shanti

I have a little weeping of the FUE holes the first night after surgery (take a old towel for the hotel pillows), then second day I shampoo the site. Red dots for next 4 or 5 days but healed to the touch, then pretty much visibly healed by end of the week. I'v never had strip but FUE healing is very quick and almost painless.

Thanks Bill, but that's not quite what I meant. I understand that they will shed but can we presume that if we have that initial spurt of growth before shedding then the bulb is intact and will return healthy. And conversely, if the week after surgery the hair graft stays as a stub and doesn't grow at all before the shed then it's been damaged during the surgery. If this is the case then it's early indication of the success of the transplant. If they all grow a little before the post op shed then we know they are healthy and will return.

Post transplant the grafts grow in the recipient site a little before shedding a few weeks later. Mine when transplanted were short, stubby grafts but already 10 days later they have grown and almost doubled/ tripled in length. Is this initial spurt of growth prior to shedding enough to suggest they have survived the transplantation process? I guess if they had been transected/ damaged during extraction they wouldn't have this initial post transplant growth, they would be dead, and would just stay as stubs. Is this correct?

In my case Dr Feller actually placed 487 grafts although I only booked for 400. He didn't charge for the extra 87 which by my calculations brings the procedure down to $8 a graft. Anyway, as far as I can see he's pretty well priced. Some doctors charge less, some more but his consistent results could in my opinion demand the upper end prices. He actually chooses to keep it pretty competitive. I've paid my money and personally I think it was a fair price. I've had 7 surgeries and paid between $8 and $16 a graft. $10 for the results I'm now getting is worth it to me. Like Spex says, you have a choice. There are cheaper FUE doctors out there. I've even seen one clinic offering "buy one graft get one free"..... it's your call mate. Shanti

It's tricky to see how thin the donor really is from photos but while obviously thin, I'm imagining it probably looks cosmetically fine to a person in the street. But yes, I certainly think you should speak to a specialist doctor. You may be surprised what they could salvage. In the absence of a better solution from a top doc, I'm guessing but maybe you could get 1000-1500 more from the 'front' half of the sides, the 'lower' back of head and 'nape', which ironically may actually balance out overall density with the Armani extraction zones and look better. Your hairline seems reasonably intact as well. Three options as I see it: 1) Speak to a top doc as there may be a solution. 2) Shave it off. Looks like you have a great shaped head and will wear the look well, plus you don't have a strip scar. (You won't like this next one but I've always kept it as a back up plan for myself incase I can't keep up with my hairloss, so I may as well mention it. If your current situation really bothers you and you don't want to shave then option 3 may work as a last resort..... and many people do this): 3) Use your remaining FUE grafts to create a hairline and then wear a hair piece behind. Not an ideal solution sure, but as a last resort one that could be manageable. The piece fills your crown and mid section with hair without the worry of a detectable mesh hairline because your FUE grafts hide its' edge. Easier to maintain and appears natural as the main 'giveaway', (being the hairline), is real hair. My favourite however is shaving it off. It looks like it would really suit you. Would you be comfortable with that? All the best and hope it works out for both you and Chanyouzhe. Shanti

Good work with the photoshop Sparky! ... and yes I think that recessed hairline would suit you much better. It's still a very, very nice hairline by any standards. The original Hair Club blue hairline is just a wall of hair. Poor planning by the doctor. Fine if you were born with it like say Brad Pitt but trying to recreate that on a 24 year old with MPB would be a mistake. Like Hair Hope points out, you would be surprised how many grafts it would take to close those temple angles with sufficient density to make you happy. 1000+ grafts easily and I don't think it would look any better on you anyway. Any luck with getting the money back?

More conservative would serve you better in the long run in my opinion, plus it will suit you more when you're older as you already have a natural temple recession. Strengthen the hairline but follow it as I've shown in the photo and save the grafts you'd burn closing the temples for the later surgeries you will most certainly need. That hairline looks like an Armani hairline to me and that's not a good thing. In fact it wouldn't surprise me if he didn't even have hair as low down as that in the temples as a teen. Play it safe and if you really must go lower you can tweak it on your later surgeries.

