userdefined

Does anyone know of a way to approximate how many potential grafts one might have left in his/her donor area even after HT's? I realize this depends on a number of factors so it may be difficult but any info is appreciated. thanks.

Does anyone know of a way to approximate how many potential grafts one might have left in his/her donor area even after HT's? I realize this depends on a number of factors so it may be difficult but any info is appreciated. thanks.

Sorry I didn't reply earlier; I usually get responses directed toward my inbox. Anyway, you're correct, i bought it online at inhousepharmacy.com. It came listed as Fincar, which is the same product but made by pharmaceutical company Cipla in India (Indian patent laws cover the process by which a product is made, not the final product itself). BTW I have bought 1 or 2 other non-hair loss drugs on the site and those were legit. I will definitely look into other hair loss products..thanks you two.

Hi everyone, I've been using a product called Fincar (it's just generic proscar) for about 6-8 months now. I didn't experience much hairloss for the majority of this time, but for the past month or so I've been noticing I've been shedding A LOT of hair mainly around the crown. Is there any reason the drug may have stopped working? FYI, I'm 22 years old. I cut a 5mg Finasteride into 4 pieces, making daily dosage 1.25 mg's. Also, I take the 1/4 pill right before bedtime, which as of late has been at around 4am... Thanks in advance. ud.

Hi everyone, I've been using a product called Fincar (it's just generic proscar) for about 6-8 months now. I didn't experience much hairloss for the majority of this time, but for the past month or so I've been noticing I've been shedding A LOT of hair mainly around the crown. Is there any reason the drug may have stopped working? FYI, I'm 22 years old. I cut a 5mg Finasteride into 4 pieces, making daily dosage 1.25 mg's. Also, I take the 1/4 pill right before bedtime, which as of late has been at around 4am... Thanks in advance. ud.

Hi All, Here's a 6 month update for the records. please check out the gallery, (I believe the link is embedded in the first post)..the 6 month pics are pics 19-31. Age aside, what do you think of the growth? Personally I think there's good growth coming along at the temples but i'm not really seeing any significant growth at the frontal hairline.... Also, I am concerned about the big extended area of loss approximately 1" to the right (left from your perspective) of the widow's peak. I've unfortunately had 5+ infections in this area alone and it took multiple troubleshooting conversations w/ DeYarman's office to get antibiotics which would obliterate the damn thing. You can see the pinkish scar tissue in the pics. Now there's a dime-sized area within this patch where there's no growth whatsoever. Being that this was the exact area of the infections, I don't really expect anything to suddenly grow. But I do hope that once the one year benchmark passes, Dr. DeYarman will stick to his promise of "taking care of any problems that come up.." Thanks in advance for the feedback. -ud

hahahah when I posted those pics I was actually thinking to myself 'Damn that growth looks good!' So far I'm seeing pretty good growth in the temple areas, not to any degree of fullness of course, but its great to see my beloved hair line taking shape. The frontal hair on the other hand is just beginning to spawn. When I look closely in the mirror, I can see thin little hairs growing. Its hard to see right now b/c of this and also because the frontal hairs are pointing upward toward the camera whereas the temple areas are matted down. Regarding the other comments about my age: yes, I understand that most of you have been coming down on me because you believe I'm too young for a HT. I will say that I appreciate the honesty. Although in retrospect I wish I had partaken in this discussion before having the surgery, to this day I'm not sure I agree with any of you on this matter. This is only because my circumstances were different than most of yours. That is, all of my loss is due to traction rather than anything 'natural'. I will grant you guys that I should have gotten more than 4-5 doctors opinions. However, of these doctors--all of whom I explained my situation to--only one refused to do the surgery. I had that consultation at when I was 19 years old, and the doctor told me to come back when I was 21 for the exact reasons you guys cite. For the moment I'll also grant you that 4 of these 5 may have been shitty doctors, perhaps 1-2 of which were downright con artists. Well, there is still the opinion of Dr. DeYarman, the coalition member to whom I was referred via this site, and ultimately the doctor who performed the surgery. I let him know from the first consultation that I realized that I was young and asked whether this would be a problem. He said it wouldn't, as the hair loss in my situation was due to traction as opposed to simple recession. I also let him know that I was aware that my hairline may recede further, and to please take into account that I'd like this to look natural 15, 20, 30 etc. years down the line, and that was apparently put into his planning. After the surgery, in response to much of the debate that came about on this site, I spoke to Dr. DeYarman specifically about this issue. He stood by the surgery. The traction was apparently the big reason of why he agreed to do the surgery without any initial hesitation. Please note that the point of the above paragraph is not to try to prove you guys wrong, just as through your comments I'm sure that you weren't trying to prove yourself right on the matter. As many of you said, it's just better to err on the side of caution rather than take that chance at 21. While I take that to heart, for now I still have to side with the opinion of albeit one respectable doctor (and perhaps 4 crappy doctors) over the opinion of the informed amateur observer, many though they may be. However, I will say to any youngins out there, hair loss by traction or otherwise, that I would definitely have these conversations with people BEFORE doing the deed rather than after. This is my only regret thus far- let's hope that there won't be many more following. anyway, i've been trying to figure this signature thing out but haven't a clue. how did you guys get your HT stats underneath your posts? I'd like to add my stats so I can be one of the COOL kids on this site! haha, i keeed i keeed....

