control

I am looking forward to seeing your progress and I am sure it will look great. Good choice in moving forward and getting a HT

DanielKiwi, I have seen NW 7 folks get 10000+ procedures and come out with decent coverage. So to answer you, hell yeah it is possible. You are 32, and given that you are checking this forum often, I would say you are very worried about your hair. I was on a similar forum before I made the decision to get a procedure, but afterwards I went off the forum for roughly 5 years and now I am back b/c I need some updates and guidance before I make another commitment with Dr Cole. The main reason I visited this forum was to learn about Dr. Shapiro and work he has done in FUE but I am still waiting to get good feedback. You have a good strategy, just start small and adapt to results and updates accordingly. Going with FUE provides additional flexibility. I buzzed my hair the other day with a 2-guard and will do so again before next procedure. Control

TC17, Let me clarify again that grafts were placed in "Rear/Crown" not just in crown. In five years having only placed 1800 across rear and crown has allowed for coverage now and is decent planning for future. I would hardly call it "reckless of Dr. Cole." Now, it would be stupid for me to tell you that I will not care about hair later in life but that doesn't at all mean that I don't care about hair now. Moreover, hair is personally more important to me now. The supply is constrained given our current capabilities in the HT field but I take that into consideration hence do not go for dense packing in areas. As you can see from another pic yes the hair doesn't look thick but there is definitely coverage and looks better than when I had minimum hair in the rear / crown. Again one thing to note is that Dr. Cole only agreed to give me a procedure after I had been on Minioxidil and Proscar for approx a year. So here was our discussion.... After reviewing some patients photos, I asked Dr. Cole to imagine i was NW 6 and needed a HT and asked how many grafts would you put on my head. Well then Dr. Cole mentioned that it depended on what was available. Well we did some estimates after he reviewed my donor area. Then Dr. Cole said well we need more in front obviously for hair line and so forth. So, I asked well how about in the back well he said with decent supply we could afford 2000 to 3000 in rear which will leave us a good bit for the front. Well this is when we decided small is good for me. We moved forward with small procedure just to cope with hair loss. Overall, I am happy because it boosted my confidence and I know there is hope. Moreover, with BHT and possibility that we may see hair cloning will serve as a contingency plan incase I begin to run out of donor hair which shouldn't be the case since we planned appropriately. Control

Danielkiwi, The reason it gets tougher to throw in the towel is because you somewhat get hooked if you see decent gains from HT. With a reputable doctor, a decent savings, and eagerness to cover your head with hair, it gets difficult to throw in the towel once you realize that there is a workable, less invasive solution to cure balding. Again, I am very biased here but trust me, once going under FUE, and realizing that small procedures aren't bad at all, you somewhat just tend to work harder to save up more money to get the next one. In all my procedure, I choose to have shaven FIT, which in my case required 8-9 days for donor area to regrow hair so I can get a decent fade(haircut) and getting back to normal life. One thing I will say is that if you are worried about your hair, FUE is an excellent choice to attack the problem with some strategy. See the pic I attached without so much damn light. I like the coverage and will add to it with next session of 700-1000. Control

Danielkiwi, I am at the verge of turning 29. I would assume Dr. Shapiro's patients are happy and moved on because given our nature, we tend to complain when things aren't good but move on when life is surpassing our expectations. After reading your responses, I can tell you that it would be very difficult to throw in the towel but if you are like me and you do want an option then FUT is out of question. The best advice I can give someone young looking into a HT. 1) Given our current research & capabilities, realize that you may never have thick hair you enjoyed at an early age 2) After lowering expectations so they are in line with reality, I would suggest small procedures. Advantages will be that you will limit shock loss, see how your body responds to transplanted hair, limit cash outlay, limit potential damage if you select the wrong doctor, you will get some additional coverage if things turn out well and properly plan for future. Disadvantages will be that you will think that oh my hair looks the same and HT didn't help and so forth... 3) Realize that as you grow older, small procedure will help maintain coverage where your head doesn't look bald and will let you return to normal life feeling some level of satisfaction that there is a solution to my problem but requires patience. After the third procedure, many commented that I regrew hair and whatever i was doing was working. So that is definitely a positive. Control

Some updated info:: Hey guys, I just talked to a rep at forhair to get some details and I have actually had four procedures over five years totaling 1800 grafts. I also updated the original thread approx. 1PM EST.

Danielkiwi, I am really only interested in FUE because of limited to no scarring. I can tell you that after three procedures from Dr. Cole, I have had no issues with scarring in the donor or recipient area (Atleast not visible to me). In terms of yield, well I can tell you 6-8 months post op, I was able to note the difference, hence my return to Dr. Cole for more coverage. Yes at this time price is key since both doctors seem to be respected. Here is something to note. Please have your expectations clear. If you look at my pic today, I could easily use 2000+ grafts to have a fuller look but given my age that wouldn't be the best for me. All I my trying to do is maintain coverage to cope with continuous hair loss and hope hair cloning soon resolves the limited donor supply issue. How long has it been since Dr Shapiro started FUE? Did he develop his own tools / techniques or did he work with any other doctor? Any insight would be greatly appreciated. Control

Hello Everyone, I need some guidance in making a decision regarding my follow up transplant. First, some things you should know::::: 1) I have been on Generic Proscar (5mg = Split into four pieces) Which I take almost daily for the last 3+ Years. 2) I also attempt again the key is attempt to apply Generic Minioxidil once a day in my crown area. (rear of the head + crown) 3) My father is 6 on Norwood scale. 4) I have been battling hair loss for roughly 7 years and I am about to turn 29. Now onto things I have done to address my hair loss:::: 1) Along with non surgical remedies, I have had four small FUE Hair transplants from Dr. Cole over last 4-5 years (1st = ~500G, 2nd= ~600, 3rd= ~650, 4th=don't remember, all in all 1800 grafts). Mostly, all of the hair was placed in rear/crown to cope with thinning hair. 2) I must say the results were pleasing as it provided coverage in the rear/crown area. Again, note not to judge the results by reviewing today's pic. I believe I continue to experience hair loss over time and the pic taken is a close up with ton of light. And most importantly, you do not have a pre op pics. So now on to the decision for my fourth HT to provide additional coverage in the rear/crown. 1) Ok, now although I am happy with Dr. Cole's results and conservative approach in the past. I would like to hear from others who have gotten transplants from Dr. Shapiro. 2) The biggest thing I want to know is the reasoning why Dr. Cole isn't recommended on this site. I have read a few posts that question the ethics. Can someone please expand on the matter? Is it results/growth/yield driven bias? Now, my reason for consulting Dr. Shapiro is that this site seems to favor him and the fact that he perhaps offers his procedure alot cheaper than Dr. Cole. If you have any clarifying question, please do ask and I will do my best to provide further clarification.