Robert_

Welcome to the forums, nikkop. First of all, if you do a forum search (located under the "Find" button) you will find that there is a ton of info on True and Dorin Medical Group. I had the opportunity to watch them perform a hair restoration procedure in November of 2004 and I was extremely impressed with their skill, professionalism, and dedication to the patient. You can see my write-up of the visit here. Be sure to check out all the photos at the bottom of the post. Additionally, Pat, the publisher of this community has visited their clinic multiple times. You can see the details of his most recent visit here. Here are a few more threads I found doing a quick search: Dr. True performs Dr. Dorin's fourth hair transplant Pictures of 943 FUT performed on a female patient by Dr. Robert Dorin 1,525 FUT performed by Dr. Robert Dorin 10 days post-op 9 Month Progression of 2,048 FUT by Dr. Robert Dorin Hope this helps! -Robert

I'm not sure how much you are planning to "fill in" your hair line with a "micro session" but offhand I will agree that a graft count of 800 is not worth going in for a FUT, unless it is a special circumstance (i.e. scar revision, repair case, etc.) I'm afraid that you are chasing surgery with surgery. Not good, amigo. Give the current procedure a full 12 months or so to mature before making a decision. Difficult, I know. You can research, and that's good, but try not to get ahead of yourself. All that being said, I think Dr. Feller still offers his "lunchtime FUE" and he has drawn no small amount of praise in the past. Dr. True and Dr. Dorin offer FUE and FUT. You may want to look at them as well. I've seen them perform surgery in person and I was highly impressed. They're located in NYC. -Robert

It does seem like a good deal. However, if you check out their "About Us" page it says this: "Just like your local pharmacy, we are here to help you and assist with any questions or concerns you might have." ...but then goes on to say this: "Westcoastdrugs is a concierge service and not a pharmacy. Westcoastdrugs is not reselling medicine but providing a service at fees that include the cost of product, local management, shipping and handling. Westcoastdrugs provides an online ordering system that routes prescription drug orders to affiliated licensed pharmacies. Westcoastdrugs does not recommend or endorse any products that may be mentioned on this website. Westcoastdrugs does not assume any liability for the contents of any material provided on the site. Reliance on any information provided by Westcoastdrugs is solely at your own risk. Westcoastdrugs assumes no liability or responsibility for damage or injury to persons or property arising from any use of any product, information, idea, or instruction contained in the materials provided to you. Westcoastdrugs does not assume any liability that may arise out of the professional services provided by either the affiliated physicians or pharmacists, whether caused by their negligence, action or inaction." Basically, what that says to me is that theyare selling you a medication that they do not stand behind and take absolutely no responsibility for. I'm NOT against purchasing medications online, but I am against distributors that take every step possible to avoid any responsibility for their product. That being said, you can get 20 pills of Merck Proscar from a local pharmacy for about $70. Split into quarters, that's 80 1.25 mg doses of finasteride. Split into fifths (I can't do it, but I've heard of some who can), that's 100 1 mg doses of finasteride. It's probably even cheaper at Costco. And if you get something that isn't Proscar from them, at least you can sue. -Robert

If it were only that easy... Your hair loss is predetermined by genetics. You said yourself that your father had severe hair loss at an early age. That's the best indicator that you can get of what you can look forward to. Of course, quitting smoking will help. Smoking cigarettes constricts blood vessels that nourish the hair. However, smoking is not the cause of your hair loss and so it only exacerbates an already existing condition - it did not cause it. Bottom line - live a healthy lifestyle AND look into a proven hair loss medication. The absolute best regimen available that won't break the bank is 1 mg Propecia (or Proscar) per day, 1 mL Rogaine applied to the crown twice per day, and Nizoral 2% shampoo applied three times per week for 5 minutes. Follow this regimen religiously for one year and you will most likely see results. How do I know? Because I did and I did. And I had some pretty severe hair loss. Thousands of others have followed this regimen and have seen results. Do it daily and do it for as long as you want to see results. -Robert

Merck has authorized Indian pharmaceutical giant Dr. Reddy's to manufacture and distribute a Proscar generic. You can view details and links in an article I put up yesterday: Online generic hair loss meds - is it worth the risk? -Robert

There is one peak in the middle that is a little long, but as Hairbank pointed out a much better assessment could be made when the hair was grown out. I don't think that it's as much of a peak as you may think it is and I definitely don't think that anyone else would notice it as being odd just passing you on the street. -Robert

I'm not sure why you need a Propecia "equivalent" other than price. If that's your concern you can always quarter Proscar. I did that myself quite successfully. For more about quartering Proscar to save money, click here . -Robert

Whenever you get a chance, take a look at people's natural hairlines very closely. This includes women's and men's. I have found that when I started looking at them more closely, I realized just how "jagged" many of them are. As far as the photo you posted, the angle is too severe for me to make a comment. I just can't really tell what's going on enough to say whether I think it's "off" or not. -Robert

Just so I'm straight, the three photos above this text is right now at 7 months post-op? And the one below this text was directly post op and the last one is current also?

