shanti

I do remember the name confusion I'm away this weekend but I'll get some pics up next week. Thats a promise !

I promise the photos are coming. I won't leave with out a proper update. Grafts?... I reckon about 2000 unfortunately. I could add it up but I don't need to know. I would however say 500-700 of those were wasted. It wasn't a large area but what I learnt is that you always need more grafts than you think to try and recreate your "expected" natural density. I didn't want a strip scar at the time and now I'm so pleased I don't. However I agree 1 large FUT session may have been better possibly in my case. However I am aware that if I'd done that with my first doctor back in 2001 I'd probably be in a right pickle now. I'm lucky that I only had a relatively small FUE session which could be fixed. A FUT megasession with a poor doctor would have been a nightmare. 600 badly placed FUE was bad enough!! I thought (probably like most of us do) that I'd nail it first time and I could get on with my life back in 2001. Not the case. It took me 10 years and 7 surgeries to finally hit my goal..... and that's with the internet, these forums, no expense spared, zero travel restrictions and using the top notch recommended doctors. The top 5 docs of their time. One way or another it's worked out eventually but it not a decision to take lightly. It's an intense ride !

Hi Dan, You may want to read my post "7 FUE's and counting". You're in good hands with Dr Feller. All the best Shanti

Update..... I haven't been on the forums for a long time. Don't suppose they've found a cure yet?? It's been 1 year and 4 months since my last surgery with Dr Feller. The grafts grew in as expected and the hairline filled nicely. I can't pin the timing down but one day my hair definitely became less of an issue. My haircuts seemed to improve and I just felt satisfied for the first time in a long time about my hair and hairline. Not quite "wash & go" but it's pretty damn close Then I guess I just drifted away from the forums. Never really thought that would happen but it took a follow up email from Spex to remind me about this place and to log in. It's taken 7 surgeries and a load of time and cash, but I can honestly say I don't need any further hair. The hairline is now very, very natural and a "home run" as they say. I'm sure I will lose further hair as I age but I guess I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. (I'm 36 now). So for now I'm done. It's been a pretty nasty journey and a couple of years back I did regret ever starting.... but now on reflection, I'm happy that I did. My prior surgeries (before finding Dr. Feller) didn't live up to expectation. I'm sure they are good doctors in their own right but maybe a combination of my hair/ scalp characteristics and their technique didn't quite compliment each other. Who knows? What I do know is that Dr Feller fixed me .....and for that my biggest thanks of course goes to him and his team. It took me 4 surgeries to find him but since meeting him there has always been light at the end of the tunnel. Thanks Alan. A huge thanks goes also to Spex. He's been there all the way through. He's a legend in his own right and I know I won't be the last guy he helps. Cheers buddy !! And finally, the HTN publishers, moderators and its posters. This forum has been an invaluable source of information. It's also been a reliable and trusted companion when feeling down about all this hair loss crap... So a big thanks to all that make these forums happen and wish you all a very hairy 2011. I will update with photos and I'll answer any questions anyone may have but I doubt I'll be logging on much anymore. So I guess this is Shanti ... signing out

i lost weight just reading that ;-)

The hair at the back of the head will have thicker shafts and hold more pigment (i think that makes sense). It's usually always coarser, thicker and darker than the thinner miniaturising hairline hairs.

I've had a few zig zag hairs, in fact I have one now from a FUE surgery 5 months ago. In my experience they do relax and straighten after a few hair growth cycles. It may take a couple of years but they usually will normalise. However, the colour won't change.

Jones was around 900 and then I had another 800 planted by other doctors before I went to see Feller. Feller has planted something like 700 grafts now but to be honest I've lost count. 7 FUE surgeries to date. It's best to discuss this with your doc as this plan of attack may not suit your situation. Do you have a photo?.... while I'm no doctor I might be able to see if you're in a similar position.

Welcome to my world. Dr Jones planted the hairs vertically in my hairline/ temples. Obviously this wasn't how nature intended but he wasn't to know this as I think he had his eyes closed. My natural hairs point forward and the bend down over my forehead after they reach a certain length as is typical.......My Jones HT hairs point straight up. I had more put in over the years by different doctors to increase the density but this actually just added to the problem in hindsight. Then recently Feller under my instruction placed hairs at acute angles and forward in amongst the vertical hairs, concentrating especially along the hairline. It's worked. We've had to lower the hairline slightly to accommodate them but the fact that these new hairs are at a different angle they actually help create more density than if they we're all pointing the same direction. They cross each other creating a "lattice", therefore preventing light passing through and cutting out the see through look. It may not work for you but for me my correctly angled Feller hairs along the hairline are styled forwards and down and then they blend slowly into the more vertical hairs behind. They form a slowly increasing angle from nearly flat (180 degrees) at the hairline, slowly increasing in angle upto the "bad" vertical hairs behind at 90 degrees. Photos wouldn't show it any better than my description. It just looks normal now.

