Hey everyone,

I recently had a consultation with Dr. Pittella, and he’s confident he can achieve great results with approximately 9,000 grafts (NW5, approaching NW6). I feel like I have a pretty good donor area, and my main goals are to achieve good density and a decent hairline.

The biggest hurdle is the price — around $70,000. I have the funds, but it’s still a significant amount of money, especially since my original budget was closer to $40,000.

I know Pittella is one of the best for high Norwood cases, but I’m debating whether he’s worth the premium or if I should explore other surgeons. I’m considering consultations with Miln, Bek, and Ratchathorn.

Would you bite the bullet and go with Pittella, or explore other options? Would love to hear everyone’s thoughts!

I did my HT 05/10, with approximately 4500 drafts and 9000 hairs, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. I opted for not shaving, since I shaved it all last year and was truly disgusted with the ideia of doing it again.

Still truly ugly, but trusting the process. I might trim on the sides a little bit, away from the transplanted area, and use scissors to even out my hair on the front. But for now, I just need patience.

Some before and current photos at about 8 months. Very happy with the work by Dr. Taner Karahan. Easy setup, nice hotel. Would highly recommend.

I’m day 9 post-op and my scabs began to naturally come off during my daily wash. I know that grafts are locked in and secure by day 9, so with gentle rubs, I completed my scab removal today.

I have a few stubborn scabs left I’ll let come off on their own, but I’m worried about 2 spots in particular. Are these dislodged? Damaged? One has some blood it seems. Can it be a surface scar?

Firstly does anyone know why this purple mark would be made here? I had PRP but not sure that's where they injected. I wonder about this because this is where I had a lingering scab that required antibiotic ointment and another week of oral antibiotics 💊. The scab finally came off naturally weeks after the other ones (about 37 days post) but now I'm noticing a ring of more serious shock loss (hopefully just that and not follicle loss) around where that purple mark and lingering scab was. Anyone with patchy shock loss post op, I'll take any reassurances or outcomes months later. Just nervous is all. Thanks all for the feedback!

I know beard procedures have a bad wrap because of the special nature of them and all the horror stories but I can also find what I think are legitimately good results online. I’m doing my research now and it’s exhausting trying to find the right doctor so any advice would be appreciated.

For clarity I have really good beard growth everywhere except the mid cheeks. I just want to improve the density there to help create less contrast between the goatee area and the rest of the look. I don’t want to awful new beard line that looks fake.

I understand beard transplants require different technique and considerations and the downside can be massive so I want to make sure I find the right surgeon.

Thanks

I just got mine two days ago and holy shit it was ROUGH. Expected the anesthesia to be bad, so nothing crazy there, but being stuck in a chair in a same position for hours during extraction was not fun lmao. Fainted once right after it. On day 2 now and feeling way better. Anybody else have a similar experience?

1st photo is 14 months post op. 2nd photo is before ht.

Went back to the surgeon complaining that not only does it not look more dense, I now have circles of missing hair. Got told by my surgeon at the 1 year follow up that the procedure was successful, I just need a second transplant. Which seems a little crazy to me I wasn’t bald before just thin. And I was told this will absolutely give me the results I’m looking for and fill in my part easily.

Got a second opinion from a female surgeon at the same clinic who noted, I definitely do not look like I have had any results, but they cannot accept any fault. She told me to go to my dermatologist and get a scalp sample sent to a specific scalp pathologist to rule out scarring alopecia before they try and come up with any solutions. This would have to be paid by me, out of pocket. I don’t even know what the results would say to them, if it would be positive they could tell me that’s a me problem and to eff off. But they are framing it as we want to potentially get you a refund or offer you other options “to get you where you want your hair”, whatever that means.

My thoughts, I would not get a female hair transplant unless it’s in an area where there is no hair. I’ve seen a lot of photos of success in hairline lowering but that is filling in an area that has zero hairs. I do not know what to do now. I’m out $10k and more bald than before.

Previous post: https://www.reddit.com/r/HairTransplants/s/T9JvQi9INv

Okay so I am 79 days in and today I had to walk 15 min in the sun (uv 4) from home to work. I don't notice extra redness but i am still afraid this could've damage my transplant. Any toughts?

