ProteinPeep

Hello everyone, Below are pictures depicting my progress 5 months and 1 week since my HT with Dr. Rahal. I am "over the moon" excited about my hair at the moment. It's now very difficult to differentiate between the transplanted hair and the non-transplanted hair. Furthermore, wet hair no longer destroys the illusion of my "combover" before my transplants or thinner coverage from my first transplant.

Hello everyone, Below are pictures depicting my progress 4 months and 1 week since my HT with Dr. Rahal. Still a bit thin in places, but overall I am still satisfied with my growth so far.

Hello everyone, I apologize for my lack of diligence in the posting of my HT progress. Work has been occupying a lot of my time as of late, but at least it keeps me off the street! My progress and comments at 3 months, 1 week: Pain: The pain, irritation and numbness in the donor and recipient area has subsided completely Scar: Still difficult to find, but probably would be noticeable if I clipped my hair down to a 3 or 4. Normal activities: I have returned to all normal activities. I am still easing into the weights, as I'm still a bit apprehensive about inadvertently stretching the scar. Overall state: I am completely satisfied with my progress so far. The density isn't quite there yet, but I'm still in the early stages. I'm hoping that the next couple of months will bring much growth and happiness! Pictures: I have included four pictures of the current state of my HT growth. Even though it's been 3 months and 3 weeks since my HT, these pictures were taken at the early part of this month.

Thanks for the well wishes chrisdav! I very much appreciate them. As for being bright, I'm not so sure about that! lol Severely and foolishly over-educated might be a better description of my current state. Anyway, your HT result with Dr. Feller is unbelievable....and I really mean that. I love that Feller circular hairline. It really does look like a straight hairline when grown out...without using a large amount of grafts.

Hey Jazzsnazz1, I had a transplant with Bosley and had an "ok" outcome. I wasn't completely satisfied so I went to Rahal to add more density. Based on my experience and from talking to others, they are a bit more conservative (in terms of the amount of grafts received in a single session) than the HT doctors on this site. I'm almost certain that most of those persons that they show in those infamous commercials had more than one HT. However, most of the top surgeons on this site can routinely obtain a very dense result in one pass. To be fair though, I did a google search on this guy, and he had another transplant by Bosley last year. His hair is looking MUCH better.

Thanks Getsome! Until I hit the 5-6 month mark I'll just keep rockin the frontal combover!

Pics please...preferably some action ones!

This is exactly why I decided to visit a HTN recommended doctor (Dr. Robert Haber) to have my sutures removed. I did not want to risk injury to the donor area...too precious!

Hello everyone, I'm at the 1 month mark, 1 week mark. All the transplanted hairs have shed at this point and I am squarely in the middle of the doldrums stage. The remaining hair in the thinning areas is hair from my first HT. Pain: The pain and irritation in the donor area have subsided altogether. I still feel some numbness in the recipient area, but based on my last HT experience, this is normal. Redness: The recipient area is still slightly red, but this is due to my pale complexion. Shockloss: I didn't have any shockloss after this procedure. I had a good amount in the recipient and donor area after my HT with Bosley, so the lack of it this time was a nice surprise. Scar: I no longer have any tightness in the donor area, and I cannot find the scar. I know this means nothing and I will have to wait until the 6-7 month mark to see the final result. Normal activities: Since I am past the one month postop stage, I have returned to normal activities except for weight training. Per the Rahal postop instructions, I will wait until three months after my HT to commence weight lifting to mitigate any scar stretching due to that activity. Application of minoxidil: The Rahal postop instructions state that patients should apply minoxidil to the recipient area to encourage faster growth of the transplanted hair. I have elected not to do this since I found that the medication irritates my scalp when I applied it to my hairline last year before my Bosley procedure. Overall state: So far, so good. Pictures: I have included four pictures. They are of somewhat poor quality, so I'm going to look into different image producing options before my next update.

