Toubey

Hi everyone So I've gotten further with my research and planning about a reverse hair transplant, so that I can go bald with some grace. I spoke with a local skincare clinic that does electrolysis, laser and ipl hair removal. They recommended me to have the grafts in my forehead removed with ipl (intense pulsating light) since it's supposedly the method with the least scarring, and also the least time-consuming method. The lead technician and owner has twenty years of experience, and seems decent enough. According to her between 6-10 follow-ups may be needed, but then the hair removal should be permanent.. What i've heard from other souces is different though, with some people saying that laser or ipl won't permanently remove transplanted hair, and that having them surgically removed is the best option.. I am just wondering whether anyone has actual experience with that? Wouldn't want to choose the wrong option again.. Secondly, i've considered the Crown Clinic in Manchester as the clinic for having hair inserted into my scar in the back of the head. Some reviews in here (there aren't too many of those by the way) however mention that it's not the main doctor doing it, but his assistants.. Seems like a red flag to me - won't you agree? Kind of like a money making machine, however I could be wrong.. Anyways, I was wondering what your thoughts are on that? Obviously a 3mm scar is less of a personal risk than a full HT, but would still be nice to hear from people with experience of surgery from that clinic.. Thanks a lot :).

@Gillenator: I have a very dense beard, so should be a lot there to take from .. :). Thanks for the recommendation of dr. Mamba..

Thanks for the answers guys, really appreciate it :). For J.A.C: My scar is actually looking pretty good, so no need to remove it. It's more the insertion of new grafts in the area that I am thinking of.. Digi123: Thanks a lot for your input. How many sessions over how long time did you have before you got rid of them, and has there been any significant scarring? Is it true, based on your experience, that the person doing needs to have specialized experience with HT patient as their case is different from other non-HT patients?

Hi JC, I do not remember the original number of grafts.. As for an FUT scar revision then yes; I believe that's what I mentioned above.. That I would have hair inserted into the scar area again.. Hopefully that will work.. Thanks for your input :).

Hello gentlemen Some years ago I had a hair transplant done which wasn't very successful. The doctor used an outdated FUT method with big plugs, and the whole thing ended up looking very unnatural. In addition to this, I was quite young when it was done, and at this point I am losing so much hair that a repair or a new HT seems unrealistic in the long run.. My father is already almost bald, and at one point I will be there too. So I have decided to have the process reversed. I feel relieved to have come to that conclusion, really. This time I am researching the issue more thoroughly. I am therefore aware of the basic options for a reverse HT, and have decided that either electrolysis or laser combined with inserting new plugs into the old scar might be the best solution for me. Electrolysis in particular seems to be recommended because of its potential for less scarring. I have noted though that it is important to find the right crew for the job, as reversing HTs with electrolysis requires a person who knows what they're doing. Apparantly it can lead to very ugly scarring if the person hits the plugs at the wrong angles.. I have some questions regarding mostly electrolysis though: Can anyone tell from personal experience how their procedure was, and whether it was all done in one go; or whether they had to return to the clinic multiple times before the procedure was finalized? I am a little confused over the fact that some sources say that 10-15 electrolysis procedures over 1-1.5 years are necessary, whereas other sources claim to have solved the problem with only one session (?). Anyways, eventually I will try and find the right clinics and doctors for this - including for inserting new plugs into the old scar. I will appreciate any sort of advice or input in this thread from you guys :). I have also attached some images of my hair, just so you know the basics of my situation.. PS: I am located in northern Europe, so probably won't go to visit US-based surgeons or clinics in case anyone will be advising this :).

Maybe I won't be popular with this comment, but if you're that young and already have lost that much hair, then I'm not sure an HT would work in the long run.. You are going to lose more hair, and eventually I doubt there would be enough hair left to make it look good.. Just something to consider..

If you are "only" 52 years old and most of the hair on the top of your head is already gone then I wouldn't advise you to do an HT.. Things would be different if you were just beginning to thin.. But at this point it might require too many surgeries to be worth it. Sometimes it's better to cut your losses - plus you already look good with a shaved head.. Go out and get dem girls, my friend :).

