HK500

Thanks Bill for the nice words. You are very observant, I also find a bit of a gap on the left temple. I remember the Dr told me the day of the HT that he would fill any temple area for free later if it ended up showing separation from the rest of the hair, I did not make anything of it then but now the left side is a bit of a question mark. For now I trust his judgement and I'll have to wait and see what happens. I am now at 2 weeks and I will post pictures at one month.

Thanks Janna, Are there any drugs that work and are approved for women?

Thank you for your encouraging words B spot. My first HT gave me around 15 FU/cm2 and I was looking to get over 40FU/cm2 in the same recipient areas with this second pass. I will have to wait about a year before I can attest of the real results but the thing I noticed most until now is the huge difference between a surgeon using Ultra Refined techniques and the older techniques. My healing has been much faster so far and a much smaller impact on my body in general, all this with close to twice as many grafts.

First of all many thanks to all the posters and Pat for this forum. I found out about this "hidden gem" (Pat's words) thanks to Pat's dedication in taking regular field trips to observe and report on known and established clinics as well as being open minded to investigate yet unknown HT surgeons. I am probably the first member of the forum to have had an HT by Dr. Siporin. I considered my decision very carefully and after lots of research, reading, posting and learning, I decided I did not need to go to the best-known and proven Coalition surgeons. My case is straightforward and I only required a fairly small graft count, I could not justify the time and expense to travel out of State in my situation. I consulted with five HT surgeons/clinics before making this decision, this gave me a good perspective on the differences of opinion and techniques and allowed me to make a rational decision. Pat's report after he visited Dr. Siporin's clinic was right on and I can now attest to this first hair (I mean hand). I followed the pre-op instructions, no caffeine, no alcohol, no tobacco, and no vitamins/supplements containing blood-thinning substances, scalp stretching exercises, etc ... HT DAY I was nervous the night before and even more when I got there, I had decided to drive myself to the clinic and back, my blood pressure was high so I was told to take three 5mg Valiums which did the trick in about 30 minutes. We reviewed the details one more time, mostly high-density work using ultra refined techniques to reach in excess of 40 FU/cm2. The frontal hairline and some selected areas behind the hairline closer to the mid scalp area were to be reinforced along with light temporal peaks improvements, no crown work. We agreed on the donor area location based on several pre existing criteria. The three technicians were friendly and had obvious experience, Ismael was the one giving me all the shots and I know why now, he has the touch and I almost could not feel them, Yami and Raquel did most of the donor strip trimming into the FU's and most of the FU placement into the recipient sites, their light touch reflected great experience and skill. The goal was to transplant 1200 + FU, the donor area was given local anesthesia by Ismael, very gently, then Dr. Siporin excised the donor strip (1 cm wide by 16 cm long) and closed it in double layer and using the trichophytic technique. While Yami and Raquel got busy trimming the grafts, Ismael started to give me the local shots for my recipient areas, he also did a nice job although it was more uncomfortable due to the fact that the recipient surface area is much larger than the donor area and has many more nerve endings. Then Dr. Siporin started making his recipient site slits, starting with the temporal peaks areas he used 0.65mm blades, then 0.75mm blades for the frontal hairline density and 1.0 mm blades for the multiple hairs FU's behind the hairline in the mid scalp area. We harvested 1,305 FU's of which 500 were single hair FU's, I do not have a breakdown for the multiples but I was told they all were twos and threes. Because we focused on the density in the frontal hairline where the nerve network is denser I needed several local anesthesia touch ups throughout the session, some were a little uncomfortable but not a big deal. Everyone was in a relaxed and unhurried mood and Dr. Siporin made sure all took the necessary amount of time to insure the best graft placement. Yami and Raquel started with the most delicate area, the temporal peaks where they placed single FU's, this took a while given the very small incisions, then they moved up to the hairline and a little behind, Ismael helped more toward the end in the placement of the larger multiple FU's in the mid scalp area. I was then cleaned and cleared to go after being given my post op instructions. I did not need any bandages, the surgery was barely noticeable, and I just put on a loose baseball cap and drove myself home. After I got home I could feel a bit of tingling on the frontal hairline, I ate a light afternoon snack and the pain went away, I realized I had not eaten since the very early morning breakfast, the food seemed to help process the anesthetics better through my system. I will mention to Dr. Siporin that it might be a good idea to give the patient a 10 minute break at some point to eat a snack. I had no pain and no tightness in the donor area whatsoever, I never even took one Tylenol much less the stronger painkillers I had because I never needed any. I slept the first night with my head elevated on two layers of pillows, not needing a single Tylenol. NEXT DAY I looked at my donor scar in the mirror the next day, I could not believe how straight and thin it is, a world of difference with my scar from my first HT which yielded 42% less FU's, different surgeons, different skills ... There was no staining at all on my pillow case the next morning from either the donor or recipient areas, now that's what I call Ultra Refined ... After my first HT I had noticeable staining mainly from the donor area, the recipient area was also bandaged and draining slightly. I took a lukewarm bath, soaking