glajo

Been there, done that and yes I know how you feel. It is TRAUMATIC. Ask your doctor if applying rogaine to the area will help in regrowth. Good luck man!!

I have had scalp hair and beard hair transplanted into my strip scar area. I even had a scar revision before that. Personally I prefer the beard hair for filling in the scar tissue area. It may take longer to grow but it is an overall thicker quality of hair and that is what I would want covering up a strip scar area. You should wait at least 2 years to see max results. Your work looks really good. Good luck and I am glad you were able to get hair and most importantly a piece of mind!!

Hello all, I wanted to know if anyone here could recommend a good organic shampoo and conditioner for me to use. My main shampoo is revita which is really good, and I sometimes use revitacor conditioner. The days that I do not use revita and revitacor I use baby shampoo, but I would like to try an organic shampoo and conditioner that maybe thickens hair, grows hair, or is just good for the hair and scalp. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!

I repaired my hair transplant scar with beard grafts exclusively and I am happy with the results. I feel your pain man and I hope that somewhere down the line you wind up feeling happy about your hair, with more procedures or without. Good luck!

Hey guys, was wondering if you all could make a recommendation on a hair growth shampoo. I asked this a while ago so I wanted to see if there is any new shampoo I could try which I am not aware of. I have been using Revita for a while but the formula has gotten really thick and its a hassle to use sometimes. I have heard revivogen is comparable in quality. Any advice is appreciated. Thanks.

Thanks for the quick replies. As far as Revita goes, I dont remember where I read it, but the old box container Revita comes in said made in USA, and the new one says made in USA from imported ingedients I believe. I still have a Revita shampoo bottle from 2009 and the smell and way it leaves my hair is better than the new batch I have. Just my opinion. I had no idea there was an online store here. Thanks for the info Bill.

Hello hair transplant community. I wanted to know if anyone here could recommend to me what they consider to be the best shampoo and hair nutritional supplementation for people who have thin hair who have had hair transplants. I was using Revita shampoo but they seem to have changed the formula somewhat and am not as satisfiesd with it as I was before. I also have tried Advecia which is good but expensive. Any recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading.

Thank you.

Hey guys, was wondering if you could recommend a particular brand of Saw Palmetto to try. I tried Advecia but that stuff is about as expensive as Propecia which I stopped taking a few months ago. Any Saw Palmetto info would be appreciated including dosage and frequency of use. Thanks.

I was on Propecia since 2000 and quit cold turkey like 4 months ago. Propecia actually raised my libido. This happens but I think its rare. Propecia did thicken my hair over the years since Im classified as a diffuse thinner. My main reason for quitting Propecia is Im not exactly convinced that there are no long term side effects from taking Propecia. Plus I hate taking drugs period, even if they promote hair growth. I recently switched to Advecia which contains Saw Palmetto and other natural ingredients which are an alternative to finesteride. So far, so good. I understand your situation about a decreased libido stressing you out as I took some other medication years ago that made that happen to me and man did I get depressed. See if your doctor thinks Saw Palmetto may be a good substitution for you instead of Propecia.

Diffuse thinners are not good candidates for hair transplants because quite frankly those hairs are not very stable to begin with and are at greater risk of permanent shock loss to the donor and/or recipient area. However people with regular heads of hair who are receding are better candidates for hair transplants because they are not diffused and their donor areas can withstand the trauma to the scalp of the surgery itself. However Im sure there are doctors that would take advantage of someone who is young and feeling desperate about their hair loss as everyone in this chat room has felt at some point and go ahead with a procedure knowing full well that the potential patient will keep coming back for more and more. But there are also docs who would candidly tell the patient to wait a while, get on meds and see if the hair loss stabilzes and then take it from there. Personaly speaking, I have seen the good side of hair transplansts and the bad side and now that Im 38, if I were able to do it all over again, I probably would have just shaved my head considering the fact that I was clasified as a diffused thinner to begin with. Mind you this is just personal opinion. Wishing everyone in here much success on their personal hair quest!

Any doctor that would ever consider to sue his own patient, whether as a threat or not, after the patient has his appearance ruined causing him extreme psychological harm, deserves to be... Just my opinion.

Hey didnt mean nothing bad by my comment. My grandmother died of the big C also. I myself have a bunch of scars from previous surgeries and if anyone is worried about ever going through chemo in the future it would be me. Truth is I think the work Hasson and Wong does is probably the best that I have seen in this website. I only wish I would have waited to get these procedures done when I was in my thirthies and not had started getting them done when I was 24 in the mid 90's. Back then grafts were done only couple hundred at a time. Hopefully my hair transplant journey will have a happy ending in the not to distant future. Enjoy your grafts because you will have them for life.

That is very impressive. I only hope you never have to go through chemotherapy.

Yes this can happen.

I feel your pain Turbo. Hang in there and dont give up. Unfortunately multiple procedures can sometimes be problematic. You should certainly consult with one of the docs recommended on this website and see if they can help you. Good luck!

If anyone is interested in seeing the results from my original 2 doctors whose work I never considered to be outdated, I can send it to you privately.

To be fair to Dr. Epstein this is what this area looks like after the FUE's he placed on me for free in October 2008 to correct the suregry he did for me on Octber 2007. Do you guys see an improvement?

About a year later.

I wont post to many pics. This is what the donor area looked like after a 200 graft excision 2 months post op. It wasnt looking that bad yet.

