nobuzz4me

Tan Gill,

Keep in mind that these products may grow some new hair at best and at worst do nothing for you. The majority probably experience a slow down or halting of their hairloss.

If you are destined to lose a lot more hair which looks possible, you will be very pleased to keep what you have. These drugs can help stave off future hairloss and any regrowth would not be visible for several months.

Be patient and stay on it.

Repair Guy,

Things are looking more natural each go round, you are in good hands.

Questions:

1) How large a punch did he use to extract the plugs and did he suture close? Did he FUE them out or core them out? If by FUE here would be no sutures I guess.

2) How long between sessions? Cost?

3) How many grafts survived the extraction and reimplant?

4) How many grafts total so far out of the 280 plugs will you end up with.

5) When you follow up with a strip HT will he take out some or all of the open donor scars from the previous surgeries?

Thanks and keep us posted!

Originally posted by irishitaliangirl:

I have noticed people on these forums who are representatives of Feller Medical. If Dr. Feller is so great, why does he need to advertise so heavily on these forums? I'm just as cautious about choosing a doctor based on geography than choosing one based on how many people they are paying to recruit potential patients from forums.

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.

Originally posted by iwanthair:

Why everybody use Nizoral? It is anti-dandruf shampoo. How it helps us?

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!

I have a question for Pat or anyone on this job. The procedure is top notch of course but I am wondering why the old circular plug scars in the donor area were left.

Sometimes these are stripped out and it appears the strip area is all virgin. Looking closely it appears the plugs were below the strip taken.

I had a strip done in which they took out some of the old circular plug scars from a prior bad HT with the strip. They can extract all FU's around any scar tissue in that strip. It would make for more tedious work for the technichions but it is worth it to get rid of those ugly circular scars which were left in this case.

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.

Originally posted by hairbank:

Hey Bret-

 

I'll give you my $.02 as fellow 40-year old .....

 

You're really in a pretty good position compared to most here. I was a NW 4+ two years ago before my first HT. As Bill mentioned, you should be able to achieve the density you're looking for that will naturally blend with the rest of your hair. Shapiro is top-notch for any HT, especially hairlines so you'll be in good hands if you decide to do it.

 

As for recovery and evidence of your HT, it's a little difficult to determine the outcome. If I were you.........since the work is pretty much hairline only, I'd start adopting a new hairstyle 3-4 months before the HT allowing it to grow out to 3" or so......maybe start letting it fall forward, comb to the side, part in the middle......the goal being to start natural coverage of your widows peaks and remaining hairline. Sounds like you have pretty good density everywhere with no diffused thinning so you should be able to pull this off. Then, after the HT, take a couple weeks off.....by then you will have no scabbing left and the grafts will likely start to fall out. Keep your hair longer while the grafts shed (before they start growing again in a few months). Then, as your HT hair starts growing after a few months, clip the hair shorter for a couple of months.....maybe 1/2" or so until the HT hair really starts to take off............does this make sense? I hope so.

 

Anyway, since your loss has been gradual, as long as Shapiro agrees with your plan, I'd say go for it if it's something you think you'd like. You may want to consider starting to take Propecia (Finasteride) to stave off any further loss.........something to think about anyway.

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.