JohnJohnB

I am 9 days post HT. Dr. Path said i could start gently rubbing off the scabs starting day 7 but I waited until now. Just took a shower and rubbed pretty gently for about 5 minutes and felt tons of scabs coming off. Once out of the shower it looks like 99% of the scabs are gone. I just have a pink scalp and a bunch of little hairs. I think I should be fine because I was following Dr's orders and I didn't have any bleeding. But I thought it pretty weird that pretty much all my scabs came off at once. I thought it was supposed to take a couple days. Did I rub too hard? Hard enough to cause some other kind of damage?

Dr. Path's instructions did say I can wash my hair with "a gentle stream of water." I think what I used would qualify as that. I was just kind of concerned after reading what the rep from true dorin said in that post I linked to. Dr. Path's assistant said everything looked fine when I went to remove my sutures on day 5. I think I should be ok. Its just hard to stop being so paranoid. Every time something slightly touches against the recipient site I fear that I dislodged a graft or did some other damage.

Is it ok to wash your graft sites using a shower if the pressure is pretty low, maybe half normal pressure? Dr. Path did my HT and washed my head with a shower head in a salon style chair on day 1. I have been trying to use that much pressure but maybe used a little more. Did not notice any bleeding or anything unusual. A lot of people seem to be saying I should have been using a sponge or a pitcher to pour water over my head. This representative from True Dorin says you can lose a graft in a shower after day 3 without seeing bleeding or any signs. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/159106-hair-graft-falling-out.html Its got me a little worried that even the gentle shower and occasional touch to my recipient area is enough to knock out/damage a graft.

i am not sure what "over flexion" might be. are pushups, ab crunches and hurdle jumps (exercises which I used to do regularly) going to over flex my neck? should i stay away from these exercises for atleast 2 months?

Dr. Charles, Does this mean i should avoid all exercise for several months too? Dr. Path said I could go back to strenuous exercise after 1 month.

I just had my HT a few days ago with Dr. Path who said that my scalp was very loose. So loose that it might result in a large donor scar. He said i can take a drug called Enalapril to help reduce the scars appearance. The only possible downsides are coughing and discolored urine. He said its inexpensive and i would only have to take it for about 3 months. Does anybody have some more information on this? I am probably going to take it just to ensure that i have the smallest scar possible for when I want to cut my hair short. Also if you guys know any other tips to keep my scar from widening i would be interested to hear them. thanks

Thanks Calgacus. For the time being I am going to start on Minoxidil 5% 2x daily once my HT wounds heal up. But if things continue to worsen i will definitely get more aggressive with the drugs.

I doubt that. I started taking 1/4 of a proscar tab in February 2012. I just now a year later am noticing that I am starting to thing out all over, but mostly on the crown and the forelock. I think that the shedding would have started less than a year after upping .25mg

I have been on finasteride for almost 9 years. For about 8 of those years I was taking 1mg per day but recently switched to 1.25 proscar. I also just got an HT (you can see my blog here Hair Restoration Site for JohnJohnB) The doctor noticed that i was starting some diffuse thinning on the top of my head. I think finasteride is finally starting to lose its potency for me. I am going to start using minoxidil 2x a day but am thinking about either upping my dose of finasteride to 3 or even 5mg per day or asking my doctor about dutasteride. This study talked about by Dr. Bernstein was enlightening. Dutasteride vs. Finasteride Male Hair Loss Propecia Avodart | Bernstein Medical - Center for Hair Restoration So what do you think? Should I just wait it out or start being more aggressive with the drugs now while it still looks like I have a full head of hair on top?

just one of the preselected images. i thought it was the most pleasant to look at

Hey everybody, I just had my HT with Dr. Path 3 days ago. I started a blog which you can see here Hair Restoration Site for JohnJohnB I would love some comments and thoughts about my procedure. It is a bit lonely here in Bangkok holed up in my hotel room. Thanks. -John

So its ok to wait a week after my HT and start up minox? I am also worried about shedding from starting up a new treatment and having shock loss from the HT at the same time making my hair look really thin for a while.

hi everybody, i have my ht scheduled soon. it will fill in my temple points. however i have noticed that the rest of the top of my head is just starting to thin a little bit. still looks thick but i have been on propecia for nearly 10 years so maybe its starting to lose its efficacy. i want to add minoxidil to the rest of my scalp but not the transplanted areas as they will not need any help from minoxidil. i would like to start maybe 5 days or so after my ht. is there any potential downside to this? can it increase shock loss? do i have to make sure it does not drip into the transplanted temples for a while? thanks

I am having a HT with Dr. Path in 2 months. He said he could remove my sutures 5 days after the procedure, at which point I will fly home. I was wondering if this is too soon? I would like him to remove them but I also need to get back to work. What do you guys think?

To those out there that had a HT of 50 grafts per cm placed in areas right next to those with nearly native density, how did it look? Was there much of a difference between the transplanted parts and the native parts?

