scar5

MrBSharp,I would talk to Barry White's rep. just for the experience, but I would definitely not use him. Last time I checked with my friends, he was pretty rough, a really fast cutter and then he doesn't do the incisons himself. Give your cheque book and his money tin a wide birth

concepts I have a fair complexion, fine, graying brown hair and wanna buzz at number 1, but I have several HT scars and low density areas behind a reasonable hairline. I wonder what you make of these statements a) dots turn into blobs with time b) a shading effect is better than blobs c) Tatts look darker and lighter than the surroundig hair depending on the light conditions. Simply by twisting you neck the scar looks lighter or darker than the surrounding skin. How do you address this? d) All blacks, greys eventually go blueish e) given that tatts lose up to 50% of their color after a few weeks, there is no sense in trying to match the tones during the consultation. You have to estimate the fade and then compensate for it. As each person is different, how to you get around this? A test patch? MY Story A few years ago, Ht'd but running out of grafts, hoping to shave or buzz, I had fine dots tatooed on my scars. The dots dissolved into bigger blobs which were noticable. I was called out on them several times. Not good - so I lasered them off. Some remained and the the remaining blur does help. It gives me the impression that a graduated effect maybe better than dots - a kind of shading. As my hairline is fine, and being HT hair should remain so, the area behind it, as well as the scars is my target area. I haven't given up on the idea that tatts could considerably help me, especially with greying hair.

In case anyone is impressed with this 'thin scar' - BE AWARE - know fully well that the scar never looks as good as it does just after staple removal. Not to be a killjoy, b/c I'm sure a Dr. Feller patient has reasons to be optimistic about recipient area results, but a novice reading this might think that those scars are permantly going to be that thin - tey might but not likely. All my scares looked thin and perfect for at least 4 weeks after surgery, including the one that opened up to 12mm.

I think Dr. Umar is a good HT surgeon and I commend him for going along the FUE and BHT route. As a recipeint of strip scars I believe he is precious in the HT world. I remember when thrown off the HLH when I still wondered whether it was a legitmate enterprise. It was in the midst of a discussion about BHT, among his shills, I was easy prey, having gone to Arvind, a fact that Umar was not shy to point out. And then I was labelled a shill, a silent demon for Arvind. I was appaulled at the whole HT industry and it's web-affiliates. The Umar advocates, a.k.a. Attitus, and the Sosogood- "I'm odd to take my kid to the dentist" nonsense. I got one good out of it, that the wise know better. By the way Dr. Umar, I think Sofar has done you more harm than good.

I agree with Swagger's observation entirely and it is quite succinct as well. Combed back hair is the best option for creating the 'illusion of density'. The example that Bill posted is really not disputing this. The essentials are all there. The front hair line goes Up and Back. The rest behind can sit flat, be spiked or be combed over, in fact it can go which way where ever, EXCEPT if the crown is going, and then you really going for the 'comb back' look. Don't be fooled by the short and forward style of some Armani and other patients. They are not truelly NW 5s and 6s. Look more at the long Bobmans and Joetronics to get the picture.

EDIT to above - I use the term "misangled hair" in the third paragraph in the common way it is referred to. By my logic it could/should be "misorientated hair" but that sounds so daft, no one would no WTF I meant. Hope that's clear. Hence, "Subtle misangulation actually HELPS HTs2 could mean , "subtle misorienation" meaning the hairs were not orienteted 100% when they were placed. OK?

jd- A buzz is possible IMO, but everything has to go right and hair coloring maybe needed, so don't give up that and don't be talked into strip on account of it being impossible. It also has one factor in it's favor - time. The loss- even partial loss of pigmentation helps too. As Dr. Mohmad mentioned, it comes down to ANGULATION (the angle of the slit the doc makes) and ORIENTATION (the way the tech is holding the graft when he/she pushes the hair into that slit). Now IMO.. It maybe relatively easy to spot the optimal orientation for hair that has a clear curl but the slightest bend in the hair could turn out into a misangled hair. Subtle misangulation actually HELPS HTs in the sense of creating the illusion of volume. Comb back your HT hair and you will feel more spring in it for that reason. This might be all great until you decide that a buzz is needed. Dr. Charles adds an excellent point by saying it is crucial to use fine hairs for the front, but is that always practical? Where are these fine hairs to be found? Dr. Umar seems to use nape hair for this reason. Others say nape hair may not be stable genetically. It may be easy enough to say, well, we'll use all singles at the front but that is not enough. It must be a balacing act between the existing native hair and how those hairs are gonna look (when they are buzzed?) on a barren scalp in the distant future. JD - I'm not talking names, sorry man but I got burned before - I like to ask questions and I don't want any allegience to anyone/clinic.

THanks Doc. I notice the softening of HT hair keeps coming up. Just today I read Spex telling another newbie that it his hair will soften and relax. Dr. Mohmand, I have to say I honestly beleive that since my first HTs in 1988 until my last less than a year ago, the HT hair itself has never softened enough to achieve a natural look when the hair is too short unless it is coloured or is losing pigmentation. And hearing others lament about the same, I say it is the resposibility of good HT clinics to warn patients that with short hair, HT hair will NEVER look like the hair it replaced once the surrounding hair is native hair is dying IF it cut too short. Prudent hair styles help. Longer than an inch for a start. (I could when I had enough hair),. And as you point out, angulation is key - including the orientation of the graft at the point of placement not -just the slit angle- much neglected in HT talk IMO With people thinking of the buzz cut FUE route, i think they need to be extremely careful with angulation for this reason.

"The hair resembles its original calibre" - Yep, totally makes sense Bill. We have to keep in mind that hair from the rump of the donor is pretty thick and when planted at new angles in the recipient area can really stand out when short.I think that clinics often spin the line that the transplanted hair will 'soften up' and 'settle down' naturally after six months or so. It doesn't 'soften up' it is just growing the hair out make sit blend in better.

I have to disagree here. I think transplanted hair aquiring the characteristics of native hair is a bit of myth. In my expereince, it is growing out the hair that makes it look more 'blended in' or natural and people mistake it for the hair actually changing. Try cutting the transplanted hair really short again and you are back where you started - that wirey texture.

Good question. It's all too late for me however for a newbie with fine dark hair and light skin, i think they should give some thought to not only density, but hair length post-transplant and how this will effect the overall long term plan. HTs are a real risk on account of the thin hair IMO. The likehood seems to be that transplanted hair will be thicker and more stubly through the native hair - even if it is not minaturizing - and it often is. This accentuates the contrast for fine haired people with color contrast and the only solution seems to be to grow it longer. But if the crown is going bald, then it's a risk of getting the dreaded old man hair comb back look

In my experience, shockloss has occurred in unpredicatble ways, both in the donor and recipeint areas. In strip, the donor area around the incision has frequently shock lossed, but it has not been cosistane. Sometimes an inch or so will vanish and yet the rest on the line "holds on". In the recipeint it is more random. I've had temples and hairline areas eaten ou by shockloss, only to re-appear six months later. Shocloss for me has always been big and it always takes me six months to recover.