NewHare

Thanks guys !   Was I correct in saying that considering I'm tapped out donor wise, I'd need to go FUE only ? 

I had two docs tell me I had very little to no strip left to give.

Of the docs mentioned above who would be the best choice for FUE, if that is the way I have to go ?

I'm considering adding to my previous work and need a few recommendations on doctors in Florida. I'm pretty much tapped out and would probably need to go FUE.  If I'm wrong about this please correct me.

I understand that I should look outside of my home state, however due to circumstances I can't go too far from home. So for now it's either Florida or nothing. And frankly I'd rather go without than poor work.   Of course.

I'm in NE Florida btw, there is a 'popular' clinic right here I won't mention since I don't post here often. Though running ads all day does not make for a good clinic.

I've read here on the forums there are a few recommended docs further south though I was hoping for more options closer up north near Jax. 

I guess we're just not as vain as those Floridians down south  😎  (just joking about a post I read on here) .  

Thanks in advance... 

23 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I've taken collagen peptides before. It may help with aging, but I don't think it does anything for hair loss.

I don't believe it works against hair loss per se, it supposedly reduces breakage, strengthens and speeds up growth.

At least that's what they claim.  When you were using it did you notice any of the above ?

8 hours ago, PizzaWolf said:

Unfortunately, I don't believe that ingesting collagen will increase your body's production of it. I think that Tretinoin for its potential to improve localized production in your skin (not controversial) and increasing your growth hormone/ IGF-1 levels (controversial) are effective. 

Thanks PW, I've never heard of Tretinoin, I'll have to look into that one. What are the positive effects you've noticed from using Tretinoin ? 

16 hours ago, makehairgreatagain said:

This stuff is really good and healthy. Probably one of the cleanest out there.

https://www.vitalproteins.com/products/collagen-peptides#

Thanks MHGA.   I've heard of Vital, that and SR seem to be very popular brand names.

22 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Collagen as a supplement? Powder form or pill? 

Hi Melvin, 

Yes, as a supplement in powder form.  

I'm considering trying collagen.  What are your thoughts and experiences ? 

And what brands have you guys found to be of best quality ?  

NewHare

Lots of good information here, thank you.  What are the growth phases and survival rates of these body hair locations ?

Even if they survive, if they are 'resting' it may not make much of a difference.  And how does this compare to scalp hair ?

On 2/8/2021 at 8:47 AM, JohnAC71 said:

How is your beard ? Easily the best source after scalp. 

I really don't know, never grew it out.  I shave clean, how is the scaring factor ?  And about how much can one actually get from that region ? Just wondering if it's even worth the cost.

Also why are there so few body hair doctors in the US ?  They mostly seem to be overseas, is there a reason for that ?

4 hours ago, Sean said:

Different growth phases will be with different hair sources at a given time.  Chest hair no good, beard may be ok depending caliber and recipient location of scalp.  Nape hair, forget bout it. Back hair-  it’s usually similar to chest and obviously no good.  The directional angles on scalp do not look same and if they even yield 5%, they may look unnatural.  You may do a procedure of couple thousand grafts but maybe only 10% visibly yield with density issues in between.  
 

now if you are using such hairs for scar repair or attempts to fill in scars, maybe a very tiny area may cover something to reduce it.   

im talking from experience myself.  looks fake as ever and ruins the scalp.  Just be careful.  If you want perfection and for it to look at least 50% better, or a distinct change, then do not look into it.    If your scalp is a lost cause and you want some stragglers on the head with density concerns, and you got money,  then it could be an option.   But for something like that,  it may cost a fortune unless you cut a deal with a surgeon of some sort.  Bottom line, you will be chasing procedures every few years.   These alternative hairs will still not give you the type of scalp that scalp donor will give you.  

