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relative to your concern that you might have to have multiple HT sessions. You should understand that most people do have multiple sessions for the simple fact that hair loss is progressive and occurs over time. So while the transplanted hair might remain in place , your non transplanted hair is subject to loss though this is a function of your personal physiology and current loss pattern. Your doctor should have evaluated your loss profile and classified it which allows him/her to prepare a plan for the future. Many HT physicians perform HT in conjunction with continued use of Propecia and/or Rogaine to preserve existing density. Think of it as a way of protecting your investment. The more hair you retain the fewer sessions you will need in the future. In my own case I had good results with one HT session and even better with the second. This allowed me about 5 years worth of solid results until I started experiencing loss of some more of my "natural hair" which I addressed with another session. BUT ! My HT guy told me that this might happen even before my first HT session so none of this was a surprise. Of course as time goes by people get less interested in surgery and finding the associated money especially if your family is growing or you get laid off from a job or anything like this. The bottom line is that you should think of the HT sessions as a project that will evolve over time but a good surgeon should be able to help you determine what you might need in the future.

Well each of us has a differenet physiology in terms of healing and how much scarring might occur in response to incisions. So this can be a variable that influences the outcome of your HT. FUs do appear to be the way to go these days and even in cases where I have some surface irregularities due to scar tissue this can be handled with micro-dermabrasion. Again some of us are more sensitive to incisions or more correctly how our body forms scar tissue and how much. Ask your surgeron about what he anticipates in this area. Also ask his opinion about what you might need in terms of future sessions. Be honest and if he is ethical he will be also. I do point out that I was/am pleased with the results of mine. I'm pointing out some things that are not so great about the process which might help people to make a decision or at least bring up with their surgeon prior to process. I'm sure each person here who has had a HT can tell you about at least one thing that they didn't expect to have happen. Typically we judge the success of a given HT session on the basis of how much resulting coverage we get and how well it integrates into our existing look. Obviously the more consistent it is with our current growth patterns , the more undetectable it will be and for many people this is as important as the quantity of hair. I'm in the entertainment/music industry as a performer so I'm under the lights a great deal (both on stage and in a record company office) and its very important for me to have a consistent look and have confidence that its holding up well. I held on to my "natural" hair for quite a while before it disappeared though it took years for this to occur and each time it did there were areas that could use some "coverup". If a person has lost most of his or her hair then the initial HT sessions can be planned around a blank slate so to speak. If you have a substantial amount of hair despite obvious recession then you can approach this process as a gradual project. The good news is that you can get some impressive results with just one or two HT sessions. The "bad" news (if you want to look at it like that) is that when your "natural" hair continues to fall out in stages then you might need a "tune-up" to keep pace with the loss. Of course you can use things like procecia to slow this process and if it works for you its a great investment though it doesn't work for everyone (as in my case). Thankfully most hair loss is gradual so if you stay on top of it (no pun intended) then the transition periods can be smoother. Just make sure you budget for these "Tune-ups" as HT surgery doesn't appear to be going down in price as time goes by. And I would agree that being bald during your college years is indeed a legitimate concern and while guys with shaved heads appear to be everywhere its always nice to have the option to grow it back. It is some consolation to know that there are women who like the bald look or the receding look but again it does suck when you know that a woman won't go out with you because you are bald. But lets put this into perspective. Enhancing your look is a great thing to do. Women do it all the time and society not only supports it they openly discuss it. Guys, we don't talk in public about these things too often and like to keep this info private but that doesn't mean we can't deal straightforwardly with these issues and benefit from surgical technology available to us today.

