newbie33

Thanks both. Sorry for the late reply.

Hey, Any UK patient of Feriduni who'd be willing to meet up so I can see in real life and chat about your procedure/results. Thanks.

I'll give this another go. Anyone got any experience of a HT with Dr Vila?

Thanks lads. I am going for a consultation in early Feb! Might see you out there Raker.

Hey all, Just wondered if there were any UK patients of Dr Lorenzo or Dr Vila who wouldn't mind meeting for a coffee to discuss the experience - and for me to see the results in reality. I'm basically set on a HT with one of these doctors and have seen lots of examples - and seen Dr Lorenzo - but I've never actually seen the results of any patients in the flesh (having been able to compare to pictures how they were before). I live in Oxford but can travel pretty much anywhere in England and Wales. PM me or message here, if you would be so kind. Thanks. Chris

Thanks Trix. I've been trying for a couple of years to get a HT with Lorenzo but can't ever make the dates work. Dr Vila might be another alternative, seeing as, if I remember right, more recently he wouldn't guarantee who did how much of the operation (i.e. could be him or Vila).

What are her prices?

Great man. I'm sure you'll be all right in a few months... and the the hair greed might kick in!

Hey Rob, where in the UK are you based? I've basically decided to get an op with Dr Lorenzo, but trying to find the time off means I can't for quite a while. I'd love to see your results for real if you'd be up for it, in a few months time when it's grown out properly? Also, how long was the wait for an op with Dr Villa? Cheers.

Any excuse to watch this again:

Cheers Blake. He looks quite dark-skinned so would fair better than me in the redness stakes, but for 14 days that really looks very good. Did the guy get temporary SMP or permanent? His hairline reminds me of another of my little theories - a good hairdresser is the best person to draw the hairline. (Reminds me because his SMP is unadvisedly low). The guy who cuts my hair does a wonderful job of making a few wisps seem like a receding hairline (as long as it's viewed directly from the front and not the back, sides or top, on a windless, rainless day in half light). My point - I'm going to rely on this guy every month to make whatever is the best of my hair. And by and large he does a very good job, taking into account my face shape and what is achievable within the realms of physics. I would, in any event, want his counsel about a suitable hairline. And hope that some sort of agreement with what I, the doctor and my hairdresser thinks natural is possible. I also conclude I have far too much time on my hands.

Chap, you're going to listen to our advice on hair loss much as you will about giving up roids i.e. you'll ignore it unless it confirms what you already believe. But when you say you've been on steroids for two years - presumably that means cycling and not continuously? As for the zero sides - you're getting regular functional tests for your liver, kidney, cholesterol levels etc. yeah? Not forgetting your sperm count. Acne, bloating and hair loss are really the least of your worries.

You flatter me, Blake. (I'm not actually an engineer - but I work for an engineering/construction company. I myself have no discernible capabilities and therefore form a layer of middle management who, by and large, spend their time plotting to become senior management.)

Please do keep us up to date with that guy's progress Blake. And you're right, I don't need to take three months off. I'd just like to do it. Though I reckon three weeks is probably the most I could take unless I changed jobs or took some sort of career break - which actually quite appeals to me.

Thank you all. Maybe more possible than I had previously thought. Only really crosses my mind to have it done if I don't get a huge amount of time off after a HT. I'd really like to engineer a good three months off if I could, though that is of course fairly difficult to achieve. Or, if possible, to never have to work again. If anyone has any ideas on this...

Thanks Blake. Would it actually make the hair transplant procedure itself more difficult if the area had been smp-ed? (Rounds these parts, we'd probably call a prison yard tattoo a 'coal miner's tattoo', on account of the coal dust creating a black-line scar). Thanks Getting. I'll see if I can find those examples. I had already put this into the pile marked 'why take the risk'. But I can't help myself from asking 'what if...'. The sensible thing, obviously, is to focus on the prize: the long-term result of the HT. And not the short term affects of looking a bit rough. But the vanity - the vanity! - and the shame of admitting a procedure. What a piece of work is man, huh? Another question: how long after a HT can you get temporary smp? Or more, correctly, how long before there isn't any risk to the long-term result of the HT?

