Mark H

You have clearly stated you didn't get what you wanted, and what you thought was going to be done. If that isn't a disconnect, what is? I agree the doctor knows best, but shouldn't he accidentally tell you what is best before hand and then follow thru?

i hadn't thought about that. I think B Spot is probably right. Your hairline is really good, and at this point you can't judge final density.

You hit the nail on the head, its too good to believe. There are only three treatments known to help hairloss: Minox., Propecia, and HT's...thats it, game over, full stop. You're a little too young to bet the trailer money on an HT, so I would contact your doctor and see if he'll allow you to combine Propecia with Minoxidil. There are indications that they may be complimentary. Minox. and propecia both take time to work, and remember, if it slows or stops loss, that may be as good as it gets for you. Its impossible to predict. The only thing you can predict is what will happen if you do nothing. Save your money on lasers. mark h

Well, no complaints about choice of doctor, but you might want to ask him if FUE is best for your case. Your results look surprisingly good for 870 grafts, a small job by today's stds on this board anyway.

I was referring to B spot's comment above. Got it, and I had missed that comment earlier. Now, I don't know B spot's experience, but I lived for many years in Asia, and I found the doctors to be fine. My experience is that if a doctor is competent, then most medical needs will be met equally in any part of the civilized world. OTOH, when your requirement is for an area of medicine that requires state of the art technique, then there IS no safe part of the world. You have to be able to vet the doctor as best of the best, and a star in the field. How to do that in Asia? That hasn't been this board's focus, and so B Spot's perspective holds together well enough for AsiaPac because it holds for any part of the world and doesn't (necessarily at least) represent an unfounded prejudice.

"Hey Brianf, read more carefully. No doctor was tarred. Full stop. We don't know those doctors. We do know our doctors, and we don't recommend very many of _them_ in this country either. That is the point. One final comment: a more pointed question to Dr. Wong would have been if doctor Path practices the Ultra refined FU techniques as practiced by himself. If yes, then Dr. Wong's opinion is most significant. If OTOH, he's practicing STD FU methods, then results may be adequate, but are not going to be the best obtainable.

800 seems like a small number, but perhaps I'm simply jaded by all the large Hts we talk about here. Who is your doctor? Didn't he give you a post op procedure? Did he tell you to wash your hair 3 times a day? I've never heard of such a thing. You do realize that your grafts are not seated in tightly. It will take a week, maybe two for that to happen. Grafts popping out DURING surgery? My understanding is that shouldn't happen, although it can if your scalp isn't properly numbed. How do you end up with 20 per cent less grafts than the doctor himself says you need. I've never heard of that. Typically a doctor will go over just a little, but less? And why on earth would the doctor deviate from your agreed plan and put more grafts where you didn't want them? You and your doctor appear to have a real disconnect here. Who is this guy? Listen, there are guys on here more experienced than me, but I've got alarm bells going off. mark

Spot on, B spot... There may be some outstanding HT doctors in Asia, but if so, where did they learn the latest technique....in the US? Was it simultaneously developed in Asia? How do you vet a doc for this in Asia. I've no idea, but as B Spot points out, if money is no object, then seek out a coalition doc from this site, and sleep well.

I used the word "absur*" in a post, and that was enough to trip a review. 3 days on it hasn't showed up. I figured it wouldn't, and reposted using another word. As Fred Rogers used to say, "Lets all keep our voices down."

Shapiro and H&W are most active on the forum, but I would guess that any doctor on the coalition list is going to be a top doc, full stop. I went to Dr. Cooley, who only occasionally gets play on this forum, but who is on the cutting edge. However, I would caution anyone about seeing a doctor on the "Recommended" list. That list contains doctors that are not necessarily the best. They might be excellent, or just not too bad. In such a case a LOT of vetting should be done.

Yes Running man, 3000 hairs would indicate something like 1000 grafts, and most doctors will work and price I might add based on grafts (each of which typicaly contain 1-4 hairs) rather than individual hairs. I've only recently had 4100 grafts put in myself, and I'm walking across that long bald desert to the lush hair filled oasis on the other side. How in the world you feel 10 years younger 2 weeks after surgery is beyond me. Two weeks out of surgery, I looked like the last chapter of "What's the Use". At 6 weeks my head still looks like 10 miles of muddy road. I can only hang on and await the day when once more my hair will remind people of the Black Bavarian Forest at the height of springtime (after a particularly heavy rainfall.) mark h

As explained to me, 12 to 14 months is the outside range for experiencing whatever growth you're going to get. However, I've noted that most get the majority by month 8, but there does seem to be a broad range of experience. I asked my doctor in particular if my age meant that I might expect slower growth. He said no, and that it simply isn't predictable. I do believe that minox and propec, along with some other treatments can help minimize the Telogen phase. mark

Glock, after age 50, if you could harvest what's coming out of your nose and ears you could have a full head of hair again...if you wanted it that badly.

