HairKlepto

Updated photo

Another update... Hairline looks absolutely amazing. Dr. Ron is truly the master. Overall growth is decent but there is two small areas where I'm not crazy about the density. With my hair shorter it's easy to hide. Overall I'm pretty happy and don't think anyone could have done a better job than Ron Shapiro. My wife has been complimenting my new hair constantly and she is not the biggest fan of transplants but thinks it looks totally natural. Ron Shapiro did an amazing job and exceeded my expectations.

Scar seems to be looking a lot better. I think I had some shock loss around my scar and in my crown. I hear this is not very common but seemed to be the case for me. The yield is not looking so good thus far, but I'm about 4.75 months in, so I'm hoping things will kick in the next month. I have seen some growth (mostly in the very front) and the hairline shape looks a lot better than before surgery.

At 3 months now. Seeing a few sprouts but nothing major yet. I think a few hairs managed to grow right away which was nice, although I'm hoping to see some real growing starting here real soon. I can see a good improvement in the shape of the frontal hairline just from the few new hairs. My main concern right now is my scar. It looks really wide. Granted i had the previous scar removed as part of the surgery but it's definitely a lot wider than before. Hopefully it will continue to improve although at 3 months, I'm not sure it will other than the redness.

Sometimes you don't even start growth until 4-5 months. You may still get lots more growth.

Just talked to Ron and he really had great reasons for not wanting to go in for more grafts. I mis-understood his intentions and realize that it was all in my best interest. He really is a great doctor who cares about his patients. I also realize he had a lot of challenges with my previous work.

Thanks . Yeh, i even requested that he do macro and micro irregularities (knowing he would anyway), and yeh I'm probably over analyzing things a bit. Also keep in mind that a lot of the hairs have shed before I could take the photo so it doesn't totally show what I was referring to. I think it's because there were four of them and they were perfectly spaced and circular (like plugs but made out of single hairs . I know Ron is a pro and that's why I chose him. i have recommended him numerous times on here. I have a meeting with him later today and will be curious of what he thinks.

I think it's being confused that I have a problem with irregularities, whereas I think they are necessary. I'm just talking about the execution. To me the link you reference, the post-op looks fine to me. I would expect a good result based on it. The hairline is rounded and cohesive. Where as mine looks almost partially rounded with a squareness in the front. Granted some hairs have shed so it has lost some shape and there is a lot I like about the hairline, but no one has said yeh they looks totally normal... they just say it should look good once it's grown out. lol

Yes, I'm referring to the pencil tips in the very front. Also some of the hairs have sheds to they are not as pronounced. I agree they are meant to be micro-irregularities although I just think the execution looks odd to me. The rest of the irregularities along the hairline look fine to me. I would also add that perhaps it will looks good once the redness is gone and it's grown in. Although if I happened to keep my hair this short I would say it looks odd as it is now.

Matt touched base with me about my concerns and assured me of Ron's care towards his patients. He spoke with Ron and thinks there was some miscommunication perhaps regarding the extra grafts. He setup a time for Ron and I to speak. I've attached a photo although it's not totally clear as some of the hairs have shed in regards to the clusters. They may look totally normal once healed and be part of the intended artistry. On the plus side I had my staples removed at another clinic locally and the nurse said the scar looks really thin. Hopefully that continues. I looked at it in a mirror and while hard to tell it did seem thin.

I tried taking some a few mins ago but so many of the hairs have fallen out that you can't really see the section of concern much any more. I could post them if people are just curious about the work in general although again it doesn't show his real hairline since I've started shedding.

I'll try to post one later. Some of the hair in the clusters have fallen out so it looks better now then it did with all the hairs in place. Not sure how easy it would be from the photo to tell. I wish I lived closer to MN so I could have just gone back in and asked his opinion.

The end result could prove it as a part of the intended artistry. He's definitely a pro.

So finally after having to postpone the surgery once, i was able to have my surgery with Ron Shapiro for some frontal hairline work (~1500 grafts). I've had a few previous transplants and was looking to thicken up the hairline and soften it a bit. I had a hard time choosing between Ron and Victor Hasson. I chose him over Hasson (even though I liked Victor's hairlines a bit more), because he seemed to have the best combination of results and consistency/reputation. It was close overall. I have mixed feelings about the end result. As far as the experience, it went pretty smooth. The tech's were very nice and so was the admin staff (all but one of the staff members there was very warm and friendly). As far as pros, my scabs were gone in five days which seemed almost miraculous considering it normally takes me 21 days plus for all my scabs to be gone and I've had surgeries with a few different docs. The hairline looks pretty good although there are some things I don't like about it which I will mention in the cons section. Ron also placed most of the single hair grafts himself which really impressed me. He also did a nice peak on the left side with a few grafts and really made my forehead look smaller (his idea). He kept me conservative overall which was needed since I have limited donor left. He went above and beyond and lot of ways. On the cons side there are these four clusters of hairs right of the front of the hairline that look odd to me. I know it was done to create irregularities but the way they are spaced and so forth it just looks kinda weird. Maybe it will look better without the redness, but as of now my eye is drawn to it in a bad way. Some of the hairs around them have fallen out since to it's getting harder to tell day by day but I'm worried about once everything grows in. He had to work around my previous work which made it much more challenging. All in all I am happy with my decision to go with Ron. He do some major reworking of the previous damage I had from other transplants. I don't think anyone could have done a better job with it than him.