Actually I said that the "perception" is that hair transplants are expensive......I actually think they can be the bargain of the century. For me when I bought a brand new car a few years ago it was a good feeling. It cheered me up and I felt cool and confident zooming around in it. It was value for money in my eyes. But sure enough the novelty wore off and the reality that it cost a lot to run and maintain and would be worth bugger all in a few years hit. Spread that cost over 3 years of ownership and it's expensive. That good feeling was temporary despite spending all that money... and of course when I looked in the rear view mirror I had a crappy hairline reflecting back at me. The new car could never fix that feeling!! A hair transplant can probably be compared in cost to a car purchase. Similar ball park figure or thereabouts and like a car, probably the second most expensive thing after a house (unless you are into boats, planes or women Actually, years ago there was a patient of Dr Coles who went by the username "CarOnHead". He wasn't wrong....he spent Ferrari money. A good hair transplant can give you that confidence and a 'hey look at me feeling' just like a new car, plus it has the added benefit that it costs nothing to maintain and if done right on a suitable candidate, it can last a forever. Now spread that cost over a lifetime and like I said..... absolute bargain!

"this wasnt some difficult HT".... "a simple 1k job" That's the whole point mate. HT's are incredibly difficult to get right. There is nothing simple about them. Whether it be 100 grafts or 10,000 grafts, the difference between a good hair transplant and a typical one is night and day. Sure any competent doc can cut and place grafts but getting them all to grow and look natural takes so much skill. I know, I've had some of the top docs work on me and get it wrong. Now, I'm not affiliated but I do think Feller is a good doctor. Yes he's worked on me so you may think I'm a little biased but if so it's only because of the results I received and I have plenty to compare him against. If he charged $6 instead of $10 it would be great, of course it would but then again if he upped the price to $15, I'd still pay. I paid $16 in Australia and the results weren't as good ! I've also had experience with one of the main FUE doctors that charge less but his results weren't very good in my case, so I didn't save anything in the end.... and long term it cost me more. There are also others doctors that don't have much of a proven track record and you'd expect them to charge less.... and actually if I remember rightly, when Feller was at this stage he was offering free FUE surgeries. He was still perfecting his technique and felt it unfair to charge until he had plenty of consistent grown out results. Can someone confirm this?? In my opinion, money should never ever be a factor with any surgery. If you can't afford to go with who you think is the one, then don't do it or save up. It's for life and you've only got one head and body. I know it's easier said than done but money shouldn't influence your decision. You really do want to get it right first time. The perception is that hair transplants are expensive but the example of the $4000 difference between say a $6000 and $10,000 surgery is negligible in the grand scheme of things. I spent 6 years and a lot more money trying to fix my hair then I ever could paying $10 a graft at Feller's. I'd pay a hundred times that $4000 difference to get those years back.

I've always been wary of Armani and thought it was an accident waiting to happen but after taking a break from the boards for a couple of years, I come back to see the damage that's been done. I remember him suggesting (or his guy Shane did) that he could extract something like 10,000 FUE grafts (or maybe it was more) with no visible impact on the donor density. He was challenged but never proved it... did he?. But as you say ArmaniSucks, it looks to me like 6000 in your case was a few too many. So what is the deal here? He appears to be pretty much like a 21st century Bosley. I can understand how the likes of Bosley got away with it as we (the patients) didn't have the internet to share experiences.....but surely the word is out by now about these failed megasessions and yet I see people diving in on other forums for thousands of grafts with him. Am I missing something? Has he had many good results to balance the bad out or are these poor results pretty wide spread?

Ok, one week post op and it's actually been the fastest recovery so far, both with the donor and recipient. I'm not sure wether that was down to smaller incisions or that I used aloe vera and vitamin E oil which softened the scabs but either way the scabs have all gone and I'm now washing as normal. Flight back was fine and at JFK they don't seem to ask you to remove your cap so no strange looks there. I did have shaven bald patches with the red dots at the back of my head where the FUE's were taken, which I was self conscious about when walking round Manhattan. Despite the cap they were still visible through the back strap, so for the flight home I simply used a little Dermmatch to paint in the bare skin areas. Worked fine and I don't think it hindered the extraction site healing in any way. Haircut's not the best though and I was considering shaving it all off to Grade 1 to match the donor. While it would look great now (buzz cut with intact hairline), I know that in a few weeks the grafts will shed and I won't have native hair to hide my loss. So for now I'm not sporting the best look Anyway, all good so far and I believe the surgery pictures will be up soon. Cheers Shanti

Lucky, lucky escape in my opinion. That hairline is too low and closed at the temples considering your early hairloss. It might look good for a few years and it might be what you want now but by the time you're in you'll 30's / 40's you'll have a problem. Follow the advice here and if you do decide to go ahead with surgery, only go with a what are considered to be the very best doctors in the world. There are only a handful of them and Hair Club ain't one of them! Top docs aren't any more expensive but it could save you a fortune in time and money in the long run. Be prepared to jump on a plane and some docs will even cover your airfare and hotel. It's a huge decision, especially at 24 and one that requires far more research. Good luck.