I wasn't able to post a link to the microsoft word attachment containing the emails I exchanged with Dr. Epstein where he clearly admits the hair loss I experienced from such a small procedure. I simply copied and pasted. Just give it some time, and I'll see you in 2 months. Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883 From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Wednesday, March 05, 2008 4:52 PM To: Jeffrey S Epstein, MD Subject: RE: Hello Hey Jeff and thanks for the response. I was planning on seeing you in about 2 more months, to make it 6 months past surgery. This was the first time I had experienced hair loss around a scar tissue area, but also in between the donor scar endpoint and grafted area. If you would like to see me sooner, well I will leave that up to your discretion. I cant use minoxidil for these areas because it irritates my scalp, and made my hair fallout when I tried it years ago. If you think I should wait longer than 2 more months, that is not a problem. Just let me know if you want me to let the area heal longer before you look at it. Thanks Jeff and just reply when you have time. Have a great day. Jose -------------- Original message from "Jeffrey S Epstein, MD" <jsemd@foundhair.com>: -------------- Jose- it is likely a due to a combination of the stretching and still some shock loss. When are you coming back here? Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883 From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Monday, March 03, 2008 5:17 PM To: Jeffrey S Epstein, MD Subject: RE: Hello Hey Jeff, , it's Jose (pink floyd tape). Hope all is well. I had a quick question. I was browsing through your website forum reading some topics on scar area shock loss. Although my shock loss area is still growing 4 months after surgery, I was always confused about something and I can't believe I forgot to ask you. I dont know if you remember but I went to consult with you 3 weeks after my last surgery and you were surprised to see me so soon. I showed you an area on my head that had been left bare with hardly any hair in between the endpoint of the donor area scar from that surgery, and where you had put some grafts on a scar tissue area from a scar left from another surgeon on the back of my head. I was always confused as to why that area was left with hardly any hair right after surgery. Was that because the skin has been stretched in that area, or was that instant shock loss? This area sometimes looks a little thin and is still growing in, although more slowly compared to the actual donar scar area from my last surgery with you. Just wanted to know if that is an exampe of instant shock loss, or that the skin stretched in this area. Thanks for reading Jeff and I look forward to your response. Have a great day. Jose Jose- I understand your confusion and concern, as well as your reluctance to have any further work performed. Let's give things some time. Sincerely, Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883 From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Wednesday, April 30, 2008 9:42 AM To: Jeffrey S Epstein, MD Subject: RE: Hello Hey Jeff, its Jose. Well it was good seeing you the other day and seeing what you think about my progress. Although I was hoping you would have been able to explain to me why I lost so much hair on the left side of my head where the hair is supposed to be permanent, especially since I lost this hair apparently during the actual surgery. The fact that you could not explain the reason to me just added to my confusion. I am really hoping this situation will resolve itself by the next time I am supposed to see you. Losing this hair has made me real self conscious and given me anxiety. The only thing that keeps me positive about this situation is that I had a great first experience with you. I know you mentioned you could put grafts there to thicken it up just in case, but I would be afraid to go through possible shock loss again, or have my scalp stretched from the procedure. I did ask you in the last procedure if the scalp wil l stretch enough to be noticed and you said no. I guess with any surgery sometimes things can be unpredictable and that is why my hair fell out in this area. Well I will see you around September and hopefully this will be resolved by then. Have a good day. Jose I am sure Jose that time will make things get better and better. Trust me on this. Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883 From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 8:28 AM To: Jeffrey S Epstein, MD Subject: RE: Hello At this point I have no choice but to give things some time. I also have noticed for the past month or so that the area right above the donor scar where you took the grafts from on the left side of my head has also thinned out. This area was numbed during surgery and I have noticed that the feelings around this area have been slowly coming back. Although I did notice a tingling sensation here but at the same time, there is a spot around 1 and half inch by 1 and half inch that has suddenly appeared. Is it possible for hair around donor scar to thin again even 7 months after surgery? You are probably sick of hearing about this but I am the one that has to live with this. I wonder if God is punishing for not being happy for the great results I had last time around. I absolutely regret getting this last procedure done. What I wouldnt do to go back time and cancel the last surgery I had done with you. All I hope is for this situation to res olve itself in the coming months so I dont feel like such a freak. Jose Jose- I am sorry for the delay- I've been so busy. I am sorry for your disappointment- there is always, with more and more procedures, of a risk of hair loss, perhaps related to poor blood supply. We'll take a look at things next month. Sincerely, Jeff From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Thursday, August 21, 2008 4:20 PM To: jsemd@foundhair.com Subject: FW: Re: Fw: Hello Guess you didnt have time to answer my question or my email was not received. Either way, see you next month. Jose -------------- Forwarded Message: -------------- From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net To: "lexicon28" <lexicon28@bellsouth.net> Subject: Re: Fw: Hello Date: Mon, 18 Aug 2008 00:17:07 +0000 Hello Jeff, its Jose. Well I am coming up on the 10 month mark post surgery and as far as my situation goes, the donor scar area and recipient area that thinned out during my last surgery with you last October has not really improved much. When you said time will make things get better and better, how long will that be in general out of curiosity? Will it take 12 months or longer for these areas to improve? Ill be honest with you, after 10 months Im just about ready to throw in the towel and accept my losses. Im trying to stay positive about this but Im starting to wonder that since I lost so much hair during the actual surgery and that it has not really grown back , that something went wrong during my last surgical procedure with you. I dont doubt your work and I still do believe you are truly the best surgeon out there in your field but I really dont see any future improvement happening. Thanks for reading. Jose Jose- I understand your frustration- but I have told you all along that, with multiple procedures, there are always increased risks. Are you using minoxidil on the area? Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami, Boca Raton, and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883 From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Saturday, August 23, 2008 6:25 PM To: Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD Subject: RE: Re: Fw: Hello Well, in the meantime Ill try to be optimistic. Had I known there was that much risk, I would not have had the procedure. You think I should use the lasercomb on these areas in the meantime or wait till these areas completely heal on their own? One thing I have noticed is that even though not a lot of the hair has grown back, sometimes I see tiny redmarks where hair is regrowing though at a slow pace. Not where you put grafts but around donor scar, where hair was lost due to shock like if the circulation is coming through to the skin once again. Does laser comb help with circulation? Jose -------------- Original message from "Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD" <jsemd@foundhair.com>: -------------- Jose- I have never shied over taking care of you. At every step along the way, I have always been honest with you, and done my very very best for you. We have developed a relationship based on that trust, and in no way am I ignoring you now. I apologize for not replying earlier, but was out of the office at a plastic surgery meeting. There is something clearly going on, because when I saw you last, the degree of your hair shedding was not like it is in this photo. Your last procedure was a very small one- using a very small recipient site- so I would not expect ever that this shedding would result. Let me see you this week in the office- go ahead and call Roxy, Cindy or Susie and let them know that I want to see you. I need to evaluate and see what is going on, and to consider what should be our next (safe) step. I have and always be here for you Jose- and I intend on doing everything I can to continue to take care of you. Jeff Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami, Boca Raton, and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883 From: Lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:Lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Saturday, September 20, 2008 11:38 AM To: jsemd@foundhair.com Subject: Hello Hello Jeff, this is Jose sending you a pic of what I look like 11 months after my procedure with you. I was told by someone that minoxidil foam does not cause irritation so I am trying that. I never knew the foam version does not cause irritation, otherwise I would have tried it sooner. I tried regular rogaine years ago and it made my hair fall out. As you can probably guess, this experience has just crushed me because of what I look like now. Hopefully the rogaine will resolve this situation for me. I have spoken to other people who have had multiple procedures and although they did get shock loss, their hair grew back. If you look at my old pics, you can see I lost a lot of hair on and around donor area. Like I said, hopefully the rogain will fix this because I do not believe that all the hair follicles were damaged during my last procedure with you. See you next month. Jose I do think there is little to no downside to doing the FUEs - whether now or in a few more months. I also understand your preference for hair vs. tattoo. Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami, Boca Raton, and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883 From: Lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:Lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Tuesday, September 30, 2008 11:36 AM To: Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD Subject: RE: Hello Hey Jeff, this is Jose. I decided to postopone the surgery till around December. Reason being that I want to see if any of my own hairs still have possibilities for growing where they fell out due to surgery. I am afraid that if any hairs still may have a chance of coming back, I dont know if putting FUEs in these areas might prevent or cause damage to any hairs that may still have a chance of coming back. Let me know if I am correct about this. Also, can you explain to me one more time what you think happened with the last procedure. I know you explained to me and my mom but I am still not emotionally all together and when I was in your office, I was trying to keep from crying in front of my mom and you. To my recollection, you mentioned about a 50% threshold point that cant be crossed when performing a strip incision, and you think it was crossed and this is the reason that the hairs thinned out below donor strip area? Also are the hair follicles that have not grown back yet permanently damaged with no chance of ever growing back in the near future? Also there was an area that thinned out 7 months post op that is above donor strip area toward rear side of it. I noticed that this area started regaining nerve sensations back, but at the same time the areas hair slightly thinned out. I hope this is not a ongoing thing cuz I cant afford to lose more hair. Thanks for taking the time to listen and offer some empathy. This is the most difficult thing I have ever dealt with emotionally my whole life. If you think that FUEs can really make even a slight improvement without causing any further hair loss I will do it. I am really not sure about the tatoo thing you mentioned. I would rather much have hair because you cant comb a tatoo. Please respond when you get a chance. Jose Let's definitely try the facial hairs Jose- and see how they heal. From: lexicon28@bellsouth.net [mailto:lexicon28@bellsouth.net] Sent: Thursday, October 02, 2008 7:54 PM To: Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD Subject: RE: Hello Thanks for your quick reply Jeff. Either way I will let Roxy know for sure by the end of this month. Just to let you know I believe I still have a decent amount of donor hair left for the FUE's that I forgot to show you last time. I guess my facial hair would be a second choice then for the donor hair because I am assuming I would be left with tiny scars on my face. Ill keep you posted. Jose Jose- I can no longer continue these communications with you. I have really tried- when you first came to me several years ago, devastated from your prior work, I did what you called a wonderful job- restoring hair along with your confidence by repairing the work that had left you not only with excessive scarring but also with a significant loss of density throughout your scalp. All along Jose, I have been completely up front and honest with you, and have, given the significant emotional toil your hair loss ordeal has been on you, proceeded extremely cautiously with compassion. This has included emailing you back and forth no fewer than 20 times, always with me being willing to put down in words my thoughts, words of encouragement, and honesty. Now you accuse me of being something that I am not, and of downplaying the seriousness of my commitment to my work and not explaining the particular risks posed by reparative work. Let me point out Jose that a simple procedure of 75 grafts did not leave you with the problems you have- rather it was the result of multiple old fashioned procedures performed over a 10 year period. I did not cause this problem, and in fact I did everything I could, with your full and educated consent. Furthermore, I have never said that I would only use scalp hairs for future FUE grafts- otherwise I would not have done some beard hair FUE grafts last procedure to assess their rate of growth. As I am doing more and more FUE procedures (2 this week) I am now recommending it more and more, but it still leaves the problem of thinning of the scalp region if that is the donor area, especially a problem in someone like yourself with such diffuse thinning. I will no longer allow you to blame me for your heartache and insecurities, despite the fact that for the past 3 years, I have displayed enormous patience and caring- because I truly care about you like I do all of my patients. I have taken the time to speak with you with your mom, when I did in fact tell her that I would do everything I could to help you- despite the fact that I was going to be doing procedures at no charge that were to repair the work of other surgeries not performed by me. However, when you go ahead and attack me, now for the 3rd or so time in the past 6 months, with attempts to make me feel like I am responsible for ruining your self confidence, it is no longer acceptable behavior and I will not allow it. Respectfully, Jeffrey S. Epstein, MD, FACS Miami, Boca Raton, and NYC www.foundhair.com www.womenscenterforhairloss.com www.plasticsurgeryoftheface.com 305.666.1774 / 212.759.3484 / 800.370.2883