One of my apprehensions about any sort of surgery is having to go through the ugly duckling phase. So I wondered, assuming I get FUE and shave everything down, what would be the disadvantages of getting temporary SMP before a procedure, so that afterwards I can maintain the shaved down look when the transplanted grafts start to fall out and my scalp looks red raw. Does it make FUE more difficult, or even impossible for the surgeon to implant into a tattooed area? Any other reasons why it makes it more difficult/inadvisable/a non starter? Thoughts welcome, especially from any docs or other professionals.

Stig, we're not disagreeing. And save going into an argument over semantics of what is manual, mechanical, or automated, I'll just say that I wouldn't ascribe dark motives for people saying they manually extract grafts when they use a handheld mechanical device. What constitutes manual is ambiguous (I drive a manual transmission car, but I clearly don't lift and mesh the gear cogs by hand) until we/the doctors/whoever agree a common definition. So the obvious solution is to define those terms.

That's a novel way of doing it. ;-)

I'm no expert and barely have an opinion on anything. But 5) if I were you, I'd probably get the hairline and middle third done and maybe a smattering in the crown if you have enough grafts. But you really need to go see some good docs to be told what is possible. You're very likely to continue to lose hair, and while your hairline looks pretty good to me now, you don't want to have put all your grafts in the crown only to realise you don't have a hairline or the grafts to fix it in ten years' time. 2) 3) and 5) Waxes, lasers, lotions and potions - the literature on the efficacy of all of those things (save min and fin) is marginal to negligible. Again, if it was me, and I couldn't tolerate fin, I'd try minoxidil, maybe a good multi-vitamin and saw palmetto. And while I'm at it, 4) shaving, not shaving, wearing hats - all these are really minor to the main aim, which is to get a decent head of hair again. You might want to use these to differentiate between equal options, but I wouldn't let short-term factors like these lead your overall decision.

You're doing fine with 80 per square centimetre. Distribution of human hair in follicular units. A mathematical model for estimating the donor size in follicular unit transplantation. - PubMed - NCBI

A slightly easier read here: Lab-Grown Skin Could Help Baldness, Burns | Jilard Health Digest

Cop a load of this: Bioengineering a 3D integumentary organ system from iPS cells using an in vivo transplantation model | Science Advances Scientists in Japan grow skin and hair from stem cells. OK, it's in a lab mouse. But it's a start...

Funnily enough, yesterday on the tube I was in very close proximity to a guy (as often happens in rush hour) and I noticed he had an interesting hair line. He was Asian, probably south Asian. If I had to guess I'd say Indonesian, from a village called Nicah, and his name was Suharto; about 55 years old; two kids; separated from his wife; and he sold encyclopaedias door-to-door; suffering what Thoreau described as a 'quiet desperation' endured by the mass of men. But that's just if I had to guess. Anyway. I managed to wangle my way around the carriage to get a better look. His hairline was very conservative, but diffuse. I thought he might have had plugs, but on closer inspection I think he just had a hair graft transplant that wasn't that great. So then I squirm my way around to get a look at his donor region. Sure enough I see evidence of a strip scar... because his hair had grown white and thinned a lot. He also had the oddest-shaped scar. Couldn't get a full 360 degree view, but it looked like he had one normal 'smile' type scar and another scar (from the same/different strip surgery or otherwise an entirely different reason) going from 12 to 6 o'clock. Don't know if he had DUPA, or if his sides had just thinned as he aged. But I'm guessing - again - that he didn't think he'd end up like that when he had the procedure. Even so, from some angles, it kind of looked OK. And he seemed to front it out pretty well. But then you have to have confidence to sell door-to-door.