Sunnycoastman

Thanks everyone for your encouragement. Im seeing growth already and am quite confident I'll have a good result considering the amount of hairloss i had. Bill, i gave up competing a long time ago. I had a choice...keep going and take drugs to keep up with the others or stop. i chose to stop. I could have done well in NZ at the time if I took the juice but it was against my principles.....so I won the novice Mr NZ and a few regional open titles....at the time bodybuilding was a big deal to me but now Im glad I didnt take steroids. BB, Ive had shoulder injuries in the past. currently I have a tendon giving me trouble in my elbow....its very annoying and painful for bicep and lat work. shoulders tho get used in almost every upper body exercise. my shoulder injury was a rotator, on top of the shoulder and quite painful. my thoughts on any injury are that the worst thing you can do is stop working the muscle. Instead you need to strengthen it. You just need to be careful with the exercises you choose and do slow controlled reps. so you need to strengthen the shoulder even tho you have the injury. not easy. If its front delt then bench presses will kill it so move to cable flyes. Cable exercises are great with injury areas because they allow you full control and sustained tension without going heavy. If its side delt dont do lateral raises. switch to a bent over cable lateral if it dosnt hurt but one side at a time and then do a seated machine press, and alternate, one set of bent laterals then a set of machine seated press. you pre exhaust with the laterals so you dont need to go heavy on the presses but still give the shoulders agood workout. One important thing. with presses only go to HALF WAY down. let the plates just touch at half way then press again. Its a half movement but will enable you to strengthen your delts with still decent weights. Its hard to advise without specifics but with a shoulder injury you cant go too heavy. dont do behind neck press or standing lateral raise unless theres no pain at all....be careful of dips as well. they can cause a shoulder injury to blow up. For me I kept up the pre exhaust with medium weight presses....sometimes I even went heavy an thrashed them.....took me 3 months but the shoulder strengthened and healed with no size loss at all. Now Im working thru this friggin elbow injury....aging sucks big time cz I like to go as heavy as i can but cant....the body wont take it anymore....so bicep curls and lat work hurt but Im persevering and warming up slowly but still doing the same exercises but only with a medium weight...pees me off but Im hoping it will slowly come right. good luck with the shoulder. cheers sunny

Hi MM, Im 4 months out and I can still see the colour but others dont notice becz i brush my native hair over it and I have a little new growth there as well. But from 1 month to about 3 months I used womens face powder on it. It works and its quick and easy. you just pat it on with the brush they give you and blend it in and the redness is gone. They have different shade powders for different skin types. I just went down to the local pharmacy and said I had a skin reaction on my head and could they find a powder to suit. It takes about 30 secs to apply. much easier than applying any sort of liquid. cheers sunny

The link is to a weightloss programm site. I guess you pay to get advice and a program, but after reading what they said, that weight loss has nothing to do with calorie intake...well, sorry...thats nonsense. fact is weight loss has everything to do with calorie intake and the speed of your metabolism and how your body processes the foods you eat. regular aerobic exercise will speed your metabolism. eat a little less energy than you expend and you'll lose weight. dont do extreme diets.....eat the foods you like but watch portion size, exercise regularly, do weights if you want to shape your body. theres no "secret" to all this. cheers sunny

I did seated upright machine bench press so that the back of my head wasnt touching any bench. I wouldnt do squats personally. just the un-natural position of the head and arms and the pressure you build up in the body and head when you push up. Look at cyclists legs....what does that tell you about the bike. I did curls, pushdowns, bench dips, seated rows and seated machine press. just be careful of the pressing movement over your head, it works the traps too which can pull on the suture line. lateral raises would be ok too just dont lift too high with it. The pulldowns I did were light and high reps to the front. no problems. For abs I used the cable machine, bending forward and down with the pushdown rope. works great. you can get a good workout with light weights and higher reps and the change is actually good for growth. In 4 or 5 weeks or so you'll be back to your normal size and shape. you can also do more aerobic work and get the bodyfat level down. just be careful and work the weights back up slowly with full control and breathe thru the movement. You'll quickly get a feel for what you can do and what you cant. I competed for 3 years in NZ when I was in my late 20s. whens your next comp. cheers sunny

do you know how wide the strip was they took and what was your scalp laxity like. I had 4100 grafts and I was back in the gym on day 7 doing 50% of normal weight 15 to 20 reps a set, no bench press, no chins, no squats, shrugs or deadlifts and especially no situps. I just worked the muscles with more isolation movements. I did pulldowns to the front as well. I was back up to normal weights in 5 weeks after getting back to the gym but i gradually increased the weight carefully over that time. Also dont hold your breath during movements, breath continuously so you dont build up cranial pressure and do the movements slowly with full control. I noticed stinging in the scar from the sweat for 2 weeks. i did the stationary bike for 30 or 40 minutes for legs, no problem.Bike slower with high resistance and your legs will grow. The main thing is avoiding the scar stretching. the grafts will be fine. I think jogging after 2 weeks would be ok too but no sprints.....my opinion here, others may say wait longer....cheers sunny

...:-) well Ive had my days of being looked at by the ladies. Most people cross the road before they get to me now...:-) luckily I found a lady who thinks I look good when shes not wearing her contacts and from a distance in a fog.....lol. Heres a pic of me when i was 29 at a bodybuilding comp. I started losing hair at 26 and its disappeared gradually over the years. Im almost 56 now.....aging sucks man......lol.

