nathaniel

I completely and totally empathize with your experience, even if my own hair loss has not come close to approaching a NW5. I am continually shocked at the total disregard for patient welfare in exchange for a quick and opportunistic wad of cash through the exploitation of vulnerable hair loss sufferers. It is enraging. I would like to see more regulation of this industry with agreed upon standards of practice. Greatjob, here is where I might see things a bit differently. Instead I see hair transplant patients who are embarrassed to post pics, are too emotionally distressed to put forth the effort or continue on the forum, or who have legal concerns about posting pics expressing dissatisfaction with a very wealthy hair transplant doctor. There are many reasons why a person may not post pics, including the ones you stated. At any rate I have just read the advice you provided Seth in another forum, and I concur completely with the honest evaluation and realistic expectation you have given him. It may not be what he wanted to hear, but it is sincere and I believe is the best advice provided. I am not a scientist, by the way, but rather an artist. I count the breaths taken by a flautist and note precisely where they occur in a Bach flute sonata in a given performance and then consider how that might be different when performed by the same artist on another day; I marvel at how far off the canvas Van Gogh's brush strokes project in the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam in his later works compared to his earlier works; and I delight in both the precision and inaccuracy of language as expressed in poetry, literature, and song lyrics. I am obsessed with the arrangement of the most minute details while simultaneously considering their infinite and undefinable possibilities. Kind of like quantum physics... ^^

Thank you very much for such a detailed response, Dr. Feriduni! You have given me a lot to think about when it comes to hairline design. I am quite surprised by this statement since most people have told me that only 1's should be used in the first several rows and several people (and I should clarify not necessarily doctors) have told me that only 1's should be used to as much as a centimeter or more back from the hairline; yet your hairline designs are consistently met with high praise. 1) Your hairline designs are noted for dense packing from what I have seen and read - would you use the same approach of placing 2's and 3's immediately behind the "feather line" in a less dense hairline design? I also find myself wondering if this reflects a difference between American and European approaches to hairline design (you are the first European hair transplant doctor whom I have approached about the dispersal of 1's, 2's, and 3's in the hairline and across the scalp). I additionally wonder (cautiously, as I don't want to over generalize or stereotype) if there are other differences in approach between American and European hairline designs and hair transplant techniques in general. For example, I wonder if FUE is more popular among European doctors than American doctors; I also wonder if dense packing is more popular with European doctors than American doctors; and I find myself wondering if I should replace "European doctors" with "Belgian doctors" in the previous comparisons (and dare I start thinking about comparisons to approaches/techniques among Turkish doctors or doctors in other parts of the world?). I am also surprised by this statement, as I've never heard anyone expressing a preference for a "stronger" hairline, only a "soft and natural" hairline as I've heard repeatedly expressed by American doctors. 2) When you are consulting with potential clients, what questions do you ask them to help them decide if they prefer a "softer" or "stronger" hairline? What other questions do you ask them to help them decide how they want their hair transplant to look when fully grown in? Or another way to state the question: what questions should potential hair transplant patients be asking themselves about hairline design before stepping into the doctor's office? I understand you are busy, and I await with eager anticipation your responses and accompanying diagrams, Dr. Feriduni! Thank you, again! - Nathaniel

Agreed. Is it possible to create a new thread from this one, though, so my questions can be answered? Thanks! - Nathaniel

