ADuckwithNoHair

Thank you Melvin, yes I am leaning towards FUT for my first procedure. I have met with Dr. Bloxham in person and had a video call with Dr. Wesley and would be confident going forward with either of them (though Dr. Wesley charges more $$$). Speaking to previous patients is a great idea and I will try to reach out via the forum and their clinic. Bold claims my friend . In your opinion who are the elites for FUT now? I don't mind heading away from the East coast. While Dr. Bloxham and Dr. Wesley are in my back yard I also consider their results world-class which is why they are at the top of my list.

Dr. Arocha, I've seen cases where a patient will go to one clinic, get poor growth, then go to a different clinic for a procedure of the same technique but get good growth. So the physiology of the patient isn't to blame, but outcomes can be wildly different. What aspects of a hair transplant are most critical to ensure good yield for patients?

This website is such a great resource for research and finding top notch hair restoration surgeons that ironically I'm very stuck on where to go among good choices. I'm currently 28 and seeking a surgeon for an FUT procedure. I've been quoted ~1500-1800 grafts for hairline repair by multiple clinics (I have photos posted on an earlier thread: here) Dr. Carlos Wesley - Completely raised the bar on the quality I thought was possible for interaction with the provider. Extremely responsive, attentive, and detailed. His results are superb and, reviewing his research and credentials, I believe he is always abreast of latest HT developments to achieve good results (i.e. using ATP holding solution for grafts to increase survival rate) Dr. Bloxham - Extremely skilled, and has a lot of experience/specialty in FUT. Video documentation of results is the best bar none. Scars are practically invisible. I see he has a lot of late-20's patients like me and achieved great results for them. Dr. Cooley - Did extensive research on results which are phenomenal and good proximity to NY. However I've been trying to get a consultation over the telephone since the start of the month and they still can't give me even a graft estimate until the 14th of July. Dr. Ron Shapiro - Also phenomenal results, if a little more on the conservative side. Haven't done consultation yet. Per research here he's an FUT specialist as well which is appealing. Clinic in MN where some family is so I can make a dual purpose trip out of it... If anyone can pitch in their experience on these surgeons or give me advice on what I should do next I'd really appreciate it. This thread has been half asking for help and half just getting my thoughts out in writing, lol. All this hair transplant research has me going bananas I guess

Thanks for bringing this up. It's an interesting consequence of FUT that I don't hear mentioned often/I haven't given much thought to. Do you notice any "face lift" effect after your procedure? Also wondering if FUT can change the positioning of the center of your whorl on your vertex.

This killed me 😆

Finasteride (pill), Minoxidil (topical or pill), Nizoral (shampoo), and dermarolling are effective.

No difference. I've been on the generic stuff and it's worked fine. The cost savings are massive

Last I saw from this guy his shtick was going around college towns and asking women to feel his abs? What's with the zen, self-help guru thing he's doing now lol. I am not a fan of the guy but it's obvious he's very sensitive about his hair, and I feel bad for him knowing he's going to watch it fade away now that he's off his meds.

I would like to ask Dr. Gabel's about his experience with FUT vs FUE graft yield rates. Many of us have seen the study that shows yields can be comparable. However according some top surgeons who perform both techniques including Dr. Bloxham and Dr. Diep, graft quality and survival rate for FUT is still better. Which is closer to the truth, per your patients' results?

I am still in the researching phase myself and looking at so many results from top surgeons, they do seem to blend into each other... While top surgeons are extremely proficient technically, they seem to have different ideals of naturalness and aesthetics. What should also boost your confidence is if you can find past cases from the doctor of patients who have the same hair type and wear their hair similarly to you. If you can look at the after for those patients and say "I like that" then you know the doctor is much more likely to give you the result you're looking for.

Try reviewing H&W and Dr. Rahal's cases to find patients like you - relatively young with only minor hairline recession. I have seen some such cases on their sites and I think for you there's potential for a noticeable cosmetic improvement. IMO the two things you should think about are using your grafts wisely with consideration to future loss (maybe a physical consultation with one of the clinics would be useful) and obviously cost. You have great hair and you're doing well to start on Fin and Minox at such an early stage of hair loss. About aches "down there" on Fin, I had those for a short time early on as well, and they went away 100%

Awesome result and great write up. The yield also looks great - every single one of those grafts was used to its full potential. Post-transplant, how do you like how it looks when you let your hair down similar to one of the pics in your OP?

Just received word back from H&W who suggested 1500 hairline grafts. Trying to get an in-person consultation booked soon to get a better understanding of what my donor supply looks like as well as a better estimate on graft count for hairline repair. My question still stands: Does FUT make sense for *relatively* low graft hairline repair? I never really wear my hair short. And again, where do I look for high-quality surgeons that are proficient with FUT? Sorry for committing the general forum no-no of double posting 😰. Any input is appreciated.

I've attached some photos below. The low graft count estimates are also partially because in my consultations I've expressed interest in the possibility of doing only one temple. My left temple has taken most of the beating. I'm content with my right temple as an acceptably mature hairline - the thought of getting graft work done there makes me a little bit antsy about having an age appropriate hairline in the future, though I haven't ruled it out completely. I'm on the East Coast - USA and don't mind travelling, even abroad.

Hello all! I'm currently 28 years old doing some very preliminary research on my options for hair transplants. I know my relatively low age works against me for predicting and planning around future loss, but my hair loss has (so far) been relatively stable and slow-progressing on Finasteride (1.25mg EOD). After reaching out to a few clinics for consultations, I've been advised my graft count for some temple filling work is somewhere in the 800 or less range. Obviously I want to maximize my yield and maintain the highest number of grafts possible for future which FUT seems better for. However on this forum I generally see FUT surgeries generally are for high graft surgeries, while more are using FUE for patch-up jobs similar to mine. Can anyone advise on whether FUT makes sense for lower graft-count sessions? If I can follow up with another question, where do I begin research on high quality FUT surgeons? The discussions on this forum seem to be much more centered around FUE surgeons and clinics.