CaptainO

I can't believe it's been almost 10 years since my first FUT. I was 28, panicking and depressed at what was happening. I went into Dr Meshkin and received 1500 grafts to the front and mid section. Couple of years later at the age of 30, I went back for 1800 more grafts, this time I brought my cousin with me who also had 1800 grafts done. I again added 1500 grafts to the front and mid section and 300 to the crown area. I am now 37 and have been thinking of going back in for a 3rd and final procedure to replace the native hair I've lost since those two procedures and thicken my hairline. This time around I'm going for the FUE as I don't like the scaring the first two procedures left. I've researched Dr Carman in San Diego and may go with him. Anyone have any recommendations for Dr's in Socal? Oh and a funny story. Ive been a pilot since the age of 19. I now fly as a Captain for a major airline in the USA. About 6 years ago, after we landed and parked at the gate, I opened the cockpit door to say goodbye to the passengers as I usually do. As we waited for the gate agent to pull the jetbridge forward, my flight attendant greeted me and said she'd like to introduce me to Dr. Bosley who was sitting in the first row of first class. She said "he is the leading Hair Transplant Dr in the nation". By that point, I had already had my first or second procedure(I can't remember). I shook his hand and my first thought is he looks nothing like the guy on TV. Then he looks up at my head and says out loud, "You'd be a great candidate for a hair transplant". Immediately after, every passenger in the first 10 rows of the airplane looked at my head. Fun Times! :cool:

I had my first FUT at 28 with Dr Meshkin for 1500 grafts. It lasted about 2 years where more of my native hairs continued to fall out. At 30 I went in for another 1800. 1500 to my mid section to front hairline and 300 for the crown. I am now 37 and have been contemplating a final FUE procedure to solidify my frontal hairline. You need to rethink this realistically. You will need 2-3 procedures over the next 10 years to achieve the results you want.

Great results. Who was the Dr? Thanks

You're flight reminded me of when I got my first and second HT's. I am an airline captain so you could imagine the thoughts I was having. For my first HT, I made the mistake of going back to work 4 days after my procedure. Luckily, I could wear my captain hat while walking thru the terminal. We aren't subject to security checks so I avoided that whole thing. Secondly, an hour before I was to leave my house for my trip, I accidently scratched my head, forgetting I had the procedure done. My head started bleeding uncontrollably. After stopping the bleeding I went off to work. Big mistake. My second HT, I took 2 weeks off. Much much better. Unfortunately, I may have to go for a third HT. I've had about 3300 grafts thus far but still have thinning hair.

I had my first HT at the age of 29 in Jan of 2009 with Dr. Meschkin with 1800 grafts to give me a hairline and keep somewhat of an appearance of thinning hair. It looked good but after 8 months the remaining native hair continued to fall out. I couldn't take propecia because of the sexual side effects(read my previous posts about my experience with it, stay far far away from it). So this week I took the plunge and got my second HT with him and also convinced my cousin, very easily I might add, after he saw the great results the doc did with the first HT to do one as well. So we both went in the same day. He got 2300 grafts with plans to go in and do another 2000 in about a year, and I got another 2000, hopefully my last HT. This second one was to reinforce my hairline and add density. The experience, once again, was extremely professional, courteous, highly trained, and highly recommended. The dr is very down to earth, tells it like it is, and isn't afraid to give you the truth. He is really good at what he does. Since my first HT and posting it on here, I have had 3 other friends from the Orange County area go to him and they have had amazing results. Each patient with different needs and desires. The difference between the 1st and 2nd HT I would say is the 2nd time around I couldn't fall asleep so I had to hear a bit of the cutting and pasting. The nurses are pretty funny. Making jokes between each other puts you at ease. I did catch myself nodding off a couple of times and snoring but it woke me right up. lol. I know you guys want pictures but at the moment I'm in a rush to meet the gf for lunch. Just thought I'd give you guys a recommendation behind this dr and his amazing work. Hands down. Can't wait till this summer!!!

Dude, trust me, youre fine. I had 1800 grafts with Meschkin in 2009 and my second ones is next month. I plan on starting to run after 2 weeks and then light lifting 2 weeks after then back to normal 2 weeks after that. Thats what I did during my first HT and my scar is so small and undetectable that I can cut my hair shorter than I'd like to without anyone seeing the scar. Your in good hands with Meschkin, pun intended.

