So many of you are probably thinking that it's ridiculous I got a transplant at age 21...but to be honest, it was my decision along with my parents' and so I'm sticking with that. Whether or not it was a bad decision will remain to be seen, but regardless, it's done and I can say I did what I wanted to.
With me, my hair loss started at age 15. Tenth grade. I still remember when people started noticing patches of baldness throughout my scalp. It really ruined me, and by senior year in high school, I tried Rogaine foam. I guess I had some kind of an allergic reaction to it though since my ears grew twice their normal size, got really red/hot, and started peeling, so obviously I discontinued it. In my freshman year of college, I tried propecia for a month, but my parents weren't comfortable with me taking a drug that messes with any hormones, and it was really expensive, so I quit that too.
My hair loss is different from most guys. I don't fit the Norwood scale; my hairline is perfect and my crown isn't that characteristic circle that's continuously expanding. Rather, its diffused pattern alopecia, basically thinning everywhere over the top of my head. Eventually, all the hair thats there might fall off, which would make me a Norwood 5/6.
My dad is a Norwood 6/7 and most of his brothers have some form of hair loss; usually just the crown and somewhat of a receded hairline is the case with my uncles, but I think my dad has it the worst out of all of them. So that sucks...but on my mom's side, there is very little hair loss. My grandpa there had only normal hair loss associated with age, and my uncles there have (for the most part) all of their hair.
I really can't put into words how much hair loss ruined my self-esteem and made me hate myself...I know that sounds dramatic, but it is true. Eventually, I think my dad saw how distraught it made me, so we made an appointment for a consultation with two HRN recommended surgeons. One recommended 2000 grafts in the front (too young for crown) and another recommended about 2300. I went with the 2300 grafts, and so in August, I had the FUT procedure done; they pulled about 4500 hairs from 2312 grafts.
The procedure itself was very painless and interesting. I feel like it went by very fast, and the technicians just talked to me the whole time about a bunch of different things. Whenever I felt any bit uncomfortable, they'd inject more stuff into my scalp to make it more numb. I was given Vicoden, but since it made me throw up, I stopped taking it after the first day. I stuck with Tylenol and antibiotics.
My face swelled like CRAZY around day 3 and 4 post-op; it was hilarious looking but still painless. I had to make sure I didn't wear hats or do anything that could dislodge the grafts. I had to use a cup filled with water and shampoo and gently pour it over the head for the first week or so. Eventually, I used my hands to scrub the scalp and some of the new hairs came out (which was normal).
By November (month 3 after postop), my native hair has grown back and I look like I did back in August. I run my hand through my head and I feel a lot of stubble, and when I look in the mirror, I see some little sprouts. I'm so excited to see what they'll look like in a few more months.
Overall though, I'm satisfied with my results even though I wont be able to really tell how it all went for another 6 months or so. I'll post updates later!
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Oh I also wanted to point out...my surgeon was extremely professional and didn't necessarily jump to the idea of giving me a hair transplant. He said it'd be better to wait but that, in all honesty, it was my decision and that he's worked on younger patients before with great results.
He only did the front half of my head, which I guess on this link (http://www.hshairclinic.co.uk/hair-loss/graft-calculator/) would be Zones 2, 3, 4, and a tiny bit of 5. In the future, I'm definitely going to need a second one to cover up the vertex/back since I can very clearly see a lot of my scalp there already. I've been using dermmatch to cover it up, but I think I'm going to switch over to Toppik now because dermmatch makes my hair look really dry and unhealthy (almost like a bird's nest appearance haha)...
Also, I realized I forgot to write about the scar. So far, the scar is still pink and somewhat elevated, but its healing well and will continue to do so for a whole year. You can't see it at all since I have a lot of hair to cover it up.
With me, my hair loss started at age 15. Tenth grade. I still remember when people started noticing patches of baldness throughout my scalp. It really ruined me, and by senior year in high school, I tried Rogaine foam. I guess I had some kind of an allergic reaction to it though since my ears grew twice their normal size, got really red/hot, and started peeling, so obviously I discontinued it. In my freshman year of college, I tried propecia for a month, but my parents weren't comfortable with me taking a drug that messes with any hormones, and it was really expensive, so I quit that too.
My hair loss is different from most guys. I don't fit the Norwood scale; my hairline is perfect and my crown isn't that characteristic circle that's continuously expanding. Rather, its diffused pattern alopecia, basically thinning everywhere over the top of my head. Eventually, all the hair thats there might fall off, which would make me a Norwood 5/6.
My dad is a Norwood 6/7 and most of his brothers have some form of hair loss; usually just the crown and somewhat of a receded hairline is the case with my uncles, but I think my dad has it the worst out of all of them. So that sucks...but on my mom's side, there is very little hair loss. My grandpa there had only normal hair loss associated with age, and my uncles there have (for the most part) all of their hair.
I really can't put into words how much hair loss ruined my self-esteem and made me hate myself...I know that sounds dramatic, but it is true. Eventually, I think my dad saw how distraught it made me, so we made an appointment for a consultation with two HRN recommended surgeons. One recommended 2000 grafts in the front (too young for crown) and another recommended about 2300. I went with the 2300 grafts, and so in August, I had the FUT procedure done; they pulled about 4500 hairs from 2312 grafts.
The procedure itself was very painless and interesting. I feel like it went by very fast, and the technicians just talked to me the whole time about a bunch of different things. Whenever I felt any bit uncomfortable, they'd inject more stuff into my scalp to make it more numb. I was given Vicoden, but since it made me throw up, I stopped taking it after the first day. I stuck with Tylenol and antibiotics.
My face swelled like CRAZY around day 3 and 4 post-op; it was hilarious looking but still painless. I had to make sure I didn't wear hats or do anything that could dislodge the grafts. I had to use a cup filled with water and shampoo and gently pour it over the head for the first week or so. Eventually, I used my hands to scrub the scalp and some of the new hairs came out (which was normal).
By November (month 3 after postop), my native hair has grown back and I look like I did back in August. I run my hand through my head and I feel a lot of stubble, and when I look in the mirror, I see some little sprouts. I'm so excited to see what they'll look like in a few more months.
Overall though, I'm satisfied with my results even though I wont be able to really tell how it all went for another 6 months or so. I'll post updates later!
- - - Updated - - -
Oh I also wanted to point out...my surgeon was extremely professional and didn't necessarily jump to the idea of giving me a hair transplant. He said it'd be better to wait but that, in all honesty, it was my decision and that he's worked on younger patients before with great results.
He only did the front half of my head, which I guess on this link (http://www.hshairclinic.co.uk/hair-loss/graft-calculator/) would be Zones 2, 3, 4, and a tiny bit of 5. In the future, I'm definitely going to need a second one to cover up the vertex/back since I can very clearly see a lot of my scalp there already. I've been using dermmatch to cover it up, but I think I'm going to switch over to Toppik now because dermmatch makes my hair look really dry and unhealthy (almost like a bird's nest appearance haha)...
Also, I realized I forgot to write about the scar. So far, the scar is still pink and somewhat elevated, but its healing well and will continue to do so for a whole year. You can't see it at all since I have a lot of hair to cover it up.