NC30

This is just my two cents but..... I think the subjective and emotional slants to posts are essential to the success of this message board. The large majority of men or women who come to this message board to gain information/knowledge of HT's come for their own subjective/emotional reasons---- they dont like their balding/bald scalps and wish to do something about it. They dont come to a scientific/objective decision an HT will increase the number of hairs on their head and prevent sunburn or skin cancer,etc.....they don't like the way they look and wish to change how they feel. The objective side is certainly important as well, but people searching this message board need to be aware of the potential life shattering outcomes of a poor HT. I agree with a different thread on this board where Mahair needs to gain some perspective and move on, but if he needs this board as an emotional outlet from time to time then he can feel free as far as I'm concerned.

I was realllly paranoid about touching my grafts post-op and doing everything just right.....but you're definitely good to go as far as showers are concerned. The grafts are in and arent going anywhere.

Definitely too soon to worry, a lot of different guys, including myself, started experiencing growth a month or two later than 3 months.

I'm currently 29 weeks post-op from a 1500 graft HT. When I first got out of surgery, I too felt great about how it looked. My hair was very short going into surgery, and the grafts kinda just blended right in afterwards. Of course, the initial shedding of the grafts occurred, and I went back to where I started from originally. The whole thing is definitely a waiting game, and you cant fully know the final results until at least a year from your HT. Just sit back, relax, and know that you're going to be better off down the road. Take pics now, otherwise, it may be difficult to remember where you started from. The new grafts will start coming in soon, and the growth, depending on where your grafts were implanted, will tend to just blend right in. Who was your doctor by the way, and what norwood class were you going into surgery?

First, welcome to the forum. You've come to the right place for advice/info. Next, do a search of the message board for "Dr. Brandy" or "Brandy". I'm sure you'll find plenty of information which will probably confirm your suspicions

I really don't think Bosley would bother coming here for any type of smear campaign. They and MHR are talked very poorly of here and would do well to keep any of their potential clients as far as possible from this board. Any person who even mentions Bosley/MHR is automatically set on the right path here. I never saw the posts where the guy was stealing paragraphs from Arfy's story, but I do believe there are people out there sick enough to do that type of thing for attention. I also believe that anyone who has gone through what Mahair describes would also do that much talking here. Like Arfy said, this board can be the only place to turn to for someone who has had a horrible HT experience. It's a therapy of sorts. People go to psychiatrists/therapists all the time, but if the person goes back for more visits does that mean he's making something up? Talking things out is what people do, and even if this guy's story is a fake, perhaps it would help someone who is silently suffering and too embarassed to help, but can identify with the situation and appreciate the support offered.

So in weighing the balance between a possible client of MHR and his story, or the likeliness that a butcher story about MHR is untrue, you've decided to tip the scale towards MHR? If what happened to him actually happened more or less the way he describes it, then I daresay that at minimum, 90% of the posters would be come a "mental patient" , at least temporarily, while looking for support, help, or answers of any kind to help alleviate the situation or get some sort of grasp on what has just occurred to him.

Sharp... I'd have to disagree with your assessment of "big woop". We can all make comparisons to people who are less fortunate than us and say that we have no reason to complain, to suck it up and move on, etc. If that were the case though, then there would only be one person on this earth who could ever complain about any detail, even the smallest misfortune in the day, and that would be the person who is in the absolute worst scenario/case on the planet. Everyone else would have to follow the big whoop method of psychothereapy and move on. I've yet to meet the person who never complains. Mahair...I don't have many, if any, answers for you. Yes, there are people who are much less fortunate than you, but to be put in a place of a more or less disfigurement by people who were supposed to be treating you is most definitely traumatic. I've had my bouts of severe depression before, for other reasons, faced personal trials, etc...as many others have. Whoever said it earlier in this post about waiting it out is right. There have been other guys who came out from legitmate HT doctor's offices and had severe shock loss or other complication initially, but the end results turned out to be not so bad. An HT is a year long recovery, and there is still hope. In the meantime, consider therapy or medication if you feel it might help. Also, definitely document everything as much as you can. Any other chinks that we can put in the hair mills armor would be most welcome.

MR. T... I'd have to agree then....shaving bald would seem like an absolute waste. I had a 1500 graft HT with Dr. Cooley in Charlotte this past March. I've got some pics (3 month and 6 month) for now, but havent done anything with them yet. Actually, now that I think about it, I have no pics of the scar area, but will definitely try to take some soon. I don't post them (permanently) since I'm still keeping the whole thing a secret. I'll try to get an online briefcase at yahoo and post them there temporarily.

el guapo.... whoops...that last post was an accident. I completely agree that being able to have hair to frame your face completely makes a huge difference. I did pay thousands of dollars, and I AM in a situation where a close cut is the norm. I dont have to shave my head completely, but I like to have it cut to a #1 or a no guard on the sides and very short on top. Mr T... If you're talking about getting a razor, gettin out the shaving cream, and shaving your head completely, then yeah, an HT would be a waste of money. But if someone wants to get an HT and have very short hair, then it is by no means a waste. My money's been well spent and as of right now, I have no regret.

el guapo....

At 6.5 months, it's still pretty hard to notice growth. I have no one around me that knows of my surgery, so I can't have someone else keep track. Also, my grafts were placed among my thinning, dispersed, yet existent hair, so it's hard to see anything. I feel up there for stubble, but it's so hard to tell what is what. About the best thing to do is make sure you take high quality photos for before, during, and after. Every day when I look in the mirror, it's hard to notice the difference. I look at my head and it's honestly hard to remember how thin it was before. I just know I have more hair now than when I started.