Hi Bill. I did a quick test run. Looks like the new site will be fine. I tried clicking on topics on both sites to see how long it took to bring up the discussion. Old site 2 counts, new site 3 counts, so slightly slower but nothing that will worry anyone unless you have really slow internet. It looks good....cheers Sunny

looks good. I just hope it dosnt take longer to load up and negotiate around. Not everyone has super fast internet. A recent forum I am a member of recently revamped its site too. Now everything takes so long to do, so I dont go there much anymore. Just something to keep in mind....cheers sunny

and a pic of me.....:-)

and another.....

and another of the front. I had quite deep recession in the front as my post op photos show. still early days for growth too......

Hi WB. Im doing pretty good. I dont even think about the scar anymore. cant feel it either. Im ready for another haircut so will see if they say anything. my crown is taking longer to grow but the hair is there, just very fine and short....heres a pic.....cheers.

Heres what I said on my blog. well its been 4 months and 4 days since my HT. Progress is happening so Im pretty happy with how things are going. My hair is fine and blonde so its hard to see in pics but Ive added a few anyway. Ive also lost 12 pounds in the last 6 weeks, down to 170 with 30 inch waist and muscled up a bit as well with my 6 week, 6 days a week 60 workout program that has always got me fast results. so Im feeling pretty good right now. Im looking forward to the next few months of growth. The crown is taking longer which is normal but Im pretty patient about it all. My hairline looks much better and has grown quite fast. Its not very dense but my native frontal hair isnt either. still getting the odd pimple. been having them for 3 months now....a pain in the butt cz theyre very noticeable on my crown......cheers Sunny

I think 25 would work in the hairline area of older guys like me who have thin native hair anyway. My HT is not very dense in the front...dont know what the density is but it has defined my hairline and blends well into my native hair. so my answer would be it depends on the density of your existing hair. I think clour would make a difference too. Lack of density in darker hair will be more noticeable I would think. cheers

Heres a link to the article. hope it works http://entertainment.msn.co.nz...41&showcomments=true cheers, sunny

Hey WB, end of may is not that far away....very exciting time for you. And yeh best of luck with the HT with a great doc. For me I was married with kids too til about 5 years ago. I never worried a whole lot about my hair loss cz my wife and family didnt. but after the split I just decided it was something to do for me and woulod help my overall confidence after a knock. However, if I lived on a desert island on my own I reckon i wouldnt have done it....what point would there be to do it.... what Im trying to say my post is that deepdown its what we feel that other people think about us that affects how we feel about our hair.Living alone on an island theres no-one around so no need to worry about the hair. Anyways Im doing ok. growth is slow but things are happening. still getting the odd pimple. This weekend is 4 months so I'll post some pics. Im also in great shape right now. dropped 12 pounds in 6 weeks, been hitting it hard at the gym and the 6 pack and muscular look is back, so Im feeling pretty good.....cheers Sunny

I use 5mg proscar and cut it into 6 = 0.8mg each day. It cost $AU90 for 30 tabs and will last me 6 months.

If all men were NW6 by age 20, and it was normal, it wouldnt bother us would it. Because we would look just like everyone else....level playing field. Or if you were extremely handsome and looked awesome with a shaved head and you knew it, and beautiful girls were falling all over you wanting you to date them...would the hairloss bother you. I say no it wouldnt. We hate our hair loss because it makes us look older, less attractive, more self concious of our appearance, with a corresponding loss of self confidence. This is because we care about what others think of our presentation and appearance. And we care more or less depending on our circumstances. 23 year old single guys care more than 50 year old married men. Both still care but the degree depends on the circumstances and how much the hairloss affects us in those circumstances.A recently divorced 50 yo will care more than a married 50yo cz now hes looking for a lady. maybe a 60 yo man, single and looking for a nice lady cares more than a 35 yo married man whos happy with his life. just my thoughts sunny

Hey HG, why dont you try reducing the dosage of propecia. keep reducing it each month until you find a pont where the sides either go away or reduce enough so you can live with them. apparently even 0.2mg of propecia can make quite a difference to retaining hair. I think you can buy it in this dosage. just a thought. cheers sunny

