wylie

When I had my first session many years ago to fill in a receding hairline I never imagined all my native hair would disappear, but away it went, never to return. That was not good, nor were the results of my HT very good either, but

with today's technology you can achieve amazing results, provided you have the right surgeon working on you. I can honestly say I wouldnt do this again, but with today's advancements and knowing what I do right now, thats likely not true. I'd just make a much more informed decision before I did anything.

You could always schedule a session of between 1000 and 1500 grafts, which is considered small, but its all about getting the number of grafts you need, and if you only "need" 400 grafts, your hairloss is not progressed enough to even bother with any of this.

Caveat emptorapplies to anyone undergoing this type of surgery. It all boils down to two things, listed in thje order of importance:

1) Making an informed decision

2) Doctor skill

If you make an informed decision (you have researched what is right for you, you have the financial means, you are prepared for future sessions if necessary, etc) and you have chosen a surgeon you think is best suited to provide what you are looking for, then this can drastically improve the way you look and feel about yourself.

But be warned: If it does not meet your expectations, it can also change the way you look and feel about yourself, so its critical you make the right choice.

I agree with the above post, Hair Apparent, its good to hear stories like yours, no sneaking around and hiding under hats with you. Bravo!!

Turned out very nice, I would have expected nothing less from Dr. Konior. Congrats.

As a new user of Revita, I was going to scrap buying another bottle based on cost but there simply is no other shampoo that makes my hair feel as light and "clean" as this shampoo. In that regard, the cost of the shampoo, while a little steep, seems to be justification for buying it again.

I dont put much faith in any DHT blocker through shampoo, but combining its use with Rogaine is not entirely a bad idea. It sure cant hurt.

I keep Nizoral in my gym bag and use it when I shower after a workout as a break from Revita

I'd try a few more angles with your camera, if you can post some clearer pictures you are surrounded by a wealth of knowledge on this forum, including some premier docs. How many grafts?

Personally, I cant offer any advice other than everyone heals at a different pace. It's possible you had some kind of allergic reaction to the emu oil/aloe and that it actually slowed your healing time. Good luck and heal well.

Hard to believe these doctors are allowed to get away with this, even today.

Are there coaltion doctors who work on multiple patients at the same time? I sure hope not. I remember all too well the 90's, when I would be one of about 5 or 6 patients being worked on that day, many of us at the same time, it was all about how much $$$ that butcher could make, not what kind of results that could be delivered.

Ethics and skill should be evaluated equally, as they are just as important.

I plan on flying to NYC myself, and will be going for a consult in Arizona as well, it all boils down to who you think can do the best with what you have left. If a doctor charges for a consultation fee, they are off the short list. There are plenty of others who have the requisite expertise to perform the surgery/repair who dont charge, and it pays to find out where they are (no pun intended).

I've seen repairs by Feller that puts him at the top of my list, I can't say I've ever seen any repair work by H&W (but have seen incredible results on virgin scalps) It's worth asking them what % of patients are repair patients. Based on location they are relatively close to you in Vancouver. Dr. Gabel in Portland is also not too far away and might be worth a visit, and Dr. Alexander and Dr. Keene do great work in Arizona.

Good luck.

Thanks for sharing your pics, looking good, dont think you can go wrong if you were under the capable supervision of Dr. Feller, I'm sure you are going to be one happy camper.

If anyone has medical insurance all you need is a prescription for Finasteride and two refills, that will last one year. Buy your pill cutter and a 30 day bottle lasts 4 months. A year costs me a measly $15.00

Cheers

Be patient, BeHappy, the land of Milk and Honey exists in future technological discoveries. Right now doctors work feverishly to be the first to clone hair follicles that will bring salvation to us all.

And somewhere Dolly the sheep wonders "What in the HELL is taking so long?"

Keep the faith, my brother. Soon you will know an eternity with hair.

Originally posted by BeHappy:

 

It's the people who had bad results or more hair loss over the years who may have some regrets. How do any of the people who had recent excellent results know how they will feel in 5 years after more hair loss? Of course they feel great now.