Bluesman, I agree with you. Scars aren't always as obvious. I buzz my hair to a #2 guard at the moment, I feel that by a year out from my strip HT, I'll be down to at least a #1 guard or possibly a no guard. Even at a #2 guard (which is pretty short by the way), not a single person has noticed anything....and I'm surrounded by people who are VERY observant and VERY quick to point out flaws, ask details, pry etc.

I can't access the recommended HT surgeon list, do you mean Dr. Vogel by any chance....from Baltimore I believe?

You said that you had a great deal of initial hair loss/shedding as you started taking avodart.....what kind of regrowth of that lost hair did you have?

I've been on this board a little while, and have never really made a recommendation as far as grafts go....I really don't feel that it's my place. To use 2000 grafts for the filling in of temples (yes, I've read the many many arguments of what temples are/aren't...I'm talking about either definition) on a 21 year old with that much loss already seems a bit agressive to me. I could be completely wrong, but to use such a large of percentage of the total donor grafts in an area which is so small in comparison to the rest of the area should he progress to NW7 just seems a little bit off. Also, just out of curiosity, why is this rated so high already with so few responses?

First, welcome to the site. There's a ton of information/support here, and you should definitely spend some time just doing topic searches, etc. 1. I can't say exactly what prices were like at the time you had your 5 procedures, but typically, the good HT doctors (which offer very competitive prices) have a strip HT graft price of $3-$5 a graft. 2. I don't know the answer, but if you do a search here using his name, you should be able to find any posts involving Dr. Cohen. 3. Hopefully some of the more veteran guys or even doctor's can answer this one. I've read practically every single post since I joined this site ( and many before then), and I've never heard of a "dead spot". Again, welcome and good luck in finding your info.

What do you consider a "buzz cut"? In another 6 months, I'll have the hair on the sides/back cut down to a number one or a no guard, and just short enough to lay down on the top.

Gary... Sorry about that...I misinterpreted what you meant about feeling crappy. My doc prescribed me some medication for going to sleep or pain or whatever. I took one pill about 5 hours after the surgery to go to sleep. I actually felt I didnt need it, but I wanted to make sure I slept well and got adequate rest so my body would recover better. After that, I never took another pill, and they're still somewhere in a cabinet. The only thing odd about the feeling afterwards was adjusting to the odd feeling (not painful) in the back of your head. You're definitely right that you have to adjust to that feeling. Some people have post-op problems for sure. Overall, I think I recovered much much better and had far less complications/problems than the average HT patient.

Varsity... Time varies from person to person. It could be month 4 or 5 before you start to see noticeable growth. That was my case. You just have to remember it's a year long wait before you'll know the full results. I'm only at month 6 (as of yesterday) and I still have a long long way to go. uncjim had some great recent posts about his 4-8 month results (I believe that was the time frame). From day one after my HT, I think focusing on the future has helped me maintain a positive outlook.

Gary... I disagree with your thoughts on post-surgery. I felt great after my first (and only) strip procedure. The only thing I worried about was possible shock loss which never happened to me. My confidence levels, self-perception, and personal outlook on life definitely went up for me...and I could see how people responded to me differently because of that. Some guys might feel like crap initially, but it's a case by case basis. KKat... FUE/FIT wasn't a financially feasible option for my first HT. I had 1500 grafts done. If you can live with the scar from the first HT (which I believe I can...I'm not anticipating any major scar), then I think a large strip HT followed up by FUE/FIT is a good game plan. I do agree with Arfy however that you really need to make sure you're informed enough before you proceed. 3 weeks may seem like an adequate enough time to take a break, but if you live another 30 years....that's another 1500 weeks you'd have to live with a bad choice on an HT. Either way, however, I wish you the best.

kkat.. I know it was asked earlier, but I never saw an answer. Which HT doc are u going with? The whole one month apart thing just really bothers me. I see that you're pretty new to the board, and since you're still a few months away from an HT, you've got plenty of time to make sure you're making the right choice. Even if you've already placed a deposit for a reserved spot with your HT doc, it's better to find out now and lose that money rather than wind up with a horrible HT that you'll have to live with forever.

I'm on propecia now and take it every other day. I had taken it a few years ago with good results (and quit for stupid reasons). I started back again around March of this year, and have had good results. I'm still getting growth from my HT, so I cant say whether or not I've had growth from propecia. My hair loss, however, has definitely slowed down. The hair I find in my brush is far far less than when I wasn't taking propecia.

Just a couple questions here...and I'm sure one of the veterans or a doctor here can answer these.. Is having two strip surgeries that close together a good idea? I caught that the placement area is in 2 different areas of your head, but is pulling two separate strips that close together in time a common practice? Will that increase the possibility of a greater scar? I'm just curious since I've never read about that before here....I've heard of FUE/FIT being done close together, but never strip HT. As far as the hat goes, I had regular sutures with my HT. On the few occasions I had to go in public ( I just took time off work and did all my shopping in advance), I wore a loose fitting baseball hat. It was the kind with the adjustable velcro strap in back. I was just careful when putting it on, and I never had a problem.

badboy.... i'm by no means asking you to advertise, and if you don't want to ever tell who your doc was, then i can respect and accept your decision. down the road, however, it'd be nice if you could tell who the HT was with. many of us are here for support and/or education. someone else out there might be reading this board and wanting to know about some of the lesser known but quality HT surgeons...and that may be the same doc as yours. you don't owe your doc anything i guess...i mean...you paid for the HT, but, it'd be nice for him to benefit as well from the good word of mouth as well as benefit someone who wants to go to your doc and needs a little help or infor. just a thought.