So some of you will remember me, and some I will be new too. Im going to try to make this short. To all you young people 18 to 25 thinking of getting a transplant...my advice...THINK very carefully, and as hard as it is...try to think of the future and not right now. I got a ht (FUE) when i was 23, and I think it was A) a big waste of time B) A big waste of money and C) caused more damage then good in the long run. Im not going to say this is the case for everyone, but i am going to say that im 27 years old now...and wish I could have listened to my parents, listened to the advise on here and just didnt get one. The transplant turned out to be very very very ( i say that to get the point across) thin looking and low....with some gaps in it, either way...i started to use toppik again when it was past 12 months and im not going to lie...it looked very good with toppik...but heres the thing...as the years went out...my hair continued to thin...and the transplant started to be more noticeable, as all the hair in between and around started to go...toppik got harder and harder to use. I have learned a few things....if you are going to be bald...you are going to be bald...and if you try to hide it....the more people will notice it. I mean if you are a NW2 or NW3 (for life) that is a different story....but if you want the hair you have now as a 20-21-22 year old...and know u will continue down the NW scale...im tellling you...BE careful....you have no IDEA what i would give to be able to shave my head without it looking "funny". Anyways if anyone wants to talk about it...id be more then happy to help. Now for you old timers out there who have the wisdom im looking for....can anyone tell me if it is possible to get my FUE work removed or atleast get enough of it removed so i have a receding hairline and a more natural balding pattern? Thanks

All good advice. I wonder what % of patients wish there was an 'undo' button?

Here is my advice to you: Forget trying to 'undo' your FUE. Like many of us, you are spending enough time worrying about your result that it likely is being magnified by your worry into something it is not. Your hair may very likely be fine and there is nothing wrong with it. I understand you wanting to revert to a receding hairline, and understand that sentiment 100%.

I just think trying to "remove" anything will cause you more anxiety and likely more damage than leaving your hair alone. You are only 27, your attitude will likely go through a metamorphoses over time, like when you turn 30, then 35, then 40. Learn to live with what you got and, perhaps more importantly, learn to accept the way you look. Try different styling approaches if you want, or just shave your head and be done with it, like so many of us wish we could. Doing so probably doesnt make you look "funny" to anyone but yourself.

22yrsold, thank you for that post.  A lot of young people need to see what a mistake it is to get a hair transplant. 

Now, about your fue hairs.  It seems to me that they can be lasered out.  They can also be taken out with an FUE technique, but I think that a number of other threads have discussed laser removal.  Please read through the threads in the "Hair transplant repair" section of this website.  Read the comments from people like Illinoisbaldy or GSNYC.  There is a lot of good information on this site.

Importantly, your situation is NOT hopeless.  You can get a near-normal head back.  As soon as you get those grafts removed.

Thanks for the reply...and trust me...i am in general a very confident person ( in a lot of other area's and aspects of my life ) however i do have some pretty close friends who are honest with me....and when one says.."you hair looks funny" and another asks...did you get plugs while staring at your hair ( due to the lighting conditions of course) its going to throw you off.. I am just hoping to find a way to shave down to a # 1 and have a normal receding hairline as opposed to a hairline that is there with hair missing beyond it...u know? I do appreciate your thoughts though...and i hope i can find it in me to be at peace with it. Just wanted to see if anyone else considered this to have more of a normal look (aka all i want now)

Minigrafted- thanks im going to look into that. if i could just look normal...i would be much happy. And about my post...i have so much more i could say to anyone looking for advise or thinking about getting a transplant. The stuff i have been through over my hair...it has consumed my life for 4 years, my decisions of going swimming ....being in the sun without a hat...etc... I think these are IMPORTANT factors HT companies should talk about as well...but if they wont...i will be more then happy to give young people both the positive and th negatives about it...so they can make an informed decision.

Any chance your the guy 22 who had the HT with Armani years back ?

22yearsold,

Can you please elaborate in more detail why, as an FUE patient, you would give anything to be able to shave your head and look "normal" again ?

It was my assumption that the exclusive reason people go the FUE route over strip is so that later on down the road when MPB finishes them off, they can just throw in the towel and shave with a #1/2 guard and be done with it.

Am I missing something here ?

I followed this forum LONG before I joined, now I know why this guys name rang a bell.

Seems like the vets round here knew he had issues from the start

 

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=58&threadid=74139&STARTPAGE=2&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

 

http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?catid=58&threadid=74643&STARTPAGE=3&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear

 

 

Unfortunately this is the case for any kind of hair transplant, if you are not using Propecia as you continue to recede the hair transplant does become more noticeable.

-------------------------
Disclaimer - I am not a physician or an expert and my advice should not be considered medical/expert advice. - If you follow my opinions and/or advice you do so at your own risk.

OK, I just saw 22yearold's blog from 2007.

Now I know why he is unhappy and why he won't look normal even shaved down. He had 2500 FUEs dense packed into a ridiculously low NW -1 hairline. He was chasing a 14 year old hairline, and now he sees the harsh reality of that decision.

So he has an expensive, permanent, dense mustache on the front of his head and the inevitable expanding balding dome behind it -- a disaster that many here could easily forsee was awaiting him.

