wylie

Yea, that should be criminal, this place is a house of horrors. Don't be too despondent, you can fix this,l repair surgery has come a long way in the past 10-15 years. I know how hard it is to be disfigured, because I was for years. But even back in the early 90's they were performing strip surgeries. What they did to you was something from the 1980's. It's very important that you describe your situation in detail and file a complaint with the Better Business Bureau. https://www.bbb.org/consumer-complaints/file-a-complaint/get-started Tell them that they performed an outdated procedure on you and that the doctor's assistant was the one doing the majority of the work. This industry has such a long and checkered past that they have locked themselves up pretty safely from the threat of litigation, but that does not mean you cannot take other options to seek justice. It is also very possible that you can recoup your money, but this incident needs to be documented, and soon. The BBB is a very effective means of seeking justice and reimbursement outside of the courtroom. Options for repair include using beard hair as a filler to your punch grafts, and SMP tattooing into your donor area. You are going to have to patient, it might be a long journey to get where you want to be, but you can get there. It took me 15 years. That was before non scalp sources became available like they are today. Good luck.

Anyone who has relied strictly on body hair for a HT is going to get a poor result. I don't know of a single patient that has gotten a strictly body hair result that would be considered acceptable. Body hair can only be used as an adjunct to scalp hair, and I don't say this as a medical professional, just someone who has pored over the internet for many years studying various BHT results. That said, I had 4000 beard grafts added to my scalp, purely the front half (bald crown) and still am not 100% satisfied with the result. (About 80% satisfied, which is a huge difference than being 0% satisfied prior) But my feelings of what is a success is likely far different than what yours is. I am someone who doctors looked at and literally could say nothing positive about my hair, as they knew there was no scalp donor to fix half a head full of "mini grafts", and I was forced to wear a hat for over a decade. Dr. Umar used beard hair and gave me a result that allows me to go confidently without a hat now. For over a decade I thought that this would never be possible. Without beard it would not have been. With that said, I'm not at all surprised you have seen poor results with body hair. I don't trust the growth rates of any body donor other than beard hair. Chest hair to me is too risky to bother with using, and beard has to be used appropriately with scalp hair to get a decent looking result. The good news is that it does work, the bad news is that it is still unpredictable what result you will get, even in the best of hands. If it is not blended with scalp hair by someone who has experience doing it, you are likely going to see exactly what has been walking into your office. And thanks for the offer to stop by, I might find myself in D.C. in the next year or two (my sister lives nearby and I love visiting the Mall area) and if there I will stop in for a visit.

There are happy ones out there, I'm one of them. No offense, but most doctors who pan alternative donor sources as being unreliable or question their "growth cycle time" (whatever that means) are themselves unable to harvest and utilize this resource. It requires practice and lots of effort to make it work, but for those of us who it has worked on, it has been a true lifesaver. I simply could not wear a hair system, I could not shave my head, and had to wear a hat for over a decade until I found out about beard hair in 2007, oddly enough in the clinic of a well respected doctor, whose nurse made an off-hand comment about it (Exact words: "Don't try beard hair") That turned on a lightbulb and I regained hope in a repair almost overnight.

Absolutely, unequivocally 100% correct.

Regardless of anyones experience with PAI, a surgery of this type should never involve a gamble, stick with someone who has a proven track record. That would be someone like Ray Konior of Chicago. If you have to pay more, or wait longer to be booked for surgery, you will be happy you did, trust me.

Round 1 looks great, Round 2 should seal the deal, good luck!

First off, your signature touts the benefits of Dutasteride, so it's fairly evident to me while you got so upset with my post, you may have a vested financial interest in the topic. I don't expect you to make a full disclosure because, like you say, it's the internet. I posted that the Red Cross wouldn't take my blood because their literature stated that this medication "has been linked to birth defects" I realize your paycheck may rely on you selling this product or another similar product, so forgive me for dismissing your claims. They may indeed be true, and that's great. But I'm old enough to not believe everything that is touted at "safe", as I've seen contradicting evidence over the years on other products deemed safe. I'd recommend any young guy simply stay far away from the stuff, unless they find themselves with an enlarged prostrate. How many young guys do you know who suffer from this condition?

