FUT transplant surgery coming soon...

[Propecia1mg]

Hi, I have a FUT hair transplant surgery next week. I will get about 2000 hair to the crown area. I wonder how long/short the hair should be in that area, when going into surgery? It´s now about 3-4cm (a bit over an inch). Is that too long? I know that they cut it before the operation if necessary, just wondering...

Just a bit nervous... I also have time for a dentist 2 days after the operation, what do you think, should I remove that? Sorry my language by the way, don´t know did I wrote 100% correctly.

 

[Rocknroutlaw]

My understanding is the donor and recipient area will need to be shaved...

 

[Roberto_72]

My understanding is the donor and recipient area will need to be shaved...

That would be FUE. With FUT, donor area must present hair that are NOT shaved, so they can be easily extracted from the strip Of hair.

 

[Propecia1mg]

Well the operation yesterday went well, there wasn´t need for a haircut. Now especially the donor area is sore but manageable, and my scalp in the crown area is full of red dots, but that will be history in the next couple of weeks. Now just have to wait when the hair starts to grow. Not planning to use Propecia or something like that, I should change my nickname..

 

[Rocknroutlaw]

Well done! So basically you came out of the FUT procedure looking very much as pre-surgery, or did they have to shave the recipient area off with any sparse growth?

 

[Propecia1mg]

Well done! So basically you came out of the FUT procedure looking very much as pre-surgery, or did they have to shave the recipient area off with any sparse growth?

That´s right, they did nothing to the recipient area, and I got transplants also through the frontal region, where my hair was ok, but it was done to prevent the possible future baldness in that area. Nothing needed to be shaved. I got 3200 HAIRS removed and the operation took less than 5 hours, including a nice meal! Had to took a hotel for the night, because of the strong pain killers. But even that night in the hotel was nice, only woke up once to took some pain killers.. Now 2 days afterwards I practically don´t have any pain at all. It helped that I stretched the skin of the donor area 5 minutes per day for 2 weeks before the operation, that´s important.

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Here´s some pics I took, first one and the last one was taken 2 days after, the middle one just after the operation.





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I have rethinked whether I should try to take Propecia something like 0,25mg ED/EOD for a while, just to minimize the risk of shock loss after the operation, or not. As you can see from the pics I got grafts from the crown area through the frontal area, where I have quite decent, natural hair. I would think that even if those hairs would be lost, it would be only temporary, but why not to take a small amount of Propecia for ~3 months or so just to minimize the risk of the shock loss? After 3months the risk of a sudden shock loss is over, right? Or would it be better to use Propecia longer?

But. Can anyone tell me HOW the finasteride possibly PREVENTS the shock loss? Or is the point that finasteride keeps those minituarized, weak hair follicles strong enough to be able to produce new hair, after the possible shock loss? In my understanding, finasteride only can prevent PERMANENT SHOCK LOSS of the already weak minituarized hairs, does that make sense?

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I have rethinked whether I should try to take Propecia something like 0,25mg ED/EOD for a while, just to minimize the risk of shock loss after the operation, or not. As you can see from the pics I got grafts from the crown area through the frontal area, where I have quite decent, natural hair. I would think that even if those hairs would be lost, it would be only temporary, but why not to take a small amount of Propecia for ~3 months or so just to minimize the risk of the shock loss? After 3months the risk of a sudden shock loss is over, right? Or would it be better to use Propecia longer?

But. Can anyone tell me HOW the finasteride possibly PREVENTS the shock loss? Or is the point that finasteride keeps those minituarized, weak hair follicles strong enough to be able to produce new hair, after the possible shock loss? In my understanding, finasteride only can prevent PERMANENT SHOCK LOSS of the already weak minituarized hairs, does that make sense?

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Why all my replies goes into my own older post???

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I have rethinked whether I should try to take Propecia something like 0,25mg ED/EOD for a while, just to minimize the risk of shock loss after the operation, or not. As you can see from the pics I got grafts from the crown area through the frontal area, where I have quite decent, natural hair. I would think that even if those hairs would be lost, it would be only temporary, but why not to take a small amount of Propecia for ~3 months or so just to minimize the risk of the shock loss? After 3months the risk of a sudden shock loss is over, right? Or would it be better to use Propecia longer?

But. Can anyone tell me HOW the finasteride possibly PREVENTS the shock loss? Or is the point that finasteride keeps those minituarized, weak hair follicles strong enough to be able to produce new hair, after the possible shock loss? In my understanding, finasteride only can prevent PERMANENT SHOCK LOSS of the already weak minituarized hairs, does that make sense?

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My understanding is the donor and recipient area will need to be shaved...

Let´s try to reply to this and then re-post my questions... As I wrote nothing needed to be shaved.