I have yet to see anyone mention the fact that the transplant does somewhat(not a lot) change the shape of your face. After all, you're taking away a good portion of your skin, pulling the remaining skin down, and stichting it together. If that procedure would of happened on the front of your face, it would be called a face lift. Does anyone else notice a difference? What is everyones thoughts on this?

Futbol, First off, you went to one of the best doctors around. He does a great job as described numerous times on these forums. I had my procedure done with him in Jan 2009 for 1800 grafts. Since then, I have had more hair fall out and have scheduled a 2nd session for another 2000 grafts. My recommendations to you are not to take so many pictures so close together in time. You won't be able to see much of a difference. Try to space them out to maybe every 8 weeks. Also, I would stop shaving your head as it makes the scare very visible and the point of the surgery less appealing. The goal for all of us is making our head look more appealing to others and by showing that scar off, I think it defeats the purpose of your goal. Now thats just my opinion which doesn't make it fact. I think you'll be quite pleased by your results in about 14 months. And when they say it takes up to 18 months to see the full effects, it really does.

I took Propecia for 5 years. It stopped all hair loss. During my 5th year of taking it, it virtually rendered my sex drive kaput. Literally, stopped in its tracks. I stopped taking propecia in 2007. I had my HT #1 in jan 2010. Never took propecia after the HT. I did continue to lose more hair, but with permanent damage done to my sex drive, I will NEVER take it again. I have HT # 2 scheduled for Sept 2011 It simply comes down to which you want more?

Sorry about the confusion. The two on the left are post op, the two on the right are pre-op. Post op is April 2010, the pre op is Nov 09. The hair that you see in the front of my head in the two pre op photos on the right is pretty much all gone. I know this because when my transplanted hair grew out, I had a good amount of thickness. It has since thinned out. I am very glad I had that first procedure when I did because had I not, I would be going from totally bald in the front to medium thickness which is very noticable. The way this scenario worked out in real life is such that no one really noticed anything. I'd really like to enjoy my summer so my plans are to wait until the end of August for the 2nd procedure. Does anyone think that 2500 grafts in the front to mid section is too much/low? I really don't want to revisit this frontal area again.

Sorry it took so long, but here are my results 14 months post op. I've suffered more loss from my hairline to mid area, so I am now planning another session with dr meshkin. Any suggestions on graft amounts? My initial procedure was 1800 grafts in the front to mid area. I am thinking of adding 2500 in the second procedure to mainly the front. 2 pictures of pre-op, 2 post op taken yesterday.

I had my first hair transplant procedure done with Dr. Meshkin in Newport Beach, CA in Jan 2010. I would consider hair loss in different phases or rates. Some are losing it slow over time, some medium, and others its falling faster than the market crash of 2000. Now that considerable time has passed and I can better evaluate my hair loss, I was losing hair at a very rapid pace during the period of 2008-2010. I had been taking propecia from 2001 to 2006. I stopped in 2006 when I noticed severe sexual side effects. Not only was an erection not possible, but there was no desire. I 100% feel that propecia has sever and permenant sexual side effects that are largely swept under the rug by its makers. Thats another story. At the time, I did not know how many grafts to go with and after doing research on here, decided 1800 would be a good number to start with. The procedure went very well, in fact, a lot better than I expected. I am a big wimp with needles and scalpels. I can honestly say I did not feel any pain. Mainly anxiety for the procedure, to which you are given medication to calm you down. If you'd like to read more on my post op just research my post at that time. This post is more about my decision to go for another procedure. I will be posting pictures of pre op and post op taken today. The pictures are indoors standing next to a window with moderate lighting. As you can see, had I not done the 1800 grafts, my front would probably be completely bald. These 1800 grafts, as it now turns out, are simply a crutch to cover up a semi large area of baldness. Hence why I am deciding to go for a 2nd procedure. I wanted to know what others thoughts are on the graft amount. I was thinking in the range of 2500 grafts this time. I would like this to be my last procedure. My initial reasons for not going with a larger amount on the first procedure was proper blood circulation in the implanted region and too many grafts per sq inch. Please ask any questions you may have and leave comments. I highly recommend Dr. Meshkin for a transplant procedure. He is very professional, knows what he is doing, and has a well established practice with lots of experience. From left to right: PIC 1,2,and 3 were pre-op. Pic 4 and 5 is today. PIC 6 is at night where there is no light.

