Cant decide

Everyone on here is going to tell you the same thing. Feller True Dorin Bernstein They each have their own sterngths. If you expand on what is important to you, I am sure those of us on here can narrow it down to who may be best for you in our opinion of course. Good luck!!

Thanks for keeping us updated. Congrats on your progress. I am jelous since I am 2 months behind you after a procedure with Dr. Rahal Good Luck!!

Good luck!!

Congrats. I had mine done with Dr. Rahal on Oct 14th (5229 Grafts). Looks like you have good density as did I thankfully. See you at the finish line Good luck!!

With all due respect to Dr. Shapiro, the above makes no sense in my unprofessional opinion. I think it is standard now adays for the hairline to be transplanted mostly with singles. One needs to consider the amount of hair per graft and not just grafts per sq sm. If I plant 60 per sq cm in the hairline, thats 60 hairs per sq cm. If I plant at 55 sq cm immediately behind that with 2 hair grafts, thats 110 hairs per square centimeters which means the density is actually getting greater as we go back. If you plant at 45 sq cm in the vertex with twos and threes, on average, you get 112.5 hairs..... In the end, what you have is a sort of evening out of densities in terms of actual hair count even though grafts per sq cm is decreasing as you go back.

There boards are funny. It seems like people posting great results comes in waves as does people posting bad results. I think we are in a period now where a good number of people are posting bad results. It is my understanding that no growth or very low yield with a good doctor is pretty rare but over the last couple of weeks, there must be 4-5 guys that are complaining about no growth at 6+ months. I am at one month and this makes me very nervous. I think we all agree that it is "Rare" but with the number of these guys on the board today, I am not do sure anymore. It could just be that these guys (and rightfully so) have somthing important to blog about and thats why is seems they are larger in number than they really are but it still gives be pause and makes me wonder if that 1, 3 or 5 % that we all reference is truely accurate.

Good luck friend. You will be in good hands. I am at three weeks and the ugly duckling phase in full on. Looking ahead to brighter days though. All the best

In the interest of keeping this thread updated, I went to have my sutures removed today at Dr. Rahal's office. I drove eight hours from the US but felt it was worth it since I would rather know first hand my progress instead of having a local clinic remove the sutures who would offer no opinion. Mike did a great job making sure they were carefully removed with no pain at all. The scar is healing nicely and even though it’s early, there is no sign of stretching at all. The recipient area has some major crusts and valleys but less than Mike had thought would be the case due to the size of my surgery. I am really glad that I get to shower now and look forward to getting all of these crusts off. I have some minor numbness in the donor area which is normal and no donor tightness to speak of. I have shed a few hairs but I would say that over 80% are still intact. I am sure most will fall out along with the scabs. Dr. Rahal came in to check me out and spent 30 minutes answering more of my questions; Some of which he already answered earlier . I must say, he is very patient and accommodating and does not make you feel rushed in the slightest. I know you all like to see pics and I give allot of credit to those who document with pics from the beginning but I prefer to start posting pics once I start to see some progress. Therefore, I will post some pics at that time. I still think it’s useful to share these experiences with the group to help those wondering about going for a large procedure with Dr. Rahal. I must say, he and his techs were able to handle it with ease and actually could have done a few hundred more as well. Now I just need to figure out how I am going to return to the office in 4 weeks coming up with some clever story; suggestions are welcome.

Very very nice. Amazing actually.

Glad for you. Congrats and good luck with everything. Dr. Feller is no doubt one of the very best. I am at day 7 myself and trying to be patient

Congrats my friend. You picked a great doc IMO. Good luck!!

