The crown often takes more hair than other areas of a similar size because the swirl is present in the crown and the hair changes direction. The swirl draws the eye to the scalp. A 4-inch area will take anywhere between 2000-3000 grafts, depending upon the thickness of your hair shafts. More coarse hair requires less grafts when compared to fine hair.
Redness in the recipient area occurs in some people with fair skin, red hair, blonde hair, and other people with sensitive skin. It will eventually get better. Just be patient.
If you are concerned, go see your doctor and he/she may prescribe a special type of topical steroid that might accelerate the disappearance of the pink color.
In 27 years of doing hair transplants, it does not look as bad as what I have seen in many patients with the skin and hair types that I described above.
Thanks for your insights.
This has been heavily studied, and the genetic component of hair loss is well documented. We get these genes from our ancestors, and sometimes it skips generations, sometimes not. But curiosity is important, and I do believe that one should never accept what you are told without questioning it.
FUE failures are not uncommon when the surgeon and/or the surgical team is not skilled in the nuances of FUE. The problem you must face is to find a surgeon who can make an assessment of your donor area and to find out what residual donor hair remains.
I’ve gotten two hair transplant quotes from two doctors and they are so different that it becomes confusing. They both drew the same hairline that they saw is appropriate for a 35 year-old man. One doctor said I needed 2,000 grafts and the other doctor said I would need 4,000 grafts. I’m not sure who to go with (or keep looking). Your thoughts please.
First of all, I don’t agree with the hairline design because I believe it is too high. Nevertheless, the quote of 4000 grafts is too large for that area. This probably reflects a doctor who is pushing grafts to make money. The correct number will reflect the thickness of your hair shafts. Fine hair takes more grafts and a coarser hair takes fewer grafts. To find out where your hair line belongs (which is the first step), take a look at yourself in the mirror with your hair pulled back and your eyebrows lifted high, so that your forehead creases. It shows the anatomical point that allows me to determine the proper place of the hairline. A mature hairline belongs one finger breadth above the highest crease of the furrowed brow in the mid-line.
The two photos on the right show a before and after in a Class 6 patient with a single hair transplant of 3,300 grafts 15 years ago. When you compare these two groups of photos, you will realize the lack of realism of the quotes.
You have significant donor site depletion. This problem is caused by over-harvesting the grafts from your FUE three months earlier. The only thing you can do is to get Scalp MicroPigmentation, which will hide the balding spots, but it will not add hair.
See here: https://scalpmicropigmentation.com/scar-covering/
This link seems to suggest a mechanism between brain activity and hair loss.
For men with genetic balding, stress-induced hair loss often does not return.
I’ve had two procedures in two consecutive days. First day, they took 4,000 FUE grafts, then they made scratches in the recipient area. The doctor said I had too much bleeding from my scalp (because of Minoxidil). On the second day, they took 4,000 more FUE grafts, and then transplanted all 8,000 grafts. I am now one month after the surgery, and my hair looks worse than before the transplant. I have not used the Minoxidil since the surgery and my donor area has poor density now.
If you had the first 4,000 grafts taken out and stored, then the next 4,000 grafts taken out the following day with all of the grafts transplanted on the second day, I suspect that not all of the grafts survived, particularly those taken out the first day. Some of the grafts placed into the recipient area might have problems as well, unless very strict protocols were followed for graft preservation. If the grafts were all transplanted on the second day, then all of the grafts taken out on the first day would not survive. Studies show that after 8 hours, graft survival drop off at 1% per hour.
If your hair is worse now, maybe this will continue. Until the eighth month, you will not know the survival of the grafts or the preservation of the native hair that you had present. If you had 8,000 FUE grafts, I am almost certain that you will have significant donor site depletion (balding in the donor area) as few patients have the density in the donor area that can support that number of FUE grafts. This many FUE grafts will make the donor area see-through (appear balding) and will not tolerated well.
I have written about this here: https://baldingblog.com/2017/07/21/many-fue-grafts-many-fues-grafts-one-know-safe-limits/
Based on your report, 1,0000 grafts is not a large number and the number of grafts may not have been enough to fill in the recipient area. As you did not show the pictures taken before the surgery, I can not tell you for sure.
Expectations are clearly established between you and your doctor at the time of the surgery. Go back and revisit that previous conversation with your doctor.
This is a nice review of Topical Finasteride, which so many men ask me about. This is available through our offices.
Hair grows at different times in the growth cycle. At four months, some will be growing out, with more in the fifth and sixth months. This is why I tell my patients that the average person has 80% of the growth in eight months to a styling length of about one and a half inches. It varies with individuals, some earlier and some later. You clearly have growth now and it will only get better, longer, and thicker.
There is no difference between the two techniques – FUE or strip. Unless you want to wear your shave or cut your hair closely, then an FUE may be the procedure of choice.
With a good surgeon who offers both and uses modern tools, the FUE is as good as the strip surgery or visa versa.
Take a look at this video as it may help you understand the differences better: https://youtu.be/koPZdjdO4Ng
If you are heading to a Class 6 or 7 at the age of 19, although it is unlikely that the drug Finasteride will prevent this, it is still worth a try.
Maybe you are not heading to the Class 6 or 7 pattern, and you inherited a different pattern that is not so advanced. There is no way to really tell. Most people don’t know that these advanced patterns almost always happen before a young man reaches 26 years of age.
I have seen thinning and hair loss in the nape of the neck with Finasteride. I have also seen reports of loss of body hair while on the drug.
Does DHT affect hair on the nape of the neck? from tressless