I'm going to be honest, I was scared silly after viewing that video approximately one year ago (it was highlighted on Dr. Rassman's baldingblog). I actually showed it to all the HT surgeons that I visited, because it seemed to counter the received knowledge of the HT field (your hair loss pattern should be clearly visible by the age of 30 and the balding process slows down after 40). All of the HT surgeons stated that this type of balding is quite rare from their immense experience, but it does happen. But say it does occur, how do you even plan for this type of scenario other than religiously taking finasteride? For example, he was clearly a solid Norwood 3 from the ages of 30-40. For me, I thought this warranted a hair transplant, so I did. At 40, he starts to thin in the crown. Now, I'm vain, so I would elect to have another transplant into the crown. It seems that 1000-2000 grafts might be enough to cover that small thinning area with reasonable density. But then at 44, the crown loss becomes enormous. So now, I'm left with a bull's eye effect in the crown. Now, maybe finansteride will mitigate these unforeseen scenarios, but maybe not. I don't have extensive balding in my family, so again, maybe I don't have to worry as much, but sometimes I wonder, what if? There is something much worse than balding (IMHO)...and that's an unnatural balding pattern (e.g. bull's eye effect) due to human intervention.

Hey guys, Sorry for the late response, work is killing me these days. NHP: Yes, I was really impressed with Dr. Haber's practice. It was great to meet him in person. And omg, that two week shower was the best...but it was sad to see all transplanted hairs falling out...but I know they'll return soon enough! HH: Thanks for the compliment! I feel a bit embarrassed posting my results knowing that many of the hair loss sufferers on here are on a much higher Norwood scale than I, but I felt obligated to give back to this community. Plus, I'm infuriated with Ontario's "socialist" medical laws (ok, I had to say it, I'm a political libertarian), so this is my way of protesting against that system. I have a strong belief that patients have a right to know the track record of each doctor they visit. My one month anniversary is almost here...I'll post pictures of my current state later next week.

Hello everyone, I've just passed the two week postop mark. I have been spending time with family in Cleveland, OH for the holidays, so I looked up HTN approved surgeons in the area since I wasn't comfortable having a GP or nurse take out the sutures. I found Dr. Robert Haber was recommended by the HTN. so I scheduled an appointment with his office. It was a great experience. The removal of the sutures by one of the technicians was painless and the conversation I had with Dr. Haber was quite pleasant. He checked the recipient and donor areas and gave the check of approval (in terms of healing and the work done). Despite my protests, he didn't accept any payment. Although it seems that Dr. Haber doesn't showcase as many final results as other HT surgeons, I found his work to be of high quality when I perused his website and the examples of his results on the HTN website. As for my progress, the recipient site in unbelievable. The redness has already faded despite my fair complexion. The recipient area was red for two entire months after my Bosley surgery. I started slowing massaging the recipient area to remove the scabs per Dr. Rahals' instructions. The donor scar is still exhibiting some redness, but it easily covered by my longer hair in back. I can't wait for my haircut at one month to even everything out. One more thing for potential or upcoming Rahal patients: please take off at least two weeks from work or life in general after the HT surgery unless you can wear a hat. In my opinion, I've looked absolutely terrible for the last two weeks. Even though I kept my hair long in front to create a combover effect, the hair was constantly wet or greasy due to the postop care instructions. I got a lot of confused comments ranging from, "did you just get done running?" to "why is your hair always wet?"

Hey guys, I was able to obtain a copy of the Dut study from a colleague of mine. I'm attaching a pdf version here. Mods, Is this allowed? I don't know the legalities of this, so please remove if it violates the terms of service or is illegal from a copyright perspective. Combination therapy with finasteride and low-dose dutasteride in the treatment of androgenetic a.pdf