No one can truly tell you if it will be noticeable. Only a friend who is brutally honest -- that you trust -- can tell you that.

That is a great scar. Feel blessed my friend.

A concealer would put no more strain on the strands than hair spray or dust for that matter. Unless your hair was pulled back or you were violently combing tangled hair, I don't see any significant strain. I'm not sure about your philosophy on not stopping propecia because the damage is done. If you were confident that the hair loss was from the propecia it would be insane not to stop it. I've never heard of propecia causing hair loss although it can making you permanently impotent. I used to take it for a few years but it was affecting my sex drive. When I read all the horror stories about permanent ED I realized the risk of being bald was better than the risk of never having sex again. In people that do get sexual side effects, the persistence rate is 96% even after a year. Baldness Drug Propecia May Have Long-Lasting, Possibly Permanent Sexual Side Effects - ABC News You can definitely permanently screw yourself up with it. I've seen different numbers but it is said from 2-18% of people will have sexual side effects. There is a whole list of how it could affect you sexually... It's not always straight ED. But, anyway long answer to why I don't take it.

I would further add that I wouldn't necessarily say that the hair loss would be permanent, but like hormonal hair loss for instance, sometimes the hair loss persists even after the hormone imbalance is corrected. I'm not a dr, but just my layman perspective. I've also seen cases where the hair loss is typical MPB yet some other causative factor simply sped up the hairloss (although the reason it didn't grow back was likely MPB in my humble opinion). We continue to loss hair even after starting a specific product, so that further complicates things. People are quick to say that Toppix can't cause hairloss because it's genetic, which is totally ignorant. Not saying it does or doesn't -- just that it would be akin to saying that radiation can't cause hair loss because it's genetic. We are complex creatures. Simply having your hair pulled back too tight for too long can cause permanent hair loss. In truth, most of what we think is genetic is not genetic. We only have about 25000 genes and most of what we think is genetic is a form of genetic expression, influenced by external factors such as environment, what we put in our bodies, on our bodies, etc. Not saying that MPB is not genetic, but anyway, I digress.

Well I wasn't intending to make a scientific post. I made a quick mention under the idea that people can take what I said and go research it for themselves. I didn't say it always causes hairloss. It's like saying a carcinogen always causes cancer... It can cause cancer... It causes cancer in some people... but not all people. If a certain ingredient can cause further hair loss I would avoid it, especially when there is a simple alternative to use a different product. From what I remember it was some reference to a specific ingredient and how the dr. told them to avoid it because it causes further hair loss and perhaps some anecdotal posts about how it caused further hair loss but I don't remember. It was enough for me personally to decide if I ever used a concealer there is no way in the world i would ever use Toppix or the other products using the ingredient. Also hair loss is so hard to detect until it's substantial. You can't say something doesn't cause hair loss unless you are going to have someone take a microscope to your hair and analyze hair density. Even then you would need control groups of course. Further complicate that with the fact that the concealer is hiding the hair loss -- which is why I said it's ironic. I tend to error on the side of caution. Anytime you put any chemicals in your body or on your skin you are opening up yourself to many possibilities, most of them not good. Nothing surprises me despite people's passionate assertions that the garbage they eat, the medications they take, or the stimuli they subject themselves to, causes no harm - they are usually wrong. Anyway that's off topic, but I did search briefly and couldn't find the original post. Sorry.

Then keep using it. I don't care to debate about it and don't feel like finding the original references. Everyone can do their own research and come to their own conclusions. It may have been hairlosshelp or somewhere else. You do see the irony in people saying a product that hides their hair loss is causing more hairloss.

I don't have the link offhand but there is a certain ingredient that is popularly used. Toppix uses the ingredient and I believe cabooki but I don't remember for sure on that one. I would definitely be careful with any concealer right after a procedure, but in any case I would not use anything but Nanogen personally. It also looks best from everything I've read.

A lot of people are better off shaving their heads. Don't let anyone tell you otherwise. You have to decide if you hate how you look with a shaved head. Also make sure you have a tan... A freshly shaved head that looks white as the snow can throw you off. A horrible transplant is way worse than a shaved head.

You've lost 40% of your hair since taking a drug meant to help you grow hair and you keep taking it? Since when does Propecia cause shedding? There is nothing normal about what you are describing and I would see a doctor. I think you are thinking of Rogaine. If I started losing my hair after taking any drug, I would seriously question whether I should be taking it. Nanogen is supposed to be the safest concealer as far as I've read. Other concealers have harmful chemicals that can cause you to lose even more hair.

I went with Glenn Charles for my last major procedure. Had a few mis-angled grafts, but overall he is a great doctor and probably the best in Florida.

Next procedure? Didn't you just have one a few weeks ago with Paul Shapiro? Is it not turning out as you hoped? Wondering why you are already considering another procedure and changing doctors. I hope all is well man.