is a bit more thickening to come - especially towards the back.

Anyway I'll let the photos speak for themselves. For a laugh, I'll dig out some old photos and upload them in another post. Quite funny looking back now and thinking what my hair looked like a year ago.

There's still quite a large thin patch covering the crown area, but there are longer hairs growing. I definitely think it's thickening - but gradually!

Happy with the front

All in all, a huge improvement on before! Looking forward to another few months of hair thickening. 

10 month - Follow-up visit to New Age Clinic

I'm just back from a few days in Istanbul and thought it was only right to visit the clinic for a follow-up appointment. Although Dr Ilker said he cannot really evaluate me properly until 12 months is up, he did have a look at my hair and could see the progress so far. Particularly when you look at the 'before' photos they took you can see the difference.

Mixed feelings about my visit; the surgeon told me I'm still losing hair from the middle third of my head which is a bit disappointing. He said to keep taking the propecia to slow it down, and encouraged me to give minoxidil another try (it has given me headaches and 'brain fog' before). I was also concerned that my scar is uneven but he said that it's pretty even all the way along and isn't abnormal (though not the least visible). Concerning the slower progress of the hair towards the back of my head, he explained that there is less blood-flow here which means hair takes longer to grow. Finally, if I want to go back in again I can do this any time after 1 year from the original procedure to concentrate on the vertex or clear up any other areas I'm unhappy with.

This photo doesn't really show the progress of the hairline, but does give a good indication of the result. 

9 Month top view (2)

this isn't the best picture but I feel like the top is thickening (slowly!)

9 Month comparison top view

Looks like my hair is thickening up slowly but surely. Although it's still pretty thin and you can see my scalp quite clearly on top, I think it is beginning to happen. I think I imagined by 9 months I would have a full head of hair but obviously still waiting for that point - now I'm prepared to wait at least one year or more for it to thicken up fully.

Here's a comparison shot showing the top view 6 months and 9 months after the procedure

8.5 Months (a week after a hair cut)

The 8 month mark came and went - still reasonably happy with the results so far but growth has not been quite as thick or quick as I expected. The back third of my head hair is growing, but it's taking longer than I thought it would. I keep telling myself it'll thicken up in time. I hope it will!

Overall I feel much more positive about my hair and the way it looks - in these pictures I feel it looks better than it does in the mirror! But then I'm usually under a light in the bathroom which is never flattering. At the least I don't think you can really tell from the donor area that hair has been taken from the back and sides.

Oblique view. If you zoom, you can see that the new hair still has some thickening up to do, but it's coming along. I'm happy with the angle of the hairline. 

Front view. I used to have a big gap right in the middle of my hairline. That's mostly gone although you can still see the hair is thinner (because it's all transplanted hair) under lights. 

View from the top - still thickening up (this is the bit I'm most anxious about) 

View from behind - hopefully when the top thickens this part will be less noticeable

Side view : can you see the strip scar?

Front hair line @ 7.5 months

Not much change really, but my hairdresser left the top longer this time which is a mixed blessing. Somehow the hair seems much finer when it's left longer. But I'm able to sweep it across so maybe it covers more baldness, I'm not sure. I'm still pretty happy with the front and just now waiting for the top / crown to grow in more. I keep seeing the new top hair (which is very fine) and saying to myself that it'll thicken up. Hopefully it will!

Fine hairs on top (7ish Months)

I'm starting to see more fine hairs on the top of my head - they're getting quite long but still quite thin and wiry. I'm hoping these are going to thicken up and cover the thin patch on top. If that's covered, I'm going to be a happy man. Maybe at 9 months it'll be better...

Top view, 3 month & 6 month comparison

The slowest progress seems to be on top, towards the back. I'm not sure if that's because the multiple-FU grafts take longer to grow or simply because the area was thinner initially. But anyway, encouraging to see some of the hairs are growing and thickening. At 3 months I had some new hairs but they were very fine indeed.

As it is those hairs are still very thin, so I'm hoping for more thickening over the next three months

An intermediary before/after hairline @ 6 months

I know the colouring is all a bit messed up, but you can see how I looked before and how the hairline has been filled in. It should thicken up even more over the next few months with any luck. 

6 Month Update

I said I would reserve judgement until 6 months, so here goes!

My position at the moment is : I'm happy with the hairline, even though a lot of the new hairs are quite wiry. The area further back on my scalp has not yet filled in fully, and I expect it to take a few months to thicken up. But I am seeing growth back there. Again, the new hairs are growing, but they're individual strands (from 2 or 3 follicular units), so I hope they will improve over time and reduce the visible thin patch towards the back of my scalp. 

