wylie

You shouldn't be too worried about your hairline (with your hair grown out) people won't even notice that you had a failed surgery, at least it seems to blend in with your hairline and looks mostly like recession. You are now going to have to get repaired by a competent surgeon. FUE relies far more on doctor skill than conventional strip surgery, and your doctor was not ready for prime time. You can at least be grateful that you can get repaired by a competent surgeon, but I understand your frustration with that result.

Do you mean a Hair Transplant Repair section of the forum? That would be a good addition to this forum, and it is somewhat curious this aspect of the industry remains excluded here. While skill and ethics have evolved over the years, you cannot erase, or ignore, the past.

Well, you've definitely made a wise choice with Dr. Konior, and should put to bed any concerns of a failed procedure with him. However, it is a little concerning to hear you say you think "further loss will make you look ridiculous" when you already have a great head of hair and will likely never lose enough hair to "look ridiculous", and if you did experience further hair loss it wouldn't look anything other than perfectly normal. Hearing people say things like that when they look like you reminds me of an anorexic girl looking in the mirror and thinking they are fat. I don't think it is a healthy perception of oneself, and you have zero reason to feel self conscious about your hair. I doubt a small procedure is the answer to reversing this perception but at least you chose the right doctor. Cheers.

Sorry, you don't deserve your deposit back. You don't have any legal case that I can see to recoup your deposit. Based on your decision making thus far regarding getting a HT, I'm not sure you are prepared for one emotionally or financially. It's probably best that you get better informed before ever putting a deposit down in the future.

Not better than this case, not even close.

Good luck, I think you will get this repaired , I think you are a good candidate and when the doctor says he is confident he can repair you, then you should feel real good about getting this fixed. Wishing you all the best in your attempts.

I hope you never work with me, as I don't want you staring at my plugs, either.

There are many qualified FUE surgeons recommended here who could help you out and soften your hairline for you. I have to say, for a Fleming Mayer, that result is above average, in my opinion. After you soften your hairline you should consider yourself lucky, as there are some real horror stories out there from this type of surgery. Good luck.

It looks similar to Toppik only it is applied directly on the thinning areas rather than sprinkling them on with Toppik, or using the applicator, which for me did not provide uniform coverage (had darker patches where it was sprayed on thicker). Perhaps this type of application will work better, I think I will try this.

Congrats SparkPlugs on your repair, I have to say you did a bang up job with the comb over, it looked pretty good, much like any other comb over, only this one hiding some bad plugs. I wish you luck and hope you will keep this thread fresh with new developments as your repair continues.

That's awesome.

Hang in there John, you have been through hell, we are all pulling for you and will be glad to help in any way that we can. Stay strong and get a good personal injury lawyer, any future repairs should not cost you a dime

That minor recession affected the way you lived your life? Seriously?

His 8 month pictures are on this thread, it certainly ended well by comparison.

Just found this thread and need to give people a wake up call. First off, the patient who started it was given excellent advice, which he ignored based on his own research, which contradicted conventional wisdom of more informed posters. Like a game of Russian Roulette, it appears he got lucky. But for those who don't get so lucky, you can be disfigured for life by fly by night doctors who work for fly by night clinics. One of the biggest red flag with going to hair mills like PAI is some of these patients/victims don't even meet with their doctor until the day of surgery (more on this later) Here is the deal: If you visit a doctor who is not "vetted", like those who are members of this sites coalition of recommended surgeons, you are taking a risk. While there are competent doctors who are not recommended doing quality work, finding the right one with a track record to match your expectations is a serious gamble that you take, and it can go either way. The real question one should ask: Is this gamble worth it? It never is, even if you don't get butchered chances are you could of gotten a better result elsewhere, and if you do get butchered, your quality of life will decrease in ways you never imagined. Now look at what happened to this patient and decide for yourself if you feel like gambling: Page 2

Lisa, did you hear of this in the New York Times? Dr. Umar was recently featured in an article there (on Feb 21). For Baldness, Turning to Leg Hair - NYTimes.com

You shouldn't excise anything, you likely have good donor and with a large enough session you can completely fill in, and around, all the mini/micro grafts. If you opt for FUE and want to avoid another strip scar, Dr. Umar is who I would recommend, he is doing my repair and using multiple sources, the results thus far are great and continue to improve. I would eliminate the doctor who wanted to core the grafts, and the third doctor should also be eliminated, the one who is "cheaper" and wants to use "mini grafts".

A patients expectations are not always reasonable, and when they are not reasonable, it is not the clinics fault. You wanted a full head of hair as a NW6, and since you didn't get that, you expect free work so that you will? Also, the 12 month mark is a realistic time frame, new growth may not be at optimum length in 12 months but most new growth should be evident after a year. If you had of gotten your wish, and 6k grafts had of been "evenly distributed", you would likely be on here complaining about density and expecting free work in return.

"Decent" is a subjective term. I would never advise anyone to seek out the "cheapest" work because you generally will pay ALOT more in repairs after any initial savings. It simply is not worth it, ESPECIALLY if you are seeking FUE, which is more difficult than conventional strip. I would say you have two choices: 1) Save enough money to visit a reputable FUE surgeon, preferably one who is recommended here and/or has an established track record of positive results. 2) Forget about getting FUE and opt for strip. You'll end up with a strip scar but in the right hands it won't be noticeable. Don't ever let cost be the deciding factor. If you can't afford it, you don't need one.

I agree, it's why anyone should be careful about solicited advice on an internet forum. Good to hear about your experiences with Viviscal, my barber recently recommended it to me, I will check it out. The advantage of MSM, that i can see, is it is good for joint cartilage as well, and joint cartilage, once lost, cannot be replaced. So it is important to maintain it. A poor diet high in acidic foods is one reason people suffer deteriorating cartilage at their joints.

Wayyyy too early to be worrying about anything.

And you think Dr. Umar doesn't know this? It isn't the same texture as scalp hair. It's all in the blending process to achieve a soft, feathery, natural looking result. I cannot tell I have beard hair scattered throughout native scalp hair, but I can certainly tell my hair is over 100% denser since it was put there. My hairline was created using a combination of nape and scalp hair. Other doctors likely don't offer it due the difficulty in actually achieving results in its successful extraction and transplantation. It doesn't have to be reserved for grossly disfigured people with no scalp hair if it is blended well with native hair, and in that context, the various types of non scalp hair is utilized correctly for a natural looking appearance. For some people with no scalp to harvest and a head full of plugs, a wiry head of hair is far better than an moonscape scalp of scattered hair plugs and scars.

If you want FUE, drive to Redondo Beach. Check the listing of recommended doctors for further information.

All of the doctors mentioned thus far are excellent. Saying "who's best" is like the question, who is better looking, blondes, redheads or brunettes? The question you have to ask is: Who is the best doctor for me? And in order to get the correct answer, you have to know what type of surgery you want done (FUE/FUT), and then decide which of these doctors will give you the best chance to achieve the result you are after. It's a crowded field of excellent doctors for strip surgery, my own opinion would place Dr. Konior, Dr. Wong, Dr. Shapiro (to name three) at the top of any list, but for FUE, the field thins considerably. In this context, the answer is Dr. Umar. He does with FUE what no one else on this list has done (if they have, I've not seen the results anywhere) You certainly were wise up to this point, I commend you for your restraint. I wish I had of taken a similar route and I'm certain you have made the right choices thus far, because no surgery is a far better choice than a bad outcome, I can attest to that personally. I think you need to continue with your research, good luck and happy hunting.

Beautiful result!