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About 6 weeks ago I had the second stage of my forehead reduction done. I had my hairline lowered ~4.3 cm as it had been freakishly high since birth and this has haunted me my whole life.
I have therefore had a different hair loss journey than most people on this site. I think most people start off by liking or at least being okay with their hair as kids and teenagers, and then only being upset once the hair starts falling out after that. On my part, I hated my hair intensely since I was 10. I was tortured by it for at least twenty something years then.
The surgical recovery is still ongoing. It was complicated by my high dose estriol experiment backfiring on me during recovery which caused eczema everywhere (resolved). I've also had nasty seborrheic dermatitis which may have been related to the estriol or possibly the scar gel treatments I've been using (almost gone on nizoral and coal shampoo).
My scalp is still numb so it's tough to apply my topicals. Sensation takes 5-6 months to come back. My incision is also still a bit raw and not so pretty, but it's getting to the point where I can wear my hair back in public and no one looks at me twice. I keep it more covered at work just for my own comfort. Getting better steadily.
Other complications - at 16 days post op, I scratched my forehead and a tiny bit of the central incision tore ~4-5 mm wide. Fortunately it healed back up nicely in another 10 days with no problems using aquaphor. But every day has felt like a battle to try to figure out the right thing to do.
I have primarily been managing the incision/scar with a combination of aquaphor and silicon scar gel. Silicon scar gel can be quite inflammatory but it works well at breaking down and preventing overgrown scars. I have to keep bouncing between them and taking breaks so the skin keeps healing nicely. Seems to be working so far though it's tedious and challenging.
I'll post a longer thread once the healing is complete. But I just wanted to itemize some of these first 6 weeks challenges and experiences before I forget.
As for the outcome? My surgeon created an almost perfect hairline. Ie. within 3 mm of perfection all along the hairline. One or two places I would like to re-contour down by that 3 mm or dense up with some single unit graphs unless they naturally improve in the next 6-12 months with my ongoing other therapies.
Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and I am just so overjoyed to see it. It feels like the face I should have had my whole life. When I come out of the shower with my long hair slicked back, I look like a jock hockey player, and not some weird bulbous freak. When wear it back and let it flow, I give Adrian Grenier a run for his money.
Currently it's super long because I stopped cutting it 3-4 months ago during the balloon expansion process. Starting to look like Jim Morrison rocker style hair:
(only I amazingly now have a better hairline than his)
I just went out today to buy a sub with my hair super greasy but kind of like that guy above. It was such a thrill to be able to look in all the store windows and see this great head of hair looking back at me, even when messy from topicals and unkempt.
I can't express the peace and joy this has given me. I wasn't expecting it to affect me this positively.
I used to have so many insecurities over this. I'd think they most people were above me just because they had better proportions and a better structured face/hair. I don't feel that way anymore. I see people and all of a sudden sometimes I get a sense of strength knowing mine is as good or better than theirs. And more than anything, strangely, I feel more connected to most regular people, because now I feel more like one of them. Not an "other".
I could fraud myself to look like most people with a careful Owen Wilson haircut, but I have never looked like most people. Now I look more like most people than I ever have. I like it. I feel like I've joined society in a way I never could before.
This has redoubled my resolve to get my jaws fixed. Nerves/risks be damned. If you were someone who lived your life with massive social limitations from being ugly, than probably, like for me, there is no greater peace than what comes from fixing the underlying issue and becoming better looking.
Earlier today, I accidentally saw some old pictures of myself on my phone and they almost made me nauseous. I don't want to remember that face. This is my face now and it's the only one I want to think about.
I'm gonna aim to start revision work on my jaws in 6 months. And luckily now thanks to @Georgie, I know who to go to if I get butchered by my jaw surgeon, and end up with chronic nerve pain or some other awful complication, so that's nice reassurance, as that's been a legit fear for me.
Future goals with my hair are:
- Maintaining with my usual daro/desloratadine/niacinamide topical
- Adding squalane to improve moisturization (working on currently)
- Maximizing the density further (maybe zinc-thymulin, PRP, equol)
- If needed in 1 year, some single small grafts to hide the scar, strengthen any points, and just give a sharper finished result overall
- Maintain it for LIFE
This is now my most precious attribute. I've said before I would easily give up my dick for my hair and I still mean it. Maybe more now than ever. This is already one of the greatest things I've ever experienced in my life. If I can get the same degree of re-correction for my jaws, I will consider my life essentially complete.
Sorry if this is a little rambling or less clear than usual, I'm loaded up on sleeping pills cuz I need to go to bed early. Sorry also if too much good news makes anyone else feel like sh*t. That's not my intent. I hope everyone can find a way to make their hair work and be happy.
