This being my first post on this forum, I'll try to be as 'cut and dry' as I can about my proceedure. I will say that I'm optomistic about the outcome and my experience with Dr. Umar was very good. Both he and his staff are professional, hard working and very talented, in my opinion.

I just finished my HT sessions with Dr. Umar last week. I was a NW6, and it was important to me that BHT was part of the process because I did not want to use all my head hair for possible future sessions.
I was scheduled for 5000 grafts, which he believed would be done within the alloted 5 days with no issues. It ended up being 4 days and 5316 grafts because of the yield, and Dr. Umar does not and will not charge for any extra grafts that are in each session, so I got 300+ graft for free..
All consent forms and consoltations had been done already via Email/phone contact, so when I arrived on Tuesday morning, there was only the basic exams and paperwork to finish before the Dr. started.
After a brief exam from the Dr, he noticed that I had psoriasis that was just starting on my scalp ( which was news to me ), but he fully explained what this could mean for the transplant and that it did not jeopardize my proceedure as long as I kept and eye on it after I left his office. Dr. Umar is also a board certified dermatologist, so he was able to perscribe medication to help with the psoriasis also.
Everything except the graft 'cleaning' is done by Dr. Umar only.
In the end, I had 1300 grafts from Head hair, and rest was all BHT..

My overall experience was very good. I was able to watch tv, or DVDs if I wished, and lunch was included each day. I was at the clinic at 8:30am every morning, and don't think I left until after 10pm each night. Very long days, but I believe it will be well worth the outcome. Feel free to contact me with any questions.

The pics are from 3 days post op. The shin extraction point was from day 1 and the chest from days 2-4. The camera is not great, but I think you can zoom in on the pics to get a better view...





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I am not a doctor and all opinions I share are my own. I am not compensated by any doctor to be here and am here out of my own free will.

I'm speechless. I'm not overly familiar with BHT and can't believe it was a 4 day process. Why the larger scabs on scalp, I thought it was usually less invasive? Will you have small little white scars in the donor areas? The work does look good and very labor intensive I'm sure. How much???? Please post future pics as I'm very curious. Best of luck with things.

To be quite honest I have never been a fan of BHT, seems too experimental to me, too many variables and inconsistent results. The thought of 4 days of surgery would deter just about anyone on this board, I must commend you on your fortitude in enduring this.

I cannot see your donor area, so I cannot comment on your decision to choose this method, you must know best. Have you had previous transplants that depleted your donor area or was it unsuitable as far as density and laxity. I would be very curious to know why???

In looking at your recipient site, it is hard to understand the extent of scab formation, considering all the BHT were single follicles and the incisions should have been extremely small. Did you bleed excessively for any reason?

You certainly have your work cut out for you in the next fews weeks with that extent of scabbing. Is your doctor aware of this and has he made suggestions on how to handle it?

I certainly do not envy you in this respect. I am curious, as I am sure many members are, as to the price of this procedure. I would also like to see some pics of the donor area and hope you continue to post followups on your recuperation. Best of luck to you and I hope it turns out as you expect.

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1,000,000 FUT
DR. MOBOGO
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

Taz,

Thank you for sharing your experience with us. As you can see from the above posts, as well as I'm sure you are well aware, BHT is less common and somewhat controversial...but surely some people have had some great success with it. I do look forward to seeing your progress so I do hope you'll post the healing of your donor areas and the progress of the growth on your scalp.

It does appear that you did bleed a lot during this surgery with all the big scabs. Has your doctor recommended anything to clean the area?

Bill

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I am not a medical professional and my words should not be taken as medical advice. All opinions and views shared are my own.

Taz,
Congratulations on what will be a great experience for you .For those only familiar with strip procedures BHT is somewhat of a foreign experience to which I can understand. But it works and works well when done by the right M.D.(all M.D's are not equal in this field just as they are not in the strip procedures). When I started my BHT restoration with Dr Umar I too began with 5000 grafts . It is a good amount to see exactly what yield that you will get. You are fortunate that you appear not to have had any previous surgeries in need of repair and you can concentrate soley on your Norwood area . The healing is very quick in the donor areas . My procedure of 1600 leg grafts 13 days ago with Dr Umar is unnoticeable today .

Also for the first few days try and keep the top moist as much as possible . This will aid in the scabs falling off .

Keep us posted as the months progress.

www.myhairtransformation.com

Thank you all for the encouragment guys.. I'll post more as the healing process continues..

All: It seemed to me to be a much less invasive proceedure, so the scabbing/blood is probably just me, and very sensitive skin type.. The doctor did not say I bled excessivly during the proceedure at all, and I do have instructions to help with healing ( mainly distilled water sprayed on the area as often as possible ). It is very labor intensive with the extraction/insersion, so we averaged only 1300 grafts per day.. The price was $5 per graft.

NervousN: I ( and the dr. ) believe I should not have any scaring from the extraction points.. This is due to my skin type ( lighter ) and the extraction type.

Cousin_It: 4 days did seem like a long haul ( it 5 days to begin with ), but hopefully the results will be worth it. The donor area is thin, but mainly my choice was because my chest and leg hair was thicker than my donor head hair ( which is very fine ). This led me toward BHT instead of just FIT ( FUE ), because of the possibility of better coverage with less grafts. It ( BHT ) is still controversial to discuss, but Dr. Umar has shown some promising results. I had lengthy telephone and email discussions with him so I felt/fell very comfortable with this decision.

Thnaks again and I will keep updating.

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I am not a doctor and all opinions I share are my own. I am not compensated by any doctor to be here and am here out of my own free will.

Taz and Heliboy,

Congrats to both of you and thanks for sharing your experiences.

Although the reported results from transplanting hair from the body to the balding scalp have been mixed, BHT has become a subject of intense interest to many patients (especially those who are endowed with the body hair of hairy back gorilla).

A small number of hair transplant physicians have been experimenting with and studying the viability of such body to scalp hair transplants, including Coalition member Dr. Bob True in New York City.

Dr. True made an excellent presentation on this subject at the recent annual ISHRS (International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery) meeting in San Diego this October. He was kind enough to provide me with his presentation so that I could share highlights of his findings on this forum.

To view the highlights and photos from his presentation, see the photo album entitled "Hair Transplantation (BHT) presentation by Dr. Bob True".

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Pat,
I really appreciate you posting this information. It is good to see that the field of BHT is moving forward and studies are being brought forth to prove its worth. From his index I would classify myself as a TDI 5 .

Thanks again for posting this .

www.myhairtransformation.com

For whatever this is worth... this post is on numerous forums... make you wonder???? Not pointing the finger but ...

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1,000,000 FUT
DR. MOBOGO
WHEREABOUTS UNKNOWN

Cousin-- Yes, Dr. Umar seems to be targeting the forums rather heavily. I understand the need to get noticed, but I have seen a concerted effort by a couple of Umar patients, who have been kind enough to share their entire story on just about every hair loss forum I can think of.

I belong to 4 forums---- my pics and story are only listed in detail here on this site..

I think this information is a GOOD thing. Since I have been researching BHT a bit more, I am less inclined to toss it, but I still maintain a rather narrow view of its efficacy.
This may change in the future.

I just wonder if we are seeing a concerted targeting by a doc on the various forums. If that is the case, the all I would ask is the nature of patient relationships be disclosed, so our members can weigh information accordingly.

Perhaps others can comment as well?

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6721 transplanted grafts
13,906 hairs
Performed by Dr. Ron Shapiro

Dr. Ron Shapiro and Dr. Paul Shapiro are members of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians.