harryforreal

After the above photo on 1-29-16, I clipped my forehead area again for a second V-Beam treatment later that day on 1-29-16. Attached are 3 photos taken today, 2-9-16, following my second V-Beam treatment on 1-29-16 for lingering redness. It should be also noted that in the fall I did a micro-needling of the area to reduce the bumpy texture from the hair transplant - that micro-needling yielded a great result, and I definitely recommend it for patients who are left with a bumpy texture! I will probably do a second micro-needle procedure later this spring, though honestly, the area is quite smooth now. There is still some lingering redness on the left temple following the second V-Beam from 11 days ago on 1-29-16 which is clearly visible, but I was told it may take 1 month to clear up, so I'm pleased with the progress. The lingering redness prior to my first V-Beam treatment on the right temple is for all practical purposes finally gone!!!!

Attached is a photo of my right temple 5 1/2 weeks after my first V-Beam treatment for lingering redness. The first V-Beam treatment was on 12-22-15, and this photo was taken on 1-19-16. The area of the forehead that was V-Beamed had to be free of hair, so the short black hairs represent 5 1/2 weeks of growth after being plucked (yes, I plucked the area in preparation for V-Beam). You can see transplanted black hairs in the corner of my temple below finer hairs with a golden tint. I cannot stand this "row" of black hairs across my forehead in front of finer golden hairs. It looks bizarre!

Dr. Bloxham and ArochaHair, More thoughts/clarification on electrolysis versus FUE removal of grafts?

I was wondering if someone might make such a comment ^^ My response is that non-hetero men experience recession and thinning, as well. As for the age of such profiles, adult dating sites are 18+, just for clarification. Hope that sets the record "straight".

I don't know how to address the issue of long range donor supply - I simply don't know enough about it, but it is a very important point to consider for sure. I see rather unnatural thinness center right, and also along the left side of the picture. Maybe if you could hit these two spots and add some density? One thing I've noticed about docs who do really nice hairlines, often they are implanting hair behind and existing forelock or other native hairs - in essence adding density, not lowering the hairline. This means the front of the hairline of course looks very natural - because it is! When I used to look at Ferudini's hairlines I was amazed, and then I started noticing he wasn't really lowering the hairline in some of the pics that looked so amazing to me, rather he was adding density behind the hairline or to the left and right of a forelock. So make sure when looking at hairline photos that you don't confuse hairline reinforcement with hairline lowering. I don't know if I'm the best to judge hairline docs - just haven't looked at that many. But I think I quite like some of the things I've seen Dr. Konior do.

I don't know how to address the issue of long range donor supply - I simply don't know enough about it, but it is a very important point to consider for sure. I see rather unnatural thinness center right, and also along the left side of the picture. Maybe if you could hit these two spots and add some density? One thing I've noticed about docs who do really nice hairlines, often they are implanting hair behind and existing forelock or other native hairs - in essence adding density, not lowering the hairline. This means the front of the hairline of course looks very natural - because it is! When I used to look at Ferudini's hairlines I was amazed, and then I started noticing he wasn't really lowering the hairline in some of the pics that looked so amazing to me, rather he was adding density behind the hairline or to the left and right of a forelock. So make sure when looking at hairline photos that you don't confuse hairline reinforcement with hairline lowering. I don't know if I'm the best to judge hairline docs - just haven't looked at that many. But I think I quite like some of the things I've seen Dr. Konior do.

What strikes me is the numerous blonde hairs at the front, left side of his head (pic # 1, top down) and the numerous darker hairs on the front, right side of his head in the same pic. I'm sure it is partly lighting, but still, this is what bothers me about HT to the front - the dark hairs that seem out of place compared to the lighter, softer hairs that should be naturally at the front. Also, his scalp looks rather bumpy - typical after a HT I guess? Maybe also some redness? I'm very pleased with the result of micro-needling to reduce the bumpy, scarred texture following my HT. Also I'm pleased with the result of V-Beam Laser to reduce redness. I really think the HT field should look into the positive results that these two procedures can produce.

Hasson and Wong? It currently looks quite thin in the hairline - i'm quite surprised, actually, as I thought Hasson and Wong did really dense hairlines. I'm very skeptical about lowering lowering hairlines. Just not sure that it can be done in a convincing manner, regardless of the doctor. If you focus on thickening up the current hairline it would almost certainly look better - to what degree it would look natural, well, that's where I get skeptical about any such lowering of the hairline procedures. If you thicken up the current hairline, and THEN try and lower it more, I think you might end up with more thin area at the front. One thing I've noticed since my HT, is that higher hair lines are quite abundant in young guys. I never really looked at hairlines before I got my own transplant, but after I got it I've looked at photos and photos and photos of young guys' hairlines (check out any dating website and you can stare for hours at hairlines all in the privacy of your home). In any case, higher hair lines are quite normal and youthful if they are thick - thinning, however, is what looks bad in my opinion. Better to have a high, dense hairline than a low thin hairline.

The transplanted hair is thicker and darker than any native hairs I have - that is why I plucked the long hair from the middle of the back of my head for comparison, where presumably native hairs would be their thickest and darkest.

Yes. Attached is a photo I made of a plucked transplanted hair of mine, the shorter hair - it is much darker and thicker. Next to it is a hair that I plucked from the middle of the back of my head for comparison (the long hair). I have been trying to figure out why these transplanted hairs are thicker and darker. But as you can see, it is clearly the case.

That is a good point - as I said I was shooting from the hip, and I never claimed to be a good shot in the first place ^^ Still, as I always say, if we can put a man on the moon, we can do anything if we put our mind to it. I don't want to simply let this go as I believe it could be highly beneficial if implemented correctly - but a format for client feedback doesn't have to be developed this night. My main point is that photos posted by doctors without any context of the patient's satisfaction is rather limited and leaves me with lots of unanswerable questions. If the work is good, and patients are indeed happy with the outcome, I don't see why patients would be reluctant to share the degree of their satisfaction along with doctors' postings. It would only serve to further validate doctors' work. Without it, it seems a bit lacking - to me, at least, makes me wonder about things...And usually the conclusions I start to draw are not very positive - which is probably unfair to the doctor! But I can't control my thoughts! But again, thank you for responding, and I'm glad to hear the patient is happy with the result!

That is a very interesting comment about picking up scalp oils, since one of the common complaints about hair transplants is that the hair looks kinky and frizzy. At the same time, if a hair passes through the scalp, even if it is kinky, should it not pick up the oils? I mean, if I pour some olive oil in a saucer and drag several different types of hair through the oil, will they not all pick up oil? Also, and this is really a question I have wondered about, what about hairs that grow back thicker and darker? Thank you very much for replying, Dr. Feller!

I agree. I continue to be impressed with the aesthetic outcome of Dr. K.

I don't understand why it would not be possible for patients to indicate the degree of satisfaction when posting patient photos. For example, patients could easily hold a placard with the numbers 1-10 on it and circle the number that represents their degree of satisfaction; in this way they would not have to reveal their identity per se. And I'm not saying this is the way it should be done - I'm just "shooting from the hip" as we say, simply throwing out the first idea that comes to mind. But with thought and consideration I think something could be implemented. Yes, I know patients post their own photos, and that doctors similarly have their own place to post their results. But searching out patient postings is somewhat tedious. In contrast, one can visit a doctor's page and see lots of examples, but no patient feedback. The main reason I have replied to this posting as such (and several others as such, just for clarification) is that posting photos without any accompanying patient feedback provides no context with regards to the client's goals and level of satisfaction towards achieving those goals - I just see photos that exclaim, "Here be hair!" I would like to see more constructive critiques of posted examples, and input from the patient is central to that process. For example, and again I don't mean to call out this clinic's work per se, this is just an example, if I were going to rate the aesthetic result of this photo on a scale of 1-10 I might rate it about a 7? If 10 is perfection, 7 is still good, so I don't mean that in a bad way. However, I look at the softer, thinner, whispier hairs at the front of the original hairline and note that the transplanted hairs are thicker in the subsequent photos. Ok, this is a pretty typical result I think of a successful transplant. Even so, for my personal aesthetic tastes, I would like to see softer, thinner, whispier hairs at the front of the transplanted hairline as well. But maybe the client wanted thicker hairs at the front? And she might rate the result an 8, 9, or 10 even? Now some say that it is not possible to transplant such softer hairs at the front - it is a limitation of medical technology. But if clients who want such an aesthetic quality at the front of the hair line don't keep pushing for it, will both the science and the art continue to progress bringing us all ever closer to such an aesthetic result? A slight divergence from the posted photo result perhaps, but nonetheless relevant and hopefully constructive. Sincerely, Harry

Hehe, yes, well I was seeking clarification as to the intent of your own words - which only you can provide and is not, generally speaking, debatable. Yes, I felt that this is what you meant, but wanted to make sure. I understand that during FUT single hair grafts are manually "cut out" from a larger strip. FUE single haired grafts are individually extracted directly from the scalp. Am I to understand that the amount of tissue surrounding a graft does not per se affect the quality of graft? That is, a single haired graft carefully cut out of a strip even if devoid of virtually all surrounding tissue may still be of better quality than an FUE single hair graft with considerable more surrounding tissue if the FUE graft experienced more trauma during the extraction process? And what is the result of a damaged graft? It doesn't grow at all? Or the hair grows, but doesn't retain the same characteristic as before? If the latter, what characteristics do such damaged hair grafts display? Thank you for responding!

