recedingboy

the thought of taking a medication for the rest of my life does bother me. sometimes i think i'll just get an fue procedure and keep my hair buzzed real short and get off the meds.

I will admit that i am often in depression due to the loss. I have not figured out specifically what it is about my hairloss that is causing the depression. - is it that I feel that I would not be considered attractive/successful? My dad did not embrace his and wears a piece so I wonder if that in doing so it somehow signals to me that hairloss is not acceptable. - is it that I feel that I am losing a part of my identity? Hair helps give character to people in my opinion. A lot of bald men of the same race don't look very different from one another, hair and the ability to style them allows one to express their individuality. - is it because I am allowing myself to be weak and not move on (as many on here and other forums are)? Am I disappointed in my lack of inner strength? I really do not know which of the above it is. I do think that men with stubble can be attractive (even the presence of stubble helps define a face imho. slick bald does not and is not attractive to me, sorry). I am 34. How long will I continue to take systemic medications like finasteride? Every medication has side effects. I am thinking to just get an FUE procedure, with emphasis on coverage and preservation for future, and just keep a buzz cut for the rest of my life.

Cardel25: You received some very clean work. I'm an American actually of E. Indian descent and tbh, did not consider getting work done in India due to some hangups I have in terms of work ethic and infrastructure issues over there. That said, my personal experiences have been with those in N. India (New Delhi), whereas South Indians are known to be more honest and brainy, so it does not surprise me the quality of work that is obviously evident in your photos is from a doc from that region. I dropped the idea of having a HT a few months ago, opting to give meds a last ditch effort, but if that does not show some results in a couple months, I'm going to reconsider getting a HT. I am very interested in seeing progress of other patients... I will actually now give Indian surgeons serious consideration. I like the fact that the dollar has great value in smaller cities in India, I like the idea of vacationing and getting a transplant and recovering somewhere for a few weeks where no one in hell would know me and I do not care what they think. Also, being in India before it is one place that someone can really relax (i'm talking full body massages every day for like a couple bucks), relaxing at the beach, etc., etc.. The other thing that struck me in your post was the level of personal attention. I'm a business owner and personal attention is big on my list. Dr. Rahal is also known for personalized service (I had an in person consult with him btw), but I do not think it is to the level of what I read in your post.. that is really great feedback on Dr. Radha. Please keep up the updates, and beautiful pics btw. Good luck

Look at Joe Biden. V.P.'s clearly had a transplant. Bald as heck in the back, but pretty respectable hairline for his age. Now that I think of it, Politicians do have an ironically high number of people that have great heads of hair. Maybe when we see a full head of hair we see dynamism, drive, energy. When we see a bald person maybe we are thinking that they are old and will not be effective.

Wish her the best of luck. My 16 y.o. cousin had throat cancer, she was treated by Methodist Hospital in Houston. She is recovering fine, I'm sure Julia will do well too. I'll pray for her quick recovery.

Hi Asianhair, Kaise ho? Nanogen/toppik are usually good for your kind of diffuse thinning, you can apply some and then use a light mist hairspray to hold it in place. I really like elnet strong hold by Loreal For the hairline, DO NOT use a fiber like toppik/nanogen. Purchase Dermatch as has been previously recommended. Using the dermatch applicator, wet it, and rub in water into the Dermatch disc. Make it slightly wet/very moist and then dab your finger in it and then gently dab your front hairline scalp. ONLY apply dermatch where your hairs are, not on bald spots. At the hairline, dab it to be darker towards the top of the applied area, and then wet your finger again with water only and then dab it downward to make it look natural and blended. So you will fade it slightly down from dark at the top to very light at the bottom. This is how real hairlines look. Nizoral is a good shampoo, stick to that. For the finasteride, go to a reputable chemist and get on cipla's or dr. reddy's labs whichever is cheaper and legit finasteride. you don't need a prescription in india. break each tablet into 6 or more pieces and take that .8mg or so per day, it is sufficient. Finasteride can cause a bit of man boobs so continue working out and lift some weights. If you feel like you can't get your thing to work sexually, it is only temporary, reduce the finasteride a bit more. if you plan on having children, get off of it at least 6 months before trying to conceive your child. Feel free to pm me with any other questions

This is a good thread. Lets recap on the doctors that do not require (any) shaving though. "Shapiro, Dorin, True, Arocha, Panine, Konior, Cooley" Out of these, I do know that for FUE, at least, Shapiro requires shaving. Rahal does too I believe. They will want to shave the back and side of your head, and some portion of the recipient area. I'm currently consulting with Dorin we'll see what he has to say. Some doc's say that shaving IMPROVES the outcome. If this is true, it makes a patient feel that they are doing the wrong thing by insisting upon not shaving. With FUE, I think a nice way to handle it (all welcome to chime in) is to grow the donor region a bit longer, and request the doctor to shave 2-3 linear strips down spaced enough to where the hair directly above will naturally fall above it. The doc will then extract from this area only. Hopefully they won't shave any area of the recipient, however none of this can prevent SHOCK LOSS, can it? Shock loss is the wild card s far as being able to remain undetectability. BTW, is it okay to use dermatch on the recipient site, say 1 week or 2 after surgery or is that not a good idea?

