nobuzz4me

Irish, this is by far the best forum out there with the fewest "shills" for Doctors. Even the ones who come on here once in a while and work for Doctors, like Jotronic for example, do not badmouth other Doctors or push "their man" all over everyone else. That is why I enjoy this forum after cruising all the others, I believe everyone here is trying to help everyone else and educate each other about these very difficult choices. Bill advised you to check out Feller, even though he never had work done with him, so there is no way he shills for him. It is just that Fellers reputation is that strong. Bill is one of the most helpful guys on this site and gives his time to "give back" to others. He will probably be around even after all his new hair has grown in and he is done with HT's forever, it is just the type of person he is. There are many others here just like him which is why I enjoy this forum so much. Ultimately, you will be the one to choose which Doctor to use. Your best bet is to use this forum to educate yourself on what you are about to get into and visit a few selected Doctors to consult. Then come loaded with questions for them. You already had a bad consult with one, find some others and continue with the search. Good luck!

Domie, Impressive results and great journey! Very inspirational!

Normally, the illusion of more density would be achieved by combing it straight back. I think however, if the hairline is too high, a side part may look better.

It has been known to help remove DHT from the scalp.

Hello, welcome to this forum, you are in good hands here, many of the contributors are very knowledgable and have gone thru what you are considering. To answer your questions, you should not need to see two doctors - one for a precripstion, one to do surgery. Too young? Maybe, depends on things like family history, amount of loss, where the loss has started (temple or crown). It would be helpful if you post a picture or your front, back, sides, and top of your head and let the wise men of the forum help you. I would recommend the medications first, propecia and minoxidil. Give that a year and see if it stops your loss, if it does not, you will probably lose a lot more hair in the future and getting a HT now would not be wise. You really need to look into your hair future with a qualified dermatalogist and HT surgeon to see what your future holds. While you are on the meds for a year gather all the info you can on the pros and cons on any procedure. Look hard before you leap. Good luck!

Martin, Thanks for the detailed story and your happy ending with Dr. Feller, I am sure it has changed your life. SAF, You are probably going to have a very successful repair if you go to the right surgeon here in the U.S. I believe the very best in the world are here, (I would include H&W in Canada). There are also some bad ones here as well, do your research. Since you found this site, do your research and you will come out fine. It is to bad the internet was not around twenty years ago. Word of mouth thru this medium would have probably put those guys out of business before they had a chance to butcher so many people.

Kamin, I think the market is ripe for Janet Jackson to rent her breast. Now that would be a great Superbowl ad, actually, I would rather see a Jessica Simpson "ad" this Superbowl One can only hope.

Hairbank, your advice here is worth more than just $.02. You should be a paid consultant! Great advice and this is what this forum is all about.

Well since they cant pick on the hair, it will have to be what you wear!

I agree with hairbank a good surgeon will follow your natural hair direction and it will blend in with your native hairs. Unfortunately for many of us like myself who had old style HT technology. They did not pay too much attention to matching natural direction and angles of the hair shaft exiting the scalp like is done today.

The change is so gradual that I never noticed the improvement until I get the before & after pictures side by side. I'm not sure why my hair looks so dark in these pictures, it does change color with the seasons but I think these might exaggerate the color a bit. I had both the Shapiros examining my scar and they agree it's nice and thin but the redness will take a little longer to fade with my fair complexion. Slick, Great job by Shapiro and by you on the documenting the journey. I am sure the doctors are right in that more scar improvement will occur with time. It sux waiting I know. The nice thing about your work is that it has been gradual and not drastic. You probably have not had anyone ask you if you had work done which is a great sign and proof of the naturalness of the doc's great work. Your next round will enhance this great work already done if you decide to go for more. As far as your hair color, I am not sure your age but you look late 20's or early 30's. My hair at that age was lighter and of course thicker but with time most guys with your type hair will darken some naturally over time irregardless of the season. (How many men in thier 70's color their hair blonde? ) Good luck in your follicle future!

I would pay him $10 to just cover up that shiny dome. Maybe Bosley has an extra 5K to slap on that head.

Good luck and enjoy the journey!

Bobman, must have been awesome, you look great, congatulations. Very inspiring. Just curious, did you notice any bad HT jobs on any of the attendees, I assume your hairdar was scanning the crowd? Was this upcoming reunion a small motivation for your transformation? Good luck with the new goals!

