dude

Raymond Konior, MD.

coalition member Elite Coalition Member
Hair transplant patient

dude

dude

About

First, let me offer to help you if you want to email me, I know where your head is at and I am happy to give you my insight. When I first started considering doing something about my hair, I was extremely nervous and researched on the web almost daily for months or maybe even more than a year. Now, having just finished my second procedure, the best advice I can give is: don't waste your time, just do it!

As long as you have the right surgeon and follow the instructions, you are going to have a great result with minimal suffering.

If you live in the area, or can make it down to Chicago for a little while, go to Dr. Konior. He is going to do a great job and you wont regret it. Just be sure to book in advance because the man has a busy schedule. And when you see him, tell him Rob said "hello"!

I'm sure there are other good surgeons out there, but I can guarantee this one.


My Surgical Treatments to Date

My first procedure was a strip transplant of 2,070 grafts with Dr. K in 2009. My second procedure was for 1,250 grafts of FUE with Dr. K October 2015 and I went back just four days later to have him fill in the scar from my first op.

The doc can make a recommendation for you and tell you the pros and cons for each but, if you asked me, if you have a lot of area to cover, you probably want to start with strip and then use FUE to fill it in at a later date. As far as I know, you can get a much better yield through strip and you can get a lot more done in one procedure.

My Non Surgical Treatments

Propecia for 1 year, just quit because it was messing with me sexually and I didnt notice any difference in my hair (im not thinning in the back). I will start using Rogaine a week after this op I just had so I can try to combat further loss. Hopefully the R wont cause the same side effects.

Bald Class

Bald class 2A

Norwood class 2A.

The class A variation of the Norwood scale is a slightly different and less common progression of hair loss. The main differences are that the hairline recedes back uniformly, without leaving an island of hair in the middle, and there is no bald area at the vertex. Instead, the hairline progresses directly from front to back.

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My Latest journal entries

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

6 Months, 3 weeks Hi All,Here are my results from procedure #2 at just under 7 months. Overall very pleased, the results on the right side are more noticeable than the left because I told the doc to focus on that side (I had thinner hair there). As far as the scar repair in the back, Dr. K did a great job filling it in, but for some reason the hair is growing in darker than the surrounding hair. Not perfectly seemless, but still better than previously. I've also included a picture of the scars under my chin that I had him try to fill in.I think I am close to fill growth, maybe another few months will thicken up some of the hairs but overall they look strong. PS. I had just cut my hair so ignore the little clippings on my forehead. 

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

3.5 Months Here is 14 weeks, I slacked a little sorry for being late. Everything still seems to be coming in as expected. You will see some hairs going in strange directions and some wispy hairs poking through my slicked back hair, these are the grafts. From my experience, as the hair grows they will thicken up and cooperate more with the direction the rest of the hair wants to go so this is not surprise to me.As for the repair of the incision on the back, with my hair at its current length (maybe a 4 clip) it is pretty unnoticable except for some irregular densities here and there and the existing change in grain before and after the scar. I'm not complaining, I think it looks good so far, it's just not yet as if it's not even there if you look hard. At this length nobody would notice.And then the FUE donor scars: at this length, you cant see them at all. I will trim it a little shorter next time and see if anything is visible, but I would be surprised if the little holes are very noticeable at all.Moral of the story, everything is good and I'm looking forward to the next 3 months or so as the hairs get longer and more dense, I'll keep you guys updated. 

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

2 Months Here is two months. This is kinda the stage where most hairs have fallen out or are very thin, before they recycle and get thicker (so I believe and recall from last time). So the pics aren't super exciting, but should be a good baseline for what happens over the next 4 months. The scar revision in the back is still pink and pretty obvious at this length, I cut it too short the other day.

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Day 16, day 11 scar Here's about two weeks out. Still some pink in the recip. area in the front. The scar is even more pink because I'm only 11 days out. Beard hairs are growing in like 5x faster than the rest, I dont even know where he put in the ones on the right side of my jaw anymore because it's seamless and perfectly healed. I was doing neosporin on the scar grafts up until now but I'm just gonna go to rogaine on both areas and call it a day. 

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

1 Month, 25 days scar Here are the 1 month pics. Still some pinkness, I think a lot of the grafts have fallen out and there are little saplings starting to grow, although I can tell that some original "little engine that could" grafts are still growing... go little suckers!Donor area has pink shotgun wounds that I doubt anyone really notices, I put some makeup on my scar when I go out because the pinkness makes it pretty obvious and I have been keeping the donor area pretty short to fade in to the longer hair. 

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Day 2 Not much has changed, still very very minimal swelling. All the stubbies are in place and not bleeding. Back is the same too. Just spraying the grafts and sticking to doctors rules exactly.

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Day 4 Still lookin in good shape. Tomorrow I go to get my old scar filled in.

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Day 6, day 1 of scar revisions Here are the results from day 6. The donor scars are already fading away from the hairline procedure. Yesterday I had him harvest a new section to fill in my old donor scar and also harvest some beard hair to repair some scars on my chin and jaw from childhood shenanigans. No complaints whatsoever so far. The repair work is pretty red but I am only like 30 hours out so thats to be expected.

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Day 7, day 2 scar revisions Not too much to say here, just keeping everything clean and lubed. Looking forward to shampooing the front gently tomorrow although I still cant do much to the back because I'm only on day 2 there.

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Day 12, day 7 scar revisions I went in today for my last checkup, all is well. They put some hydrocortisone cream on the scar revision to help with the itchyness (I have had a LOT) and reduce the redness too. I'll take some more tonight probably after I wash it off. Anyway, this is with my hair styled with the shaving they had to do on the sides and a little comb over the grafts up front. I have some skills with clippers so I was able to blend a little bit.   

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Night before surgery, wet and styled Here are some before images for surgery #2. This is about 6 years out from my first suregery, just wanted to add more density so I have more freedom to style differently. As you can tell Dr. K did an amazing job, which is why I went back! I'm also going in 4 days post to get my scar filled in.

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dude
Bald class: 2A
Procedure 2

Night after surgery Let me just say that the surgery went impeccably. Dr K and his staff are amazing. They were constantly asking me if I needed a drink, snacks, a break, or to shift at all if I was uncomfortable. The whole team works like a well oiled machine and Dr. K's confidence and expertise put me at ease right away.NOTE: Dr. K strongly advised for me to let him shave my whole head. It is probably the way to go so he has full visibility and access to your zone. If you can deal with it, shaving is gonna be the best idea.These pics are from right when I got home.