Pat - Community Publisher

Lately there has been a good deal of interest in various techniques that remove follicular unit grafts from the donor area one by one. This is a new alternative to using the standard method of surgically removing a hair bearing donor strip (like I had done). The two names that claim to be advancing this new technique are Dr. Woods in Australia and Dr. Rassman and NHI in the US. NHI has been very open in sharing their technique and procedure with peers and patients alike. And NHI is now openly performing this procedure, which they call Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) or FOX. I recently spoke with Dr. McClellan and Rassman of NHI about their new Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) method of harvesting FU grafts from the donor area. It sounds like an impressive technique for excising very tiny single follicular unit (FU) grafts one by one from the donor area. This is an alternative to removing a strip of hair bearing skin from the donor area and then microscopically dissecting it into tiny FU grafts. Since skin contracts around the wound as it heals, the tiny incision created were the graft was removed heals without any noticeable scarring. Healing is also very rapid. Once again, Dr. Rassman and his peers may be leading the way with a great new innovation. I will be attending the annual medical conference of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery in mid October 2001 and hope to learn more then. Dr. Woods unfortunately continues to be secretive about his alledged advances and does not attend the Internationals meetings and does not share his research or submitt it to the scrutiny of peers or the public. I will ask Dr. Rassman to visit our discussion and post more details about his new FUE method. Pat - editor [This message was edited by Pat - Publisher of this site on February 03, 2002 at 10:41 AM.]

What you are describing is called folliculatice (not sure of exact spelling) and does some times occur during the post surgical healing and new hair growth stages. It is normally a minor problem, as minor as the old zit in high school - annoying but not serious. Some times a surgeon in rare cases will prescribe medicine if it is trouble some. Alex is right. You need to ask your surgeon. I will transfer this post to the "ask a surgeon" forum so we can all get a real medical opinion on this issue. Pat - editor Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please jump into the discussion. Just pick a topic and click the reply button.

Congradulations on your successful surgergy with Dr. Sharon Keene. As always I hear nothing but postive comments from her patients. I do on occasion use prothik hair spray in my crown area to give my hair a thicker fuller look. It is amazing how well this product works and it stays in even after swimming or working out. To learn more about this product and other similar ones visit the forum "Shampoos, sprays, and concealers" on the lower main page of this discussion group. Take care - Pat Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please jump into the discussion. Just pick a topic and click the reply button.

If you are in Houston I strongly suggest you do a consult with Dr. McClellan of the New Hair Institute (NHI) or make the drive to see Dr. Limmer in San Antonio. Both do excellent microscopic follicular unit hair transplantation (the procedure I had). To learn more about either surgeon click on "Find a Great Surgeon" on the left hand Navigation menu and then on Texas on the map. I'd wish you good luck. But if you are going to either of them you won't need it. Pat - publisher and "Recovered Bald Guy" [This message was edited by Pat - editor and "Recovered Bald Guy" on October 02, 2001 at 12:17 PM.]

Bruce, You bring up a valid question. What you refer to - exiting hair in recipient area being affected - is called "shock fallout". There are several good posts on this site on this subject under the forum "Medical and Aesthetic Issues - Shock fallout". I will also copy your post to the "ask a doctor . . . " to get a surgeons opinion. Thanks for the good question - Pat - editor Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please jump into the discussion. Just pick a topic and click the reply button.

This is Andy 14 days after his first mega session surgery with Joe Greco in Florida. He has a full account of his surgery under the forum "Hair Transplant Clinics and Surgeons - post your opinions here." Anyone else who would like to post their own photos email them to me at pat@hairtransplantnetwork.com and I'll put them up. I can make your before and after photos anonymous if you'd like. Try to send me a before and after photo from the same angle if possible. Take care and thanks for playing. Pat - editor Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

This is Andy 14 days after his first mega session surgery with Joe Greco in Florida. He has a full account of his surgery under the forum "Hair Transplant Clinics and Surgeons - post your opinions here." Anyone else who would like to post their own photos email them to me at pat@hairtransplantnetwork.com and I'll put them up. I can make your before and after photos anonymous if you'd like. Try to send me a before and after photo from the same angle if possible. Take care and thanks for playing. Pat - editor Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Ok, sorry about the delay but I finally uploaded Andy's photo to a web server and now it is posted here and in the "Post your own photos" area. This is 14 days after his first mega session surgery with Joe Greco in Florida. Anyone else who would like to post their own photos email them to me at pat@hairtransplantnetwork.com and I'll put them up. I can make your before and after photos anonymous if you'd like. Try to send me a before and after photo from the same angle if possible. Take care and thanks for playing. Pat - editor [This message was edited by Pat - editor and "Recovered Bald Guy" on September 17, 2001 at 12:58 PM.]

