GreatPelo

I'm going by what's recommended by medical professionals. But it's certainly up to you what you decide to do. Best of luck!

5mg should be cut in 1/4. You need at least 1mg per day. You can get it at Walmart for $9 for 30 pills....can't beat that price.

You can get Fin 5mg at a cost of $9 for 20 pills at Walmart...cutting it in 1/4 means you're paying $2.25/month...can't get cheaper than that. Don't frustrate yourself trying to cut the pill in 1/5....it's cheap enough already.

I second to what Blake wrote. Doesn't help those patients suffering from androgenetic alopecia (hereditary hair loss one gets from family), which includes 95% of hair loss patients.

Take your time and do your homework, my friend. Orlando is full of "interesting" hair transplant clinics. Go to at least 3 consultations and check out online reviews. Most importantly, make sure you choose a hair specialist...one that is involved in the surgery and doesn't just let their techs do all of the work. Best of luck!

Very Nice Save!!!

5000 is a huge surgery. Many doctors would rather split the surgery into 2 sessions in order to protect the grafts as they are split and prepared. Too much time out of the body increases the chances of them not taking. I think the forum will help you more if you're able to supply pictures and more info (your age, are you taking any medical therapy (propecia/minoxidil), etc.) The biggest recommendation I can give you is take your time and do your homework!

Hi Lateatnight, Pictures would help a great deal. My question off the bat is how can you be a N3V and need 5000 grafts??? Did you go to a consultation with a doctor and he/she recommended 5000 grafts? Please give us more info... Thanks!

Most doctors harvest and create the sites. Very few are involved in the transplanting of the grafts. If you find one that is...extra bonus! The danger in the industry is that some techs are even getting involved in the harvesting and creation of sites, which should be performed by a licensed doctor (any cutting of skin). Make sure you specifically ask who does what during the surgery. Best of luck!

Yes FUEshare, it's true! Why do doctors go for it? Because they take advantage of having the "latest toys" in the industry to attract patients and these two big companies do a great deal of marketing, so they benefit from that as well. The dangerous part is a good number of unexperienced doctors are buying them and then letting techs do all the work, while they pocket profits while doing other services. So they have 2 rooms generating money instead of just them. Not good for patients and against the law to let a tech cut into skin (whether they're harvesting or making sites). I don't think these companies are guilty of this considering they can't send an employee to monitor if the doctor is doing the actual work or not, but considering they are making continued profits from the royalties, they should take more/some action to make sure the doctor is doing what they should be doing.

Great to hear, Lorenzo! Life is more important than hair....but if you have both....perfecto!!!

I agree Lorenzo. A great deal of the new doctors are taking advantage of the NeoGraft Marketing Train in order to benefit and make $$$$$. How can a doctor that doesn't do the procedure but offers a service say he's committed to his patients??!!! Again, I'm sure there are some hair specialists out there using this tool, however, there's a big problem that's growing day by day with inexperienced doctors jumping into the industry without any experience and just cast a net of services to society in order to catch business. NeoGraft and Artas, considering they make continuos royalties, should invest in making sure every doctor is correctly trained...not just utilize techs who do all the work. This is where the line is crossed. Hope your health is improving!!

Hsrp10, Both the Artas and NeoGraft charge $1/graft royalties. To tell you the truth, I don't blame them for the problem that exists. Just like McDonalds selling terrible food through their franchises and collecting royalties, Artas and NeoGraft are taking advantage of the free enterprise system we enjoy in this country and offering an alternative hair transplant device. However, sooner or later, they, just like McDonald's will have to show responsibility in helping control who uses their machines and how they are used in order to protect the consumer (the patient). These talks have already begun in ISHRS meetings and many state medical boards are beginning to take action. Right now, we're in the stage of them looking in the other direction, just like "desirehair" shows in his writings above. I feel things will balance off as more state medical boards realize the consumer danger at hand.

Desirehair: Where to begin with your statements... 1. First of all, I'd pay big money to have Dr. Bassin perform a hair transplant surgery live to see if he even knows how to perform one and what results his patients would get OR would he need his tech to do it for him???? This statement is not to pick on Dr. Bassin, since probably a great number of doctors using the NeoGraft are not hair specialists and use techs to perform the entire surgery for them. 2. Anyone who researches "bassin patient reviews" on Google will see a great deal of interesting information to say the least, which speaks for itself... Using Dr. Oz as a marketing hook is not enough to convince me, not to mention his "no scarring, back to work the next day" advertisements, which are incredibly dishonest... NeoGraft leaves scarring...not a linear scar...but scarring non the less. Back to work the next day??? Only if you can go to work with your donor area shaved. 3. Your statement,"They are interviewing Ron Doria, someone who works with Dr. Bassin. He had his own transplant done with a Neograft machine after losing hair in a car accident. Our experience is also that many of the doctors who own NeoGraft and many personnel who work in NeoGraft offices have their hair done with the NeoGraft machine. This would not happen if these people, who work with the machine did not think the Neograft hair transplant was the best choice. After all they have seen all kind of hair transplants" is so false, misleading and such a sales pitch!!! Anyone who does any research will find out that Ron Doria use to work with MHR and had his hair done with Dr. Leavitt and Barusco. He'd gone around pedaling all sorts of doctors saying what a great result he got from NeoGraft when in reality he got his results 99% from strip. Doing a touch up with NeoGraft doesn't qualify you to say you got your results from NeoGraft. This is misleading and deceptive marketing! Therefore you should apologize to the public for your ignorance and/or false information. 4. Since you are directly related with NeoGraft and benefit financially, that pretty much erases your opinion. I think this is a very dangerous situation for the industry since the company sells a machine for over $85k and then continues to make big money from $1 per graft royalties. Hence the reason you're on here trying to mop up information...continuing to direct patients towards NeoGraft. I agree that NeoGraft is only a tool and know there are honest and ethical hair transplant specialists who are using this tool. The Danger lies in non specialists who are climbing on the NeoGraft Marketing Train to take advantage of the profits being made, while the patient takes on all the risk of having techs perform the entire surgery instead of doctors doing their crucial parts that should only be done by a doctor (harvesting, site preparation...cutting into skin). Which brings us to the crucial question: does NeoGraft then screen doctors and make sure they are qualified to use the tool OR just sells them the machine and offers techs who are trained in NeoGraft (look the other way and just makes money from sales/royalties??). I'll admit this is an unfair question since it would be impossible for NeoGraft to keep track of who/how it's being used. But there lies the danger to patients...... In summary, any seasoned professional/patient in the industry who reads your information will immediately catch on to you just trying to protect a company and its profits. Again, I'm sure there are some doctors who use it correctly and deliver good results. But it's disappointing that you look the other way and ignore the fact there are also many doctors who are not trained and don't care to be trained in the art of hair restoration and use techs to perform the entire hair transplant surgery just to make big money with an empty room. You, as a representative, should admit this is going on and should take responsible action to help rectify it instead of looking the other way. This is highly unfair to those patients who suffer the consequences. PS - Is NeoGraft still allowed to participate in ISHRS conferences? If not, how come?

