regretht

The reason that I regret mine is that I have minor pitting on top of my head, I have a strip scar on the back of my head. Mostly the strip scar bothers me. I cannot shave my head without exposing the scar. Also, I have felt trapped because if I lose more native hair eventually the grafts will look unnatural. Hair transplants require existing native hair to look natural to some degree. Even if hair is dense packed on top of a bald head, what happens when there is more recession down the sides? There is a gap, which of course does not happen in nature. Therefore it locks you in to a neverending cycle of either worry or denial about the future. My plan is to laser out all the grafts when the time is appropriate. Unfortunately, the vast majority of people really do NOT understand all the downsides of this procedure until it is too late. Hair transplants? Wish I never heard of em.

I totally agree with this. I think that performing a HT on a patient under the age of 30 is criminal for all kinds of reasons.

First of all, I sincerely hope that my posts are not blocked like they were on another website. All views on an open forum should be visible to all, not just the pro HT views. My post will not name any doctors, nor will it contain anything that is not true about my experience. I highly recommend that anyone in their 20s do NOT get a HT. Please read as I explain more about the truth about this horrible procedure as well as my experience. There are many misperceptions about how this whole thing works, trust me. The HT doctors want to keep it this way. My HT was done by one of the recommended doctors on the network. I find it very upsetting that he has a great reputation. In my opinion, based on my experience, and from what I have heard about other people's experience similar to mine, if doctors like mine represent the ceiling of ethics and morality in this industry, then I think the ethics and morality of this industry is extremely low. I did not like mine for the following reasons: 1. There was NO cosmetic improvement. I had diffuse thinning all over the top of my head and a couple thousand grafts spread over the top of my head did NOTHING to improve my appearance because I have so much native hair. When I told the doctor that I did not notice any improvement about a year to a year and a half after the procedure he acted surprised and replied "It's the second one. After the second one, that's when you really notice a difference." Of course he made it sound like the first one would make a difference before I got my HT. I know that he knew there would be no cosmetic improvement in my case, but he did the procedure anyway because like all the other HT doctors, he loves that $$$$, even if it means ruining someone's life. So basically I have NEVER been happy with having this procedure. They always make is sound like the next one is the one that will do the trick from what I hear from other patients who got duped into this madness. Now I have permament scarring and can look forward to looking like a FREAK when I lose more native hair (and I will... even on propecia) in the future. 2. Age: I was in my 20s. There are so many reasons that is is wrong to do a patient's first HT when they are in their 20s: a) Patient is not making decisions based on logic, but on the desperation caused by the freshness of the idea of one day going bald and currently looking different than when the patient had full hair (just very recently.) b) extent of future hair loss cannot be known since at that age you are at the beginning of your hair loss. c) People in their 20s are still finding their identity and I would venture to say that people in their 20s looking to get a HT are not on the upper end of the spectrum in terms of maturity. In other words, you will have a dramatically different perspective in your 30s and beyond. d) Patients... especially in their 20s... have no idea what they are getting into. Once you get your first HT, you are locked in. This cosmetic procedure is not like any other. You can never just relax and be done with it. You will always be thinking "can they see my scar? does my HT look natural? What happens when I lose more native hair and look like a FREAK in the future? Will I need more HTs?... but what happens when I run out of "donor hair," or money?" e) Even though you are legally an adult, trust me, you are not mature enough in your 20s to make a decision like this. You do NOT KNOW how you will feel in your 30s, 40s, 50s, and beyond. But one thing I can tell you is this... the only thing constant in life is change. 3. I cannot stand the fact that I always feel like I am hiding something. What makes it more ironic is that there was no upside (no cosmetic improvement for reasons stated above.) 