nobuzz4me

It seems everytime I see Chris Berman on ESPN his hair looks wierd. Sometimes you see his scalp other times it looks like his hair was painted on. Did he have a HT in the hairline area and is covering with concealers? His combover adds to the wierd look. I think he has had touch up work along the hailine and is doing it slowly maybe by FUE sessions. What do you all think?

Guys, I am scheduled for a corrective procedure in January with Dr. Vogel to reduce or remove plugs and add 1200 grafts via strip. Has anyone had a procedure done by him? This will be my third procedure. First time was in 1980's with about sixty plugs (6-10 hairs) in the front temples. My second procedure was with Dr. Halford around 2003 who at the time was with Elliott and True. He did about 1000 grafts and camoflaged the previous plugs and constructed a decent hairline. Dr. Halford left the D.C. area and may be in NY or I might have gone back to him. I am looking to remove or reduce the plugs and replant the FU's and also increase density to the forelock area. I am 95% sure that I will go thru with it and have left a deposit. I just would feel better if anyone here has had personal experience with him. His schedule is full which is why I could not get in till January. I guess If his schedule was not full I would really be worried. I do not believe he is a coalition member and I got his name and website thru other searches. His patient photos look pretty good and it appears he has done a lot of corrective work. I value the opinions of all on this board, this is the best site out there! Thanks for your input!

Guys, I am scheduled for a corrective procedure in January with Dr. Vogel to reduce or remove plugs and add 1200 grafts via strip. Has anyone had a procedure done by him? This will be my third procedure. First time was in 1980's with about sixty plugs (6-10 hairs) in the front temples. My second procedure was with Dr. Halford around 2003 who at the time was with Elliott and True. He did about 1000 grafts and camoflaged the previous plugs and constructed a decent hairline. Dr. Halford left the D.C. area and may be in NY or I might have gone back to him. I am looking to remove or reduce the plugs and replant the FU's and also increase density to the forelock area. I am 95% sure that I will go thru with it and have left a deposit. I just would feel better if anyone here has had personal experience with him. His schedule is full which is why I could not get in till January. I guess If his schedule was not full I would really be worried. I do not believe he is a coalition member and I got his name and website thru other searches. His patient photos look pretty good and it appears he has done a lot of corrective work. I value the opinions of all on this board, this is the best site out there! Thanks for your input!

Hey Guys, I have been on minoxidil for a few years on and off. I mostly jumped off because of the hassle in applying it (from a eyedropper to now a foam ). I have found a way to make life a bit easier, I take my generic CVS minox bottles and empty them into a small spray bottle which you can get at CVS or just use a empty eyeglass cleaner spray bottle. The key is a fine mist spray. I do it right after a hot shower since that is the best time for absorption. The hot water really opens up your pores. After my hair drys a bit, I really do not have a greasy feeling on the hair. I have also found that the tip of the sprayer bottle will clog after spaying unless you rinse the tip well with hot water. I am having much more success with minox this way, maybe the hot shower is key. It may also be that since it is easier to apply this way, and I am more consistent with it. The BS we have to go thru with MPB!!! Good Luck Fellas

Hey Guys, I have been on minoxidil for a few years on and off. I mostly jumped off because of the hassle in applying it (from a eyedropper to now a foam ). I have found a way to make life a bit easier, I take my generic CVS minox bottles and empty them into a small spray bottle which you can get at CVS or just use a empty eyeglass cleaner spray bottle. The key is a fine mist spray. I do it right after a hot shower since that is the best time for absorption. The hot water really opens up your pores. After my hair drys a bit, I really do not have a greasy feeling on the hair. I have also found that the tip of the sprayer bottle will clog after spaying unless you rinse the tip well with hot water. I am having much more success with minox this way, maybe the hot shower is key. It may also be that since it is easier to apply this way, and I am more consistent with it. The BS we have to go thru with MPB!!! Good Luck Fellas

Propecia is a no brainer, you are still young and need to stop the progression first. Wait a year and see if things stabilize then possible HT to fill in your needs.

I have no knowledge of this doc but only looking at the patient pictures scare me a bit. Some of the photos are very fuzzy which may mask the detail of the work. Also, some of the patients hairlines look very straight and not natural, one even looked pluggy. I would hope he is not using plugs still. If you are limited to him, make sure to see some patients of his in person. Good luck RoySam

Only if Angelina Jolie comes with it! That would take a lot of grafts but would be worth it.

PCC, I am not familar with "strip grafts" as I did not keep up with the technology between 1983 and 2001. Were the strip grafts like a flap procedure and do these make your hairline linear? You may be able to get them excised out and divided into FU for replacement in to the hairline. I am too the point where I want to face my problem and just go thru what is neccessary to fix it. We will probably look like a freak for a few months but in the long run it should be worth it. It sounds like you have enough donor hair on the sides to make the repair for you work out. I don't know about you but I want ALL plugs removd and divided into FU for replacement. I do not think my forelock area can be filled enough to mask the plugs so it is best I get them removed. My second HT was about 1000 grafts to blend in and recreate a hailine. It is not too bad but in the wind or outside I am still too self concious about it and always go to wearing my hat. I will be happy when I can go without those hats!! I will keep you posted, good luck.

I don't know about you guys but if I had his bucks, I would get those ugly plugs removed and put them on George Steinbrenners desk on the way out the door. Seriously though, do you think he looks in the mirror and thinks his hair looks OK? I wonder if he even knows his head could be worked on with new technology and turn out pretty good, his hair on the sides look pretty strong. I am a fan of his but everytime he is on TV wthout a cap I cannot hear a word he says with the plug distraction. Jeff Van Gundy used to be the same but he must of had his plugs removed with out redistributing them. Not sure it is a big improvement, He does not look good bald, more like death warmed over.