This is just the first time in my entire life I've ever been happy about my hair, and it's nice.
I have therefore had a different hair loss journey than most people on this site. I think most people start off by liking or at least being okay with their hair as kids and teenagers, and then only being upset once the hair starts falling out after that. On my part, I hated my hair intensely since I was 10. I was tortured by it for at least twenty something years then.
The surgical recovery is still ongoing. It was complicated by my high dose estriol experiment backfiring on me during recovery which caused eczema everywhere (resolved). I've also had nasty seborrheic dermatitis which may have been related to the estriol or possibly the scar gel treatments I've been using (almost gone on nizoral and coal shampoo).
My scalp is still numb so it's tough to apply my topicals. Sensation takes 5-6 months to come back. My incision is also still a bit raw and not so pretty, but it's getting to the point where I can wear my hair back in public and no one looks at me twice. I keep it more covered at work just for my own comfort. Getting better steadily.
Other complications - at 16 days post op, I scratched my forehead and a tiny bit of the central incision tore ~4-5 mm wide. Fortunately it healed back up nicely in another 10 days with no problems using aquaphor. But every day has felt like a battle to try to figure out the right thing to do.
I have primarily been managing the incision/scar with a combination of aquaphor and silicon scar gel. Silicon scar gel can be quite inflammatory but it works well at breaking down and preventing overgrown scars. I have to keep bouncing between them and taking breaks so the skin keeps healing nicely. Seems to be working so far though it's tedious and challenging.
I'll post a longer thread once the healing is complete. But I just wanted to itemize some of these first 6 weeks challenges and experiences before I forget.
As for the outcome? My surgeon created an almost perfect hairline. Ie. within 3 mm of perfection all along the hairline. One or two places I would like to re-contour down by that 3 mm or dense up with some single unit graphs unless they naturally improve in the next 6-12 months with my ongoing other therapies.
Sometimes I look at myself in the mirror and I am just so overjoyed to see it. It feels like the face I should have had my whole life. When I come out of the shower with my long hair slicked back, I look like a jock hockey player, and not some weird bulbous freak. When wear it back and let it flow, I give Adrian Grenier a run for his money.
Currently it's super long because I stopped cutting it 3-4 months ago during the balloon expansion process. Starting to look like Jim Morrison rocker style hair:
(only I amazingly now have a better hairline than his)
I just went out today to buy a sub with my hair super greasy but kind of like that guy above. It was such a thrill to be able to look in all the store windows and see this great head of hair looking back at me, even when messy from topicals and unkempt.
I can't express the peace and joy this has given me. I wasn't expecting it to affect me this positively.
I used to have so many insecurities over this. I'd think they most people were above me just because they had better proportions and a better structured face/hair. I don't feel that way anymore. I see people and all of a sudden sometimes I get a sense of strength knowing mine is as good or better than theirs. And more than anything, strangely, I feel more connected to most regular people, because now I feel more like one of them. Not an "other".
I could fraud myself to look like most people with a careful Owen Wilson haircut, but I have never looked like most people. Now I look more like most people than I ever have. I like it. I feel like I've joined society in a way I never could before.
This has redoubled my resolve to get my jaws fixed. Nerves/risks be damned. If you were someone who lived your life with massive social limitations from being ugly, than probably, like for me, there is no greater peace than what comes from fixing the underlying issue and becoming better looking.
Earlier today, I accidentally saw some old pictures of myself on my phone and they almost made me nauseous. I don't want to remember that face. This is my face now and it's the only one I want to think about.
I'm gonna aim to start revision work on my jaws in 6 months. And luckily now thanks to @Georgie, I know who to go to if I get butchered by my jaw surgeon, and end up with chronic nerve pain or some other awful complication, so that's nice reassurance, as that's been a legit fear for me.
Future goals with my hair are:
- Maintaining with my usual daro/desloratadine/niacinamide topical
- Adding squalane to improve moisturization (working on currently)
- Maximizing the density further (maybe zinc-thymulin, PRP, equol)
- If needed in 1 year, some single small grafts to hide the scar, strengthen any points, and just give a sharper finished result overall
- Maintain it for LIFE
This is now my most precious attribute. I've said before I would easily give up my dick for my hair and I still mean it. Maybe more now than ever. This is already one of the greatest things I've ever experienced in my life. If I can get the same degree of re-correction for my jaws, I will consider my life essentially complete.
Sorry if this is a little rambling or less clear than usual, I'm loaded up on sleeping pills cuz I need to go to bed early. Sorry also if too much good news makes anyone else feel like sh*t. That's not my intent. I hope everyone can find a way to make their hair work and be happy.
This is just the first time in my entire life I've ever been happy about my hair, and it's nice.
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