miked

I am curious that most if not all strip FUs involve the harvesting and implanting of hairs in the Anagen phase. Statistics suggest that as many as 10 to 15% of total hairs are in Telogen, or resting phase, at any given time. For a given strip of say 3000 FUs this represents as many as 300 to 400 viable grafts that seem to be discarded with each HT. Are these grafts simply not harvested because of difficulty involved with identifying/sorting, extracting, orienting etc. or simply because they would not likely survive the procedure? If the difficulties mentioned above can be overcome with some added care and attention then it seems to me they would make for a good random sprinkling in the crown area after the conventional FUs are implanted if just to provide added density/coverage. Thoughts?

I am curious that most if not all strip FUs involve the harvesting and implanting of hairs in the Anagen phase. Statistics suggest that as many as 10 to 15% of total hairs are in Telogen, or resting phase, at any given time. For a given strip of say 3000 FUs this represents as many as 300 to 400 viable grafts that seem to be discarded with each HT. Are these grafts simply not harvested because of difficulty involved with identifying/sorting, extracting, orienting etc. or simply because they would not likely survive the procedure? If the difficulties mentioned above can be overcome with some added care and attention then it seems to me they would make for a good random sprinkling in the crown area after the conventional FUs are implanted if just to provide added density/coverage. Thoughts?

Thanks for the explanation Dr. Feller. I know I drilled with a lot of questions at once. I recall reading somewhere on this forum that PRP would need to be repeated periodically to maintain its effectiveness against MPB. Is that recollection accurate? if so I would be (hypothetically speaking) a little hesitant to make a visit every, say- three months, to get several hundred needle pricks in my scalp. My question then is would this treatment benefit from one of the various needle-less injection systems that have recently been made available (using high pressure vs needles)???

Excellent news Dr. Feller. When you say "injected the PRP into the dermis" do you mean this was accomplished via a single injection? What do "200 punctures" exactly accomplish? were you just trying to have blood exit through this many places to assist the circulation of the PRP? Could you please explain the reason for turning him down twice previously for an HT? was it poor credit? (half joking since i suspect the profession would hardly blink if I offered to pay them to do an HT on my cat given this economy) Was or is the patient on minox or fin or any other compound that could later be misconstrued as growth as a result of the PRP treatment? Also was this a localized experiment (eg the crown area) just to see effectiveness, or was the patient treated with the intent to achieve growth throughout the scalp?

Kudos to LMS I also want to say that I strongly believe that for the most ethical Drs out there a truly educated consumer is actually their best customer. there are a variety of reasons why people at different ages opt for HT. At the younger ages I often sense its a matter of feeling they "need it" to attract a mate. At the older its a matter of wanting to see if we can regain a generally more youthful appearance. Those with the most reasonable expectations as to results and long term effects seem to have a much more satisfying overall experience. Those who are drawn in by the "ugly duckling to white swan" transformation hype are due for one expensive and often regrettable lifelong lesson. to the young folks who read this forum... charm, wit, sense of humor and kindness are qualities that actually attract the opposite sex. Work on that! A great hairline? perhaps you'll get more looks from other balding men.

For faster hair growth nothing beats folic acid supplementation in my view.

This thread has a wealth of information and insight. you almost want to say "all of the above" Many who come here initially first hear of hair transplants through the marketing machine - the Bosley tv ads, online ads etc. These all tend to show Ugly Duckling to White Swan transformations. they gather information randomly from the various threads and then either follow advice or go against the grain for whatever their reason may happen to be. They then get an HT and wait impatiently for 3-6 months looking in the mirror hourly. At about that point many decide that their HT did not indeed result in a White Swan effect, but they are not necessarily disfigured either and just decide to put this experience behind them. I say this because I spent months on this forum lurking and reading before finally registering after my HT. During that time I saw many who came with much excitement only to then vanish after 3 to 6 months never to be heard from again. The doctors would all like us to believe that they are happy again and simply have gotten on with their lives. Mostly I suspect only the latter part of that is entirely true.

Always a good question. My bet is that we will be just about where we are today. I would love to be at the stage where a pill a day awakens all the dormant follicles and causes you to regain your youthful scalp. In ten years time it would be neat to have a machine do both the incisions and placement of grafts. You and the Doctor would work on the desired hairline and density and a computer would scan your head and calculate the number of grafts necessary and the optimal placement/orientation of each graft. The doctor and staff would extract the needed strip, and sort the grafts and load them into the machine and it will do the rest by moving a probe around your head that will "prick and place" each graft with uncanny speed and efficiency. thus minimizing the risk of human error/fatigue while achieving optimal coverage through precise placement of grafts. a 4 hour mega session (3,000+ grafts) would be routine and costs should approach $1 per graft. that would be my vision anyways. Oh and it will perform LASIK and whiten your teeth at the same time

Kaounis is correct. I should add however that the angle of the incisions made by the Dr will also influence the preferred direction of hair growth. While you can try to fight it and eventually "train" your hair to twist and go in a different direction if it was anchored to go South and you want it North, it may be a losing battle.

no shaving required for Dr. Ross in La Jolla. I too live in Florida and traveled to him.

