I'm new to the forum and haven't read every post but wanted to get something out there about my experience, which I think will be unique to other posts. First, the reason I've decided to post at this time is that I went to Dr. Jerry Cooley in Charlotte NC, Monday 11/12/18 for a hairline extraction with the extracted hair being transplanted to the top of my head. Today is 11/15/18, the 4th day since my procedure, and I am happy with the results and have a lot of praise for Dr. Cooley and his staff. I have found there is more to this than just transplanting the hair. Dr. Cooley uses various methods to ensure maximum graft survival such as PRP + ACell and other "after procedure" protocols that I have not experienced. To complete my hair transplant plan, I will wait a few months and go back to Dr. Cooley to have my hairline refined using the FUT method from the sides of my head.
I am sure a lot of you have questions about the procedure I had done and why I'm having an FUT instead of FUE for my next procedure. To explain further, let me give you a little history of how and why I got to where I am today.
In the late 1980s I had developed a receding hairline and for the first time, I saw some newspaper advertisements for hair transplants. Remember, the internet wasn't around at that time so there were no pictures to see or patients to discuss this with. Convinced that everything would be okay, I contacted the surgeon and scheduled a "consultation", which really turned out to be just me scheduling my appointments (yes, that is plural with an "s"). I scheduled 4 appointments, 3 months apart, where numerous rather large plugs would be taken from the back of my head to create a new hairline. I underwent 3 of these procedures until I finally had enough. Every time new hair started to grow, I had to go back for more work, not to mention the combover hairstyle I had to use to cover everything up. I didn't want anyone to know what I was doing but I think they knew anyway. Fortunately for me, what I had done eventually grew in and with my existing hair, I was able to wear a fairly long natural looking Beatles type hairstyle for about 30 years. Even with that, I was always conscious of my "plugged" hairline and never let anyone touch it. And I always turned away when the wind blew in my face. Unfortunately, as I got older, my hairline kept retreating, and the hair on top of my head gradually got thinner. To help with the thinning, I got a prescription for Rogaine, which was required when I started. Later, I just bought minoxidil over the counter much cheaper. I also got a fill in procedure from another doctor 3 to 4 years ago that didn't go as wall as anticipated.
That's all I have for not but if enough of you show interest, I will continue with more details about my 30 year hair transplant history and my current experience with Dr. Cooley in future posts.