Guys, I don't want to rain on anyone's parade or anything but one of two things could be happening here: 1) You may just be a slow responder and the growth has not really "jump started" yet. However, at 6 months, it's pretty usual to have about 50% or maybe a little more growth. However, no matter what you read from the hypists on other forums a HT can take up to 18 months to fully mature. 2) You may be realizing the reality of hair transplants. You simply cannot create the exact density of what was there before. Of course, I don't know what your exact situations are or how mentally prepared you were for the procedure and it's results or even who your doctors were so I can only speculate. However, no matter what you hear about "grafts per sq. cm" this and "dense, full hair lines" that, the reality is that nature is the true "dense packer." This is certainly not to say that physicians aren't packing them in! Today's techniques mimick nature to the point that an ideal candidate with a fully mature hair transplant should have no problem in achieving his/her goals. If you are at the 6 or 7 month mark and aren't seeing the growth you expected, sit back and take a look at a few of the pics of yourself from pre-op. Take a realistic approach to your determination. If, after that, you still think that you are not achieving the growth you were expecting, why not shoot your doc an email and let him/her know your concerns? He/she may be able to offer some insight or (if you are close) have you come in for a look. -Robert

Unless he specifically tells you to use ANY of that, you probably won't need it. I can understand wanting to be prepared but you may be overshooting just a bit. Graftcyte is certainly helpful in speeding along healing and high-quality Aloe Vera could possibly come in handy after the grafts have set (~10 days post op) but saline and cortisone? Did Dr. Feller say you would need that post-op? Or did you get that info from somewhere else? -Robert

Of course, it will always ultimately come down to the physician's skill, but this is true. For instance, Dr. Cooley used needles to make the incisions in my forelock between the existing hairs. It's impossible to ever say if one doesn't have positively NO shock loss, but if I did it certainly wasn't noticeable. You can see the incisions that I am talking about from my first procedure on my hair loss weblog . -Robert

It certainly has therapeutic properties, but I must admit that I, too, am skeptical on it's regrowth potential. Anyone else have any experience that they would like to share? -Robert

Maybe I'm lazy, but I welcomed the break. Of course, I'm not a "hardcore lifter" by any means. ANY means. I'm more of a "if I have a six-pack and definition, that's good enough for me" kind of guy. But seriously, guys. Like brianf warned, you don't want to stretch that scar. You'll kick yourself for it. Talk it over with your physician and see what they recommend. You'll find that a majority of them say that my recommendations are waaaay conservative and you can hit the gym much sooner. I just want to play it safe (and lazy ). -Robert

It may have to do to the increased blood flow to the area and the swelling of the tissue due to the trauma inflicted from thousands of tiny incisions. Even with the cleanest, most refined techniques, the skin is broken and the area has to heal. This requires the tissue to regenerate and that requires increased blood flow. I wouldn't worry too much. -Robert

I agree with JakeVig, but I would actually put it at 5th or 6th. Jake, you list Nizoral and Nioxin as equals, but they aren't. No matter what their claims, Nioxin is, in my opinion, not much more than a great thickening shampoo and conditioner. I use it daily, so I'm not "downing" on it. I'm just saying that it's claim of scrubbing away acalp DHT is...well...lacking. My priorities in my hair loss regimen is as follows: Internal DHT inhibitor (Propecia/Proscar/Avodart) Minoxidil Nizoral/Nizoral 2% T-Sal or T-Gel 3 x per week Nioxin Actives shampoo and conditioner and then, if I felt I needed it, would be a laser comb or helmet or whatever. I don't use a laser comb or anything like that for the sole reason that I don't feel that the benefits outweigh the price ($600?!? Ouch!) at this time. However, I can't ignore the science behind it and I do think that it holds some benefit. Perhaps if I were a millionaire. Short of that, my Avodart will be the most expensive tool in my regimen. -Robert

I used to get my Proscar from CVS pharmacy and pay around $34 for 10 pills; 40 days worth. -Robert

Thanks Robert - that's encouraging! Like I said before, the results from the combined Rogaine/Propecia regimen have far exceeded my expectations. 2x a day is really a pain, but I'm determined not to slip again! Diligence works, man. In the end, you have to think about what you would rather put up with - hair loss or a messy minoxidil application? To me, the messiness is worth it - at least until something better comes along. I am thinking of giving that 12% formula a shot. -Robert

Actually I had the same experience when I first used Rogaine over 4 years ago it had no effect I then switched to Propecia but my hairloss still continued. It was only when I used Propecia and Minoxidil together do I believe my hairloss has stabalized. I believe Im also seeing new hairs for the first time as well. Yeah it looks like there are a few options on the horizon. Richard Lee of http://www.minoxidil.com/12.5_1.htm seems to have a 12.5% Minoxidil non-greasy solution that dries rapidly available in the future as well. Robert do you have a special way to apply Minoxidil I feel like Im wasting a lot of it on my hair. Are you just using the eye dropper that comes with the pack? I use a minoxidil applicator that was developed by Dr. James DeYarman that I posted photos of a while back here. I think it works pretty good at getting the minoxidil in the scalp and not in the hair. Of course, a good bit still gets on the hair but you're really not going to totally halt that. -Robert

mistermike - You should be able to make up any lost ground pretty quickly from just that small bit of negligence. JakeVig - I have some good news for you. L'Oreal is currently (quietly) testing a minoxidil foam that is speculated to be greasy-less and better-absorbing. I don't think they will be done with trials any time soon, though. Maybe next year? Dunno. -Robert

No worries. Sometimes you get some soldiers that don't jump ship. Most do. Usually around 85 to 95%. Sounds like you are progressing fine. -Robert

D***! I am so mad that I couldn't make it up for this! But yes, this guy is going to look great! One more addition to the Cooley family! -Robert

I wasn't losing any benefit when I switched from finasteride (propecia) to Avodart so I can't say that my experience will mirror yours, but I can say that I am happy with Avodart thus far (about 18 months). I did shed heavily for about 2 months starting about 2 months after I started using it though so that's something you want to consider. It's a pretty common phenomenon with Avodart. -Robert

I quit Rogaine after about 11 months of using it back in - oh...'98 or so. Man, that was the worst hair-related decision I ever made. After about 3 months my hair was, quite literally, raining down. I wouldn't do it dude. Unless you think losing the hair that has become minoxidil-dependant is worth losing the hassle of applying it. -Robert

It's MSM. And Spursman is exactly right - it has no hair regrowth benefits. -Robert