my head in the water for ten minutes, I shampooed my hair very gently with Head and Shoulders, no rubbing just light patting, nice feeling to have clean hair. More than half of the scabs went away and the pinkish skin tone was also greatly reduced. I noticed a slight swelling on the forehead in spite of my use of frozen gel packs, so to stay ahead of the situation, right away I took the prescription of generic methylprednisolone bar pack, the swelling came down after about six hours, on the next day it was 90% gone. I suspected I would be prone to this swelling of the forehead because it happened on my first HT and I have thin blood, a "bleeder" as they like to refer to my type. SECOND DAY I took another lukewarm bath on the second day, shampooing the same way, the scabs are almost all gone and so is the pink color, the photos of the second day were taken right after my bath and they look way more red than in reality. After reading the many posts recommending wet graphcyte soaks and the others recommending dry healing I decided on a combined approach, we'll see. I wear my hair medium to long and I let it fall over my forehead to hide the recipient sites better, the morning after the HT, as I was wiping my hair to the side (because it bugs me to feel it close to my eyes as I am not used to this) I accidentally snagged a fresh implant with my fingers, it was right on the edge of very front line and I noticed some light bleeding, it felt like a bee sting for a minute, I then realized I had dislodged it and it was stuck to a strand of hair, I pushed it back into it's hole with tweezers, it stopped the bleeding, later I noticed it came out again, this time I put it in deeper, we'll see if it survives. I am under the impression that most transplants are pretty well "glued in" after a couple of days, I must have snagged this one just right because it hurt a little. Now I have to heal and wait, I am hoping we achieved the density I was looking for, so far everything seems very positive and I will be updating this thread and my pictures regularly. I have the pictures taken during my donor strip excision but I decided to not post them, if interested you can PM me. The second set of pics was taken almost 2 days later, most of the scabs are gone and the skin color is becoming less red, on the pictures the reds are much deeper than in reality. 7 DAYS UPDATE Dr. Siporin took out the stitches one week later, no pain, all looks good. 2 WEEKS UPDATE It is now two weeks since the HT, the scalp skin has been back to it's normal color for several days now, most of the new hair is still in place, and no shock loss yet, I hope it lasts. The donor area is not sore, no tightness, I have been able to sleep on either side of my head for about three days now. 3 WEEKS UPDATE Some of the grafts have fallen out, almost half are gone in the hairline and on the temple points that I can see. I can still feel and see most of the others still holding on slightly deeper beyond the hairline and in the midscalp. The graft I pulled out by accident and put back in the hairline seems to still be here, I think ... 90% of the donor area scabs are gone, no pain, I am starting to get this weird sensation of the nerve fibers reconnecting in different areas around the scar. One Month Update The closure is healing nicely , I still feel some thicker scar tissue or maybe it's residual scabbing but I have no tightness or pain whatsoever. In the recipient areas along the exposed hairline and temple points I would say that more than 80% of the hairs from the new grafts are gone. A little deeper and in the mid scalp area I can feel the hairs from the new grafts still holding on and I am guesstimating that close to 50% remain. I have started to see some hairshock loss around the third week, it seems most of the hair falling out is very thin (miniaturized) and mostly grey, I am loosing very few thick dark hairs. My recipient area seems thinner than before the HT, and besides the shock loss I think that there might be still some light swelling expanding the scalp and resulting in more surface to cover thus contributing to the appearance of less density. I have to be patient and hope that I experience some regrowth around the third month or so. Update of 10/13/07 FYI This update is also in my Weblog I just went for my first post op visit since the HT which took place at the end of January 2007 (except for removing the stitches). I had some shock loss for about 3 to 4 months then it slowed down. I was concerned but I could only be patient and ride it out. I can see that I am far from seeing full growth, still lacking density in most of the areas. I am sure the shock loss did not help and that's why I will probably be a late bloomer on this second HT. Dr. Siporin agreed and gave me some perspective, this time around I'll probably have to wait 12 to 18 months before I see the full growth, in spite of having taken Finasteride for the past few years I was showing some degree of hair miniaturization on the top of the head before the HT so the shock loss was not a huge surprise but still a bummer... So, I will have to be patient about another 10 months before I can reevaluate my final outcome, I am not complaining though, you can see from the pics what we are talking about, the temple refinements actually developed very nicely and the scar is just great. I asked about switching from Finasteride to Dutasteride and Dr. Siporin convinced me to stay with Finasteride daily and to do the Laser twice a week for 6 weeks. I did my first laser session in his office, he does not have yet the latest hi potency laser, only an older model for now, I did 15 minutes and 24 hours later I felt a pimple coming up in a slow growth area, I had not felt that in a few weeks or more... Coincidence?? Who knows? I'll keep doing the Laser in office knowing it can't hurt and maybe help a little, I know some other clinics like using it as a complement to the HT. Maybe I should have started sooner??? I'll keep you posted after the 6 weeks go by. Look at the 3 new pictures taken mid October 07, they show growth but density is still a work in progress.

Very nice, you chose a great MD.

Thanks for the links Hairbank, I made a note of them.