 

Melvin, nailed it above.  

i am going through a tough time due to this
 

bless those those that tell the truth

 

 

Given all that, what if anything can one do when their scalp donor is tapped out ?  My early HTs were not well done and I now have a relatively thick hairline with very little behind it which looks odd. As I aged I lost more which now looks worse. Are any of these alt sources worthwhile to add density behind frontal hair ?

4 hours ago, BeHappy said:

I'm thinking about trying a small test

 

Thats a good idea, I was considering that myself. 

Anyway I just saw this video were they said the problem with back hair is that it's only 'visible' 20% of the time, the rest of the time it is in telegen phase. Is this correct ?   If so, that's not very promising.

On 1/24/2021 at 1:25 PM, Westview said:

Back hair can be an excellent transplant source

 

I see, my mistake.  I thought I read most thought back hair was not a good source.

What then are the deciding factors as to whether one can or can't use back hair ? 

What is the actual yield one can get from beard hair ?  I would think it was rather low compared to other areas of the body.

Too bad we can't use back hair, I'd think most guys would have a full head of hair if that were the case.

On 1/22/2021 at 2:54 PM, Usexpat said:

Hello. 
As I had a transplant in my 20s. My donor was depleted somewhat. 
 

My neck healed super quick. In two weeks you couldn’t tell. My chest took ages. They take larger cores when using chest hair. So they take longer to heal. That area has now healed. I believe neck is best (after head donor) then chest. I have never heard of arm hair being used. I could However make a chewbacca from my back hair 🙂

 

 

On 1/22/2021 at 2:54 PM, Usexpat said:

I could However make a chewbacca from my back hair 🙂

I agree, for alot of us guys if we could use back hair baldness would be a thing of the past.

On 1/22/2021 at 2:54 PM, Usexpat said:

 

Like some/most men I have an abundance of unwanted upper arm and back hair.  Instead of shaving it off, it seems a much better option to transplant it where I need it the most. Is this at all possible ? 

Also what is the pecking order of body hair, from best to not so great ?  And what can not be used at all ?

Great results, all the best.

Could you give us an update on your donor areas, in particular the neck and chest.  I am tapped out head wise, so if I go forward with this I will have to use neck and chest. 

Did you discuss using arm hair with the doc ?  Unfortunately (or maybe not) I have a lot of upper (above the elbow) hair that I'd love to get rid of. And what better way than to move where it's needed.

Anyway, enjoy your new hair and look ! 

I attached current photos taken in the last few days. This would make it 1 1/2 years since my procedure.

I believe they clearly still show the harsh pluggy hairline I previously had and what the doctor did to soften, camouflage and blend it into the sides. Which I believe did little to nothing to correct my problem.

I do hope this is not what I should expect if I decide to move forward with another doctor and procedure.

I compare (from the side view photos) my side temple hair which appears soft and natural to the harsh rigid hairline. This tells me that this last procedure did nothing to blend in and soften the hairline at all.

I would think a good HT would have blended the hairline to the sides softening it to the point where you wouldn't notice a difference between the two. Am I wrong ?

I would like to know what I need to do at this point to correct this situation since I find it difficult to go out in public looking like this.

Which doctor(s) would best be suited to correct this ?? I am reluctant though, as this was a 'coalition' doctor I went to. I'm hoping for better next time.

NH

NewHare,

 

Some of the new grafts appear a bit mis-angled. It also appears that some of the prior grafts were mini-grafts to build your hairline. Many of them appear to larger than single hair grafts.

 

In addition, you have a wide color contrast which makes the larger grafts more noticeable.

 

Not sure how much donor that you have left but using an adequate amount of single hair grafts between the prior larger grafts would help a lot to soften it instead of having single hair grafts placed in front of it or below it.

Gil,

Would you mind clarifying what you meant by "you have a wide color contrast which makes the larger grafts more noticeable".

Yes, the prior grafts are actually 80's style plugs. I had questioned the doctor as to if they should be 'broken up' but he felt he could camouflage/soften them by just placing grafts.

