jfables

I had the same experience with my first one, not understanding how little amount of grafts I was getting and that I'd be doing more in the future (4 so far). To get the kind of results you were expecting you would have needed at least double of what you got.

Is the common baldness pattern emerging? If so then it's obviously male pattern baldness. I also lost much of my hair in a matter of weeks initially. Sometimes an illness or condition can trigger it. In my case I have an immune-related skin disorder which came out of nowhere and triggered male pattern baldness.

If you are thinning all over, including the sides and back/neck then that is a different condition.

Assuming you have mpb that you're on the right track with the regimen. I would just take propecia everyday and drop the duta and see how it goes for at least 8 months. If you don't get re-thickening or lose more hair then try the dutasteride.

One medication that is rarely mentioned but really helped me (used with the minoxidil and propecia/dutasteride) is a topical corticosteroid. You would need a prescription and should get one of the lighter types like fluocinonide as opposed to clobetasol, and use 3 times a week or so. Make sure you read about all the pros and cons of these meds however if you are going to consider them.

Amazing result, Joe. Kind of depresses me, considering all the trouble I went through with FUE and I don't even have anything close to a great cosmetic result like this.

I was looking around for more pictures and examples and i came across those images of somebody who had FUE only. to be honest, this does not look good at all in my opinion, it may even look worst that the strip scar, since it's all over the head and it looks like a skin disease or something, please check the images and let me know what you think.

Is this normal ? or maybe this was done long time ago when FUE started and nowadays FUE scars don't look like that any more

These were done w 1mm punches which I got also for my first FUE. I hope no docs r still using those punches. My later procedures were with a .75 mm punch. These smaller extractions are not noticeable at a 1 guard (in my case) but if you plan on shaving to the skin even these smaller punches are likely to be visible. To get FUE and completely shave your head to the skin imo is a bad idea. You need to stay no shorter than 1 guard, some times 2, which is still quite short. Also once you get over 5,000 FUE the donor will look thinner. This can have the effect of lessening the contrast of the horseshoe if the grafts are taken out evenly throughout the donor.

The doc that did my first surgeries and trained Bisanga is quite famous. This forum will not allow me to type his name. He was the first to convert his practice entirely to FUE, had good results, and trained many of the docs who are performing it today internationally. At the time when I went to him he was the most experienced FUE doc by far (excluding the inventor of the procedure in Australia who kept his procedure secret).

jfables, I don't know that anyone can really tell from photos. All of the doctors I consulted with online and by phone indicated that they could not make a judgment on density from the photos. They really need to see your hair in person. I know that is difficult, but I just went with it and picked my Dr. who assessed it when I saw him and had my surgery.

Ok. Thanks.

jfables, that's exactly my point, i read what Dr. Feller had to say about FUE and that is his opinion. I had a consultation with Dr. Melike from Transmed center and their consultant made it clear to me that i can get the same density with FUE or FUT and they did not try to push me to go with FUT even though i need around +2000 grafts. The way i see it is that both doctors are recommended here, but one believes in FUE the other don't.

i don't have top 5 FUE doctors on my list, but again i don't have top 5 FUT doctors as well. i have a short list of 2 to 3 for each technique.

You can search FUE results by Dr. Keser from Turkey and Dr. Bisanga from Belgium and let me know what you think.

It's funny you mention Bisanga because he worked on me (extractions & graft placement) when I had my first procedure by the doctor who had been training him, who btw trained several of the current FUE docs in Europe. I used to believe what you are saying now about going to dedicated fue clinics to get the best fue results. I've now come to believe that no matter where you go there is a higher probability of getting less yield than you would with strip.

Also Armani was one of the best in the world when he was doing strip. His patients' results were amazing and I even met both FUT & FUE patients of his in person before deciding on him. Both types looked great. Then he decided to convert the practice to all FUE. The more FUE megasessions that are banged out, the higher the numbers of cases with poor yields emerge, I believe. There are guys, like myself, whose grafts just can't take the abuse of the extractions. (I had many a few small surgeries at first so it was not clear to me that I was getting poor yield.)

Feller was one of the first to do FUE in the US. He invented tools that are being used around the world now and he does still practice the procedure. I would not brush him off so easily. Having said that I'm willing to accept that perhaps some FUE docs around the world have managed to improve the procedure, but it's very hard to be sure about any of this.

For your own benefit do not put all your faith in FUE just because it's the more attractive procedure for you. Always be skeptical. I used to be quite adamant about the superiority of FUE also.

Aim4hair You should read what Dr. Feller has to say about FUE. He was one of the first doing it in the US around 2001-2.

Could you please list for me the top 5 or more

FUE docs in your opinion?

I've pulled off this look before. It works and while my donor looks thin shaved in certain spots where too much fue was done overall the contrast of the horseshoe and the hairs in the recipient area has lessened because of all the fue. So there is an illusion that I'm less bald when shaved.

I'm convinced after my FUE experience with top clinics, and having consulted with several other docs that the procedure is flawed. Most guys may get 80% yield, some may get 95%, and then some will get 60% or less. Considering the high price it's quite a risk. I still think it's worth doing if you need little work and have very little hairloss as long as you're not in your early 20s.

I tried to take some close up pics of my donor, pulling my hair up. What do you guys think? Does it look sparse or dense? I'm just trying to get a better idea of how many grafts I could get if I were to decide on a strip. Thanks!

Stylin, I don't mean this in any rude way but you don't know what you are talking about. 1's & 2's are used for the hairline. 2's, 3's, 4's for the rest regardless if it's fut or fue.

