splitting hairs

First off well done for doing your research, you've chosen 2 of the best clinics. IMO a young guy who, even on propecia will probably experience further hairloss should not opt for fue. Fue gives a lower yield, so essentially more grafts die and are wasted. Also, grafts are taken from a large area that may be outside the donor safe zone. Fue will also reduce your donor density as it were and causes a lot of scarring which can make strip surgery less effective in the future. Bearing this in mind and that you will probably have more loss in the future, I would go for strip. Also H&w will likely transplant the front half of your scalp in one go, meaning when you get future loss it will be more natural than if you just get your hairline reestablished. However SMG do gd work and I would consider strip with them too. Their hairlines are more youthful. But if you have a family history of NW5+, go to H&W-no one has as gd a record with extensive hairloss patients.

Hi, thanks for your reply joe. I am fully aware that a transplanted hairline should always be mature. Sorry I should have worded my question better. What I'd really like to know is why in the patients I mentioned above, Dr Hasson has transplanted the entire front third when really only the hairline needed transplanted? Is this to retain a natural look in case of future loss, and what are the pros and cons of doing this? The reason I would like to know this is because the only reason I haven't had a transplant to my hairline yet Is because I am concerned about resession in behind the transplanted hairline and being left looking silly until another procedure has been done and grown in. A transplant to the entire front third would solve this issue. Thanks.

Hi , I've noticed recently that Dr Hasson has done a few procedures where the hairline has receded at the temples and the rest of the front third is still very strong, but Dr Hasson has transplanted the entire front third. see patient websites for fingers crossed and hair me out for examples. Personally, this is of interest to me because such a procedure would mean retaining a natural look when hairloss progresses, compared to if only the temples were transplanted. When is this approach appropriate/ not appropriate? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this approach? Thanks.

I have to agree, Dr Rahals hairlines are the best around, but it comes at a cost. IMO, he transplants way too many grafts and produces hairlines that are too low on young patients who, even on propecia, will likely end up as NW 6's. He does do excellent work and can produce age appropriate hairlines aswell, but the majority of his work that I have seen involve transplantng 3000 grafts into the hairline of a 23 year old. This is obviously bad news if you lose more hair and wont have enough hair to give you a natural look.

I don't think the hair will have been permanently lost. It just makes the hairs brittle. I have suffered from a dry scalp condition for a few years and this happened a lot until I got it under control 2 years ago. Try a tar based shampoo, or salicylic acid. Make sure you rotate shampoo's every three months otherwise you will become resistant to it.

This is fine work again from Dr Hasson. Do you have any scar pics? Is the patient on Meds?

Top work and what a transformation. You must be ecstatic!! Congratulations. Do you have a scar pic?

Dr Rahal is without a doubt one of the best docs around. My only critiscism of his work is that I feel his hairlines are too aggressive on young guys. If a guy is losing his hair at 22, even on Propecia, it is likely he will end up as a high NW. Hence, there's no point in transplanting 3000 grafts in re-creating that dense ultra low hairline that us younger guys dream of. But I'm sure Dr Rahal explains this to all of his young patients so that they can make an informed decision.

I think your result looks good. It's what I would expect, given the large area that had to be covered. You have a very mature and realistic understanding that this is a work in progress. The good news now is that, you can use concealers to give you the illusion of a very dense head of hair. To be honest, HT1 is to establish your facial frame and coverage. HT2 is to add density and give a sprinkling of the crown, and HT 3 is to finish it off. I feel you will need another 3000 grafts. You look much better. Congratulations.

This is one of the best results I've seen. Its good to see SMG doing great work on guys with more advanced hairloss too. I read so many posts going on about how great your hairlines are - now I'm a fan too. The hairline is a good compromise between something that is mature and something that is aesthetically pleasing. Although it would be good to see more results with 5000+ grafts used, as I know I'm headed down the road of extensive hairloss. The donor area looks incredible aswell!!

The work looks amazing. Thats good coverage for 3500 grafts , if I had to guess how many grafts he would have needed from his pre ops, I would have said 4500. Did this patient have particularly thick hair?

Conratulations Joe, Your hair still looks great, and along with others like Pat and Bill, you're an inspiration to this community.