I hope you guys take the time to read this post because I don't want it to come across as the usual Dr. Epstein bashing which I have seen in this chat room in the past. It's a little long so I hope the posters in this community can take a few minutes out of their time to read it because it's very sincere. I wanted to use myself as an example to educate other patients and potential patients, and even some of the doctors in this forum in hopes of showing the importance in telling the potential patient all the possible risks involved with repair procedures in patients that have had past multiple procedures like I had. I also think that FUE is the best way to go for a minor 75 grafts or several hundred graft touch up procedure and not by strip, which was how the grafts were extracted in my case. I was not offered FUE initially at any time as an alternative method by Dr. Esptein nor was I even aware of that method at the time of surgery in question. Perhaps he did not feel that was the best option for me at that time. Telling the patient any possible risks involved lets the patient decide if it's really worth the risk of having additional work done. I was never told beforehand that multiple procedures can actually cause hair loss and if I would have known that, I would have left my hair the way it was. Sorry but simply filling a release form doesn't seem very informative. I asked Dr. Epstein beforehand before the first two repair procedures he did if there would be any hair loss risks and he said it would not be a problem. I posted here along with my pics the email he sent me where he clearly tells me for the first time that additional procedures can bring further hair loss in case anyone here doesn't believe me. This was explained to me around 10 months after the repair procedure he performed on me which ruined my donor and recipient area. As far as my hair loss history, I have had diffused thinning since I was 15. It looks like I have a full head of hair but its thinner all around compared to a normal head of hair but as I entered my 20's it seemed a little thinner on the top behind my hairline. I first started getting transplants in 1996 when I was 24. Luckily I had enough donor hair on back of my head to be used. Im 37 now and you could imagine all the ridicule I took in school from friends and family at the tender age of 15. I tried every snake oil potion under the sun from the time I was 15 to the time I was 24 when I had my first transplant session done. Back in those days they were done a couple hundred grafts only at a time and the clinic I went to then called them minigrafts. It took 6 procedures from 1996 to 2003 for a total of around 2000 grafts. In other words it was a very slow and gradual process for me. Not to mention the time I had to take off from work during the healing process and the patience one must have to wait for the results to grow in. Although, the years and money I invested were well worth it. As the transplants grew it gave me confidence and the self esteem I never had as a teenager. All went well with no shock loss ever but these 6 separate procedures had taken a toll on my donor area on the back of my head and thinned it out. These procedures were done by the late Dr. Chambers and the last two by Dr. Tzikas. I included pics that show the top part of my head after these results had grown in. In 2006 after 3 years of being tired of the way the thinned out donor area the back of my head looked, I booked an appointment with Dr. Epstein and had the first of two repair procedures to fill in these donor scars. In the first procedure Dr. Epstein removed two strips, one from left and one from right side of head for a total of around 500 grafts. This procedure was very successful. I praised him very much and even vouched for him to some potential customers. After about a year we both agreed it would be a good idea to only add 75 grafts for a minor touch up. By the way in case anyone cares to read, a few months ago there was a thread http://hair-restoration-info.c...0861/m/180109791/p/4 where Dr. E posted his version of my case which was half correct and posted some before and after pics. It's incorrect that he stated I strongly suggested this minor procedure since the results of the first procedure went so well, he also thought it was a good idea for a 75 graft minor touch up also. The first pic which Dr. Epstein posted which says August 2006 is correct. The second pic which says after October 2008 is incorrect. That pic was taken before October 2007 when the results of the first procedure which took place in August 2006 had pretty much grown out. The second procedure for a 75 graft minor touch up took place in October 2007. This procedure unfortunately did not go in my favor. The pics I attached clearly show how my donor area and pretty much the left side of my head was ruined. Dr. Epstein actually managed to get 200 grafts instead of the 75 grafts I paid for via strip and placed them at no extra charge. I think FUE would have been a better choice for such a small number of grafts but I was never made aware of this alternative procedure at the time. The area below this donor scar thinned out immediately during surgery. When I got home that day and looked in the mirror that hair was already gone and it never returned. My self esteem was not prepared for this. I was told later that the sudden loss of hair may have had something to do with the anesthetic that was used. The area above the donor strip had shock loss 7 months after this procedure. This hair that thinned out also never returned. The bare area on the far right of the donor scar behind my left ear also thinned out during surgery. This area behind left ear was corrected by Dr. E the first time around but it thinned out during this second procedure where he placed some additional grafts. This hair that was lost also never grew back. This goes to show that hair lost due to shock from procedures does not always return even if the hair is supposed to be genetically permanent. The hair that thinned out above and below donor strip thinned out across the length of the entire strip. The pics I included show how even the left top of my scalp which had grafts placed by my two previous doctors has also thinned out most likely due to the stress this has caused me. From what I've learned from reading the discussions in this website, procedures which require only a small amount of grafts like in my case should be done via FUE only if possible. I went to see Dr. Epstein six months after this procedure and he didn't seem too worried at the time when asked about donor scar hair loss and he told me to give it another 4-5 months. He opted for more grafts in this area during this post op visit but I said no at the time. This 75 grafts procedure was supposed to be my last procedure and didn't want further work done. One month after this post op visit I had shock loss above donor strip. I told Dr. E about this but he said to be patient and to trust him that everything would turn out ok. Finally in May of 2008 I started participating in this forum and posting questions anonymously for advice on why this situation happened to me. I did not post that Dr. Epstein was my doctor at that time because I had a good first experience with him and I wanted to be fair to him. In August of 2008 10 months after this procedure I finally told Dr. E how I felt regarding the amount of hair lost around my donor strip scar and this was when he told me that with multiple procedures there are risks for hair loss. Another email I sent him shortly thereafter he became a little irritated with me by saying he had told me all along that with more procedures there brings a risk of hair loss. Sorry, I was never told that and quite frankly I never believed this because even though I came to Dr. E initially having six strip procedures in the past, I have never heard of any one having more hair loss because of multiple procedures, at least not with the doctors I first had surgery with. I'm sure it could happen with multiple