PupDaddy

Holy smokes! One of the most amazing transformations I've seen. Congrats to H&W, Dr. Wong, and this lucky patient.

I saw that one too. I think his screen name was Marco or something. Said he'd just had a large FUT with Dr. Rahal (6,000 grafts?) and seemed happy, posted pics of a nice scar a few days post op, then posted pics he said were a couple of weeks post-op showing a large ugly patch of blackened scalp that other forum members said looked like necrosis (dead tissue) -- then the guy just disappeared and never posted again. Quite odd. Anyway, my personal view is that the large number of positive reviews by this doctor's patients and absence of negative ones is a green flag rather than a red one.

Another question to ask is how many transplant procedures the doctor does per day. My understanding is that for FUT procedures, Dr. Rahal excises the strip and sutures the wound closed (while his techs harvest the grafts from the strip), makes all of the recipient incisions, and shares with his implantation techs the task of placing the grafts into the recipient sites. For FUE, I believe that he does all of the FU extractions himself, makes all the recipient site incisions, and shares the placement of the grafts into the incisions with his implantation techs per above. You should double check this info with Dr. Rahal or his office.

Very clean work and looks like a rapid recovery from a large FUE procedure (approaching 3,000 grafts). I love Dr. Wesley's hairline layouts and the decision to close in the temps and bolster the sides. This patient should get a terrific result. Please keep us posted. Questions: Is Dr. Wesley routinely performing FUE sessions of this size? Did this patient request/insist on FUE rather than strip, or is Dr. Wesley tending to recommend and perform FUE more often than strip these days?

The links to the video don't seem to be working. I get a Vimeo "Page not found" message for all three links.

Man, oh man. Looking terrific, Keith -- and with more growth and maturing to come! Congrats, and thank you for updating us with your progress. You're still using a #3 blade? Can't detect the scar.

Great work by Dr. Wesley! This patient looks great three years later. Based on his postings here, I'd say that Dr. Wesley does some of the most natural hairline work in the business. I remember some of his immediate post surgery photos showing his unique hairline layout (not just the usual "shaky hand" or "spokes" pattern), which I'm assuming must be largely responsible for these ultra natural results.

Not only a touching story of compassion and generosity, but also exciting news that Dr. Charles has adopted The ARTAS for his practice. I look forward to Dr. Charles posting his ARTAS FUE results and his experience with ARTAS compared to standard hand-held manual or motorized punches.

That is very interesting news, indeed. I've been wondering what kind of results a top Coalition ht doc could achieve using the HST technology. Assuming the legitimacy of Dr. Gho's claims of 80% regeneration of the donor when using his extraction method (and that his secret sauce enhances viability of the extracted FU sections, and that those extracted sections of FU's mature into hairs of the same caliber and characteristcs as the donor FU), in the end it is still a hair transplant, the immediate and long-term cosmetic success of which depends on the same skills and experience of the transplant physician as with any conventional strip or FUE transplant. When I look at the photographic results posted on HST's site, I can't help but think (other than most of these guys need at least one more pass to enhance density), "Hmm, how would this patient or that patient have turned out if a Coalition doc had done it?" Maybe we will soon find out.

Something about Dr. Konior's technique always seems to produce a natural result where no one would ever guess that the patient had a transplant. Things just look "right". How he was able to do it again with a patient would only spring for two-thirds the number of grafts that Dr. Konior recommended for the job is really something.

You might want to contact Dr. Lindsey, who is a recommended physician on this site. He posts quite often about strip scars and seems to have a lot of knowledge about them and experience with them. He might well want you to send him some photos of your situation. As for truly permanent injectable products used by cosmetic surgeons and dermatologists for filling and raising depressed/indented/sunken facial scars, the only one I am aware of is Silikon-1000 or a similar medical grade injectable silicone oil. (It is considered an off-label but legal use in the U.S. because the FDA has only expressly approved this product for treating retinal detachment.) Whether this is something that could be used to treat your strip scar is a question you would have to discuss with a physician.

Looking good, sgs! You're right. That's a dramatic difference between your 16-week and 18-week photos. Much better coverage. Grow well.

Beautiful work and good use of donor!

