Janna

Yes, that's SMG's view on short term Rogaine use.

Arson, I just recommended Nizoral shampoo on someone else just now. It is normal to have flaking and itchness. In fact, it should be at it's worst at 10 days post op. You don't need a prescription for Nizoral. You probably only need to use it for a week. The flaking should be gone by then, if not, call your doctor again.

I wouldn't worry about being too prepared either. Call Dr. Feller's office for pre-op and post-care instructions. Most clinics send out a pre-op packet two-three weeks prior to surgery, which contains your full instructions for before and after surgery. Best of luck!

Hi, Washing your hair twice a day is too much from our experience. Once a day is sufficient. Use Nizoral shampoo, which you can get over the counter at your drugstore. This will help with the flaking and itchness. It's normal to lose the dried tissue along with the shaft of the transplanted hairs at this point. Your follicles are safely adhered by now.

Worried, If you are seeing pimples at your hairline or in your grafted area, you may be experiencing folliculitis. It's nothing to be alarmed about. Be sure to report how many pimples you're getting and how long you've had them to your doctor when you have your follow-up visit. They will tell you how to treat it if they determine that's what it is. Did you have any grafts transplanted in the crown area? If it's the Rogaine, I'm wondering why you're only getting pimples in the hairline if you're applying Rogaine to your whole head.

We have not had any patients report they lost native hairs due to usage and stoppage of Rogaine in the first two months. We recommend to our patients to use the 5% just once a day in the evening before bed for two months. Our thought on Rogaine is that it can only help. If a person does not see any benefit, then they can stop any time. I haven't heard of follicles becoming "addicted" to Rogaine. I will check with our Doctors to see if they have heard of this phenomenon. When Rogaine works, it works very well especially with Propecia. We recommend Rogaine usage only as an optional regimen as we realize this product seems to work on approx. 50% of patients. Dr. Shapiro feels the risks are minimal (time and cost) to see if you are among the lucky 50%.

Dr. Shapiro does recommend using Rogaine two weeks after surgery to help jump start the growth of newly transplanted graft for two to three months. Grafts are going to grow regardless, so this is for people who are especially anxious for the hairs to grow. Ideally, he would prefer the patients keep using Rogaine indefinately in conjunction with Propecia. I'd like to hear more about your experience with the Nioxin booster. We don't have much feedback about it to start recommending it to our patients.

Approximately 7 years ago, we used to recommend only saline spray post-op. Then, we found that Graftcyte spray, more often than not, got rid of the redness sooner than saline. There's different factors that may explain why it took longer for you to rid the redness for your first procedure - maybe the incisions were a little bigger, you had a bigger session, or more up front where it's more visible. Either way the redness will subside fairly quickly.

At 10 days post-op saline is not needed anymore. If you still feel bumps (scabs) on the top of your head, you can gently massage your recipient area by shampooing in the following manner to ease them off completely: give your head a good soak under the shower to really hydrate the scabs, massage with shampoo, then give it another good soak. Patients are reluctant to massage for fear of losing grafts, but feel confident that the follicles are well adhered by now. It will look like you have dandruff for about a week.

Scott, You're just at the beginning stage of growth at 4 months. It sounds like you're doing everything right as far as getting optimal growth with Proscar/Rogaine, etc.. You'll get about 50% of growth by 6 months and 100% by 9 to 12 months post op. It may be hard, but try to keep your mind off your hair for another 6 months. Best of luck. I hope your expectations are met.

Hi Jasjeet, I just read your posting. I've only recently became a member. I'll see you for your surgery with Dr. Shapiro. You will feel so completely relaxed and secure once you meet with Dr. Shapiro the morning of your surgery. He's very down to earth and has your best interest. The number of grafts are not written in stone. Dr. Shapiro may opt to do more or less depending on his expertise. Feel free to email me with any concerns. I will be taking care of your post-operative concerns as well.

The best thing to do is contact Dr. Shapiro's office to get referral names in your area. They have a long list of names of past patients who are happy to share their experiences.

If you have a question regarding our clinic or Dr. Shapiro, I can answer most questions, if I can't answer myself, I have Dr. Shapiro as a resource. I've been Dr. Shapiro's head tech/surgery manager for seven years, and I've been with Dr. Shapiro for almost 11 years.

Being the clinic manager for Ron Shapiro, I would highly recommend his clinic in Minnesota. Dr. Shapiro's prices are comparable to Hasson and Wong, but you won't have to travel to Canada. Dr. Shapiro would recommend you not wearing a hair piece for a week. If you absolutely had to wear one before that time, you do have to be careful not to have it rub on the newly transplanted grafts and wear it just during the day at work.

The recommendation from Dr. Shapiro's clinic is wait two months post surgery to color your hair.