I have rethinked whether I should try to take Propecia something like 0,25mg ED/EOD for a while, just to minimize the risk of shock loss after the operation, or not. As you can see from the pics I got grafts from the crown area through the frontal area, where I have quite decent, natural hair. I would think that even if those hairs would be lost, it would be only temporary, but why not to take a small amount of Propecia for ~3 months or so just to minimize the risk of the shock loss? After 3months the risk of a sudden shock loss is over, right? Or would it be better to use Propecia longer?

But. Can anyone tell me HOW the finasteride possibly PREVENTS the shock loss? Or is the point that finasteride keeps those minituarized, weak hair follicles strong enough to be able to produce new hair, after the possible shock loss? In my understanding, finasteride only can prevent PERMANENT SHOCK LOSS of the already weak minituarized hairs, does that make sense?

 

[shookwun]

Just get fue man.... if money is an issue then wait till you have enough. FUT is anoyyin to deal with as fat as freedom. Its a good for advance Loss and needing more graft coverage but in your case I would use fue

 

[Propecia1mg]

Just get fue man.... if money is an issue then wait till you have enough. FUT is anoyyin to deal with as fat as freedom. Its a good for advance Loss and needing more graft coverage but in your case I would use fue

Eh, I just went through a FUT operation, as you can see from pictures above I didn´t have hair enough for FUE, when thinking in the long term. Because I understand that if for some reason I can´t/won´t use finasteride, there is a possibility that I need another hair transplant in the future. But I have started the Propecia again and try if the side effects will go away or be tolerable after a while. But I won´t take it every day probably, let´s see..

 

[Rocknroutlaw]

The result looks promising!
My receding extent is similar to yours, so I am very interested in your experience.
Also I want a FUT based on the unwillingness to shave/cut to very short lengths.

If you don't mind me asking...
-Who was the surgeon? Did the surgeon perform the extraction himself, or was it done by a technician?
-What were the costs?
-Did you make the decision to go with this surgeon based on any particular reason?

Please keep us updated on the progress with shock loss/growth etc.
Thanks!

 

[Propecia1mg]

The result looks promising!
My receding extent is similar to yours, so I am very interested in your experience.
Also I want a FUT based on the unwillingness to shave/cut to very short lengths.

If you don't mind me asking...
-Who was the surgeon? Did the surgeon perform the extraction himself, or was it done by a technician?
-What were the costs?
-Did you make the decision to go with this surgeon based on any particular reason?

Please keep us updated on the progress with shock loss/growth etc.
Thanks!

About the operation, there was 3 people, the surgeon and 2 technicians. The surgeon removed the transplant from the donor area, and put the stitches. After that, his job was done. Then one of the technicians started to extract the grafts and the other one started to put the grafts into my recipient area. I got about 2000 grafts (3200 hairs). The price was about 5300 USD.
The operation was done in finland, but they do operations also in Spain. Just google "sairaala KL" and you will find the site of the firm, it´s only in finnish though.. I also just googled about firms that does HT´s in Finland, didn´t wanna go to other country, and this was only under 100miles away from my home I just trusted these people and everything has gone well to this point at least. Of course I checked that this wasn´t a brand new firm, and in some finnish forums there was good experiences about the firm.

I have showered 2 times daily, the swelling in my forehead has subsided almost 100%, and the stitches will be removed in coming friday. I have took Propecia EOD, first I took the whole 1mg pill, this morning only a half one. But I won´t take pressure taking the Propecia, if the side effects will be too much. But I believe that I will then just take it less and more seldom. Just to get some extra help, against the possible continuing miniturization of some of my hair follicles. I also bought some vitamins and minerals to possibly help the hair growth (vitamin E, zink, kalcium etc.).

To be uptated...

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I already have a strong feeling that this finasteride isn´t for me. The sides haven´t been that bad at least yet, of course it´s more hard to keep myself "satisfied", not to mention to keep my wife´s needs fullfilled. But it´s only one thing. I have tooked the pill now 3 times after a long time off, and every time I got this feeling in my mind/brain that this isn´t me, the feeling is stongest inside 1-2hours after taking Propecia. I feel depressed, like something is wrong in my head. These could go away if I could stick with it but I just feel that I rather go through another or couple of hair transplant`s, than take those pills. Let´s see but this is what I feel right now, again. Have to remember that everyone is different, but I am possibbly mentally too fragile to handle the drug. Even without it I often feel some depression, which has gone better after the hair transplant because I have the hope that in the following year I could get away from the every morning depressive routine, when looking myself in the mirror and trying to hide the scalp.

It´s now a week after the hair transplant and the stitches will be removed the day after tomorrow, looking very forward to get rid of those. Tomorrow I get to work again, luckily I can use a cap (I am a janitor)...

 

[arfy]

I hope you have a good result, but I'm not impressed with your post-op photos, to be really honest (I could always be wrong though). I'm sorry if that sounds negative, but somebody here (someone with no personal experience with transplants) complimented you on your post op photos. I have to disagree. It appears that they tried to address too large of an area, with too few grafts. Also, your crown area can use up an entire donor supply, leaving nothing for the frontal hairline and mid scalp. It's not that the surgery looks bad to me, it's that the strategy seems questionable.

