BDK081522

Bud, the source is linked in my last response.

Fantastic result! Congratulations man, you did your research and can now reap the benefits! Enjoy your new hairline. It's truly life changing.

Okay, so I've never stated that FUE is the "perfect procedure". There is no perfect procedure. It's medicine, it's surgery, there's variables and risks that are individually introduced with every single patient's unique physiology. I'm not an FUE proponent. I'm a proponent for the best extraction method for each individual case. Unfortunately, you're just plain wrong about your preconceived high FUE transection theory. The elite surgeons wear high magnification loops and can extract very precisely. Of course, there may be a couple during a large extraction case but it's negligible. You should either speak with or review cases of the elite FUE surgeons today. Transection rate in a normal donor is almost a non-issue with today's methods. Furthermore, you're basing your assumptions on what doctors have "stated". Which doctors? There's always motive. I'm sure FUE only surgeons state that FUE yields better and vice versa with the older FUT doctors. The reality is that the difference in yield is so small it's deemed insignificant to the overall appearance. Here's your source that you've requested. Like I said it's a very small sample size but all the appropriate precautions were taken to get accurate results. Read the study and hopefully you'll have a change in viewpoint. https://www.ishrs-htforum.org/content/28/5/179

Why is there greater risk with FUE of damaging unextracted follicles? If you have an experienced surgeon using the appropriate sized extraction tool at the correct angles there is minimal risk. In addition, injuring adjacent follicles has nothing to do with survival rates of implanted grafts. So, your rebuttal of why FUT has better survival rates doesn't actually even touch on the reason why.

Shapiro et al. did a small study that showed the exact opposite. That FUE yielded higher graft survival than FUT. It's a moot point however, because with good surgical technique survival rates are very similar. The old thinking about FUT having better survival rates is when FUE just came on the market and physicians were learning the technique. There is a correct extraction method for each case and it should be determined on an individual basis.

Raymond Konior does fantastic work on all hair types.

It is highly unlikely that any surgeon worth going to will be able to give you a surgical reservation date in July. No reputable surgeons have less than a month scheduled out. You're only chance would be for a last minute cancellation but it's very difficult to plan around that. Best bet would be to meet with potential surgeons in this upcoming trip and schedule surgery for next year.

It's baffling to me that people will try all of these experimental, unregulated, not FDA approved medications before even trying finasteride. You never know if you'll experience side effects unless you try. Finasteride is the gold standard and quite simply it works. Why pay all this money for transplants without even trying finasteride because you're scared you might be in the 2% that have sides. Oh and by the way we use adenosine to literally stop patients hearts when they're in supraventricular tachycardia. So, yea I'd be a little careful with that one.

I'm actually surprised to hear Dr Mwamba say this as I've always been under the assumption that follicles retain the properties from where they were extracted from. So, body hair maintains the same characteristics and growth patterns from where it was extracted from. Very interesting. Are there any studies out there to confirm this or is it just his clinical experience over the years?

@GUCCI this will be my last response to you as you have made it abundantly evident that you don't truly grasp the concept of surgical hair restoration. You keep repeating that a great surgeon should attempt full dense packing of a repair area with one pass. You mention that it is wrong to attempt a conservative restoration with a plan of coming back to fine tune the area in a subsequent procedure. Your reason being that it is more harmful to existing grafts to implant in between them with another surgery. Do you not understand that newly implanted hair follicles have to establish an adequate blood supply for them to take? It's termed neogenesis of blood vessels and there are hundreds of physiological factors at play to initiate and maintain this genetic sequence. Essentially, all these newly implanted grafts compete for that same blood supply. If you dense pack a small area in scar tissue there is a higher likelihood of the grafts failing to establish adequate blood supply. Mainly, because more grafts competing in a smaller area with reduced blood flow due to previous scar tissue. Think about that concept before you go around making false statements about elite clinics approach to surgery. In addition, don't come at me with the do more research and look at elite clinics results shtick. I've had three transplants with my last and next being with arguably the best surgeon in the world, Dr Konior. I've done my research mate.

You will almost certainly have signs of a hair transplant at 14 days. The redness can linger for months. Honestly, I would advise you to rethink your plan for your hair loss. For starters, you need to do more research. You are basing your decision off of proximity to home. I made this same mistake and went to Bosley because it was close and it was the only hair restoration clinic that I knew of. Through years of research I've learned that traveling to the most appropriate surgeon for your case is how you will get a satisfying result. Van Scoy/PAI medical group are not up to par with the surgeons recommended on this forum. They are a similar model to Bosley. You may not even know the surgeon who is doing your procedure and the techs do most of the heavy lifting. Their website results show pictures from the 90's to early 2000's and they claim multi-unit grafting is state of the art. It's all marketing BS and not as refined as you could get with a top surgeon. I would suggest cancelling your surgery for August and researching for the next few months. Top clinics have 6 months - 1 year waitlists so you could potentially schedule for the beginning of summer next year. Take the members of this forum's advice and avoid the common newbie mistake of going to a close clinic for convenience.

