vanitysucks

This is what I am trying to fix.  What you see is the result of native hair after a transplant 15 years ago.  It looked good for several years but as some of us have learned....you have to stay on top of the native hair loss.  Right now you are looking at about 1800 grafts on the frontal 3rd from what the Doc told me.  I'm guessing I need another 2000 to 3000 to fix this.  The donor are looks pretty good to me, it's thick enough to cover the strip scars with a half inch cut.  So what do you think?  Do you think the doctor will recommend fut or fue?  

Thanks for the replies.  The bottom strip scar looks pretty good.  It's just a thin line and you can't see it unless I cut the hair down to a quarter inch.  The upper scar was a harvest of about 1200 grafts. It's visible if I cut my hair below a half inch.  I knew when the stitches were removed that it was wider than the first scar.  I also remember the tightness after the procedure lasted for several months.  I'm guessing that elasticity is at or below average.   I will post picks in the next post to show you my donor area.  My concern with fue is thinning out the forest too much.  If my donor area looks thick enough however, perhaps a good alternative.

I don't know if this has ever been discussed.  I already have a couple of strip scars from previous procedures and have considered fue as a way to avoid more strips.  One of my scars is pretty wide and I was wondering if during another fut procedure the doctor could harvest grafts above that scar then close it leaving only one strip instead of creating a new one.  It would allow the doctor to create a thinner single strip.  Seems logical but I'm sure there is medical reason why they don't do it.

That's what this is Paddy.....research.   Next.

I'll try this again in 2019.  Any good doctors that perform fue in the Dallas area?  I'm not traveling to another city or state.  I can't believe this thread is still up.  Thanks.

I can't seem to find any good information on this topic. If someone gets 1000 grafts will the actual number of hairs vary depending on the procedure (FUE vs FUT). From what I understand during FUE each hair is plucked out one by one. To me it would suggest that each FUE graft would contain a single hair. So you would pay for 1000 hairs. I am aware that FUT methods group hairs in 1, 2 and 3 hairs per graft meaning that 1000 grafts could contain double the amount of hairs. Can someone clarify this? I'm trying to figure what I would be paying for. Thanks.

I'm always suspicious whenever someone enters a forum never to return for just ONE post. Come on. It's obvious who did this. Can anyone other than the staff give me an honest review of Armani medical in Dallas. I am still searching for a good Dallas clinic. I hate the idea of traveling for this procedure.

Nudge

I have a couple of strip scars that need to be covered. I have googled a few locations but would like a good recommendation from one of the forum leaders. I'm looking for someone in the Dallas area. Thanks

Thanks....cost?

What is the cost to hide a strip scar? Why can't the local tattoo artist do the same thing?

I'm no expert but from what I understand, Minoxidil strengthens the hair against the effects of dht. Basically chains are strangling the hair folicle and minoxidil provides more strength to the hair. This treatment also increased the diameter of your existing hair making it look fuller. Over time however the chains will strangle the follicle to death with or without the treatment. I don't think the body develops resistance. Nature just takes it's inevidible course. The way I see it, if I can delay the onset of thinning, it's a good thing. I've been on it for a few days now. I know my hair will thicken over the course of the next year then it will remain unchanged. Some might think it stopped working after the results ended. What you have to realize is that the drug hasn't stopped working, you are just slowing down the progression a bit. You will thin, but it will happen slower. By the time I am 80 I will not really care. lol, but for now, I want to slow it down. Geez did I type all of that?

No decent docs in Dallas. Oh well, I'm not traveling. Thanks.

Just curious. The other doctor in Dallas only does surgery in Houston. Should I decide to try this again.......I'm keeping it local under a reputable doc. Here is his link. Let me know what you think. Thanks

(Link removed by moderator - See Terms of Service)

Thanks folks. If I find any stories or blogs I will try to post the links as well.

I have spent another hour browsing yahoo and google and all I get are advertisements. I cannot beleive there are not more journals or blogs showing results. lol anyway, thanks

Hello. I'm having trouble finding before and after pictures of Rogaine only results. Could someone direct me to a webpage or link. Thanks. Jason

Geez what a long thread. Anyway, I have to think the more athletic a person is the more likely that person is to be affected by a DHT inhibitor like propecia. I would also think youth would be more subject to problems. If a male naturally produces a large amount of DHT he has more to loose. Some guy in his 40's that sits behind a desk all day and drinks 4 beers a day after work probably does not have much of a drive to begin with. I doubt he would really notice being on propecia.

I took it for about a year. I noticed a few changes that I didn't like at the gym and at home and stopped taking it. I was back to normal after 6 months. DHT is one of those good/bad guy hormones. As much negative press as it gets it's no wonder drugs like this are getting popular. Propecia is nothing compared to what I have seen bodybuilders put in their bodies. Stupid, they jack themselves up with so many drugs their organs no longer produce anything. They take one drug to counteract the other and another drug to counteract the previous drug. Eventually they crash, go to rehab, recover, and their bodies return to normal even after years of abuse. Yes, they cannot function sexually for many months but eventually they recover. Propecia is candy compared to this abuse. I doubt propecia has the ability to hurt adult males for the long term given this example. It's amazing how much abuse the human body can take and rebound. Did I type all of that?:eek:

It seems to me that the bank is mostly at fault....and maybe his staff or the doctor himself should've known and told you what was going on. The thing is, technically Chase was giving you the loan at 0%. What they failed to mention was that Dr. Arocha would not get the money from them without paying a hefty "fee" of 15% and that that fee would unfortunately be passed on to you.

 

Regardless....based on Dr. Arocha's post, he seems 100% genuine in his attempt to resolve the issue as best he could at the time he became aware of the problem. He probably lost a pretty penny by not performing and getting paid for the surgery, so there is know reason to believe he or his staff would deliberately mislead you.