I believe Dr. Rahal uses a powered tool. Does he find heat to be a concern, and if so what is done to address it (if anything).

With complete respect to all other surgeons on here, when it comes to FUE, most posters seem to feel that Dr. Bisanga from the BHR clinic produces the most consistent, natural, and productive results. Dr. Bisanga uses a manual punch extraction tool. I believe many other European clinics do as well, such as Prohairclinic. Most North American surgeons seem to use a motorized punch tool. Is use of a motorized punch done so that it is less time consuming/fatiguing to a surgeon, or that it is truly what they get better results with? Here are two videos of the extraction process, one with a motorized tool, one with a manual tool. Both are by respectable clinics. I have my opinion on which looks like less invasive/cleaner procedure, I'll let you guys form your own opinions. (Link removed by moderator - See Terms of Service) Follicular Unit Extraction Video - True & Dorin - True & Dorin Medical Group, PC Video Website

Do you have pics to back that up? I've looked and looked and could not find one.

Dr. Rahal's work does look great, but the photos are almost all strip procedures. .. not sure of FUE procedue work/??

I don't want to stir up controversy, it is just as a newbie and in my opinion just trying to be objective here; the way things should be run on any website like this. I personally think libel is terrible, and that it could be potentially damaging. For this reason, I think a fair approach or site policy would be the following: that a person that makes an allegation of a particular clinic/doctor need to provide some reasonable (whenever possible) supporting information. This may mean egghead would need to cite photos of what he considers to be areas of 'danger zone' extractions, mark it up in photoshop, MS paint, etc. and then provide that in the thread. If he is not good at computer operation, at least cite the photos and then describe what he is referring to. Let others on the board evaluate his allegations. If the allegation is such that it is not easily verifiable, they should provide as many details as possible and possibly provide the site operator with personal contact details (not anonymous emails), so that they may be able to contact them personally to verify the legitimacy of the poster. That would also put people in check because then, if the case was ever to be deemed libel, that poster could be tracked down. I understand that this might take time on part of the site operators, but presumably only legitimate posters would be willing to provide personal info, so I don't think there will be very many. If the poster fails to provide either of the above, the post should be deleted. For what its worth, I'm a business owner in a highly competitive industry. My business is on the the various reviewer websites here in the states (insiderpages, google, yahoo, etc.). I've had my fair share of false posters attempt to give my business a bad name. I've also had legitimate customers express concerns and have put real examples of what they deemed to have been poor service. I take those examples like a man and if necessary learn from it (however mostly they are being unrealistic in expectations), but I don't always challenge those posts. I had challenged some that were blatantly wrong though, so I can certainly appreciate misinformation being spread and the potential for damage it can cause, but at the same time I think we must be careful to not try to invalidate genuine posters (like amaindia was - and yes if he was being overtly nervous in your opinion, in my opinion he should still be coddled because, although a grown dude, lets face it with hairtransplant surgeries, the costs involved, the emotional, psychological and physiological implications are all very scary, esp. for someone flying in from a totally foreign country.)

I agree with you on this. Bonkerstonker in particular appears to do just that. It is very important that open discussion of all information, good and bad, possible and impossible be made so that every angle is considered and viewpoint is shared and that no one doctor, regardless of how their reputation is or was, can get too comfortable thinking their reputation (and client base) is established and they have little to worry about. That we must take their recommendations and practices as gospel. This open exchange of information is actually EXTREMELY important for the credibility, and subsequent longevity of any website that deals with this topic. To be clear, bonkerstonker is absolutely right in responding back with supporting information to counter what a board member says, but I, even though new here, would suggest that the mods take greater action on the personal attacks/name calling. If someone has something here to share that could be relevant, they should be able to do it without fear of reprisal, condemnation, ostracization, etc. If people don't feel comfortable sharing on this website, they will simply go to another or, worse do nothing and feel defeated and suffer from their hairloss without the benefit of sharing/suupport with others. That hurts this website and the member. I think it could also be argued that just because some members may appear to have no agenda than to attack a doctor, I think it could be argued the other way around as well, that some appear to have an agenda to support, at all times, a particular doctor. If I have a great experience at a particular doctor, it doesn't mean everyone will. I'd be continuously open minded and not be doggedly loyal because mistakes can happen, even by the best of docs. I'm sure bonkerstonker willy try to defend himself or maybe call me a name, I don't really care, as they say it is what it is.

