1y+ update

Hey guys,

Here I am again after a 'small' absence. It's now been more than a year since my HT with Dr. Armani in Dubai.

So, looking at my pictures now and at the 8mo mark, it looks like there's been only a small improvmement, so I guess I've reached the 90%-100% of the final density. Overall I'm happy with the results. The temples are a little bit thinner than the front but I can live with that. I will try to make my hair grow longer now... we'll see how it'll look. BTW, again, it's pretty hard to capture my hair on pics at this length, hope the quality ain't too bad...

Enjoy the summer! I'll be back... :)

8 moths

Hey hey, appologies for the delay in posting any updates but here it is:

As I said on the forum before, I recently had to stop using Minoxidil due to scalp irritation.

It's kinda weird since it looks on the pics like my scalp is peeling off or something which is NOT the case... my scalp is actually almost back to normal so really no idea why the pics are like that. I'll try to snap some other later to see if it's only due to lighting. But they give a pretty good idea anyhow.

Anyways, the growth is good, I'd say 60-70% of the final density (hopefully!) so there's still some thickening to go but it looks quite good already. The left side is still weaker but it's getting there.

Any questions- just shoot.

Ciao.

6 months update is here!

Hi! So voila, I made it to the iconic 6 months mark!

The time really flies by, I can tell you. Anyhow... as you can see I let my hair grow longer again- I don't really like it this way but the buzzing ain't an option at the moment (following orders from Dr Armani!).

As for the progress- it's definitely getting there, albeit it could be faster. I met Dr Armani a last weekend and he estimates that I might be at about 40-50% of final density so that should be more or less right on track.

The frontal part of my transplanted hairline is actually getting pretty thick, while the temples are a bit behind, especially the left side. But I am seeing some new activity there as well with some new tiny hair popping up here and there.

So, the framing of the face is now done, and I'm hoping for more density to come progressively in the comming months.

BTW, even at this stage I can tell you that the new hair has been such a confidence booster! It's almost hard to believe what a few hundred hair can do to your morale and confidence! Thanks Dr Armani ;)

P.S. sorry if the pics are a bit dark but there ain't that much sun light in the UK these days... sadly.

4.5 months buzz cut pics

It's been only about a week from my last update but I recently got a buzz cut so I thought I'll post some pics. I must say that I look way better with short hair.

My hair has this funny tendency to look almost white under the bright light (this set was taken outdoors) and relatively dark inside. As you can see, the left side is still lagging behind the right one but it doesn't look as bad as on the outside pics when I just get a shiny bald reflection from the left temple.

4mo

Hey all. This is the (bit overdue) 4 mo update. The hair is coming up nicely but it's still a bit thin and the left side is still lagging behind the right one. Hope that it'll change in the next couple of months.

Looking at the pics I see it's time to get a haircut cos I didn't get one in 2.5 months! It's a bit dauntig cos I haven't been in a hairdresser's or barbers' in something like 7 years!!! I've been buzzing my hair since I was 18- a.k.a. since this f***n' curse of hairloss began. Anyway I think I look way better with short hair but unfortunatelly Dr. Armani recomended not buzzing my hair for a while so will have just to get a shorter cut.

Peace and out!

3mo "results"

Appologies for not posting the 3mo update earlier- I've been traveling quite a lot during the past few days and I didn't have chance to connect to the internet.

Anyhow, to sum up the progress- there's definitely some stuff happening albeit it's not as quick as I anticipated. My right temple is actually pretty decent but the left side is lagging a bit behind. However, I can already say that my hair looks to me a tiny bit better than pre op which is good news because I got some shockloss which seems to have grown back nicely. Also, the hairline is no longer red.

As you can see the pics are a bit different this time. When I tried to take the snaps in the direct sunlight I couldn't get them to show almost anything. The new hair is still light and fine and the camera doesn't pick it up. However when I look in the mirror I can see a really nice outline of the hairline on the right side. The left side has about 100 of small new hair growing as well- shame I can't capture it on a pic. If I point my head in the sunlight or use a flash I only get a shiny bald reflection :( Sorry for the blur but that's what happens if you shoot in the dark...

Hopefully next month I'll be able to get to the usual style of pics using a direct natural light.

See y'all in September ;) Enjoy the rest of the sumer.

2 months

Tomorrow I'll be reaching the 2 months' mark. As you can see there are fewer pics this time and they are a bit different- my girlfriend is on hols and I had to take them on my own. It's such a pain in the...- took me nearly 20 minutes to shoot a few decent snaps! Just in case you're wondering, the wierd shade in my donor area is due to the flash.

Anyways, the last few days have been interesting cos I began to see some early birds popping up in my temple areas so I might be slowly approaching the end of doldrums! Hope the growth will pick up the pace now. The flakes that are visible on the front pic aren't due to the transplant, I get them from using Minoxidil. My skin has always been sensitive to it and it always caused some flakiness.

BTW, I met with Dr. Armani a couple of days ago and he told me that I have only about 1% of growth so far but everything looks good otherwise. He recommended not to buzz my hair from this point anymore so I'll leave it grow out a bit now. Watch out for the 3 mo update- that'll be one helluva mane.. yea I wish :)

1.5 mo

1.5 moths update- not much new to report actually. I'm getting the full post op experience- some shockloss, odd pimples and waiting for any signs of the first growth to kick in... oh yeah, not missing out on anything!

1 month

So here we go, I made it (without going crazy) to the 1 month mark!

I guess it is now as thin as it will get- I think I got a little shock loss in the front as well. Hopefully it'll all grow back soon. I actually noticed that there is quite a lot little hair popping up along the hairline. Do you think it's my original hair or the newly transplanted? I thougt it was still quite early for the new hair to start growing. But whatever, I don't complain!

