RoneRone

crazy w/ these staples. It feels like a bear trap has been sprung around my mellon...it is also very hard to sleep--there is not a surface of my head that I can lay on comfortably. How soon is too soon to pop these staples out?

I had stage one of my planned hair restoration (I am a class 5a Norwood) with Paul Shapiro last week. I had 3800 grafts placed principally in the hairline, midscalp and a smattering throughout the crown. It was a pleasantly painless and positive experience. Following the procedure, I couldn't stand the george kastanza look so I opted to just shave my entire head to the same length as the grafts...you see the incision very obviously, but it just feels cleaner and better to me that way. I am at day 6 now, and things are finally starting to calm down--the pain is almost gone, though I still have a decent amount of swelling around the staples which is still pretty painful--it feels like my scalp is going to pop open. All in all though, it has been quite a bit easier to deal with than I anticipated. For those who have been down this road...I have a question. I am at the stage where the skin from the scalp is beginning to come off. I have noticed there is kind of a gross smell to it. Does anyone recall this? I don't have any signs of infection, but there is definitely a slight decayed/dead flesh smell as the skin is coming off. The grafts all appear to be stable and I haven't yet started to shed any of them...the smell is just a little bit disconcerting. Its not really strong or anything, but there is definitely a smell. Does anyone remember this phase? Now for the long waiting game. Thanks for any input.

toward the Shapiro group for a while--they seem to have a pretty solid repution, and the results w/ pics are some of the best out there. I guess I was just interested in whether or not there was a particular group/surgeon that was considered "the master" in the industry.

I realize this is sort of an abstract question since I am sure there are many very skilled surgeons. However, I know very well that all surgeons are not created equally. Is there one or two surgeons that are known industry wide as the best? If that is still to small a sample size, how about the top 5? For me, having to pay more--even if that means a good deal more--for someone who is the best is ok by me.