I don't know about you guys but if I had his bucks, I would get those ugly plugs removed and put them on George Steinbrenners desk on the way out the door. Seriously though, do you think he looks in the mirror and thinks his hair looks OK? I wonder if he even knows his head could be worked on with new technology and turn out pretty good, his hair on the sides look pretty strong. I am a fan of his but everytime he is on TV wthout a cap I cannot hear a word he says with the plug distraction. Jeff Van Gundy used to be the same but he must of had his plugs removed with out redistributing them. Not sure it is a big improvement, He does not look good bald, more like death warmed over.

Dear Golfingguru, I was in your position at a young age and it is very traumatic I know but you are lucky to have resources here at this site to gain info. I did not have the advantage of this info and made a bad decision to get a HT old plug style. Today's technology is so good compared to two decades ago. In your case, I would wait and first see a dermatoligist to see the cause of your hair loss. It cannot hurt to stay on Propecia, it is not a miracle drup and if it slows down the progression or stops the hairloss that is good thing, any regrowth would be a bonus. I would avoid a HT at 21!!!! It is too young to predict where you will end up in the future and what areas will need to be addressed for graft placement. Your hairloss may decide to stop all together or continue, only time will tell. Be patient, gather all the info you can and but do not jump into a HT at this point. Also, your hair looks good to me. Don't hit the panic button yet! Good luck!

Plugvet, did they suture close the holes or leave them to heal, One of my questions I asked Dr. Vogel was suturing these closed and in my case he said he would not suture close such a small hole. Maybe these holes will be so small like a FUE, I need to clarify. It scares me to think of ending up with a circular scar with no hair in it on near my hairline!

PCC, Yes I think Halford is in NY, I think he did a good job with my first correction via camoflage. I still need more work and would still like to get rid of these plugs even though Dr. Vogel says it may not be neccessary. Other people may not notice but I will still see them and KNOW they are there. So far very impressed with Dr. Vogel and I did read all of his corrective works and he has extensive plastic surgery backround instead of just doing HT. Compared to facelifts, etc., HT must be simple for him. Apparently, he does about 50% HT and 50% plastic and it was very hard to schedule his HT (I wanted to get on with it asap but cannot get in till January). I would be worried if his schedule book was wide open. His office and facility look first class and clean so I feel better about that. I still have more questions since doing more research and will try to see him for a follow up consultation. Do you have old plugs for repair and what is your situation? I just want to look natural, not like a movie star, at 48 and NW5 I can not expect miracles!

Thanks plugvet, I will keep you posted as I am scared to death of going thru this crap but I know it is neccessary if I am ever to look natural again.

Thanks for the reply, what size were your plugs originally and did Dr. Wong remove the entire plug or most of it. Since mine are 9-12 hairs each maybe this is why Dr. Vogel advised not to suture since the hole punch will be so small in removing part of the plug. Since I had some camoflage work which turned out fairly well, maybe there is no need for aggressive attack on these plugs and can just be refined some. I will try to get pics soon as I am new to this site. What can we do about the swiss cheese donor site if the harvest area is close to being above the safe zone. My 2nd procedure the doc removed the lower row of the bumps. I would like to get the whole area stripped out and use what is there for FU. Did Dr Wong consider this with you or were your plugs pulled from a non-safe zone? I am on propecia now and hope the donor area does not start to show thru in the future, also, my choice would be to have one linear scar rather than these stupid bumps! Your thoughts? Many thanks!

Hello all, great site, very informative. I am scheduled for a repair session with Dr. Vogel in Baltimore. A little backround - In the early 80's, I had about 60 plugs put in the temple areas when I was freaked out about my hairloss in my early twenties. I had repair work via Dr. Halford who was with Elliot and True several years ago. He decided to camaflouge the area and it worked pretty well. Now I am about a NW5A and need more work to cover the plug area and am considering a 1200 FUT via strip and plug reduction and recycling with Dr. Vogel. My concern is the method of reducing the plugs. I am really not sure the size of the plugs, I do not think they are the largest I have ever seen, they may contain about 9-12 hairs. Would it make sense to remove the plug totally or just a small part of it with a small punch? We talked about it during my consultation and he thought a small punch would not need to be sutured and would heal just fine without sutures. This kind of scares me as I still have the circle scars in my donor area from the early disfigurement "restoration"! Has anyone out there had repair done this way or is this similar to fueing the plugs down in density? I do not want to make a mistake during this repair and I don't want to end up needing many more sessions to fix the problem. Many thanks for your suggestions!

Hello all, great site, very informative. I am scheduled for a repair session with Dr. Vogel in Baltimore. A little backround - In the early 80's, I had about 60 plugs put in the temple areas when I was freaked out about my hairloss in my early twenties. I had repair work via Dr. Halford who was with Elliot and True several years ago. He decided to camaflouge the area and it worked pretty well. Now I am about a NW5A and need more work to cover the plug area and am considering a 1200 FUT via strip and plug reduction and recycling with Dr. Vogel. My concern is the method of reducing the plugs. I am really not sure the size of the plugs, I do not think they are the largest I have ever seen, they may contain about 9-12 hairs. Would it make sense to remove the plug totally or just a small part of it with a small punch? We talked about it during my consultation and he thought a small punch would not need to be sutured and would heal just fine without sutures. This kind of scares me as I still have the circle scars in my donor area from the early disfigurement "restoration"! Has anyone out there had repair done this way or is this similar to fueing the plugs down in density? I do not want to make a mistake during this repair and I don't want to end up needing many more sessions to fix the problem. Many thanks for your suggestions!