Melvin- Admin

How would you rate Dr. Umar? I'm seriously considering going to him for my 3rd procedure, but from what I've researched he's mainly known for his work on repairs.

Yea crown coverage is a pain, but the good thing is you only need enough so that you could use toppik, however frontal loss looks more obvious than crown concealment, also you can grow in to crown hairloss but you never grow in to not having a hairline.

Hell hath no fury like a dissatisfied HT patient. But seriously this is shady as hell, but I honestly don't think Dr. Doganay is the only one doing this, the industry is shady as a whole if you investigated a bit deeper I'm sure you'd uncover a whole bunch of other physicians. When I first started researching HT's back in 05-06 I remember hearing that you run a high risk going to a physician that isn't IAHRS, but really what goes on to being IAHRS? A membership fee if you're looking for ethics paleo I'm afraid you're looking in the wrong industry sadly.

Here's my thread, I'm a Norwood 6 average to below average donor density, my hair characteristics are fairly good though. Check out my profile too, you can see what I looked like before any procedures. I've had two FUE procedures totaling 3,900 grafts and I'm 3 months post op from my second procedure. http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/180319-3-900-grafts-norwood-6-7-dr-diep-dr-behnam.html

He has the right attitude, and his experiments are invaluable, this video further solidified my belief in minoxidil, it may not remove DHT from your body, but it maintains the hair you have even if it doesn't regrow your hair, this video provides proof. That's why if you don't take finasteride you should at least take minoxidil cause it's proven to work and it's definitely better than nothing.

Minoxidil has dramatically slowed down my hairloss, lipogaine is they minoxidil I use I find it had the best formula and carrier, people discount minoxidil as being useless, but it works, here's a video to show you how much it works, the guy in the video was under the belief that minoxidil was not working cause he was still losing hair, as soon as he stopped he literally lost all of the hair the minoxidil was maintaining within 6 months

You still have a lot of hair, I think the only guys not taking meds whilst getting a transplant are Norwood5, 6 and 7 guys who don't have much to preserve, what type minoxidil did you take? I switched from rogaine to lipogaine 2 years ago and my shedding stopped, I've pretty much maintained my same hair for the past two years, the carrier is important in minoxidil, that's why cheap generic Costco minoxidil is not as good. Being young, no hairloss stabilization and an aggressive hairline is a recipe for disaster in my opinion. Try ketocanzole shampoo and lipogaine, you can try fin at 0.5mg a day to see if you get sides if you do try every other day. its understandable if you don't want to take fin but at least minoxidil and keto shampoo.

Did you make a thread? I'd love to see your pics, I'm still up on the air with who I'll go with to do body hair, I'm considering Dr. Umar since he's 45 min from my home and known for BHT, who did your procedure? Thanks romp, its been improving slowly but steadily,yea the crown doesn't bug me as much, it's hanging in there with the lipogaine, hasn't changed since early 2013, I'm thinking of doing some smp to the crown to lessen the contrast, since I still got some hair there it might not look too bad, then maybe do some beard grafts just to add coverage. The first two months were hell though, got hit hard with shock loss, finally starting to look like I did before.

Here's my 3 month follow up, not much to report, my shockloss subsided, so i'm almost looking like i did before my surgery, I have tiny peach fuzz hairs growing in that I can see, but still got a long time to go. I got two pictures of the hairline one away from the light and one directly in to the light, I got two overhead shots, one with hair putty (non concealer) and the other with dry hair, I also took a pic of my crown and donor area, nothings been done to the crown but it hasn't changed much for the past 3 years not sure if my donor can withstand anymore grafts, I'm hopeful I can get another 1,000 but it may be pushing it.

He said in the video that the difference in his FUT and FUE is 5-10% which sounds pretty normal, he also said that his FUE growth is usually better than most surgeons FUT a bold claim. But I think there are skilled surgeons who's difference may be even less like 3%, also another thing to consider is how much of a visual impact would 5-10% make on te overall result, i don't think there would be much of an impact if one at all. There were many surgeons here claiming the difference in yield was 20-30% a much bigger gap.

some of these after photos of the donor area appear to look fuller and denser after surgery, is there any reason for that? Was it finasteride or just lighting?

