Superteeth

Thanks Gillenator! I'm glad I found them!

Alright Gillenator. It turns out I'm getting a PRP treatment on June 16th and July 16th. I noticed that you have True and Dorin as your supporting physicians. As it turns out, I'm getting my procedure done with them! I have it scheduled for August 4th, and I am very excited! I opted for their PRP as well, so it'll be a little more than two weeks after I receive the prior PRP treatment, I will verify that this is not going to be a problem with the doctors. I see fantastic results with relatively few grafts being used in the hairline, and that was just what I was looking for. I will most definitely post my progress here once I get the procedure done, and hope to be added to the hall of fame before/afters on their website!

I think a better way to frame the question is whether or not hair transplant doctors recommend against PRP shortly before the procedure. Because maybe it stresses the scalp too much. Maybe the trauma of PRP injections harms the ability of grafts to take. Or something. So that's what I was wondering. If doctors say not to have PRP say, within 2 weeks of the procedure.

Ah, like ACell/ECM? Assuming that's what you mean, I don't know, to my understanding the literature comparing PRP with and without ACell/ECM is almost non-existent. And when you add ACell/ECM it gets a lot more expensive, such that a series of three treatments can cost as much if not more than a medium-sized hair transplant, which is guaranteed to get you hair whereas the benefits of ACell/ECM for hair growth aren't really as clear. But no, it's just plain PRP.

Yeah, I'm thinking I might just end up getting FUE/SMP into the scar just to conceal it better and allow me to get more grafts via FUE in the area in the future. I'm the type that straight up tells people that I've had hair transplants, so at the same time when I thought about it the scar itself doesn't bother me because of its cosmetic impact, but because it precludes my ability to get more FUE grafts. I keep my hair long but will cut it shorter in the future, possibly even getting an undercut type hairstyle if it suits me, and I won't make any effort to conceal the scar until I plan on getting FUE. Same thing if people ask what the deal is with the scar, I'll just straight up tell them I had hair transplants. I don't care. Hell, I might screw with some people and say something like "I had some gnarly brain surgery!" just for fun! I wish people didn't feel like they had to hide that they've had hair transplants. So I guess to combat this silly stigma surrounding them I'm 100% open about it.

There's a place in the area that injects 12mL of PRP. As far as the laser, I'm not using the professional laser that you get once a whatever at a clinic, I have an every other day use laser helmet that I've been using. What is this about a binding agent though? I was asking all kinds of questions about the concentration of the PRP but didn't hear anything about a binding agent. Thanks.

Hello everyone. So I've read a lot about PRP being used with a hair transplant or being used after a hair transplant, but what about BEFORE a hair transplant? How soon after getting a PRP session done is it safe to get a hair transplant? I can figure it irritates the scalp to some degree to get needles inserted into it before going and getting a transplant, but how soon after would the scalp be fully healed and ready for a transplant? I'm not specifically getting PRP because I'm planning on a hair transplant, but because I'm looking to get on a PRP regimen to see if I am a good responder to it to add it to my arsenal. I've read that LLLT and PRP go well together and since I'm already doing LLLT I might as well add PRP and see how it works for me.

Oh, did you get stuck there or were you planning on staying this long anyways? Because if you got stuck that's exactly what I was fearing, and it's why I wouldn't go there for a transplant until this coronavirus stuff clears up.

That's what I was thinking, I was wondering how you would be able to get it done now because I was reading about international flights into India being prohibited and even some domestic flights. But then I figure you had to have been in India to get the transplant despite the lockdown!

I've read that Vitamin E and fish oil supplements in general are off-limits for about 2 weeks before surgery (along with things like aspirin and other blood thinners) because of the increased potential for bleeding. Not that the supplements cause bleeding but they thin the blood and make it more likely.

I was researching Eugenix myself and really wanted to go there ASAP but was concerned about the possibility of being told I had to quarantine upon landing in India or either the US or Indian government suddenly implementing some kind of quarantine and being stuck in India for an unknown amount of time! What is this about a lockdown special though? Some kind of discount? If so, what is it?