Well considering I've had prior procedures I don't believe I have all that much donor hair left. I think now I may have to use what I have left to fill in the gaps left by the last procedure instead of using them to soften the plugs. Which is what I had originally set out to achieve.

NH

NewHare,

 

Thanks for sharing your photos and your concerns on this forum. I think it would be helpful if you share a little more with this community. For instance, can you tell us how many grafts you had? When was the date of your procedure? When were these pictures taken? Can you take some additional photos showing multiple angles of your scalp?

 

 

Bill,

I received 1528 grafts as per the doctors paperwork. The procedure was in Jan of '16 and the photos were at the one year mark more or less. Don't recall exactly when. I will though take more photos and post them shortly.

It's weird because when I look at the thumbnails it looks rather "pluggy" but when I blow it up, it looks like a very thin looking hairline that suddenly thickens into a "second" hairline if that makes sense. It makes me wonder if you had more natural hair in the area of the "first" hairline that were "shocked" or eventually fell out, leaving you with only the transplanted hair in that area.

 

Yes I totally agree Bill, the thumbnails strangely are more representative of what my hairline actually looks like. The thumb nails are what I see when I step back and look into a mirror.

I'll try to clarify. I had my first procedures in late 80's or early 90's. They used the punch plug technique. (hideous at best).

Now here is what you are seeing... the "second" hairline as you said that "suddenly thickens" are the 80's plugs. The hairs in front of the plugs ( the "first hairline" as you said) are from the procedure I just had. There may be a few of my own original hairs mixed in there but the bulk are from the last procedure.

So in other words, I had a thick wall of plugs (from a procedure done in the late 80's) and now the doctor in my recent procedure placed the hairs you called the 'first' hairline in front of the plugs (as well as throughout the frontal third and in the crown). However as I had said, he left gaps between the plugs from the 80's and the hairs that he recently placed that look weird and draw more attention to the plugs. When something is out of place, the eye is drawn to it.

Or actually as you had mentioned it seems to look as if I have two ("first" and "second") hairlines. If I understood you correctly.

Had he placed them closer to the plugs leaving no gaps and maybe filling in between the plugs I believe it would look much better. As it stands now I can not say it looks good at all, especially with such an obvious difference between what was done back in the 80's and what he did last year.

To further clarify I re-posted the photos with a line separating the previously implanted plugs from the recent work.

Admittedly, I wouldn't be happy with the look of the hair transplant at this stage however, I don't think it's fair to call it a "failed" hair transplant without knowing more. That said, what would make the transplant look much better would be to fill in the area between the "first" and "second" hairline which would smooth everything out so that there is only one and not two hairlines.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

I agree, I am not happy either with the results. Had he placed them closer to the plugs softening them instead of further away creating what appears to be 'two hairlines' the end results would not have been so poor.

Knowing I had prior work and knowing I had a very limited amount of donor hair left I do not believe this was appropriate at all.

Also I'll just add I feel he put me in a worse position in that now what ever hairs I may have left will be spent/wasted trying to fill in the gap he created by dropping the hairline lower instead of being used more judiciously to soften the plugs. Which is what I had originally requested. In that I'm sorry to say I do feel it was a failure.

Regards, NH

Thanks guys... The procedure was 1500+ FUT about a year and a half ago. The photos are at a year. Nothing has changed since then.

Sorry I don't happen to have pre op photos. No I don't smoke or have a cardiac history. I am 60 though if that matters. And no, this is not my first procedure.

My concern is I requested to conceal the hairline and thicken immediately behind it. I don't see that that has been achieved. As for the pluggy hairline to me it is all too obvious, though I may not be the best judge of that. When it's us, we are usually far more critical of ourselves. I feel it is very obvious and easily seen, something this procedure IMHO did nothing to correct.

I guess I have just resigned myself that after a year and a half this is what I am left with.

I set out to try to conceal a harsh pluggy hairline and hopefully fill in behind it further concealing it and adding some density to the frontal third.