Hey Andy, That's just a vicious rummor. Pat regrew all his hair with Propecia in combination with wd40 and stp starter fluid applied topically :-) But please don't try any of these remedies at home unless it is the Propecia. Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

I've me Dr. Arturo Sandoval at two different hair transplant conferences. My impression is that he is probally one of the best hair transplant surgeons in Mexico. He seems to be doing state of the art work and seems very involved in learning and contributing at the major hair tranpslant conferences. I have not seen enough of his actual work first hand at this point however to recommend his work on this site. But I suspect he is well worth consulting with if you are in Mexico. Good luck - Pat - editor Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

I would think that an organization on the web would not last long if it were not properly filling its orders. If they have a rush order, I would just place your order with them. However, if that does not work, I would suggest you call nearby hair transplant surgeons and ask them to call your local pharmacy with prescription for Proscar for you. That may be your quickest option yet. Good luck and good hair growing. Pat Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Alex, Thanks for sharing your surgical experience in such great detail. And thanks to everyone else for mentoring Alex along in his "recovery". This exchange is really a discussion forum at its honest and interactive best. Your experience with swelling demonstrates the importance of using cold pack, ice, or even frozen peas BEFORE the swelling even has a chance to get started. If you wait until the swelling begins a patient looses the opportunity to pre-empt the swelling. I'm glad to hear that you are over the hump in your post op recovery. But now as the clique goes comes the hardest part - waiting. And as the weeks drag on into months and you still are not growing hair your faith will be tested. But when your hair starts growing in about the fourth month you will have your own Chia Guy project on your hands. After years of the nagging despair of watching your hair fall out you will feel the rush of seeing your hair loss reversing. And it is very very exciting and optomistic. Congradulations and please keep us all posted. Pat - aka "The Recovered Bald Guy" P.S. Feel free to email me your photos if you would like them posted. Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Guys, Sorry I didn't jump into this discussion earlier. But I can assure you that Andy if very real and a good guy who is on the road to "recovery". Over a year ago Andy called me to talk hair and I suggested he try Propecia first for a year before jumping in. Andy did use Propecia but eventually found that it did not restore his hairline. A few weeks ago week spoke soon after Andy did his transplant with Joe. He was delighted with his experience and just wanted to let me know how things went for him. He then posted his experience online. He also did send me a couple of photos from right after his surgery. The photo was rather wide so the details of his hair are not real clear. I guess I'm used to only posting photos once the results are fully apparent and thought I'd wait until Andy's hair grew out before putting any photos online. However, I will plan on cropping and enlarging his photo as best I can and then posting it to the "Post Your Own Hair Transplant Photos" forum. I'd be happy to do the same for any of you other guys as well. Take care and thanks for all your great posts. Pat - aka "The Recovered Bald Guy" Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Welcome to our forum - Hair Restoration Clinics - where you can share your frank opinions with others about the quality of work by various physicians. To search for posts about a particular surgeons, click on the "Search" function at the top of this page or on the grid menu on a mobile device and enter the surgeons last name. You will then get all the posts regarding this particular surgeon over the past 15 plus years. The field of hair transplant surgery is largely unregulated (i.e. buyer beware). But if we put our collective bald or formerly bald heads together we can help each other find our way into the hands of those surgeons who truly do great hair transplant work. So please share your experiences and exercise your right to free speach and name names. I've done my best to bring together the names, photos, and info about some of the very best hair transplant surgeons at the Hair Loss Learning Center and the Hair Transplant Network. But the physicians recommended are not a definitive list. No one person can possibly have all the answers about who is the best in all states and all countries. So help me and help others find the best and avoid the worst by sharing your informed opinions regarding hair transplant surgeons and clinics. Thank you - Pat editor and "Recovered Bald Guy"

