win200

I haven't had time to upload them yet, but I think you saw some on a different thread this morning that LeftyGolfer uploaded. (His are better than mine, anyway.) Let me know if you didn't see his!

Thanks! I went FUT for a few reasons. First, I already had a scar. I could have done FUE and just dropped some grafts in the old scar to cover, but already having the gash made the choice easier. Second, I never wanted to question graft yield if the growth wasn't flawless. I know that lots of surgeons, Rahal included, get excellent FUE yields. But as it's been pointed out, FUE yields CAN ONLY be lower than FUT yields. I don't want an FUE result that left me wondering "what if." Third, cost. I know we don't make decisions for surgery based on cost, but I could afford to go to one of the very best surgeons on Earth and get a transplant with the "gold standard" method--FUT. I couldn't afford the same number of grafts via FUE. So it just reinforced my already-made decision to go for a longer FUT scar. Fourth, I can mask the scar later. Once the scar is matured, i.e., about a year, I can have some FUE grafts dropped into it to diffuse the scar. This isn't a magic wand that makes the scar disappear, but can dramatically reduce the scar's appear and allow me to wear my hair shorter. Frankly, I don't know why more folks don't do this. It doesn't require that many grafts, so the fees aren't bad. Plenty of surgeons have posted great scar camouflage results with FUE (Drs. Lindsey and Feller come to mind, and there are many others). That lets me have my cake and eat it too, to a certain extent.

Nah, totally uneventful. Still some redness, still uneven graft shedding, so I feel pretty stupid. I just own it at this point, though, and I'm living life normally. Six months from now it'll all be in the rearview. If a little bit of anxiousness about my scalp is the worst thing I've got going in my life, I'm doing pretty good.

Yeah, I'm with Zeo. Odds that it'll hurt anything? Super slim. But if you don't get a knockout result, will it always nag at you? Yeah, absolutely. Do everything right and you'll never wonder "what if."

I agree with esrec that the forum should not have to exhort a clinic to engage in the practices that will secure the best results for patients. I'll look forward to receiving the clinic's response, but the fact that they could not or would not resolve the issue without the threat discontinuation of their recommendation seriously questions whether their ethics and professional responsibility are up to this forum's appropriately high standards. I also think some explanation is owed for the highly suspect marketing practices, as well. Thanks, Bill, for taking this issue so seriously.

Bill - Actually, for many users, the pictures are uploading in a different orientation then on their computer. Mine are all vertically oriented on my MacBook, but display horizontally when uploaded. It's very strange. Also, the guesthouse is connected to Dr. Rahal's clinic. It's about fifty feet away from the clinic's front door. It was built at the same time as the new clinic and is maintained and operated by the clinic as well. The rates are roughly $100 CDN per night, which is extremely reasonable for what's provided. I have a hunch that the fee simply covers costs but is not a profit center. There are breakfast foods stocked in the fridge as well.

I really applaud Dr. Lindsey for being so forthright about how NeoGraft is being pushed on unqualified docs. I've talked to numerous guys who think there is some inherent value to NeoGraft--as if the technology magically provides the best results. One person I know SOUGHT OUT a NeoGraft procedure just because he believed it was the cutting edge. Their branding has been so effective that lots of consumers think that NeoGraft is its own unique type of procedure rather than just a graft excision tool for FUE. Same goes for ARTAS, but probably to a lesser extent.

Were any of the previous grafts excised and divided? It looks like there were old-school plugs used in his last procedure.

Let me see if I can find my pics of my bedroom. There are five total, of varying sizes. All have a bed, motorized leather recliner for sleeping upright, mini fridge, dresser, and bathroom with bathtub/shower. Honestly, though, I spent almost all of my waking time in the common area with the other guys chatting and watching movies. Ottawa is pretty this time of year and we took plenty of walks to Starbucks. It was really relaxing, actually. There's also a dining nook in the common area where I set up my laptop and worked during the day.