Here are photos of my temple areas. Can anyone tell me why there are real dark spots? Are those ingrown hairs? Also, I'm at 3 months and one week and I see about 10-15 dark hairs growing per temple. Is this the start of the growth phase? Do others start growing at different times.....ie some won't grow until 4 months others 6? I had 1800 grafts, mostly in the front part of my head.

month 3 after

3 months after

more before

I had my transplant 3 months ago to the day. I began to see some growth at the two month mark but it seems like nothing has happened since. I was hoping to fill in the temple area. I see some thick hairs growing here and there in my temples but not anywhere near the thickness I though would grow. pictures 2 and 4 are from before, 16 and 17 is today.

I had my procedure done on Jan 19th with dr meshkin. I had consulted with him 3 times over a 1.5 year span. I am now 2 months post op and can't beleive I am already starting to see signs of growth. It is very encouraging. In this day and age, time is money. And for a dr to consult with a patient 3 times and answer all of my questions was great. I think all of the points these dr's make are excellent. I have two cousins that are brothers. One is a dentist who is 33 and was very disappointed by his ht in 2002. I have highly recommended dr meshkin to him and he is giving it heavy thought. The other is 25 and is considering it. Hope this helps.

I started taking Propecia at the age of 23. It completely stopped my hair loss. However, by the age of 27 I had completely lost the ability to get even a slight erection. I lost all desire for sex. It was so humiliating at age 27 to not be able to get it up. MAKE NO MISTAKE ABOUT IT, there is no other reason that a healthy, non smoking, non drug using man should lose all interest in sex. It was the DRUG. If you didn't experience it, its simply because your time has not come up yet. My true feeling is that everyone will face its side effect at one time or another. I have stopped taking propecia for 3 years now and have gotten back about 75% of my erection. However, I am not able to last more than 10 minutes at best. I used to be able to go for over an hour. It took about 1 year to get any feeling back in my penis. It took about another year to get some respectable size erection. I'm not in my third year of being off of it and my erections are acceptable, but my stamina has a way to go. I was taking propecia everyday for 4 years.

I just did mine on the 19th with Dr Meshkin. Nothing but good things to say. I honestly felt NO PAIN whatsoever during the procedure. Either I got lucky, or the Doc knows how to administer the anasthesia. I could hear the incisions but not feel them, then once he sutured me up, I was turned over and the hairs were put in. It was at that point that I fell asleep and started snoring. LOL. I am not kidding. Thats how relaxed I was. I am on day 3 and have very little pain.

SO after 1.5 years of debating, I finally took the plunge yesterday. I had 3 consultations over a 1.5 years period. He and his staff were very friendly. I initially needed about 1200 grafts, but during that time I stopped taking propecia and my loss increased dramatically. However, most of the loss has stopped and its just a few here and there. I think the effects of propecia have finally worn off as I have regained most of my sexual drive(thank god). So I figured it was time. My main worry was that the propecia was still masking some of the hair loss, but I figured it was complete since I started noticing only a few hairs in my hands when taking a shower. 1 year ago I would notice 50 hairs in my hand. This whole week it was surreal, I couldnt beleive I was actally going thru with it. However, what was nice was I pretty much accepted what had happened to my hair and figured the transplant would only keep it the same if not improve it. Life is a chance in anything. I started taking the medication 3 days prior as instructed and noticed very light dizziness/upset stomach. Really not a big deal. I went into the Dr's office that morning and his staff couldnt have been nicer. Very friendly, not pushy not all. I sat down on the chair and some standard stuff was done, photos, video of me verbal stating I desired the surgery, etc. All of this I considered very normal and acceptable. I then was hooked up to an IV, the doctor was very smooth with it, barely felt a pinch. Practice makes perfect I guess. He's been at this for 20 years and it shows. After the IV the front crown area was shaven down a little to help him planting the units. I was then turned around where he buzz cut the donor area. I was then layed down face first on the massage chair type of chair. They gave my the local anasthesia shots, very slight pinches. Not bad at all. I thought it would be worse. Very soon after that he started the incisions. I was very surprised how soon after the shots he began the incisions, but I could not feel a thing. And I'm as wimpy as they come. I could hear what was going on, but not feel it. Which was fine by me. I began to get drowsy as the medication started to sink in. Once he sutured me up, I was turned over where they began putting in the units. At this time I fell asleep. I was soooo happy that I did. I don't know if it was because of the drugs or I was just sleepy but either way, I fell asleep and awoke when they were finished. No pain at all when I woke up. I was feeling very woozy getting up so I know it was the drugs that put me out. Soon after it was done I was taped up and off I went. To be honest it wasn't much more than that. I wish I could write that it was this big ordeal, but it wasn't. Maybe I got lucky. I have a very good feeling that the results will be terrific. I highly recommend the Dr. thus far based on the surgery itself. The results will take 12-18 months to see. If you do a search, you will see my before pictures on here. I will post some after pictures in a few months.