Hi, Doug Monty, thanks for replying. It is true that the the majority of comments I have seen on this site with regards to Neograft have been very negative; and I must say that I have been quite shocked at some of the images provided of final patient outcomes in this forum. At the same time, however, Bill the Managing Publisher, Blake (Future_HT_Doc) , and Dr. Vories (who uses Neograft) have tried to emphasize in these same forum threads that Neograft is a tool whose successful utilization is dependent, at least in part, on the skill of the user. With this in mind, I am trying to remain objective with regards to Neograft and therefore appreciate feedback from those who actually utilize Neograft in surgery or represent Neograft in an official capacity. My first two questions, however, do not relate to Neograft's performance in a procedure. Your reference to Neograft's sales performance has simply piqued my curiosity. 1) How many systems have you sold on average per month in each year since Neograft went public? Or alternatively how many systems total have you sold in the last 5 years? Is this in the US or worldwide? 2) Is there an investment prospectus or website where I can glean more information about Neograft's business model? I will say as a potential HT patient, I am less interested in speed and much more interested in quality - in fact the final outcome of a hair transplant is really all I personally care about. If speed helps to insure a great outcome by reducing fatigue as I have read some say - great! If it results in a rush job where grafts are damaged upon extraction, implanted grafts are placed haphazardly or in a sloppy manner without regard to hair caliber, angle, or density I say, "Slow down!!!" 3) As for quality, how is this measured? Were all extracted grafts from both the Safescribe and Neograft examined under a microscope for quality before implanting? 4) On a side note not relating to Neograft or the Safescribe per se, I have found it a bit disconcerting when attendees at conferences marvel at procedures being performed without any evidence of the final outcome. I feel similarly when patients post post-op pictures of recent procedures in these forums and others comment on what a fantastic job it is. But I am not in the hair transplant industry and these things mean nothing to me in comparison to the final outcome. With this in mind, where can I find pictures of the final outcomes of the patients who participated in this "head to head" event? I was informed by Blake that the only recommended doctor on this website who uses Neograft is Dr. Vories. A week ago I did post several questions in his recent thread "Update on FUE procedure" (link provided below) using Neograft and am waiting for his response - hopefully he will reply soon. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171175-update-fue-procedure-2.html My biggest complaint with regards to the Hair Restoration Network site is the difficulty in navigating the forums/threads or performing search queries. Any relevant links that you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! - Nathaniel

I will certainly look at your profile and other posts of yours. I am very interested in hearing what everyone has to say about hair transplants, and of course pics mean a lot to me as they do you; however, to clarify I never claimed you were a hack doctor - just the opposite actually: I was not intending disrespect - but your repeated comments about patients being to blame for unrealistic expectations whether because they are uneducated, have poor self image, or are simply "crazy", made my mind jump to another common scenario (date rape) in which the victims frequently are blamed for what has occurred. I didn't mean in any way to imply that you would hold such a view towards female victims of rape, and I apologize if it came across that way. Nonetheless, I am not prepared to dismiss dissatisfied hair transplant patients as crazy just because their expectations of what constitutes a successful transplant is different from yours - especially since what I want in a hair transplant are results that look completely natural by MY standards. If it is not possible to achieve "totally natural results" like I keep seeing advertised, please, everyone on this forum tell me so and let's be done with the lies and bullsh!t. I agree - I want evidence for everything - including that someone is crazy or a fraud - and your point is very understandable. In fact I would very much like to see pics, too; however since satisfaction with a hair transplant is both subjective and personal, in the end if the patient is not satisfied what does it matter what anyone else thinks really? Knowing that someone out there may call me crazy if I express dissatisfaction with a possible future hair transplant doesn't really make me feel more secure about having one. My principle issue is the callous attitude expressed in this thread towards someone who appears to be having an emotional/psychological crisis with regards to a hair transplant - with or without pics. When I say I am appalled I do mean it. I find the callus dismissal of someone who may be a real person in emotional/psychological distress appalling - even if they have poor self image, are poorly educated about hair transplants, or really are certifiably "crazy". These are not good reasons to dismiss someone. I mean....how many persons with great self image get a hair transplant? I am looking to this forum for support and guidance as are many others (Is this thread up to 30,000 views now???). I respect that you have had a hair transplant procedure and will read more about your experience to gain further insight into hair transplants. I also respect that you would like to see pics of this patient's outcomes. But I would also ask that persons who APPEAR to be suffering emotionally or psychologically not be summarily dismissed without evidence or verifiable reasoning. I know my hair loss has been quite emotionally distressing, and it is for support that I have come to this forum - as have more than 30,000 others who have visited this thread. I think it's worth mentioning that. Sincerely, Nathaniel