Patriot34, If you were in front of me I'd give you a "high five" my friend. You are SPOT ON with this issue. Too many doctors are jumping on FUE and applying it to every patient, no matter what age or future pattern of hair loss. I think it's their attempt at using the "latest technique" in order to attract patients, putting marketing before patients' needs. Big mistake for some patients down the road.

When Doctors guarantee it fully, with money back guarantee if it doesn't work, then it's something worth doing. Small captions stating "although it's worked on other we can't guarantee it'll work on you" and then take your $3k is not something that should fall on patients' shoulders. So at the moment I think it falls on doctors' hands to guarantee its results if they thinks its results are consistent.

zyzz, First thing's first. Joseph Grego is a Physician's Assistant, not a doctor. He works under his brother's license, who is a doctor. So who ever uploaded the YouTube video should edit its title. Second, person I know who was upset at spending $8k actually did a PRP session with Greco and also with Dr. Markou, Terrible results. I'm not throwing this method under the bus, but considering its low level of success rate, doctors shouldn't charge for it. OR at least give a 100% money back guarantee if they think it's so effective. As it stands the entire risk falls on the shoulders of patients....WRONG! Considering it's offered as a stand alone method, it's suppose to revitalize dormant follicles to produce hair. Has a very small % of success, reason why doctors have a caption stating "although it's worked for some patients, we can't guarantee it's results on you." Not a good sign to invest $3k......... The ISHRS has over 1200 members and it's where doctors go to keep up with hair transplant and hair therapy methods. If they say there isn't enough evidence to confirm its effectiveness, that's enough for me to wait and see if it improves. I wouldn't invest in it at the moment........ Since Dr. Joseph Greco, Joseph's brother, is a member of the ISHRS, it would be great for him to present his findings to the ISHRS for their review. This would greatly benefit patients.

I know of a patient who had 3 sessions of PRP and spent $8k. Was heart broken after seeing no improvement and wished he had invested the money in hair transplant. I wouldn't even spend a dime on PRP, even as an add on to a hair transplant surgery. I rather save that money for future touch ups.

If you go to ishrs.org and enter PRP in their search bar, you'll read an excellent article on how effective PRP is for athletes with injured tissues in elbows/shoulders but NO EVIDENCE of improvement for hair follicles. Most doctors that offer it charge $3-4k and offer NO GUARANTEES. Net result: marketing to attract more patients.

The Neograft machine is a tool used for the FUE harvesting technique, along with the AlphaGraft and manual FUE punch. The difference is the artistic skill of the doctor. Unfortunately, the Neograft is being marketed as THE FUE tool when in fact there are others that can be as effective. The dangerous fact is it's being marketed to many non hair specialist, who are also contracting technicians to perform the entire procedure. This is where the danger in the industry begins. A licensed doctor should be cutting (harvesting or creating slits) into skin, not techs. We've already begun to see the effects of this situation with patients receiving terrible/weak results.

1. Does the doctor do the harvesting or does he have technicians do it? (should be Dr) 2. Are you a good candidate for FUE? (If you are young and have an advanced hair loss pattern, you may not be) 3. Does he exclusively perform Hair Transplant surgery? (too many non specialist are getting involved in the industry and having their techs do the HT sx while they are dong another type of procedure) 4. Does he do the shaved or non-shaved (of donor area) FUE method? (if you have to return to work soon, you may have a mushroom hairstyle for a few weeks and may look funny going back to work) 5. How long has he been performing FUE procedures and how many? Good luck!

Hi Tommy, I thought of the same thing when I saw the date on it. I usually come on the site and see the daily posts. I clicked on a link from another post I believe. Although I feel for patients that might not bet what they paid for, counting scabs may not be the best way of finding out what you got. I'd probably request medical records of the surgery to find out exact numbers.

Very nice!!

Not defending this clinic, but sometimes more than one graft is transplanted together in the same slit in order to produce more density. So you can't just go by the number of scabs in order to estimate grafts transplanted. However the number of grafts harvested should definitely be communicated to the patient during surgery.

Cachaco, I hope you are taking Propecia in order to avoid further loss. You seem very young and to chase hair loss in the crown area is no fun. Make sure you speak with your doctor about medical therapy to help slow down hair loss of native hair in the area. Best of luck!