Maxxy, You are absolutely correct. I did see a dermatologist here in Newport Beach. She asked me a few questions and we came to the conclusion it was the result of all the stress I went thru. She put me on some foam medication which doesn't seem to be working. I just had my 3rd consultation with Dr Meshkin and we discussed the possibilities. The dr mentioned that if I go through with the HT, I may run the risk of having that hair fall out if it gets "attacked" like the others, however, being that my stress level has gone down by 85%, I am exercising regularly now, I am taking vitamins, and I have a much healthier diet, I felt comfortable with going forward with the HT. I am scheduled to go in Jan 12 with Dr Meshkin in Newport Beach, CA.

Well, in terms of progression, compared to 18 months ago, I have lost a lot of hair. the rate of loss has since died down a bit, simply because most of the density is gone. I think what has happened was the propecia I was taking was keeping the hair from falling out, now that it has been 3 years since I stopped taking it, that propecia effected hair has fallen out, and my true hair loss pattern has revealed itself. So I'm confident that this is probably where I would be had I not taken propecia in the first place. I know more loss is to come down the line, but for now, with the rate of loss slowing, I'm confident about doing the procedure. Good question.

I consulted with Dr Meshkin around August of 08. At the time, I was somewhat thinned out only up front and he recommended 1200 grafts. Fast forward to now, I have thinned dramatically more up front, and now a little in the middle of my head about half way back. I sent in pictures to the dr, and we agreed that 1800 would work a little better now. So tomorrow, I will be going in for my last consultation before I take the dip on January 2nd. I turn 30 years old on the first of January so I'm hoping my hair loss pattern has revealed itself and will help us determine what future needs I may have. I will keep you guys posted on before and after shots. Wish me luck!

Bro, let me tell you, were all in the same boat. I got hired as an airline pilot at the age of 23. I was always told growing up about how handsome I was etc. When I started flying, I got the stared from women, I had my fair share of one night stands with flight attendants and hot passengers. About 3 years ago, I stopped taking propecia because my dick stopped working. Literally! I was in bed with the hottest girls and couldnt get it up. It was demoralizing. I live in Orange County so when I mean hot girls, these girls were smoking. And they would melt in my hands. After getting off the propecia, my hair started thinning a little. No biggie. I was with the girl I loved, the most georgeous girl, with brains to go with it. Then my life just fell apart. EVERYTHING. I somehow lost her, I ore my shoulder in a basketball incident, had to move back in with my folks, didn't get my dream pilot job at Southwest Airlines, and lost all my weight. I was a wreck. I withdrew from everyone and EVERYTHING until recently. My hair started falling out dramatically. I went from needing 1200 grafts, to now at least 1800. I am now just happy with having a somewhat full look. I don't even care if its a little thinner than normal. I started finding happiness within again. Time healed the pain. Time will heal your pain. You will find your way of dealing with it. I also contemplated suicide. I think at one time we all do. Then one day, for just a moment, you have this small glimpse of what your life could be like again, being happy. And that little light of hope keeps you going. I am going in for my 3rd consultation tomorrow. I have planned a surgery event for Jan 2. I will be 30 on Jan 1. I hope this is the start to getting some of my confidence back. If not, I'm not worried. I am still a successful person. I've achieved so much at such a young age, that I have lots to be proud of. Screw the people who like you for your looks, they aren't real friends anyway. Hang in there man, things will get better.