In terms of how far back Dr Ilker went, I can see now that there's still going to be a thin patch on top once everything's grown in. But hopefully I will be able to hide it with clever styling or just plain old concealer (my crutch of choice). A different surgeon might have put fewer grafts in the front third (behind the hairline) and covered my whole crown, but what he did was probably a better long-term strategy. I can have the crown filled in at a later date once I've established how much more hair I'm going to lose. Hopefully the Finasteride will counter some of that loss, or at least slow it down. 

The main thing is to concentrate on the positives so far and not worry too much about how it's going to grow in later. I've had a few hair complements, which is amazingly gratifying! A friend who I'd told said her boyfriend noticed something different about me, but couldn't figure out what - and another who said they liked my 'new haircut'. 

I'm still self-conscious about the back of my head, but I think having an actual hairline is amazing! By the autumn hopefully it will all have thickened up nicely. 

Hairline closeup (5 months)

Took this a couple of weeks ago before having a haircut. You can see where the new hair is coming through and is still quite fine. Hoping it will thicken up over the next few months

Day 139 : Another haircut (this time with clippers)

Last time I had a hair cut I insisted the barber use scissors, because I was worried the scar would be visible. This time, I asked for a clipper cut on the back and sides - doesn't look too bad!

Hard to see the linear scar. I'm just starting to see a bit of hair grown on the top of my head (still very fine)

Actually, you really can't see the linear scar at all. 

The corners are coming along, but the hair is still thinner than the existing hair

I'm happy with the progress of the hairline :) 

My experience so far is that the hair at the front has grown much more quickly. Those single grafts started growing at around the 3 month mark, whereas the 2 and 3 unit grafts are still starting to come through now, 2 months later. It might just be that because my hair is so much thinner on top, the new hairs will have to thicken up before they make a big difference. But I can still feel tiny 1mm hairs coming through, so hopefully they will give me enough density to cover the thin area on top. 

Day 126 : 2 weeks post-hair cut

Slightly more hair coming through on the top, if I run my finger around I can feel little hairs sprouting. The front looks a bit better now, certainly the hairs in the corners are much  more noticeable. I think you can start to see where the new hairs are growing and where they will (hopefully) thicken up.

I had a hair cut about two weeks ago (scissors only) just to tidy up the sides and had a bit taken off the front top. When I told the barber I'd had it done, he just said "really?" and didn't seem at all interested! I don't think even he could find the linear scar from the FUT part of the surgery.

Day 110 : growing in slowly

It's difficult to say how much the new hair has grown in, because I've let the 'original' hair grow quite long - I haven't had the top cut at all since January. However, there is definitely signs of new hair grown at the front. And if I run my finger over other parts of my scalp where hair has been translated, I can feel little stubbly hairs growing.

I read that at by month 5-6, around 80% of the new hairs will have started to grow but will be fine and wispy to begin with. So I am trying to be patient! But at the front, things already are starting to look better.

You can see some of the new hair at the front corners. 

At the back it's less noticeable because this hair is much thinner.

Pleased to say that most of my original hair did eventually grow back. 

This is the part I'm most looking forward to see filled in!! 

No great improvement in this area year, but I can feel stubbly hairs growing 

From the front - I've let it grow quite long but you can see the new hairline trying to break through

How I'm feeling about it all... 3 months (ish)

After the procedure I felt on cloud nine for about a week. All that research, time, money and general effort finally paid off - I couldn't quite believe I'd actually gone through with it. Like a lot of others, I was a little disheartened to see the transplanted hairs fall out, and particularly annoying was the FUE graft sites looking a bit red.

It always looks worse to yourself than others. After 3 weeks, I was told by my friends that it looked like I'd had a bad haircut. I didn't mind that, so I felt I could safely go out without a hat. Actually one of the weirdly empowering things is that I don't care so much that I'm looking pretty thin on top when I go out -- because I know that it's going to grow in soon.

I always promised myself I wouldn't get disspirited, disheartened or be impatient. Unfortunately, it's really hard not to be! Unlike a lot of cosmetic procedures where the results are visible pretty much instantly, a hair transplant does take a long time to get going. Now that I've reached the 3 month mark, I'm pleased to see some of the hair growing in (at the front it's very noticeable) but I can't help worrying that the rest of it won't grow. It's stupid, I know - but I am worried about it. One thing I was worried about at the early stages was losing what existing hair I had had on top. So far most of that seems to have re-grown, which is a relief. So I look pretty much as I did before the procedure.

The reason it's silly is because I'd read so many people blogging about how they were worried it hadn't worked - only a few months in. I would scoff and think 'you need to wait at least six months', and annoyingly I'm having to do the same to myself! Hopefully in six months my fears will be set to one side; keep your fingers crossed for me :)