Just want to thank Dr. Rose and Dr. Beehner for taking time to answer our questions here. Taking the time to listen and caring enough to respond in detail is what makes them not only great posters but great surgeons. Pat - moderator Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Don't be alarmed if your post seems to have "disappeared". I regularly move new topics to the forum that matches their subject. Keep those new posts coming - Pat Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Don't be alarmed if your post seems to have "disappeared". I regularly move new topics to the forum that matches their subject. Keep those new posts coming - Pat Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Your absolutely right. I should at encourage several of the surgeons who I think do great work to at least frequent this discussion area and reply to peoples questions. And yet perhaps a topic for a surgeons column along with ask a surgeon would be a great idea. Thanks for the great suggestion - Pat Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Thanks for your feedback regarding Dr. Reed in the San Diego area. When I was in San Diego this Spring I made a point of researching and visiting what I thought were the most promising clinics. I was reluctant to recommend Dr. Reed because of his continued advocacy of "minis and micros" at the hair conferences based on the tired argument of "better density". With large sessions of all microscopically dissected true follicular unit grafts a patient can and should have the best of all worlds - quality and density. I understand that Dr. Reed is now beginning to evolve toward using a microscope for graft dissection and towards more smaller FU grafts. I chose to recommend Dr. DeYarmin for the San Diego area because he has been committed to doing all micro FU hair transplants exclusively for over three years now and his patient results look terrific. I would like to try to keep an open mind on Dr. Reed however because I have never heard any negative reports about him or his clinic and he seems to be evolving his technique. Please post greater details here about your surgery - i.e. - the number of grafts and sizes, how they were prepared, and your ultimate growth rate and visual results. Thanks for sharing - Pat - editor Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Well, I just got back from visiting Chicago and made a point of researching what I hoped would be some of the better physcians. I met with Dr. Wentland, former Elliot and True surgeon, and saw him do surgery on Saturday. Dr. Wentland had his hair restored by Dr. Elliot and his results looked fairly good. Not quite in league with what I'm use to seeing with Shapiro and his group and others on his level - but good. It was interesting to see the use of dilators in action. Basicaly dilators are actual small nails that have specially shaped points that are placed into the recipient incisions to hold them open until the grafts are placed. Dialators are only used by a minority of clinics including most of Elliot and True. Dr. Wentland is convinced that dilators make placing the grafts easier and thus less damage occurs to the graft. It was a strange sight seeing a patient with dozens of small nails sticking out of his head. In my opinion this method is not as refined or artistic as a skilled surgeon working with an assistant making tiny close incisions that are imediatly filled with a graft - technique called "Sticking and placing". He also did not use magafication during the graft disection process. Ultimately I felt his end results, looking at his assistants hair and photos, were ok - no cobble stoning or pitting and good reported growth rates - but not as naturally distributed or refined as what I've come to expect from a top surgeon. All the other clinics I intialy contacted also did not really impress me. But if anyone has found a clinic in the Chicago area that does impress them please let me know. Lets keep those doctor reviews coming. Pat Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Guys, I think the exchange you have going about Elliot and True is excellent - real detail and experience. As for the intial post that I reposted - I too have my doubts as to its source. I was just talking last week with a former Elliot and True surgeon - Dr. Wentland who now has his own practice in Chicago. He impressed me as being very frank and honest. I'm planning on visiting Dr. Wentland to see him perform his procedure. He used dialators in the graft incisions, which hold the incision open until the graft is inserted (unlike the Shapiro Medical groups "stick and place" medthod). This is a practice that Elliot and True uses that I'm curious to see in practice. I too was wary of Elliot and True at first as being just another chain. But now I'm going to look at them for possible inclusion on this site. They do not use microscopes for graft disection but claim that when they did their success rate was no better than their unique practice of using a micro sissors and magnafication. Perhaps my visit to Chicago and Dr. Wentland will be illuminating (pun intended). Please post all you know - the good and bad - about Elliot and True and all surgeons so that we can all benefit. Pat - moderator Thanks for reading this post. But it's your posts that make this discussion group real and vital. Please register - it's free and easy - and then jump into the discussion.

