YoungGuy

At 6 months the typical patient is about 50% grown, which is enough to give a good look depending on the hair. The HT will continue to thicken and mature up until 12-18 months. To answer your question, there are many reasons for varying results for HTs at 6 months. Some people are simply late bloomers - their HT may look wispy at 6 months, and awesome at 10. Some have very thin hair which may not give a full look at all, depending on the # of grafts. Hair thickness AND skin color also play a major part. I remember seeing a HT on a black guy a few weeks ago which looked *awesome* at 3 months even though he had a relatively small number of grafts. That was because hair on african americans is generally thicker, more coarse and curly and their skin is dark. This combo gives a great illusion of coverage.

hairtech, here's what your post sounded like: "Hi. I'm an expert on hair restoration and will answer any question you have. I have worked all over the US for many unspecified doctors. I may or may not have a degree in a field I won't specify. I worked for someone for 4 years, yet I managed to fit an unspecified amount of other jobs into 5 years. I have no agenda. Anyone who disagrees with me has an agenda. Praise me for I am smart." People on this forum are a bright bunch, bright enough to want specific credentials. Do not claim to be an expert if you're unwilling or unable to back the claim up with references that we can verify. And chances are, someone *will* call that doctor's office to check Vague claims of "experience" and "knowledge" will only make people suspicious of you, and your insulting them rather than clarifying the vague claims confirms those suspicions.

Oh, I agree. And I have a feeling that regular exercise improves blood flow to the head which results in better healing. I'm at 3 months 1 week after my 1st HT and I swear, another few weeks and I'll be able to ditch the hat.

hairbank - they're expecting to be on the market in 2009. I don't know enough about the pharma industry or this company in general to say whether that's realistic, but it's been in development for over a decade now. Bill - good point. But healing with no scar and putting some FUE into the skin there probably still looks much better than having a scar with hair through it.

Not 100% scarless, but close enough to it. The way it works is, to paraphrase my research thus far: Mammalian embryos heal without scars; adolescents & up heal with scars. The reason is that the body excretes different hormones into the wound as it heals: it provides hormones to promote rapid/unpretty healing in, say, adults. This makes sense as adults are generally in an environment that could be potentially harmful to open wounds, so you don't want them open for long. In embryos, large amounts of a growth hormone are injected into the wound which promotes skin growing into the wound to close it rather than a fast scar formation. What research has found, however, was that in a properly protected/treated wound injecting the growth hormone into a wound makes it close the way it would in an embryo, by skin growing over the gap rather than a scar forming. And it seems to heal just as quickly. Apparently, the professor who first thought of this had someone cut him under his arm on purpose, then injected the hormone into the healing wound and ended up healing with no scar. Now, to manage expectations - scar revision surgery would still be needed and it wouldn't eliminate large scars. But as far as strip scars go, it'll help to minimize them to the point where it doesn't matter. In conclusion: cool stuff, definitely worth a googling.

I agree with Dr. Feller 100% here - an "independent HT consultant" sounds suspiciously like somoene who's just not that great at what they do. If they were, a doctor they worked with would want to incentivize them to stay on his/her staff permanently, usually financially. Conversely, someone who is bad ta what they do would change the office they work for often, usually as their results catch up to them down the line. When someone like this explains why a doctor, universally acknowledged as superb and with many years of experience, does not know what he is doing... well, I can see said doctor getting annoyed. It's the equivalent of a 1st year analyst at an investment bank slamming Warren Buffett. What impressed me most, though, was the fact that Dr. Feller does not hire "consultants" as technicians. The ones he has working for him have been with him for years, which shows both experience & accountability (how do I know this - I asked the techs).

The expanding needle technique is nothing. You should see Dr. A's five point palm exploding heart technique

I never experienced this myself but don't forget that your nerve endings are mauled pretty badly after surgery, who knows what signals they're sending around? It's probably nothing. Give it a few days and if you still get them, ask your doc about it.

I did some research last night, it looks to be the real deal. Going through Phase II trials in the UK now and so far it's been shown to not only not harm, but actually work. It needs to be injected into a wound that's in the process of healing and it reduces/eliminates scarring. In other words, it looks like in 3-4 years "scar revision" will mean "scar elimination". Cool huh?

