Curious25

There has been a growing trend recently, of purposely over harvesting scalp donor, to maximise the scalp recipient area to its fullest aesthetic potential, and then later utilising BHT grafts to replenish the donor area. I must admit, I love the idea of this practice for a number of reasons; -Scalp donor is always the optimum donor source for the recipient area, both for survival and aesthetic purposes -Higher HGI in scalp donor -Longer anagen phase in scalp donor -Due to the positioning of the donor region on the head - greater illusions of density can be achieved, due to hair growth direction and the angles of light reflection, therefore reducing the need for such quality grafts to make an aesthetic difference - as opposed to the standard balding areas on the top of the head, where everything is alot more obvious and on display My questions to the community, and hopefully to any surgeons who may be reading are: How feasible really is this practice? Are there no implications implanting BHT into a donor area covered in scar tissue from prior FUT/FUE procedures? On average, how many extra scalp grafts would this be likely to create for a patient to be able to utilise? How long would one have to wait in between procedures of harvesting grafts from the donor - to the replenishing the donor with BHT? Is this technique just in its infancy, or has the concept and trials been happening for a long time now ? Thankyou,

Great hairline design! Few more sprouts Over the next 6 weeks and the maturation of the already popped hairs will leave you looking fantastic by fall. Are you on any medical therapy ?

Great pictures , can’t wait for the updates ! This is the first patient review of exosomes treatment I am aware of, so really interested. Have you stopped medication ?

Please don’t be disheartened by a surgeons assessment of your donor from a few photos you have sent online - pictures can be so misleading, even more so with short buzzed fine hair in the sunlight. An in person consultation is what you require - this is the most accurate way one can assess the true state of affairs! To me you look like a promising candidate, with a high sided nw6 pattern - plenty of great nw6 transformations on here for you to get an idea of what is able to be done these days, combined with some bht grafts, I think under a good surgeons hands, you will be a very happy patient when the time comes. Keep using the resources on this forum as much as possible, there’s so much great information available, and will really help guide you in the right direction!

Recipient is amazing, who have your doctors been, and do you have any pictures showing the extent of your loss before intervention?

Just continue it on here, it will be good to see for comparison. Your donor did look quite depleted on your first pre op pic at 3mm . . so its really interesting to see the difference that is being made here with this approach. Please could you also post recipient area photos from your previous transplants - and a bit more of a backdrop on your HT history? Thanks and happy growing

I’m not advocating or recommending the aforementioned clinics or surgeons that have so far been the topic of discussion on this thread, as I don’t feel equipped with enough knowledge to talk about any of them in depth . . However what I will say is that one of the best results I have seen on here came from Cinik’s clinic, @lukeyb1687 and the former editor of the site heavily backed for his recommendation.

I don’t think guys should be scrutinised for being conscious of their budget. You could be a NW6 millionaire, or a NW6 on £25k p/a - both have the equal right to want to do something about their hair loss - and there should be an acceptance that both will have varying capabilities of what they are able to do regards to financing. It would be wrong to suggest you should only go ahead with surgery if you have enough money to pay the top US/European prices , when there are very good results coming from lower cost clinics - (some of which are recommended on here may I add) because the community should be focused on representing hair loss sufferers as a collective, as opposed to promoting hair restoration being a solution for only those who can afford the top prices. This is simply not true in 2020. I understand the underlying message you are trying to convey, however I think it would hold more credibility if you were to angle it towards swaying people away from hair mills/unreputable clinics in general, and not make it an attack on the price conscious.

I’m very chilled ‘dude’, and I completely agree it is entirely your choice what you do with yourself. I just don’t buy a cardiologist being cool with you using it, when you’re using it off label for hair loss, and not a cardiac issue. Just to add perspective - oral minoxidil was originally developed as a blood pressure medication, however was widely avoided in favour of alternatives, due to having such a high risk side effect profile - and that was when considering prescriptions FOR its original purpose.

Yea, because it works, and they are hair restoration experts. Go and ask 5-10 cardiologists around the globe as to what they think about using it for hair restoration.

I highly doubt a cardiologist would advocate the use of a cardiac medication for hair loss. To potentially jeopardise your body’s most vital organ, in the vain of growing an unnecessary organ, defies all medical logic.

Great results man

Hi Melvin, What’s Happening with the Dr Arocha Q&A thread, is there any indication on when he will be responding to the questions? Also, off topic a bit - were you wearing toppik last night in the H&W Q&A ? Your hair looked really good.

It's a very subjective and personal decision, when choosing to take any form of life long medication - so this is why it is imperative to be as well informed as possible before making your mind up. From my experience, there is no doubt in my mind that severe consequences that can occur from this medication, and at a lot higher percentage rate than 'studies' suggest. Whats important to one man, may not be so to another - and for me, as much as I love my hair, my health is, and always will be the most important factor to me. So I didn't and don't feel the 'potential' ill side effects, are worth the trade off for the 'potential' positive side effects. I don't recommend to take it, or not to take it - just that people inform themselves as best they can, to make sure they make the right decision for them.

From my experience, donor hair characteristics tend to be stronger than other areas on the scalp, in particular from the occipital region.

15 pounds is a huge amount of weight to lose if you have not changed your diet, lifestyle or exercise routine? I'd consider getting that checked out first and foremost - it may be an underlying health issue. Best wishes

Amazing mate - one of the best NW6 transformations of the year so far on here. Still plenty of time for more improvement aswell!

Yet you are still adamant that Couto is such a good choice, despite not seeing any patient testimonials?

Visually you can create the illusion of having; at best (with favourable lighting and thick calibre hair) - full density on average - A non hairloss sufferer It will never feel or be full density, because it is 40-70% less than your native density.

Why do you recommend OP ‘definitely continues’ finasteride when he has expressed increasing concern over ill sides he’s experiencing ?

Looks great! One of the first HT vlogs I followed was a Nader patient on youtube, blonde american guy called Tom I think - your hair style in your 9 1/2 month reminds me of him, he wore his hair long also and it looked amazing.

Very interested to follow this, Dr McGrath seems to be one of the leading advocates for this, so the more information you can provide, the better! Keep us updated about what you decide to do with your finasteride treatment - from what I have read and watched, the pioneering surgeons behind exosomes seem to allude to the treatment being an option to be used instead of medical therapy, which should bode well, should you dc because of the sides. Wish you well

Wonder where he went for his procedure, it still looks good 5 years on! I'm pretty sure his team mate Ben Stokes is another cricketer to have undergone secret work,

You've still got a few months of growing time left, but I'd predict you'l likely need a second pass to meet your standards of satisfaction; not necessarily because this transplant failed, but because 1100 grafts with your hair calibre isn't a sufficient amount to have filled the size of area that you required.

Which clinic are you going to for your exosome treatment? And is there a follow up treatment plan in place, or just a one off treatment? There will be a lot of people on here eager to follow this, so please keep everyone updated - although analysis of results would be more accurate if you weren't undergoing any other treatments or medical therapies simultaneously. RE. finasteride - I'm sorry to hear you are dealing with side effects. It's ultimately a personal choice as to whether the retention of your hair is worth putting up with sides, however you owe it to yourself to make informed decisions based upon medical advice - your eye rolling doctor sounds irresponsible to say the least, and I'd suggest changing practitioners, and speak with someone who cares about your welfare.