 

Either way, I wouldn't rule him out in the future because of this ordeal.

I think this happened because I already knew which doctor I wanted before the consultation. All I needed was financing. I found the Chase link and applied under Financing Highlights. Here is a copy of what it reads.

Financing Highlights

Financing HighlightsOur flexible payment plans can help you get the care you need at a cost you can afford. Use our financing options as an alternative to medical loans.

• Instant credit decisions

• No interest payment plans if paid in full within the promotional period of 6, 12, 18 and 24 months

• Extended payment plans up to 48 months

• Revolving lines of credit

• No down payment

Here is the link. http://www.chasehealthadvance.com/

I had already applied, gotten approved, and knew I was going to have the surgery before I even stepped into Dr. Arochas office. I had assumed 0%, signed up for surgery, and went to Houston. I did not speak much about the financing with the doctor because I had already been aproved. I had no idea there was some kind of plan between the doctor and Chase.

I challenge anyone to go to that link and follow the trail. You would assume the same unless you were a lawyer or banker. My whole point behind this thread is not to make Dr. Arocha look bad, it is simply to state that the financing procedure should be easy, clear, and simple for a retard like me to understand. No interest = 0% not 15% percent. duh

marky, I took the same approach as you to fund my HT and it worked out nicely.

 

"Not sure who will be available down the road."

 

vanitysucks, Why wouldn't you consider going back to Dr. Arocha? It sounds as if despite what happened all is amicable between you two.

lol, that's not what I meant. No hard feelings except for chase, they will not even return my call. It could be a while before I get organized again for a procedure. I'm not quite sure if I'm willing to travel for a procedure in the future. It would be nice to find a reputable office in the Dallas area. Thanks

Dr. Arocha, Thanks for coming on and offering your side of the story.

 

Vanity, Sorry it didn't work out for you. Will you try to reschedule? Dr. Arocha does excellent work.

Eventually. I've lost my window for the moment. Not sure who will be available down the road.

Gentlemen,

 

I would like to start off by stating that our team is also extremely disappointed that our patient was not able to have his procedure done. Our business is to restore people’s confidence by giving them hair. Both sides lost in this case.

 

Our office has never offered 0% financing. We signed up many years ago so our patients had the option to finance the procedure using only the extended payment plans. The company charges us a certain percentage to have these financing plans available to our patients. Other than that, we have no involvement with the two financing companies we use- Chase and Care Credit.

 

Because I am the surgeon, I do not deal with the financial aspect of the procedure. I do not want to pressure my patients by inquiring about their financial situation. Vanitysucks never mentioned anything to my staff or myself with regards to 0% financing until that morning. We have not had problems with this company in the past.

 

I would like to point out that we accept most major credit cards. He had credit cards available. He could even have used the Chase option temporarily as a bridge loan, as it has no prepayment penalty. That would have allowed him to have the procedure and then look for a credit card with a zero or low introductory rate. We expressed these alternative options to him the day of his procedure.

 

We respect his decision not to go through with it. Not only did he lose out on receiving hair, but we lost out as well. It is very unfortunate that this incident occurred, since my team was there ready to treat our one and only patient for that day. My entire team and I eagerly awaited treating this patient, and even had several conversations with him leading up to his procedure date.

 

The patient was visibly perturbed, and I regretted this, but I never want to be pushy. We called him the following day to offer to drive him to the airport; however, our calls went unanswered.

 

In order to respect his privacy, any further matters regarding this situation will be discussed offline between the patient and myself.

He is right. I just remember telling him chase had given me the loan. I only said chase offered the 0 %, this is what the chase website says. I only mentioned Chase, not the Doctor. The morning of the procedure I called chase and they still offered the 0 %, but the Doctor has to approve it. I was never told in advance that it would be 15%. As far as I am concerned this is not Dr. Arochas fault, but if you go to the link on my first post you can see how one could be mislead into thinking 0 %. I do have open credit but that's for an emergancy. Even if I didn't mention to the doctor I had 0 %, (I'm still cloudy on that) I still did not know my interest rate until the morning of the procedure. The main reason for doing this was what chase had offered. Dr. Arocha, this is not your fault and I am over it. 600.00 is hardly going to be missed in the long run. lol Good day.

"I'm a little fuzzy on some of the details as some of your posts indicate that the bank is responsible for the mix-up and others indicate that it's Dr. Arocha's clinic. Thus, I've asked our forum co-moderator Dave (TakingthePlunge) to contact Dr. "

I'm not asking for handouts or favors. This is just what I experienced. Yea, like you....I am not sure who deserves the blame. I am fuzzy on what's going on. It could be the doc, bank, or me for all I know. This process should be easy to understand for the client. I thought I knew my interest rate until the last moment. 12,000 at 15% apr = 150.00 per month. After doing the math I knew I had to walk out. Read into it what you will. I have no interest in trashing a Doctors reputation.

So long as you have all the documentation stating that you were promised 0% financing for this procedure

Corvettester

No one said nor promised anything. The problem was lack of communication and disclosure. It was stated on the application on the chase web page under "financing highlights". In the same box you click on the "apply now" button and fill out information. In my case it's assumed to be 0 % because that's what the box I clicked said. I had no idea the clinic had a say in the interest rate. I just knew I was approved for 12,000 and therefore the Doc could do the surgery. Chase is the bank, Arocha is the doc. If the doc has a say so in the interest rate the client needs to know upon approval.

The point is even if the fine print says something contrary to 0%, it should be easy for the client to read and understand. Thanks for the reply.

Thanks for the replies everyone. I'm back home. I can't stand hotel rooms. I'm drinking a beer tonight because I can. lol Tomorrow I will take vitamins and get back to weightlifting.