 

 

I've seen some pretty young guys with some pretty dense packed frontal hairlines that are surely going to need additional work as inevitable hair loss continues, maybe by the time its a problem they will be able to clone donor hair, but if not, they may come to regret their decision.

A receding front is a smart plan, if you run out of donor hair you can remain looking like you are experiencing normal thinning.

Even with today's surgical techniques and doctor's skill, it's still important to plan for your hair at age 45, not age 25.

Just my .02 on the always interesting topic

Great message to start the New Year with!

Nice results, looks great, Doctor Cooley does really good work. You certainly prove that.

I asked Doctor Proctor on an earlier thread about this and this is what he said:

Dr Proctor sez: Good questions. Nobody knows the answers. I will prescribe finasteride up to age 50 or so, after advising the patients accordingly, naturally. Over 40 is a "relative contraindication", mostly because the oldest person in the trial was 41. This seems appropriate most of the time because of the general reversibility of any sexual problems.

From what I have read on this, there are differing opinions as to if there can be any long term damage as a result. If it screws with a PSA test I would not be surprised, but then again, PSA tests are notoriously inaccurate anyway, from what I've heard.

I personally think that no one knows if this leads to an increased risk of prostate cancer due to lack of research on ths subject. Im not sure if long term use of any drug is really in your best interests. For my own sake, I tend to skip one day a week. I dont know if it helps, and dont think it really is gonna hurt.

If you are in Michigan you are not that far from either Minneapolis or Chicago, if looking for someone close you should look at both cities as worth a visit

Well, thats an exceptionally well told story, you get an 'A' for that. I agree with balody, there are certain settings where one should not use concealers, if the other guy was wearing a black robe/outfit maybe, (then when he washes it at home he can say to himself "WHAT in the hell got all over this thing?" )

But in the context of sweating, grappling, and doing this all while wearing something white, its kind the ultimate test. Somewhere along the line its gonna rub off somewhat I would think, but maybe the stuff works that well, never have used it.

If you are not using Minoxidil twice a day, religiously, start doing so. You want to insure your best possible chance that whatever shedding has occurred is not permanent. Other than that you stay on Propecia and let nature run its course. Dont worry about it though, just make sure you stick to a regimen of doing everything you can, and that includes not worrying or stressing out constantly about what you may have lost.

With only 900 grafts, thats a relatively small procedure, this means you have plenty of donor hair if necessity means future work, and often it does.

It's hard to make an informed comment without being able to see exactly what you are referring too, a picture will allow one to see exactly what you are talking about in regards to perhaps not getting enough grafts to complete the job.

How many grafts did you have and what your level of hairloss was/is cannot be determined without either further explanation or a picture

Thats an interesting and informative link, I didnt know it existed, answers alot of questions I had about FUE.

Unfortunately (for me, anyway) it sounds as if this procedure does not work well unless two things are working in the patients favor, one of them being a virgin scalp, the other being doctor skill.

Success breeds success. Thats why some doctors who have an established track record of successful results, like those doctors in the coaliton, will work hard to make sure every one of their patients look as good as the previous one did. And thats more about dedication and devotion more than any discussion of their technical ability.

And that is the key in making someone sucessful, they can match the attention to detail and high expectations to their ability to consistently achieve high results.

If you go to someone who does not have this track record or verifiable results in more than the "picture perfect" type displays that some surgeons use, incorrectly, to characterize all their work, then you might be the guy who dont end up in either the doctors photo album for marketing his results, or worse yet, you end up with a result much less that what you had hoped for.

Thats why you need to be careful in what someone says when they tout their ability, just traveling the globe and attending workshops or saying you are in some other country "training" other doctors is irrelevant, the only thing that matters is consistent and verifiable results that you find to satisfy your expectations.

Thats why it is so critical someone takes their time and decides on who is the best for what you want to have done

Originally posted by BitingMyNails:

I'm 2 weeks post op and I've already shed quite a bit of the transplants.... the shedding started at about 9 or ten days post op. Does this seem a little soon?