If there was a cure? Hmm. I'd do it and be done with it. I don't know if I'd go celebrating, it's not THAT big of a deal. Hairbank - there already is a miracle, no-fail cure for being buff. Go to the gym. Easy! The fact that 99% of the population is too lazy to go is actually a good thing as it makes those of us who do look so much better in comparison

Robert Duvall was Vito & Michel's consiglieri. He's thinning in godfather 2 and bald in 3 so it may be his natural look

Yeah, it'll be gone soon. Spend the time wisely until they do - my personal favorite's making funny faces in the mirror

It sounds like you're experiencing normal shedding. Hair, as I understand it, goes through cycles. As your MPB progresses, every few months your hair sheds and grows back weaker & weaker until at least it doesn't grow back at all. Medication will help the hair grow back stronger. It won't bring back hairs you've already lost but it will make your existing hair thicker. Before it does, however, you will go through a shedding phase. Stay on the medication a few more months and you should be ok.

You haven't seen the Godfather? So you're the one! Robert Duvall is quite young in that movie, as is Marlon Brando (and Al Pacino's just a kid, in his 20s) so I wouldn't be surprised if it's his own hair still. Go see the movie. You will enjoy it.

Hi Cynthia, The first thing I would do is consult a dermatologist. There are skin conditions which are treatable and which can cause hair loss; you might be affected by one and can possibly take care of it. Other than that, hair transplantation is a little different in women than it is in men. Men are usually affected by MPB (male pattern baldness) which does not affect hair on the sides & back of the head: those can be safely transplanted without fear of them ever falling out. Female hair loss does not follow the same pattern and so it gets a little harder to predict which hair is "safe" to transplant. A consultation with a reputable physician may be a good idea here after you see the dermatologist.

The Godfather. How can you forget The Godfather?

Thanks! It's probably too early for me to say but thus far, I'd definitely recommend Dr. Feller

Black guys are actually very lucky when it comes to HTs - their hair is curly, thick, and the contrast with the skin is much less which means their HTs usually look twice as good as anyone else's, and with fewer grafts. I'm sure you will be fine, just be sure to pick a great doctor!

I believe Dr. Keene places the hairline grafts herself and has her techs place all or part of the rest.

Provided, of course, that you beat the odds and notice any side effects at all.

Dr. Keene does have great feedback on this site and is considered a great HT surgeon. I'm sure you're in good hands with her. However, I would not discount a doctor just because he does not place grafts him/herself. Most doctors, including the great ones, have their technicians place grafts. In fact, in many cases the techs work with a particular doctor for 5-10+ years and can actually be better at placing grafts due to their experience with it! There was a long debate on this very topic on this forum a while ago, you may still be able to dig it up & read it. Anyway, I digress - good luck with your upcoming surgery! I'm guessing you're excited about it, I know I was about mine

A lot of it is, but it depends on the advice, doesn't it? What exactly are you asking about?

Hi Donna, If it's any consolation, my donor area hurt for the first few days after too. Now, 3 months later, it's still a *little* tight in places - nothing I notice most of the time, but if I feel it with my hand I can tell. For my donor area, it wasn't any piercing, bad pain. It was this dull, everpresent ache that you could ignore for an hour until you again realize it's there and have to ignore all over again. The first day, when not on painkillers, it made it difficult to think of anything *but* the pain. But it went away for me after 2-3 days and I'm sure it will for you. It's just something you need to go through. Soon enough it will be a distant memory

Bleach, the reason it wouldn't be ok is that if the hair you lost was accelerating MPB, the fact that you now stopped losing hair is only temporary. What everyone is saying is to wait a few years to make sure whether it's MPB or not. What happens if you get a HT to re-establish the hairline you had 6 months ago, and start to lose hair due to MPB in 6 years? You will be faced with a hobson's choice of continuing to get HTs with a low density of hair or shaving your head so the now-unnatural strip of hair growing in the front, ahead of a bald spot, does not show. The fact that you had no hairloss at all until now does not mean a thing. Nobody has hairloss until they do. If I were you I'd follow this course of action: - Meet with a dermatologist to see whether it's a skin condition causing it. - If the dermatologist says it's not a skin condition, chances are good you're destined for MPB. Take finasteride for at least 6 months and see if you're not losing any more hair. If that's the case and you still opt for a HT, be sure to let the surgeon know that you're possibly destined for MPB so he knows to give you a mature hairline. That means one that's higher than then one you used to have. If you have no further hairloss by the time you're 35, you can always lower it

Thanks for the comments & the encouragement guys. I'm not at the losing faith point; if anything, I'm excited! I mean, heck, there's hair growing outta my noggin!!! Seriously though, I was worked on by a top rank surgeon. I'm at the 3 month mark and there's visible growth. What can possibly be there to be unhappy about? My expectations right now are to have a decent amount of hair 3 months from now, thin but present. I'm hoping for 50% growth by then. I'm excited to be on track for that!