mattj

Yes, this can be done. In fact it is in theory the best way of obtaining the maximum number of grafts from a donor area, but as of yet I haven't seen it done in practice.

Hi. At 4 months post op you are at the stage where you only have partial growth, and what has grown may be wiry and hard to manage. This isn't a pretty stage to be in. It's a waiting game at the moment. Keep us updated as the months roll by and things improve.

While strip is still the standard, and is likely to remain so, if your hairloss is as minor as you say it is then it might be below the level where you'd want to undergo a strip surgery. It will be easier to tell once you provide some photos. If you look around you'll see that the doctor you mentioned is not the only one creating the kind of results you're looking for.

To me, your wishes don't sound unrealistic. You understand that getting back your original density is not possible, but you want to re-frame your face by filling in the temples. Do you have any photos?

This photo before and after alleged surgery surfaced recently. His hair looks thicker and perhaps a little lower at the front in the before photo. Perhaps the result of a facelift?

I'm always amazed that female transplants seem to be consistently some of the most natural-looking of all. There must be something about female hair characteristics which causes this. Great work.

Slight correction: propecia and proscar are both brand names given to the original finasteride drug produced by pharmaceutical company Merck. There are generic finasteride products but they don't use either propecia or proscar brand names. These include Fincar, which is produced by Cipla. I use a generic finasteride produced by Pfizer. As Pfizer are themselves a large pharmaceuticals company I feel that I must be getting a quality product.

Me neither. Where's the evidence? I believe Clooney at one point shaved his hairline back, as hard as it might be to believe.

Looks good. Seems to stand up well to scrutiny when wet too. You're happy? I saw your hairloss history. The curse has been merciful considering that your hairloss started over 25 years ago.

There are numerous things that you have to consider before deciding to go ahead with a transplant, but I think the fineness of your hair is not something you need to be too concerned about. Your hair doesn't look especially thin from what I can tell. But hair transplants can be performed on patients with fine hair with very good results.

See here: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/156794-dr-ashcroft-supplies-uk-meds-his-new-info.html That's where I get mine. The generics he supplies now are actually made by Pfizer, so I didn't hesitate to choose them.

If I might be so bold as to add to what Adrian has said, Dr Rahal would never try and talk you into going through with anything that you were uncomfortable with, and would never place your hairline any lower than you want it to be.

Hopefully they won't get away with it.

I think people seeking information just like to see their questions answered by real people who are addressing them personally. It gives a certain degree of comfort and satisfaction.

If your pill cutter is the same as the one I started out with, I'm not surprised you're having trouble with it. I quickly moved on to scalpel blades. They have to be sharp and it's surprising how the tablets can dull the blade after a while, but it's easy to get four pieces with a sharp blade. I would barely be able to get two bites out of a fin tablet, let alone 4. :eek:

Hi Brows23. I'm glad Dr Devroye was able to help where the London clinic couldn't. It's a pity so many women over-pluck their eyebrows and then regret it. Did you have much say in where the hairs were placed? You could essentially design your own ideal eyebrows!

Your hair does look pretty darn thick overall. Have you noticed any thickening at the areas of concern since starting the finasteride? I think it's still possible to see some continued thickening at the crown after 6 months, and either way it doesn't really look bad enough to touch at this time. At the front I do see recession and although it doesn't look bad at all and shouldn't prevent you from enjoying the same social activities you've always enjoyed, I do understand that it will be distressing to a guy. If you were to get surgery I would concentrate on the front and really try an resist aiming for where your hairline might have been before the hairloss curse took hold. Is it possible to take some better photos? If you were to send some out to doctors it would help if they were a bit clearer and larger, and also it would help if your hair was brushed back.

I wouldn't like to guess at the exact numbers, but I'm sure a very large proportion of MPB sufferers use the generic medication with no problems. I'm sure by now that the online community would've noticed if generic finasteride was genuinely less effective.

A positive thing I can see is that your hair appears to be thick and wavy. If at some point in the future you do find yourself undergoing a transplant, this should work in your favour by providing good coverage with fewer grafts than if your hair were fine and straight. I know it's a clich? but have you considered buzzing your hair very short? It can be a shock to adjust to having a shaved head but the aesthetic effect is often superior to the balding look. When you say your hair is still falling out (after a year on propecia) are you saying that you've noticed your hair is continuing to thin, or that you're still seeing fallen hairs? If the latter then that isn't necessarily anything to worry about.

I feel that you're probably better off with the doctor who uses manual punches of a smaller size. I suspect I know which doctor this is, and I sent a PM hoping you can confirm this. Have you seen results from both doctors?

Hello all. Dr Rahal will be in New York City this coming Friday, July 9th, and will be available for consultations. If you're in this area and are interested in meeting the doctor, please let me know via private message. (This is the quickest contact route to Dr Rahal at the moment for bookings at short notice.) -- Matt.

Andrew, see this: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/156794-dr-ashcroft-supplies-uk-meds-his-new-info.html

I think that is rather unfair, ES. First of all, the grafts used for flatpro's transplant covered quite a large area of scalp. They were not all packed into the first couple of centimetres of hairline and the density is hardly extreme at around 50%. The hairline isn't even that low, starting above the backward sweep of the forehead. The temples are closed which isn't something unique to Dr Rahal's work. The number of grafts used to do this is relatively few. Secondly, I have seen no army of disgruntled patients - not patients of Dr Rahal nor any of the other top surgeons. I can only think of one clinic which is dealing with that sort of thing. And to say that only those four doctors you mentioned have their reputations intact strikes me as an atypical belief to say the least.

I'm not sure that the tiny increase in dosage could be the cause of the changes you've noticed, but it certainly can't be ruled out. With a sharp enough blade I think it would be possible to split each quarter piece in half again. I know blades can get surprisingly blunt after they've chopped enough proscar.

I doubt very much if you could be legally bound to not discuss your hair transplant at all. In some situations, forums like this might be the only places a patient can turn to, and nobody has the right to withhold the potentially valuable advice from you. To be safe, it's probably best not to say who your doctor was, but you can describe your situation. But of course I'm not a lawyer and I haven't read your contract. I'm just saying what seems reasonable. It would be prudent, though, to ensure that you have exhausted all avenues of assistance with the clinic who performed your transplant.