4. The way the surgery and the events leading up to the surgery was handled itself: It is common practice for HT doctors (as was true in my case)to do the following: to get you to give them an unrefundable surgery scheduling fee of a couple thousand dollars. Then you take off time from work and spend money on flight and hotel. Then right before the surgery they have you sign all the disclosures to cover their ass. But first right before they do that they give you relaxation medication (so basically you are NOT sober), and while you are on their turf, and while the doctor is sitting with you (so you feel pressured and like you don't have time to really look it over or have friends or family look at the disclosures too) you are asked to sign all the disclosures. Now why don't they mail you the disclosures BEFORE having you give them unrefundable deposit, having you spend money on flight and hotel, flying out there, and then taking drugs? Why do they have to use a ton of LEVERAGE to get you through the process? You should have the opportunity to review the disclosures SOBER, on your own turf, given ample time (days or weeks) to review those disclosures, show them to friends, family, even an attorney if you want to. Here's another thing about the disclosures. In them you will read something like this "It may be necessary to have more procedures in the future..." HT doctors count on the fact that we don't know what that really means. We generally think that it means that in order to get the desired thickness or density or look we want, etc. we may need to get more procedures. Here is what it is really covering their ass for: When you lose more native hair (and you will) your HT will become obvious and very detectable, and since you have a very long unsightly scar on your head, shaving or buzzing your head is out. Therefore in order to chase the appearance of not looking like a FREAK, you will have to get more HTs to fill in where there should be hair (and yes you will look like a FREAK when you lose enough native hair, even with follicular units... how I wish I knew that then... but my "doctor" lied to me.) So bacially the doctors know they have you once you get your first HT. You will keep getting them until you run out of "donor hair" or money. After you run out of money or donor hair, the HT doctors have no more use for you. They have gotten as much money out of you as physically possible. You lose. They win. Another thing I didn't like about my surgery: The "doctor" didn't place one graft himself. All he did was cut out the flesh from the back of my head and sew it back up. His "technicians" placed every single last graft in my head. They advertise how their artistry and technical mastery, blah, blah, blah. This would make most people believe that the doctor would place the grafts. I did not know until DURING SURGERY that the technicians would place all the grafts. This is also common practice (that the patient does NOT know until they are mid-surgery. Based on consistency of this practice, one can conclude there exists a reason for that and that reason is the HT "doctors" do not want you to know that it will be like this until it is too late and they got you.) I guess I have to rely on the technicians' "artistry." I was a timid 20 something year old. What these people did to me was wrong.. and the "doctor" knows it. 6) I asked the doctor "If I lose more native hair will my HT still look natural." The doctor replied "yes." Now I know that was a lie. That is so wrong. The doctor KNEW that I did not know what I was getting into. If I can save even one young man from getting his first HT, then maybe my experience has some sort of purpose. Please just buzz or shave your head, learn to accept yourself the way you are, and forget about your hair. I promise you will be so much happier. And true happiness is what life is really all about. If you get a HT, your hair will be on your mind for the rest of your life. Believe me you will not want that. One last thing: the vast majority of what you will see on the internet is positive on HTs. This might give you the impression that most people are happy with this procedure and the downsides are not that bad and not that common. Do not get fooled into thinking that this means that most people's experience with HTs are good. The main reason for mostly positive stuff on HTs on the internet is $$$$$. HT doctors collectively spend MILLIONS of dollars a year on advertising their sites, which in turns creates their primary or sole source of income. There is no money in telling people not get get HTs, so barely any money (if any) is spent on advertising that HTs are bad. There was actually a poll done on a site where people were asked if they could go back in time before their first HT, would they still go through with it or would they decide not to go down the HT road. The VAST MAJORITY voted that they wished they never got their first HT. That should tell you something. Now HT supporters and doctors will counter that by saying that it is about choosing the right doctor and the techniques today are so much better, blah, blah, blah. Please don't listen to them. They will always have a response to everything. They are VERY GOOD salespeople... but VERY POOR doctors (do no harm.) Very sad. Any HT "doctor" that ever gave a young man under the age of 30 (I would actually say 35) their first HT did something extremely morally and ethically wrong and the HT "doctor" KNOWS IT.

You have a good shaped head.. just as I do. I would literally give up my left nut if I could undo my HT, and mine is undetectable (so far.) Worst mistake of my life. Do yourselff a favor and buzz or shave your head. Great look. Saves money and worry. How I wish I had a time machine!

Nobody knows and for me it is a horrible way to live. You cannot leave this thing in the past. It is always with you. One HUGE regrettable mistake. Ahhh! It is so frustrating! I hate keeping this secret. I hate that I was fooled into thinking this was a good idea. Got me in my 20s... which of course is wrong, morally and ethically by the HT doctor.

If you get a HT you will almost certainly regret it I promise. I did get one in my 20s and it was by far the worst mistake of my life.