 

What happened to all those guys who used to post, didn't one actually work for the DR who did the surgery ?   It would be interesting to hear what that guy has to say today as he was sure if would grow in fine

Hey guys, so heres the reality...i did not want this topic to have anything to do with my surgeon...but rather the simple facts of a hair transplant...and just sharing the truth with young people thinking about going this route (which again...i wont say isnt right for everybody, just to be VERY careful) Now he are a few facts- EpilepticSceptic- Although I understand what your saying, the fact of the matter is. I did not have a dense pack as before the procedure i was definitely a norwood 3 and if you read the posts- I NEVER wanted or asked for dense packing - in fact if you could find my original post- i said myself i thought the hairline was far to aggressive as i wanted a conservative approach with widow peaks and a more U shape. I unfortunetly did not get that....but I also did not get growth of 2500 grafts. I would say if im lucky i had maybe a 35- 40% growth rate (if that). So my issue is not that i have a "mustache" at the front. My issue is that the hairline that was created was to aggressive that I wanted and now as my natural hair around the transplant continues to fall - it looks more and more pluggy. Even after the 12-14 months...but density was extremely poor and i was using toppik to make it look fuller. Now to your first post EpilepticSceptic- The reason it is still hard to shave with FUE is because as you start to loss more hair...the fue works starts to look unnatural and you start having gaps. But even without the gaps...you hair is not as thick in the fue areas as it is in the areas that are naturally going. Anyways- the whole point I am trying to make is - be careful...think about your future looks and dealing and accepting hairloss will keep you away from what many here can tell you will be A LONG stressful...time consuming battle. Again- for some people it will be worth it..and for others....it will only make things worse. I am mature about what I did....and having to deal with it...but there is no harm in letting others know the reality and seeing how perspectives change from 23 to 27, and how im sure it will from 27 to 35 etc...

I think you should just shave your head. No strip scar, no problem

I see the "facts" this way in your case:

1) your surgeon is to blame for attempting to give you a broad 14 year old hairline on a 22 year old NW3 with 2500 grafts.

2) because so broad of an area was attempted to be covered he did not dense pack you, which ironically is causing the HT hair to stand out cause gaps are too wide to look natural

You say these are the "simple facts of a hair transplant", but in reality they are the "simple facts of a poorly planned hair transplant". Your surgeon is at fault IMHO for allowing it, yet it seems you want to blame HTs in general as if everyone will make the same mistake or be pushed by their surgeon into an agressive design they did not agree upon.

It's funny how two people can see the same thing and yet see something totally different. 

I don't see his post blaming HT's in general like you do.   I see his post warning young guys about the limitations of hair transplants in general.

What he seems to be saying, and he can correct me if I am wrong, are that HT clinics don't always tell you the pros and cons, ie long term effects.

Whether or not his transplant doctor is to blame in his case, it really doesn't change the reality of a HT for a guy in his 20s with early hair loss.

Once you go down the road of HT surgery there is no turning back.    Even if you get 100% growth and even if your hair line placement is ok, any further hair loss in someone who is in the early stages of hair loss, is going to result in the HT becoming more visible over time.

There is no getting around this simply because you can only replace hair once it has fallen out.

That's what I got from his post, and that is a common theme from guys who have a HT early on in their hair loss phase.

-------------------------
Disclaimer - I am not a physician or an expert and my advice should not be considered medical/expert advice. - If you follow my opinions and/or advice you do so at your own risk.

22yrsold... after the surgery did you use any meds (propecia/dut) or topicals to maintain existing hair?

-------------------------
1.25mg Fin 5 times a week
0.5mg Dutas 2 times a week
Minox twice per day
Topical spiro intermittently
---------------
Considering RU

Unfortuanately we will be seeing more and more of these cases in the next few years. Placing low dense hairlines on 20 somethings is unethical in most cases and can only result in what we have here. Regardless of if these same patients know this in advance, the clinics know that they are dealing with naive and impulsive young men and that they are easy prey. They simply do not have the life experience to know any better, let alone listen to others. It's really sad to see because they don't realize the effect it will have on their life for a very, very long time.

You can have the grafts fue'd out. But don't make a mistake. You need someone that is ethical and highly experienced. I'm not too sure about how well a laser treatment might work, but whatever you do make sure you only do a small test at first, then evaluate the results.

Keep others posted on what happens because this information is valuable. It would also help others for you to post about your experience every so often.

-------------------------
I recently won the pro bono offer to have repair work with BHR. I will be writing about it soon on my blog.
http://hairtransplantrepair.blogspot.com/

Am I the only one who questions the wisdom of trying to "recede" a dense-packed HT hairline?

He's not just gonna end up with perfect smooth forehead skin in the temples after lasering the grafts dead or physically taking them back out. HTs cause scarring in the recipient area. He might not have a ton of grafts per cm2 growing right now, but 2500 planted is 2500 planted.


(Then again, it also wouldn't shock me if there was much less than 2500 grafts really planted in the first place. It's such a small area I'm not sure how 2500 is even possible, especially in one sitting. It's hard to draw 2500 dots with a felt-tip pen in that much forehead space.)

Would you mind sharing the link? I couldn't find it... (if it's ok with you, 22yrsold?)

http://24yrsold.blogspot.com/