gazzasgoin2

NG2GB, Agreed, those are some impressive results. There are many wow results around the forums and often they are achieved with varying hair characteristics. As you rightly say, I think the trick is to see patients that have close to the same characteristics as yourself to get a true representation of your likely outcome. The first thing is to go to a great surgeon as each of your highlighted guys did. H&W have delivered some amazing results including Bobman and JoTronic, neither of whom you would have though had exceptional characteristics but the Dr. made the most of them. Evolution looks to have minimal loss and a high density transplant to the front third which together with his favourable hair colour has given him great results. The second guy, shuffle, has had 7k of grafts which is a lot and if i remember rightly he had a small head lol And the hall of famer NicNitro apparently has great donor density that allowed for his 10k grafts and has many more in reserve for future HT's should he need them. He also looks to have nice thick hair calibre. I'd be happy with any of those results !!!

Been on it for 1yr & experienced some of the side effects but they subsided when I dropped the dosage to EOD. No regrowth but may have slowed down hair loss.

Im still unsure as to whether having extremely course hair is an advantage or not? Anyone know? I know Dr. Feller for example always say that 1 thick hair is better than 2 thin hairs for HT's. That said, I have seen a number of cases with patients who have dark course hair and the results can be unnatural and almost pluggy, even with FUT. I agree completely that the number of hairs shifted is a more accurate measure than number of grafts. However, this needs to be taken in the context of the area being transplanted. For the hairline it will be mostly 1's whilst the vertex and crown will be transplanted with larger FU groupings. This could explain the different hair counts spoon mentions.

Spoon, I'm assuming your point re hairs per grafts is based largely on the toronto clinics recent procedures? I think this is also the same clinic Max is talking about 3k grafts in the 1cm hairline. Leaving them aside and assuming we are talking about an ethical clinic then they should all be averaging c2.2 hairs per graft. In this case the remaining variable is patients hair characteristics.

Bill, As I'm in the UK the current time doesn't allow me to hook up. If you can compromise the time then I'm sure you would get some of the European members keen to join in. I have read some of the transcripts and it does seem like a useful exercise, particularly if 1 or 2 of the Drs. or reps can make it along. Re Janna's point, I can imagine it gets a bit hectic and time pressured particularly for the likes of Janna and the docs as they are the most in demand. What about confining each weekly chat to predetermined topics? The agenda can be set a day or so prior to the chat with input from those who are likely to attend. Often there are 2 or 3 hot topics being discussed in the forum during the week and perhaps these can be picked up and discussed further during the chat.

Max, no problem, its an interesting and worthwhile subject. Hopefully some of the more experienced guys and Doctors will add their thoughts too. The envelope continues to be pushed by the very best Docs whether it be with FUSS or FUE or a combination. So the maximum available donor on the average patient is most likely to now be closer to 7k or 8k than 5k IMO.

Max, hair colour has nothing to do with graft count as you say. Though with your light brown hair you will need less grafts to acheive the same look as someone with dark hair and pale skin. The fact you have good density ans laxity sounds to me as if you are sorted. There are probably a number of combinations of characteristics that make for optimal results. The one I find confusing is whether having thick course hair is infact a benefit? The best results I have seen are from light coloured, medium thick hair rather than wirey hair. So can wirey hair in fact be a problem as it may look pluggy unless transplanted in extremely high density?

When you discuss donor characteristics what elements exactly does this include? I would think of the following: Colour (least hair to scalp contrast the better) Thickness (the thicker the better) Laxity (more laxity, more grafts) Density (higher donor density more grafts) If you could have only say 2 of the above what would be the most preferable characteristics for the most natural outcome and coverage? Jo for example has had a great outcome with his laxity and hair colour likely to be the main reason.

Richie, the scar looks fantastic after only 28 days. Once the redness dies down it will be unnoticeable even at a #2. Still, for me strip surgery is just too much of a risk. The unknown physiological factors can make a scar stretch and become significant even in the hands of the best doctors. They cannot pre-empt this or prevent it in some cases so there will always be a risk. If the worst case does happen then you are left exposed and chasing your hair if loss continues. In your case I think you chose your Dr. wisely and you have had a great outcome so congrats.

