Maxxy

Thanks Jotronic, 90 cm2 was my donor density lol, he must be very happy.

I used the 1% every 3 days, but I have came off it for abit post-op. I have been using baby shampoo, tonight is the first night I used T-Gel again.

Ah ok, I would still say go on the big 3: Proscar, Rogaine and Nizoral (Shampoo). Must people will recommend you try the meds for a year before a transplant. Vitamins - I take MSM (some believe it speeds up hair growth) and Silica (it's said to thicken the hair).

Buckeye88, Have you ever been on meds?

Hey Jotronic, I have just watched the video, excellent result. Could you tell us what the count in the receipt was please per cm2? Thanks

I agree. Hearing about your brother and the fact your hairloss really is not bad, I wouldn't go ahead. Your hairloss is always going look worse to you m8. As for shampoos you can try Nizoral, also Toppik (concealer) gives good results. But yeah, I strongly recommend staying away from the knife.

I hit lucky, lol. I got approved for a loan, my father shares the same name - opened the approval letter by mistake, nearly had a stroke at the interest (28%) and offered to loan me the money.

Yeah I also don't have much faith in their findings. My choice in trying it was based on reading reviews in the forums and believing it can't do any harm.

I have never heard of the scar stretching (length-wise), I'm not sure how this could happen, but having said that - I'm not 100% sure. A reversal is very effective for some people but you really shouldn't go into surgery thinking "I can always have a scar reversal". In the unlikely event that you need one, its something you would have to discuss with your clinic regarding fees.

There is no need to apologise. There is alot of debate on this matter as it comes down to when are the grafts secure. I am currently doing research into this matter and will post my findings in a week. To be on the safe side, I would recommend not wearing anything tight, a fitting cap or otherwise for 10 days. This goes for anything that will rub on the treated areas (my opinion). I wore a cap with the base resting on a headband to stop it touching the grafts.

Scar stretching is simply, as the name suggests, when the donor scar stretches. This can happen for a variety of reasons. If it stretches for what ever reason, the scar will become wider. Clinics hope that the scar will be like a pencil line, when mature. However, lots of factors come into play that can effect the outcome of the scar. If the scar stretches to an unacceptable amount, you could have a scar reversal or place grafts directly in the scar to help break up it's appearance. I'm not sure if there are any symptoms, maybe if the scalp feels extremely tight? You just have to follow your doctor's directions and hope it does not stretch.

I agree if it bothers you to the extent it is effecting how you live your life maybe surgery is right. However I really don't think your hairloss is bad, is that how you always wear your hair or did you just do it like that to show the loss? If you always wear your hair like that, get yourself to a good hairdresser and get a cut where the hair comes forward, I doubt it will be noticable. I'm 26 and just had my transplant, If I put my hair back like yours I would have looked ridiculous, so the fact you wear it like that to me suggests it really is not as bad as you feel it is. (even though I'm sure you wont feel that way)

Lol, I was waiting for that.

I'm not sure how scientific they were but there has been studies. They claim in 1000 patients 100% experienced increased hair growth. http://hairloss.about.com/od/p...irloss/a/Sulphur.htm All I know is, since taking it my nails grow quicker. Is this a placebo effect who can tell?

I have been taking MSM for about 3 month, 2 month pre-op and 1 month post. I don't believe it will make transplanted hair come in any quicker. I'm not to sure if it has made my hair grow fast as I have not cut it in 2 month lol, however, I am in no doubt that it has made my nails grow quicker. (If it makes your nails grow fast it stands to reason that it has the same affect on your hair) I read that MSM does not affect the hair thickness, you may want to look into Silica which is believed to help in this area.