As you can see from the pics, the frontal are is still a bit pink but this doesn't bother me. I shaved my head today to a #1 guard and the donor looks a little bit reddish at this length. But I wouldn't complain even if stayed this way either- I'm sure no one would notice it. But still, hope the redness will fade even more. I must say that the pics look slightly worse than it does in reality.

3 Weeks

Getting cleaner (and sadly thinner) by the day...

D18, going back to work tomorrow!!!

OK, these are my D-1 pics- have to go to work tomorrow :(

Things have been improving very well in the last couple of days. I've been losing loads of scabs with each washing. Shame I can't stay home a couple of days more- it would look much better by them. But still this is definitely an improvement from my D14 pics. Do you think people would believe me if I told than them that this is an alergic reaction to something? :) Well maybe not but I have still 2 washings to do- 1 this evening and 1 tomorrow morning. Hope it'll help a bit.

2 weeks

Here we go, 2 weeks pics. The healing process seems to go very slowly IMO. At this pace it'll take a month for the area to clean up completely.

I guess I'll have to come up with the truth when I return back to work... Dammit.

My crusts are deeper than yours!!! Check out that beard BTW, it's the first time in my life that I left it grow out so much. It's meant as a diversion... but I bet people would still notice my scalp...

Day 8 + 11

Not much change here, guess it's on a good way to healing.

Comon team, let's pull yourself together. I'll be staying home for another 10 days- hope it'll be more or less healed by the time I go back to work. I'm in trouble if not...

Day 8:

Day 11:

The donor is great, you can see small red dots on the pic but they are virtually invisible in real life. Come on recipient, heal already!

Day 4 and 5

Hey hough,

To give you a quick update, here are my pics frmo day 4 and 5 post op. Everything's healing quite nicely. No more swelling- it was almost completely gone by day 4.

Day 4:

Mirror, mirror, am I prettiest girl in the world? lol :)

Day 5:

That white stuff in my hair is the Fucidin H Creme (in case anybody wonders!)

And the swelling kicks in!

Here we go, 2 and 3 days post op. Everything seems to be healing nicely and goes well except for the swelling. I guess it's not as bad as some other guys have experienced but still looks quite funny. My right side is much more swollen than my left side, I guess I must have slept with my head tilted to the right.

Oh, speaking of sleeping post op- as you might know, you have to sleep in a 45-90% position, basically seated. It really isn't easy and each morning it takes me a few moments before I can move my neck again!

Me and my super bed:

So, here are the swelling pics, I guess it could have been worse. So far the local folks didn't start throwing stones at me so maybe I don't look all that bad...

Day 2, PM... doesn't look so bad, I like that boxer look.

Day 3, AM... spot the difference between my left side of the face and the right side!

Pre op and the day post op

I took these pics 1 day pre op after coming to Dubai and on the day of the surgery.
Dubai is a great city, albeit a bit chaotic at the begining. I arived on Monday evening, had a consult with Dr. Armani on Tuesday and Wednesday was my big day.

The surgery was supposed to take 2 days, but I was really happy that they managed to do all in just 1 day. The whole thing lasted for 11 hours! I can tell you that I was quite a bit exhausted but you have to admire the staff that they were able to focus for such a long time. And I can tell that they have been fantastic, very professional, dedicated and carying. They are also quite a funny bunch so that has made the whole procedure a little more bearable.
Dr. Armani was great as well, very helpful in answering all my question and addressing my concerns. I told him that I'm not aiming for a low and very dense hairline, but rather a little bit of a recession and more coverage. I'm VERY pleased with the hairline design. He made it a little non symetric (he told me that he will do that before the surgery, not after in case you ask! :) so as to make it more naturally looking.
All in all, a great experience and a big thanks to all the Armani staff.
As for the pain, I can't compare it with a strip as this is my first such procedure. Sure, there was some pain involved and quite a lot of blood but it wasn't really that bad. However, I think I wouldn't want to repeat the same thing for at least a few years... you still get some swelling, feel a bit crap etc.
Now, I'm 1 day post op, everything's going well. I didn't have much swelling as yet, but they've taken my bangage down so I guess I'll get some swelling down my face once the anestesia and all that stuff comes down.
Also, I have to thank my mother who came to Dubai with me. It really helps to have someone who can help you with the post op washing, ordering lunches when you really don't feel like going out at all!
Let me know what you think....






Ready to go, Borat style.



Me and Dr. Armani, the day before...

Post op, in the hotel. Love that hairline design. Hopefully I'm going to be so excited about the grown out results in a few months as well!

Current situation

OK, now for the serious stuff.

Here are my pre op pictures. They have been taken back in Sep 05 (1.5 years ago) when I've done my first consultation with Dr. Armani. Things haven't changed much since then.

Also, they have been taken in almost a direct sunlight so it looks worse than it is in reality. I'll try to take some better/ more recent ones when I come to Dubai.

Anyhow, here they are:

Preparation... key to the success!

Here are the key ingredients for the day D:


Photographic equipment (Canon EOS 350D):




















...and all other necessary stuff:

-2 hats, 2 baseball caps (one of them the official
Armani one. How cool is that! :) to cover things up.

- 2x Johnson's baby shampoo

- Rogaine foam

- Hair clipper

- Armani bag (not really sure what for but looks nice:)

Pre op pic and what I want to achieve!

This almost looks like me pre op... just to give you an idea!

And this is my post op goal. I can't wait to hit on all those ladies once I look like this in a few months' time!