POSTED UNDER FUE Hair Transplant Reviews
27 y/o, FUE Hair Transplant, 3400 Grafts - results not as promised
UPDATED FROM byvillain
1 year post
Last update - 1 year and 3 months
$5,023
So, here it is guys, my last update for this topic. It seems like I was a bit too euphoric in the beginning, as my results didnt end quite as promised to me by Dr Civas. I was promised full natural coverage on top, and good coverage on the crown. Instead I think I ended up with only some coverage on the top, and almost none in the crown. Im not sure if this is due to underestimating my baldness level, as Dr Civas was the only one who said I needed 3200 grafts, while all the other clinics I asked a quote from estimated around 4500. If its not that, then simply a lot of my transplanted grafts didnt survive, either because they did a bad job with the transplant, or I must have done something post-op (which I dont think I have, as I never had any injuries, skin conditions, and I was following the post-op regimen as instructed). What also puzzled me a bit is that Dr Civas told me back then that I probably might not need a 2nd session, but now when I contacted them with my last update stating that Im unhappy with my result, they said I should come in for a 2nd session as they "need to finish my crown anyway", which was quite contradictory to what was stated before. They did offer me a discount (1 eur per graft) for my second transplant as they also acknowledged that my results dont look good, but I have still opted out from that option, I am not that confident that I want to hand over to them again my few remaining grafts :) So I am going with Dr Maral next week in Istanbul to try out my luck. Here are last few pics that I took today, it doesnt look good, but doesnt look disastrous either, as my hair looks fuller than before the transplant (and I also take all of my pics immediately after the shower and with strong lights). If you have any questions shoot away, I am going to open a new thread next week afyer Maral's session, cheers :)
byvillain's provider
UPDATED FROM byvillain
1 year post
1 year 1 mont post-op
So, I am actually finally starting to get a bit more satisfied with my hair transplant. I would say that somewhat I am the living proof that slower growers indeed do exist and are not mythical creatures :D Of course, it is far from perfect, but I think its a huge change from before. The crown is still lagging far behind, and is quite under my expectations, not really happy with that one, but the doctor said as well he would focus more on the top than on the crown.. Hope at least the crown will get a little bit more improvement in the next month or two, as I still have these sharp and short transplanted hairs coming out when I apply Rogaine, you can see them attached in the pictures. Am I the only one who has still these transplanted hairs in the crown area a year after the HT?! Ive never ever seen anyone post anything similar? You will see below pictures from 1 year 1 month with longer hair, and with shorter freshly cut and wet after showering. Bear in mind that I take all of my pics with strong direct bathroom light. Any comments or feedback are welcome :)
Replies (2)
hmmm, not bad but also not great either? i went to the same doctor, 12 months ago, I feel my result was good so opted to go with the 2nd hair transplant too with Dr Civas. Now need to wait a further 9 months to get results from the other 2nd hair transplant. Good luck with yours.
Yes I fully agree. I will follow up with him in a week or two, to see what I should do, as Im not very happy with my result, and to see what went wrong. Yours looks good already from the first one, congrats! Keep us posted :)
UPDATED FROM byvillain
1 year post
1 year and 2 weeks post-op :)
So here it is, 1 year 2 weeks post op, taken few days ago. I feel its getting thicker and thicker by the week, in the last month or two. However, the crown is still lagging behind, and I can still find these small transplanted beard-like hairs either when I apply Rogaine and rub my scalp, or when I accidentally scratch my scalp (as in this case, you can se a small yellow-ish pimple and a hair inside). Is this normal? Did anyone else have a similar case, to have few of these hairs around even a year after the transplantation? Does this mean that these grafts are failed grafts (which would mean that quite a lot of them are failed), or will new hairs start falling when these have finally fallen out? Any comments are welcome as always, thanks :)
Replies (6)
3400 ufs is not enough for you! 3400 is only for front and mid section of ur head! and ur crown is very big, will need another 3000ufs to cover! Do u take propecia? (finasteride)??
looks that u still loosing hair!
looks that u still loosing hair!