Try running a search with his name as a keyword

I would say your early results look quite promising, your scar looks fine, it usually takes a few months for the skin tone to match that of the surrounding areas, on me it takes over a year ...

If you're a 5A, 1800 FU's is way too few. You'll need at least 5,000 for good coverage and another 1 to 2,000 for nice density. Good thing you are on Propecia, when it's time to renew switch to 1/4 pill of generic Proscar daily, you'll save a ton of money. BUT, because you're still young, you might want to wait about one year on Finasteride to see how much it has slowed or stopped the hairloss or even started to regrow hair before considering a HT. Post pictures here, it will help.

Go ahead and vent away, if not on this forum then where??? We're all in the same boat here. <pre class="ip-ubbcode-code-pre">i am taking finasteride now, i was taking propica but it was way too expensive. Now I just divide the pills </pre> Please explain, what is the name of the Finasteride product you are taking exactly?

Welcome to the forum, stay away from Bosley Clinics. As you read more here you'll discover why, at best their results are very inconsistent, you don't want to take the chance and become one of the too many dissatisfied patients. Give us your stats, pictures, taking Finasteride?, etc ...

Ok, so I understand if you have some density, the pins would be hard to place because your fingers would not have enough room for proper angle placement. Although with proper technique this should only affect a small percentage of the sites. For the direction of the hair growth I think you are referring to the lateral slit technique which is covered in Jotronic's site: http://www.hairtransplantmentor.com/lateral-slit-technique.htm I'll admit I have to read it again a few more times to get a good handle on it ...

I think Hairbank explained it well above but who know how many actual FU's you got??? So it's hard to say how your price compares and nobody calculates the cost per hair (except for DHI of course ) Sorry private joke, for now, if you keep reading on this forum, you'll get it. I hope you take some kind of Finasteride and the only way we can really help you is for you to post pictures of before after.

That's interesting, I had never heard of this before. Theoretically it should be an even more refined technique than even, say a .6mm blade. Right? I am sorry to hear your first HT Doc planted the pins this way, how could he? Was he so clueless???? You would think it would be even easier to accurately hold the desired angle since the long pin gives you greater visibility against the plane of the scalp ... Why is it harder to achieve a better angle then?

He might be able to get a few hundred more with BHT if he is a good candidate.

Hi B Spot, I went to this link, the only thing that looked good was the donor area closure. The way they extract the FU's from the strip concerns me, it seems the percentage of damaged FU's would be very high by pounding the strip into this sort of sifter, nothing can beat the all hand cut method. Then there is the size of the recipient sites, very scary, you could almost fit a minigraft inside each hole, is it done by laser? For sure they'll save a lot of time with this technique at the expense of quality work. I hope you'll tell us a little about your conversation with Bverotti.

I'll second Hairbanks advice 1- Stay on Finasteride, to save money and when it's time to renew you can try to get a script for Proscar and get the generic, you take 1/4 pill a day, you'll save a lot of money this way. I would wait at least 6 months if not a year because you're young and you might get very nice regrowth with Finasteride. 2- Take pictures of your head, front, top, sides AND back. Jotronic posted the best way to take pics on his site. Follow this link www.hairtransplantmentor.com and look for the chapter on taking pictures 3- Post your pictures and keep asking questions, you'll find many qualified veterans here.

From everything I read it is probably beneficial for hair but in a very subtle way, only Minoxidil and Finasteride/Dutasteride will make a noticeable difference, and a HT of course ....

Bill, I know this is too obvious but after this last HT and your regrowth underway I have no choice but call you Samson

So, is this because the needles are too flexible and do not follow the angle chosen? Are the blades much more stiff?

Welcome to the forum, As NN stated earlier we need a better view of your back to get a sense of your donor area. From the pictures of your recipient areas I would also think 6,000 FU would give you decent coverage, maybe another 1,000 FU's for extra density where it shows most which is generally your temporal areas and the frontal hairline. I would recommend as much as it is feasible to do it in one session. Yes! That would make it a mega session and I would go to at least 2 or three consultations from top Coalition surgeons to listen to their different takes on the best approach. Keep us posted on your research, keep asking questions here, we will help you make the best educated decision.

Welcome to the forum, Yes!!! Splitting Proscar four ways absolutely works just fine, that's what all of us (well, almost) do here. Which Docs did you go see?

Thanks guys. It looks like women have many less options than guys do!!!

Posting for a female friend. According to what I read females cannot take Finasteride/Dutasteride regardless of being pre or post menauposal, correct? Is minoxidil/Rogaine the only approved drug for females? With diffused FBP requiring a HT of only a few hundred FU's, would you agree that FUE makes more sense to densily repack the thinning areas? Any other options I should know about?

Posting for a female friend. According to what I read females cannot take Finasteride/Dutasteride regardless of being pre or post menauposal, correct? Is minoxidil/Rogaine the only approved drug for females? With diffused FBP requiring a HT of only a few hundred FU's, would you agree that FUE makes more sense to densily repack the thinning areas? Any other options I should know about?