Yup, I'm also a skeptic as far as hyped product claims, but clinical studies (assuming they aren't funded by the creators of the product) should be a non-biased measure of how well a product works. Which is why I was surprised to find so many clinical studies on Viviscal. I guess it's at least worth a try with the money-back guarantee (as long as the fine print doesn't render it useless, anyways).

Hmmm, never thought about that part about covering the scar to some extent to allow for more options in donor hair locations. I wasn't concerned about the cosmetic impact of the scar so long as it wasn't ridiculously wide. But that's true that if it were covered up somewhat I would be able to use the follicles directly above and below the scar. Good point, thanks for that input. At any rate it doesn't look like most hair transplant doctors want to do another FUT procedure on me because of the scar. Another thing, I actually measured the width of the scar and it appears to be about 5-6mm wide along the entire back and some of the sides. It's wider directly above the ears though. I would hope that scalp laxity exercises would allow me to reach a laxity that would allow for the excision of a strip that's at least 2cm wide and 24cm long (the length along the back of my head still in the safe donor zone), and assuming average donor density at 60 follicles/cm2 that would yield (including the scar tissue) 2,160 grafts. But if this is a long shot or not I don't know for certain yet.

Hello all. I came across a product called Viviscal while doing research on PRP for hair loss (a hair transplant doctor mentioned Viviscal while answering the question about PRP). Now the first thing that came to my head was that pills for hair loss aren't going to do anything unless they're Finasteride. I also looked into it on this forum and found similar viewpoints. However, I also did some research on clinical studies using Viviscal, and they seem to show things like a great increase in the number of terminal hairs. There are several clinical studies showing these results, so I'm wondering if maybe Viviscal DOES actually do something? Just wondering if anyone had any ideas on it. I'm thinking I'm at least going to try it out and see, there is a 3-month money-back offer up right now, so I figure there's nothing to lose. I understand that Viviscal is mostly vitamins that you can get a ton cheaper in a multivitamin, but at the same time it has this "AminoMar" thing that may be what makes the difference between it and vitamins. And as a sidenote, is there anyone here who is fighting hair loss through the use of regular PRP treatments? I only ever got one PRP treatment from Dr. Arocha when I got my hair transplant with him two years ago, but I'm really wanting to take the fight to AGA and am glad to say I am at the place in my life where I have the monetary resources to pay for an initial "booster" of PRP treatments (1 every month for 4 months) and maintenance treatments every 6 months. Do any regular PRP guys on here see appreciable results from doing PRP every 6 months? Thanks in advance.

Hello everyone. So I've already posted a thread asking about if my scar was a keloid, I've consulted a couple of surgeons who say it is not one. At least that's good news. That said, it is definitely not a thin scar, and since I'm looking to get a third FUT procedure since my laxity is good enough to do so, I've been wondering if the width of the scar will result in most hair transplant surgeons not doing another FUT procedure. I know it'll probably be hard to get an acceptable number of grafts if the scar is included in the strip since it's so wide. That said, since I keep my hair long and don't mind scars (although I wouldn't mind an invisible one, either!), I was wondering if any of you have been to surgeons who are able to safely excise two strips in one procedure. I was told about the possibility of necrosis by another hair transplant surgeon if one takes two strips at once. Failing the ability to take two strips, is one able to get a typical number of grafts (at least 2,000) from a second strip when the scar from their prior surgeries is really bad? Or is the second strip not as wide/inclusive of the safe donor zone and thus not ideal? Thanks in advance for any input. .

Well, you learn something new every day! Didn't know that...what about ABHRS? I do see 100 5-star reviews on RealSelf.com, though. Edit: I also see he has IAHRS certification.

Thanks, Sam818. I do see tons of great before/after pictures on Dr. Behnam's site, and he is a member of the ABHRS and the ISHRS, so he can't be horrible...but I am still doing more research!

Not sure why they would want to be removed, a lot of people come here for information and recommendations! But yeah, I'm just going to wait around and hope someone can chime in who knows the reason. Thanks for all your information, though.

