This took more courage than I thought.
As a 40-something person, my hairline had receeded a lot. So out came a wig, which I've used ever since I started HRT and began living as me. I just gelled my hair, brushed it back, and popped the wig on top. I'll confess that it felt like a part of my armour, protecting me from critical eyes. It also made me feel less than authentic, but then I realised that we wear makeup, high heels, push-up bra's...perfectly authentic really, in that context.
Two weeks ago I had a hair transplant, and had to stop using the wig. And surprisingly, my real hair is quite usable after a full year of not cutting it. It's not as elegant as the nylon stuff but it's real and it's mine!
Very weirdly, it's gone from straight to tight curls, which have taken some time to get used to. Some friends say that HRT has caused this change - I don't know.
So it's a 1980's "big hair" look for me now (Aaaaaaargh!), and patience until my temples fill in and I can do something I like better with this bushy thing!
Wonder what my work colleages are going to say... And I need to change my avatar here... :)
Julia
It's not real, until we see pictures, lol!
By the way, are you Spanish or an expat living in Madrid? Just curious having visited Spain a few times.
Best,
Cate
I am so happy for you, maybe because that I can never see myself living without a wig with the amount of hair loss I have!
Can you describe the procedure a little bit and its cost? Also what type of wig did you have? I have read that you can wear a full lace semi-permanent wig for weeks at a time and wash you hair while wearing it.
Enjoy it
Emily
Hiya!
@Caitlyn - I'm actually English, but have lived in Spain for 16 years now :D - 12 in Barcelona, and the last 3 in Madrid.
@Emily - thanks so much! :D Hopefully the transplant will be successful, but, I had considered the very real possibility that I'd have needed a wig permanently, and made peace with the idea. My wig was a day-wear item, and heaven help if there was a strong wind!!
I had the FUSS technique done, where they take a crescent-shaped strip of skin from the back of the head where follicles are not sensitive to DHT. The crescent virtually went from ear-to-ear, and in the middle was 2cm high, so the stiching to close it is quite serious! The strip is separated into folicular units by two specialist nurses while the surgeon peppers the temples with punctures to create a new hairline. The folicular units are then popped into the cuts, and they use a kind of hairdrier to set them in place. My surgery took about 6 hours from start to finish under local anesthetic. Two weeks later I have quite a lot of scabbing, which I can just about cover with my hair, and sadly, it's quite common for the hairs to fall out and for the follicles to go dormant for 2-3 months before regrowing. Surprisingly, the temples were not sore, but the wound at the back of my head was quite painful and is still not comfortable You also get a very tight scalp for some weeks or months until the skin stretches a little. Work on paying around €6,000 to €10,000 for this type of intervention.
That's fantastic news Julia, I wish you luck with the transplant taking and your new hairline growing out.
-Alana
Amazing news Julia :)
And you look lovely with your natural hair, (eheheh I got special privileges to see the pics...jk!!) Me being a tease :D
What a glorious day when my wig came off. I used to shave my head before, so I've had to grow it totally from scratch this year ...
Congratulations on the news! I have always been interested in hair transplanting so I was wondering if you could post some pics of the scar and end result ect. at some point?
FANTASTIC news!!!
I myself looked at the beginnings of an "M" shaped hairline for me, and lo and behold today I see a lot of little tiny sprouts. With HRT I may have hope for a feminine hairline yet.
Quote from: DanielleA on January 01, 2015, 04:16:18 PM
Congratulations on the news! I have always been interested in hair transplanting so I was wondering if you could post some pics of the scar and end result ect. at some point?
Will do! Needs a few weeks yet...
What a wonderful place to live!
My British "aunty" actually has house on la Costa del Sol, but they keep a place in Surrey, as well, Salfords, I think.
I absolutely love Barcelona, and Seville, too. Andalusia, in gneral, is amazing. I wish I had spent more time in Madid--maybe next time.
Happy New Year!
Cate
Well Cate, on your next visit you must swing by Madrid. It doesn't have the imediate charm that BCN or so many places in Andalucia have, but the place grows on you, and now I love it!