Don't quote me on this, but I believe Shapiro and Rahal clinics use Dr. Harris' tool (presumably SAFE?). It is motorized though.

Dr. Feller: I left a message on your office's machine yesterday but did not get a response. I'm PM'ng you my contact details, if you could please get in touch with me I would appreciate that. What kind of extraction tool are you currently using? Is it motorized or manual? I know you have your own labeled tool but am not sure which one you are currently using. Would you recommend someone in their early 30's who probably needs an approx 2,500 graft procedure to consider FUE? What would you say your avg regrowth rate is in your FUE vs. your FUT procedures? Thanks

Dr. Charles/Others: Is there a benefit in using a manual tool vs. motorized in terms of re-growth rate?

balance between size and maintaining the integrity of the graft.

In terms of maintaining the integrity of the graft, while also taking into account scar size? Does anyone know what tool Dr. Bisanga uses?

hi, i'm currently a NW3 and also in Texas. I'm still relatively a noob, but will share the following advice. 1) determine what your ideals and goals are. Also any constraints (i.e. is a small scar acceptable to you or not). 2) go through hairlossexperiences.com, this site, and others through google search and look at before and 10 month+ post operation pictures. take a broad sampling of photos bearing in mind that the photos represent a combination of patient + doctor preferences. Find 1 or 2 physicians that you feel might best deliver on your expectations, goals, etc. 3) now take into account logistics, costs, travel distance, etc. 4) run by your final thoughts on this forum and others. 5) confirm your plan and execute. I did an in person consult with Dr. Arocha. Nice guy. However, i did not feel he would be able to best deliver upon my expectations. What it boils down to me is, b/c I'm still relatively young, I want that thick density with hair growing from different angles. There is one physician in N. America that I feel might best deliver upon my specific needs. Maybe 2. Arocha, although convenient is not generally considered (based on results) to be in the top 5 of the world. There are at least 2 physicians in N. America that are. That being said, I know convenience is a big factor, but I'd still place that at the #3 spot when weighted. just my opinion, and feel free to message me. BTW, between the two, I think the consensus on the board is clear, Arocha. Al he does his HT, whereas Barrerra does other procedures as well. good luck

As an objective observer, I completely agree with Shadow and disagree with bonkerstonker. First of all, I do not think this thread is damaging to H&W. Quite the contrary, it shows the reality of the potentially slow growth process. Not everyone is going to experience knock your socks off improvement, and all the docs/doc representatives seem to show good or best case scenarios, I wish that was always the case for every patient, but clearly its not. For someone like me considering a hairtransplant, I certainly appreciate Aman's posting because it give me even more information that I use to process on whether I want a HT or not. I think everyone knows that H&W is a highly reputable clinic (and as such I'm sure they would want to step up if Aman's final results are not satisfactory btw). Second, I truly sympathize with Aman's mindset right now. A lot of posters say it is too early to judge, but no one knows for sure in these things. The bottom line is obviously this guy flew 10,000 miles, probably spent all his savings, etc. on this in the hope that it would change his life. He is perfectly entitled and should not be chided for stating that it did not meet his expectations. I think some moron even used "little girl" as an example. That should be edited immediately imho. I would venture to say that hairloss has affected everyone on this forum psychologically. Why else would we go through bloody (no pun intended) surgery, put down 10-20k of our hard earned money, and take off 2+weeks of time off of work for this? Obviously the hairloss affects us to a MUCH greater degree than the guys who are truly confident and just go shave their head and call it a day. Quite frankly we are all (me included) being girlie in getting a hair transplant, it is vanity afterall, there is no real functional purpose of hair. Aman, please keep us posted, and hang in there. The consensus seems to think that your growth will improve. Now that you have a hairline at least (even if it is thinner than you had hoped), would you want to cut your hair very short till there is JUST stubble? that might actually look better because it might give the appearance that you have a pretty much full head of hair but that you choose to shave/buzz it down to stubble for the look.

With Gods grace i fathered a healthy boy after 10 yrs on finasteride. i was off of it for over 6 weeks prior to my wife and i trying to conceive. it was planned that way, and although some may say it is an unecessary conservative approach, i highly recommend it. even some things are not as important as hair. i got on it again when she got pregnant. MAKE sure your wife does not come near the pills and you wash your hands thoroughly after touching it.

Tos, PLEASE pm me i need to ask you something. I dont' know how to get the PMs to work on here. thank you very much

Fullheadnot: I tried PM'ng you. Please PM me asap. I need to discuss something with you. thanks