Certainly! I was considering Dr. Bhatti in India, and I live in Texas! However, Dr. Bhatti said I wasn't a good candidate, but I'm consulting with other surgeons in the US who are all offering treatment plans after consulting with me virtually so I'm not sure why Dr. Bhatti wasn't willing to operate on me. Man, I really hope someone can chime in about the situation with Dr. Meshkin. It's one thing to not be listed in the first place, because it could be due to being generally unknown but not being listed isn't a death sentence because I'm sure there are plenty of surgeons who do good work that aren't listed, but being removed implies something went wrong...and if that's the case I'm crossing Dr. Meshkin off my list.

Alright, I could swear Dr. Behnam was listed but I guess not. But is Dr. Meshkin's removal tied to a decline in quality recently or something else? I'm really concerned but I do see good before/after pictures on his website and some good reviews on other websites but I do take into strong consideration a surgeon's listing on this website!

Hello everyone. So I was researching hair transplant surgeons for my third FUT procedure, and I noted that some websites list Dr. Meshkin as being part of the HairTransplantNetwork recommended physicians, but I don't see him on that list anymore on this website. Was he removed? Is that potentially a very bad thing, or does he still perform good work? Similar question concerning Dr. Sean Behnam, I see all kinds of glowing reviews for him on other sites and I believe I've seen him listed as a recommended physician here but he's no longer there. Thanks in advance.

10-14 days is the common figure I see quoted for time before returning to heavy weights after an FUT procedure. It would in fact be impossible for me to avoid physical activity because my job is manual labor (although the doctor said it should be fine to go back to work after 10 days)! That said, I will be more careful by avoiding exercises that involve neck movement for an extended period of time. Hell, it gives me a reason to not skip leg day, anyways!

It was a trichophytic closure. Not sure if it was done correctly, I should hope it was. What do you mean when you say I would know if I have keloids? Are they that noticeably different from normal scars (other than the description of the inflammation and pain)? Because to my knowledge I've never had keloids elsewhere based on how they're described. I really hope they're not keloids, but I am scheduling a virtual consultation with a hair transplant doctor that's part of this network's suggested doctors so he can tell me if it's a keloid scar and if I'm a candidate for another procedure. Based on what I'm reading about keloid scars vs. hypertrophic scars this appears to be closer to a hypertrophic rather than a keloid scar. Crossing my fingers on that one. At the end of the day if I can control a keloid (assuming that's what this is) with early intervention and/or steroid injections I would much, much rather have a permanent scar on the back of my head along with more hair in the front than not be able to get another procedure. Which is why although I've read of surgeons stating that they do not perform surgery on people with a history or genetic predisposition towards keloid scarring (I am of South Asian descent), I hope there are plenty of good surgeons that will allow the patient to decide if the scarring is something they'd be willing to live with in exchange for more hair. Edit: I attached a picture of a scar I have on my right index finger. It was a pretty deep wound that sloughed off a good bit of skin, and has scarred as a result. It hasn't grown past the borders of the original wound, which leads me to believe it's a hypertrophic scar rather than a keloid. That's the closest thing I have to a bad scar on my body (other than the hair transplant scar!)

No, but I was reading about the use of cortisone and corticosteroid injections to do so. How effective are Kenalog injections, and are they typically the suggested course of action for such scars? I'm guessing it's too late to save the hair follicles that have been covered up by the expanding scar? In which case, all the Kenalog injections will do is improve the cosmetic appearance (but future strips the include this scar will still be composed partially of scar tissue and thus useless for producing usable grafts)? Or will the Kenalog injections do something else that will help future FUT procedures? Thank you very much, I wanted the input of doctors more than anything (although personal experience doesn't hurt either!)

So it's really hard to take a picture of the entire scar because my hair is long, but from feeling along the scar I can see that it is only that wide above my left ear. It's slightly raised all the way around but thin in width everywhere else. Not sure why it stretched/went hypertrophic where it did. That said, I don't much care about the scar, not enough to keep me from getting another transplant. Would I prefer no scar? Of course. But I know that's not possible with me planning for a third (and final) FUT surgery. But my laxity after two strip procedures is surprisingly good.