Mike26

Hey man that looks really good! I talked to Dr. Gabel today and I'm thinking he's my guy for my next procedure

Just tossing in a bit of an update... Things are great, Proscar is crazy effective and I've got growth in areas that have been alseep for 3-4 years - these aren't even the new grafts. I'm at the 2month 3week period basically and the hair has never been thicker... Can't wait for the grafts to spurt. The shock loss period was kind of upseting and that had ended truly only about 3 weeks ago. Since, however, crazy growth.

Seems the worst part is over, I had a fair amount of shock loss which has subsided. I'm very happy about the placement of the grafts and that I only used 2,134grafts (~20% of donor supply) to achieve a solid permanent hairline. I'm also happy that Dr. Charles put grafts on/around the hairline that were not really noticably thinning (direct front). It should come together nicely without any concerns for less dense areas. Again, I prefered to to work in Zone 1 and 2, and apply concealers to the top if need be. I figure the crown will continue to respond to minoxidil and finasteride, whereas the hairline wont. This was my main reason for using Glenn Charles, other doctors wanted to address the crown area only. I can address the crown with concealers it about 20seconds and in the future with grafts if it is concern. I still find it amazing that many patient-reps kept telling me what I should do, rather than ever asking me. Anyway, I'm using Revita, megadosing MSM caps, Minoxidil and Propecia - hopefully this will get the grafts growing faster than usual.

AS POSTED ON THE BLOG: I'M 12 DAYS POST-OP NOW. THIS FEEDBACK IS MAINLY FROM 7DAYS POST but I included some thoughts from 11days post-op. *The few remaining black dots are the handful of scabs that still remain. I get so itchy, I had to do my best to lightly rub the area to relieve the itch and shed the scabs. I have been very sucessful and the scabs are shedding naturally. I have lost 2 grafts in the process, enough to piss me off. One was a single hair, another was higher on the head and a 3 :-(. No biggie though, at this point all the grafts are secure. It is routine to shed the grafts anytime within the first 3 weeks after the procedure. I believe that AT MOST 30-35% of the transplanted grafts have shed. I have retained quite a bit of them. They seem quite happy and are growing. At this point, it's somewhat hard to tell what is a graft and what is a native hair. The grafts have a different texture, they are thicker - certainly thicker than the surrounding hairs on the hairline. There texture is nearly like facial hair. They are wider and as I mentioned: they add noticeable density as is. I have been ultra careful and overly conservative (if there is such a thing) with my post-op recovery. I still continued all my hair supplements, minus the topical minoxidil which I will resume at 2 weeks post-op. I had my stitches removed. The doctor at the clinic was astounded. He said that he has removed stitches for hundreds of patients that have work a hair restoration procedure done in the South Florida area - but NEVER has he such precise work as this. He got my contact info and is referring his own son to Dr. Glenn Charles shortly. He even was shocked that I had a procedure done just 11days ago. I was happy. I'm sort of a unique case, in the shower I will shed 50-100hairs, this has been common.. So it's hard to say this procedure has resulted in 'shock loss'.

Awesome thanks Bill,, I needed that confirmation. Do you have any suggestions for the post-recovery period? I really want to speed up the hair cycle in the front and beyond. I'm running the standard Propecia, Minoxidil. I'm going to dig that laser brush out again. MSM and this stuff called Toco-8 - Essentially, Vitamin Complexes. Retiva shampoo. I was thinking of buying the Tricomin Follicle Therapy Spray. It has Copper peptides and other goodies - as you probably know. Is this all overkill? I want to know where I stand in 4-6 months, though it's unrealistic to expect complete growth in that time -- I figure I can speed it up somewhat. My hair grows really fast, even when I'm not actively trying to enhance growth - we are talking over an inch in 20-25 days.

thanks mang, ill be 26 in September... but inronically I'll probably look a bit younger... good news awaits hopefully!

Pictures from 6-7days post surgery pictures coming up. Shed a lot of the scab in the past 2 days. Question for Bill, or anyone in know: When shedding the post-op scabs, it is absoutely no concern if there is a hair (with or without) a root with the scab right? Just as long as there is no skin and blood that would indicte it is actually a graft. (is my question clear..? If the wording is confusing, I will rearange.) thank you in advance

thankfully it was only a 1 haired graft.. making a way bigger deal out of this than I should, I just won't touch them anymore

SH1T I JUST PULLED OUT 1 GRAFT SLIGHTLY TRYING TO RUB OFF A SCAB. DAMN IT TO HELL. Blood and all nice wake up call though. lesson learned. never again.. my head is very itchy at times though. The scar is very tender on the right side... the front grafts/scabs look placed very very well.. I'm going to give them the most happy grow friendly environment possible.

That is common, the doctor does the slits the techs. place the grafts. Just got mine done with Dr. Charles as well.

Good stuff Mark, I had mine done the day before with Dr.Charles

i appriciate it nope I guess not... I was told, in fact, to keep the hair longer in the back so it would cover the suture. my hair hasn't been this long in years.

First hairwash tonight, went well. I didn't distrub any of the grafts and their wasn't any shockloss. Hard to tell though, I was just pouring cool water on my head from a cereal bowl. I feel better though, my hair looked like sh1t from 72 hours of no washing and constant copper peptide spraying. The scar is still really tender on the right side. No blood at all, ever. The stitching was done really well. I just want this damn headache to go away. My forehead is really swollen but there is no redness, anyway. Very odd. Overall, I have a lot of energy, I feel great, minus the headache. I am beginning to get the post-op itch, I took some Claritin in case any of it is allergy related.