No, I can't. You might check here for further information.

It was not intentionally inflammatory, and this was never my intent. I stated clearly that I donated blood and I was given a sheet stating that I should not donate blood if taking this drug, as it has been known to be linked to birth defects. This was not specific to women, this was a red flag, as indicated by the Red Cross, that they would not accept my blood if I indicated to them I was taking Propecia. Simple as that. The information I shared came from them. No need to be a tool, but clearly you can't help yourself.

The accepted wisdom on this forum is telling people to "get on meds", especially young guys. This is usually the advice given to someone considering a hair transplant, to "stabilize" their hair loss and potentially avoiding surgery this way. This means getting on Propecia/Proscar. I have always thought that telling people, especially young people, to "get on meds" is irresponsible and potentially worse. So I'm donating blood today and I see that I should not donate blood if I'm taking Propecia, as it "has been linked to birth defects" A young guy who might start a family someday is potentially the worst candidate to start taking Propecia.

I feel for you brother, been there, done that. You offer great advice. Perhaps your perception of the actual situation is making it far worse than it really is, without pictures, we can't say for sure. I'd love to know where you went for this and who is responsible. Without knowing any particulars as to where these grafts were placed and what it looks like all I can offer is a hang in there. I hope the originator of this thread takes your advice to heart before he flies off to Turkey for his $1.50 a graft "affordable" FUE.

Dr. Umar does incredible hairline work. Looking good man.

You are extremely thin skinned, and probably should bow out of this thread. It seems to have left you traumatized. Let the adults bicker amongst themselves, they seem perfectly capable of enduring the resulting indignities.

Your self confidence issues will quadruple if you get a "cheap and affordable" FUE procedure that leaves you disfigured. Furthermore, people with self confidence issues go into these surgeries very vulnerable to obsessing over their result, often freaking out over a good result. If you cannot afford to work on your perfectly normal hairline, then don't do it. You will regret gambling on your appearance with an "affordable" FUE. Thank me later.

Props to Dr. Feller and Dr. Bhatti for showing up and having this discussion. Most doctors fear tread into any controversial topic. And let's admit it, whether or not we love or hate Trump, we respect he has the cojones to stand up there and speak without a teleprompter. Might be why he is currently obliterating his competition in the polls. This thread is so long already, I only hope fanboys would make their point and then shut up, we don't need more pages of snark and gotcha commentary. It's usually apparent where one stands on the issue after one or two posts. The rest is just you bloviating to yourself.

Well, duh! This has been the accepted wisdom for years. You won't find a doctor practicing BHT on this forum who does not understand this most salient fact of using body hair.

There are always advances in the HT industry. FUE is the advance that is slowly being accepted by the community as an alternative to strip scars. As this procedure advances, it will replace FUT as the gold standard in HT's, and in another 10-15 years, people will view FUT in the same fashion as we view mini-grafts and micro-grafts of the 90's (multi-haired grafts being placed all over ones scalp, the standard in the 90's, which gave a wonderfully pluggy appearance to ones hair) There is a dearth of qualified surgeons to practice FUE, or as someone posted because the prices are too high, and these are external factors with no connection to the actual procedure. Over time the prices of FUE will drop as more and more physicians become experienced with the procedure, as many are now in the learning stages of this, while most have opted out. How many doctors in the U.S. practice FUE exclusively? I think I can count the number on one hand. Think about that for a second. The world leader in cosmetic surgery has only a handful of doctors practicing this. Most are unwilling to do the work that FUE involves. I know from experience that Dr. Umar uses a small device that quickly extracts the grafts (a device that fits in the palm of his hand) while I have heard Dr. Bisanga extracts the grafts by hand. If that is true, you can imagine the amount of work involved in the extraction process, and how long it would take to do this procedure. And that is the chief reason no one is eager to practice FUE in this country. (It is arguable which procedure for extraction is better. Some might say by hand, but an extraction device offers uniformity in the procedure, while manual extraction does not, due to stress and fatigue during the process) But technology will change this, and extracting grafts will become easier in the coming years when someone invents a device to safely extract grafts. ARTAS, Neograft, and other devices will either be improved or discarded as technology builds a better mousetrap, and naysayers of FUE will likely be retired and their doors closed for business when FUE becomes mainstream and doctors find practicing the procedure to be as easy as it was doing FUT. It's coming, and given the choice between having a scar and not having a scar, the choice is obvious. Nothing will stop FUE from replacing FUT, but it will take time, training, and options for the HT patient, options simply not available at this time due to so few able to practice this, and due to the difficulty in getting high yields for inexperienced doctors who do not want to get the training and fully invest in this procedure. I think the paramount reason FUE is practiced by so few doctors is the amount of work involved in the extraction process. Economy of time and getting the best result, this insures FUT being the industry standard for the time being, but FUE, done by the right doctor, will insure they are very busy with patients banging on their door. That is what will motivate doctors to learn the procedure, it always ends up being the same thing: $$$

