harryforreal

Dr. Bhatti, Very impressive result! How can you tell this is traction alopecia and not genetic recession? I wear a pony tail, and have wondered if it could have been the cause of my past hair loss - or possibly future hair loss.

This is what I wonder. I mean, my recession and thinning was at the front of my head. The back of my head seems very full. I am now 45.

Yeah, the thing I don't like about "hairline lowering" is that just because you lower a hairline doesn't mean it will look "natural". It's hard to tell when you're first looking at pictures on these forums, and you see a bunch of new hair after a newly lowered hair line after a transplant surgery. However, consider that you can glue a wig on in the same place where you wish you had hair, but it doesn't mean it's going to look soft and natural! I think there's a lot of hype about "natural" looking results of hair surgery. Also, I think it's very difficult to get density correct the first time around - or even the second. Click the below link, as this is what I'm talking about with regards to noticing the difference between hair quality of transplanted and native hairs. But also, like ProspectivePatient said above, HT's take time. My social life was effectively cut off for 2 years while I waited for initial results as well as a 2nd HT for improvement. That's a long time out of a young person's social life. I do not recommend it. "Initial results in 6 months!" - eh...that's some serious BS. Hair Restoration Social Network ? Community for and by Hair Loss Patients

Jay Walker has had a successful transplant, and his hair looks very good. He had a strong forelock to begin with, which I believe was a plus. One of the challenges of creating a "natural" looking hairline seems to me to be that transplanted hairs are thicker and darker than native hairs. In this image below one can see the demarcation between native hairs on the side and transplanted hairs in the temple. What are peoples' thoughts on how to create a softer, "lighter"/blonder hairline? Or is this the best possible? It's a good outcome, don't get me wrong. Just wondering how to get it to look 100% native... Sorry..CLICK THE HAIR RESTORATION LINK BELOW TO SEE JAY WALKER'S HAIR TRANSPLANT AND WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT: Hair Restoration Social Network ? Community for and by Hair Loss Patients

Time, time, time...You'll have to wait, Sean, to form a proper opinion, as I'm sure you would ultimately agree. I am glad to see your update. I have been occasionally popping in to see your results. As far as the height of the hairline, I don't think it looks too low per se; that is to say, for a young guy, it's a reasonable hairline. Whether it's age appropriate is another question; of course most of us don't like our "age appropriate" hair line and that's why we went in for a HT. So, I think it kind of depends on what "hairline age" you're aiming for. I also don't think your temples look unnatural - especially when you consider that when the hairs at the temple do grow, they will naturally provide some forward coverage. Just be patient. I know how difficult that is. Merry Christmas - thanks for your military service, and most importantly, all things being equal, you have a wife and kids who love you. There are always challenges in life, but you're still doing great. - Harry

Was this the width of the suture at the time you left surgery? I had a suspicious, deep mole removed on my back by a dermatologist and the sutures/stitches came out a bit early and the wound got wider. Luckily I had a doctor friend and asked her to look at it, and she said it looked infected because it was so wide and red and discolored. She told me to immediately go to to doctor to get antibiotics. As for the width, since it had already started to heal "open" there is now a "divit" in my back. When I asked about cutting it open and then restitching it closer together, I was told that in order to do that they would have to make an even larger cut, so it wasn't really worth it. With hair transplants, though, it seems "scar revisions" are quite common in capable surgeon hands. But I'm going to guess that that is the width that your scar is going to be without some type of revision. All this being said, I agree with the other posters - you need to see another doctor immediately. Go to the emergency room of your local hospital - it looks that serious to me. What I learned from my doctor friend is that the open wound posed considerable risk of worsening infection. Worry about revision later on, focus now on your immediate health. Sincerely, Harry

my personal choice would be Feriduni, with Bisanga a close second. I think their hairline work is a bit more natural, i.e., more closely mimics nature, than Dr. Lorenzo's only because Dr. Lorenzo uses implanter pens to make the recipient sites and simultaneously "inject" the grafts into them, which to me can produce somewhat less natural hairline work than an accomplished physician using custom sized (to the grafts), custom cut blades to make laterally oriented recipient slits for the grafts -- as practiced by Drs. Feriduni and Bisanga. Just my view. Comments anyone? Pens in the hands of Lorenzo versus blades in the hands of Feriduni and Bisanga? I have my own thoughts/surmisings but want to hear others...

Hi, Hariri, I have followed your case for a while. I'm glad you're having success with your repairs. I'm curious, you mentioned that you had the low grafts on your forehead FUE'd out - I'm curious to know if you can see the FUE scars? How noticeable are they if you can? Did you consider laser removal or electrolysis? Hope things are going well for you otherwise! - Harry

Depends on the nature of your hair loss, though many guys believe even substantial hair loss can be addressed through FUE alone. Post pictures of your current hair to get more specific input from forum members.

Definitely get on finasteride. I never had any problems with it. The only problem I ever had is when I moved to NJ and a dumb,young, arrogant doctor in NJ thought I didn't need to be on it because of "potential long term side effects" and I didn't really seem to show significant hair loss. 5 years later my hair had receded enough for me to look into having a hair transplant - oy vey, what a pain in the ass! Wish I would have walked out of that dumb doctor's office and gone to another doctor to get my original prescription refilled and never had the hair transplant - certainly would have been cheaper. In my opinion there's too much talk about "potential side effects" which is not substantiated scientifically/statistically. Any side effects of finasteride stop if you stop the drug, so just try it. It's a better option than loosing your hair and then trying to get it back with surgery - far better option I think.

