Blake Bloxham

Ian, Beautiful head of hair! You've made many-a-member jealous. I can tell you that much! I highly doubt anything is happening. It's normal to lose 50 - 150 hairs a day. If you use hair products or wash every few days, these tend to accumulate and shed in larger amounts when the hair is manipulated. It sounds like this is what's happening here. However, the earlier advice is solid gold: see your primary care physician -- especially if they have derm experience -- or a dermatologist and undergo an examination of the scalp. Keep us updated! Let me know if there is anything else I can do to help.

Hi Mick, Thanks for sharing. At 7 months, you still have time to grow and mature. What do you think of the results so far?

If this whole HT thing doesn't work out, I think we have a future as YouTube "celebrities" ; )

London, So glad to hear you like the offer! Dr Feller and I discussed it at the office yesterday, and really hoped you would! Look forward to reviewing the images.

Sparky, Sorry to hear about this! What's your next move? Let me know if there is anything I -- or any other mod -- can do to help.

So it is the 6 vs 8 month thing? Okay.

I've read them a few times and I think I'm missing the controversy? I'm not trying to be coy, I think I'm just missing something. Is this issue that he said 8 months in one post and then 6 months in another?

London, I'm not trying to be pedantic. I'm legitimately confused. I don't get what happened?

London, I'm confused, what question was left unanswered?

Mick, That is NY law specifically. There are MULTIPLE states where techs can do everything. I've told scar multiple times that any doctor could easily open a technician FUE clinic in one of these states, but it isn't done. What's more, most doctors aren't aware of the state laws or don't seem to care. Think about how certain FUE machine companies will send their "trained technicians" do to procedures wherever you put the machine -- after it's purchased. I've never seen anything about "state specific" on their websites.

Manual.

+1 about the technician in the US argument. I've been saying this for months, but it was mainly ignored. The argument that FUE isn't as popular or pricing structures are different in the US opposed to Europe/Turkey because of technician involvement is a farce. Maybe Dr Feller's statement will finally refute this point.

Maybe the tactics the FUE clinics are using just aren't as obvious. Keep an eye out for an announcement.

KO, Yeah, I don't think he or Dr E do strip. Like I said, I don't think they could because they don't use physicians for extracting donor tissue. However, I still think the "few beer" scenario I referenced above is valid.

Keyser, I didn't know you underwent FUE with that clinic. Matt, That's crazy if a few of these "FUE only" guys offer strip still in certain circumstances, Regardless, I agree with the spirit of what you're saying. I think if you got a few beers in these guys and really pressed them, they would tell you that pound-for-pound you're going to get the biggest "WOW" with strip.This is a similar scenario in which the "75%" number was thrown out by the FUE-only guy I mentioned before. Are there FUE surgeons who churn out good results? Absolutely. Are there some that do it more than others? Absolutely. Do I think these guys use some gimmicks when presenting these cases. AB-SO-LUTELY. It's also interesting in a scenario like Dr E or Dr L above that in their current model, these guys would have a tough time consistently doing strip cases because they use technician extraction (IE technician FUE). I also think the bias coming from clinics with only the capability to offer FUE is always -- obviously -- going to be very strong. Altogether, I'm most impressed by clinics who are great at both and offer both when appropriate. This is what I really want to strive for when I'm in practice full-time here pretty soon. Being able to offer those huge "WOW" H&W-esque cases on a Monday, then Tuesday sit down, focus, and do a seamless FUE case -- though I will be pursuing this, for the near future, via our mFUE technique. I think these are the types of clinics that really nail it.

Bogger, No harm, no foul! You should be able to edit it. If not, let me know and I can clean it up.

Sean, It might be because it was edited by a mod -- me -- or because I did it within a certain time. However, I usually get the time stamp when I edit my own posts as well. Not really sure! I get what you're saying, but I think Joe's point in the paragraph I quoted was more about entry into the field being very easy and this driving down prices and leading to less than quality work. As I recall, Dr K has said similar things in the past.

Joe, Again, thanks for the write up. Another thing I'm curious about: in one of your earlier posts, you talked about seeing a lot of "bad/obvious" hair transplant procedures on waiters in a restaurant. "Dr. K told me that it is very common to get a hair transplant in Turkey. The price is set so low that the everyday man can have one but because it is so cheap it is commoditzed in that not only can everyone get one, everyone can offer one. I spent half the evening looking at the hairlines of ten waiters on our side of the restaurant because half of them, five, had hair transplants that I could easily pick out. When was the last time any of you reading this saw five hair translants in one restaurant, much less where they were on the heads of wait staff? " I know that cost is a big driving factor for many traveling to Turkey, but aside from reviewing Dr K's work, are you going to get the chance to discuss the overall hair transplant culture in Turkey? It sounds like not all clinics are quite up to par with Dr K. He himself has commented about the problems with many of these clinics, and I'm wondering if issues like this and technican FUE in Turkey will be addressed in future videos?I want to make sure our members understand the comment in your last post about cost and don't end up like the waiters!

Wwizz, That's a valid point. However -- and I don't want to speak for him too much here -- Dr. Lindsey is actually one of the most consistent when it comes to showing images of his strip scars and closure techniques. I think it's his background in facial plastics. He has a lot of videos and images of open wounds, closure techniques, and healed scars. He even rates his scars and talks about his "good" and "bad" ones! Haha. I'm sure he'll be more than happy to show a few.