I always have the same problem uploading pics.

Wow--you've got a lot of grafts hanging on even after a month.

Isn't it awesome? Honestly, the four days I stuck around post-op were some of the most relaxing I've had in awhile. Bizarre to think that I enjoyed hanging out in Ottawa after surgery. Upload pics!

I think the result is fine; it's just a lot of grafts for that area. I'd really like to see a comb-through video, and an "after" wet hair pic to match the wet "before" one. With the hair that long, it's tough to see how dramatically things have improved. Hair in the crown can swirl around really easily to create a false impression of coverage.

Ditto what Garageland said. The meds can cause some initial shedding. Also, the crown is the area where the meds tend to be MOST effective, so it would be highly, highly unusual to see actual, permanent thinning AFTER getting on finasteride. Just ride it out and you'll be glad you did. Good luck!

A 22 -year-old that plans on dropping finasteride sometime in the reasonable future should probably not be getting a hair transplant. If your loss is far along enough at 22 that you're considering a transplant, the possibility of significant future loss is very high. I agree that there are circumstances where a transplant on such a young candidate is reasonable, but I'm generally against it if there aren't meds involved.

Nice results. Not a surgeon I've heard much about, but he did an good job on you.

Great job, and excellent scar. I don't think his first one was bad at all, but you managed to improve it!

Another vote for Lupanzula. I've followed him for a bit and he's really impressive. Underrated and overlooked. Consult with him for sure.

You have a lot of research left to do. The ARTAS is controversial, and I think most folks on here would agree that it is NOT the best FUE option. I'm an FUT patient myself, but I would never let a surgeon use the ARTAS robot on me. I've spoken to more than one FUE surgeon that has tried it and discarded it after finding its graft yield to be inadequate. The first order of business is to decide whether you want FUT or FUE. If you don't plan on cutting your hair very close and don't mind the linear scar, I highly suggest FUT. The graft yields are better and you'll save quite a bit. The top surgeons lists look quite different for FUT and FUE.

Definitely a whorl. I've got the same thing. The hair splays in a bunch of different directions and shows some scalp. Hasn't budged in a decade. You're fine.

And David, obviously my post above was directed at Sharkman, not you.

And it amazes me even more that some people don't understand the basic fact that the Constitution only restricts GOVERNMENT suppression of speech. It has absolutely no bearing on speech regulation between private individuals--such as an online forum. The moderators can boot your ass for saying "Hi" if they want to. A restaurant can remove you for raising your voice. None of this has any relation to the Constitution. Didn't you people take high school civics?!

I think that's a really fair assessment. Surgeons are up against a patient's physiology; some patients get great yields, and some don't. There are scalps that even the best surgeons couldn't transplant a great-looking result into. I think the thing that counts the most is the CONSISTENCY and average result over time. All things being equal, are a surgeon's results mediocre more often than not? Do they consistently produce "home run" results? I think in those regards, Rahal is among the best. He routinely produces knockout results, his average work is very strong, and his misses are relatively few--and are very, very rarely egregious. I'm biased, of course, given that I entrusted him with my scalp, but I'm not even three weeks out from my procedure, so I don't know whether I'm happy yet or not.

I just want to forcefully rebut this based on my own, recent experience. I scheduled and paid for a 2,000 graft procedure. My final graft count, though, was 2,123, and the graft differential was complimentary. All good clinics SHOULD count grafts--and not only the grafts, but the hairs per graft--and provide the patient with a tally of how many grafts and hairs were implanted. Accusing a clinic of simply throwing away grafts because the count was above and beyond what the patient paid for is one of the most serious accusations that could be leveled against a clinic. Dr. Rahal is not perfect, and he has his disappointed patients like anyone else, but it is unimaginable that a surgeon of his caliber and reputation would do something like that. He certainly did not throw away my extra grafts.

Based on the post-op pic, that looks like 3,000 grafts. Apparently the growth was exceedingly poor.