M20, had a transplant at 19, 8 months post op and the hair is still a weird curly kinky texture unlike my usual hair

[head]

2 hours ago, Stewie said:

I would personally not rush in with Farjo, nothing against his results but he is far to conservative for me

Can you elaborate a little on that?

[Al - Moderator]

On 7/2/2024 at 5:52 PM, head said:

The super frizziness of the first photo has fortunately began to improve a little recently, not everywhere and not close to perfect, but enough that I'm more hopeful on it. In 8 days it will have been exactly 1 year since the transplant.

 

This is good news. I said a few months ago the kinky/frizzy/wiry hairs will improve. It should continue to slowly improve until probably around the 18 month mark.

 

 

[Al - Moderator]

On 7/2/2024 at 5:52 PM, head said:

I hate that this has become a big part of my life, like I could've just had better genes and doing hobbies where my hair is out, but I'm here instead, and a big part of why I'm dead set on doing this as young as possible is to get to enjoy my youth before I'm literally too old because I've missed it and keep missing it and that depresses the s*** out of me.
I don't really know where this journey ends. Maybe this 1500 procedure is the one. But it doesn't sound like enough. At least the back of my head still has insane density though.

 

I understand wanting to get it done when you are young, but using up all your donor in one frontal area before you're 25 is a big mistake. Don't try to have a big session. You should be trying to keep the number of grafts for a 2nd procedure to a minimum. You're only 20 years old. Don't think your hair is just suddenly going to stop falling out because you had a hair transplant. It won't.

 

[4chanhrn]

What does your family history look like OP? Are there males with high forehead or did they end up having significant loss?

I can understand what you're going through and many of us have lost hair at a very young age and know what it feels like. However it is important you think how you're going to manage hair loss for a very long time, not just the next 2-3 years. Trust me you will care about your hair as much in 10 or 20 years as much as you do today. You need to realize that you have already thrown 2600 grafts in the bin and will throw 1700 more without actually addressing any loss. That is 4300 grafts out of finite 6000 or so grafts that you get in your lifetime. Unless you are ok with shaving your head in 10 years time if your MPB progresses, this is a bad idea.

First thing to do in your case is get on meds that can stabilise the situation completely. Talk to a derm and see if you can get on dutasteride+oral minoxidil. That should give a lot more options. Next, take your time with the repair. You don't want to mess this up further. Use as little grafts as possible. I would talk to Muresanu of Hattingen and see what he has to say. He will give you the correct advice.

[Berba11]

On 7/2/2024 at 10:52 PM, head said:

Hello, message to update on this again. The super frizziness of the first photo has fortunately began to improve a little recently, not everywhere and not close to perfect, but enough that I'm more hopeful on it. In 8 days it will have been exactly 1 year since the transplant. Of course still a bad transplant, it not being literal worst case scenario doesn't excuse it from that.

Earlier today I had my appointment with Dr Farjo, you can probably guess he said he doesn't often operate on patients as young as me, but I think my having a transplant before was enough of a push to not turn me away as easily, which is why I sorta don't regret the last one (a point he loudly laughed at when I explained).
After some combing through my recipient area he said he will fill the gaps and make the existing recipient area denser using 1500 grafts. I fear this is too little but he wouldn't budge on this number. He explained a couple times about how my original hairline can recede further, and about leaving enough donor area for this scenario, how I don't know how I'll feel when I'm like 30, and the limit of how much he can implant in one session.
About the new hairline, I asked about making the shape a little bit straighter, he said he doesn't want to change that and will keep it the same as it currently is.

Had some pictures taken of the current OG hairline and recipient area, while I hold some kind of white tight circular sheet, said we'll compare it again in some months to see if there's any noticeable receding. So we'll see about that later.
Quoted around £7000 for this 1500 grafts procedure. He guarantees it'll turn out better than what I've got, but said he can't guarantee it'll get me where I want to be. Honestly not entirely sure yet how I'm going to afford it, family loan or what, but guess I'll just have to figure it out soon.

Also, any advice on requesting a refund from my last clinic? They say to wait til month 14 so I will for that, but then I'm gonna have to. Current plan is just, Whatsapp message "Hi can I request a refund" > they say no (or "pls come to clinic in person where you'll lose the argument") > I maybe bargain and ask to refund half the price > still denied > I start looking into UK small claims which I've no experience in > I maybe get something back. Would help fund this next one.

I hate that this has become a big part of my life, like I could've just had better genes and doing hobbies where my hair is out, but I'm here instead, and a big part of why I'm dead set on doing this as young as possible is to get to enjoy my youth before I'm literally too old because I've missed it and keep missing it and that depresses the s*** out of me.
I don't really know where this journey ends. Maybe this 1500 procedure is the one. But it doesn't sound like enough. At least the back of my head still has insane density though.

I have to say I don’t like this plan. 
 

Firstly, this plan doesn’t actually address any of the critical issues with your HT: bad angles, bad directions, bad & unnatural hairline shape, pluggy grafts. 
 

You need to have some extractions to get things closer to baseline and rebuild from there. 
 

Secondly, another 1500 grafts into the hairline alone at your age seems very, very premature and risky, and won’t resolve those underlying issues. I’d have big concerns about this strategy to fix this situation. 
 

The first surgeon you should go and speak with is Dr Ed Ball. He’s the most experienced surgeon in the UK and does excellent repair work. Then I’d go and speak with Dr Ted Miln. 
 

Outside of the UK, Dr Feriduni, Hattingen and Dr Bisanga. 
 

You absolutely should not rush at this stage. You literally cannot afford to get this next step wrong and you should consult with the best guys when it comes to fixing bad HT’s. 

[Al - Moderator]

It would help if we had some updated pictures to see what the OPs hair situation is now.