As others will tell you, distance should not be an issue. I personally went to Dr. Rahal whom I think has the overall package. Different surgeons excel at different things but I think Rahal puts it all together as good as anyone. Very ethical as well and a very well run clinic. The docs you mention in NY are also good from what I have heard so you really cant go wrong there. I would lean toward True and Dorin in NY or Bernstein. Bernstein is pretty conservative and it sounds like in your case, a conservative, good long term plan will be very important to you. Good Luck

Let me add a few more details for those interested. I am 38 and a NW4-5 (closer to a 5 I would say). The decision to have this done has been 10 years in the making and I am glad I took all that time to come to my decision; dodging a couple of bullets along the way. I am currently on Propecia, Rogain, Nizoral Shampoo, and MSM. I did about 30+ min of laxity excersizes a day for 5 weeks prior to surgery which Dr. Rahal said helped in giving me a very laxed scalp allowing for a good size strip while still getting a closure with minimal tention on board. The proecure from the time I walked into the office to the time I left was about 12 hours long. I went in for post op follow ups the next two days and then went on my way home to the U.S. Take Care

Hi All - I had my first transplant with Dr. Rahal on Oct 14, 2010. Needless to say, it was a very positive expierience and the entire staff did an amazing job in every way. We were shooting for 4500 grafts but the good doc said he would try and get as much as he could. He ended up getting 5229 and could have gotton over 6000 but stopped short of excising ear to ear since he knew financially, I did not want to go over 5000 if possible. I was shocked at my donor density to say the least. The front 1/3, midscalp and part of the vertex were covered and I was told I still have another 5000 grafts at least to take from in future procedures if needed. The breakdown was as follows: 543 ones 2752 twos 1839 threes 95 fours 11994 total hairs Thanks to Dr. Rahal, Adrian, Mike, and the rest of the talented techs who worked on me during this marathon procedure. You guys are truely a class act. I will see about posting pics in the near future. All the best

Hi Guys - I am going in for surgery in a couple of weeks. What type of hat do you guys recommend wearing post op? I would like to wear a ball cap but it may be too tight. Can you suggest any other type of loose fitting hat that is at least somewhat en vogue? Thanks

Do yourself a favor and go to one of the coalition docs recommended on this site for your repair. They are the best in the world compared to Distefano who is "ok" in my opinion.

As far as I know, nothing has changed with respect to recovery time as of a couple of years ago. I am curious why you think Toppik cant be used until 3 months after surgery even if the head is shaved. Your old hair should grow back albeit to a lesser extent due to shock loss but there should be enough hair for the Toppik to adhere to.

Can anyone recommend a good travel pillow to use post op while sleeping on a recliner to limit donor contact with the chair? Thanks

Great, thanks Christine. Can you tell me what the density is behind the hairline?

This is obviously a home run result regardless of charetceristics. How in the world were you able to achieve such a result with only 2336 grafts? Can you by any chance post graft placement info, grfats per sq/cm, etc. Well done!!

Very very nice!! Can we have some detail on graft placement and grafts per sq cm? The post op pic looks like none were placed on the crown but his crown seems to have filled in. Maybe he is on propecia? Thanks

BUK: It depends on your level of Hairloss. In general, I would say that if your a NW 3, then 2000-2400 will make a nice cosmetic improvment. If you are a NW 4+, I would go to a doc that will give you 3k minimum IMO.

It will make a big difference!!

Personally, I think some doctors (even the very best) simply do not like to do sessions over 3500. It is either that they do not have the staff to support such a session or simply feel more sessions with less grafts is best. I know Bernstein takes this approach. There are others (Like H&W) who try to give you as much as possible with as few surgeries as they can. I can see both sides. What I dont like is when one doc tells you its "Not possible" when they know very well that it is possible; just not in their hands. What we need to do as patients is find the doctor who can give us what we need for our specific situation. The doc you spoke to is simply wrong if that is what he said. Docs like H&W, Rahal and a few others are doing large sessions of 4000+ pretty routinely. That does not mean they can achieve this quantity in all cases but they are among the best at achiving high numbers of grafts in one sitting in the appropriate patient. I personally would choose a doc who could get me the largest number of grafts in one sitting;espececially if I am a NW 4+. Good Luck

I think you can go far shorter than 2-3 cm and still easily cover up this size scar.