hairweare

Weave? I would not be concerned about the actual number of grafts now. That will be determined by an on site scalp evaluation and your individual hair characteristics.

Having had both types of procedures myself, I would only consider FUE if I had to do it all over again. Choosing the right physician to me is the more challenging question. Dr. Vories has posted some very impressive results recently and has adopted the techniques of Dr. Lorenzo. That his fees are also reasonable and competitive with that of NA FUSS makes him a compelling consideration. Of course Europe, Turkey or India offer other options but obviously add more considerations as well.

I suspected that FUE surgeons with extensive case load experience would not elect to stage procedures by intent if that issue prevailed. Thanks for your input. It will be interesting to hear the details of the new technique that Blake will be soon presenting. Hopefully it will be a real breakthrough that truly improves FUE rather than just another marketing strategy.

Dr. Vories, It has been posted here on the forum from a physician with some FUE experience that subcutaneous scarring resulting from the primary FUE procedure will compromise subsequent procedures by making extraction more difficult with a significantly higher transection rate resulting in a lower yield and a graft of poorer quality. In your vast experience performing FUE do you agree with this observation and do you recognize this as a FUE barrier that will need to be addressed by further refinement of the current state of the art techniques?

A better way to approach hair loss is to recognize that it will likely be a progressive process for the rest of your life. Trust me you will still care about your looks at age 40, 50, and 60 etc. It is more realistic to envision yourself with a "mature" hairline of a man in his 30's and try to devise a plan that will preserve that look for as long as possible using both surgery and meds. At your stage, you may find a doctor willing to lower you hairline back to where you were a teenager, but you may up ending looking like a freak when you hit your 40's.

As a general principle, getting a hair transplant at age 26 with the goal of achieving the look when you were 22 is not a very good idea.

It does appear that your temporal donor zones were aggressively harvested. I would reconsider finasteride even if it takes a lower dose in order to tolerate it. Yes, even at your age hair loss will likely be progressive. It is not unusual for one to experience stabilization for a few years before the process starts to accelerate again.

"Weave, {sic} While we both know a controlled study doesn't exist, the general principles behind wound healing -- which I outlined above -- are very basic and clear. " Blake, nice statement but a total non sequitur. Again prolific FUE physicians such as Lorenzo do staged procedures by intent so obviously scarring of the donor region is not a deterrent. I think we will just leave it at that. No, I don't believe you have debunked the economic argument. The market is what it is and few patients will line up to pay NA physicians 7-10USD a graft for FUE when far cheaper alternatives exist for the ROW. At 3-4USD it is too labor intensive to convince a busy doc with a well earned FUSS reputation to lay down his scalpel for a punch. Let's face reality the vast majority of FUE clinics are indeed tech mills. Lorenzo is an exception due to his immortal stamina and speed i.e., "the robot". Vories is a lone ranger and can't possibly be pulling in the same revenue a busy strip clinic with their cadre of techs with microscopes and forceps working on multiple cases. Besides, we all know that these lone operators will all soon either burn out or succumb to their hand/wrist disability. The future will be either robotic( apparently not with the current two prototypes) or Erdogan style tech mills if the medical boards ever allow it.

Whatever scent appeals to you

As Blake has stated there is no scientific evidence that this has a negative effect on subsequent volume of extractions or ultimate yield. One must then go on the experience of those that do a lot of these staged procedures. Blake says he notices a difference, a Turkish doctor on a recent case presentation stated that he could only extract around 1500 grafts due to poor scalp characteristics. Lorenzo who has more case experience obviously than the two combined, eschews FOX testing, Acell, and is not only unconcerned about staged procedures in my case and others here performs it by intent. He was a thoracic surgeon and in all probability started out his HT career doing strips. He knows how to use a scalpel but has elected not to. I was afraid that few if any of the 300 beard grafts would grow in my fibrotic barren FUSS scar but all did but that is of course a different topic. I am afraid that is the best answer you are going to get because there will not be a controlled clinical trial any time soon. If I am right and I believe that I am, FUSS is heading for the dust bin of medical history. The reasons for the lag in NA is economic not concern about subcutaneous scar tissue.