large strip sessions but my previous donor strips were done only a couple hundred grafts at a time. I have met guys like me who started getting grafts in the mid to late 90's where they had to get them only a couple hundred at a time and some of these guys had way more strips and more grafts done than I ever had and it did not result in hair loss for them in the donor or recipient area, such as what happened to me. As far as I know, if multiple procedures would have resulted in further hair loss, wouldn't the docs who were doing it this way in the 90's have eventually gone out of business back then? It took six strips from my old docs to achieve 2000 grafts and I never ever once had any kind of shock loss because of it. Either Dr. Epstein was being truthful about that explanation which by the way came a little too late or the surgery itself did not go well. Am I wrong in assuming this? Minoxidil was never an option because it irritates my scalp. Finally in September I sent Dr. Esptein a pic of how my area of concern looked like and he clearly admitted something was going on because of the amount of hair loss 11 months post op from such a small 200 grafts procedure. I told him at this time I would post my pics on the internet because I was understandably upset but I finally backed off when he suddenly became more sympathetic to my situation especially since I'm pretty sure he would not have wanted me to post these pics in this forum at that time. I went with my mother to the second post op visit and he explained to us that he would give me free corrective procedures. He also suggested at this time to get tattooed into this new thinned out donor area he left me with. I gladly declined that. As you could imagine even though he meant well I let him do one free FUE corrective procedure out of sheer desperation. By this point I had lost faith in him as a surgeon and I felt that there were no other options. Since the donor area he last used was the last good viable donor supply I had and he ruined it, body hair was suggested. I'm not a hairy guy so I suggested using my leg hairs and beard hairs. I found out later this is rather experimental but I was desperate to try anything to have hair growing where there was hair initially prior to my last strip procedure with Dr. E. He did the FUE corrective procedure to place hair back in this thinned out donor area in October 2008. He took around 10 leg hairs, 70 beard grafts and around 50 scalp FUE hairs from back lower left side of head. This was not a lot considering the amount of hair that was lost on donor area but the plan was to split the FUE body hair procedures into 2 to 3 steps. One thing I can say that's positive about Dr. Epstein is his staff is always super cool and very friendly. There were two other doctors present during this procedure observing which made me feel uncomfortable. Things went well and Jeff explained to me that even though body hair is experimental, he told me he has had decent results with it. Healing went well and rather smoothly. In January of 2009 I returned to school because I had to take a semester off due to the mental trauma this whole experience had caused me. After reading the posts in these forums for over a year I came to the conclusion my head should had never been sliced open for the small amount of 75 grafts I paid for in October 2007. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache and grief if I would have been given the option of FUE for those 75 grafts initially. Perhaps Dr. Epstein did the strip because he figured he can get more grafts which I did not want by the way. I would have been fine with just the 75 grafts and not the 200 he managed to get. I'm also glad my donor areas were not harmed in 2006 with the first procedure of donor strips he took from me. In January of 2009 I sent Dr. Epstein my last email to him letting him know how I feel about this and that he should agree to pay for a doctor that specializes in using body hair since he is not an expert in this field and he got offended and was not interested in him paying another doctor to repair me that I felt was more qualified. I guess he got tired about me complaining about the way I look but if anyone reading this can imagine the long journey I took from having my hair become diffused at the age of 15, to start getting transplants when I was 24 in 1996, to 2003 for 2000 grafts, one can see that I never got greedy with it and I was very patient. The fact that Dr. Epstein left my hair looking worse than it ever was even before getting any transplants and feeling more self conscious than I had ever felt in my life regarding my hair, that was a psychological blow I never fully recovered from. He kindly, or rather unkindly responded back to me in the last email I sent him by telling me he could no longer continue these communications with me. He also mentioned the reason I lost so much hair from such a minor procedure was due to, according to him, multiple old fashioned outdated procedures performed over a 10 year period from previous doctors and that he did not cause the hair loss problem he left me with. The fact that Dr. Epstein gave me a strip for such a small number of grafts sounds outdated in itself. I don't see what the previous surgeries from the other doctors had to do with this. If I am being out of line please someone in this room correct me. I'm open to criticism. He told me not to blame him for my insecurities because of the way that I looked like now and that he did everything he could with my educated consent. Sorry, that just isn't true since I already mentioned he gave me no prior warning of multiple procedures contributing to further hair loss if in fact that's even true. What Dr. Epstein failed to see was that he took away all the self esteem those other doctors gave me and put the blame of his results on them. He also ruined my donor area more than the other two doctors combined and in just one small procedure. By the way if anyone reading this can give me a good scientific explanation or reason why I lost so much hair in my donor area from such a small procedure please inform me. Dr. Epstein is a nice guy until you challenge him on his sometimes not so perfect results at least from my experience. I guess some guys have huge egos. Of course he did not mean for this to happen but from my perspective he shows compassion, but mixed in with a good dose of arrogance. In regards to Dr. Epstein's honesty, the link that I included earlier in this long post, Bill had asked Dr. Epstein directly why the pic he included that says after October 2008 of me didn't match the ones I sent him showing more hair loss on the donor scar from the procedure he did on me in October in 2007. He didn't respond to Bill because he obviously was not being truthful. This makes me wonder how many of his other postings concerning dissatisfied patients he took care of were truthful in nature. Sorry this post is so long but it's pretty much a year and half's worth of bottled up emotions coming out. I'm open to any and all criticism from this community if you guys think I handled things the wrong way. Please keep in mind that even though Dr. Epstein says I verbally attacked him in the last email I sent him, I never once cursed at him and didn't post these pics of me until almost a year and a half later so I've been very patient. I could have easily posted these pics back in September of last year but I wanted to give Dr. E the benefit of the doubt. I'm sorry things turned out the way they did. The FUE's he gave me for free still haven't grown and I'm hoping the beard grafts he used did not go to waste. In the end I chose to go to someone else who is more of a specialist in handling botched up repair cases like me. And yes I will get into debt to do this but when it comes to hair and happiness, this has no price. I wish everyone on this board much success in their individual hair restoration journey. By the way I think Dr. Epstein's a great doctor, but just not the right doctor for me. Have a good day everyone.