What do you all think? Good density for 5.5 months?

​

After months of contemplating, here I am with my hair transplant.

I still cannot believe I went through it .

Hoping for Positive results

Hi everyone,

I’m currently on Day 25 after my hair transplant, during which around 3,000 grafts were implanted in my frontal hairline.

I’ve recently noticed shedding, and on one occasion (on 20th day), after scratching my scalp, I noticed a patch that looked almost completely bald. This has made me concerned about whether I’m experiencing normal post-transplant shedding or if I might have lost some grafts.

I’m attaching photos from the day of surgery (Day 0) and Day 25 so you can assess shedding.

I’d appreciate your thoughts on a few questions:

● Is this amount of shedding normal around Day 25?
● Can scratching at this stage cause graft loss, or are the grafts generally secure by now?
● If a patch looks completely bald, can the follicles still be alive beneath the skin?
● Has anyone experienced something similar and eventually achieved good density?

I understand that everyone heals differently, but I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have been through the same experience, especially those who are several months or a year post-transplant.

Thanks in advance for sharing your experiences and advice!

Hi guys, what do you think? The shedding phase seems to be over, but I still don’t see much improvement in terms of density. Is this normal at 45 days post-op, or should I be seeing more growth by now?
Would appreciate your thoughts!

Hello!

I’m just wondering if anyone has any suggestions for me and or has been in a similar situation. I’m wanting to book in a transplant, despite knowing the risks regarding shock loss for the native hairs as a diffuse thinner. At the moment my scalp is extremely visible and it honestly makes me extremely self conscious. I’ve tried the buzz and growing it out results in it looking whispy, despite the full coverage and okay hairline.

I’m currently on 0.5mg of Dut (after being on Fin for around 6-7 years along with oral minox at 2.5mg. My question is if there’s any potential surgeons I can look to that would be alittle less conservative and approach my situation despite the potential risks of shock loss. From my perspective, the hairs particularly at the frontal scalp region have already miniaturised to a significant extent that even if the native hairs don’t all survive, the grafted hairs will look provide better overall density.

Any suggestions are welcome.

I’m 24 years old, and unfortunately, there aren’t any dermatologists close to where I live, so I thought I’d post here to get some advice and see if anyone has experienced something similar.

My hairline was never great to begin with, but the hair on my crown and the rest of my scalp was pretty good. It was slowly getting thinner, but I still had considerably decent density until March 2025.
That’s when I decided to get a hair transplant while I was overseas. Looking back, my first mistake was getting a transplant without trying any medication beforehand, but it is what it is.

I work in real estate, which can be quite stressful. I also suffered a back injury that left me bedridden for a while, and I ended up gaining a lot of weight during that period.

The strange thing is that my natural hair never really grew back to the same density after the transplant. The transplant was only done to rebuild my front hairline. Nothing was done to my crown or mid-scalp. But for some reason, the hair in those areas never returned to how it looked just a week before I shaved my head for the procedure.

Around March this year, I grew my hair longer and stopped paying much attention to it for a while. Then I started taking retatrutide for about four and a half months and lost approximately 22 kg.
After that, I got another buzz cut, and that’s when I realised just how thin my hair had become. Now that it’s grown out a little, I can clearly see that my overall density is significantly worse compared to March this year.

What’s confusing is that nobody in my immediate family has thin hair, although receding hairlines do run in my extended family.

I’ve now been taking finasteride for about a month and a half and am planning to start minoxidil as well.
I’m just trying to understand what’s actually causing this hair loss. Could it be genetic hair loss, the rapid weight loss from retatrutide, stress, shock loss from the transplant, or a combination of everything?

I’m only 24, and seeing my hair deteriorate this quickly has been pretty stressful, especially when it was nowhere near this bad a year or two ago.
I’d really appreciate any advice, especially from anyone who’s experienced something similar or has knowledge about hair loss.

Regarding potential damage to the hair—specifically after a transplant—is there a certain waiting period before one can consume alcohol, marijuana, or cocaine? Haha, just asking out of general curiosity; I’m sure this would be helpful for many people here to know! ❤️🫶🏻

Hey there. I am currently using topical Min (%5) and topical fin (%0.1) for the last 8 months daily, I also use ketoconazole shampoo x2/week. I have started with dermastamping weekly for the last month. This is my current progress. I have no sides.