Actually I neglected to make a distinction that is important. The "bumps" to which I referred aren't the "grafty" look that characterized the older "corn row" style of HT surgery. Not at all. As you know the surgeon must make incisions to accomplish the work and there are a number of factors which influence healing of those areas. Some people do in fact form minute amounts of scar tissue as a result which is the situation in my case. Mind you its not obvious in natural lighting even in a close up view though it can be with bright overhead lighting. Even then the average person might in fact not notice a thing though I think that someone with HT experience would. It might at least make them go "hmmmmmm" As has been mentioned there have been significant refinements in the granularity of these techniques in the past two years which would and could minimize scarring or scalp surface irregularities so I'll definitely keep that in mind. My primary point in mentioning the problems I had was to illustrate that we are talking about surgery and cuts and healing so there are a number of unexpected things that can occur during this process. When we are eager to have our hair back we don't always think of these things. Finnally my surgeon Edmund Griffin in Atlanta (Atlanta is regionally close)is actually on the recommended list here and is very well respected for his abilities. He did mention a process (not surgical) that could smooth out the bumps so I might move in that direction before considering another HT session. It is definitely true that the more so called "natural" hair you have going into the HT process the better off you will be BUT to protect the investment one must try to use conventional methods (Rogaine , Propecia) in attempt to retain it.

I thought I would pass on my experiences with the transplant process for the benefit of those considering it. I'll point out the good and the bad so you can see what you are in for. I'm a 41 y/o male and had my first procedure at age 32 and have had a total of 3 with the last one being 4 years ago. The total cost was about $12,000 and was accomplished by a good HT / dermatologist whom I have no problems recommending. Before getting into the details of the surgery and the results let me give some history. When I was younger my parents had prepared me for the possibility that I would most likely be bald. Perhaps not totally but that it was a distinct possibility. My barber was telling me I would probably have the hair profile of someone like Jack Nicholson who receded rapidly but kept reasonable amounts on the sides and back. In any case it didn't bother me that much until I started losing lots of hair around 27 and all my friends were pointing it out. I had considered the HT route but first went to a dermatologist in my area who put me on the rogaine regimen and while that helped it didn't do much to stop hairline recession. After about a year and half he showed me some videos of his HT clients and suggested that as a course of treatment. I was skeptical though after talking to some of his patients and seeing their results it looked pretty good so I elected to move forward with it. The first HT was pretty impressive as I still had a fair amount of hair on my head so the transplants were in an around existing hair which made the hair look quite full within a very short period. I didn't experience much of the fallout that people report. After about 9 months I went back for the second round and things were like before and the results were very good and the surgeon suggested that we wait for the third one since I was happy with the results. I will admit that this was a great feeling. The look was phenomenal and no one noticed anything ! I felt much better about things. So for about 4 more years I was very happy with the way things were going. However I did start to lose some more hair on top (the non transplanted hair) at which point we had the third HT session which covered that up quite nicely. I must point out that this third session was the only time I experienced any real pain. The scar area that they use to get donor hair was always tender and when they went in this time it hurt considerably so they supplemented the medication. And ever since it still remains tender (not acutely so but its not comfortable to apply pressure). Now This is where things became a bit frustrating. The HT surgeon had placed me on Propecia to retain the existing , non transplanted hair since it was a candidate for loss (obviously the transplanted hair would remain) though at some point around 38 I started to rapdily lose the rest of my hair (the remaining "natural" hair) which left some thinning areas that exposed larger sections of transplanted hair which had those small "bumps" that sometimes accompany the transplanted hair. As all hair loss is gradual it took some time for this to become more apparent but after another year there were sections that looked (to me) like obvious transplants. I can't say that other people noticed but I did get some comments from some relatives about the "bumps" on my head. They were especially obvious in the office environment with the over head lighting which is where I spend most of my time. I told a relative that it was dermatitis and that seemed to satisfy her curiousity. So I went back to the HT surgeon who told me that this sometimes happens and he prescribed some lotion to diminish the unevenness in these areas and while it worked in some areas it didn't address all the areas. Of course he did suggest that I consider another HT session but at this point I'm not sure that that is what I want to do. I look okay in general and for me its fine to look like I'm losing my hair and its not like I want to look like one of those guys with a straight across hair line. But I guess the real blow came not long ago when I was at a bar hanging with some