I hope you guys take the time to read this post because I don't want it to come across as the usual Dr. Epstein bashing which I have seen in this chat room in the past. It's a little long so I hope the posters in this community can take a few minutes out of their time to read it because it's very sincere. I wanted to use myself as an example to educate other patients and potential patients, and even some of the doctors in this forum in hopes of showing the importance in telling the potential patient all the possible risks involved with repair procedures in patients that have had past multiple procedures like I had. I also think that FUE is the best way to go for a minor 75 grafts or several hundred graft touch up procedure and not by strip, which was how the grafts were extracted in my case. I was not offered FUE initially at any time as an alternative method by Dr. Esptein nor was I even aware of that method at the time of surgery in question. Perhaps he did not feel that was the best option for me at that time. Telling the patient any possible risks involved lets the patient decide if it's really worth the risk of having additional work done. I was never told beforehand that multiple procedures can actually cause hair loss and if I would have known that, I would have left my hair the way it was. Sorry but simply filling a release form doesn't seem very informative. I asked Dr. Epstein beforehand before the first two repair procedures he did if there would be any hair loss risks and he said it would not be a problem. I posted here along with my pics the email he sent me where he clearly tells me for the first time that additional procedures can bring further hair loss in case anyone here doesn't believe me. This was explained to me around 10 months after the repair procedure he performed on me which ruined my donor and recipient area. As far as my hair loss history, I have had diffused thinning since I was 15. It looks like I have a full head of hair but its thinner all around compared to a normal head of hair but as I entered my 20's it seemed a little thinner on the top behind my hairline. I first started getting transplants in 1996 when I was 24. Luckily I had enough donor hair on back of my head to be used. Im 37 now and you could imagine all the ridicule I took in school from friends and family at the tender age of 15. I tried every snake oil potion under the sun from the time I was 15 to the time I was 24 when I had my first transplant session done. Back in those days they were done a couple hundred grafts only at a time and the clinic I went to then called them minigrafts. It took 6 procedures from 1996 to 2003 for a total of around 2000 grafts. In other words it was a very slow and gradual process for me. Not to mention the time I had to take off from work during the healing process and the patience one must have to wait for the results to grow in. Although, the years and money I invested were well worth it. As the transplants grew it gave me confidence and the self esteem I never had as a teenager. All went well with no shock loss ever but these 6 separate procedures had taken a toll on my donor area on the back of my head and thinned it out. These procedures were done by the late Dr. Chambers and the last two by Dr. Tzikas. I included pics that show the top part of my head after these results had grown in. In 2006 after 3 years of being tired of the way the thinned out donor area the back of my head looked, I booked an appointment with Dr. Epstein and had the first of two repair procedures to fill in these donor scars. In the first procedure Dr. Epstein removed two strips, one from left and one from right side of head for a total of around 500 grafts. This procedure was very successful. I praised him very much and even vouched for him to some potential customers. After about a year we both agreed it would be a good idea to only add 75 grafts for a minor touch up. By the way in case anyone cares to read, a few months ago there was a thread http://hair-restoration-info.c...0861/m/180109791/p/4 where Dr. E posted his version of my case which was half correct and posted some before and after pics. It's incorrect that he stated I strongly suggested this minor procedure since the results of the first procedure went so well, he also thought it was a good idea for a 75 graft minor touch up also. The first pic which Dr. Epstein posted which says August 2006 is correct. The second pic which says after October 2008 is incorrect. That pic was taken before October 2007 when the results of the first procedure which took place in August 2006 had pretty much grown out. The second procedure for a 75 graft minor touch up took place in October 2007. This procedure unfortunately did not go in my favor. The pics I attached clearly show how my donor area and pretty much the left side of my head was ruined. Dr. Epstein actually managed to get 200 grafts instead of the 75 grafts I paid for via strip and placed them at no extra charge. I think FUE would have been a better choice for such a small number of grafts but I was never made aware of this alternative procedure at the time. The area below this donor scar thinned out immediately during surgery. When I got home that day and looked in the mirror that hair was already gone and it never returned. My self esteem was not prepared for this. I was told later that the sudden loss of hair may have had something to do with the anesthetic that was used. The area above the donor strip had shock loss 7 months after this procedure. This hair that thinned out also never returned. The bare area on the far right of the donor scar behind my left ear also thinned out during surgery. This area behind left ear was corrected