When I was getting butchered by the late Dr. Robert Thomas of Chicago (a man who had no business doing hair restoration) there was one thing he was good at, and it was suturing. I always remember the stitches being so tight they caused discomfort, but the end result of my many surgeries with him (all considered "small" at the time, but leaving behind scarring) was my scars are nice and flat and fairly thin. I have had roughly 1500-2000 beard hair grafts added, by two different doctors, and without the addition of these, there is no way I would be shaving to a #1 guard in the back. I should also add that I had temporary SMP added to the region last year, and this also helped, but there is no substitute for adding hair to the scar. Yes, hair does grow in scar tissue, I have proof of it. Without adding hair to my scars I would still be wearing it long in the back, and even then the scars were visible thru my donor ravaged region. (There is still evidence of scarring in the back right now, but I have considered it tolerable, so I cut my hair short everywhere, including the scarred donor) So remember, your problem is fixable, do your research and find someone who is experienced with this type of repair. Maximum effectiveness is the combination of FUE into the scar, and SMP added later.

As seeker2014 mentioned in his posts, some people may have problems with the argan oil, which was news to me, perhaps that is irritating your skin. But I have never had any problems whatsoever with the shampoo. I'm very surprised to hear that it caused scalp irritation in you. I would recommend using their conditioner, perhaps that would remove the irritation. My hair is too dry without using the conditioner, which has a subdued (not overpowering) lavender-vanilla scent that I just love.

Coming in well for only being four months, pretty early yet. Glad you are documenting the growth so we can see what months your hair really takes off.

I would like to know what the average number of hairs were in each "plug", from these photos it appears to me that this patient did not have any plugs at all, and from the removal of these so-called plugs, it also appears that there were no plugs excised. The removal sites are smaller than the successor of plugs, the "mini-graft". Two words that are overused in this industry are "repair" and "plugs". This is nothing against you Dr. K., and I would surely agree that this patient is a repair patient. This forum is dedicated to home-run picture albums of successful surgeries, any negative connotations associated with hair transplantation have been discouraged by forum management. And that, in turn, skews what many people would consider a "repair", or even what a "plug" looks like. With that said, this patient achieved a stellar repair, and must be very grateful for this result.

Has nothing to do with this guys tattoo, which looks absolutely dreadful. Hope he likes his look in 20 years. I guess some people really like attention.

You have one of the worlds premier FUE surgeons in Redondo Beach in Dr. Umar. However, if you want to have a strip surgery, the field is crowded with more than capable doctors, although I'm not sure who is in the L.A . area. You should research the pro's and con's of both strip and FUE and decide which one is best for you and your long term goals. Always remember long term goals often change, and getting a strip surgery can limit your choices.

Now that Joe is "no longer active", it would be nice if Bill or Pat would update this thread with policy revisions so membership has a clear explanation of what led to the dismissal of one of the forum's most valuable contributors.

What is your problem dude? I've seen more maturity from pre-teens on discussion forums. You do realize you sound like an adolescent, right? Don't you think you should start acting like a man someday?