Hey Getsome, I cannot take credit for my current knowledge of the HT profession...I truly owe it to this website and the physicians that I've conversed with over the last year. As you can probably tell from my avatar, I'm a scientific researcher and I've worked with some of the brightest minds (in their respective fields) in the world. Based on my background, it is my opinion that the doctors, moderators and educated laymen (and women!) on this site are first-rate. I would even argue (this is debatable of course) that the laymen on this site know more about hair loss than most general practitioners and dermatologists that I know! Ah, the thorny issue of shock loss. Again, take my statements with a grain of salt since I'm not an expert in the hair loss field. From my research, shock loss can happen to miniaturized and non-miniaturized hairs. A clear example non-miniaturized shock loss is shock loss in the donor area after a FUT procedure. The shock loss occurs because the area has been subjected to trauma. If the hair that is lost is miniaturized at the time of trauma, there is a chance it may not return. If the hair is not miniaturized, then it should return over the next several months. But there is one type of exception to this rule: permanent shock loss due to transection. For example, the HT physician must take care not to transect or cut nearby hair follicles when creating recipient sites in an area with existing hair. This is why some of the top hair transplant surgeons (Rahal being one of them) shave the recipient area before they make the incisions. They want to know the exact angle the hair exits the skin. When the hair is long, the weight of the hair may disguise the true angle. There are obviously differences on this issue as some world-class surgeons require shaving and some do not. I understand your apprehension about shock loss. I had it in my first procedure. I'm convinced that I had irreversible shock loss of non-miniaturized hairs. But how do you prove such a thing? You can't. You just have to trust that the doctor did not cause it through negligence. In conclusion, a number of factors may be at play in your shock loss. It's hard to say. I know this is hard to hear, but you'll have to wait it out to determine the extent of the "permanent" shock loss. A hair transplant is terribly difficult...from a physical and emotional perspective! If you decide that you want to pursue a second HT (we can talk in more detail about what I've learned) or just need a sympathetic ear, PM me and I'll give you my cell number. Continued growth in the New Year!

Getsome: No problem whatsoever. I completely understand your anxiousness. I began doing intense research after my hair transplant last year and was disheartened to discover that I would probably need a second transplant (the recovery is such a pain, literally and figuratively!). I actually went back to your first set of posts and scanned your pictures. If it makes you feel any better, I think 1000 may be enough for the areas that were covered. It’s hard to see all the grafts with the pics you provided, but it seems that the transplanted hairs most likely will blend in with your native hair once it has grown out. Again, take my word with a grain of salt since I’m not a professional medical practitioner, only a semi-knowledgeable layman. You had less recession than I did initially and the physician transplanted you with a slightly receded hairline. As you can see from my pics, the Bosley physician transplanted me with a relatively straight hairline. So there are a number of differences between your transplant and mine. Based on the differences that I observe you and I, please don’t use my case as a comparison with your experience. Also, I’m somewhat of an extreme case. I was transplanted at a high density and with a straight hairline because my circumstances allowed it. Additionally, you have extensive balding in your family, I do not. It seems that you dodged the bullet since your hair looks strong and non-miniaturized at 34 (normally you at least see the pattern of hair loss by that age), but if I were you, I would be a bit more cautious. If I were in your shoes, I would use the current HT examples of Spanker and Chrisdav as my guide: Spanker’s thread can be found here: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/167017-spankers-2-110-graft-fut-dr-konior.html Chrisdav’s results can be viewed here: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/168628-my-year-plus-update-after-repair-surgery-dr-feller.html Their hairline designs (in my opinion) have slight temple recession. For someone in their late twenties and thirties, this is an excellent hairline design in my opinion. Plus, when it grows out, the hair naturally covers the temple areas so it looks like a straight hairline even when it isn’t (see Chrisdav’s last photo in the first part of that thread as an example). But be patient for now. Allow this transplant to grow out and then seek out second opinions if you aren’t satisfied. I might wait for the 7-9 month mark. If I had to do it all over again (in terms of in-person research), I would see Umar and Rassman in the LA area and then fly out to New York for appointments with True/Dorin, Bernstein and Feller. Dr. Rahal’s clinic is somewhat in the middle of nowhere, so it’s hard to see him in person unless you make a special trip. Grow well and Happy Holidays! Future_HT_Doc: I will definitely keep everyone informed of my progress on a monthly basis. I just hope to find a better camera before my first month update! Also, I really appreciate your dedication (and the moderators in general) to this site. It seems that when there is a controversy of some type or someone starts peddling non-proven techniques or products, you are there to calm the situation or respectively challenge their claims. This is the reason, in my opinion, for the high quality status of this website. Raphael84: Thanks for the comment…and congrats on your procedure! I read your story…and it’s poignant. I’m really happy you were able to finally have a HT with Dr. Rahal. I can’t wait to see your results. You will definitely be a poster child for the power of the meds/transplant combo. 2013 is going to be a great year for us…I can feel it. Here’s to unbelievable growth in 2013….Happy Holidays to you as well!