by Dr. E the first time around but it thinned out during this second procedure where he placed some additional grafts. This hair that was lost also never grew back. This goes to show that hair lost due to shock from procedures does not always return even if the hair is supposed to be genetically permanent. The hair that thinned out above and below donor strip thinned out across the length of the entire strip. The pics I included show how even the left top of my scalp which had grafts placed by my two previous doctors has also thinned out most likely due to the stress this has caused me. From what I've learned from reading the discussions in this website, procedures which require only a small amount of grafts like in my case should be done via FUE only if possible. I went to see Dr. Epstein six months after this procedure and he didn't seem too worried at the time when asked about donor scar hair loss and he told me to give it another 4-5 months. He opted for more grafts in this area during this post op visit but I said no at the time. This 75 grafts procedure was supposed to be my last procedure and didn't want further work done. One month after this post op visit I had shock loss above donor strip. I told Dr. E about this but he said to be patient and to trust him that everything would turn out ok. Finally in May of 2008 I started participating in this forum and posting questions anonymously for advice on why this situation happened to me. I did not post that Dr. Epstein was my doctor at that time because I had a good first experience with him and I wanted to be fair to him. In August of 2008 10 months after this procedure I finally told Dr. E how I felt regarding the amount of hair lost around my donor strip scar and this was when he told me that with multiple procedures there are risks for hair loss. Another email I sent him shortly thereafter he became a little irritated with me by saying he had told me all along that with more procedures there brings a risk of hair loss. Sorry, I was never told that and quite frankly I never believed this because even though I came to Dr. E initially having six strip procedures in the past, I have never heard of any one having more hair loss because of multiple procedures, at least not with the doctors I first had surgery with. I'm sure it could happen with multiple large strip sessions but my previous donor strips were done only a couple hundred grafts at a time. I have met guys like me who started getting grafts in the mid to late 90's where they had to get them only a couple hundred at a time and some of these guys had way more strips and more grafts done than I ever had and it did not result in hair loss for them in the donor or recipient area, such as what happened to me. As far as I know, if multiple procedures would have resulted in further hair loss, wouldn't the docs who were doing it this way in the 90's have eventually gone out of business back then? It took six strips from my old docs to achieve 2000 grafts and I never ever once had any kind of shock loss because of it. Either Dr. Epstein was being truthful about that explanation which by the way came a little too late or the surgery itself did not go well. Am I wrong in assuming this? Minoxidil was never an option because it irritates my scalp. Finally in September I sent Dr. Esptein a pic of how my area of concern looked like and he clearly admitted something was going on because of the amount of hair loss 11 months post op from such a small 200 grafts procedure. I told him at this time I would post my pics on the internet because I was understandably upset but I finally backed off when he suddenly became more sympathetic to my situation especially since I'm pretty sure he would not have wanted me to post these pics in this forum at that time. I went with my mother to the second post op visit and he explained to us that he would give me free corrective procedures. He also suggested at this time to get tattooed into this new thinned out donor area he left me with. I gladly declined that. As you could imagine even though he meant well I let him do one free FUE corrective procedure out of sheer desperation. By this point I had lost faith in him as a surgeon and I felt that there were no other options. Since the donor area he last used was the last good viable donor supply I had and he ruined it, body hair was suggested. I'm not a hairy guy so I suggested using my leg hairs and beard hairs. I found out later this is rather experimental but I was desperate to try anything to have hair growing where there was hair initially prior to my last strip procedure with Dr. E. He did the FUE corrective procedure to place hair back in this thinned out donor area in October 2008. He took around 10 leg hairs, 70 beard grafts and around 50 scalp FUE hairs from back lower left side of head. This was not a lot considering the amount of hair that was lost on donor area but the plan was to split the FUE body hair procedures into 2 to 3 steps. One thing I can say that's positive about Dr. Epstein is his staff is always super cool and very friendly. There were two other doctors present during this procedure observing which made me feel uncomfortable. Things went well and Jeff explained to me that even though body hair is experimental, he told me he has had decent results with it. Healing went well and rather smoothly. In January of 2009 I returned to school because I had to take a semester off due to the mental trauma this whole experience had caused me. After reading the posts in these forums for over a year I came to the conclusion my head should had never been sliced open for the small amount of 75 grafts I paid for in October 2007. I could have saved myself a