Yea I know what you are saying. However I just found this thread: (promotional link removed - sorry, we don't allow links back to this forum because they don't allow links back to us) Click the link. That guy looks a lot like me. We have the same skin tone and head shape. But I still have some more hair than he does and mine is a bit darker. You can see my pics here: https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/168534-should-i-go-through-hair-transplant.html It says they transplanted 90 grafts per cm squared on that guy. I didn't know that was possible. If I could achieve results like him that would be ideal. I am just worried that with only 50 grafts per cm I will be disappointed.

I have been reading about HT density lately and have found some conflicting information. When I got a consultation with Dr. Dorin, he said it would be impossible to achieve cosmetically acceptable density on the hairline in a class 2 patient where the temples are completely bald in only 1 procedure. With 2 procedures it might be enough. This article by Dr. Shaprio's group says 50 grafts per cm sq is enough to achieve cosmetically acceptable results: http://www.shapiromedical.com/_asset/k5q1og/CONSULT_RESOURSE_PAGE_4.pdf However this page by Hasson & Wong refutes that and says it varies from 30 to 70 grafts per cm sq. before acceptable results can be achieved: http://www.hassonandwong.com/hair-transplants/dense-packing/achieving_natural_density.php I am confused. I have a class 2 hairline with temples that are totally bald. In 2 months I have an HT with Dr. Path. He says he can densely pack 50 grafts per cm squared. Will this be enough to give me the an decent look?

Robbie, I was wondering what the measurements were on your balding area. Did you get fewer than 40 grafts per cm squared? I have a ht coming up. Based on your experience I feel like I need to go at least 50 grafts per cm squared. I really dont want to have to go through a 2nd procedure.

Thanks for your help guys. Lately I have been wondering about the concept of density. I read that Dr. Path can densely pack hair transplanted grafts up to 50 per cm sq. However the natural density of hair is 90-100 follicles per cm sq. My temples are completely bald. Does this mean that I am destined to have temples that don't look thick enough?

Hey everybody. After years of thinking about it I am finally taking the plunge and getting an HT with Dr. Pathomvanich at the end of March. Been losing my hair since I was 17 and been taking propecia since I was 18 which has held my hairline almost stable. Now at 28 I am finally ready to get an HT. I am pretty nervous as well as excited. I am worried about it going wrong and not looking any better and whether people will notice I had something done. I would like to keep my procedure a secret from my friends and family. How have you guys dealt with this anxiety? Here is a link to a previous post I made where you can see my pictures: https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/168534-should-i-go-through-hair-transplant.html Much thanks to everybody on this forum. It has been a tremendous help. I will make updates for everybody interested. -John

TakingThePlunge What are the chances I bought illegitimate Proscar? My first batch was from a Duane Reade pharmacy in New York City but my second was from a clinic in Thailand. Although it was an international clinic with a high reputation maybe they gave me fake stuff? On the other hand maybe its efficacy is just wearing off a bit after 9 years.

I have been on Propecia for 9 years and It worked wonders. However I recently switched to 1/4 pills of 5mg Proscar to save money. I may be paranoid but in the last year that I have been using Proscar I feel like my hair line is starting to recede again. I can't be sure but I just wanted to ask if there is any evidence out there of 1.25mg of Proscar being less effective than 1mg of Propecia?

I have gotten 3 consultations so far. 1 Dr in the US recommended 1000 grafts and another in the US recommended 2000-2500. Dr. Path who I will be going with thanks to the reviews on this site recommended 2000-2500 in an FUT. I will probably tell him to cap it at 2000 since I don't want to be too aggressive right now.

Capa, I think it might have lost a little bit of its efficacy after all this time. About a year ago I bumped up to a 1.25 mg dose of proscar (5mg pills cut in quarters). I still think finasteride works wonders and I am sure I would be very bald if I had not started on it at a young age. I have never had any side effects and have no problems continuing to take it for the rest of my life. I use nizoral shampoo, just started a laser comb, take biotin supplements and even do this ridiculous scalp exercise I read about. I have used minoxidil on and off but it gives me such serious dandruff that it is just not worth it. I am still pretty nervous about going through with the procedure but I can't wait to give it a shot with a respected doctor.

Hello everybody, I am now 27. I have been losing hair since I was 16 and have been on propecia/proscar since I was 18. Things have stayed pretty much the same since Propecia really kicked in at about age 19. But I have never been happy with my receded temples and want to get them filled in so I can have nice long hair again. My hair looks far better when dry than when wet as you can see from the pictures. I have surgery scheduled with Dr. Pathomvanich on March 29th. I really want to just get some opinions on going through with the procedure in my mid/late 20s and if my expectations are reasonable. I dont want to "lower" my hairline, just fill in my temples so I dont have this extreme widows's peak anymore. The dry hair pics and the hairline drawn on there is about what I am looking for. Thanks for your thoughts.