I will certainly look at your profile and other posts of yours. I am very interested in hearing what everyone has to say about hair transplants, and of course pics mean a lot to me as they do you; however, to clarify I never claimed you were a hack doctor - just the opposite actually: I was not intending disrespect - but your repeated comments about patients being to blame for unrealistic expectations whether because they are uneducated, have poor self image, or are simply "crazy", made my mind jump to another common scenario (date rape) in which the victims frequently are blamed for what has occurred. I didn't mean in any way to imply that you would hold such a view towards female victims of rape, and I apologize if it came across that way. Nonetheless, I am not prepared to dismiss dissatisfied hair transplant patients as crazy just because their expectations of what constitutes a successful transplant is different from yours - especially since what I want in a hair transplant are results that look completely natural by MY standards. If it is not possible to achieve "totally natural results" like I keep seeing advertised, please, everyone on this forum tell me so and let's be done with the lies and bullsh!t. I agree - I want evidence for everything - including that someone is crazy or a fraud - and your point is very understandable. In fact I would very much like to see pics, too; however since satisfaction with a hair transplant is both subjective and personal, in the end if the patient is not satisfied what does it matter what anyone else thinks really? Knowing that someone out there may call me crazy if I express dissatisfaction with a possible future hair transplant doesn't really make me feel more secure about having one. My principle issue is the callous attitude expressed in this thread towards someone who appears to be having an emotional/psychological crisis with regards to a hair transplant - with or without pics. When I say I am appalled I do mean it. I find the callus dismissal of someone who may be a real person in emotional/psychological distress appalling - even if they have poor self image, are poorly educated about hair transplants, or really are certifiably "crazy". These are not good reasons to dismiss someone. I mean....how many persons with great self image get a hair transplant? I am looking to this forum for support and guidance as are many others (Is this thread up to 30,000 views now???). I respect that you have had a hair transplant procedure and will read more about your experience to gain further insight into hair transplants. I also respect that you would like to see pics of this patient's outcomes. But I would also ask that persons who APPEAR to be suffering emotionally or psychologically not be summarily dismissed without evidence or verifiable reasoning. I know my hair loss has been quite emotionally distressing, and it is for support that I have come to this forum - as have more than 30,000 others who have visited this thread. I think it's worth mentioning that. Sincerely, Nathaniel

JoshuaEight, Can you post pics? Thanks! - Nathaniel

Doug Monty, Are you here officially representing Neograft? I have been asking openly in the forums here that Neograft representatives willingly field questions from forum members so that all forum members can learn more about the Neograft company, product, and practice. If you are not here as an official representative, I still am interested in hearing more about your support of Neograft; at the same time, as a non-official representative any comments you make are highly suspect: Can you provide documented support for this claim - preferably with official support from the Neograft company? How can we verify, for example, that your avatar image is what you claim and not actually a hi-jacked image of a strip procedure? I am very interested in all aspects of hair transplant, including Neograft. It would be great if Neograft has indeed developed a tool that allows someone with no previous experience to successfully extract all perfect grafts with no damage to any grafts during the process - really, that would be fantastic. I am very interested in this claim. Can you or another official representative of Neograft support this claim with documentation? Thanks! - Nathaniel Blake, I do appreciate very much your desire to insure a certain degree of etiquette in this forum; however, I ask that you please refrain from censoring Doug Monty's comments or blocking his participation. To my (albeit limited) knowledge no Neograft representative has made an appearance in these forums. Although Doug Monty's demeanor is not at all appropriate for any corporate representative in a public forum, he does claim to be an employee of the Neograft company in some facet - the first such employee/representative to date. Hopefully Doug Monty will realize that making inappropriate comments as a representative of Neograft ultimately do not in any way reflect positively on Neograft as a company or a product and only hurt the image of Neograft - company, product, and employees - regardless of the Neograft's actual abilities whatever they may be. If he does not realize this then it is Neograft, and ultimately Neograft's employees, who will literally not profit from such poor representation. With this in mind, I again ask that you not censor or ban Doug Monty. As I previously stated, I am very interested in what he has to say - whether it reflect well on his company or poorly. - Nathaniel