Expensive snake oil unfortunately. Consider Liggetts bar shampoo, no SLS or chemical detergents. Just pure ingredients that you can pronounce and essentials oils. Cheap and lasts a long time. Since it is a solid no TSA issues with having it in your carry on bag.

I am not buying into the scar tissue limitation issue. Yes all wounds result in a scar but the ones created by .8mm sharp punches are negligible. I meant to ask Dr. Lorenzo how many cases he has punted on because he was unable to extract. My guess is that even though he is quite familiar with scalpels, it has been a while since he last used one. On my second procedure he actually went much faster probably because instead of being a single case like the first one in Manchester, he had 2 others going on at the same time in Madrid. Both procedures were associated with rapid healing, minimal shedding and early and sustained growth. No Acell, no "special" post op spray other than saline. Perhaps I am just a good healer as long as I am not having a 20cm long full thickness skin chunk removed from the back of my head.

Picture two looks like a normal young man with a short haircut. Picture one looks like a bald guy with hair painted on with a spray gun. I don't believe that you need another HT, just my opinion I could be wrong.

I was more self-conscious with the hat so I ditched it at the hotel. Then again my recipient area was not shaved for either procedure. No stares for the 19 hour journey home even at the Sky Club Lounge

Imo, you look much better without product. My suggestion would be to grow the front and top out to 1.5 to 2 inches and have a good stylist "graduate" the sides and back. Use that term, they will know what you are asking for. A good haircut is a lot cheaper than another HT!

It is an unconscious reaction to something that looks askew. This was the only honest statement that came out of an old Bosley informercial.

I don't know much about the Texas Medical Board but in the states where I have practiced allowing unlicensed technicians to perform surgery while the doc looks in for an hour would not go over too well. A HT is an actual surgery and despite what the Neograft ads try to project, can be like any other surgery associated with complications and poor outcomes. Websites such as this one can be very educational and helpful to patients but are much more useful prior to one's procedure rather than after when it comes to avoiding situations such as yours.

He appears to be a general plastic surgeon. How many HTs has he done and how long has he been doing them? There are two patient before and after pictures on his site. Do you know for sure that those were his actual patients? Did you see or talk to any of his former patients prior to your decision to choose this particular surgeon? Pictures would of course be helpful, but at 5.5 months you should see some impact on your hairline after receiving 2000 grafts.

I am less optimistic after learning that this was a Neograft procedure and viewing the large number of what appeared to be desiccated grafts that you shed soon after the procedure. In contrast, following my two FUE procedures I saw no hairs fall out and the majority of grafts continued to grow from post op day one. At 5.5 nearly all grafts had broken through and a significant number had already grown longer with thickened shafts. I am afraid that you are dealing with another disappointing Neograft procedure which I don't believe any of the recommended docs on this site still utilize.

I can see his concern, but no way would I subject myself to another strip procedure in order to achieve a desirable refinement.

I still have my reservations about 5000k mega-sessions. Hopefully you will see improved density over the next several months. I think 1500 grafts/day might be easier on both the patient and operator and smaller sessions allow time for the the donor area to recover and to be reassessed prior to a follow up procedure. From the side picture your temporal zone already appears depleted. I would have expected better coverage for your hairline and frontal zone after such a large procedure but again it still could be early for you and the situation may be change for the better in another few months.

Did they examine your head with the scope to detect miniaturization? I had one FUSS too many which yielded only 800 worthless grafts placed in my crown which would later thin, and need for 300 beard FUE to obscure the resultant widened scar. I subsequently was able to get 3400 more grafts via FUE after an esteemed strip doc told me he could extract only another 500 at best and recommended SMP instead. Many HT patient end up only believing in what they want to hear. Perhaps that explains why there are so many posts about repairs on this site.

You can still lose more. I was stable in my 40's but mid 50's went from a NW6 to a 7. Why do you want a strip? Go with FUE and If you wish to stay within the US contact Dr. Vories or otherwise plan on a mini vacation overseas. The pain, numbness, tightness and chance of a wide scar is not worth 1600 grafts!

For some reason I am not seeing any pictures

The best surgeon is the one who did your operation. Why would you knowingly choose one who was inferior?