Before
For David, the idea of a hair transplant came a little out of the blue. One day, he started noticing that the crown of his head was showing. Since it’s not a spot you typically see, he had no idea that he had this bald spot. He had always thought he had good hair due to genetics, so “it was quite a shock to learn otherwise.”
About David
- Age: 34
- Areas of concern: Receding hairline & thinning crown
- Hair type: dark, coarse & wavy
- Solution: 2,800 graft FUE hair transplant with PRP
- Procedure date: July 2018
The Procedure
When he came to Nashville Hair Doctor for a consultation, David was advised that his hair loss would best be covered by a 2,800 FUE Hair Transplant. He had good donor hair density, so a relatively large transplant would be warranted. He opted to add PRP to his procedure to boost his hair growth.
Throughout the procedure he felt fine, even though it was a full 8-hour day. He watched TV most of the time and didn’t feel pain, due to the numbing of areas that were being worked on. All he could feel was “a little pinch from where they extracted hair, or a little pinprick where it was inserted.”
The Recovery
David’s recovery lasted about a week. He wasn’t in any pain but wanted to wait before showing himself in public. He had some swelling on the 2nd day and says if he did it again, he would sleep in a recliner for the first 7 days as recommended. He diligently followed all the other instructions about how and when to wash hair, when to start wearing a hat, etc.
“I would say the secret to good hair transplant results is to ‘baby’ your hair that first week and not do anything that might harm those grafts. Whatever they tell you not to do, don’t do it!”
David B, Nashville Hair Doctor Patient
As you can see, after just 7 days David looked almost completely normal again. This can vary from patient to patient but typically takes 7-10 days. By that time the donor hair has grown back in and the recipient sites have scabbed over and fallen off.
After
At just six months after his hair transplant, David was already very excited about his results. He was especially pleased with his new hairline, which he felt had come down almost an inch.
This is not unusual. Hair transplant patients can expect fairly good results at six months, but the full growth typically takes 12 t0 14 months to be fully realized.
David didn’t anticipate being that far along so early and credits the results to him doing everything like instructed.
He recalls that the first results started showing at 2-3 months. He always felt very confident talking about his procedure but says people stopped noticing anything after the first month, when the shedding had set in. (Yes, it is completely normal for the transplanted hairs to fall out before they resume their growth cycle.)
“After that [1st month] nobody notices that you’ve had anything done, you just get compliments!”
David B, Nashville Hair Doctor patient
Final Thoughts
Watch David talk about his experience in an interview he gave for Channel 4 News in Nashville around 6 months after his procedure.