new 3 1/2 month photos posted in the gallery for all to see. wish i knew how to post them here... enjoy.

hi all- I just had my first HT a little over 3 months ago (check out my photo album for pre/post op pics-no recent pics yet, they will be uploaded soon!er than later..) and am already beginning to sprout hairs. The transplanted hairs in the temple areas are flourishing fairly well, but the frontal hairline area is still almost bare, perhaps only 5-10 grafts/cm2 for the moment. Should I be expecting all of the HT hairs to sprout at approximately the same time or is this uneven growth quite common? Has anyone had an experience like this? I know it's still early though so theres a good chance time will tell anyways. Thanks in advance for the replies. ud.

hi all- I just had my first HT a little over 3 months ago (check out my photo album for pre/post op pics-no recent pics yet, they will be uploaded soon!er than later..) and am already beginning to sprout hairs. The transplanted hairs in the temple areas are flourishing fairly well, but the frontal hairline area is still almost bare, perhaps only 5-10 grafts/cm2 for the moment. Should I be expecting all of the HT hairs to sprout at approximately the same time or is this uneven growth quite common? Has anyone had an experience like this? I know it's still early though so theres a good chance time will tell anyways. Thanks in advance for the replies. ud.

btw, i'll try to post up some more pics in a day or two.

Well, I have done my best to refrain from my own biases, but I have to say, I still disagree with some of you that said my new hairline was placed too low. I think I should be clear and distinguish the forelock from the temple area, as B spot did. When I talk about hairline, I suppose I'm actually talking about the forelock (the horizontal part of the hairline on the forehead). After the start of this dicussion I must admit that I have been scrutinizing people's hairlines (including people on TV) even more than I originally was, to a point where they wonder why I'm staring at them. From most of what I can see in those that have lush hair, the forelock sits pretty much directly where mine is. Of course many have it higher up for the mature look, but from what I can see it is very common to have the forelock this low, even in older adulthood. Regarding the temples, I can't really say much because I saw some both older and younger people with temples, and some of both groups with no temples. I guess can't say I agree with your opinions completely, I can't say that I disagree fully either. Also, I am still questioning why Dr. DeYarman did not blend the grafts into my existing hair, esp. at the center of the forelock. While the hair on the RT side of my head and on the temples will be layered over one another, with short hair the forelock hairs will be pointed vertically, and thus with little of the layering effect. Looking at the current stage of the hairline in the mirror, I hope what doesn't end up happening is a row of hair at the front, followed by a gap, followed by hair on the rest of my head. I know that many of you are concerned with me having this down the line, but due to the nature of the graft placing, am I going to see this even in just a few months when my hair begins growing in? Taking in your concerns, I think I'm going to start a regimen of Proscar/Propecia sometime soon, after I research it a bit. I know this should go in the 'Drugs' part of the forum, but does anyone know of a low-priced option for either off the top of their bald/fabio-like heads? Regarding the suture area, at 6 days post op should the area still be hurting? I've followed Dr. DeYarman's order of putting on Bacytracin (just a stronger Neosporin) on the site once a day. Sometimes there's just pressure on the area as if its being pulled, sometimes there is some acute pain. There isn't any blood present so I don't think they ripped open, so maybe its an infection. Does anyone have any suggestions as to how to numb the pain (beyond Vicodin and the meds, which I've already finished)? Also, at this point my transplant area is still covered in scabs. This is kind of an odd question, but does anyone know how many hairs generally go in the area of one scab? Given that I received grafts in all 1 and 2 hair units, it seems logical to think that one/two hairs = one scab. Is that right? I highly doubt that there are 2088 scabs on my head (I suppoosedly received 2088 grafts), and I can't really imagine as many hairs as there are scabs being able to produce a natural looking head of hair. As much I analyze and break down others' pics and comments, the fact that one day a guy can have a scabby bald head and the next he can have a full head of hair still seems like..well, magic. Nelly, thanks for the heads up on Dr. DeYarman cruising this site. I sent him the email, so its good to know that he got it and he's at least taking a look. I also really hope he posts to this site so we can all find out what's going on from the man himself. I've already scheduled to have my sutures taken out this Friday Dec. 22nd (btw please see the above paragraph about the suture area - it hurts like a b*tch). ASSUMING HE DOESN'T POST HERE IN THE MEAN TIME, PLEASE POST ANY QUESTIONS THAT YOU HAVE FOR DR. DEYARMAN HERE. I'LL MAKE A LIST OF THEM ALONG WITH MY OWN AND DO MY BEST TO SEE THAT HE ANSWERS THEM ALL. thanks.