Klaus, Keep in mind results can vary and it may take some time to measure them. Since you are on propecia, take some close photos to document any changes, monitor and retake the photos each month. You have to be patient, hair grows slowly and it is hard to notice any drastic changes right away. It may be working for you but you may not even notice at this point, it is just too early. Also, if your hairloss just stops this may be a great result. At your age and your hormones raging the MPB will be aggressive during this stage of your life, and since you have been losing since you were 14 there is a good chance you will lose more. Hopefully the propecia will halt the loss and if your a good responder, regrow some. You should consider minoxidil(rogaine) and nizoral shampoo. Do a search on them and decide for yourself. Good luck!

Thanks Pat, with me its not old school its just old! At 47 and pasty white, if I buzzed it, I would start recieving get well cards in the mail! Good that you have some troops in reserve!

Pat, congratulations, you snuck in under the radar and surprised us. You really did not look like you needed more but then again, why not go for all you can get! Thanks for all you do and wish you a great recovery. A few questions: How much donor hair do you have left for any future work? I noticed you did not get buzzed, was this your preference or does Dr. Shapiro usually work around the exsisting hair? Of the coalition Dr's, which ones buzz the recipient area and which ones will allow you to keep some length of exsisting hair? Some posts I have read suggest that buzzing makes for a better job since the grafts can be placed easier and maybe better directionally. I figure it makes it easier for the doc but if you want some coverage post HT why not keep some hair if the doc can work around it? I personally would not want to be buzzed. (note my name!) Are you planning on more work or are you going to surprise us again? LOL!

I saw the tirade on video and he sounded pretty wacked, drugs maybe?

Newtothis, I guess you have to consider that you could have lost even more had you not been on the meds. Who knows? Thats the thing we don't so to be safe I would stay on them. Also, sometimes the beginning of the use will cause some temporary shedding, then it could take 8-12 months to see any regrowth. Stay with it.

Jesse Jackson, that guy loves a camera and a race issue. Mo money for him.

Most of you all probably heard about Seinfeld's former co-star Michael Richards and his tirade in which he used the N-word to some hecklers.(our N-word is Norwood! ) The hecklers were probably right when they said he wasn't funny. Anyway, I saw a photo of him with nothing on his crown, shiny bald. He still has some hair in the front. Do you remember the stack of hair he used to have on the show? I thought it was all his hair but maybe a piece? No wonder this guy is so angry, he had no talent and now no hair.

Most of you all probably heard about Seinfeld's former co-star Michael Richards and his tirade in which he used the N-word to some hecklers.(our N-word is Norwood! ) The hecklers were probably right when they said he wasn't funny. Anyway, I saw a photo of him with nothing on his crown, shiny bald. He still has some hair in the front. Do you remember the stack of hair he used to have on the show? I thought it was all his hair but maybe a piece? No wonder this guy is so angry, he had no talent and now no hair.

I like the softer hairline look, it blends well and is less likely to be detected. A solid wall of hair in the front would draw a flag if the crown is very thin. Most of us do not have the density thru the whole scalp to pull off a hard hairline.

Youngman, You bring up a lot of good points and you are very wise to be looking into your hair loss future regarding your family history. Many young guys will jump in with panic and get work done only to see in five years later they set the hairline too low. That will look ridiculous is they thin out badly as maturity marches on. This is a doctors biggest responsibilty, I believe, is to keep it real with the patient, ie: placement of the hairline and what they can realistically expect. You are looking to repair your head for the rest of your life. I hope the meds you are on control your future loss, this is the advantage you have over your father. If your dad never took any meds maybe his norwood 7 may have stopped at 5-6, who knows? This is why you need to stay on the meds. I cannot speak for Jotronic, Bobman or Bill but those guys all have very strong donor areas and this is why there results are so impressive. It is important that you realize that VERY, VERY few NW6 patients could ever look like Jotronic or Bobman. Those guys turned out awesome and alot of that had to do with not just # of grafts but thickness of the grafts as well. People with finer donor hair will get a finer result with the same # of grafts. I do not think Bill was NW6, maybe NW5 prior to starting his work. These guys may even have some donor hair left for future work if they like, only they can answer that. They may not be maxxed out, just really don't need to go under the knife again or the laxivity is not there now. We all hope the future will be promising and a cure found either thru meds or cloning or something else, but I am not willing to wait it out at age 47 so I am going in for my 3rd HT. You are young and have more time to wait!