With fue there is little or no splitting grafts at all because they can just pick what they want from the donor.

Doubling

follicular units together sounds like micrografts to me which makes me uneasy to hear this. Frankly

even single hair follicular units can look pluggy if they are not placed well & close enough.

thanks for the advice scar5. I don't think I'm gonna go for the micropigmentation because even when I 'shave' my head I never really get to the skin. 2 guard usually. I could never get into the habit of shaving my head to the skin everyday just so the horseshoe is not so apparent. In my case with my black hair and pale skin the horseshoe is always visible even if skin shaved. I'm not fooling anyone.

I think having it grown out a bit, like Jason Stratham, looks better on me than skin shaving.

yeah i think i can get away with about 6-8 guard unfortunately, but i like to keep it long, just the gaps in the hairline dont look too good grown out haha. I did notice that too, i have a thin patch right behind both of my ears, thats the only thing I fear about a strip, that they'll most likely end up running through that, the only option would be to keep it long, or if at all possible fill in the sides with a few grafts, dont know how much that will help though =/

Yeah, I have the same concern.

From my experience I will say that you run the risks of getting poor yield even if you go to the most experienced fue doctors. I would only recommend it if your loss is minor and you need very little work (if you are at least in your late 27/28 years old).

Those guys in the pics have abnormally dense hairlines that are low like teenage boys. Compare those with Keanu:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/65/KeanuReevesLakehouse.jpg/220px-KeanuReevesLakehouse.jpg

That's more of man's hairline (with zero hairloss). You should embrace it.

wow Jfables, after 8000 grafts your donor still looks somewhat pretty good, or are the pictures just deceiving my eyes?

I've always had crazy density. When I went for my first HT consultation years ago the doctor measured the density with some magnifying device. He said I had 250 hairs per sq cm.

It still is quite thick. It only looks thin when cut short with a 4 guard or shorter. But only in certain areas like behind my ears and the sides where they took out too many. I still am not sure why they kept taking out of the same areas and not so much from the heart of the strip zone. That's why I got a feeling that I might get a higher number of grafts if I were to do this.

 

Jfables, I agree with you, not sure where stylin is commin from. I got lots of 3 and quite a few 4s with fue also. I would love to see your pics if you decide to post any. I hope you can get what you want the next time around.

Thanks Levrais.

Here are some more pics. My hair is longer in the overhead shot. My donor still feels thick so I was surprised when Dr. Feller thought maybe he can get 1500-2000 from a strip. The donor looks thin when it is cut short. Still not sure what I want to do. If I could get at least 3000 then I would go for it.

Jfables, I can somewhat relate to the issue of a thin donor region due to overharvesting. In finding a doctor to repair the work that I had with Armani, my top priority is finding a doctor with a track record of leaving patients with pencil thin scars, so far Dr. Rahal is on top of my list in meeting that criteria. I'm still curious to this day as to how armani is still able to practice hair transplantation. Best of luck to you friend.

yougandnaive, I looked at your pics and read your story. I had a very similar experience. Half of my hairline never grew in well like yours.

Your hairline is transforming into an adult male hairline. Nothing wrong with that. In fact you will eventually realize that women will like you better looking as a man than a little boy. The way you are obsessing over it means to me that you will not be satisfied even if you were to get a ht.

If it makes you feel better I was a Norwood 3 when I was 19.

It's also worth noting some men with very harsh MPB thin in the donor area as well. Also the donor thins in many bald men once they are in their 60's. So meds may also help maintain your donor hair which would also happen to be your transplanted hair.

I had work done in 2003 and the doc used a 1 mm punch which gave me a lot of white dot scarring. Armani did the last 4700 (don't remember exactly anymore - it was a few years ago) with a drill that looked like he got at Home Depot. I do have a cosmetic improvement especially when you look at me from the front but I need more density overall.

I'm not sure I care so much about the strip scar anymore. I don't feel comfortable shaving my head because the white dots are noticeable as so are the low density areas where too many grafts were taken out of. The low density is obvious even at 2 or 3 on the hair clipper. I would show you a pic but my hair is longer now.

And yes I have been on meds for over a decade.

What's pigmentation? Where do you get that done?

stylin: I'm not sure that's correct. I have plenty of 3 hair grafts, even a few 4 hair grafts behind the hairline. There is not much need for splitting grafts because they can pick and choose whatever they want. So for the hairline they extract more singles etc.

aaron: Your hair looks great. I would be more than happy to achieve the results of your second ht.

Hello, after close to 8000 FUE over several years I am still a bit disappointed. No more FUE can be done because of the amount of scar tissue. I have thin patches in my donor where too many grafts were taken out of. My hair has to be 1.5 inches in length before the thinness is not noticeable.

I have white dot scarring from my first procedure although only noticeable at a 1 guard.

Worst part is, and I was a bit shocked, but I saw Dr. Feller and have emailed Hasson & Wong and they don't believe I got good yield. Dr. Feller thinks maybe I got 60% growth. I'm considering having a strip done but Dr. Feller thinks he can only get 1500-2000 grafts. I'm not sure if it's worth it for that little. Or maybe 2000 grafts strip will give me a much better improvement than 2000 FUE? What do you think?

I hope I can get more than 2000 because the center part of my donor where the strip goes is still really thick because not too many grafts were extracted. Before I had any surgeries my hair count was 250 hairs sq cm in the donor.

Thanks.