H & W Doug

This Italian patient also had artificial. You can see the scarring was much worse but Dr. Wong was able to completely transform this patient with 2 surgeries totaling 6121 grafts

Upon further review of the file, we don't have a good post op pic that clearly shows the entire scalp. This shot depicts about 5,000 of the grafts with the rest placed in the crown. As mentioned earlier, the plan was to dense pack the frontal zone and mid scalp with enough grafts to hide the previous work along with creating a natural hairline. Any additional grafts would be placed in the crown. Dr. Hasson of course felt that the priority was the front half and the patient agreed. His thoughts were to place the additional grafts in the small area of the crown that was the weakest. There was a reasonable expectation that due to the nature of the loss, the medication may improve the surrounding hair to some degree. The option would exist to perform another small session in the crown if necessary or desired. In this case the patient responded well to the medication, most would not opt for another surgery. This is a good example of why we feel many patients would benefit from the medication. In many cases while surgery does the heavy lifting, the combination of surgery and medication can produce the best long lasting results. It can be the difference between full coverage or a good result in front and on top but a thinning and eventually bald crown.

densedream, The bulk of the transplants were done in the front half where the medication had little or no impact on the result. A small amount of grafts were placed in the crown and the medication did play a roll in the overall coverage of the crown. I'll post an immediate post-op shot and expand on this when I get back to the clinic next week.

GuitarBoy, I can't speak for other clinics but in general the follow applies to patients of our clinic: How long until I can expect the redness and swelling to get to a point where it's not too noticeable? I'll be doing what I can to cover it with my existing hair, but I'm curious to know when it will look "fine". The redness will depend on your skin tone. If you have dark skin the redness is generally not as much of an issue. If you're fair skinned, the redness can linger for several weeks or more. If you can indeed cover the work with your existing hair, I wouldn't be too concerned about it. How long until I can wear a beanie? Given that a beanie will sit on the front of the hairline and on the temples, which is exactly where the grafts will be.... About a week How long until I can go swimming?! I love swimming and not sure how it will be wearing a swimming cap (or even not wearing a swimming cap...) About 10 - 14 days post-op How long until I can go back to weight training? And can I go back to training my legs quicker, or should I hold off both for a set period of time? Depending on how agressive and heavy you go. You can usually resume moderate training within 2-3 weeks I tend to go to loads of different places to get my hair cut, and I was wondering how long until I don't have to explain to the stylist that I've had a HT? Or is this something I should always make them aware of? If you're getting a haircut before the staples are removed you should let the stylist know. After a few weeks it's up to you whether you want to mention it.The only thing you may need to be aware of is the length in the back and or sides, you'll need to let them know not to go too short. When all is said and done and the hair grows and the scar is healed, you'll find that if the ht was done right by the right doctor, your stylist will problably not even notice you've had a hair transplant surgery. I like to tell them I've had a transplant and get their reaction. Most are not used to seeing a high quality surgery and are impressed. What they usually see is bad work and they didn't realize there is something this good available they can recommend to their clients. I hope this helps.

MoMo, Sounds good. I think you'll have a much better few months waiting for the hair to come in this time as you've got all that hair from your last procedure with Dr.Hasson you didn't have the first time. You should be looking pretty good from here on until the new ones start to appear. Keep us posted.

Hey JustOne, Great to see you at the clinic for your procedure. Sounds like things are coming along as expected. You can be a little more agressive now and work out the remaining scabs. no need to be too gentle at this stage. Looking forward to your updates !

MoMo542, Great to see you at the clinic the week before last. What a big difference from your previous trip ! I'm happy for you the improvement has been so dramatic. The shaved down pics really tell the story, if the ht surgery is not done right it really shows in these. You can't hide the work with creative styling or photos. Nice comparison. Looking forward to hearing from you in the future.

glocktop, As you are probably well aware, the comb is not used for every pre-op shot but often times the hair flops forward over areas of weakness and in some cases the comb is necessary to reveal the true recession. Here's a shot without the comb.

Santeria, Great to see you at the clinic last month and view your result in person. It has been a pleasure to have you as a patient. I'm very pleased you are so happy with the result !

Guys, I agree this patient is well on his way for 5.5 months. I spoke with him a few weeks back at around the 8-9 month mark and he informed me his hair is really looking good as you can imagine. I'm looking forward to his return to the clinic and HD video as well. We'll update when possible. I think he may be in LA auditioning for the title role in the Omar Sharif story

This patient does truly look as good as depicted here and has been a friend of the clinic for years. He is proud of his transformation and has always been there for potential patient's in the Seattle area wanting to see a live ht. Future_HT_Doc, 1st surgery strip size: 34 cm x 1.6-2.0 cm 2nd surgery strip size: 32 cm x 1.2 cm Dr. Hasson rated his density as average (medium) for both surgeries.

hair_me_out, Individual healing characteristics can vary from patient to patient. But if the surgeon is skilled and utilizes certain techniques, he can maximize the chance that the scar will turn out very well. It's usually me with the comb. As you mentioned in this case, and many others are no different, often times it is difficult for me to find the scar. "cool" I agree!

Hairshare, Yes, the patient is very happy. Dr. Wong started him on Finasteride at the time of surgery and no grafts were placed in his crown. The medication provided sufficient crown improvement.

M&M, Even given the challenges presented in this case, with his previous experience transplanting in scar tissue, Dr. Wong was confident he and his team could produce a favorable result without the need for a test patch. You are right,for this patient,his two procedures with Dr. Wong were truly life-changing. For more from Dr. Wong about this case and transplanting into scar tissue, see the following video: Dr. Wong's thoughts on this case

NewJack, This patient had 240 grafts placed in the crown.

hairshare, Yes, your result did inspire questions leading to the video! We'll be looking forward to updates regarding your last visit here. It was a pleasure to have you at the clinic again.

Pianoman99 I recall several years ago a patient came in for a consultation who had previous crown work done by another clinic. The grafts were pluggy, low density and sticking straight out of the scalp like a pin cushion. The angle and direction of the grafts were so poor, that any hope of a decent result required removal of the old work. Whether recreating a new ???swirl??? or following the pattern of the existing ???swirl??? in the crown, certain techniques, skill and an understanding of hair direction, angle and orientation are required. Dr. Wong gives a little insight as to how the crown was reconstructed in the case of Hairshare in the following video: Dr. Wong crown reconstruction Hopefully this helps answer your question.

Hey Bill, I just now noticed your ps welcoming me to the forums. Thanks! I will occasionally look around and post here and there if I can add something interesting to a thread. Things are well and hope the same for you!

Thanks for your comments thanatopsis_awry. His density is average to good in the donor area and the density behind the transplanted area was also good as you observed. Under these conditions, the transplanted area didn't need to extent too far into the existing hair as you stated. One of the benefits of shaving the perimeter of existing hair during surgery is the resulting seamless transition from transplants to existing hair. If done properly, you can't tell where the transplant ends and the existing hair starts.