Yes I think I will go for round 2 this year for sure, to cover the crown and a little bit more on the front and mid. Nope, I dont take any, Dr Civas told me that I should just use Rogaine and/or a laser cap. I also personally would like to avoid propecia (and yes I think I am still losing hair, especially on the left side, I think I am more or less done with losing on the crown)
I'd say another 1000 in the crown and 2000 behind your hairline. There's nothing wrong with somewhat thinning crown
I was thinking the same more or less. I am no expert but was thinning maybe around additional 1500 on the crown and 1500 behind the hairline (that is front and mid of the scalp, right?)
Yes, also is your hairline your native hair or is that transplanted? Need to be careful cause that could be 2000 grafts when that goes so you need to conserve donor. I can tell you have fine hair and maybe would suggest a topic like cabooki to use once a day just a little with would do.
Hairline is my native hair, I only lost somewhat on my left corner of my hairlie, and looks like I started losing on the left corner now as well (my balding pattern is pretty much the same as my dad´s, so I hope It wont continue more than this). True, I really didnt even think of that, I hope the surgeon will have that in mind when I go for my 2nd one. I use toppik already (there is no toppik on any of my pics though, I take all of my pics immediately after I shower and my hair dries), and when I use a little bit of toppik on top, it really looks perfect and thick. But my end goal is to have my hair look ok without toppik, I really got sick of it by now after all these years :)
Replies (7)
I’m very sorry for your disappointment – I can imagine how you feel and hope that your decision for second HT is well justified and will bring the results you desire. I’m feeling for you even more because I’m also Dr Civas’s patient, just in the second month after HT with him and hope for great results too – I have also been promised full natural coverage etc., seems to be a well-repeated mantra ☺
Now, concerning your post – it’s really the first negative review I’ve ever seen so far about Dr Civas’s work (being one of the surgeons with highest rate of positive feedback in Turkey). Considering that he’s an expert I don’t believe he underestimated your baldness level; on the other hand I tend to think that he is generally not going for very high graft numbers (unlike many others) just because he also tries to not exhaust the donor area too much. Logically speaking, they would be interested in taking more grafts just because they charge us for them. I can’t however judge how good the job they are doing is…
It is odd however that Dr Civas could not make proper judgment up front for the need of a second HT session – I thing this is something to expect from an experienced surgeon.
I also do not believe you did something wrong post-op – I know how careful one afterwards is. Do not also blame yourself for having done anything wrong; hair growth seems to be a complex process depending on ones’ own metabolism, stress exposure, etc.
I wish you the best luck with your second treatment, keep us posted how it is in Istanbul and with Maral’s clinic, some of us might need it too ☺
Take care and heads up!
Ned form Helsinki
Thanks for the nice words, I am 7 days post-op my 2nd hair transplant (this time with Dr Maral), hope it will go a bit better this time :) I hope everything will be fine at your end as well with your transplant. As you mentioned, I have only come across positive feedback regarding Dr Civas, only one or two negative ones, so just be patient and I am sure you will get great results!
I am still not sure what might have been wrong. I am reluctant to think that they might have messed something up from their side (you never know however), and I know (or hope at least) that I have done the best I could when it comes to post-op care.
The only rational thing I could come up with is that 1. he has underestimated my baldness level and 2. perhaps somewhat poor graft survival. The reasons why I think that is that I can see that there has been some new hair growth indeed in my balding areas, which could indicate that the transplant was somewhat successful but that they simply didnt extract enough grafts (again I appreciate them from not overextracting a lot of grafts like some other doctors do, I have read somewhere that it is better to have two smaller HTs than one big one). And the reason relating to number 2, is that I have for a long time had a lot of bear-like transplanted hairs in my crown that never shed, nor did they ever start growing, they were just stuck there in my crown for a whole year, which could indicate that some grafts indeed did not survive (again, reason for this I dont know, it can be either from the doctors side, or from my side).
All in all, dont stress about it too much, just let it grow, and wait for the results, I am sure it will be great. And keep us posted (I will have a look at your thread from time to time, looks good so far) :) I have already submitted my review from my 2nd HT for approval, just waiting for RealSelf to approve, and I will keep adding updates as well!
Best,
Byvillain :)