No, but it would be nice to avoid it, wouldn't it?

Elicochin: What is your age? Depending on your age I might not advise you to get an HT at all.. If you do decide to go for it though, then do all the research you can in advance, and only go to well-reputed docs. And please please stay away from an FUT..

Elicochin, I get what you mean - and I am very sad to hear about your wife.. Personally though, I don't think I would advise you to do an HT as you have so little donor hair left. - What happens if you need more surgeries down the line? A bald head suits you, man. And believe me when I say that women don't care about hair or no hair. - They care about their overall impression of a man, not small details like the hair.

I also lean towards skepticism here.. If you're only 35 years old and already losing much hair then chances are you will lose way more with time, and might have to do several surgeries in order for things to look okay - if it will ever look okay. Norwood 4 is pretty advanced hair loss for your age. Might be different if you were 55 but you're only 35..

Why would you want a HT in the first place? I'm not saying you shouldn't do it - but the relatively bald head looks pretty good on you, plus you don't have that much donor hair left..

What Melvin said. A hair transplant is a serious type of surgery, and some people end up regretting it. You already mention that your donor area is weak - how old are you? If you lose more hair and are still young then a HT might not be the best option for you. Also, there are some natural ways to retain one's hair. One method I've read about is to exercise your muscles in the back of the head - which will increase blood flow to the back of the head; which in turn will help retain your hair. This exercise you can't do with an FUT though, as it will widen the scar.

Be careful with Propecia. I experienced a serious loss of emotion and sexual potency when taking it. Those side effects lasted for three weeks even after I stopped taking it. I've read that some people are experiencing the same symptoms even years after having stopped taking the drug.

Thanks for all the replies everyone. To be honest I'm a bit (positively) overwhelmed by all the people responding. Lots of good people in here :). >>> MELVIN-MODERATOR It was a doctor in Greece who performed the original surgery. I still have donor hair left, but I'm not keen on doing more repairs/hair transplants as I am still fairly young and losing more hair - and as one look at my father's non-existing hair tells me that's a dead end.. Plus, I just don't want more hair transplants for some weird reason that I can't really explain.. Just the hairs inserted back into the scar in the back of the head, really. >>> CURIOUS Yes, that's also my thinking: Have some of the less obvious plugs removed and see how that works out.. Sounds interesting that you had some removed yourself - did you get any scarring? >>> ABI28 That is very exciting to hear! Makes me hopeful for the future :). Could you kindly inform which doctor did the procedure on you? If not here then in a PM. Thanks >>> JJSRADER Thanks for the tip about electrolysis. Actually it is the first time I encounter that, so will look into it..

>>> CURIOUS Thanks for the reply. Yes, that's also why I am considering.. From my research so far, it does seem possible to remove the large plugs by means of excision with a scalpel. Apparently it has been done before. I'm a pretty good healer, so I don't worry too much about any scars/pits, because everything has healed up pretty well from the original surgery. A doc even told me my scar in the back of the head was the nicest-looking one he had ever seen :).. I was just wondering if anyone had gone through something similar, and could give advice on it.. >>> SEAN No pits that I am aware of, my friend.. It's just that if I cut my hair down short it will look artificial with a wide rim of evenly placed hairs in the front and almost no hair on the rest of the top of the head. A bit like a highway of artificial hair.. ain't too keen on that :). It was a Greek doctor, in Greece who performed the horrible procedure.