Yeah, have a fanstastic 2015!
xxx
Julia
Congrats Julia!
I hope this doesn't trigger anyone, if so I apologise.
I like playing with my hair as much as much as I like <cough> exploring other areas of this new body.
Thank you for all your support in 2014, I hope you have a wonderful 2015.
And of course I hope all Spanish football teams manage to lose against any Aussie team who may freak out to face them :laugh:
Hugs
Yay! That's so wonderful! I saw this procedure done on youtube, and it looks very interesting.. :o
I always assumed the hair had to be short to be transplanted. So were they able to use the longer hair?
And yay for you! I'm looking at doing this myself sometime this next year.
Quote from: katiej on January 02, 2015, 01:35:27 AM
I always assumed the hair had to be short to be transplanted. So were they able to use the longer hair?
And yay for you! I'm looking at doing this myself sometime this next year.
Quite correct Katie... I've got this bushy hair everywhere, except in the front where the hair that hasn't yet fallen out is around 5mm long. And of course, around the scar there are some short hairs from where they shaved it before removing the crescent.
Good luck with yours!
Congrats (again :)) and happy new year Julia.
For others reading this thread, my present avatar photo gives a very good idea of what can be achieved with hair transplants. I did mine two years ago (~ 3500 follicles ) and would have to say that I'm delighted with the result.
Hugs
Donna
Thanks Donna, and happy new year to you as well!!
Heavens, your new avatar is quite spectacular!
We'll chat offline.
Hugs
A/J
Really happy for you, Julia. I guess the hair in your avatar is a wig then? Still looks pretty damn good, must be a quality wig. :)
Quote from: Ms Grace on January 02, 2015, 05:32:14 AM
Really happy for you, Julia. I guess the hair in your avatar is a wig then? Still looks pretty damn good, must be a quality wig. :)
Hiya Grace, I learned about wig quality the hard, expensive trial-and-error way! My first wig was cheapish and looked horrrrrrendous scarcely two weeks after it left the store. The second looked good, but was blondish and didn't really suit me; I had not yet discovered the correct store. Wig number three is the one in my avatar. It's a quality synthetic from a German company, and, ouch, cost around €350.
I am immensely grateful to my sister for her help with the last one. Nobody realised it was a wig. I shall partly miss its elegance and ease of use!
xxx
Julia
Donna, that is the ultimate before and after picture. Fantastic!
Quote from: Julia-Madrid on January 02, 2015, 06:32:25 AM
Hiya Grace, I learned about wig quality the hard, expensive trial-and-error way! My first wig was cheapish and looked horrrrrrendous scarcely two weeks after it left the store. The second looked good, but was blondish and didn't really suit me; I had not yet discovered the correct store. Wig number three is the one in my avatar. It's a quality synthetic from a German company, and, ouch, cost around €350.
It's funny, I seem to be exactly a few steps behind you. I started with a terrible wig and I'm now on wig number two, which is also a bit too blonde for me. It's a good quality wig and looks natural, so I went with the lighter-than-my-natural color because I got it for half off. So now I'm planning to pay full price for the same wig that matches my natural hair color (almost black). Then sometime this year I'm planning to do transplants.
So how are you compensating for the parts of your hair that are significantly shorter after the transplants? And after they fall out, won't you have roughly the same hairline you previously had until they grow out again? I ask because I'm thinking of keeping my hair short until after my transplants and then growing from scratch at that point.
Quote from: katiej on January 02, 2015, 02:15:05 PM
So how are you compensating for the parts of your hair that are significantly shorter after the transplants? And after they fall out, won't you have roughly the same hairline you previously had until they grow out again? I ask because I'm thinking of keeping my hair short until after my transplants and then growing from scratch at that point.
Hi Katie
A good question! If my hair had been straightish, then concealing my temples and new hair growth might have been a problem. But since my hair has weirdly become very curly, I can more or less bring a few curls forward as a type of fringe. It's not perfect aesthetically, but it's will work.
If you are at a point where you could start with all uniform-length hair after your transplant, then this may be a good option. I guess this mainly depends on how quickly you want to transition...
Hugs
Julia