Sparse

Hi All, Here's a quick update with a few photos at the 5.5 month mark. As you can see, things are progressing nicely . . . and I couldn't be happier with the new look! All the best, Sparse

Thanks, Topcat, Sparky, and Hair28.

Most of mine stayed in until about 2.5 weeks, and then they started falling out in droves . . . by 4 weeks I only had 20-30 left. Those guys stayed for the duration.

BeHappy: I'm sorry to hear you have so much residual numbness - even 20 years after your procedure. I had no idea that sort of outcome was even possible!

Wow: 4700 grafts upfront on your hairline? You're going to have amazing density! The work already looks outstanding, and I can't wait to see how it fills in over the coming months. Grow well.

Thanks, chantal: very helpful.

Congrats again, Comb. When you have a moment, I'm really curious to know what sort of specific comments you're getting from family and friends. It's such an impressive transformation, I'm sure people must be talking . . .

Bump: any other takers?

Thanks Bill, HTI, Nicky, jmg, and Goldilocks! Anyone else care to weigh in?

Excellent. And how would you rate your numbness (0-10) immediately post-HT?

My own reply: 1) immediate numbness = 9 2) 3-months = 6.5 3) n/a 4) n/a 5) n/a 6) 5566 grafts strip (Hasson 7/28/09), 3600 placed in frontal third, ~2000 in crown and middle third.

Hi All, As a clinical researcher, I'm all about addressing questions with data whenever possible, and I'm hoping several of you might be willing to help me explore a question I've been pondering: How common is post-HT scalp numbness, and how long does it typically take to resolve? (I'm motivated by the fact that I'm nearly 4 months post-HT, and I still have considerable numbness.) If you have a few seconds to spare, please pass along the following data about your HT: 1) Using a 10-point scale (where 0 = no numbness at all and 10 = the entire affected scalp is completely numb), please rate the degree of your post-HT scalp numbness immediately after your procedure. 2) Using the same scale, please rate your numbness at 3-months post-HT. 3) Using the same scale, please rate your numbness at 6-months post-HT. 4) Using the same scale, please rate your numbness at 12-months post-HT. 5) How many months did it take for your scalp sensation to completely return to pre-HT levels? 6) Please give details of your procedure (FUT/FUE, #grafts, graft placement, etc.) Also, if you've had more than 1 HT, please feel free to supply the above data for each one. Many thanks in advance!

That's a nice transformation for 6 months. Dr. Shapiro: How would you describe the patient's hair characteristics? It's hard to tell from the pics, but I'm guessing his hair is a bit on the coarse side? Was that a factor in your decision to go for high coverage (>130cm2) at relatively low density (30 grafts/cm2)? P.S. Are those pics with flash or without?

That work looks fantastic - and you're going to have incredible density. After 2 or 3 months of "doldrums" the real fun begins . . . hang in there, and grow well!

That's some nice looking work - performed by the Da Vinci of hair transplantation!

Aaron, That's a great job of documenting your progress, and it's nice to see the new growth picking up steam. Good luck in the months ahead!

Looking good, Teach. And you can look forward to a huge increase in density over the next 4-6 months. Please keep us all posted!

Emperor: Psychologists have abundantly documented this sort of distorted thinking, and it turns out to be widespread. It results from something called the availability heuristic, a fancy way of saying that people tend notice vivid events (e.g., spectacular HT results) and bring them much more easily to mind than more average events (e.g., meh HT results) when predicting how likely a given event will be in the future. Thus, we become easily convinced that stellar HT results are much more common than they truly are. To make matters worse, we then succumb to confirmation bias, which causes us to avoid and/or disregard any less-impressive results that don't match our overly rosy belief about how wonderful most HT results really are. It's an all-too-human tendency, and one we all need to guard against!

Ok, I found Shuffle's blog on H&W's site: http://www.hairlosshelp.com/websites/shuffle/ He required 2 HTs to get that impressive density: one with Jones for 2600 and one with Dr. Hasson for 5200.

Your pics actually look pretty impressive to me. Any chance you could post a YouTube video to give us all an even more realistic sense of your result?

I couldn't find a blog for "Shuffle," and I'm curious to see his "top 1%" result . . . would you happen to have a link to his HT pics?

Bb, Both docs are excellent, of course, but I'd recommend that you spend several hours poring over the patient photos and high-quality videos on each surgeon's site looking to see the results of patients who started out looking more or less like you do right now - and go with the one who consistently delivers the outcomes that you'd like to see for yourself. That was what led me to choose Dr. Hasson (and it wasn't even a close call), but I know individual results may vary. ;-)

CalJudoka, I'd suggest that you look not just at the pics on each surgeon's website, but also at the high definition videos of HT patient results: they provide a much more accurate indicator of each HTs effect, inasmuch as they will reveal the quality of work from all angles, expose any weak "illusions" of density, etc. That was an important criterion for me in my search for an HT surgeon. Oh, wait, never mind: you'll only find such videos on the H&W site. Hmmm . . . It's also informative to look at the documentation patients have provided over the years on their own blogs. You can search by HT surgeon at the following: http://www.hairtransplantnetwo...by_doctor.asp?DrID=0 While you will find few (if any) well-documented cases of jaw-dropping pre-post transformation under Dr. Reed's tab, there are many such cases on H&W patient blogs. I'm just saying . . .

Very nice result, Joe - especially at 8 months out and "only" 3339 grafts. On the latter point, was that number of grafts chosen because: (a) it was all that could be harvested given donor laxity/density; (b) it was all the patient wanted to spend in one session; or © it was all that was needed to achieve the desired result? Also, regarding the donor scar . . . on the only post-HT profile pic, I believe I can make out the faint outline of the scar's path based on a slight difference in hair texture. It's very subtle, and I'm sure no one would notice - or if they did they'd likely just assume a little residual hat-head.

Thanks, hrvoje. I agree, by the way, that the pre-post comparison is the most compelling: that's definitely where most people spend the bulk of their time on the galleries. But I know I'm not the only one out there who's found it reassuring to have access to dozens of well-documented examples of what others have experienced at 2 weeks, 1 month, 2 months, 3 months, etc. - it gives a great basis for comparison, and a helpful way of putting one's own results in context. (For me, that meant things like, "oh, ok, this continued scalp pinkness at 2 months is not so freakish after all, as about 1/4 of the guys with similar work seem to have it.") Anyway, I hope your 'ugly duckling' phase is brief and painless, and that you'll be growing well in no time!