people playing pool and later in the evening one of the people in the group came up and said "have you had a hair transplant ?". It shocked me a bit because no one had ever asked that. I just said something evasive like "what do you think ?" and he just laughed and didn't say anything else. I thought about it and it was the strong over head light above the pool table that made obvious some of the areas of which I was speaking. Evidently this person discussed with some others in the group because next week at work one of the women in the group came to talk to me about something and she was definitely checking out my hairline. Its like what people do when they suspect that anyone has had any type of enhancement (breast augmentation, lip, and I guess now HT). Still. At that point it hit home that as good as these surgeries are there is a point where you will always need "Another session" to keep it looking optimal. Now obviously people have a greater awareness of HT surgeries than they did 8 years ago. Now they have lots of TV commercials about it and its the ads in the sports section and they even have worked HT talk into some sitcoms (Sex And The City) so people are more educated on it. The bottom line is that after dropping 12 Gs on this who would want to have someone be able to spot it ? No one. Of course its not everyone that even notices it and it really hasn't impacted my social life but its still very frustrating when you go out of your way to get a good HT surgeon and things still need to be dealt with like every 4 or 5 years as your natural hair continues to fall out in stages. I'm still weighing my options but I'm not really looking forward to another surgery. In any case don't take this as a recommendation for you to not puruse HT. I'm happy I did it for the most part though I never thought I would still be dealing with these same issues or issues relating to the tell-tale signs of the transplant. I do admit that sometimes I wished that I had done nothing. You know just let it occur and not worry about whether or not women liked it. On the other hand it did provide me with undeniable results (And still does) just that over time those results aren't going to be permanent and will require some supplemental action. I also want to add what might be obvious but bears repeating. Having a transplant does not stop or diminish the loss rate of your existing hair which will continue to fall out unless you are using propecia, rogaine or some combination thereof. The propecia didn't work so well for me as I still experinced loss though if you do commit to a course of HT treatments then protect your invesement by using the propecia to try to keep what you have which will make the transplants look much more natural. See the HT surgeon fills in and around your existing hair which means that once that hair falls out you might, depending on denisty, see thinning areas which is why multiple sessions are typically required. I suppose none of this is an issue if you commence with HTs at a time when you are mostly bald. In situations like this the surgeon can design and recreate your hairline albeit at a much greater expense. One last thing. Do your homework and take your time to find the right doctor. This cannot be over emphasized enough. You will be developing a relationship with this person and it is essential that you have some confidence that he is respected for his ability and will not be leaving town on you because if he does then you will have to start over with someone else or go to where he or she is. Relative to those Bosley commercials I don't know how I feel about that. I suppose if you could get access to Bosley himself then it might be okay but don't accept someone who has been doing it for just a year or two. Note. Myself I would never consider the Bosley chain

I thought I would pass on my experiences with the transplant process for the benefit of those considering it. I'll point out the good and the bad so you can see what you are in for. I'm a 41 y/o male and had my first procedure at age 32 and have had a total of 3 with the last one being 4 years ago. The total cost was about $12,000 and was accomplished by a good HT / dermatologist whom I have no problems recommending. Before getting into the details of the surgery and the results let me give some history. When I was younger my parents had prepared me for the possibility that I would most likely be bald. Perhaps not totally but that it was a distinct possibility. My barber was telling me I would probably have the hair profile of someone like Jack Nicholson who receded rapidly but kept reasonable amounts on the sides and back. In any case it didn't bother me that much until I started losing lots of hair around 27 and all my friends were pointing it out. I had considered the HT route but first went to a dermatologist in my area who put me on the rogaine regimen and while that helped it didn't do much to stop hairline recession. After about a year and half he showed me some videos of his HT clients and suggested that as a course of treatment. I was skeptical though after talking to some of his patients and seeing their results it looked pretty good so I elected to move forward with it. The first HT was pretty impressive as I still had a fair amount of hair on my head so the transplants were in an around existing hair which made the hair look quite full within a very short period. I didn't experience much of the fallout that people report. After about 9 months I went back for the second round and things were like before and the results were very good and the surgeon suggested that we wait for the third one since I was happy with the results. I will admit that this was a great feeling. The look was phenomenal and no one noticed anything ! I felt much better about things. So for about 4 more years I was very happy with the way things