Mickey85, I was wondering how you might respond to Dr. Lindsey's position on FUE in general. Dr. Lindsey, have a bit more time to reply to Mickey85's posting? Thank you!

I VERY much appreciate your honesty and transparency, Dr. Lindsey. I am, too, Dr. Lindsey. "Shocking" is the term I would use. ok, good to know....still can't say I'm feeling very confident in automated FUE technology at this point -whatever automated device it may be...But I understand your not explicitly stating any brand names... I would like two more bits of clarification if you can find the time as I know you are busy. Could you please explain my question below about your reference to miniaturized hairs? Also my question about 300-500 grafts on the hairline? According to Pelo physicians know when they have transected a graft. I don't understand therefore why it's necessary to wait and see how a FUE procedure turns out UNLESS physicians are implanting both transected grafts and non-transected grafts - which makes no sense to me. Why implant a transected graph? Again, thank you Dr. Lindsey for your time, honesty, and transparency. This type of clarity definitely makes me feel like your clinic is a clinic worth considering.

Is it not the doctor's job to inform the patient about realistic outcomes? So what if the patient is chasing "Justin Bieber" hair? If that is the patient's expectations before the surgery, shouldn't the doctor clarify? Why are you putting the blame on an uneducated patient with no experience in hair transplants or any other medical procedures most likely when the "expert" is the doctor??? Quite frankly I'm really appalled at your "blame the victim" mentality. It brings to mind the old argument, "Well the little 17 year old girl was wearing a mini-dress and lipstick when she went out on that date; it's really her fault she got date raped. She should have known better." One thing that really bothers me about all you "haters" (to paraphrase Justin Bieber) is that on the one hand you all decry that a great hair transplant appears totally natural and is undetectable by even the finest surgeons, but then when patients (and by your recollection an "uncountable" number of patients) complain that the results are a "failure" you blame the patient and accuse the patient of being mental, having poor self-image, and (oh my!) uneducated/unrealistic about expected outcomes. If the number of patients who regard their transplant as a failure is truly "uncountable", then perhaps a simple disclaimer should be added to all procedures: "Potential hair transplant candidates should know that in a recent study the number of former hair transplants who regarded their operation to have been a total failure was so high as to be uncountable by any means known to man." We can further add, "Any post-operative hair transplant patient that claims his or her procedure to have been a failure will be labeled a witch, heretic against God, or NY Mets fan and will be burned immediately at the stake without evidence or trial." I agree with MAGNUMpi - I don't mean to be disrespectful towards you or anyone else on this forum - and as MAGNUMpi wrote: Finally, is not one of the goals of this forum to promote techniques and practices that yield the most realistic, natural, and undetectable hair transplant results? By repeating claims thread after threat that patients have "unrealistic expectations" it seems to me that you and others on here are setting the bar pretty low with regards to expected outcomes and, in so doing, are not really promoting a standard of "naturalness". Perhaps instead of always raving "Great job, doctor - looks totally natural!" posters should give a qualitative numeric rank on a scale of 1-100 with 100 being "TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY NATURAL" - of course if "TOTALLY AND COMPLETELY NATURAL" is a "Bieber dream" then we should never see any scores of 100. Oops...make this my second "Finally"... As long as we are making unsubstantiated assumptions, how do we know you aren't some hack job doctor posing on this forum as a hair loss sufferer with the goal to draw in candidates to your for-profit crappy clinic by focusing potential HT candidates' on near-natural results (did we establish that there's no such thing as natural results?) while simultaneously dismissing actual HT patient dissatisfaction with their results as "crazy talk"? But why stop there? Perhaps you are not a hack job doctor - perhaps you are one of the top clinics like Shapiro or Hasson/Wong or Feller? Look....I'm not really making such an assumption - I have no reason to believe you are in fact a hair transplant doctor. One thing I find interesting is that at no point did the OP claim that his doctor was a hack or that the outcome was even a total failure. All he claimed is that he was unhappy with the results - in a histrionic manner, yes. Also he claims he went back for a second procedure, and has posted nothing negative as of yet about the second procedure. I, too, would love to see 12 month pics and more, but again I reiterate - this post ultimately does not seem to be about the pics, but rather about patient satisfaction among this patient, CHB811, Mickey85, HarryForReal, and "countless" others regardless of public pics.

