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Janna, 1) How long did that procedure take. I had a little less than half that in '03 (from Ron Shapiro & you as lead tech), and it took until about 6:30pm. a) Did you do multi-day split sessions like some of the docs I review, or did you just schedule more graft prep techs? 2) Also wondering if shock loss is greater with a mega session like that. I'm thinking not, because insertions are so minimally traumatic. jf in cali I echo the sentiments of the other responders, nice looking work. My own hair has continued to thin, but with the Shapiro artistic touch, there are no islands of tufts, just a natural thinning, but and natural borders. Time to begin thinking about another procedure...

Yes, yes, Hair restoration is art work. Shape of the face, how to emphasize the best features with the limitations of hair texture, forehead shapes, noses and ears. Do I leave the face long, or try to shorten it, etc? As we are all aware by our own thinning coif, hair shapes the face. There are many of us whose appearance improves with age as our hairlines do recede somewhat. (Just trying to keep it there is the problem._ This is living art and not just medicine, that's why you don't <STRIKE>just</STRIKE> look at f/u or individual hair numbers, or who's doing the greatest density, etc. etc. In my eye, Hasson & Wong's artistic eye is not as good as Shapiro's, for hairlines. But that's just my own opinion, my own visual perception. This is, after all, art! And at least to some extent art is in the eye of the beholder. Yes, they're nice square, and soft edged hairlines, (Billo's looks great) but I don't always agree with the final shape and angle they choose. It's art both for the patient, and the practioner. But H&W do awesome infilling second to none, and some very beautiful full heads of hair when complete. Hence I've thought about going to them for the crown and middle areas. I liked what I saw of True's work artistically too. Don't forget that patient input influences outcome. You can ask for something that isn't appropriate to your head shape, hair color and type, and push a doc into something less than artistic. But once you're in the pipeline with a group like this web site that Pat and Billo host, you're probably not going to get burned on your procedure. There will be fine esthetic differences that you will need to decide for your self. And after you see what you like on other people, you need to have a comfort level from your own live consultion, that the doc and you are sympatico in your objectives. ... And just like dating, and sales, remember that there are people out there who know how to read you well enough to tell you anything you want to hear. Be cautious, but trust your own judgment after you've done your homework. Look at heads and hair types like your own. Consider your own budget vs the guy in the picture. Remember, the financial commitment is significant, but the consequences of a less than personal outcome are more significant. Take your time. I began to think about it when I was 29, and corresponded by mail and did live consults, through my 30s, and didn't do it till I was 49. There is no need in this day and age to wait that long. There are just too many good practitioners out there to wait that long any more. Good luck! jf

I skimmed through this post. The best thing for a newbie is to visit a lot of clinics. I started looking for good work back in 1985, and visited about 4 clinics in Southern California, from Anaheim, Torrance, Newport Beach and Tustin. Later I moved to the San Francisco bay area and visited clinics in the city, Palo Alto, Foster City and other bay area locations. I watched procedures done at the Elliot & True offices, and interviewed a doctor with the Bosley group too. Then I spread out my search cross-country when I did some business travel. I had some extra flight credits, and liked the pictures I'd seen on-line of Ron Shapiro's work, and decided to visit his clinic near Minneapolis. That's where I had my 2236 f/u grafts done finally. Spent about $9,000 dollars, and have been very happy. It's natural looking work. Not extensive enough for me to look "18" again, and it still seems to be thinning evenly and naturally in other places, especially near the crown. But we do this work to begin to reverse the clock on our appearance, and have "well groomed" mature hairlines, and not to look un-naturally young. There are great consultants in all the offices (and on this web site), but an informed decision can only be made by visiting, listening, and finally breaking down and having some work done. I read horror stories, and have seen a few sitting in doctors offices. But I did enough research, sat through enough consults that when I made the move I felt very good. Janna (from this posting) was the lead technician for the team that did my procedure, and a guy by the name of "Matt Zupan" did my consult, with Ron Shapiro stepping in for a few minutes to visit after we talked. I didn't know what their credentials were, nor care. I did enough research, and enough consults on the front end that I knew what to look for. That's what your newbies need to do. Listen to everybody, even the clinic employees, and go look, and look, and look and look........ jf jf I've added a picture of me with son about 17 months after Ron Shapiro did my work. Looks good, natural, doesn't it. No one has ever known that I had it done... except my last girlfriend, and that was because I told her. Very natural

Looked at your pics.. The work done thus far looks good. You're on the right track. Take your drs. advice and let her call the shots. Cosmetically we get an idea of what we have to have. But the doc sees all the phoney comb-overs, the couvre' cosmetics, and all the stuff, and knows how to give you a mature, yet cosmetically appealing final result. Stick with a Hair forum doctor and you should be pretty safe. I'm a Ron Shapiro fan, because I spent nearly 20 years getting consults before I decided to do anything. I'm glad I waited because I saw lots of lousey work, even in drs. offices on their consultants heads.. But wait no more, state of the art is here just in time for you to reap the rewards. Cost is dropping, and there are more good artistic physicians doing the work too. Yeah its a fat cash cow, but let's pay them for being top-notch in their college science classes. Its the American way.