Though I see little to no change in density, no softening of the hairline and now I have what appears to be haphazardly placed hairs in front of a hairline which I must now try to hide. The hairs seem to create a discolored band around the edge of the hairline which is noticeable further away.

Placing a few single hairs in front of the plugs leaving a large gap between the hairs and the hairline has only drawn more attention to something I had asked to conceal.

I feel the grafts were placed too low with nothing behind them. Had they been placed closer to the hairline they may have aided in softening the plugs as opposed to drawing more attention to them.

I am now at a total lose as to what to make of this. Was I just a poor candidate ? Was this bad planning ?

I chose a 'Recommended Doctor' from this group, spoke with him often, made it clear what I wanted to achieve and yet I am left with this.

I need to understand what went wrong before I can move forward. I am hoping that those members here who are very skilled at looking over photos can shed some light as to what they see and what they make of this. Or possibly a doctor could shed some light on this. And if this should have been approached differently ?

Sadly I have to admit after all the time and money I invested I am embarrassed by this and find myself having to hide under a hat. The exact thing I wanted to get away from. From the few family and friends that I told, they have all said it does not look good at all.

Any opinions would be greatly appreciated.

NH

Thanks again Gill for your honesty and concise informative reply. Before I can do anything I need to wrap my mind around having just paid thousands for a HT that I may now have to undo. As this is the second Coalition Surgeon I went to I can't say I have much faith in the process.

NewHare,

 

The pics were definitely helpful and I see what you mean and your dissatisfaction.

 

What I am wondering is, "how large was the procedure" and also "what was the level of grafted density" in the hairline just ahead of the large grafts you had from a previous procedure.

 

It appears that there is a fair amount of space between the single hair grafts that you just had done. Part of the challenge of camouflaging larger grafts is that it takes a fair number of single hair grafts to accomplish this. And it also appears that these single hair grafts were placed under the larger grafts and do you know how many were placed "between" the larger grafts?

 

But now that the hairline was actually lowered, it will take a considerable amount of single hair grafts to blend this together to achieve an adequate level of visual density to tie together your existing hairline.

 

IMHO, the new grafts were placed too low but that's just my opinion.

 

Lastly, many patients who have work done in the crown experience slower regrowth in that region of the scalp.

Thanks Gill,

The session consisted of 1528 fu's. The 'grafted density' I do not know.

I believe singles were placed in-between the plugs, how many exactly I'm not sure.

I agree the singles in the hairline were placed far too low, along with the fact they do nothing to camouflage the harsh pluggy hairline or add anything to the overall look. As well there is no visible difference in density to the frontal third region. Overall IMHO a very unnatural and disappointing result. And a waste of hairs, that I can not afford as I have very little left.

My question to the group is, where do I go from here ???

I now have very little donor hair left and do not know where to turn. I have to say, I have little faith in the HT industry, this was the second disappointing surgery by a so called 'Coalition Surgeon' on here.

These were the clearest, hope they help.

I had work done to the hairline, frontal third and crown.

The crown is were I felt the stubble, however that is the hardest to photograph. Nothing much showed except the existing hair that was already there.

There was no reason to photograph the frontal third as I don't have any before photos to compare, however I see no difference in density even now at 11 months. The doctor of course did take before photos.

As to the hairline I placed a small white line to show were the work was done. I had previous 'plug work' which is behind the lines, and the new work was placed in front. The hairs placed in front were to camouflage the harsh pluggy hairline. They did, IMHO very little to nothing nor do they look natural at all. I am very disappointed to say the least.

NewHare

Unfortunately , this is one area where the Dr's remain silent ( which I can understand to an extent ).

 

What has your own surgeon said in this regard ?

Hi Chris, the dr suggested I wait till Feb and come back for a re-evaluation. Though I don't see whats going to happen between now and then, that hasn't already. I've had prior work and all the noticeable changes mostly took place in the 3-6 month period. At least in my case. I'm currently at 11 months.