Well, Propecia is just too significant a hair loss treatment not to have its own topic. In my opinion it is the single most effective hair loss drug currently available. In my three years of corresponding online with the "follicularly challenged" I have heard of many dramatic cases where men have not only stopped thinning but also regrown hair (although it typically does not regrow hair in the frontal area). Merk the maker of Propecia claims that 80% of men who take it for at least a year find that it either slows their hair loss and or regrows hair. I have no reason to believe this is not true. But I have also heard from a smaller group of men that have said that Propecia/Proscar did nothing for them. But some of them also reported once they stopped using it their hair loss accelerated. I believe that Propecia (or the much cheaper Proscar) can be a great treatment for slowing or even halting hair loss, especially in younger men or those that have just started losing their hair. As good as hair transplants now are, why not hang on to what you have? So many men should use Propecia/Proscar whether they do hair transplants or not. I also believe that if you do take propecia for a few months before doing hair transplants it may strengthen your thinning hair so that it is less at risk for "shock fallout" (for topic "shock fallout" for a full discussion about this issue. I have been taking Proscar (the cheaper alternative to Propecia - see below for further explanation) for over three years now. It never really regrew any hair for me (I was too far gone on top) but it did stop my hair loss in the crown area). The Basics about Propecia/Proscar - The History - Propecia is a FDA approved pill for hair loss containing a 1 mg dose of finesteride (the active ingrediant). Finesteride was originaly marketed by Merk Pharmaceuticals in a pill called Proscar that contained a 5mg dose of finesteride for the treatment of enlarged prostates. However, they noticed that one of the side effects of the drug was that many men saw their hair loss stop and some even regrew hair. Further experiments showed that only a 1mg dose of finesteride, rather than 5mg, was needed to produce the same hair saving benefits. In the late 1990's Merk was granted FDA approval to market finesteride in a 1mg dose pill as hair loss treatment called "Propecia".

Welcome to the Forum where you can show others your actual results. It is now easy to upload your photos directly from your computer to this mobile friendly discussion forum and social community. Just create a discussion forum topic by clicking “start new topic“ on the homepage and then clicking a category or, click a category first and then click “start new topic“. After you fill in the title and the body, click “click to choose files“ and then select as many photos as you wish to upload. Note that you can do this from your computer or your mobile device very easily. Once you were done selecting photos, theyl once you were done selecting photos, select “done“ and your photos will automatically upload. After you select any remaining options, simply click “submit topic“. There is no real photo size limit other than the server limit of 511 MB which is very large. Create your own Hair Loss Website Another option for sharing your photos and documenting your hair restoration is to create a free hair loss website. To see dozens of current patient websites and to create your own, visit our Hair Loss Websites. Creating a photo album or blog on this community This mobile friendly forum and social community enables members to create photo albums and blogs that are automatically attached to their profiles. To create a photo album on your computer, hover your mouse over “browse“ and then click “hair transplant photos“. From there, you can create, edit or delete any of your photos or photo albums and view other members’ albums and photos. To create a photo album on your mobile device, click on the grid menu at the top left-hand corner of your mobile device and then click “hair transplant photos”. From there, you can create, edit or delete any of your photos or photo albums and view other members’ albums and photos. To create a blog on your computer, click “browse” and then click “hair loss blogs”. From there, you can create new or edit your blogs or blog entries or view other members’ blogs. Create a blog on your mobile device, click the grid menu at the top left-hand side of your mobile device and then click “hair loss blogs”. From there, you can create new or edit your blogs or blog entries or view other members blogs. Thanks for sharing your photos and experience.

Welcome to this NEW forum - Hair transplant experiences - where you can share your hair transplant experiences with others. Over three years ago when I first shared my "Recovery" story online I found out how much people really appreciated hearing first hand from a real patient (My story is still online at www.hairtransplantnetwork.com). But everyone has a unique surgical experience and we all have an important story to share for the bennefit of each other. So please share your experience in detail here and please name names - the good the bad and the ugly. Thank you - Pat editor and "Recovered Bald Guy" P.S. Some of these posts have been reposted to this discussion group from the original discussion group.

Welcome to this NEW forum - Hair transplant experiences - where you can share your hair transplant experiences with others. Over three years ago when I first shared my "Recovery" story online I found out how much people really appreciated hearing first hand from a real patient (My story is still online at www.hairtransplantnetwork.com). But everyone has a unique surgical experience and we all have an important story to share for the bennefit of each other. So please share your experience in detail here and please name names - the good the bad and the ugly. Thank you - Pat editor and "Recovered Bald Guy" P.S. Some of these posts have been reposted to this discussion group from the original discussion group.