Right on Bill. I for one would not care to go into a doctor's office to give blood, have it reduced and then injected into my scalp periodically so that I could have a better head of hair. A one time shot maybe. a recurring sentence never. Just not that important to me I suppose. The issue of potentially enabling the errant cancerous cell would also be a concern for me. I'll just put it this way - don't count me among the first 5,000 patients or even as a subject within the first 5 years of widespread implementation of this procedure.

Leeson the stat i quoted is for grafts kept in an ideal chilled environment. your 10% may be for those that are not. Although I would have guessed that number to be much higher

most of the focus here so far is in what the patient can do to stimulate or promote growth/ yield. While there are known things that could impact growth rates like folic acid and MSM they only address the rate of growth and not whether or not the grafts take and sprout in the first place. I believe from all i have read and seen that the extraction, storage, handling and insertion of the grafts probably have the biggest influence in predicting overall yield. All a patient can do post op is to ensure the grafts are not stressed or disturbed much within the first 7 to 10 days to maximize the chances that healthy grafts "take root" (find a good blood supply). Back to handling of the graft. Hair grafts start dying at about 8 hours out of the body while kept in ideal conditions like iced Ringer's solution at about 34 degrees Fahrenheit. The death rate for grafts occurs at a rate of about 1% per hour after the 8 hour period. In 24 hours, there will be 24% death rate of grafts, 48% at 48 hours etc. So clearly if the grafts are not stored continuously in the chilled solution there is a good chance that many grafts will simply be DOA. There are also plenty of opportunities for the grafts to be mishandled by a technician at any point in the procedure and this will also affect the yield. Exhaustion, carelessness, and lack of training are all things you want to screen for in the technicians that will be handling your session. so bottom line, it is my view that yield of grafts is largely pre-determined by the care applied during the procedure and not afterwards.

Comb that is correct but also they likely would regulate the devices used to extract the PRP. I say this because while the FDA does not approve LASIK for eye surgery (not a drug), they do approve the devices used for the procedure. So I believe there is possibly a parallel here. Now let me come to the assistance of hdude46 and perhaps explain what his dad may have cautioned him about: Some doctors do believe that there may be instances where the application of PRP could be contra indicated. This is when injecting such a substance in the presence of cancerous cells. I refer you to this website platelet gel Quote "In her practice APG is applied to open wounds as a means to spur hemostasis and to encourage healingvia the presence of platelet-derived growth factors. She cautions that in her experience there is one clinical circumstance where APG might be contraindicated, specifically, in the presence of cancerous cells, because platelet rich plasma contains properties which may lead to the proliferation of said cells". So I believe the idea here is that if you have a stray cancerous cell here or there, applying a substance with such great growth enhancing properties like PRP could enable that cell to grow in a way that may not have occurred in the absence of PRP.

Joanne1 Sorry to hear that your HT in '07 actually may have accelerated your hair loss. Being 19 then means you are still relatively young now (21-22?). Given the little info shared at this point I would suggest you get some basic tests done, if you haven't already, to determine if you suffer from any deficiencies or have been exposed to chemicals or radiation that may have contributed to your hair loss. As far a shock loss and whether it is permanent Dr Beehner is probably correct, but I have seen it mentioned that hair lost to shock loss can sometimes re-emerge after several "years". Definitely the results of the HT itself however should have been evident by now. What is the Tijuana clinic saying about this? Also was the HT FUE or strip?

theres a pic up there where the procedure looks like it was not FUE but hydro seeding.

M&M Absolutely! aside from some minor shock loss - no-one and I mean no one from neighbors to co-workers noticed anything at all when i returned to work three days later (i had the weekend to deal with some very minor scabbing). if anything my wife said it looked like I had a minor sun burn right around the very front since it was "pinkish". But even she hardly noticed anything different about me when i returned. Most of the HTs I see seem to be quite different in that many doctors prefer the patient shave down the recipient area. This then would have created some awkward moments for me at work. To me the "stealthiness" of my procedure was worth quite a bit.

I hear you Eman. I just wish i can be a quick grower like you seem to be. Thanks!

I second that. there are few that I would trust with FUE, but Dr. Feller seems at the cutting edge (no pun).

I would stick with those from the list Bill pointed to. Dont let price be your main motivator. In fact cost should be one of the last things you consider once you have narrowed down your choices based on other attributes.

Oonkar Have you considered Dr. Ross in La Jolla?

arnolder unless your partner is pulling hard on your pony tails during the act I don't see that there could be a relationship in what you describe. Production of testosterone occurs whether or not you are sexually active. Eventually we may discover a link but i doubt it is something that manifests itself overnight

pictures please? What you are describing could be an issue or it can be totally natural given the early stage. Would also help to know the clinic involved (if anything to give pause to others who may be contemplating that Dr. until we can see the damage) also the description of grafts indicates that they may have taken plugs? that is not ideal but depending on how and where they were packed may be acceptable. June is too early for a second procedure regardless.

very cool. thanks for posting. Dr. Feller I assume the business end of this device is replaced with each patient? or is sufficient sterilization possible. Just curious since its my understanding that surgical devices like the Da Vinci machine actually require the blades to be discarded after each use (and this is a big part of their earnings stream).

I do not work in the medical/drug field Winston baby. At the same time I do appreciate the research they do and the rigorous double blind studies that go with it. as to cancer, lets be real.. do you honestly think "they" have a cure but somehow they have suppressed it to profit from its maintenance? if I read you correctly that is what you claim. I am sorry, but we are worlds apart on this.