Hi guys So I had a botched hair transplant some years ago. It's the classic story, really: I hadn't done my research well and fell for the trick of an inexpensive procedure which was carried out by a doctor who was only interested in my money rather than my results and well-being. He used an outdated FUT method with some rather large plugs and the whole thing looked awful. I quickly regretted it, and now I am losing more hair and given my relatively young age and considering how my father has almost no hair left I'd rather go for a reversal rather than more transplants down the road. I have no issue with going bald, really, - or trimming my hair down. It's just that the transplanted hairs would look quite out of place so I am interested in having them removed. Some sort of extraction/excision is what I am intuitively leaning towards.. Laser removal just doesn't "feel" right, but then again I could be mistaken. I didn't do my research well the first time, but intend to do it this time. So would like to hear if anyone in here has any experiences with this, and can give some advice? I did a search on the forums but threads about full reversals seem to be fairly rare. Obviously I am concerned about healing/pits etc, but I'm generally a good healer so I think that might be okay. I've uploaded some images of how the original procedure was, and how my hair looks now to give you some reference. Please note that I am using a natural hair enhancing pill (Priorin) which makes my hair look thicker than it otherwise would be. The hair was inserted in a round patch on the top of the head, and in a rim (1-2 cm wide) spanning the hairline at the front of the head as the images show. Looks increasingly artificial now that my hair is thinning. Any sort of suggestions from real-life people who went through it themselves, or know anyone who has, would be greatly appreciated!

It's still there, but as significantly as before. Has probably faded 50% or so.

Thanks for the advice and feedback guys. Appreciate it, especially those with personal experience. It's the same as I thought: The skin has become hypersensitive or similar. Or it could be due to the closure. I guess in any case the only thing I can do is to wait it out and see if it gets better. I had a friend take a close-up with a 36MP camera the other day. I can see now that the hairs indeed are coming out in odd way. Like the ends stick together. Not sure if the hairs are actually darker or thicker. But the hair I had transplanted is also darker and thicker so maybe I'm just extra sensitive to that kinda thing. Fortunately it's no longer visible when the hair grows to 1,2 cms or so. Bad thing is I'm losing hair fast and it may not be long before I'll need to buzz down. Would love to hear if you have extra input re the dark hair.

Hi I had a hair transplant and strip surgery about 8 months ago. For some reason the hair around the scar seems darker. The scar itself has healed fine and is 2 mm wide. It's only visible when the hair is short - typically when it's 1 cm or less. When the hair grows to more than that it visually normalizes. I've had some friends look at it. Some say it's due to the hair growing at an odd angle around the scar, which may explain why it stops when the hair is longer. Others say the hair itself looks darker. Anyone heard about this before, and know what I can expect? Have googled the phenomenon but can't find any others who have experienced it.

Swayze, you might wanna do some more research before you start training. I've read about doctors who warn about the squat exercise, as they believe all the weight on the shoulders pressing down on you can pull your skin down and widen your scar. They also warn about the chest press exercise and similar ones where the back of your head is under direct pressure. don't think there's any research out there to confirm it, but i've deleted the two from my training regimen

Haha, vulnerable well that depends on what you mean ;-). But it's true I haven't done much research in the HT area - so far. I know the massage stuff doesn't work. I have seen the massage exercises, massage combs and whatnot been advertised before. Hell for all I know you can probably buy a hair massage hairdryer complete with a sperm spray function. But Tom Hagerty's muscle exercise is different. It doesn't massage the scalp area but contracts the muscle. I haven't seen that one advertised before. And it is nearly impossible to sell it as it's a muscle exercise and therefore doesn't require you to buy anything (you just contract the muscles, and that's it). He even gives it away for free. And I'm not too sure that many people have tried it. I have been meditating and doing energy work for about a year now. I've told everyone about the great effects it has, but very few people seem to have the discipline to keep it up every day. Reckon it's the same with the exercise: Only very few people try it. And those that see success are probably just happy and get on with their lives, and don't spend time online writing about it. In any case, I'm gonna give it a try. And if it does work I hope I'll be one of those guys who actually comes back and write about it, so can pay back a bit on some of the help I've received in here.

Some people say you can widen your scar by doing too heavy bodybuilding. Haven't seen it backed up by any research though..

thanks guys, great to see that my "problems" here are all normal..

Thank you for your constructive message Widowspeak. Sadly, you are however right. I should have researched. And it still baffles me why I did not. Voipman, thanks for the reply. I did Propecia probably 8 years ago, and it killed my dick for some time. Have read about people who are still impotent 5 years after. Must admit I'm too scared of taking anything that alters your hormonal balance. I read about some people here and there who seem to have success with the scalp contraction, although it doesn't seem to be a miracle-worker. More like stopping shedding and increasing hair thickness instead of making it regrow. What makes you say it doesn't work, period?