Paleo you're standing under direct light in the last picture you posted, it also looks like your hair was pushed up like maybe you were wearing a hat that flattened it, there will always be things that bother you or don't look good with a hair transplant, for example guys who get FUT hate to go swimming because the scar shows or on a windy day, but for the most part the scar is concealed, the same with you, your donor area doesn't look that bad, as someone already posted your beard hair looks thick, you can always use beard grafts worst comes to worst.

If it's not a zero guard it's very close too it, it's basically buzzed down, the pattern is not very good it could definitely be better, but to say it's very noticeable is a stretch, I highly doubt anyone would even ask you about the scars in day to day life, the picture you presented is with a very short cut on the sides and very close up. Again, I think it's your perspective mixed with buyers remorse, I have a similar pattern on the side of my head, no one has ever said anything to me it's not a big deal. How many people do you think examine your scalp that closely day to day? People only catch glimpses, the normal persons memory is not good, try this out, next time you order coffee with some one, wait 10 min after you're done and ask them to describe the person that sold them coffee, I bet you they'd have trouble, so you really think these little dots are going to be that noticeable to the average person or that they'll even remember? I just saw your second picture now I'm really baffled, what's wrong, the little tiny bit below your crown that's lighter? Your donor looks good and healthy. I will try and post pics later of depleted donor areas, yours is not one of them.

Wow I'm shocked at the extractions did Johnny get a refund, this is what's unsettling about traveling abroad for surgery.

Paleo I don't see anything wrong with your donor area, here your shaved down to a zero did you expect there to be no scars? I'd say that's descent scarring most definitely not bad. I'm tending to agree that perhaps you were not a good candidate, your expectations seem high for the level of baldness you have, the doctor is partially responsible in informing you that there is no surgery without scars, and that you may need additional surgeries and that possibly you'll never have a full head of hair, if I may ask what was your expectation? I'm also young not as young as you but still young, and frankly I'm good with at least enough hair to frame my face, I've planned out my surgeries so that they will look good not only now that I'm 30 but when I'm 40,50,60 etc. You seem hellbent on the fact that you'll never have enough grafts to make up for future loss, but assuming these grafts grow in at least 80% and you get another surgery at 2,000 grafts, you'll be at 3,500 grafts give or take, placed wisely that isn't a bad result, it's all about perspective and I think your perspective is definitely not fit for anyone looking in to hair restoration, hair restoration is most definitely not perfect and you'll never be not bald, it's not a cure it's merely a crafty illusion. But it's important to know you're not the only young guy who's gotten a hair transplant who didn't plan for future hairloss, there are ways to go about making the situation better, that's ultimately what surgery is all about, simply improving your situation, that's the way I view it.

Which physician did the evaluation? 2,000 grafts seems incredibly low, your donor area doesn't look completely obliterated, have you considered body hair? What about smp? You could always do smp to the scars and recipient area, hopefully you get descent growth for the hairline and I think you'll be okay, there are inidividuals in far worse situations than yourself, the fact that you're young and have a high Norwood pattern doesn't automatically disqualify you from hair restoration. I would also like to add that measuring your donor density a few months after surgery could be deceiving there is a real possibility you're experiencing shock loss.

There's a red flag to me, two 3,000 procedures and one 2,000 procedure that's 8,000 grafts, without him thoroughly inspecting your donor capacity and measure out the balding area to find out how many grafts are necessary, it doesn't sound like a well thought out plan. Never heard of this physician before, but for FUT why not consult hasson and Wong, or Shapiro, or konoir? How many doctors have you consulted with? What area do you live in? Dr. Gabel is reasonably priced and is in Oregon. Since you're Norwood 6 at a young age you need to be very smart and think out your plan very well prior to commiting to surgery.