I arrived at the office at 11.45 and we were finished at around 4pm. Anna shaved two sections of my donor about 4x2 inches each from the side of my head above my ears towards the back. They didn't shave centre back as this is where most of my other grafts had been taken from previous surgeries and it's best to spread the extractions out. I will shave the whole area down in a day or two. Last time I grew my hair long enough to cover the shaved area but this year I'm not too bothered with the shaved look. Pictures will hopefully be up early next week.

It's friday and I'm relaxing in the Andrew hotel in Great Neck, the day after a touch up FUE session with Dr Feller. Recovery has been a breeze as usual and I have already ventured out to Manhattan and been refused beer ! At 35 I did of course take this as a compliment but now I'm concerned that in 6 months time when my hairline grows in, I'll never get served ;-) Anyway, back to business..........yesterday I had 487 sexy single hair grafts placed to add density along my hairline and lower my right temple slightly. This was my 7th FUE session. 3 have been with Dr Feller and I wish I'd found him sooner ! For those of you who don't know me, I began naively in 2001 with Dr Jones in Canada with hairline and temporal restoration of 600 grafts. Unfortunately, the result was poorly angled, vertical standing grafts and next to hopeless density. Dr Jones second effort wasn't much better so since then it's been a battle to repair or at least refine the work that he had done. Dr Wood's in Australia had a bash and to be fair he and his sister did a pretty good job, especially compared to Jones. The yield was excellent on the whole but there were still gaps and the hairline was pluggy, despite the density, partly down to my dark coarse donor hair I now realise. Then another doctor (I did get around in those days!), managed to place some nice fine, naturally angled hairs but not many grew and the FUE holes in my donor took far too long to heal compared to the norm. I didn't like that at all and I'm sure he caused more scarring than was necessary. He also stopped working on me half way through and his trainee at the time, Dr Mwamba took over. I wasn't over the moon about that one either. So that brought me to Dr Feller. I had read about Dr Feller and his dense pack which I though would be ideal to fill in the gaps. I flew to NYC and Dr Feller targeted the left temple with 200 grafts during a "luchtime" FUE session. My plan was to concentrate on planting in the stronger left temple as I parted my hair that side and I wasn't confident enough to risk more donor on both sides. If I'm honest, I didn't hold out much hope based on past experience but 8-10 months later the results were very impressive and the gaps filled. Now that my faith had been restored in HT's, my confidence grew, so I had Dr Feller feather a few grafts along the very edge of the hairline which he managed with very natural results. The hairline continued to soften and 2 years later the result is pretty much perfect. That now brings us up to yesterday and my 7th session. A consequence of my tactic to concentrate on the left side of my hairline obviously led to a lower hairline on this side. It didn't really matter as I parted my hair on the left and covered the right with longer hair. But my experience with Dr Feller showed me what can be achieved, so I decide to sit in the chair again and have him place 400 single hair grafts to lower the right side of my hairline and balance my hairline out. The right side of my hairline is made up of a cowlick which lies very acutely to the skin. Dr Feller placed the grafts at this acute angle, copying the natural direction. This will result in great coverage as the hairs will lie on-top of each other. He also added a little density in the centre of my hairline and my "hair greed" meant we utilised the left over grafts in the left temple again. Final count and 487 singles resulted from the FUE extractions. Very please with this result and while I wouldn't say it was an enjoyable day out, (it was surgery after all), it's the best I could have hoped for. Thank you Dr Feller, Anna, Marcia and the team......... again!! I don't have any photos with me in the hotel but I'll get some up soon. Until then I'm happy to answer any questions/ comments as there's nothing on HBO ! Shanti P.S Thanks also to Spex for his ongoing advice and support. Cheers buddy.

As we speak I am relaxing in the Andrew Hotel, Great Neck after my 3rd touch up procedure with Dr Feller and his team yesterday. I received 487 single hair grafts to the hairline. It is my 7th FUE surgery in total and my only regret is that I didn't find him sooner. I went with some of the so called best FUE doctors beforehand including Cole and unfortunately Jones, but none have compared. It's been a long journey since 2001 and while I will require further touch ups as I continue to recede, I know as long as my donor keeps up, Dr Feller can give me a natural result. Quite simply, I wouldn't let another doctor touch my head.

If a doctors creates a recipient site at a certain angle to the skin (lets say for example at an acute angle at the temple points)....but then the actual grafts are placed in the site by a technician afterwards...... Is the angle of the hair pre determined by the angle of the recipient site the doctor created (and will heal and grow at that angle), or could the graft be placed at a different/ rotated/ more or less vertical angle by the technician and because of skins elasticity it will heal and grow at the angle the technician placed the graft? Appreciate your comments.