Shock loss will happen. My hair was thin, and almost non-existant on top a month after the procedure. I cut the surrounding hair short, and continued the Minoxidil regimen until the 6 month time when the new hair and lost hair came back. Regarding swelling and ice... Yes, my forehead was a little puffy the next day, but not noticible to anyone but me. I used a little ice, but mostly used the time to rent a car and take a mini-vacation (I did my procedure at Shapiro medical group in Minneapolis and drove into Canada.) The doctor in the San Francisco bay area who removed the skin staples from the donor site didn't know what kind of procedure I'd had. No clue, and he was looking down on the top of my head where the new hair was inserted. Hair stylist noticed the red donor scar at first, but that faded away. ( I have light brown/blonde fine hair and still need to keep some length (1/4") to hide it.) When I cut it too short, and sweat from running or heavy excercise I see the line in intense light. I never needed the Vicodin for post-op pain. Pain was virtually non-existant. During the procedure all you feel is a tugging, and "hear" a very slight tearing sound (not audible, just vibration in your skull bones) when the donor strip is pulled out. It is less painful than a trip to the dentist by far. I'm 2 years post-procedure, and yes I need more density, on top, and in the back but, I've got adaquate coverage in the frontal area. ( I had 2200+ f/u grafts from front, to top middle and spent about $8900. Grafts were 4.50 each then, and price is dropping.) I'm suspicious of Minoxidil because I had swelling in the legs, and puffy face during the time I was using it. Also it seemed like my libido was decreased, and at 52 years, I don't like that. But, I don't want to spread paranoia. I did not visit my physician to see if the symptoms were related... (but they did go away after I quit the Minoxidil). Pharmacological methods I try to keep to a minimum. Don't know what side effects they will bring. Do the procedure. It is way way worth it. If I had tons of money to throw at the problem I'd do another 2500 in the back immediately, and another 2500 in the front again next year. (I've got lots of donor hair, and hair loss is way up on top and in the front) The cool thing is that this procedure is now so refined that no one knows you did it, and you never worry about the hair that is newly replaced again... Think of it. I won't lose the hair in front of my head again. I'll always have at worst... "thinning hair." And its better than that, because when you are losing hair, it attenuates ( gets finer) before it dissappears altogether. This new hair won't get finer, so it has better coverage than the same thinning hair had years ago. Also my doctor was thoughtful enough that if my hair progressively gets thinner... there won't be ugly margins around the hair that was moved.. you know, bald in one spot, and then grafted tufts away from it. It is worth it to find someone who has an artistic eye. Go for it buddy!!

Shapiro did 2236 (+/- a few) for me back in May of 2003. He didn't have me cut the hair, and the going rate for him back then was 4.50 per. His website recently advertised a lower rate for larger f/u procedures. I'm very happy with what he did. Within days, there was nothing to see in the procedure site, and the donor site was nicely covered by my own hair. My return growth looked good at 6 months, including return of some hair lost from procedure shock. I scheduled my procedure a month before my son's high school graduation, and not a soul in the family noticed. Then I spent a month traveling, and so I was really out of circulation for about two months. At six months, my son commented as we rode up an elevator, "boy, dad I think that Rogaine stuff you're using on your hair is doing something...I never told a single family member or friend that I had the procedure done.... None to this day. Matt, Jenna, and the doc, all were very personable, professional, and competant. I will use them again to fill in the crown in another year or two (3,000), and then probably do another 2,000 to the front and temple region again, to build some density. But I have always had fine, thin, blow-away hair, and Ron gave me back the look of about 12-14 years ago. Something that I'm very comfortable with. If price is a huge issue, then check out Dr. Tychowski, in Brasil. Pat, the moderator, checked him out and his work is state of the art as done in the US, and Tychowski, in my correspondance with him, claims to be able to do the same work for half the price as in the US... And hey, you can get a nice trip to Sao Paulo included for under $1,000. If you haven't been there its a beautiful place to go. Huge city with a lot of history. Ron Shapiro really is an artist, and for this kind of procedure, you are buying artistic skills, and not just a medical procedure. Hence, I say, look over those before and after pics carefully and make your choice. One thing I'm certain of, with Shapiro Medical group, you won't go wrong.

I'm a Shapiro patient also. Your experience is a clone of mine, including the names and faces. I've viewed work of most of the docs listed on this forum. Their all good. You make the esthetic choice, and go for it. We're at the point in this procedure that it works... it just works, with no surprises.

I lived in OC when I started shopping ....20 years ago. I checked Straub,Torrence, a big one in Anaheim area, Frankel I think, Elliot & True, a couple in SF/Palo Alto and I chose to go to Minneapolis to Ron Shapiro... Don't worry. I was comfortable. he's an artist. 2236 f/u in May 2003.. Yes I'll do more, and most likely Shapiro will be the one. ... Take the flight out... Pick the one you like the best.. regardless of location, and go there.

Not a problem. Normal. I was pretty gentle with mine, and let warm water run over the scalp in the shower. The pimples means that your hair is trying to grow through the scalp. Where it is transplanted, and then sloughs off temporarily for a time, it has to penetrate the scalp to get out. It forms a pimple. Everything is coming along just fine. You'll be very happy at the 6-7 month mark. jj

I am almost two years Post-op, and I still have a small spot on the top/left/rear portion of my scalp that is slightly numb. It is as another writer has said. Donor site incisions cut the nerves, and they take a long time to grow their way back into those regions. Not a big deal, and month, by month the sensation gets more complete. Small price to pay.

He did 2236 for me in May of 2003. He does great work. I have the same experience as you. Just a little forhead swelling for a day or two. just a spot or two of blood on the dressing. You will be amazed in 6 months. You made the right choice. One thing.. You will want want more work, just because you realize theres no more fear about a botched job. Ron does totally natural looking hairlines. jj