Can physicians tell if they have transected a follicle at the time of extraction? In other words, out of a 1000 punches, the 300-500 grafts are all that the physician implanted because he knew the others were transected? Or did he implant all 1000 grafts, and only 300-500 actually grew because the rest were transected unbeknownst to the physician? I and others have been calling for graft breakdowns by hair units, but perhaps we need to go even farther in calling for the number of intact grafts extracted versus transected grafts extracted BEFORE they are divided into groupings of 1's, 2's, 3's & 4's.

Blake, I wish to return to this response, and quite frankly would love it if Dr. Lindsey would clarify himself. It almost seems like from your response that Dr. Lindsey's robotic repair cases are all former ARTAS patients. Is this what you meant? If so that suggests to me that an ARTAS procedure is not the procedure for me! I would really like to hear Dr. Lindsey respond, however, to my post of June 26 reprinted below (anyone know his e-mail?). And I'd like to add: 1.5 mm punch scars? Which automated devices do this???

Thank you, Blake, for responding as always - I knew you wouldn't let me put any words in your mouth ^^ I wonder what you think of GreatPelo's comments below: I have wavy, curly hair...

It is a very nice hairline - I'm especially impressed with the way all the hairs "Wave" in the same direction. One thing I'm curious about - in the new hairline pics it looks kind of "white-ish" on the scalp where the hairs exit the follicles. Does this go away with time, or is this a type of permanent scaring? Thanks! - Nathaniel

I did like the Gattaca reference ^^ Even Jude Law with his "perfect Gattaca genes" has since succumbed to a receding hair line....

Additional pictures would certainly add another dimension (after all, the OP did provide initial pics). At the same time, I think it is dangerous to just dismiss the sentiments expressed by the OP, CHB811, Mickey85, and HarryForReal. I agree at 17 days and even at 8 weeks or so the OP's initial concerns were a bit premature. At the same time, however, there is absolutely no evidence at all the OP is a toupee salesman! His posts seem to reflect the same fear and concerns that virtually every other post-HT poster has expressed during the same time frame - even if expressed in a seemingly histrionic manner. My understanding - limited as it is - is that high patient satisfaction is a key determinant in HT doctors obtaining "Recommended" status as well as "Coalition" status. If the patient was dissatisfied with his initial HT I don't think it is for you to tell him he is "neurotic," has "body dismorphic disorder," or has "unrealistic expectations." If the OP is speaking truthfully about his own experience - and again there is absolutely no evidence otherwise - we must at least consider that there were valid reasons for it without summarily dismissing him as basically "crazy". It appears as though he was dissatisfied enough to go back and get a second procedure - and apparently the doctor was initially recommending another 400 grafts (we don't know how many were grafted in the second procedure or if it was even the same doctor). Still, taking everything at face value, why didn't the doctor get it right the first time? Or another way of looking at it - why do I keep reading about OTHER HT patients having to go back for additional grafts? If the time line for results is somewhere between 12-18 months, having to go back for a second procedure to "fix" things means at least a 2-3 year wait time for final results. That's a long time!!! Bad hair transplants occur - FACT. How many horror stories have we seen WITH PICTURES in forums as evidence? Just because the OP did not post pictures at 12 months doesn't mean the rest of us should throw caution to the wind and blindly rally behind the hair transplant industry. I am continually amazed by the "Wild West" feel of this unregulated industry...

