HK500

Welcome Yay, Run a search on Nizoral, it's been discussed at length, you'll find everything you need to know. I would definitely take Finasteride, the cheapest way is 1/4 Proscar daily or EOD, most do not have anny negative side effects and most find it effective for stopping hairloss and even regrowing in the best cases.

Why won't you name your Dr?

Good answers Hairworthy. Starz, Starz, Starz If you went through the trouble of researching properly and seriously evaluating this forum before posting you'd have seen that it's all about the exact opposite of your accusations.

and don't rub your feet on carpeting Seriously now, newer HT hair will grow a bit like pubic hair, with kinks and unruly... It takes from 1 to 3 years befores it behaves like native hair.

Nice to see you are doing well Barca. Some people do not shed the HT hair but for most it starts going away within a week or a little more. Yes it is normal, some of your grafts are shedding. Your recipient area is still swollen and the nerve endings are slowly getting back online after the numbing and the trauma. It took me over 3 weeks to go away. Yout pics look very good, this Dr used Ultra Refined techniques and you'll have great results.

Who was your Dr?

I agree, on average you see a nice spurt at 6 months, then at 12 months you get a clearer picture of what your final result will be like. It takes even much longer for your hair to mature to it's final texture and caliber.

I looked at their website 1-They sell Generic Propecia for a fairly high price compared to what I have seen before. 2-Generic Propecia is not available in the US, I called my 2 local pharmacies, they confirmed this. They must get it from abroad or it's bogus, or ???? 3-Too many drug scams on the web, I would never buy online unless I were 100% sure of my source. Sorry to be so blunt but I am afraid that's the reality

Welcome, you can click at the top of this page on the Coalition surgeon link or click below: Missouri I see only 2 docs in your area. It is better not to base your choice on geographical location but on who you feel is the best surgeon for you. You can run a search here using the Dr name to see about their feedback, being in the Coalition is already a solid reference. Many veteran members will be glad to offer advice but we must first know your details - Age - Are you taking any kind of Finasteride/Dutasteride or Minoxidil? If so which one, brand, generic? - Take pictures of you hair, top, front, back and sides and post them here in the photo album section, you'll get a lot of expert advice. For the best way to take pics go to: http://www.hairtransplantmentor.com/hair-loss-photo-tips.htm - Ask as many questions as you need, we are here to help. Research, read, learn as much as you can on this forum and on the Multimedia Hair Loss Learning Center: http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/ - Once you are a bit more familiar with the terminology and the different approaches you can guesstimate your own Norwood scale: http://hairloss.cyberatlantis.com/library/norwood_scale.php - Check members Hair Loss Weblogs to find cases similar to yours, the doctors who did their HT and their results: http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/ - You can also play with the graft calculator to get an idea: http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/mm/calc.html Don't rush, the more you know, the best choices you'll make. Some members spend months here before reaching their best educated decision. We are looking forward to more of your details so we can be more helpful.

Thanks Grav15, great stuff again.

Thanks Bill, It's funny but I think I was a bit less anxious after my 1st. HT when I had not found this forum yet and knew so little about everything. I must be over analyzing every detail now. Thank you all for your support, I know all will be fine.

Thanks Hairbank, I have to dwell on other stuff I know.

Hair_tomorrow, Today is your big day, you are in good hands and we are with you in thought. Looking forward to your next post when you are up to it, no rush.

Welcome Craigo, It sounds like you have been doing some reading here. Are you on Finasteride? Because it's paramount to stabilize your hairloss first as you know. You will need a mega session to adress your needs, without looking at your pictures, you might need well over 5000 FU's to be happy, maybe around 6000. It's hard to be able to get it all done in one session, although it's my preference to be done once and for all (or as close to forever as we can get). Depending on your personal characteristics you might need one or two sessions. If you qualify for one mega session I would go to H&W in Vancouver, they are the best for mega sessions. If you have to do 2 sessions then you have a much wider range of choices. Dr. Rassman is great but super expensive, I don't think his prices are justified even with the discount he gives HTN members. I would recommend Dr. Ken Siporin for a very good price/quality ratio, if you prefer the San Diego area Dr. Reed is also a good value. Ultimately, it is preferable to not have any geographical constraints and choose solely based on your preference. Most surgeons will give you free consultations in person or by phone with pictures e-mailed, take advantage of this, you'll learn so much more through the consults and take your time for research, don't rush into it.