I don't think 3,000 is a good idea with FUT either your donor doesn't look strong enough, they would have to take a considerable chunk from the back of your head in order to get 3,000 grafts then you risk the scar being visible because of the sparse density in the back. I don't want to sound negative, but I want to be honest with you, full coverage and good density is not likely in your case, you'll have to sacrifice one or the other, either get coverage to the whole scalp but the density will be low, or leave the crown bald and get good density from the hairline to midscalp. That's the route I would take if I were you, framing the face is the most important thing, as you get older a bald crown will be less important, you could always get some beard grafts to the crown just enough so that you could use toppik. Which Doctor are you considering? Are you on finasteride or minoxidil? Did he/she inspect your donor density? How many grafts did he/she say you have available to use? This information is necessary in order to have a proper game plan for you.

Currently you're a Norwood 6, but the pictures aren't really good, we need the top view, back view and both left and right side profile to really asses you, I will say that you're donor area looks a bit weak, you will have to be very smart with how you approach this surgery, I would say conservative is better right now, 3,000 grafts seems high especially if you're getting FUE, your donor doesn't look strong enough to take 3,000 grafts all at once, id say 1,800-2,000 to the hairline and midscalp, it's probably wise for you to start thinking of potentially using body hair as well, I know a lot of doctors on here mainly one very young FUT doctor says it's not a good idea, but in your case I think it will be necessary and something worth considering, there have been documented cases showing good success when mixed body hair with scalp grafts. What are you're expectations? What do you want out of this procedure?

Your bias for FUT is incredible, if this were an FUT Doctor you'd be shouting that it's only been 4 months to allow time, but since it's an FUE physician and procedure you're damning the procedure as a whole on one persons unfinished results. I prefer and try and help this guy out by looking at things from a better perspective rather than use his misery to push my pro FUT agenda, but that's just me.

No surprise to see you posting this Matt, you're probably rejoicing in your chair, first of all the result hasn't even been established not sure how that could be a "nail in the coffin" when you're basing the FUE procedure as a whole off of 4 months and one procedure, secondly, how do you know OP is ok with a scar from ear to ear for the rest of his life, thirdly, there is no guarantee in any surgical procedure, even the best FUT physicians have had poor results except with FUT you have a poor result plus a scar from ear to ear.

How many months post op are you with doganay? So many negative things have been said about Dr. Doganay lately it's completely changing my perception of him.

Paleo man, I know you're feeling terrible, you're questioning everything, but you're feeling bad about having a bad result when the results hasn't matured yet, I would urge you to try and keep your mind occupied with other things, all is not lost even if you have a bad result, it's not the end of the world, I know it feels that way but it's not, I would recommend waiting until 6 months then if you're not happy scheduling an in person consult with a physician so they could thoroughly examine your donor area and current hairloss, at that point you can set up a long term plan. Worst case scenario you lost 2,500 lifetime grafts, assuming your donor is strong, you probably have another 4,000 grafts that could be implanted in a way that wouldn't look bad in the years to come, look up Sam B on YouTube, he was Norwood 6 completely he's gotten 3,700 grafts and it looks pretty good All is not lost.

I think that's the best way to plan it, I don't think you'll be Norwood 7 Dr. Rassman states that the majority of Norwood 7 men have the pattern by age 26, is say you're prone to Norwood 6 but still best to plan for future hairloss just in case, 2,500 grafts to hairline mid scalp would make a big difference I wouldn't lower the hairline if only bring in the temples a bit.

You don't have to take finasteride, minoxidil works great for me, lipogaine to be exact, ever since I've been on it I rarely see hairs that are shed, I think you're a candidate for hair restoration, I also don't think you're doomed unless you take finasteride, I would take minoxidil for a year and see how you respond, you said your hairloss has been slow and gradual which is a good sign. The best thing to do is to be personally assessed by a hair restoration physician in person.