Forrest Gump

Bosco, who is the best doctor, is a highly subjective issue, since there is a high degree of artistic elements in a HT surgery, and hence there are issues of personal likes and dislikes. For hairline designs, I like the styles of the following doctors, in no particular order: Shapiro, Feller, Rahal, Alexander, Keene, Konior. Now, if you ask me about crown work (or general coverage), I'll have a different list. Similarly, if you ask someone else, they'll have a different list of their own. So the best option for you might be to search around on this forum for the results from different doctors, and see whose styles you like the most.

Chanyouzhe, I am sorry to see your end results. They look horrible. You got butchered pretty badly. I am surprised this doctor's medical license hasn't been revoked yet. You and other unsatisfied patients should initiate a class action lawsuit. You might even get lawyers to work on a class action lawsuit with deferred payment options (that is, after the case has been settled). Pursue all possible options at your disposal. Hopefully, some other (ethical) doctor will be able to do a repair job for you.

Sheakhu, yes, you should definitely get those checked by a doctor. Might be a possible infection.

TheEmperor, your after results look better than your before pictures. However, I agree with you that a little more dense hairline would be nice. I am sure a second relatively smaller procedure would give you a denser hairline. I understand your concern in not wanting to shave again. I believe there are quite a few reputed doctors who don't shave the recipient area. Do some background research, and you can locate a doctor whose style you like, and who would be willing to work without shaving.

If you want somewhat dense packing, then my guess is that you'll need about 4000 grafts. However, if you're more interested in coverage than on having it very dense, then 3000 might suffice. The best strategy will be to send your pictures to some reputed doctors whose work you like. That way, you'll get a range of opinions regarding your options.

Ashok, it is perfectly normal to feel itchiness in the recipient and donor areas. Whenever I had the itchiness, I scratched on my forehead near my hairline (without of course touching any of the grafts). It helps to some extent, perhaps as a placebo effect. Also, ask your doctor if you should apply vitamin e oil in your recipient area. Although vit e oil did not eliminate the itchiness in my case, it was nevertheless quite soothing.

Knight, As others have pointed out, do a search for the results of each of the doctors and see whose style you like the most. Also, doing invididual consults with each one would be a good idea. From what I have seen from the photos regarding these doctors, they seem to be doing good work. I also haven't heard any strongly negative things about any of these doctors.

Predator, your results look pretty good! Yes, I am also curious about the density of the transplanted hair. Looks quite dense and thick.

Somya, not only is your post somewhat misleading, it contains several critical errors. For example, the transection rate patterns are the reverse of what you posted. That is, there is higher probability of graft damage with FUE than FUT. Also, FUE might be fine for small procedures, but if you need 2000+ grafts, you have to choose FUT over FUE.

Looks pretty good! Quite dense, yet natural results... I like it!

The first few days might be quite bad while trying to sleep. There will be overall discomfort and uneasiness both in the recipient as well as the donor regions. However, pain relievers can help ease these. Things start getting much better around the 2-week period, especially after the sutures/staples are taken out.

Phil, yes, Dr Feller does turn out consistently good results. I look forward to seeing your pictures.

Pretty good improvement from the before pictures. Also nice and natural styling.

In Canada, they already have a 5% tax on HT surgeries. To the best of my knowledge, the Canadian HT doctors charge a 5% GST (or maybe more, depending on the province) on all HT procedures. Someone from Canada correct me if I am wrong.

Realmity, sorry to hear about what you had to go through. As you mentioned, you are now more diligent, and I am sure that you'll do more thorough research from now on, to see if you can get this thing fixed. Good luck!

Pharma, overall, I agree with your assessment. IMO, Drs. Shapiro and Dr. Rahal provide the most "youthful" hairlines. I have also seen a few "youthful" hairlines from Dr. Feller. I agree with you that H&W mostly has relatively more mature hairlines, which btw might make sense since most of their patients are quite high on the NW scale. Going for a youthful vs. a more mature hairline is a matter of personal taste and long-term goals. I personally prefer the youthful hairlines, but a vast number of HT patients seem to prefer a more mature hairline.

Hotblooded, since the prices of HT surgeries in Australia are usually significantly higher than that in North America, you might actually save money by flying for example, to the US, and getting your surgery done here. Moreover, most doctors usually give a substantial travel discount that might cover all or most of your airfare. Also, a flight from Australia to one of the US coasts (say California or New York) won't be that long.

Nice job with only 2000 grafts! Noticeable (and positive) differences between the before and after pics!

Jac, unless you're attending some costume party where saran wrap is a requirement, I don't see why you should wear it on your head On a more serious note, as Jo and Bill have already pointed out, you should talk to your doctor and ask him/her about this. I personally have never heard anyone use it, and I never used it myself after my surgery.

Bllorayne, do a search on patient posts for each of the doctors and see whose final results you like the most. H&W is obviously more experienced, but "liking" of final results is often a subjective judgment call. For example, I might like a particular hairline design, that others might not find so desirable, and vice versa. So see patients results and see who can more likely help you reach your goals.

Aren't you using the vitamin e oil for your recipient site? That is supposed to reduce the itchiness. I wouldn't touch the recipient area for at least 11 days or so.

Kelli, for the hair transplant, assuming that both the donor and the recipient areas were on your head ... you can masturbate now. However, if the donor or recipient areas involved any other body location, I'll wait for a few more days

Figo, browse around the postings on this forum, and you might come across results from some doctors that you like more than others. I believe a lot of UK patients do surgeries with Feller (New York) and at the Shapiro Medical Group (Minnesota). I am sure there are some great doctors in North America and in Europe that you might like. What is "best" is highly subjective since different people might like different types of results outcomes. So the best option to find the "best" surgeon will be to browse through the patients results weblogs for each doctor.

For 4-5 weeks at least, people will notice that you look different. For exactly 6 weeks post-surgery, I wore a hat or a bandana whenever I went out. After 6 weeks, I cut the rest of my hair pretty short to blend in with my shaved (transplanted) portion. Since then, I don't have to usually wear a hat when going out. A little bit of Toppik does the trick. I am hoping that at the 5 month mark, I won't have to use even the Toppik. So plan on wearing a hat/bandana and/or some sort of concealers for the first couple of months at least.

Looks very nice!