scar5

Ah..the old favorite question. Are we getting any smarter at answering it after all these years? The moth eaten look is a favorite shot for strip clinics. Dr. Cole's pre-CIT era FUEs produced quite a few, but the one he is flogging in his promotion nowadays looks fine. Small tools and good hands do away with the moth But if it comes to yield, it seems to me strip results look better. Exceptions maybe Cole and W**&s . THen we have the docs who do both and seems to me - this is just a personal opinion - that there is a kind of mind-set that gets promoted which says, strip for big, fue for small. I think it's false in terms of pure HT results, but it sure makes sense when you consider time and money patient clinic economics

I would like to reply to this because I must respectfully take issue to some of these points. But first, may I say, Plug free, your hair looks great and well done for achieving your desired look. I want to open up some of the points you made, because I honestly think there are many people in our position and I think people should look very carefully before going down the browlift road. Yousaid, " The best you can achieve with individual plug excision is a softer hairline at the same, or slightly lower, level (due to necessary camouflaging)." This is simply not the case. You can take every single hair out and raise the hair line as high as desired bith plug-by-plug. Morover, with plug-by-plug you are free to strategically remove the plugs so that you are not left with a blunt line at the incision. IMO, if you have already had lots of camuflaging done, it is messier to plunch put all the plugs. You may need several procedures. But the benefits outweiog the costs IMO then you went on to list the benefits. "1. The most obvious benefit is the aesthetics of raising the hairline to a more natural and 'age appropriate' level (see information readily available re: 'mature' vs. 'juvenile' hairlines)." see my point above, and note that unnatural linear line , blunt line left behind requires more camoflaging. In your case that worked well, but in my case it required a lot of time and money for reasonable results You said "2. By raising the hairline, you leave yourself with less surface area requiring redistribution" Also not true. Your head is the same size as before. Sure you have defined new boundries by having a higher 'line' but this can also be done plug-by-plug 3. YOu said, "The entire area's vascularity (including the non-transplanted areas between the plugs) is already compromised by the scaring that naturally occurs as a result of the transplant, itself. That random scaring is eliminated and reduced to a localized, thin strip scar. This results in a less 'vascularly compromised' recipient site for the new transplants, which improves the odds of achieving better graft survival rate." If the area is already compromised and growing hair, then the circulation is evidently good enough. If it doesn't grow hair, no need to remove it. A linear cut is deep and long and "cuts a lot more wires". It was no surprise to me that shock loss after my brow lift was the worst I had ever experienced. "4. You get a 'free' brow lift in the process, leaving you with a slightly more youthful appearance. " Certainly true, but it is unpredictable. I am no beauty and it didn't help me. What you didn't mention, is tha the brow lift cause the skin to "crumple in" so that both sides of the linear excision can meet and be joined. This is necessarily so because the circumference of the cut cannot be divided 50-50, it must be distorted in order for the join to be made and this requires squashing the bottom portion slighly. Same as rear strip but more revaling at the front. In my case, the shape of my head became more elliptical above the cut. Wierd to me, but probably not noticable to anyone. One again congrats to you plugfree and for the Docs good work. I just want to help put some more perspective into the discussion. Good luck to you Lawtech

OK, then. I can see why you were warned against a brow lift. With those plugs on a NW6 barren crown, it is still possible to conceive of a full-blown mega seesion to disguise the plugs back and front, but a reversal is probably on the tip-of-the tongue at a glance. Dr. Harris, is a strip-FUE doc situated in the U.S. Well respected and capable of giving a frank assesment. About 7 or 8 US dollars a plug but worth checking out. He probably has some fancy name for his clininc or technique. Oh..and don't think the UK will help you. Brussells is a must-check too. If they are giving you grief, do check Harris.

i hear you Bach. So then, can you posta few more pics? Have your spoken to Dr. Harris? What did he say? i will say this, the complication arises from the patients' side and from doctors' side differently.

Damn..I just made a decent reponse to this and used a trigger word, basically, I suggested, (not knowing your situtaion) 1. Your options are not skin graft vs browlift 2. Plenty of docs do plug-by-plug successfully even regulat strip-only docs, Jotronic has ahd a few punched out I think. 3. Unless you're already scarred, loads of donor, why create the trauma of browlift strip reduction. p.s. 3 different docs have punched out plugs from my noggin and i've also had a browlift

Bachstrad, without knowing your pics and story, I would say the doc was right to warn you like that, but I don't understand why the choices you see are limited to a) strip-brow-lift or b) a skin graft. Why not just remove the plugs by punching them out? I have seen this from BHR, Woods in fact, most good strip docs do the occasional FUE removal without a hitch. I think Joetronic may have even had a few nasty ones punched out. Seeming the issue of brow lift vs plug-by-plug seems to be on the agenda here, my 2 cents would be, unless you have a ton of donor hair available, a pre-existing strips scar behind and the the plugs needed to removed are not isoalted easily from the surrounding hair i.e. you had smaller FUs put in to disguise the plugs, why create the trauma and scarring that comes with a brow lift?