My question is this: I have a HT appointment for the end of December and I am not sure if I should wait another year or if I could just get it now. Right nnow would be perfect time with me having more stability and business trips being less and such.

I am not sure how much more difference would the medicine make after 10 months and I really want to get the HT and be done with it. I also want to maximize the graft count. I have heard that I have a good donor area + I have pretty strong beard and a lot of chest hair if needed.

I am also fearful if I would be a harder case for the doctor since I am diffuse thinner and there is not so much place to add the grafts, they have to place all of them in between. The doctor is a pretty suggested one here, so no worries there, it’s not a hairmill.

Thank you in advance!

24m -2.8k grafts What a journey, is all I can say it is one of the best decision even if it was just for the 4 months that I been with decent hair to this. I recover so much confidence . All the progress is in my profile with all the info too . In other words I was saved in the minute 90+5 IYKYK

Hi,
I have a time slot with Dr Ratchathorn in April, but want to reschedule for July (full). Anyone have a slot in July who want to come earlier?

hello all, I'm writing this because it's been 18 months since my fue transplant And I feel I haven't got the results that I was hoping for So I am seeking people's thoughts and help. So my current regime is 15% minoxidil Two times per day RU 58841 two times per day dutasteride two times a week as well as micro needling two times per week at a depth of .5 millimetres I also do scalp massages when I can I have had PRP treatments and I've tried creating a good healthy environment for my scalp so no harsh chemicals in shampoos or conditioners, I genuinely have a good diet I exercised and I still don't feel like the results I have aren't good enough to get past a feeling of poor self worth and desirable to females. I will say that I am currently on TRT but very low amounts and I don't feel the amount that I am on should impact my hair this much. I have had two hair transplants in my life I am 42 the first one was in 2019 in bangkok 3000 Graphs And the second one was in Turkey which was 3150 grafts as well in 2025 march. I don't have history of hair loss in my family and cannot understand after everything that I have tried I can't get past this feeling, I know that if I had decent density Add decent thickness in my hair that I would be able to look at myself in the mirror Add walk out with great confidence and enjoy life a lot more than what I currently am, currently this hair loss battle is taking up a lot of emotional energy time and money and I feel like it has defeated me So I guess I am reaching out to everyone in this community to ask Has there been something that they have done that has really worked After trying everything or really for any advice people have for me Thank you. Happy to upload more pictures if ppl want. Thank You Again.

How many grafts do it need. What norwood stage is it? I am a good candidate? Had a hair transplant two years ago. Which clinics in Turkey do you recommend. I don't want to go to the clinic where i had my first hair transplant because they told me to take Xpecia instead of fin + min. I regret listening to them.

Going to a world class doc next year. I have SMP that I want to remove before the procedure. How far in advance should I get the SMP removed to ensure I don't put the HT in jeopardy in any way?

Anyone had experience in this and can weigh in? I assume earlier the better (planning 4 or 5 months) but would love some actual data.

Has anyone here used hair fibres after HT? I am at 3 months and still have sparse scalp. I just want to stop wearing hat, its so irritating to wear it all day and everyday at the University and Work.

Hey guys, I'm 20 and pretty stressed about my hair loss. I've posted pictures here to show where I'm at.
I went to two different clinics and got completely opposite answers, and I don't know who to trust:
Clinic A told me "Yeah, you're fine, we can open channels and do a transplant right now at 20."
Clinic B told me not to do surgery yet. Instead, they want me on minoxidil, special shampoos, supplements, and clinic treatments like meso and hair botox.
I haven't taken any meds like minoxidil or finasteride yet. To be honest, I'm really scared of finasteride side effects. I know it's FDA-approved and most people are fine, but the thought of it still makes me hesitant.
For anyone who’s been through this:
1. Has anyone actually gotten a hair transplant at 20 or so with that situation ?
2. What did you guys do when you were in my shoes?
3. If I do get a transplant eventually, will I have to take finasteride anyway to keep the results?
4. For those of you who got a hair transplant, do you actually take finasteride afterwards to keep your hair? Or did you skip it?