I've removed any posts that might be impolitic. mark

I'm at six weeks, and I know for a fact that I experienced some growth just at the 1 month mark. I know this because there was no hair previously in that area. Now, when I mean growth, I'm talking about a countable number of stalwart hairs that are simply at the head of the class and have shot up beyond the stubs left around them, its nothing I could style if they were 10 inches long. Its just been interesting to watch. I think the post op procedures from Dr. Cooley have been helping. I won't discuss them in any detail because they're part of a paper for his learned journal, but I have been using rogaine foam all over my ht since a few days after my HT. I've been reading up on what Rogaine does, and the research is interesting. There actually appears to be a school of thought that believes that more than regrowing hair, it increases existing diameter, and most importantely shortens the Telogen phase so that at any given time you have a higher percentage of your hair in the andregen(sp?) phase than you ordinarily would. Therefore you have an appearance of more hair, and thickness. However, it was my personal experience in the past that it could also grow hair where there simply was none before, so I think there's more to the story. That said, although Rogaine as an adjunct to improving initial growth after HT surgery is unproven, I think it shows promise. mark

Hi Max, I didn't say you couldn't grow it, I just said there are only two ways known to science: Minoxidil solution, and Propecia medication. Both work through separate, but possibly complimentary ways to grow hair. Anything else you hear about is outside the bounds of science. A Hair Transplant (HT) is the surgical method to redistribute existing hair to provide increased coverage and to the extent possible the illusion of fullness. There are a variety of methods, but one method, Ultra Refined Follicular Transplantation is the most sophisticated. Only a small handful of doctors can do it, and only a smaller cadre can do it well. To find those doctors you need to search, research, check, and recheck. The doctors that belong to the coalition on this site are considered among the best on Earth, its as simple as that. I am of the opinion, that in the case of an HT, only the best doctors will do. 2nd rate isn't good enough, this is part science, part art, part doctor, and part field-hand stuff. Its difficult, expensive, and time consuming. There's no room for compromise. mark

Yes of course you're right kamin, you can't get a graft in by wishin' and hopin', so if there's no surgery, they're either growing it, or dropping something on your head. If they're growing it and they're not using minox or propecia, they're in the land of beads and rattles. max, you're a lucky guy, because you've stumbled onto a hair loss forum that knows what its talking about. Stick around, learn, ask more questions, and you will get the straight story. Go through various threads by random, and then use the search button above to focus in. Your questions will become more pointed. There is something you can do about your hair, but you need to stay away from suede-shoe hustlers that promise more and deliver less. Good Luck, mark h

Sounds like its laser therapy, which I've never heard any good about here. In any case, in order for a procedure other than an HT or minox/propecia to work, the medical profession would have to be wrong. That's not a good bet.

Some doctors recommend using Rogaine, and now most particularly the Rogaine foam, shortly after an HT procedure with the goal of encouraging a quicker crop of hair. There is no evidence, which is to say there are no studies one way or the other with respect to using Rogaine post op to shorten the telogen (resting) phase. However, there has been recent research indicating that shortening the telogen phase is at least part of what Rogaine is doing. So in a nutshell, it is quite possible that even if you don't wish to take Rogaine long term, it may be beneficial in jump starting your HT growth.

Some doctors recommend using Rogaine, and now most particularly the Rogaine foam, shortly after an HT procedure with the goal of encouraging a quicker crop of hair. There is no evidence, which is to say there are no studies one way or the other with respect to using Rogaine post op to shorten the telogen (resting) phase. However, there has been recent research indicating that shortening the telogen phase is at least part of what Rogaine is doing. So in a nutshell, it is quite possible that even if you don't wish to take Rogaine long term, it may be beneficial in jump starting your HT growth.

I haven't found that much price difference. Maybe the only cheap route is to go bald. I really like the foam, so I think its worth the money. I'd send you to one of those inexpensive Canadian pharma's that I sometimes use, but surely they're down the street from you. Don't give up on it though, keep your hair!

Alot of what getting an HT is about is a feeling of empowerment. In Terms of Endearment, Aurora finally goes next door to see the Astronaut (Jack Nicholson). She's in his dining room surrounded by NASA trophies, pictures, awards etc. Finally she says, "I can't believe you need all this stuff to get women" Jack replied, "Sometimes its not enough."

Sounds like this doctor is trying to corner the growing chiseler demographic.

Color me green Domie! mark

Thx angel, always good to hear from the babes on a subject like this. I'll take a look at Feria, but I'm not coloring for another month...too scary. mark