Hello, I would like to share briefly my experience to help other guys,
especially the younger ones on deciding on a hair transplant.
I have had just over 8,000 FUE done between 2 of the top FUE doctors in the
world over the past few years. I will not name any of them because I do not seek drama or legal threats so please refrain from asking or speculating. What I am writing I believe regards ALL FUE clinics.
I would not say that my result is poor
but it is certainly not excellent. My appearance has indeed improve
and therefore my social life, but there are some big problems with FUE
and hair transplants in general which I would like to discuss.
YIELD: I’ve always thought strip was crazy, brutal. But I think I was
also a little blinded by my zealousness for FUE and it only occurs to me recently that my yield is not great. Around 80-85% I think. I don’t know how other FUE guys have done. I know lots of results here on the forum look great, but I have seen several hair transplants in person, FUE & Strip, and I must say that it is quite a different experience in person, especially under the sun. I really suggest guys who are deciding to first see patients in person.
SCARS-I have many of the white dots as they call them. Although they are probably mostly from the larger punches which were used on my first surgeries. You can’t see them at a 1 guard clipper unless you get your eyes up close and are looking for them. It’s not a problem for me however…
THIN DONOR LOOK- After 8,000 grafts my donor hair looks thin like that of a person with a serious illness. This is noticeable when it is even as long as the length of hair from a 5 guard clipper hair cut. I keep my hair longer than this so it’s not too much of a concern for me, but…
ABILITY TO KEEP HAIR SHORT WITH FUE? As FUE clinics have advertised especially in the beginning. This is still up in the air with me. If the hair is very short, like a 1 guard, it looks pretty good. In fact the thinner donor softens the horseshoe pattern and makes me look less balding. I will have to say though that I believe hair transplanted hair once it starts getting longer than a 1, maybe 2 guard looks noticeable until it starts to get longer. I mean at 1 inch or so. Even with dense packing which is what I had. Yes, I know you may be able to point out many photos on the forum that would repudiate this, but again you should see those same patients in person in daylight!
Anyway this is more of a problem for guys like me with thick dark hair and fair skin. If you have light hair you can get away with it more. Hair transplanted hair looks best when it is fairly long, 3 inches or more- in my opinion.
The biggest concern for me has been my yield. Considering the tremendous cost of FUE it is disappointing. Because of thin areas throughout, my hair does not look very natural like the patients photos of the clinics I went to. I have to do some wonders with hair thickeners and such to get my hair to look decent.
I was also told that they are unable to remove any more grafts with FUE and I am actually considering a strip now because it is my only choice and I don’t want to deal with all this covering up and thickening for too much longer.
I really do think that to get the best results a large mega-session of strip is best and then FUE the other areas. The strip scar doesn’t bother me so much as before. I think also noticing scars on a woman’s breast implants has made me care less about a strip scar! lol.
If someone is in their 20’s and has a good amount of hair and wants to have FUE to replace as he loses I think it is important that you tell the clinic/doctor not to take grafts from the strip zone because you may need a strip eventually. I don’t think lots of guys realize how many grafts you need just to look decent with a hair transplant. It is really about big numbers.
Regards,
Pochotl