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 :)