Bogger, How did mFUE get pulled into the mix here? Haha. Honestly, the mFUE discussion became bigger than we ever thought it would. Like I said before, we were expecting the announcement to be a "teaser;" something for members to read, say "cool," and then keep somewhere in the back of their mind until we were all set to present lots of cases like we would with traditional or strip results. However, it kind of took on a life of it's own and ended up being pulled in to a lot of these debates. Frankly, I'm flatted by it. Clearly the interest is there, and I've recieved some very nice feedback on the technique. Again, we will be seeing a lot more of it in the future.

Swoop, I wish I had access to the 2015 data! I'm not that cool. Haha. I understand what you're saying when comparing the "top to the top." I also agree that there will be a BIG variation between middle of the road FUE guys versus middle of the road strip guys. However, I do think the average numbers are a little off. I've still never seen any data showing the "top" guys achieve 90% yield. Especially not as an average. I actually heard quite a shocking figure from a very well known FUE-only guy -- 75% -- but I think it's probably somewhere between 75-80% on average, with good yield being in the low 80s. Now, here's the important part: how big of a difference that makes in the long run. Some people will say 95%+ compared to 80%+ won't matter in the end. I disagree. I also think it's inevitable that patients will want a less invasive approach. This is true for any type of medical/surgical procedure. However, if you look, historically, at surgical procedures that started off invasive and then a less invasive approach was designed and pushed as a complete take-over of the prior procedure, there often tends to be too many patients pushed into the less invasive, an outcry from the surgeons, and then a equilibrium. If you look at laproscopic versus open abdominal surgeries, transvaginal versus abdominal hysterectomies, roux-en-y gastric bypass (full bypass) versus the gastric sleeve, et cetera, there has always been this pattern: start off more invasive, someone designs a less invasive technique and recommends it to all, everyone does the less invasive for a while, studies come out and surgeons advocate for different things, and we find a balance where both exist and both are offered to the RIGHT patients because NO TWO patients are the same. Now -- and thank you for the kind words -- marrying the two worlds is something a bit more rare. And, frankly, I think it's what we've done with mFUE. I do believe there will still be a role for strip and some patients will still want traditional FUE, but I really see mFUE as a coda for this whole debate. I'm very excited to keep pushing it forward!

Wwizz, How is this not educational? Keep in mind that learning means reviewing all sides of a situation. There are a lot of variables involved here and a doctor explaining something that isn't frequently said or goes against popular opinion is actually highly educational. There needs to be a balance. Hearing that all patients can go to these magical locations in Europe and obtain 5,000 FUE grafts with 100% yield and pay 0.5 Euros per graft isn't educational. It's misleading. Hearing that all patients should undergo strip no matter what isn't educational either. There must be a balance. I think that's what Dr Lindsey was trying to do here. What's more, there needs to be less emotion connected to the learning process here. It's very strage to me that any patient who has undergone FUE or thinks FUE is superior based on their research online feels offended when someone discusses some of it's pitfalls. Furthermore, if we're going to speculate as to why "European" doctors aren't here commenting, it's just as valid to say it's because they don't have a rebuttal or to the arguments. See what I mean? All speculation.

H&W should start ripping off really bad results and post them on their website. Fight fire with fire!! ; )

Hahaha. Love it!

Scar, 2 points: 1) The strip scar should never be visible because of increased thinning. If a patient thins and the scar shows, one of two things happened: a) the strip was taken too high or b) the patient is a diffuse thinner -- DUPA, DPA, AA, etc -- and was never a candidate for surgery in the first place. This means the grafts thinned as well and the patient never should have been taken on by ANYONE. 2) Your description above is actually a perfect picture of my whole mantra: the right procedure for the right patient. You describe two difference scenarios: one patient who wants a "bucket full of hair," big transformation, and to move on with life, and another who isn't as certain, wants diffuse, sparse coverage, and isn't opposed to shaving down if they don't like the look in the end. This is a beautiful example of one patient who is suited for strip and another who is suited for an FUE approach. It's funny too because there really is a division between these types of patients, and you can tell almost immediately. I frequently read emails/private messages from members/patients asking for advice and they general start off one of two ways: 1) "I've been bald since X and I'm sick of it. I want hair back in the front;" 2) "I've been concerned about my thinning for a few years, but didn't look into hair transplant surgery because I can't have a scar in the back of my head because I frequently wear my hair short." Notice the difference: patient 1: "I want my hair back in the front;" patient 2: "I don't want a scar." These are clearly two different patients with different goals who are better suited for two different approaches. Patient 2 shouldn't undergo 5,000 grafts via a huge strip because it sounds like he's very hesitant and content to just shave down. He can play around with FUE for a while -- and will probably not be satisfied with the results regardless of how good/poor they are, and end up shaving down in the end. In the same sense, why should patient 1 mess around with 3-5 procedures over 3-5 years, potentially risk 20% of his grafts, and end up with hair that's more "wiry/kinky?" This guy has no intention of shaving his head and is more than willing to undergo strips until he's satisfied. Right procedure for the right patient. Both procedures existing in harmony. It's beautiful ; ) PS: I think he was trying to discuss the role of mFUE in patients who are stripped out/have tough scalps. Any patient who is a candidate for FUE -- like I discribed above -- is a candidate for mFUE.