TC17

I'd be dissatisfied with that result.

You don't look like a candidate for any type of surgery. Your donor appears to be thinning, and you already have extensive baldness at a very young age.

So far, so good, Joe!

Do you know how much area in centimeters has been covered in all of your surgeries?

Absolutely.

The work looks very nice and clean.

I cannot believe that is your scar after 6,228 graft, and only a few weeks post surgery. That is absolutely amazing. Kudos to Dr. Rahal.

Very impressive.

What's the deal with pictures 13 and 15? Is it just a lighting difference? You look much balder in 13 than you did in 15.

Also, can you post some side shots? The one of you post op seems to show an already extremely thin scar, and I'm curious to see how it's coming along after such a large session. I have little doubt that this will turn into another outstanding example of Dr. Rahal's terrific work.

Another great result, Dr. Konior. Any immediate post op and scar photos?

Perhaps it's the lighting, but your left donor side looks a bit thinner than the right side. Regardless, the work looks outstanding, and I bet that if you buzzed your hair down, nobody would be able to tell you had work done.

I'm sorry, but I do not believe that a doctor can accurately predict with any degree of accuracy the final balding pattern of a man if that man is in his 20's and 30's. When Robert McNamara died there was a post on this forum about the amount of hair he lost from the age of 45 on. I find it EXTREMELY unlikely that a doctor would have been able to look at 35 year old McNamara who was a NW 1.5 at the time, and predict that he would be a 75 year old NW 6.5.

http://www.nndb.com/people/387/000022321/robert-mcnamara.jpg

young McNamara

http://www.sanfranciscosentinel.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/07/mcnamara.jpg

McNamara in 1979, when he was 63! you can see he's thinning, but again, would anyone think he would have become as bald as he did when he died?

http://media.mcclatchydc.com/smedia/2009/07/06/11/768-070609-mcnamara-alone.standalone.prod_affiliate.91.jpg

McNamara shortly before his death, so he was in his upper 80's here

Bisanga seems to be one of the best for FUE. I've seen more full grown FUE results from him than I have any other doctor, and they've almost all been very good. It will be nice to track your progress.

For only six months, things are looking great for you. Is it just the lighting, or do you have some redness in the hairline still?

I can't wait to see how things progress in the next 12 months, I'm sure it's going to be great.

In the United States, the freedom to contract is very broad. You're free to bargain for almost any terms you want. If you don't agree with the boilerplate language found in the form contract the doctor presents, you can refuse to sign it and make a counter offer. The doctor then has the choice whether to go along with the terms you propose, make a counter offer to you, or simply refuse to perform the surgery.

I find 3% to be highly unlikely. Spanker, which doctor said that?

I absolutely love the design of this hairline. It's one of my favorite hairlines I've seen on this site.

Am I the only person who thinks that the strip was taken very high? There is no way that strip is within the safe zone.

Parsley is legit.

The number of available grafts shouldn't change much, if it all, regardless if whether you start with FUE or start with strip.

Why any young patient with a virgin scalp would choose strip over FUE is beyond me. I happen to think that strip is like a VCR, and we're in 1999.

gubter,

If your final balding pattern is a NW 6 pattern, and your donor density remains the same, then there is nothing wrong with transplanting conservatively at your age. However, because you're only 22, you potentially have that many more years to bald than someone who starts later in life. Your donor may thin, you may go beyond NW 6, and you might find yourself not a suitable candidate in 20 years.

I know it's not the most popular opinion, but like Sparky, I strongly believe that young people undergoing transplants should only opt for FUE.

mattj was right on target. We all want to believe that a doctor can look at our heads at age X and say that we will be NW pattern Y at age Z, but the truth is, that's not possible. There are some people who begin balding at age 20, go to a NW 4 by age 25, and never lose another hair. Others, like my family members, begin balding in their mid 20's to early 30's, and continue losing hair throughout their life.

I believe a lot of the misunderstanding stems from some posts that we all read on Dr. Rassman's blog where he says things that imply that the "final balding pattern" can be ascertained by around age 25. Miniaturization testing can certainly show a pattern developing that the naked eye cannot yet see, but like mattj said, it can't show what hasn't yet begun to miniaturize. No one, and no tool, can determine whether hair that is not yet showing signs of miniaturization, will eventually miniaturize.

First, FUE is the way to go after you've considered the pros and cons of the procedure, and weighed them against the pros and cons of strip. Then, it's up to you to make the decision that you feel most comfortable with. Don't let a doctor or a poster influence you one way or the other.

Second, Jeremy Piven's strip scar is not indicative of the vast majority of strip scars seen on this site every day. Yes, there are those occasions when a scar stretches, or when a scar is just bad for physiological reasons, but Piven's is an example of a very bad scar, not a normal one. Much like it was improper for EpileticSeizure to use a poor example of FUE as support for his anti FUE position, it would be improper to use a poor example of a strip scar as support for an anti strip position.

There are successes and failures with both methods. Nobody will argue that point.

Dr. Ron and Dr. Paul have both been performing FUE for the same amount of time, so I'd assume that their training level in the field is comparable. It is possible that one has more natural aptitude than the other, but there's no real way of knowing that.

The hairline looks very nice, it's good to see updates. Any chance we can see some better pics of the donor area? It looks as though there's some visible scarring, but with the low quality, it's difficult to tell.

Personally, I believe that because you're young, I think it's best that you go the FUE route. You can always have a strip surgery performed in the future if it's needed. However, you ultimately need to decide whether the limitations of FUE are outweighed by it's benefits, or whether the limitations of strip are outweighed by its benefits. There isn't a one size fits all approach.

H&W do great work, and they post more examples of that work than any other clinic, so you'll be in good hands if you decide to have strip with them.

Wow, this is one of the most impressive transformations that I've ever seen. I can't believe that he had so much regrowth from meds. And, a great use of so few grafts, Dr. Parsley. I swear, it seems as though you consistently do more with less than practically anyone.