Maxxy

Roy plans on starting Finasteride, his concerns are regarding going into surgery without being on Finasteride prior.

Personally I don't feel that Finasteride is an expensive drug, at least it doesn't have to be. At today's prices you can take 1mg of Finasteride for $6 per month. At that price over 30 years it would cost you $2,160. I'm not suggesting the drug will continue to work over the 30 years but I feel it's very cost effective.

Two words - complete crap. Stay well away. Maybe by definition this is correct but how misleading is that? It's shocking that companies still get away with this.

The problem here is it's all hearsay. I'm not saying it isn't true but accusations like this really need to be made by the person who was approached. I understand the patient wishes to remain anonymous, however, as names have been given - this woman's job and repuation are/could be at risk. That being the case, I feel the patient should have brought this to the doctors attention and if he felt necessary to the forums attention personally (in my opinion). The tech has the right to know her accuser and be given the opportunity to defend herself. That being said, if it is true I would be horrified to be put in that situation. It also worries me that if the techs are being told certain patients are VIP or wealthy, does this mean they are given them more attention and better care then say poorer patients? Edit: Bill beat me to it, though I 100% agree with both his posts.

My main worry is that I work online A LOT, as a result - my head constantly moving up and down from the keyboard, desk etc and back to the screen. I'm sure all this head-tilting can't be a good thing. I have thought of two solutions that may help... the neck brace or mounting the monitor on the wall and raising the keyboard up to a high level meaning I won't need to tilt my head as much. Any other ideas would be appreciated.

Brentipold, I've never really smoked more or less when stressed, I'm 100% quitting just now would be a really bad time for me to go through a shedding phase. Spex, The second of my some what strange questions can be found here -here- :-S lol

If someone was willing to wear a neck brace (the type used by someone who has suffered whiplash) for several weeks post-op, could this have a beneficial effect on any resulting FUT scar, or at least reduce the risks?

Hey Djames, I went in 2008. I actually returned home just before the airport was shut down by protesters. I had seen the protests on the news and heard of the bombings (well, hand grenades). Like you I was very worried but went anyway, I was there 14 days and didn't see any protests or violence. As long as you stay away from the rallies and take out good insurance incase of airport closures etc, you shouldn't have a problem, I doubt you will see any signs of unrest.

Hey Bill, Spex, No, I've never read nor have I been told by anyone that stopping smoking can induce a shed but Spex has actually touched on the reason for my thinking it possibily could. If smoking hinders blood flow then quitting will increase it, may be this could induce a shed? I agree, I am probably being a little bit paranoid... I have some other questions coming and believe me, they get worse, haha.

Has anyone suffered a shed after quitting smoking? I plan to stop smoking, however, now isn't the best time for me to risk a shed... should I go ahead and quit or wait until a more appropriate time?

Roy, The main problems I see with having a transplant without first giving the meds a shot are: If you don't try to stabilise/slow your hair loss prior to the procedure, there is no way of telling what (if any) benefits they will have. If you continue to lose hair at the same rate, how will the transplant look a year or two down the road? There is always the chance that the meds will regrow some hair... if this happened you could be wasting grafts on areas that don't need them. You also run the risk of damaging follicles that the meds could have kick started of strengthened.

Dr. Lindsey, What do you feel are the benefits of non-absorbable sutures over absorbable sutures? Also, why are these benefits noted in one type over the other?

Sparky, What are Dr. Bisanga FUE rates?

Haha, if only it was that simple. What's the point of a lower hair line if you are going to be left with thin, inferior work? FUE is a highly skilled and time consuming technique and your choice of surgeon is paramount, the fact you don't see this shows you have done no or little research, something that I am certain you will come to regret if you move forward and make the wrong surgeon choice.

I believe they were doing small cases at one point but they currently do not. The subject has been discussed a few times on this forum and Mick who works for Dr. Farjo has confirmed they are not carrying out FUE work.

Nemo.shark, I strongly recommend that you spend a lot of time researching what it is you are considering and the doctors you are considering. Spend some time reading through this forum, you will quickly learn that the only clinic worth considering in the UK is the Farjo Medical Centre, however they currently don't offer FUE. I'm not sure who is offering FUE for 2.50 in the UK, but I'd be very wary.

Welcome Nemo.shark, Even though $10 per graft is expensive, that's the going rate in the US and Dr. Feller is among the best at this technique. There are some excellent surgeons in Belgium that do FUE, however, it is always going to be the most expensive option. There are cheaper surgeons that do FUE but you will have to research these and decide what the best way forward would be. 50 hairs per square centimeter won't give you the best coverage, most people at the lower end of the Norwood scale will shoot for around 50 grafts per cm2. Each follicular unit will contain 1, 2, 3 and sometimes 4 or 5 hairs. 16 x 50 grafts x $10 = $8,000

Hey Tremblant, Out of curiosity, who manufactures your Finasteride? I wasn't aware of any company within the US currently supplying a generic.

I also cut my pills into 4's but another option is to dissolve the pill in 5ml of alcohol such as vodka, then put the liquid in a syringe and take 1ml per day. I believe Dr Reddy, an Indian company that manufacture very cost effective Finasteride and Dutasteride also supply pharmaceuticals to America and other western nation companies (at least thats what I read) so I personally wouldn't be overly concerned regarding their quality.

Airport security staff are strange people... one time I put my MSM in my hand luagage by mistake [the bottles I get them in are massive so I had put roughly 50 capsules in a plastic bag] and I was searched while going through check in. They found the pills, I was asked what they were to which I replied "they are just some type of vitamin for hair and nail health" - I was fully expecting a in depth integration (which would have been justified) but I was surprised when he said "OK, go through". No further questions? Anyone who uses MSM will know it is a white powder and comes in clear capsules (at least mine does). Why I wasn't hauled in to an office and questioned, suspected of drug trafficing is beyond me, though I wasn't in the slightest bit surprised by the attempted terrorist attack in December.

I'd stick with the head band, they move very little, are a constant thickness through out and due to them being elastic there shouldn't be any issue with tightness or irration. Also, you don't want to have take off your cap to re adjust or tie the bandana.

Hey Ultimate, I personally don't believe that Minoxidil will thicken transplanted hair beyond the thickness that they were in the donor area. If it did, when you cease it's use in theory the hairs would simply return to their original thickness before the transplant. When you hear of Minoxidil working to thicken hair, this is hair that is in the process of miniaturization and not already healthy thick hair. May be it also thickens healthy hair, I'm not sure but this shouldn't make previously healthy hair dependant on its use in terms of growth. It may be that Minoxidil will help speed up the thickening of transplanted hair but as stated above I don't believe it will thicken the hair beyond it's original thickness and the only benefit being a possible speed up of the process. There are a few highly respected docotors that believe using Minoxidil post-op can result in early growth. Like MikeTheDane, many users only use Minoxidil once per day, I actually read that the half life of Minoxidil is 22 hours and that once per day application is almost as effective as twice per day. If you plan on using Rogaine foam, I see no reason to wash between application. If you are using the liquid, then I would wash off the previous application as the liquid can be very greasy... I would have concerns regarding the absorption of the second dose.

Joered78, You could try wearing a sweat/head band under a baseball cap. I was given a sweat band post-op to reduce swelling, the rim of the cap can be placed over the sweat band which prevents the cap from touching the receipt or donor area.

I was actually just reading the results of the same study -here- on BBC News, however, they failed to mention the findings regarding the possible increase in heart failure risks. I believe it's the same study.

Haha, that's a bit harsh.