Although this discussion concerns me (seeing as how I feel like a guinea pig), I want you to know that I really do appreciate hearing both sides of the matter from anyone who is interested. That said, I have sent an email to Dr. DeYarman inviting him to participate in this discussion. Let's see if he responds. B-spot- One of the biggest concerns I had going into surgery was whether Dr. DeYarman would blend the grafts to the areas where I have some but scarce hair, e.g. the frontal hairline at center, and the RT sideburn just in front of my RT ear. Looking at the pics I can see the purple boxes you speak of showing that there is a small gap between where the grafts end and the existing hair begins. Of course we really won't know how natural the look will be for some time, but this would also be something I would like to address w/ Dr. DeYarman. B-Spot and Nervous Nelly- regarding my age, i agree that 21 is young, but I'm not sure how young TOO young is..A couple of years ago when I had my first consultation w/ Bosley in Beverley Hills, they gave me a consultation but said 21 was the minimum age that they would allow someone to have a transplant, the reason being that "by that time your hairline will have matured and we will have an idea of how to proceed." Also, given that my main problem was traction alopecia rather than progressive hairloss, I assumed that my case was a bit different. As far as I know, traction is the pulling out of hairs due to constant tension; it is not progressive. If this is so, then redrawing my hairline would only be a problem if the hair directly behind it showed evidence of significant loss, which it doesn't seem to.

In response to your questions: Pat- I received 50 grafts/cm in the transplanted area. According to Dr. DeYarman in my initial consult with him, he said I might want another transplant in this area down the line. I asked him whether this would be because it would be noticeably less thick, and he responded by saying not necessarily, just that many guys grow on to the idea of having transplants, and are not satisfied with a single transplant. Based off the research I've done, assuming I have 100grafts/cm in non-transplanted areas, I would hope that 50/cm would be enough to mask the fact that I had a transplant altogether. However, if I lose more hair on the rest of my head, perhaps it will make it blend a bit more since I'd be getting closer to having only 50 grafts/cm. Interesting concept, although completely counterintuitive to this forum, huh? Nervous Nelly - I am 21 years old, and if there is any history of MPB in my family, I don't think its anything significant (i.e. Norwood 6,7). Although I must admit that I can't say for sure. B/c most of my extended family practices Sikhism, a religion where one is traditionally not allowed to cut their hair (and usually turbans are worn), whenever I see my family people usually have their heads covered anyway. Hairbank- I'm actually surprised to hear that you think the hairline is low. I voiced my concern to Dr. DeYarman about having an extremely low hairline for the fact that way down the line (20, 40, even 60 years down) it may look extremely weird to have a boyish hairline. He took this into account and worked this into his product. As far as MPB goes, apparently I do have some, which I was not expecting to hear. Using his microscopic hair follicle viewer camera thing (aka the m.h.f.v.c.t), he pointed out minaturizing hairs in both the top and donor area. He recommended I start Propecia and/or Proscar, perhaps even Rogaine foam immediately. I haven't done much research into any of this though, and I think I will wait on this until I see exactly how the frontal hairline comes in. Thanks to all for the questions. -ud

well i'm not sure exactly how i would quantify how much traction i experienced, but basically the whole graft site you see in the pics was pulled out from my head over the course of years and years and years. somewhere probably in the range of 5-10 years of nearly constant pulling. btw although i do have hair on the rest of my head, its more long than thick. remember, when you have long hair it fills in a bunch of the thinning areas. lemme know if you have any other questions.