TooThin

Rambler Take Janna's advice on the punch outs. I had similar "micrografting" in my hairline from a past doctor. My situation was worse than yours. I even had multi-haired grafts in the hairline. From your photos, it looks like your grafts are all single hairs. I had two procedures with Dr. Ron Shapiro last year which involved punch outs of the old grafts and a strip to densify the frontal half. In my opinion, punch outs are the way to go with bad grafting at the frontal hairline. I think you will get a better result than just camouflaging the area with more grafts. Get a consult with Shapiro Medical Group. TooThin

red: I had disappointing work done on my hairline in 1995/96. Specifically, the hairline was too flat; it was comprised of single hair micrografts and some multi-haired mini-grafts; there were problems with the exit angles; and the density was insufficient to block the "see through effect". I had a small procedure with Dr. Ron Shapiro of Shapiro Medical Group in March 2007. I believe he did about 43 punchouts in about an hour using 1mm to 2mm punches. Out of the 43 grafts, SMG trimmed them into follicular units and recycled a total of 66 hairs in the lateral hump areas. The small punch out holes created when the grafts were removed do not require stitches. They shrink up naturally. I went back to work a week later with no visible evidence of surgery. I was amazed by the noticeable improvement I gained from such a small procedure. I wish I had done the procedure years earlier because I was always self-conscious about having an unnatural hairline and used to comb my hair down to cover it up. I had a full strip session six weeks later to add density to the front half of my head. Dr. Ron created a natural hairline behind the old grafts. His team then worked their way back from there planting the follicular units and "densifying" the front half of my head. Dr. Ron then punched out about another 92 grafts from the old hairline and recycled the hair. There are still about 100 more old single hair grafts at the front edge of my hairline that need to be removed to finalize everything. I plan to go back to SMG in another six months to get them removed once the yield from the strip surgery has fully grown out. In the meantime, I shave the old grafts each morning. Sorry for the long reply. My main objective was to suggest that you seriously consider having the questionable grafts punched out rather than trying to camouflage them by lowering the hairline. I think a punchout procedure with a top quality repair doctor would probably give you a better result. Good luck. TooThin

SinTPA: Thanks for the links to those articles. I recently had a procedure with Dr. Ron Shapiro on April 23rd. Shapiro Medical Group suggested I use the Rogaine 5% foam once the grafts had healed. I have been using it for two weeks now. It's too early to report any results, but I will say that 5% foam is much easier to apply than 2% topical solution. TooThin

It looks very natural. Excellent coverage with only one surgery. TooThin

Cousin_It: The best product I ever tried that contained tea tree oil is a skin cream called 'Renew'. I had ongoing excema on my hands that I could not get under control. I had three different doctors examine it and they all prescribed a different cortisone cream. I also tried a number of over the counter creams. Nothing seemed to work. My wife brought home a bottle of 'Renew' cream she bought through this company called Melaleuca. The primary active ingredient in 'Renew' is tea tree oil. I saw a substantial improvement within 24 to 48 hours and continue to use it to this day. That was my first experience with tea tree oil. The stuff definitely has anti-inflamatory properties. My son also gets excema and we have a number of friends whose children have experienced excema. This 'Renew' cream does a great job at controlling excema. I was so pleased with the 'Renew' cream that I tried a tea tree oil shampoo. My wife bought some from the same company. I found the shampoo to be quite good with results similar to what I have experienced with Nizoral 2%. It certainly did not grow any hair for me but it left my scalp feeling clean and healthy. I didn't have any nagging itch or irritation. I used it for awhile but then stopped using it. I find it is good to occasionally rotate shampoos so I will probably try it again. TooThin

B-Spot: I just saw your update of HT#2. The work looks extremely clean. The incisions are really small and there is very little blood. I am scheduled for a procedure with Dr. Ron in the Spring. Your updates are very helpful in guiding my own expectations. All the best for your recovery. Thanks, TooThin

Salt-N-Peppa That is an excellent result. From the the front shots you have a full look. How thin is it on the crown? Do you have any pictures with your hair wet? TooThin

I think Dr. Feller's approach is fair and reasonable. If I was in that position, I would much rather have the physician provide me with the option to switch to strip surgery than to have him transect 1,000 FUs from my limited donor supply and charge me $10,000 for the work. TooThin

BadHair UK: The healing is progressing nicely for just 10 days. It's very clean. TooThin

Bspot: Good luck with your upcoming surgery. I am set for surgery with Dr. Ron early next Spring. I appreciate your insightful posts and look forward to following your results over the coming months. Too Thin

Slick: I think your results are very natural. You seem to have good coverage over the top of your scalp. The hair now blocks the light from passing through to the scalp. Your hairloss pattern is very similar to my own. We also both have fine, straight hair. I am in the process of setting up a procedure with SMG for the early Spring. Matt and I simply need to fix a date. I hope I can get similar results. I hope you continue to update your posts. I am interested to see your progress. TooThin

M&M: It looks very natural. I am scheduled for a consultation with Dr. Shapiro next week. I hope they can set me up with results as good as yours. Too Thin

Trojan: I agree with the other responses. I would try a concealer before going out and getting a temporary hairpiece. I use a bit of Dermmatch everyday and find it works well. You may also want to try some Toppik. TooThin

You can order Dermmatch in a Medium Brown colour. That's what I use. I mix a bit of Dark Brown with Medium Brown and it seems to work fine.

Anant: I recently had a consultation with Matt Zupan and am seriously considering Dr. Ron Shapiro. Your hair loss pattern looks quite similar to mine. Thanks for the pictures. Your surgery looks very good. The hairline is very natural and the small incisions seem to be healing quickly. Just a few of questions: Which doctor at SMG did your surgery? How many grafts did you get? What density are your grafts, ie. 25 FUs/cm2? Too Thin

I have a consultation lined up with Dr. Seager in Toronto in September. Does anyone have experience with that clinic? My understanding is that they have been doing ultra-refined FU transplants for a number of years. TooThin

Hairbank: I have been using Dermmatch for about a year now. I think you are probably applying too much. Try applying it with a dry or slightly damp applicator. Simply take your time and pat it on the affected area with the applicator. I got that same chalky feeling when the applicator was very wet and I applied too much. I haven't tried Toppik but I am curious about how it compares to Dermmatch. So I plan to give it a try.

I agree with Gorpy...it looks good. I don't think you need another transplant anytime soon. I am amazed at the quickness of your recovery period. How come Dr. Rose did not require you to shave the top prior to the surgery? From your pictures, it looks like the clinic gave you a normal haircut prior to surgery and you were able to cover up the work by about one week later. Was that the case?

Slick: I think you look fine in the two pictures. The average person would figure you just had a summer buzz cut. I was wondering if the hair growing on top was from the transplant and has not shed yet or is it your native hair?

Does anyone have an opinion on how Dr. Seager in Toronto compares to H&W in Vancouver?

I have used Dermmatch for about 8 months now and find it works great. I find the trick is to use very little. I towel dry my hair after getting out of the shower. I then lightly dampen the applicator. I pat (rather than rub)the applicator into the thin areas. It probably takes about four minutes to apply. Also, I don't blowdry my hair but instead let it dry naturally and comb it out using a feather comb to create volume.