azn_guy

I'm comparing your 1st and 2nd photos in your 9 month thread. I realize photo 2 has wet hair, but still the contrast in hair thickness looks significant. Do you think photo 2 is representative of what your scalp looks like to the naked eye?

 

I ask because I'm trying to get a handle on how to judge and compare people's results so I can better understand my own.

Hey Mega, yes Photo #1 was with Dry Hair, Photo #2 was with Wet Hair that was slightly towel dried after showering.

Regarding Photo #1, in an hour, my hair will dry and that is what it will look like

Photo #2, I didn't do any styling at all, so what you see is what you get, this is what people will see if I don't do anything. Camera didn't do anything to enhance or decrease the photo. The Flash on the camera does slightly make my scalp "white" so it's somewhat of a big contrast.

Can you clarify why you're getting scar revision and what went wrong with it? Couldn't find it in this discussion, thanks!

Hey Multiplier, take a look at the following link

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/156578-donor-scar-photos-clipper-4-a.html

Basically I started to notice that I couldn't cut my hair at a clipper #4 because my donor scar was wide, which was an interesting phenomenon.

What had happened was the sutures used were combined with a solution and Dr. Cooley used a new technique/method. And it caused the donor scar to stretch, interestingly enough the scar itself never stretched, the skin below stretched.

I spoke with Dr. Cooley about it and he wanted to do a scar revision and was confident it will be fixed so I took his offer

Mega,

Good luck with the next couple of months. I do find it interesting that both of us wish we had more density.

Is this a byproduct of expecting too much? or simply we are still a bit impatient and should wait a few more months before we start questioning the density?

Regarding the photos taken with an 8mp camera, I think you should continue to take photos with it because it gives everyone here sense of truthfulness rather than many of the photos that the HT clinics take.

I will continue to do what I'm doing, and I hope you do too.

Question for you, are you planning to grow your hair longer? Also, can you pinpoint which hairs are actually transplanted versus native hairs? The reason I'm asking this is in the hairline, the skin itself (where the hair grows) seems a bit rough, and not smooth, as if something was transplanted there. what do you think?

Hey Mega,

The Scar Revision is free of charge, but because I'm choosing to have ACELL used, it's an additional fee

Which pictures are you referring to when you notice the "thin patches" Let me know specifically and I will tell you

If you're wondering what ACELL is, check out the following link

(Promotional link removed. Please link to Jerry Cooley's presentation on Acell on our community at http://www.regrowhair.com)

This is my 9th month and I think everything is going as planned. I can't really tell if there are any changes anymore, because everything is so gradual. A few things that I would nit-pick about is the top of my head, right in front of the crown is a bit thin. While I did not ask Dr. Cooley to do anything in this area (Zone 4 I believe) I personally am not a fan of this spot. Another thing I would probably nit-pick about is the left temple, the hairline is not aligned with the right temple, this is actually quite obvious and when I go in for my Scar Revision, I will ask Dr. Cooley to place grafts here. Lastly would be the scar above my left ear (my HT consisted of 2 strip scars, the main scar and an extra strip above the ear to get additional grafts) the donor scar itself looks okay BUT because of my hair characteristics (asian hair), even at a clipper #4, you'll notice that the hair above the left ear is not as thick as the right ear

these are my concerns

In December I am scheduled to visit Dr. Cooley for a Scar Revision, I will be asking for ACELL when I get this done since Dr. Cooley recommended it. Too bad it cost additional $$$, but I think it is worth it.

Hey Guys,

Dr. Cooley was my HT Surgeon and I had a HT beginning of this year so I was probably one of his ACell experiments (I will double check with him)

My donor scar looks similar to this

http://www.regrowhair.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/11/4.jpg

Here is a quote from Dr. Cooley's Presentation that Bill provided

"Using ACell made a good closure better and was especially helpful in re-excision of wide donor scars. Photo 6 shows a patient with a 1.5-2.0 cm donor scar three months after excision with use of ACell. Although greatly improved, there is still some ‘hairless gap’ which is related to the tension at closure."

This leads me to believe that when Dr. Cooley when suturing me up, must have been related to the tension at closure

Check out my blog if you're interested

Mick,

 

In the next few days, I will be presenting the highlights of the ISHRS meetings including announcing the next president, who happens to be a very well respected and leading surgeon in the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. So while I'm still collecting my notes on the conference and preparing the highlights, let's also give a congratulations to the highly esteemed Coalition member Dr. Jerry Cooley of Charlotte, NC who is next year's president of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS).

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

Nice! Happy to see Dr. Cooley continuing to contribute in all areas of this field

I'll leave the technical issues to the Moderators on the forum.

As far as Dr. Cooley goes, he is really really good and I am also quite happy with my results with him.

Good luck!

Ok so i know a number of people on this forum have had prp and dr feller/specs lurks about offering prp, so there should be a good amount of information about now, what is the verdict?

Absolutely nothing, I would take it as a grain of salt and if given an opportunity you can request it.

Numerous doctors still don't use it, and the ones that do, while they do believe in it, from a scientific view, do not have any solid evidence that it is a tried and test solution

Good luck!

Thanks for the feedback.

I spoke with Dr. Cooley and considering the level of my hairloss and the amount of grafts I already had about a year ago, he only wants to fix the scar.

He did mention that a few grafts will be removed in the process and they will be transplanted accordingly

I'm glad that the HT Surgeon's on this site give a unbiased opinion, while there are a lot of scam artist that would have easily recommended I get more grafts.

