the B spot

Hang in there buddy!!!! A HT is the least of your concerns right now, trust me. Like the others have said, just buzz the darn stuff down, get a tan and start thinking about what YOU want to do with your life...get a degree, learn another language, take a trip, work on your body, join a chess club...anything!!! In your present condition your not a candidate for a HT...glad you came on here for advice and opened up...your going to be much better off....read the stories of guys who were in the same situation as yourself who scraped together 5-6 grand and got stuck. Please continue to let us know how your doing and what your working on! Jason

Do you wear a hat alot? I've seen some guys thin in those spots and many wear a hat...if nothing else, quit wearing the hat for a while and see what happens. Hope things work out for you mate. Jason

Brow...no reason to do a strip for eyebrows...FUE is perfect for this as it allows us to take the best 1 hair grafts that mimic your current brow hair...(coarse/fine) --when you take a strip, you get what you get and have to cut the grafts down....the scarring is a non-issue with either method...but if you think about it..FUE is the way to go for eyebrows. Good luck!!! Jason

You are not a HT candidate, not for FUE or Strip. You should call this clinic and ask him exactly how much hair you are going to lose and if he could share his method of hairloss forecasting with the rest of us. No Way...any type of HT work on you should be criminal mate. I hope you reconsider.

Hey dv--you've gotten some great advice here, so I just want to add that at 19..it is good idea to put the idea of a HT out of your mind for at least another 4-5 years. Buzz it down, continue with topicals/shampoo's and try propecia AND most importantly...develop some short/long term life goals..get physically fit, work on finishing a degree, travel, etc.... and do not focus on the hair...its tough, but worth it! Take Care, Jason

I think when you get to a point in your research and your choosing between 2-3 docs who all do great work and meet your needs, look at factors such as cost, travel, and just how much you personally like one doctor over the other. Each of your choices do great work, so really think about the little details and see who rises to the top. Good Luck! Jason

TDS--I am sorry mate! We've been fairly swamped here recently, which is no excuse for you..just an explanation. I wanted Dr. Ron to be able to put something together as a medical explanation and he will, I know personally it seems that for each successive HT it take just a bit longer to grow in..just as we all know it takes longer for the crown to come in vs the hairline/mid-scalp. It's just one of those things. Some lucky chaps never notice this, others do not achieve full results for 18 months. I promise to get something a bit more substantial..I just do not want to think we are blowing you or this thread off. Talk soon, Jason

Guys...at SMG we try to do things the right way...good old fashioned caring customer service. If anyone every comes away from any contact with Matt, Janna, myself, Dr. Ron, or Dr. Paul feeling like they were rushed or not taken care of, ALL of us want to know about it so we can make it right. In this instance js, please feel free to contact me so we can talk things out. We can set up a time to talk on the phone and make sure you have all your questions answered. If you would like, at the end of our conversation, I would be happy to offer some suggestions of other doctors to consult with as well. Please PM me and I will make sure your situation is remedied immediately. Matt Zupan takes great pains to 100% ensure our patients are 100% educated and 100% satisfied...I know once I bring this to his attention, he will be upset that someone walked away from a consultation feeling less than satisfied. ss--I'm not sure how to respond to your post. Matt is VERY thorough, as is SMG in general. Those who want to schedule quickly, move quickly or seek an instantaneous gratification via hair transplant often find us tedious and end up choosing other clinics who do not care to take the time to properly educate their patients. I was not privy to your conversation, but if you do not fall into the category I just mentioned, perhaps it is just one of those bad conversations and giving it another shot would prove fruitful. Matt has been in the industry for 15+ years and if he was anything but thorough, patient, and caring he would have been out of the industry years ago. The guy cares about helping bald dudes..period. Again, this goes for anyone reading this thread..if you have ANY issues with SMG, please let me know, let Janna know, etc.. we are happy to address them and take care them for you. Take Care Jason

TDS...I've sent Dr. Ron this thread to get his thoughts...give me a bit and I'll have something for you. Jason

I just want to point out something: A person getting a quality hair transplant using the Neograft is certainly a possibility and for those who have chimed in here, a reality. However, making unsubstantiated claims regarding the efficacy of one method over the other, is something completely different. I am eternally happy for a fellow balding man or who woman who finds a measure happiness with their results...the individual is the measure of his or her happiness, not others. Please keep that in mind when I offer a comment...it is not to slight those who may have had a wonderful experience with a particular doctor/clinic/method...my only purpose as an educated member is to point out that the "best" or "better" etc...when pointing to a particular machine, etc.. needs to be verified. Hopefully, we will start seeing more Neograft work and we can properly comment on how it has stood against other methods. Jason

I find this comment extremely disturbing and highly unverifiable. (quote) As a summary, Dr. Bauman is amoung the top 3 doctors in the WORLD when it comes to hair. That's why he's on CNN, Fox News, Dateline NBC, etc. (quote) Again, a person may feel a doctor is a top doctor, which is no problem with me whatsoever. However, just because a particular doctor, lawyer, etc.. has his or her mug in front of the camera it has no bearing as to how #1. His overall patient base feels #2 How his most respected peers feel regarding the practices and procedures of a particular clinic. A standard FUE punch 1.0mm or less produces the same scarring potential (or lack of a strip scar)as any other properly sized FUE extraction device. The Neograft machine may with time, bear out and as I have stated before, that if/when that happens I will happily support its use. Jake...talk to many patients, see patients in person, see other doctors, see other patients in person...research how a particular doctor is regarded by communities and other doctors. If after that, your research leads you to Dr. Bauman, then you will have done your due diligence and can proceed in a proper manner. Take Care, Jason