were going. However I did start to lose some more hair on top (the non transplanted hair) at which point we had the third HT session which covered that up quite nicely. I must point out that this third session was the only time I experienced any real pain. The scar area that they use to get donor hair was always tender and when they went in this time it hurt considerably so they supplemented the medication. And ever since it still remains tender (not acutely so but its not comfortable to apply pressure). Now This is where things became a bit frustrating. The HT surgeon had placed me on Propecia to retain the existing , non transplanted hair since it was a candidate for loss (obviously the transplanted hair would remain) though at some point around 38 I started to rapdily lose the rest of my hair (the remaining "natural" hair) which left some thinning areas that exposed larger sections of transplanted hair which had those small "bumps" that sometimes accompany the transplanted hair. As all hair loss is gradual it took some time for this to become more apparent but after another year there were sections that looked (to me) like obvious transplants. I can't say that other people noticed but I did get some comments from some relatives about the "bumps" on my head. They were especially obvious in the office environment with the over head lighting which is where I spend most of my time. I told a relative that it was dermatitis and that seemed to satisfy her curiousity. So I went back to the HT surgeon who told me that this sometimes happens and he prescribed some lotion to diminish the unevenness in these areas and while it worked in some areas it didn't address all the areas. Of course he did suggest that I consider another HT session but at this point I'm not sure that that is what I want to do. I look okay in general and for me its fine to look like I'm losing my hair and its not like I want to look like one of those guys with a straight across hair line. But I guess the real blow came not long ago when I was at a bar hanging with some people playing pool and later in the evening one of the people in the group came up and said "have you had a hair transplant ?". It shocked me a bit because no one had ever asked that. I just said something evasive like "what do you think ?" and he just laughed and didn't say anything else. I thought about it and it was the strong over head light above the pool table that made obvious some of the areas of which I was speaking. Evidently this person discussed with some others in the group because next week at work one of the women in the group came to talk to me about something and she was definitely checking out my hairline. Its like what people do when they suspect that anyone has had any type of enhancement (breast augmentation, lip, and I guess now HT). Still. At that point it hit home that as good as these surgeries are there is a point where you will always need "Another session" to keep it looking optimal. Now obviously people have a greater awareness of HT surgeries than they did 8 years ago. Now they have lots of TV commercials about it and its the ads in the sports section and they even have worked HT talk into some sitcoms (Sex And The City) so people are more educated on it. The bottom line is that after dropping 12 Gs on this who would want to have someone be able to spot it ? No one. Of course its not everyone that even notices it and it really hasn't impacted my social life but its still very frustrating when you go out of your way to get a good HT surgeon and things still need to be dealt with like every 4 or 5 years as your natural hair continues to fall out in stages. I'm still weighing my options but I'm not really looking forward to another surgery. In any case don't take this as a recommendation for you to not puruse HT. I'm happy I did it for the most part though I never thought I would still be dealing with these same issues or issues relating to the tell-tale signs of the transplant. I do admit that sometimes I wished that I had done nothing. You know just let it occur and not worry about whether or not women liked it. On the other hand it did provide me with undeniable results (And still does) just that over time those results aren't going to be permanent and will require some supplemental action. I also want to add what might be obvious but bears repeating. Having a transplant does not stop or diminish the loss rate of your existing hair which will continue to fall out unless you are using propecia, rogaine or some combination thereof. The propecia didn't work so well for me as I still experinced loss though if you do commit to a course of HT treatments then protect your invesement by using the propecia to try to keep what you have which will make the transplants look much more natural. See the HT surgeon fills in and around your existing hair which means that once that hair falls out you might, depending on denisty, see thinning areas which is why multiple sessions are typically required. I suppose none of this is an issue if you commence with HTs at a time when you are mostly bald. In situations like this the surgeon can design and recreate your hairline albeit at a much greater expense. One last thing. Do your homework and take your time to find the right doctor. This cannot be over emphasized enough. You will be developing a relationship with this person and it is essential that you have some confidence that he is respected for his ability and will not be leaving town on you because if he does then you will have to start over with someone else or go to where he or she is. Relative to those Bosley commercials I don't know how I feel about that. I suppose if you could get access to Bosley himself then it might be okay but don't accept someone who has been doing it for just a year or two. Note. Myself I would never consider the Bosley chain