Thumbs up on your new hairstyle, aaron1234! It appears to maximize your cosmetic result in terms of density, and looks good on ya'.

Man alive! What a fantastic turnaround for this gent. Dr. Ron is amazing. Thanks for sharing this one, Janna. I always like SMG's thorough presentation of their cases.

Looking good! Thank you for sharing your case, and please keep us posted of your progress.

sirius, I am gobsmacked by your transformation! I showed your before and latest pics to my girlfriend. She didn't believe it was the same person. And how Dr. Rahal managed to get this kind of transformative result from just 2,500 grafts is utterly amazing. You must be thrilled. Congrats!

As Spex said, rsn, try not to panic. You seem overwhelmed by the procedure because you've just had it done and because of what it means to you. Listen to the vets here. They've been through it and know all the signs. And read a lot of the transplant vets' accounts of their post-op experiences on this board. Everything you are mentioning sounds par for the course. You have a long waiting game ahead of you. In your immediate future, you might well have some swelling that can make your forehead look like something alien, a feeling of significant tightness and discomfort in your donor area that can last for weeks (even after your sutures or staples are removed), and some numbness and "stingers" in your donor area and up to the top of your scalp. All of that is perfectly normal and expected. Try not to freak out! But as others have said, do call your doc's clinic if you have concerns. My strong guess is that you will be assured that everything is fine and on track. Good luck!

To my understanding, there are several additional factors (at least) at work to explain different graft estimates by different ht docs for the same patient: 1. Unless I am mistaken, some hyper-session docs take a varied shaped strip rather than a purely rectangular strip, which, purportedly, yields significantly more grafts without significantly increasing tension on the wound closure. I seem to recall a video somewhere of Dr. Hasson explaining how he takes a strip that is widest at the rear, narrowing towards the back of the ear, and widening above the ear. Jotronic? 2. Some ht docs are simply more conservative in their per-session approach than others and believe in taking a smaller strip (for scar purposes or to preserve donor for future needs) or implanting at lower per-session densities per square cm of recipient area (for yield purposes or for naturalness as the patient's surrounding native hair thins with age) than others, and vice versa. 3. HT docs can differ in their assessments of a particular patient's future hair loss and, therefore, decide to take a more aggressive strip or a less aggressive strip accordingly. Other factors? Interesting topic!

Beautiful work, Dr. Haber! So natural, and such a cosmetic improvement - and at only 6 months of growth. This young patient must be thrilled.

Looks great, Dr. Gabel! Thank you for showing us this interesting case. He must be excited about his awesome new goatee.

beaverbuzz, You've definitely had growth of the grafts from what I can see. While it is a bit challenging to directly compare the buzzed hair immediately post-op to the long hair in your six month photos (tough to spot moles or other landmarks), your temple points/peaks look to have been advanced considerably. Pre-op, they looked to end at, or even posterior to an imaginary vertical line drawn upwards from the lateral end of the eyebrow. Now they look to be even with an imaginary vertical line drawn upwards from the 1/3 point of the eyebrow (measured from the lateral end). You have a great looking head of hair, and nothing looks amiss at all. The transplanted hairs already showing will mature with time, and you might well get some more popping through as time goes on. Personally, if I saw you on the street, I would be extremely envious of your hair. Enjoy it!

Can anyone tell me whether treatment for low testosterone (via prescription testosterone cream or injection) would nullify or otherwise block or impede the DHT lowering effects of Finasteride? As a related question, does testosterone therapy in males increase DHT levels generally?

I think you're confused by the fact that the video shows 2 pre-ops: 1) before his first procedure and then, 2) six months later, before a second procedure. His recipient area shown prior to his first procedure (0:01 - 0:24) appears virgin. Six months later, he is again shaved for a second procedure (2:19 - 3:10), for the sides and crown, and the recipient area from his first procedure is shaved down as well. That area is still somewhat red because it was transplanted with 3,100 grafts six months prior. The point of this video appears to be a demonstration that this patient, at least, could shave his head after having 3,100 grafts harvested from the donor area by FUE without the punctate scars being visible to the naked eye. That's how I interpret the video, anyway.

Hey Jotronic, Do you happen to know how many of this patient's grafts were placed in the frontal half vs. in the crown?