Nope, sounds normal.

Originally posted by kg007:

Wylie -

 

Were you on the Propecia/Proscar the whole time???

Oh no, never gave the stuff a second thought, and in the mid 90's I dont remember alot of hype about Propecia and wish I had of. I only recently got on Propecia, in large part because Finasteride can be had for so cheap. As opposed to purchasing Propecia brand name. Either way, I wish had of taken this long ago and it *might* have helped.

And, of course, back then Minoxidil was by prescription and cost $50.00 a bottle. I was not a regular user back then of this either

Originally posted by darkmanhyk:

Dear All

 

I am really overwhelmed by the valuable information I received from this forum. This is my first post.

 

I am 34 years old with balding in the front and crown area. I have been trying to find a descent HT surgeon is Israel, but I am not succeeding in that.

Is anybody here familiar with a good HT surgeon that is in Israel ?

 

I found a doctor who's name is Dr. Alex Ginsburg, this is his website

 

www.hairtransplant.co.il

 

Can someone check out the website. and evaluate what is written on it, and give a feedback.

 

I am really in need for for feedback

 

Best wishes

 

Hani

Based on this doctors record, no, do not get anything done there, too risky. You need to narrow your search immediately down to coalition doctors, slow down, and then decide to expand it based on informed choices.

Look at this doctors record, it does concern me.

The places where he does alot of his training, while a need exists, have not shown themselves countries where anyone informed would travel to have any work done, they are places you wouldnt even consider. Israel is a tough place to be for this but consider flying somewhere, particularly the U.S.

Good luck

Since 1992 Dr. Ginzburg has performed over 3,000 hair transplants in Israel. He is the most experienced and senior in the field of hair transplant in Israel, and the only dermatologist to perform this procedure.

In 1998 Dr. Ginzburg was invited to the Romanian Plastic Surgery Society in order to teach hair transplants in Bucharest.

He is a member of the International Society of Dermatological Surgery (ISDS).

In 1998 he directed a hair transplant workshop at an ISDS meeting in Baja, Brazil. A year later he conducted a hair transplant workshop and a course on the topic at an ISDS meeting in Athens, Greece.

In the year 2000 Dr. Ginzburg conducted hair transplant courses in Paris, San Paulo and Madrid and in 2001 directed a hair transplant workshop in Guadalajara, Mexico.

For the past nine years he has attended all the international conferences on hair transplant and is the only Israeli representative at these conferences.

In 2002 Dr. Ginzburg led a hair transplant workshop in Poona, India, where he instructed and performed seven hair transplantations in the presence of 50 Indian doctors.

During the same year he attended the International Aesthetics Conference in Bucharest, where he performed a hair transplant.

In July 2002 he lectured at a hair transplant conference in London and Paris and in September of the same year directed a hair transplant workshop at the International Conference of Dermatological Surgery in Puerto, Portugal.

Activities in 2003:

February ??“ Researched hair transplants in Orlando and gave a number of lectures on the topic

May ??“ Participated in the European Conference for Hair Transplants in Berlin, where he lectured and performed transplants

June ??“Lectured at the International Conference on Hair Research in Barcelona

September ??“ Performed hair transplants at the ISDS in Berlin

November ??“ Invited to Bangalore and Poona in India where he performed 13 transplants in five days

December ??“ Received two awards at the International Hair Transplant Conference in New York for his work on hair transplants

The think the application of the pain meds vary from doctor to doctor, there is some kind of vibrating device they used when I was numbed recently that did not exist when I first went under the knife, the difference in the pain associated with getting shots was like night and day, I didnt feel a thing this time around.

Of course, I attribute alot of this to the vibrating thing. It really does help tremendously, also, waiting for a Valium to settle your nerves was the other key to making it almost a pain free procedure. Post op the only soreness, and it was negligible was where the incision was stapled. All in all recovery can be real fast after surgery, this time around it was like nothing happened in the healing dept as well. Very, very slight discomfort at worst. Session size and pain tolerance makes all this information somewhat subjective, but thats my take