I will add that to hide it was the right thing to do for me. It really does depend on your circumstance. If you are in a very stable relationship or you're married then fine, tell the girl. Honesty in this instance is definitely the best policy. But when I first started having HT's I was in my 20's and had different girlfriends. I now know that one or two of them I wouldn't trust with the information. It's ok bringing people into your "circle of trust" if that circle stays under your control but for me it was too big a risk and in hindsight my "secret" would probably be on Facebook by now! I now have a long term girlfriend who I intend to marry. She doesn't know but she may do one day. For now my HT is undetectable and not an issue, so there's no need to bring it up. I'd like to keep it my secret for now and potentially forever if nature is kinder to me from here on. Shanti

It's possible but not easy and I'm sure you're not alone. I'm certainly guilty as charged. 1st I was run over by a bus. Not badly but just enough to have my head bandaged up. 2nd I was supposedly investigating real estate prices in Asia....for quite a while. I even set up an online virtual receptionist to take my calls. Insane. 3rd Grazed my head on "hard"?? snow while snowboarding... (good grief, can't believe where I was going with that one. Seemed believable at the time). 4th Think I could hide that one without an excuse (postage stamp FUE). 5th The attachment broke on the clippers and it gashed my head something terrible ... that was a good one. Should have sued Wahl ;-) 6th Business trip .... and then with and splash of dermatch easily hidden. 7th Same. No one knows... they just think I'm rather accident prone. Shanti

Quick update...... it's been 3 months since the surgery. Healing was quick and easy. No real signs of growth yet but that's to be expected. I held onto a few hairs but most shed so no real change in appearance. The usual stuff. However this time, to take my mind of the wait, I've managed to shift my focus onto my health and body. I'll mention it because it's been so effective in improving my mental state during the doldrums. Since I've spent a small fortune over the years on my head, I though the rest of me could do with a little attention. I've never been overweight but I was developing a bit of a belly thanks to a relaxed diet and beer. By hitting the gym 3 times a week for 40mins and running 3 days a week for 40 mins in the morning before breakfast, I've completely changed my body composition. I've cleaned up my diet but cheat one day over the weekend. The result is that at 35 i'm in better shape than I've ever been. The main benefit however is that I'm not staring at my head waiting for the hair to grow. I can't do anything about that, I just have to have faith in Dr Feller and let nature take it's course. Instead I'm focusing on my body, which I do have the power to do something about. When the hair grows in, it'll be the icing on the cake (God I miss cake :-), and I'm hoping people will notice my healthier appearance as an overall improvement and so they won't notice the hairline. At the end of the day, hairs all about vanity and confidence. I really recommend using the HT waiting period to give the rest of you a little TLC because the final package will really compliment the hair transplant. Have a great Christmas everyone. I'll update again when I see some growth. Shanti

I've gotta admit that the email Pats sent requesting your login details has floored me. Pats could be writing up/ editing all the result stories on that site. Does Hairsite know they are doing this? While I'm not a fan of Armani's work, I've tried to keep a balanced view and saw Pats etc as just defending Armani and protecting the "brand" as they call it. Fine..... but when I read this about them requesting login details for personal user accounts, that changes everything. I can't quite believe it. Is this really the case. Seems this rabbit hole goes deeper than I first thought.

Neck lift is another type of surgery. Neck lift involves cutting and tightening the platysma muscle (neck muscle). It's a bigger procedure and a general anaesthetic. Lipo involves just sucking out the fat. Look into Smart Lipo (laser) or Vaser Lipo (ultrasonics) for removing the fat. Quick procedure and only a local anaesthetic.

There is a lot of anger directed at Armani and I wonder how it sits with him. It obviously can't be great for business but I doubt it's had a huge impact based on his reach. To be fair to the doctor he is a skilled surgeon. He can and does get good results. He can extract and plant grafts and the results can sometimes look very good when supported by native hair. The problem I see is that he applies the same "brute force" technique to each and every patient. It's his chosen technique that's at fault and it was inevitable that the results would catch up with him. If you pack in big numbers a low yield will still look fine. Lowering the hairline and closing the temples will make someone look more youthful, which let's face it, is the name of the game. For some it will work. Someone with minimal hairloss who will maintain and has resilient scalp hairs that can withstand the trauma will probably look pretty good, possibly for life. That's his ideal market. Unfortunately they aren't many of those long term. For everyone of these lucky patients, there will be many more who don't have these ideal characteristics, their hair may shock or their MPB will progress and they will have real issues a few years down the line. What Armani calls " Zone 1 at MEDIUM density and zone 2 at LOW density" on Chanyouzhe, is HIGH density when compared to most other doctors. This is what has caused the shock on Chanyouzhe. I'm only expressing my opinions and I don't know hair/ surgery like Armani and Pats, but I have to ask Pats something. Pats... is Armani's statement saying that Chanyouzhe's hairloss in the areas transplanted is the result of his natural MPB progression that would have occurred in the same timescale with or without surgery? Would he really have naturally progressed to a Norwood 6 in 10 months? That's how it reads but is this actually what is implied?