Going "higher" on a patient is an approach taken after a proper assessment by the doctor. Additionally, the doctor should feel that chances of the sides dropping and subsequently exposing the resulting scar is minimal at best. The patient should be informed of the risk and potential. If there is any hesitation, then just do not take the strip as high. Sometimes you can go a little wider and not as long. It comes down to proper communication between doctor and patient...and proper function of the doctor who must be able to explain to a patient why he or she is not a candidate for going so high. It is not an exact science simply because one cannot forecast future loss. Take Care, Jason

Please let me know where you have heard marginal comments regarding Dr. Ron Shapiro. There are a couple of other doctors who have the last name of Shapiro, some of whom have an exceedingly poor reputation. Perhaps some confusion? I would be happy to help answer any and all questions. To answer your question, either Dr. Feller or Dr. True are fine choices, you should visit with both. Take Care, Jason

You will be in good hands with Dr. Konior mate!!! He does great work and is a caring, meticulous doctor. Please let us know how things are going. Take Care, Jason

Hope everything works out well Tony. See you soon. Jason

Hi dp--- the crown generally comes along slowly...I think you should be prepared to wait until 12-14 months to see a true result. I would get your pre and post op photos to mark your progress and I would continue to take a photo of your crown each month so you can see improvements as your crown grows in. Take Care, Jason

Hi Matt...generally not really. There will always be some slight loss by virtue of doing a HT...regardless of methods...but Dr. Ron has been punching out old work and recycling grafts as a repair approach for many, many years. Once the hair grows it is just as if it never had been moved. I think the only real issue is re-placing into areas that have been punched out due to some decrease in vascularity/scar tissue that can occur as a result of a poor previous surgery. But that is a story for another day! Take Care, Jason

Congrats on a good experience!!! Dr. Gabel does fine work and I look forward to seeing your results in the coming months!!! Take Care, Jason

Hi Bill...it really depends on the person...the holes look a little larger because the tissue is expanded a bit to ease the extraction process. As the expansion solution drains the holes close up on their own and form a small scab...generally just like a HT the scabs are gone fairly quickly and may leave a red/pink dot for several days or be unnoticeable right away. Getting a light tan prior to getting a HT is a good idea, as those with fair skin tend to take a bit longer to shed the effects of having surgery. Take Care, Jason

To try and add to the great response by Dr. Meshkin...if you ask these questions and you are made to feel uncomfortable or uneasy for asking them, walk away. I will ask Janna, whom many of you know as SMG's super-awesome wonder woman =), to respond with the process our technicians go through just to train to be a cutter/placer and how much experience our staff has. Excellent thread. Jason

Hi ss---are you referring to the position of the scar post-surgery in regards to where the scar ends near the temples? Or, are you referring to the position of the scar in regards to height above the "bump" on the back of the head? Aside from that, I am glad you are not engaging in a "whose better" debate. No doctor can possibly work on every patient and every patient cannot possibly like a single doctor. A truly world class doctors' documented results, consistently satisfied patients, and commitment to furthering the field of hair restoration is self-sustaining. I encourage you to continue to ask as many questions as you like, until you are comfortable with your choice. Take Care, Jason

Sure these guys got great results...with 8-9-10K grafts, not 4-5K. From what I see from Cody, he has not started propecia and has no idea if he will respond. Again, at 25, at a full NW5-6 pattern/no meds, Cody is no where near a candidate. Of course, this is my personal feeling toward his type of situation and generally speaking Dr. Shapiro's. We like to stay conservative and not necessarily be so aggressive. Like I said, there are hundreds of clinics who would be happy to sign Cody up for 2-3 more sessions. Emperor, conventional wisdom would tell Cody to wait till 28-29, rock the buzz cut, and see what propecia does. Assess his potential to go to a NW6-7....he has lost his sides already so unless his donor density is crazy, he's already going to be lucky to get 6-7K, which after he does the frontal 2/3's and hits the sides, he will likely not have any grafts to hit the crown. So if we scale back the desire to reach a "full head of hair" (which is more unlikely than likely) framing the face and shaving the sides down to lessen the contrast between the dense sides and thinning top, a nice look can be achieved. Please note---my advice to Cody is to NOT get a HT at this time. Maybe not ever. At the very least he needs to stabilize his loss first, then do some in-person consults. He also needs to buzz his head and forget about the hair before he thinks about doing a HT. All of this is my opinion, so please do not take what I say as the only way. Jason

I did not say that some clinic would not be happy to slap 4-5K grafts onto Cody's head. At 25, his sides have already dropped, so that 4-5K your talking about probably will not do the trick to satisfy him. Additionally, he will likely continue to lose his hair, so at 25 he is not a candidate. If he was on Propecia for 18 months and that stopped his loss and possibly some regrowth, maybe...but it is still a bit of a gamble. A more realistic approach would be to simply buzz the hair all over. Again at 25, IF Cody MUST go forward, he would be better served with 2500 FUE grafts, bolstering a conservative hairline and then adding some density over the frontal half. He would retain his ability to cut the hair short and walk away from getting a HT later on should his hairloss progress further. I still maintain after seeing the photos that Cody is a not a HT candidate at this time...better to wait and move forward after being on Propecia for 1-2 years. I see your point azazelgs, but amidst all these great results, we need to be even more diligent about being conservative, giving sound advice, etc...and really make sure a guy is ready mentally and financially to take the plunge. Cody needs education, patience and support, which thankfully all of us are giving him. Take Care, Jason

Hi Cody, I'm going to tell you that at 25, with a NW5-6 pattern/diffuse thinning your probably not a candidate for a HT. The guys have given you great advice...should you hold steady into your 30's...maybe, but I would look to buzz your sides shorter...you could get a tan...it will make you look better and minimize the contrast between your thin top and thick sides. Put this aside for a bit and turn your energy to better pursuits mate. Take Care, Jason