NervousNelly

Oops. My bad. Yes, I believe that they shaved your recipient area therefore it looks worse. Keep in mind that there may be some shockloss as Bill mentioned.

This is a great discussion and ofcourse I have an opinion on the topic but I just want to say that I strongly agree with most of what Bspot has stated. I also want to reiterate what Bill said about not blindly trusting and doing a lot of research. We all need to be held accountable for our decisions so therefore educate yourself thoroughly prior to any serious decision.

Poobah,

Firstly we need before pics before we can fully assess the number of grafts. Also, you are aware that the grafts will fall out shortly correct? I hope your doc fully explained things to you.

I personally think that things look pretty darn good. Hopefully you have somewhat realistic expectations of what can be achieved. The truth of the matter is that 1600 grafts is just an average size session. Give things time.

Nice deflection Janna! Touche.

NG2GB's assessment of Dr. Armani is quite accurate. I just didn't get into specifics and answered your immediate question, but what he stated is definitely true. You need to research things a lot.

Don't worry Janna, none of us understand Aquarius. But many of us still love him.

By the way Janna--Who's the hotty in the avatar?

NW5a,

You truly do look great. Are photos with or without dermatch? Either way, incredible results for 5.5 months. I am very happy for you. Things are super and you should be ecstatic.

I would have to say that Dr. Armani and staff have the best ability to dense pack from what I have seen, but others such as H&W, Dr. Ron Shapiro, Dr. Alexander, Dr. Feller and Dr. Rahal are also likely the best in the world. There are also roughly another 6 or so physicians that I personally believe are top notch but in reference to the specifics of density those are my picks.

The member Milesdaily had 3 procedures at their office. What did you not like about your consults?

Bill,

I guess there are different ways of looking at things. I understand what you are saying. I always look at it as in the hands of an ethical and skilled surgeon a NW2 may still be able to get a stand alone HT. If dense packed too much with too low of a hairline then any further loss would certainly look unnatural. I guess it will depend on the situation.

Truth,

The work looks great and will no doubt make a pretty drastic improvement for you. Personally however, I would keep sporting around the look that Dr. Rahal provided you on surgery day. What a cool hairdo. You could start a trend. LOL

Best of luck to you with healing. You will look like a million bucks soon.

Hairloser1,

I think that you have the term "Stand alone HT" incorrect. (or else I do) You can be a NW2 and still receive a stand alone HT because if done correctly it will still look normal should you lose more native hair. True you may have a desire for another HT, but it looks normal and you don't have to get another procedure if you choose not to. The key is the correct height of hairline and density. Too low and too dense it certainly would not be stand alone. Otherwise it could be. If for example you transplanted hair ONLY on 1 side of head to fill in a thin area, then this would NOT be stand alone. Understand the difference? At your age there is nothing wrong with your thinking of filling in the frontal area only. This is fine and infact is a good approach.

Perfectly normal.

Peter,

I checked out your website and things definitely look great in the recipient area. Very natural and technically sound.

My only thought that has always concerned me with Fue is your donor area does look slightly thinned. Likely it would not be noticed with longer hair but nonetheless, people should not make the statements of no scar because quite often their is evidence of slight scarring or thinning.

As with any of these procedures nothing is perfect. You definitely look much better post op. I.m glad for you.

I just wanted to add as I too am from Michigan, there are now 2 Dr. Aronovitz'. Only one of them is in the Coalition and the other is the nephew and does NOT have the same experience. They practice together.

I have seen one member that had work done there--Milesdaily. Personally I believe that the work he had done with Dr. Tessler (now retired) that worked with Dr. Aronovitz appeared more refined. He has had a total of 3 surgeries. Overall his hair looks pretty darn good.

Never be afraid to travel as I did. The main reason for going out of state was reputation of Dr. Shapiro and the number of cases that I saw online. Hope that helps.

The work does look good but I would think that the scabs should start to fall off. As Bill stated, make sure that you are keeping area clean and making an effort to slowly massage recipient area in the shower.

Sometimes scars do what is called "ridging" where you feel a bump along the incision line where things have been sutured. Not ideal but it does happen and sometimes it is out of the control of even the best surgeons. I guess it is also possible that the scar is somewhat keloid or developing scar tissue around the incision site. Neither are what we aim for but they do happen.

Many times I don't bother to read the story behind the transformation. My life is busy and I dart thru the pics and give my quick assessment. I must admit that I did the same the 1st time I saw this thread. At second glance I noticed that many had made comment of your story so I decided to read. One word--inspiring.

It's really not about the vanity. Most of us are not here for that reason. It's that we don't feel complete. We feel robbed. We feel cheated. It is amazing what a seemingly irrelevant portion of our being can do. We lose out on life. We choose to miss out on opportunities. We avoid situations we otherwise want to be apart of. We don't reach our potential. It affects every aspect of our lives. Pathetic? Yes possibly. But nonetheless a reality.

Billonny,

I would concur with some others that I would not go with an Australian doc. You are going to need to travel to get world class results. Never settle as this is something that you will have to live with forever.

Ofcourse it is challenging for us to tell you what you'll be happy with, but I really believe that 3500 FU in the frontal to mid zone and you would be pleased as long as you accept somewhat of thin density. In my opinion, if I were you and given your hairloss pattern, I would not venture into the world of HT's unless you are OK with spending $15-20,000 US minimum. Hope that helps.

Bill,

I don't know if you checked out the examples that you provided with the links. There is only 1 example of a NW 7 which might strengthen my arguement. Ofcourse I am not stating that a NW 7 should never consider a HT, but it does concern me, especially the young guys that might become one in the future.

I saw a NW 7 guy yesterday while we were shopping and my eyes instantly were glued to his head like a magnet. He had a HT and even though it was very refined and clean work it stood out immediately to me. It just looked odd to see no hair everywhere but the hairline and sides and back. It is possible that the average person might not think much about it but any of us would spot it a mile a way.

It makes me wonder if a NW 7 person should ever do a HT that is under a certain number of grafts because no matter what they do it might be obvious? I understand that there are the odd cases that look OK but still certainly more risky. I also really fear for these young guys getting work done and then not knowing their future situation. Just a couple of thoughts.

NG2TB,

Do yourself a favor and Schedule with H@W. From all of the posts of yours that I have read, they have impressed you the most. Why play games with your head. There are already too many things going on inside there. You will be in good hands, and they will be essentially the most capable of any to do the best scenario. Bottom line:

-Don't do anything and you will be more bald in future. That is almost a guarantee. Are you going to be OK with that.

-Get a HT and you will have more hair. Possibly not the look or density that you desire, but you'll have more hair than if you do nothing.

-In the hands of a skilled physician the odds of looking worse are very negligible.

latinlotus,

I personally would draw the hairline up approx. 1/2 cm or more and really focus on density. It will be much easier for the surgeon to create a dense natural hairline if you don't try to lower it much. Also, one should remember that in the future you can always lower hairline but very challenging to raise it.

I just wanted to add that my recent skepticism is due to the fact that there is a recent surge of potential new docs and that the quality of photos is very poor and some are almost comical. I make all my comments because my motives are to preserve the integrity of this site and I see these latest recommendations as a little shaky. I understand that these docs are not professional photographers, but I think it best to just not post the pics rather than open up the door to a lot of criticism from members. There are less of us forum members that have been here and posted a good while that are not working for docs or have affiliations that limit their ability to truly voice their opinions. If someone like myself doesn't say something who will?

Balady,

Looks like mine did at that timeframe. Now at 4 months it has faded considerably. You'll be good as I am sure you are aware. Good healing.