I think most members on this forum would say NOT to go to Dr. Berkowitz - though he may be capable of excellent work. The only recommended doctor with Neograft experience on this site, Dr. Vories, is no longer using Neograft. The few photos on Dr. Berkowitz' site are not of good quality - and I personally find the results lacking. He appears new to the hair transplant game. As I said, he may be capable of excellent work, but it seems that he has relatively limited experience. Also, I think you should post photos of your current hair loss so that you can get feedback from the forum members as to the extent of your hair loss. Also, are you on meds like finasteride currently?

Look at Dr. Robert Bernstein's web site for some impressive before and after photos of finasteride.

Also, I would like to know about using nape hair to soften up the hair line - I know it's out of the safe zone, but if my only hair loss has been at the front, what danger does it pose?

I have had the redness since the procedure, almost 21 months now. In August the doctor injected a steroid shot of kenalog to reduce the redness, and that has helped some, but, yes, there is still redness and it is just one more disappointment. The doctor believes that the redness is from very tiny particles of cotton that got on the implanting needle since the pens were laid on cotton pads. He said that I am the only patient to have such a prolonged redness, and that since then they no longer place the pens on cotton pads. Yes, Spanker, there are a high number of 2's in the hairline. It took me a long time to figure out that this was not standard medical practice and contributed to a very unnatural and harsh look. The 2's are actually a greater concern to me than the lack of density. Density can always be added, but I worry about the ability to create a soft hairline by camouflaging it with 1's, and how much lower the hairline would have to go to camouflage it. The doctor suggested the 2's could be punched out, but that it would probably be better to leave them in to add density. Density simply for density's sake is not my goal, though, a soft hairline is, so I AM CURIOUS IF OTHERS FEEL CAMOUFLAGING IS THE BEST WAY TO GO OR PUNCHING OUT? Hi, Greatjob, At the time of my initial consult (and later surgery), the doctor felt I would not loose any more hair and said there was no need for me to be on medication (I specifically was interested in Propecia). He said that Propecia would not make any improvement on my hair loss in the hairline, and that only surgery could improve the appearance, at which time he suggested lowering the hairline 1/2 or 1 cm and advised 1000 grafts. He also said that Propecia had about a 9 month "claw back" affect and if I did loose more I could get on Propecia and it would come back probably. Maybe about 7 months after the surgery I was very concerned that the outcome would be poor - it was so pluggy and sparse, so I asked the doctor to please give me a prescription for Propecia/Generic Finasteride in an effort to maybe encourage some of the hairs before the surgery to thicken up and grow out, possibly even affect some dormant hairs to come back, in an effort to add density. The transplanted hair line went to the bottom or even below the widow's peak - it has been completely absorbed within the transplanted hair, and I can see those native hairs now when I look in the mirror. Still, I've made a photo with a word document covering the name of the clinic so you can see how it looked immediately post-op. I've also include a close up immediately post-op and in that you can see the shave hairs of the widow's peak which you comment on. Yes, the consensus seems to be that I need quite a bit more than 300-400. I want to know, however, how to get rid of that dark, ugly harsh hair look - almost looking like stitches on my left side - and if the hair standing up from the center to the left of center is unnatural. Would adding density make the hair standing up seem natural if the density were thick enough (like a big curl at the front of my head)? Now it looks very weird because I can see into the hairline so far since the hair doesn't lay down in the front.

Stinger99: There are numerous 2's in the hairline, and some larger grafts a little further in, so, yes, it does look pluggy. I would rather not identify the doctor at this point and time as I am trying to work towards an aesthetically pleasing outcome and the doctor has offered to provide an additional 300-400 grafts at no charge to camouflage the 2's and pluggyness and increase density Greatjob: the only pre-op pics (as in taken just before surgery) have the clinic's name stamped on them. I have uploaded these pre-op pics, and strategically placed a WORD document over the name. StaggerLee123: I feel the same: underestimated or lower yield than expected - or both maybe. I personally question if the hairline needed to be "lowered" to it's present place. I'm a bit concerned about the harshness of the hairs on my left side where there are quite a few doubles - it doesn't match my temples and such at all in color, density, or angles it seems. Is it the general consensus of you guys that it just needs more density? What about the angles of the hair? How can I make it look softer? Density can always be added, of course, but achieving a soft and natural look is a primary concern, especially if there are problems with the existing hairline. The hairs in the front seem to stick up straight up/slightly back in a very unnatural way - but maybe additional density would make this is a non-issue? Also I worry about the appearance of the base of the grafts - native hair that normally exits at the front of the hairline is so soft that the skin that it comes out of is very smooth. But where these hairs exit it looks kind of like chicken skin (when you pluck the feathers) if looking from above - it's hard to capture this texture in a photo. The doctor said this is due to the thicker hair shafts. Thanks you guys for your input!

I understand, I do not want to make things inflammatory. I just felt I needed to get others' opinions as I feel isolated, and so wanted input on my outcome from the community and others who have much more experience than me. Thank you, Blake!

Ok, here are the images in my profile now posted on this thread. Comments please! Hmmm....Photos upside down and I don't know why....

The doctor suggested 1000 grafts in consultation - when I woke he said he had taken 1050.

The doctor suggested lowering the hairline 1/2 - 1 cm. The doctor has offered to add an additional 300-400 single grafts at no charge.

1050 grafts fue from a recommended surgeon. No, not especially happy. Wondering what the "fix" is....

Finally found the "New Thread" button! Take a look at my pics and leave comments, please. Thanks!

Beautiful, and at only 5 months. It looks like hairs are drawn from the nape area, is this so? If so, is it a problem? And PLEASE, SOMEBODY.....TELL ME HOW TO START A NEW THREAD!!! Thank you!

I didn't tell anyone, but I'm rather sure some people noticed. But I never confirmed it, and after awhile it was no longer an issue. From my perspective I think there is some caution needed if you work in a potentially hostile environment. BTW....anyone know how to create a new thread? I can't seem to find the "new thread/topic" button...