Hi Venkat, I have the same problem with propecia. However I find that the side effects subside when i reduce the dosage to half a propecia per day (0.5mg fin. At that dosage you can still gain the bulk of the benefit from propecia without the sides. Everyone is different so who knows but it would be worth a try for you.

Wylie, I hear you. I actually just shelled out for the amasing laser brush as I thought i'd give it a try at that price. More on BeHappy's experience than HiFi's. I'll let you know how it goes.

great thanks.

Guys, where is the best place online to buy Dr. Lee's 12.5% Xandrox? Thanks

I was trying to go easy on him but it turns out he was a total tosser. nice work Robert.

Hi M&M, agreed, but then those who chose Dr. Armani should know the risks they are taking. Nonetheless there are many people on the board who are considering a FUE transplant to at least frame their face and retaining the option to buzz down if their loss continues and they no longer wish to explore the HT route. I guess thats the reason you pay a premium for FUE, to keep your options open.

platty, welcome to the forum you've found a great place to begin researching your options. Dr. Feller does some fantastic work and is a very nice chap too. He will be entirely honest with you about your options. I think you can arrange an in person consult by contacting his surgery on info@fellermedical.com Good luck

Slightly off topic but may be of interest to many people who believe they can have a FUE procedure to tide them over in the short term. If their hairloss continues they retain the "get out clause" of being able to buzz their hair and forget about any further procedures. From the info above regarding HT's being at there optimal best when the length is longer, do you think this FUE strategy is valid? Or would it look unnatural? Thanks

HiFi, Your photo's do show an improvement in your hair, however, I think what the guys are saying is that its difficult to assess the full extent of the improvement without additional pics. It would be better if you included before and after of a top down view along with the front profile. Anyways congrats on your improvement. Many people seem to get results from the big 3 hair loss medications (propecia, minox & nizoral). Unfortunately im not one of them!!

helpadude, FIT or FUE refer to the means by which grafts are extracted from the donor area. Instead of via the excision of a strip of donor tissue as with FUSS, they are extracted one by one using a punch of 0.7mm to 0.9mm. The benefits of FIT/FUE is that it is less invasive than FUSS (strip) and the resultant scarring in the donor will be less visible to the eye. This allows for buzzing the hair down to a shorter length. Some other considerations are that FIT/FUE is usually 3 times the cost of strip and is currently recommended for patients needing fewer grafts. There is also some debate about whether it yields the same as strip, however, I think with the best FUE docs yield should be very close. Do a search for some of Bills posts as I remember him posting a detailed explaination of FIT/FUE v FUSS. Also, if you post some pics it would help people give a better opinion on your situ.

Spoon, thatnks for the info. I'd never heard that term before and wrongly assumed it was strip surgery. Cheers

okay thanks Good luck with the surgery and it would be great if you could post some pics as i'm sure a lot of people would be intersted to see Dr. Ungers work.

Dirge, I'm still not getting it. You say here that he no longer does strip surgery? So is it only FUE surgery he does now. You say he only uses Follicular Units which is good but how does he harvest them from the donor area? If he no longer harvests via strip then they must be taken individually by Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE/FIT) with a small punch?

I too have heard of Dr. Unger due to some of his publications but never seen any evidence of his work online. Dirge, im confused by your post. Are you saying Dr. Unger is noW doing solely Follicular Unit Strip Surgery (FUSS) or FUE surgery which is extracting each follicular bundle one by one from the donor? Thanks for the clarification.

Bill, I agree. What I meant was producing such a low, dense packed hair line on a 22 year old who already shows significant signs of hair loss. Also the other point I was trying to make is that almost ALL Armani cases involve dense packed hairlines regardless of whether a more conservative approach would benefit the patient over the longer term.

From the other site it seems BHUK has just completed a second HT this week that should provide further density in the temples to camouflage. It does seem like he was an extremely difficult case due to the extent of his previous sub par work and his unusual hair characteristics. IMO you have to give credit to any doctor willing to take these more difficult cases on when optimal results will always be more difficult to achieve. Hopefully he will get his desired results from this next pass.