Is Dr. De Reys a member of this forum, Hair Restoration Network? Does he post on here frequently or answer questions? That is the most detailed description of hairline design I have seen yet. What do other forum members think of only having two rows of singles? I was under the impression that standard practice was to go further back before transitioning to doubles and then triples...?

Greatjob, I disagree. There is obviously a lot of emotional turmoil surrounding a HT as witnessed by the varying responses posted - all this without even one picture posted as of yet. The morose comments by Harry about deception as well as the agitated response by OtherSyde had nothing to do with the actual results of a HT in and of itself. The 9 pages of this thread demonstrate that a HT is much more than a mere cosmetic procedure. The emotional and psychological strains of undergoing a HT cannot be validated or invalidated based simply on pictures of the final outcome; neither can physiological injury that is not obvious to the human eye such as nerve damage to the scalp. A HT is not a hair cut that you can simply change next time you go to your local barber if you're dissatisfied with the results (not that I have to tell you or anyone else this self-obvious fact). Of course, everyone reading these posts wants to see pictures to see if there's any "truth" to what is being posted - but really, a good deal of the "truth" is in the subjective experience each of these HT patients is trying to process post surgery - and that is not something that can be illustrated in a photo. The 9 pages of this thread speak volumes about the potential risks, rewards, and failures of a hair transplant procedure - all without a single photo. - Nathaniel

Dr. Feriduni, Very nice work, Sir. I really appreciate all the accompanying details regarding the procedure: graft break down (though I would appreciate a further breakdown of 2 and 3 hair grafts); blade sizes; manual punch size; donor density; hair diameter, etc. I am also very interested in the distribution of 1, 2, and 3 hair grafts on the patient's scalp. His procedure was limited to the very front of the scalp it seems. 1) I assume you place only 1's in the hairline and then progress to 2's and 3's the further back you go? 2) How wide is the area of implantation from front to back in centimeters? 3) How far back in centimeters behind the 1's do you start placing 2's? And then 3's? In Mickey85's link below the graft placement diagram (Simplified Graft Place Protocol) is not relevant really to the above patient. Neither is a similar diagram on the Shapiro Medical Team's website. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/170490-hair-transplant-basics.html#post2346762 4) I would love to see a diagram of graft placements for the patient's hairline above if possible. Actually, I would love to see several diagrams of graft placements for patients with different levels of hair loss. For example, you only used 1, 2, and 3 hair FU's in the above patient; but might you use a 4 or 5 hair graft in the crown of a Norwood 3? How about a Norwood 4, 5, of 6? Finally, in another thread (linked below) I have asked Dr. Vories about the advantages of using pens versus blades, and I have specifically referenced your work with blades: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/171175-update-fue-procedure-2.html 5) Do you use now pens or have you used in the past pens? 6) Why do you like using blades for implanting hair grafts? Thank you! Et si vous preferez je peux ecrire en francais, mais je prefere d'ecrire en anglais. - Nathaniel

That's exactly what I'm trying to do!!! But of course I do understand that everyone has there preferences, and I do find it interesting that Dr. Vories feels pens protects FUE grafts better than implanting with blade incisions and forceps in FUE (was unclear about FUT, however). Also I found it interesting that pens were so popular at the Mediterranean conference - but I was a bit confused as to whether Dr. Feriduni was using pens at the conference when Feriduni's photos show lateral slits in the hairline (thanks Mickey ^^ ). As my hair loss is a thinning, receding hairline only (at this point), differences in approach to the hairline are what primarily interest me presently. To that end, it struck me that all the little "bubbles" that Dr. Vories states helps protect against ingrown hairs to my eye seemed to limit (and without any medical knowledge) how closely grafts can be placed. That doesn't mean I think blades are superior necessarily - just want to understand the advantages and disadvantages of both. I'm sure I will be harrassing doctors who use blades about their reasons for doing so soon enough... ^^

Per Mickey85's post, I have corrected the incorrect use of "sagittal" by replacing it with "lateral" in bold with underlining so readers can see where the correction has been made.