Also, you should have been using Propecia BEFORE getting surgery. You can help prevent shock loss, and you can prevent your hair loss from progressing. You can't just "replace everything" with hair transplants, there simply isn't enough donor hair to do that. Not for the vast majority of patients. It's not a good sign when people get surgery, then come online afterwards to start asking basic questions.

If you have issues with side effects from Finasteride, look into topical Finasteride, which should result in no side effects for most patients.

 

[Propecia1mg]

Thanks for your comment. Please feel free to comment honestly what you guys think or if you have some suggestions for me.About the finasteride and hair transplant:

http://www.regrowshair.com/general-...ing-shock-loss-after-hair-transplant-surgery/
Patients are advised to begin their use of Propecia or Rogaine a few days before their hair transplant to get the medication in their system, working at its maximum therapeutic level. Some patients go as far as continuing the medication for six to eight months after their procedure simply to avoid post-surgical shock loss.

Depending on the miniaturization level for some patients, finasteride or minoxidil may not be necessary. Some patients prefer not to use the medications in general, or don’t want to use it for a lifetime. In those patients we recommend to use finasteride only for a few months after their hair restoration procedure. This will help them to minimize the risk of shock loss and they may stop it after they have fully recovered.

Luckily I don´t have the drastic baldness coming that all of my hairs on the top of my head will go away, I´m just like my father who has thinner and thinner hair but still has some to cover part of the scalp. Most of his baldness is at the crown area, just like me. That`s why I probably choose the option that I try not to take finasteride, I rather go through another hair transplant`s IF needed. I MAY take Propecia occasionally like 2 times a week, for some time.

I know that the picture from the front seems questionable, but the grafts in the frontal region was done just to get some fullness in that area, and prevent or to slow down the thinning of the area in the future.
I know that it looks probably to be too few grafts on the frontal region, but there was a risk that if you put too much grafts on that area, it may hurt the follicles of my still decent natural hair.

The stitches are history now! Looking forward how different the feeling is when going to bed. Hope that there isn´t that much soreness anymore.



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Note that the red dots has been decreased thanks to showering 2x5minutes a day, so it looks that there´s too few grafts on the recipient area. It´s a shame that the shedding will take place in the near future, just have to wait then and hope for the best.

 

[Propecia1mg]

The scabs are history now. I put oil throughout into my recipient area last night before going to bed, and then it was easy to shower the scabs off, just like my doctor told me to do. Thankfully I can still feel the mini-hairs at the crown area when touching it by fingers (just to check they are still there). I just put some oil into my head again, including the scar, to keep those areas moistured. The scar is a bit uneven at some parts but I hope and believe it will settle and come more even in the coming weeks and months. But it´s not bad, have to remember that stitches was removed yesterday. The recipient area was a bit sore in the shower when the scabs went away, but no bleeding at all. All well, hopefully I can update some pics that includes seemingly new hairs in the following months, but I´m realistic and am not expecting miracles. It´s ok for me that I have thinner hair in the crown area but main thing is that there´s still hair in the future! And I can always go through another hair transplant if I´m not satisfied with the end result. To be updated again some day...

 

[Pequod]

You have very thin donor hair, and from the photos appear to need at least 4000 grafts to cover. Since you only had 2000 i think you will possibly want another procedure. They also went very low with that FUT incision, it looks like they should have gone about an inch higher to me.

 

[Propecia1mg]

You have very thin donor hair, and from the photos appear to need at least 4000 grafts to cover. Since you only had 2000 i think you will possibly want another procedure. They also went very low with that FUT incision, it looks like they should have gone about an inch higher to me.

Yes, like I said I am realistic and aim just a decent density of new hair after the hair transplant. Actually I´m not sure did they do 3200 grafts or hairs, they talked about hairs so I counted by myself that it would mean about 2000 grafts. I could be wrong on this, but it´s not that important for me. After all I didn´t want too many grafts because if my thinning continues (and probably it will especially if not on Propecia for the rest of my life) the recipient area would seem unnaturally full in the future, that was also their opinion. They are the ones that actually saw my hair and made the decisions that what´s the optimal or safest donor area for me and how thick they put the grafts. And what I´ve read the donor area is well within the safe range. About the bicture above it doesn´t look that low when looking from the mirror. There´s also less hair right under the scar than normally, so it looks different than just before when they decided the donor area. But at least I have a good range of safe donor area to use above the scar if I choose to go to another hair transplant.

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Forgot to mention that the % of grafts that don´t survive could increase, when there´s more and more grafts removed in a one single operation. (I`m just trying to convince myself on this subject :freaked: )...

Here´s today´s look, I carefully combed my hair this morning after shower Looking forward to watch the world championships hockey final tonight, we Finns against Canadians, although I doubt a bit that we can win them two times in a row. But I count on our goalie, and the young players Patrik Laine and Sebastian Aho with experienced Jokinen, Koivu etc.