You definitely would not want to add beard grafts that close to the hairline. The texture and sometimes color can be vastly different from scalp hair and would be noticeable in the hairline. Beard grafts are usually only used for filler in the midscalp or crown. Another option would be extract more scalp grafts to restore the area of concern and at another time if the donor looks depleted then transfer beard grafts into the donor.

Agree with @mustang. Fibers or hats at this point will do no harm. Dr. Konior's post op literature actually suggests using Toppik (or any fiber enhancer) should be avoided until 4-7 days post-op. That's the most liberal guidelines I have seen but obviously if you've seen his results, his patients do pretty well. You're going to be shedding grafts for the next couple weeks. The only thing that could do harm at this point is a severe sunburn. So, wear a hat, use sunscreen, or better yet avoid the sun altogether, lol.

That donor area is like a gift from the gods! Very nice result!

The overall result looks very good. However, it looks to me like the temple point restoration should have gone more posterior. There's an area behind the grafts that had recessed but wasn't addressed. To me it was noticeable in the immediate post op pictures so it's unlikely the patient receded further after the restoration. Any input on why a small gap was left behind the temple point restoration?

I agree there are some diamonds in the rough out there. They might not have as many posted results or reviews as the top surgeons. So, they don't charge as much as a more well known clinic. However, these surgeons are located overseas. I don't believe you will find any American surgeons in that price range that are doing superb upper echelon level work. Sure, you might not get botched but if you need a repair or density enhancement then your paying a premium for another surgery and essentially saved no money in the long run. Just don't gamble with your hair man. Too many shady clinics just looking for income.

In this industry, more often than not you get what you pay for. US prices are governed by supply vs demand. When you have patients willing to pay $8-$12 per graft to give themselves the best chance at a successful restoration then clinics will charge it. My advice is to stay away from any US clinic in the $4-$6 range as your more than likely going to be unhappy with the results. There are much better options over seas in that price range. Traveling is almost imperative in this industry.

What an amazing result! It's very difficult to get that type of density with one pass. It's even harder to achieve that density and make it look so natural and soft. Work of art!

Ohhhh, the DHI method! Yes, I didn't realize there was such elite clinics in the Netherlands employing such cutting edge technology. You should probably secure your surgery date for tomorrow. Surely, the clinic said they had a last minute cancellation and could get you in on the June promotional rate. It's all marketing BS. Look man, we've all been there. It's hard to navigate this whole thing. The emotional aspects of hair loss, the deception by clinics trying to get your money. I understand it's difficult but take our advice. We're trying to save you from making mistakes that many of us have made. It's great you found this forum but use the information to gather data and form a LONG TERM plan.

I will reiterate you are too young for a hair transplant. Please do not go down this path at your age. You're displaying the typical pattern of not believing you're losing your hair because of male pattern baldness. It doesn't matter that you haven't lost more in a year. You have shown the signs of DHT minaturizing your hair. It has nothing to do with shaving. Hair does not thin because you shaved it too much. It's naive to say you will not try medical therapy because of the side effects. Yes, every medicine has side effects that MAY occur. Vast majority of patients do perfectly fine and never experience any. All we can do here on this forum is offer guidance through our own personal experiences and the years of research we have all done.

The work looks great! Thanks for sharing. I'm surprised Dr. Gabel had you put polysporin on the recipient. I've always been instructed by every surgeon to only put it on the donor. It seems that would be very difficult to wash out when doing the no touch cup and shampoo technique. My post op instructions from Dr Konior suggested that the recipient only gets saline spray for the first few days then aloe vera.

Traction alopecia isn't caused by shaving your head. You have the beginning stages of alopecia or male pattern baldness. The best advice is to visit a dermatologist or hair restoration surgeon and have them examine your hair to confirm. They will provider guidance and treatment options. More than likely you should require a prescription for finasteride and start minoxidil. After a year of medical therapy see your specialist and they will suggest possible next steps. You are definitely too young for a hair transplant at this age. Do not fall into the trap of being offered cheap transplants oversees based on Instagram or Google ads. It will affect you for the rest of your life.

It seems like the transplant was performed well. The grafts look healthy and angles are good. I do think that was a rather large area for only 2000 grafts. Transplants are very dependent on hair characteristics, graft placement, and number of hairs per graft. So, depending on your own unique hair characteristics you may be just fine or could possibly need one more pass to get acceptable density.

From these updated pics, it is confirmed your donor is solid. A 3000 graft FUT with Dr Konior will be a fantastic result and his scars are so good you could probably keep the same length and style you have in the red shirt picture.

That is some fantastic density right there! Congratulations, Dr. Gable knocked it out of the park! Now go enjoy you're new hairline.