Kudos to many of you Dr's out there

Thanks Janna and the oh experienced ones. I come back and I see my topic with a lot of responses. Wow.

Anyways, very very good information and thank you for all the photos which put a lot of clarification into something many of us did not know the answer to.

The width of the scar is about 4mm and in terms of laxity, my scalp is quite loose. I have not been doing scalp exercises because Dr. Cooley mentioned not to do anything until November since I'm 8 months post op. He actually only recommends a slight massage and to NOT do scalp exercises.

In terms of length, the strip scar is 31cm long, so I don't think going any longer will happen, but I do expect if I were to get additional grafts, it would be based on how width, not length....

In my case, the donor stretch was not due to my laxity, I have really really good laxity right now.. (very odd scenario)

I just sent Dr Cooley an email to see if he would advise to do it or not.

We had a consultation and I never really brought it up because the 1st HT was adequate.

Baldtom, Check out my profile, I've been documenting my results for the past 8 months

Regardless of what the HT surgeon says, does anyone think it would be a bad idea to press forward with this? Again, I'm thinking of "time spent" on this because I'm basically getting another HT if you know what I mean.

Some of you might know that my donor strip scar didn't go as planned and I'm getting a scar revision simply because my HT surgeon is unhappy with the results.

I've been thinking and now considering getting additional grafts placed in the recipient area.

The reason I'm thinking this is because I'm already going in for a scar revision, I might as well get some grafts transplanted right?

What would you guys do if you were me?

good luck hairthere! Wow you'll have roughly 6000+ grafts after this third session....

have fun in there!

Take a look at my profile. I comb my hair forward and I even gel it. That being said, I have quite a bit of existing hair to support the 3000 grafts that were transplanted.

I also prefer not to slick back my hair because it simply looks terrible as a hairstyle

Keep it real Megatron, I also am taking photographs that do not hide poor areas.

The photos before and after help all of us remember what you used to look like. I've almost forgotten already what you looked like pre-ht!

thanks for sharing!

Looks good Mega, I saw your journal and I am 90% in the same boat as you (except I can gel my hair )

I do agree if I had the hairloss that you had, the density just doesn't look like it's enough.

I hope that as the months progress the density will get better if not. I hate to say it, but I guess a successive HT would be needed....

This marks my 8th month since the HT and the everything appears to be on schedule. I am most happy with the hairline since that is pretty much the only thing I can use as reference. The density of my hair right now is not where I want it to be but again, it's a waiting game and hopefully in 2 more months things will look "thicker" The donor area looks good but is not relevant since I am going to get a scar revision in 2 months. Disregarding the Donor Scar, I am 70% happy at the moment. I anticipate that the 70% will go up to 80%, and hopefully 90% if I'm lucky

Good question because I'm wondering the same thing.

When you have good growth before the 8th month mark, does that equivocally mean that after the 8th month mark, you had even better results due to the thickening?

In my case, my HT doesn't look any different than what it did pre-HT. Again a number of you know my situation where I actually had existing hair.

There areas of my recipient I can truly see a difference such as the temple area, this is where I either had no hair or miniaturized hair. Now the hair there is pretty thick.

So to add on top of what Megatron is questioning this is how I hope things will pan out

Situation #1 - Best

- People that had extremely good growth before the 8th month mark, saw even more thickening and thus would be the best scenario

Situation #2 - Normal

- People that had normal growth before the 8th month mark, finally saw thickening

Situation #3 - Worst

- People that had poor growth before the 8th month mark, finally growing

I think one factor that needs to be considered is MPB is happening even after a HT (only drugs will slow it down) So Ideally everyone wants to be in Situation #1 because this is where you'll see the most dramatic results. If you're in Situation #3 and it takes 2 years to see results, that is 2 years of other hair that has had time to miniaturize.

I personally think I'm Situation #2, but with the caveat that the thickening in my case is where the money is at. With my characteristics, I NEED thick hair, or else the newly placed hairs will be overshadowed by existing thick hair

Future,

Many of us understand that when using Sagittal, needles are used while Lateral Slits use custom blades are used

I dont know any HT doctors that are staffed to handle both methods since they are two different techniques.

Interesting comment from Dr. Mohebi though...

Also don't forget Lateral Slit Technique, Doctors require shaving of the recipient area

Sagittal Slit Technique, shaving is NOT required

Correct me if I'm wrong,

if you get Lateral Slits, yes you need to shave

If you get Sagittal Slits, you do not.

RCWest,

Yes, I may consider it actually, when I go in for my scar revision, grafts will be removed. I am trying to decide where the optimal place would be for those 50-100 grafts.

I think I will have 50 on the left temple and 50 on the right (of course this depends on how many grafts will be extracted.

RCWest, as I mentioned, I understand that dense packing is a "pro"

but my question is about yield. Is yield better?

Tsakalos, please elaborate, what's your story?

I'm surprised not more people on this site are responding, especially the newbies, this is actually a very important topic and something you all really should understand especially when choosing a HT surgeon.

I "believe" doctors such as Alexander, Shapiro, Cooley mainly use Sagittal

While, H&W, Feller, Arocha use Lateral Slit Technique.

if I'm incorrect, please correct me with my assumptions about the HT Surgeons

I have straight black hair I cannot buzz down to a clipper #4, I had an FUT procedure...