Lawtech, I just saw the video, the youtube video, that Aaron posted. That guy looks good with the comb back, but nothing in that video tells me anything that would apply to your situation judging by your pic. I would suggest a plug-by-plug approach for you rather than a strip reduction.

I don't know about this doctor, but I have had this procedure. It's hard to say whether it would suit you not having seen your pictures. It seems drastic to me, I would have not done it had I another chance, but it might suit you. the scar is not too bad, the head is a little changed in arc but in my case, the worst thing for me was that it left remaining HT hair behind the cut and this hair looked nasty forcing me to spend more money, down time and precious grafts HTing into the areas in front. While that worked, the troops behind were dying. Do your research. If you are hoping to recretae a full head of hair, I would be wary.

The best clinics in the UK are in Belguim. The three listed are all good.

You look completely different. It is just amazing what hair color and volume can do. All pics look brilliant except picture number 9, where I think the right side comb back shows that the hairline is too linear. That could be corrected by placing grafts in a more jagged line up front.

Those figures you're throwing out there are a little rough..maybe you just wanna provoke discussion bt I think people will be wary. Anyway, although the topic is well covered it will always have a relevance as long as people are getting reults with both and both are producing results. With transection..both have transection, both have collatoral damage but with strip the 'fat factor' helps the graft survive, maybe it's a cushion, an insulation, protection from de-hydration? so this puts the onus on the FUE surgeon and his/her team to be super vigilent in regards to the the extraction and handling of the FUE grafts and from donor to recpient site, the graft will be handled how many times and how many people will handle it? 1) The extraction tool will surround it and purge it (1) from the surrounding tissue 2) A different tool, and quite possibly, a different pair of hands, will pull it (2) out of the skin, hopefully in one motion and place it on to the rubber surface of the surgical glove on the their other hand 3) Then, as the grafts build up on the surface of the glove, another pair of hands, again in the grasp of a tool, will pick it up(3) put it in a tray 4) Then, again, another set of hands will pick it up(4), examine it and sort it(5) according to the number of hairs in the follicle 6) Then another pair of hands will pick it up again (6) out of the tray and slide it into the recipient site -this often requires more than one gentle push so (7) + So that graft is subject to squeezing at least 6 times, on two surfaces, that makes 12 hits. By far the most traumatic would be the extraction THATS WHY THE WHO DOES THE WORK IN FUE IS VITAL and with the variety of extraction tools on the market, it's anyone's guess which is good, right? Maybe so, until I know about these new machines for sure, I would consider the best protocol to be doctor does everthing! If that's not possible, the bare minimum would be, 1) Doctor does all extractions (the punch part, not the pulling out part) 2) Uses a manual extraction tool 3) makes all recipient holes 3) a small team of techs does the rest I don't like strip scars so I don't recommend strip unless you are 100 and then it's probably not safe anyway, but I have no doubt in my mind that strip grafts survive better, on the other hand strip does waste a lot of grafts through transection. 1) Linear Incision line, I7ve been personally told by a very respected doc, that 5% casualty rate along the line (remeber that line is twice as long as the strip scar you get before its circumference is joined) is the best you can hope for. But a good think about this is, they wont transplant much of that stuff, hopefully. When the strip is slices and diced, there is transection during the slithering process, where the steak is cut up into smaller pieces and then more duringt he process itself, ut once again, you may never have these put into your head. THe dissecting tech cannot fully see th graft they are chopping out , only the exposed side, but with experience, they would have a pretty good idea and once they start chopping they probably get a feel for a way a particular patients characteristics are. I think less techs is better, but slower. Finally, don't forget the telegen hairs in a strip. They survive the FUE purge but wjere do they go in the strip. The bin is my guess. God luck with the search

I have had this procedure myself. The Good Scar is not a concern - alittle whiter than scalp but firn Instant result the not so good the curve of the scalp changes the eyebrows raise up, and despite my exceptionally good looks, even i have to say it looks a bit facelifty if that makes sense shock loss!!!!!!!!!!!!! Overall, a BAD mistake for me personally, but I was surprised by the healing characteristics considering the back of my head was so butchered

I think it comes down to the hairstyle personally. If you are going for a short cut, I beleive the doc should go flatter than the existing remaining native hair because transpanted hair is coarser, especailly amongst native hairline hair. The other thing I figure is, i think we get transfixed on the mirror frontal picture at times.