I'll second Hairbank's recos, personally I was taking lukewarm baths, lying on my back with the top of my head immersed for about ten minutes. In my case I used shampoo the next day without really rubbing, just patting it in. I am not familiar with Dr. Waldman, it is fairly common for the doc to only do the strip excision and the recipient site holes and to let the techs do the rest, placement, dissecting, etc ... I am shocked you paid $ 800.00 for the grafcyte pack, I was quoted 250.00 but I turned it down.

Interesting question. I would think staples hold the closure better if you have a long donor strip, on the minus side you'll feel them more, they are more painful to take out, they'll leave a larger footprint potentially transsecting more of the native hairs in close proximity to the donor area. Because I only needed a relatively small number of FU both times, my donor area was also relatively small so it was never an issue and I got nylon sutures. I do not believe either of my surgeons were into staple closures though.

I looked at the web site and they seem to have interesting products based on sound research. I did not see the Dutasteride solution product but as always it would be nice to hear from reliable sources as to effectiveness of such products. Cousin would have had a fun time looking into this, let's hope we get him back in here some day.

You have had nice quick growth and it is now looking excellent. Dr Feller managed to give you very nice coverage and density with a relatively low FU count. I am suspecting the nature of your hair being thick and curly gave you a great advantage. In my particular case of thinner and straighter hair it would have taken maybe about another 1000 FU to achieve your results.

Thanks Bspot, I'll agree that my anxiety is getting on my nerves and I'll tend to over analyse all the details. So far I have healed better than average and I have no complaints, I'll try to wait patiently until month 3 when I hope to see a spurt. It's so funny .... I can advise newbies in such a cool and collected way but when it comes to my own situation I seem to lose this perspective in judgement and everything seems confused .... That's why my buddies call me for the best advice on dealing with girlfriends situations but I can't seem to apply the same principles with a clear mind when I am faced with a GF dilemma ... I guess our emotions get the better of us.

It's hard to see the benefits of Propecia because it is very gradual. I started asking new members to take pictures under the same conditions before and at 3 months, 6 months, 9 and one year. Mrjb is right the laser will not work like Finasteride, this 90% satisfaction rate sounds like a huge hype to me. There are many posts on this forum about laser if you run a search you'll see. I do not think the adverse side effectsof Finasteride would show up only after over one year but to make sure check with your doctor and call Merck's toll free number. IMO it's not a good idea to stop the Finasteride intake unless you are 100% sure it's doing nothing or you are getting adverse effects.

Guys please read my recent update in my album and in the web log (text only no new pictures, I did not think they would show much change but I could post some, let me know) and feel free to chime in, especially about the exposed areas losing more of the new hair??? The shock loss of miniaturized hair is pretty normal, right? Do I get them back? How long? It is about 3 months when you start seeing some activity and then at six months for another spurt, correct? Am I crazy to think that there is still some light swelling of the scalp in the recipient area contributing to give the appearance of less density because the same amount of hair covers a slightly expanded scalp? I think I already know some of the answers but it would be nice if you would confirm or let me know otherwise.

My buddies have given you excellent advice. Get on Finasteride and stay on it one good year before considering a HT. Document your progress with pictures. If you fall into the majority of cases you will respond well to the effects of the drug and stop your loss and maybe regrow hair. Proscar is the cheapest way to go, you divide the pills into 1/4 or even 1/5. A recent poster told me how to divide them into 1/5, I'll try it tomorrow.

I dunno Toad, all this vigorous cooking sounds dangerous ...

Welcome HitzigSucks, All docs do free consults, even over the phone after you e-mail picture to them. One of the best ways to learn more is by doing as many consults as you have time to do and of course more research on the forum. http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/ Feel free to ask us all the questions you may have.

Thanks Chucky, I'll try it on my next Proscar pill. Thanks Bspot for great research on the Choi instrument, I think I now understand the technique much better. I would never choose it over an all manual and consequently more customized approach. I was looking at the DHI video again, they use 2 instruments one for extraction and one for implantation, the latter seems very similar to the Choi implanter. I now can see why it would be more difficult to achieve better survivability of the FU and good density with such a tool.