Finpecia and minoxidil are the two drus that are proven to slow down/stop hairloss. The benefit only lasts as long as they are used. So if they work great and you suddenly stop them for a few months, your hairloss will progress to the point you would have been if you had never taken them. All medicines have side effects. Look at the information leaflet that comes with each product. Don't get worked up about the possibility of side effects, they occur in a fraction of people. Good Luck

They are both good docs, but research for 6 months at least, then make your decision. How old are you? what level of hairloss do you have? are you considering propecia? Your choice depends a lot on your level of loss. If you are a norwood 6, I'd go to Hasson and Wong, because they produce the best results for guys with extensive hairloss. If you have minimal loss, I'd consider Ron Shapiro. Research loads, do online consults with the top clinics, look at the patient websites to get a feel for what sort of result each doc can give you. Good luck.

Top work Dr Feller!! 3500 grafts have given this guy a real improvement. I guess his hair characteristics go a long way in adding coverage.

As the others have said, we really need before pics. It is possible that your full results are yet to show. Have you had no improvement? What do other people think? It could be that the change has been gradual and that's why you aren't noticing it. Was this FUE surgery?

The hospital group are just the same as Boseley. They probably got fed up of patients doing consults with them then not following through on a procedure because they found this forum. They probably wanted to address the issue directly by faking patient experiences to turn this in their favour. Well done Bill, you show 'em whose boss!!

The difference is that Armani would have transplanted these hairs into the temples only - meaning that future loss would mean this guy would be in big trouble. Dr Hasson has addressed the front third and mid scalp - consistent with the fact that if further loss occurs - there is plenty donor left to cover the rest.

I think the graft number seems appropriate. When I saw the top down before pic, i thought 4-4500 grafts. Its because the front third AND midscalp have been addressed here.

Incredible work again from Dr Hasson.

Here's my advice, Plan as if you are going to be a NW 6. Give FUE a miss - you can't get 2500 Grafts without it significantly reducing graft survival as FUE grafts are damaged more easily. Get on Propecia - it will dramatically delay your hairloss. Consult with Hasson and Wong: they deal with cases of extensive hairloss so they know how you should approach this (but then any coalition doc should). Address the front third first. You can maximise the number of grafts you can get by doing strip surgery until you have no more laxity, then doing FUE. If you do FUE first, you will reduce the efficiency of future strip as your density will be less. You can't do fue from just certain areas as grafts need to be taken from the most dense areas. My advice: Go for strip surgery, then do FUE after. But that's a long way off - get on propecia now, and get a strip procedure. Good luck.

Having had consultations with a couple of clinics in the UK, I wouldn't go anywhere near a clinic in the UK (except Farjo). No, not every clinic has been evaluated by this network, but a hair transplant is a big investment and the results are for life - if you want to stand the best chance of getting the WOW result that you're after, I strongly urge you to choose an evaluated and recommended surgeon. Going to a cheap doc or one thats close to you that hasn't been evaluated could result in you being scarred and butchered, with mediocre results. It can and does happen, even today, and will continue to happen as long as there are bald men. Good luck.

I was glad to see this result from Dr Rahal - The work looks great with an appropriate number of grafts used. Normally Dr Rahals work tends to be quite aggressive on young guys with minimal loss.

I gotta say Bill, your hair looks pretty damn awesome!! Most guys would kill for a head of hair like that! You have virtually no sign of hairloss. It's also great to see no sign of your scar with a no. 4 cut. Congratulations.

Having had a consultation with a clinic in Glasgow and considered the hospital group before I saw the light and found the hair transplant network, I'd say that the hospital group are well known in the UK for cosmetic surgery but their tansplants are poor. Hair transplants are more specialist. A guy at a rival clinic told me that the hospital group are getting normal docrtors to perform their transplants and training them up. What I will say is that there has been a few cases of poor results from the hospital group - one dr got into trouble with the general medical council i believe. Basically, they are the UK equivalent of boseley. They are basically pretty poor, but cheap. But I wouldn't take a bad hair transplant if I was offered it free!! And progesterone - what's that all about - that's a female sex hormone - they use it as a female contraceptive.