Ths is a great topic because some people are thinking about a buzz cut with fue as a way out of being bald. Not that they are wrong, however, the contrast between HT hair, donated from the rump in the NW 7 zone, buzzed down, on a shiny scalp with minaturized hair behind is a challenge for some . I think it boils down to two things, anglulation and color contrast. having said that I think sometime the texture contrast is too striking. I think it might also be worth asking the doc about planting the hair super-flat if the buzz is intended, becauase the coarseness of HT hair is magnified when buzzzd.

..and one more thing.. i will personally pay for your flights if I could get rid of my strip scars.

22, I don't know your history, but I assume you have done some research. As a teacher, I know that your students will spot that HT (and scar) quick (post-surgery) and possibily 20 years later when your donor naturally thins, unless you disguise it well. I would go to H&W in a heart beat over any Aussie strip surgeon, but I don't know if you have thought about the possibilities that FUE might offer you. Obviously you know the name of the most famous cranky and Fue doc that works in Sydney. Assuming you've by-passed that route, are you hell-bent on getting a strip surgery?

My dad, no hairloss drugs as far as I know, lost steadily until he arrived safety in NW 6 land by 35, and then then a steady and slow loss to NW 7 by about 55-60. I lostt aggresively to 25(nw3), then stabilized to about 40 and then plunged again, but during the latter two stages I messed with minox, a short burst with avodart, and have been on generic fin, (Fincar) for three years. It's an interesting question and from my experience I don't think I would assume that the loss tapers off

It might not be as starightforward as that when you put hairloss drugs into the picture.

re: doctor kneeling in my Dr. H scenario, now thet should read kind of hunching down so he can look up into the hairline he or she is making A doctor on his/her knees would definitely be starnge!!lol But seriously, tainted, it could have changed, but I think you should look elsewhere. just my experience

Everyone is niave and the risk of showing off more of my niavety... As Alex Baldwin said in the movie Gelngarry Glenross, "Nice guy?? I don't give a F&%$" Imagine Dr. H and Dr. T. and two aspects of HT surgery Excising the strip Dr. H cuts extremely slowly and purposfully, attempting to avoid transection and as the tech keeps tension on the adjoining edges of the strip he starts the closure on two levels, by suturing the underlying tissue first - so as he goes so that the strip is being closed. The excision is slow and takes maybe 20 minutes or more Dr. T Cuts the strip in one movement like he he is chopping up a piece of steak and hungry to eat it. The sides are roughly squeezed together, the skins buckles, the patient is aware of the uneven pressure and before he knows it the staples are in. The whole excision and closure lasts a minute. Creating the reipient sites Dr. H The doctor stands around the patient at different angles whilst creating the incisions, sometimes kneeling to look up to get a better sense of these angles. Dr. T Lets's a designated tech do the job, coming out of his office for check-ups and patient re-assurance. The tech stands high above and behind the patient, in one position, and creates the sites with a downward movement. THe angles are a non-issue, no matter what the patient says, she has a way of doing it and that's the way it will be done, because she's been trained that way. My imaginings ciome from a long time ago and things change. Good luck with everything..I think I can undersatnd some of the disincentives for not going OS..not the least that you have to explain why the ..you are going in the first place

It must be instinctive and automatic because it seems like an instant thing. Once you notice a distracting or ugly feature you start looking for ways to get out and away and smiling only encourages more interaction, which you instictively don't want. If I reverse the situation I am not surprised the least that I am smiling at nice things. Self-confidence, of course is the other factor, but looks play a part

I would definitely skip White and if Melbourne isn't good, go to Sydney, speak with the unmentionable man and his sister but don't commit and start planning for your overseas HT - that is of course if you are committed to having one in the first place. (I think mine was a mistake) JJ - Yes, Richard the Great. NOt once, twice, but 6 times. My life changed for the worse that day but some of it was my doing. I will say that to his credit, I looked good from the front dead on for ten years, but the rest isn't good.

I started with Shiell and then White, both Melb, and I wouldn't recommend either. Don't know what there is Australia nowadays, but there doesn't seem to be much except an unmentionalbe (flag) famous doc in Sydney. It might be enlightening to visit him if your'e up in Sydney for some reason, otherwise, yeah, stick with the good advice you get here

Maybe, while u wait, it might be worth a trip to Brussells. There are several clinics doing FUE there.

I think the pre-op pic you have withe buzzed head and the black shirt looks cool. You are in my opinion, lucky not to have a strip scar and I agree with Shanti's second suggestion. Shave it off or buzz it low. Armani blows big time for this, thanks for sharing. As I said though, be happy you don't have the strip scar because it seems to me, you could pull off the buzz better than many