lot of heartache and grief if I would have been given the option of FUE for those 75 grafts initially. Perhaps Dr. Epstein did the strip because he figured he can get more grafts which I did not want by the way. I would have been fine with just the 75 grafts and not the 200 he managed to get. I'm also glad my donor areas were not harmed in 2006 with the first procedure of donor strips he took from me. In January of 2009 I sent Dr. Epstein my last email to him letting him know how I feel about this and that he should agree to pay for a doctor that specializes in using body hair since he is not an expert in this field and he got offended and was not interested in him paying another doctor to repair me that I felt was more qualified. I guess he got tired about me complaining about the way I look but if anyone reading this can imagine the long journey I took from having my hair become diffused at the age of 15, to start getting transplants when I was 24 in 1996, to 2003 for 2000 grafts, one can see that I never got greedy with it and I was very patient. The fact that Dr. Epstein left my hair looking worse than it ever was even before getting any transplants and feeling more self conscious than I had ever felt in my life regarding my hair, that was a psychological blow I never fully recovered from. He kindly, or rather unkindly responded back to me in the last email I sent him by telling me he could no longer continue these communications with me. He also mentioned the reason I lost so much hair from such a minor procedure was due to, according to him, multiple old fashioned outdated procedures performed over a 10 year period from previous doctors and that he did not cause the hair loss problem he left me with. The fact that Dr. Epstein gave me a strip for such a small number of grafts sounds outdated in itself. I don't see what the previous surgeries from the other doctors had to do with this. If I am being out of line please someone in this room correct me. I'm open to criticism. He told me not to blame him for my insecurities because of the way that I looked like now and that he did everything he could with my educated consent. Sorry, that just isn't true since I already mentioned he gave me no prior warning of multiple procedures contributing to further hair loss if in fact that's even true. What Dr. Epstein failed to see was that he took away all the self esteem those other doctors gave me and put the blame of his results on them. He also ruined my donor area more than the other two doctors combined and in just one small procedure. By the way if anyone reading this can give me a good scientific explanation or reason why I lost so much hair in my donor area from such a small procedure please inform me. Dr. Epstein is a nice guy until you challenge him on his sometimes not so perfect results at least from my experience. I guess some guys have huge egos. Of course he did not mean for this to happen but from my perspective he shows compassion, but mixed in with a good dose of arrogance. In regards to Dr. Epstein's honesty, the link that I included earlier in this long post, Bill had asked Dr. Epstein directly why the pic he included that says after October 2008 of me didn't match the ones I sent him showing more hair loss on the donor scar from the procedure he did on me in October in 2007. He didn't respond to Bill because he obviously was not being truthful. This makes me wonder how many of his other postings concerning dissatisfied patients he took care of were truthful in nature. Sorry this post is so long but it's pretty much a year and half's worth of bottled up emotions coming out. I'm open to any and all criticism from this community if you guys think I handled things the wrong way. Please keep in mind that even though Dr. Epstein says I verbally attacked him in the last email I sent him, I never once cursed at him and didn't post these pics of me until almost a year and a half later so I've been very patient. I could have easily posted these pics back in September of last year but I wanted to give Dr. E the benefit of the doubt. I'm sorry things turned out the way they did. The FUE's he gave me for free still haven't grown and I'm hoping the beard grafts he used did not go to waste. In the end I chose to go to someone else who is more of a specialist in handling botched up repair cases like me. And yes I will get into debt to do this but when it comes to hair and happiness, this has no price. I wish everyone on this board much success in their individual hair restoration journey. By the way I think Dr. Epstein's a great doctor, but just not the right doctor for me. Have a good day everyone.

Yes it is. In case anyone cares I wrote a really long letter explaining my whole hair loss history and story with more pics and even emails I exchanged with Dr. Epstein validating my story. Bill was the only person in here who was ever aware of my situation completely. He was always super cool to me and extremely supportive and even encouraged me to post my full story but in the end I kind of wanted to stop feeling sorry for myself and was able to find a doc who was willing to help me. Unfortunately I will have to resort to using beard and bht to fill in hair in this area that used to have hair. There are no guarantees it will work but Im sure anyone here in my shoes would do the samething. I am extremely grateful for this doctor who agreed to repair me. The worst part for me was that I had a really good first experience with Dr. E and I used to consider him a friend and of course he did not mean for this to happen. I just didnt care for his attitude in the long run concerning how I look like now.

Permanent shock loss runs across entire length of scar.