Dr. Feller, without getting into the dreaded FUE versus FUT debate (at least I hope without getting into one), could you clarify your statement with regards to "high quality". Do you mean to say that single hair grafts from FUE procedures are not as good a quality as single hair grafts from FUT? Or that you can not get as many single hair grafts with FUE? And why? Thank you!

So you are assuming she is happy with the result? Which result? The first one? Or you mean the second? Or both? I hope that she is indeed happy with her result, but I have learned the hard way never to assume anything. To be fair, I am not criticizing the outcome per se, but rather the practice of clinics on this forum of posting photos without any evidence of client satisfaction - which is the norm but I think needs to be re-examined. A successful medical hair transplant does not necessarily equate to client satisfaction with regards to the aesthetic outcome - though for many it certainly does as evidenced by the numerous members of this forum who have expressed their satisfaction with their results. After years of looking at photo results - which are indeed important and I am glad that this forum exists to provide such photographic results - I feel it would be considerably more helpful if there was a way for clients to provide verifiable critiques of their outcomes, positive and negative and everything in between. The science of hair transplantation has truly advanced, and this is good. Still, one must always examine how to improve and refine one's work, regardless of the field, and client satisfaction is a very important component of this advancement. For me, in general I am not happy with the aesthetic outcome of many hair transplants, especially I think at the front of the hairline (beginning with my own). This dissatisfaction is quite different from the medical success of a hair transplant. For example, if the client were to rate her satisfaction with this outcome on a scale of 1-10, what would it be and why? A 10? If only an 8, why? And if an 8, what would need to be done for it to be a 10? And what would the doctor rate the outcome and why? As a professional artist I evaluate my work constantly - and the standard is perfection, an essentially impossible goal. This to me is what makes art art - the constant search for refinement. Art is a process, not a final product. It's hard to submit one's work to criticism - I know. The term artistry is used frequently when speaking of hair transplants; and I think it's a fair term to employ, even if strictly speaking hair transplants are a medical procedure, since the aesthetic component is indeed central to the outcome. But thank you for sharing these photographs - clearly Dr. Bhatti is a capable hair transplant surgeon.

Very impressive, and happy to hear that you are happy with the result.

Nice conservative hairline.

Eh.... The real question is she pleased with the outcome or does she think it looks wooly in the front? I get tired of doctor photos without input from the patient with regards to client satisfaction.

Dr. Bloxham, I'm interested in trying to reduce the thickness of my transplanted grafts as well as reduce the number of 2's and 3's in the hairline to singles. Could you please describe what results you have observed after electrolysis?

But doesn't the FUE punch leave a new scar when removing the graft?

"lower but pluggy-looking hairline." I'm in agreement. I just got off the phone with a certified electrolysis to schedule an appointment to target a lot of the crappy looking hairs in my hairline. I really wish I had tried medicine before doing 1000 grafts across the front of my hairline at the suggestion of the doctor. Maybe I still would have opted for a hair transplant after trying medicine if it didn't produce the results I was looking for, but I'll never know now, and now I'm trying to undo the pluggy looking pubic hairs across the front of my forehead now. I also wonder sometimes what damage was done to the native hairs by having this transplant. It just doesn't look natural. I wear a constant combover to hide it; the whole reason I sought out the HT doctor in the first place was to address some of the combing over I was doing. So I paid a lot of money for a different combover, one more unnatural. Ferudini always has impressive results with his NW2's and such. Still, one thing that really bothers me is that HT doctors post these photographs of their results, but there are rarely any accompanying critiques by the patient describing the degree of happiness with the outcome. In our desire to address our hair loss, we look at photos of HT and think "Oooo! More hair!" but often we don't really see the finer details that might make one think, "Wait....more hair, but....wtf??". I really think the HT docs should be required to provide a patient evaluation of the transplant when posting photographs. That might tell an entirely different story.

Yeah, hahaha....just like bankers on wall street who want to make the world a better place with loans? I'm sure there are ethical doctors out there, but I'm quite sure there are less than ethical doctors out there, like any profession.

I never had any side effects from oral finasteride. I personally would like to strangle the arrogant, young female doctor who originally took me off finasteride because she thought taking pills was bad - afterwards my hair thinned out at the front, and the next doctor I visited told me that only a HT that he could do would improve the thinning. If I could go back and never get off the fiansteride I would. I'd tell that female doctor, "You're a crazy bi**h!" and then walk out her office.