I plan on having a hair transplant and would appreciate opinions on planning. I have had consultations with Dr. Nadimi from Konior's office, and Dr. Bloxham from Feller & Bloxham. They were both very professional and informative and I will likely go with either Konior/Nadimi or Feller/Bloxham.
As the thread title indicates, I do not have the luxury of taking a long period of time off post-transplant. I can probably take 2, maybe 2 and 1/2 weeks off. I'm almost 40 years old and I can't switch jobs or work from home, etc. With that said, I would be interested to hear what experienced members think would be the best course of action for someone in my circumstances.
Some background: I have dark, coarse and curly hair and am currently a NW2-3. I have a thread with pics in the "tell your story section" under username frankwhite (forgot password on that account and got locked out). I have been on finasteride for about 9 years now, and have been applying topical minoxidil 5% for around 8 years. I have mostly maintained since starting the medications but am below baseline in the frontal third. I have some retrograde alopecia but it is minor, and while I have some thinning on the vertex/mid-scalp it is also minor and does not need to be addressed at the moment. The main area of concern is a receded hairline and thinning frontal third, which is what I intend to address through a hair transplant.
Dr. Nadimi said that I am a candidate for either FUE or FUT, and recommended somewhere between 1500 to 2000 grafts in the frontal area. Dr. Konior is booked into 2019 but Dr. Nadimi advised me that she could perform the surgery this summer. Interestingly, Dr. Nadimi said that a low dose of oral minoxidil may be helpful in thickening up my native hair.
Dr. Bloxham also said that I am a candidate for a hair transplant, and recommended FUT because he said that curly hair is more likely to be transected by FUE extraction because there is often "curl below the skin." He recommended 2500 grafts in a "frontal band" procedure.
My concern is that I would like to leave some hair in the recipient area -- at least 1.5 to 2 inches long on top of my head -- with the idea that this would provide some camouflage while the grafts heal and grow in, and I could go with FUE so that I could avoid a large linear scar. The "curl below the skin" transection comment by Dr. Bloxham gave me some concern though, and I wonder if the smarter route would be to go for FUT. If a FUT yield from Konior or Bloxham/Feller is significantly higher, I guess that would weigh heavily against FUE. I also understand that some doctors, like Feller and Bloxham, believe that FUE causes significant damage to the donor area and should be utilized only after FUT has been exhausted. Dr. Konior's office did not seem to share this concern and presented FUE or FUT as almost interchangeable, although I admit did not ask them specifically.
With all that said, I am wondering if people with hair transplant experience think it would be realistic for a NW2 or NW3 that still has decent coverage to undergo a procedure with the expectation of returning to work 2 weeks later without visible signs. I know that the best possible situation would be to completely shave the recipient area, but unfortunately my circumstances don't permit this.
Also, any thoughts on the doctors mentioned in this thread, etc., would be appreciated. I was originally planning on going with Konior and preferably FUE, but ultimately deferring to whatever method he thought would yield the best results. The long wait is unfortunate though and I have not seen any results from Dr. Nadimi. Feller is obviously highly competent, and I am impressed with Bloxham's aggressive approach and posted results, but most of their work entails FUT and shaved recipient area, which I assume would be impossible to conceal for at least 2 months or so.
As the thread title indicates, I do not have the luxury of taking a long period of time off post-transplant. I can probably take 2, maybe 2 and 1/2 weeks off. I'm almost 40 years old and I can't switch jobs or work from home, etc. With that said, I would be interested to hear what experienced members think would be the best course of action for someone in my circumstances.
Some background: I have dark, coarse and curly hair and am currently a NW2-3. I have a thread with pics in the "tell your story section" under username frankwhite (forgot password on that account and got locked out). I have been on finasteride for about 9 years now, and have been applying topical minoxidil 5% for around 8 years. I have mostly maintained since starting the medications but am below baseline in the frontal third. I have some retrograde alopecia but it is minor, and while I have some thinning on the vertex/mid-scalp it is also minor and does not need to be addressed at the moment. The main area of concern is a receded hairline and thinning frontal third, which is what I intend to address through a hair transplant.
Dr. Nadimi said that I am a candidate for either FUE or FUT, and recommended somewhere between 1500 to 2000 grafts in the frontal area. Dr. Konior is booked into 2019 but Dr. Nadimi advised me that she could perform the surgery this summer. Interestingly, Dr. Nadimi said that a low dose of oral minoxidil may be helpful in thickening up my native hair.
Dr. Bloxham also said that I am a candidate for a hair transplant, and recommended FUT because he said that curly hair is more likely to be transected by FUE extraction because there is often "curl below the skin." He recommended 2500 grafts in a "frontal band" procedure.
My concern is that I would like to leave some hair in the recipient area -- at least 1.5 to 2 inches long on top of my head -- with the idea that this would provide some camouflage while the grafts heal and grow in, and I could go with FUE so that I could avoid a large linear scar. The "curl below the skin" transection comment by Dr. Bloxham gave me some concern though, and I wonder if the smarter route would be to go for FUT. If a FUT yield from Konior or Bloxham/Feller is significantly higher, I guess that would weigh heavily against FUE. I also understand that some doctors, like Feller and Bloxham, believe that FUE causes significant damage to the donor area and should be utilized only after FUT has been exhausted. Dr. Konior's office did not seem to share this concern and presented FUE or FUT as almost interchangeable, although I admit did not ask them specifically.
With all that said, I am wondering if people with hair transplant experience think it would be realistic for a NW2 or NW3 that still has decent coverage to undergo a procedure with the expectation of returning to work 2 weeks later without visible signs. I know that the best possible situation would be to completely shave the recipient area, but unfortunately my circumstances don't permit this.
Also, any thoughts on the doctors mentioned in this thread, etc., would be appreciated. I was originally planning on going with Konior and preferably FUE, but ultimately deferring to whatever method he thought would yield the best results. The long wait is unfortunate though and I have not seen any results from Dr. Nadimi. Feller is obviously highly competent, and I am impressed with Bloxham's aggressive approach and posted results, but most of their work entails FUT and shaved recipient area, which I assume would be impossible to conceal for at least 2 months or so.