Sorry to bring this thread up again, but this topic keeps coming to my attention. Steve Gabel MD (a coalition doctor), in a recent post said the following:- At what point will surgery be the only thing that is going to remove these grafts? I've heard 3 days, 10 days and now from a coalition doctor - "well in 16 days they are more difficult dislodge". There has to be a point when the grafts are in and are in to stay surely - where no amount of hair washing, hat wearing or head bumping is going to "dislodge" the grafts, isn't there? Im sure people and doctors are not just picking these numbers out of the air, so why does Spex and Dr. Feller say you are safe at 3 days? A lot of people say 10 days and now Dr. Gabel says "they are more difficult to dislodge at 16 days" - where do these numbers come from? What studies have been done to give surgeons these timelines? What were the findings and why do they vary so much? Sorry if I come across as if I'm pi**ed off, I just find it worrying that guys can be reading the forums and coming to the conclusion that they are safe to wear a hat or wash their hair a little harder at 3 days when in fact they are not totally safe at 16 days.

Lol, sorry, I was thinking the same when reading but didn't want to say.

On the page linked above, scroll down and the photos on that page are all of the top doctors. Any of them would be a good choice (well, there is one who I personally don't feel should be on there, but as you are in the States - you probably won't be visiting him anyway). I think the vast majority of people who visit a top surgeon are happy with the results, but you are always going to get some that are not (usually this is because their expections were too high).

Mikey79, I will try to answer your questions the best I can but you really need to speak to a /good/ surgeon. Look at the coalition doctors on this site and you won't go wrong, you can find them here (hairlosslearningcenter.org/content/restoration-physicians/our_physicians.asp) Most top doctors will make the donor longer rather then wider as to minimise scarring (the wider the area being removed the more likely you are to suffer stretching and bad scarring). The down side to surgery I feel is the down time while recovering - you may not have the results you hope for and then there is the cost. I'm sure there are a lot more but they were and are my main concerns. As for your third question, only a consult can tell you - sorry. There are so many factors that come into this, especially with your type of loss. I don't want to dishearten you but Nw 5 is a large area to cover, and it's unlikely you will have enough donor to cover that kind of area, in ONE go (depending on your expections). Though, again like I said - only a consult can answer this (Hasson and Wong seem to be the best at very large sessions). There is however no getting around the fact, with your type of loss to get the best results - it is going be very expensive. As with any surgery there are things that can go wrong but these are rare and best discussed during your consult. I personally had no pain, however, people report of pain in the donor area for the first week or so. (this seems to be the case more so when staples are used to close the cut) From what I've read the shortest you are going to want to cut your hair is a number 3, until the redness goes in the donor area

Mikey79, Firstly, coming on this site maybe the best choice you have made in your life. I recommend you NEVER set foot in another MHR office again. (really look into MHR) Are you sure you understood what they were saying? The most common way to have a transplant, is to have a strip of hair took from the back of the head, which is then cut into single grafts and placed in the receipt area.

Foundation, I was told to wait 3 days post-op. I believe it's to prevent the blood thinning and causing problems with healing. After the 3 days I asked the doc if I could drink and he said "its fine, just don't get drunk incase you bang your head"

Mrkneed, The most likely places you may suffer shockloss are, the donor area and the receipt area, diffused thinners seem to suffer it more then receders. In most cases the hair will return and mostly the hair that does not is hair that was on it's way out.

Hey Redkun9, What an excellent post!! Thank you for taking the time to ask the questions you have, and posting your research - I will be following this thread closely. I would also like to know if any guys have had their grafts counted after they have fully grown out? If so - how many grafts were placed per cm2 during the transplant and what was the count when fully grown? It would also be good to know of the above numbers, how many were 1,2,3 and 4 hair FUs? However, I realise that these numbers are very unlikely to be known, in the fully grown cases.

Rkreddy, I don't think you are going to get the answer you want on this one. Both Doc's are very respected and amongst the best out there. When it comes to the coalition and other top doctors, it becomes more a matter of preference. I may be wrong but I don't think many people are going tell you one is better then the other.

Raphael84, Nizoral is great for scalp inflammation and as I'm sure you have read it is actually widely used as a hairloss treatment. I believe in clinical studies it was found to be as effective as Rogaine 2%.