Thank you very much! I am hoping to speed growth up to 150%-200% Th Post-Procedure Protocol includes: *Multi Vitamin *Propecia (1mg Finasteride) *5% Minoxidil (not necessarily Rogaine, I vary the actual Minoxidil product I use). My favorite is Spectral-DNC. It's pricey though. *Nizoral/Nioxin Shampoo (I can't use these for 10-14days, but they will be part of the routine once I am able to wash my hair) *Copper Peptides (the doctor gave me a Copper Peptide spray to use up in 3-4days, I will probably buy the Folligen Shampoo. Copper Peptides are proven to really help the growth of transplanted hairs by createing a healthy grow happy environment. *Toco-8: PP's latest product. I believe it can increase hair growth, but it didn't do too much as far as stopping hair loss. I shed a lot though. I'll probably go through a few jars of this. Toco-8 Information *MSM: Bought a sh1tload of these at Costco... Eating them like candy, good for my knee and my head. *Green Tea, Liver tabs, Protein Shakes etc... for my training, will benefit hair growth as well. *Blood tests reveal that my testosterone is very high normal, it will certainly help in the growth

Goodluck man! You've certainly done your homework

Thanks for the feedback! Dr. Charles and I agreed not to move the hairline any lower just before the surgery... So I didn't anticipate actually lowering it. Dr. Charles said the normal hairline would rest 4 fingers from the hairline to the top of the nose. I am about 3 fingers (inotherwise, fairly low hairline). We agreed on 'strengthing' the existing hairline - although on the left side it might need/might have been lowered. I guess I'm just having trouble picturing what the end result will be. In pictures, my hairline looks pretty square (think Reggie Bush), but in reality, I guess is it's like any other Greek-Japanese-Hawaiian Kid's hairline haha. I haven't washed my hair yet. My parents are being stubborn and won't get water from the Gulf of Mexico (i'd go but I seriously have a pounding headache and sunlight is bothering me).

Post-Op pictures are up on the blog. http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=602 I'm not sure what to think, very little redness, I almost don't think the hairline will be low enough,,, but I have No idea.. I think the density will look really good. No bleeding or lost grafts. No redness at all. Just this damn headache that prevents me from sleeping. Otherwise I feel fine, could be the Hydrocodone talking though. The graft breakdown was 2136 in total 397-1's 1071-2's 668-3's total=2136 follicular unit grafts share opinions, I'm open to all of them!

Ah I see, well Dr. Charles still has some feedback on that site. I'll be posting my feedback over there too.

hey thanks man... Oops I totally messed that one up, typing post-op late at night on the pain meds. Strip, FUT. of course. Let me see if I can change that title.. edit: done and done. Why are some coalition members unfamiliar over at the Hairlosshelp Forums? I posted my starting feedback over there and the first response I got was: "who is this Dr. Charles?" http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/messageview.cfm?cati...id=76516&STARTPAGE=1 Post Op photos on the way. Thanks Bill

Hey guys. Just had my procedure done. The specific details of the procedure I will release later today, I should be recieving an email with the info. It's 6am, I'm so tired I can't even sleep.. But I'm being productive. It was in the ballpark of ~2143(?) grafts if I remember correctly, predominantly placed in Zone 1 to strength the existing hairline, but also back into zone(s) 2-3 for some density. Here's my history (taken straight from my blog): http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=602 Hey everyone! I am 25 and a half years old. I have been researching hair loss for the past six and a half years. My hair loss began in about 2001-2002, around age 18 or 19, and I immediately began to use minoxidil sporadically. I began to use Propecia (1mg Finasteride) about a year later. While the products were moderately effective, I accelerated my hair loss by taking certain legal performance enhancers. I was aware of the consequences and also took measures to minimize the hair loss throughout. I would shed quite a bit, but much of the thickness would return. In 2005, I had a severe knee injury in a football game that greatly accelerated the hair loss. While a year later much of it had filled in, certain areas (crown, temples/hairline) most prone to Male-Pattern Baldness needed professional restoration beyond the limited ??peach-fuzz' that minoxidil could provide. I considered potential physicians by their expertise with dense hairline packing. The frontal, Zone 1, was the area that needed the biggest touch up, due to my naturally low, fairly square hairline - that the FDA approved treatments rarely improve. I contacted several reputable opinions and decided to have my procedure done by Dr. Glenn Charles. Dr. Charles most closely shared my philosophy that: the hairline, to quote him, ??makes-or-breaks' ANY hair restoration procedure. I felt quite comfortable that Dr. Charles understood the wishes of his younger patients - whereas other doctors might have a more generic hairline which they will provide each of their patients, regardless of age or race. Although I am younger than most candidates, I have quite a bit of experience with hair loss treatments and how they work (more often, do not work) combined with sports supplements. I have provided advice to countless persons on their surgical and non-surgical options. Although I have discontinued my use of sports supplements, I am familiar with the majority of the compounds. I have tried nearly EVERY hair treatment available and I have even experimented with some of my own creations. While some hair treatments are effective, the only permanent solution is a hair restoration procedure. If you have any questions, please don't hesitate to ask!