Ahhh, thanks Mickey! That's why I'm on here - to learn!

Hi, Dr. Vories, 1) Ok, so pens seem to protect the FUE graft better than using blade slits and subsequent implantation with forceps? For clarification - in FUT, however, blades and forceps work just fine? 2) I am wondering if pens allow for the same degree of high density packing and the finesse of angling that sagittal slits do. As I asked previously, could you please clarify if the resultant bubble tissue prevents or limits high density packing? Also in Mickey85's thread below Mickey writes: (For clarification, Mickey85 is comparing sagittal slits to lateral slits with that statement, but I was wondering how implantation pens compared to lateral slits.) http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/170490-hair-transplant-basics.html#post2346762 I actually just posed the same question to Dr. Wesley. Speaking of Dr. Wesley, I noticed in the video of his most recent posting that he breaks his grafts down by hairs, specifically in that video he writes: 3) I don't recall seeing any such breakdown of grafts in your examples. Do you keep track of graft breakdowns, and if so would you please include in your posted examples? 4) Similarly, can you illustrate how you distribute these grafts throughout the scalp (for example, in Mickey85's post diagraming FU placement only 1s are used in the front of the scalp - is that your approach as well?). A similar example of graft distribution is on Shapiro Medical Group's website, and i find it interesting that Dr. Wesley seems not to have used any grafts larger than 3's, whereas Shapiro's diagram includes grafts as large as 4's. 5) Speaking of which, what is the largest graft size you implant? Back to the topic of pens, I was reading about your attendance at the Mediterranean Conference. You wrote: You also wrote that you observed Dr. Feriduni during the conference. 6) For clarification, did you observe Dr. Feriduni implanting w/ the pens? Obviously I was just speaking of Dr. Feriduni using blades and lateral slits based on photos and what I've read, so I want to make sure I understand what the different approaches Dr. Feriduni utilizes. Finally, Bill the Managing Publisher writes in his link below that a disadvantage of pens is a: FUE Hair Transplant: Implantation Methods and Devices This seems to lend support to Mickey85’s comment above that lateral slits: 7) Is there more potential to trauma of the scalp if the pen goes too far down? 8) Is folliculits more a problem with pens than blades? Thank you! - Nathaniel

Hi, Dr. Wesley, 1) What are FFs? 2) Are 3s the largest size graft you use? 3) Can you illustrate how you distribute these grafts throughout the scalp (for example, in Mickey85's post diagraming FU placement only 1s are used in the front of the scalp - is that your approach as well?): http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/170490-hair-transplant-basics.html#post2346762 4) You are using pens for implantation, yes? Do pens allow for high density packing as well as optimal angling of grafts as seen in the sagittal slits of Dr. Feriduni's photos? In the same link above by Mickey85, Mickey85 writes: "[Lateral slits allow] for better direction and angle as you can implant at much flatter angles....The incisions also tend to be more parallel to the scalp less invasive to the scalp’s underlying vascular structure. This parallel alignment also allows more grafts per square centimeter without the grafts compressing or popping up since the pressure exerted on the grafts does not push them upward from the scalp." (For clarification, Mickey85 is comparing sagittal slits to lateral slits with that statement, but I was wondering how implantation pens compared to lateral slits.) 5) After visiting your website, where can I find more information on your "scarless surgery"? It's pretty vague. And also what is the status of "FDA approval as your website states, "Beginning as early as 2013, the surgical technique patented by Dr. Wesley will receive FDA Approval and be made available to patients worldwide."? Thank you! - Nathaniel