Ive decided not to tell anyone. My gf knows and thats it. I asked her not to tell anyone else and i trust her. Its no-one elses business. I will say to anyone who wants to poke their nose around without knowing anything about my HT journey that Ive been taking propecia for a year and it works great on some people...I was one of the lucky ones. I have and it is working. Not a lie but not the full story for anyone wanting a bit of gossip to spread around. I told my hairdresser i had some surgery hence the scar cz i knew she would see it anyway. No problem, she asked if I was ok and I said yes im fine...end of story. In 10 years time I'll tell everyone, then its old news with no entertainment value anymore.....cheers sunny

you know I think how we feel about our hairloss has alot to do with our circumstances and how the ones that we love relate to it and then, how we feel about it. A young guy, say 20's, single, with girlfriends on and off will be very affected by hairloss. Like a male lion losing his mane, you gotta feel for young hairloss sufferers. I started losing hair at 26, but guys who lose it in their late teens, well i just hope they find this website. Then you have the guy in his 30s, married with a kid or two, wife loves him even if he is losing hair. He dosnt like the hairloss but he's not in bad shape and if his wife tells him she dosnt care and they have a great marriage, well , no need to spend 1000s on hair. So you hit 40s. You may be divorced by now, in which case your hairloss is an issue becz it affects your confidence alot and now youre looking for a lady.....or you may still be married, put on a few pounds, your crown or front is gone but work and kids and life go on. i mean what can you do about the hairloss...wife never mentions it and now you dont even think about alot. suddenly your in your early or mid or late 40s or 50s....or even your sixties. your wife had had a mid life crisis ( an excuse to pretend shes still 20 again) or run off with your best friend...we've seen it happen time and again... and its over...and youre on your own...and looking for another lady..... my point!! our circumstances affect how we feel about our baldness....A 30 or 40 or 50 year old happily married guy with a loving wife who dosnt care about his baldness wont feel that his baldness is a threat to his relationship. But any single guy looking for a lady is self conscious about his appearance and his hair is an issue. So hairloss is not just a big thing for 20 year olds. Its a big thing across the age groups cz it severely affects our appearance hence our self confidence.... I know some happily married guys hate their baldness, and if theres spare money you can fix it but often there isnt a spare 10 to 20 thousand for that. I'm 55, divorced 4 years ago and after that I met a lady who dosnt care about my hairloss but its been a issue for me since my divorce so i did something about it...and Im happy i did. 12 grand well spent I reckon. cheers sunny

If you only reduce by 200 a week it will take you 17 weeks to lose 1 pound. maybe FC meant 200 a day. 1 pound is around 3500 calories. I still believe you are better to exercise the weight off and just generally watch your food intake and quality. stay away from too much sugar or high fat products. You still need to enjoy life. Youll soon get a feel for whether what youre doing is working. I think 1 to 2 pound a week is very realistic to start with especially if you are 20 pounds or more overweight. Its encouraging too if you see it working fairly fast. It gets harder to lose it as you get closer to ideal weight. Im 5 pounds off ideal and its tough getting that last few off. having said that i gotta go....my rpm(bike) class starts soon....:-) cheers sunny

I think 1500 is ok if youre recommended daily intake is 2000. You'll lose about a pound a week at that. Im assuming that with only 2000 a day you have a desk job and dont exercise much. Im on a reduced calorie diet right now but Im losing weight by exercising more, twice a day right now but the weight is coming off quite fast. so Im taking in around 2200 a day and losing 2-3 pound a week. Its better to lose it by doing aerobic exercise than just reducing your calories if you can. advantages are, your metabolic rate increases further helping the weight loss, exercise is an appetite depressant, you become fitter and your body shape improves, especially if you do weights as well. What i dont know and someone else may be able to help here, is whether excessive calorie reduction eg say 50% of recommended daily intake overstresses the body which may in turn accelerate hair loss. cheers sunny

Hi Ultimate, I suggest senaplace hotel, one of those recommended by Dr Path. The price is good (1300 baht per night) and its about 15 min walk, maybe less from Dr Paths surgery. I tried to book in there 2 days before my op but it was full so you need to book it in advance. It looks like a 5-10 minute walk or so to the sky train station. I stayed my first night at Karnmanee but wasnt that impressed so i moved to my house hotel, the same one Mich used, but as he said it was closing in december 09. The karnmanee was a 20 minute walk to dr paths and the senaplace hotel is closer than karnmanee. I wanted to be close to the surgery so I could walk there. good luck mate. You'll enjoy Bangkok. Its a very interesting place. cheers sunny

Hi Mission, my experience after 4100 grafts, with most on the crown and some to fill in the frontal hairline. The crusting started coming off after about 5 days and gradually more came off each day with all gone in 2 weeks. My recipient area in the front was noticably pink for almost 2 months. I wore a hat for a month after my surgery and let my frontal hair grow so that I could brush it forward over the pink area. so after wearing the hat for a month i had my hair brushed forward and I bought some face powder that women use, and used that for the next month and no-one could tell. Now at almost 3 months I can still see a very faint pinkness but no-one else notices. Have a look at my blog and youll see what i mean. Whats annoying me right now is damn pimples on my crown. Ive had a few in the front as well but lots on the crown. cant hide those altho I used some powder there as well. so it sounds like the amount of pinkness and length of time it stays depends in your skin type and how it reacts. cheers, sunny