rp1979

Just updated my weblog and photo album with my results at 12 months. I'm very happy with the results and highly recommend Dr. Cooley. Thanks again to everyone for the support! RP

Well written piece as always, Jason, with great photos depicting your amazing transformation. Congrats and thanks again! Cheers, -RP

Janna, Jason, JOBI and Bill, Thanks for the comments! Hope you're all doing well. Just wanted to add that for me the "cosmetic change" started to come about after the 6th month mark.

Hi all, It's been a while that I've posted. How's everyone doing? Just been really busy with my last semester of grad school to really worry about hair . Well, it's been 7 months now since I've had my procedure with Dr. Cooley and I'm very happy with the results so far. At this point, I feel that I look better than I did pre-HT (what do you think?) so it was all worth it. Once again I'd like to thank Dr. Cooley, who I whole-heartedly recommend! Here are my results at the 7th months mark after 2700 grafts (5100 hairs). I welcome your comments. Thanks.

I think being on finasteride a year prior and after your HT as well as tranplanting at a lower density will reduce shock loss, but there is no guarantee that it will not be noticeable. The harsh reality is plan on having some noticeable temporary shock loss and go from there. Perhaps, try to hide the shock loss with concealers like dermmatch/toppik.

Something to think about when I have my first son...

Benihana, in my opinion if you: 1). don't have signifcant miniturization elsewere beside the hairline 2). acknowledge the fact that you might need more work further down the line 3). commited to taking medication to halt/slow down further loss 4). definitely decided that the shave look is not for you then I say go for it. Dr. Rahal is an ethical doctor. Have a great transplant! Bill, I have a question. If this guy had significant hairloss at the age of 26 do you think he would have been a better candidate?

Reassuring right? Knowing that the maker of Vioxx (Merck) is also the maker of Propecia and Proscar LOL You bring up a good example though. Yes the FDA is not perfect but it has a very good track record IMO. But let's not lose sight of why the FDA, a Federal body established indirectly by us as citizens of this great country, is there.....It is there to protect us. BTW how's your HT coming along? Did you know that your doc, Dr. Vogel trained my HT doc?

I was just trying to reiterate my opinion that scientific proof verified by the FDA should be the first and most important criteria before we can even begin to look at what you referred to as public evidence. The fact still remains that the FDA ACCEPTED the clinical trial performed by Hairmax. We can question all we want about the validity of that trial but to do so we would be questioning the FDA's acceptance of it. Like I said earlier, I don't think it's fair to call it a scam like snake oil and I feel comfort in telling peole that if you think lasers work buy one. If not, don't. .

You think that "public evidence" is more substantial than scientific documentation? Are you saying that we need "a lot" of people posting pics of themselves before we can come to a conclusion of anything? I mean should we be weeding through Internet forums looking for pics to see if viagra works? Sorry I just don't understand that logic, perhaps you can further elaborate. No one in their right minds would pop a pill without seeing some scientific documentation/evidence *first* verified by the FDA. Think about it. If there were no scientific documentations in the FIRST place about propecia what would make people take it? Unverified pics on the Internet?! Now, to address your concerns about the validity of the 510(k) clearance. What you posted was accurate but doesn't tell the whole story. So that people won't use the "substantial equivalence" accusation against them, Hairmax conducted a clinical trial that the FDA accepted here: Satino JL, Markou M. Hair regrowth and increased hair tensile strength using the HairMax LeserComb for Low-level laser therapy. Int J Cosm Surg and Aesthetic Derm, 2003; 5(2):113-117. If you go read that, you will see that it was a 6 months clinical trial in 4 US sites where 93% of the paticipants age 30-60 had an increase in the number of terminal hairs by the end of that trial. The reason why Hairmax didn't go for pre-market approval is because it wasn't worth it for them. Kinda like how dutasteride wasn't worth it for GSK. So the next question you might ask is where are the trialist pics of those participants in the Hairmax clinical trial? Well, we don't have them and that is what Jacob is trying to articulate....we don't have them for propecia or rogaine either. .

See "efficacy" is really the operative word here. Well first of all, do you agree that we must first see scientific proof before we can even begin to look at public proof posted on the forums? If so, I really want someone to explain these points to me then: 1). The Hairmax lasercomb has obtained 510(k) clearance by the FDA. 2). In order to obtain 510(k) clearance the company MUST submit both safety and EFFICACY data. (You can read about 510k clearance on the web) 3). So the question boils downs to do we trust the FDA's judgement on "efficacy" for the Hairmax lasercomb? If not, should we be analyzing/questioning and reading the fine prints of all FDA products we use? Again I personally don't own a laser comb since I don't feel it's worth it for me. But I don't think it's fair to call it a "scam" like snake oil. That would imply that the FDA is a fraudulent organization. .

Cool. Just sent you a PM. Thanks. ?????©?????? ????????????????????? ?????’???????????? .

That's cool. Are you an English teacher there? How do the kids understand you?! Funny thing that you bring up Japan... I'm actually going to be stationed there (at Fukuoka, Japan) for 6 months and I'm worried about how I'm going to get all my hair loss supplies such as finasteride, rogaine, nizoral etc.. I guess I can bring some along but can you buy them in the stores there? I mean how are you getting your Dr. Lee's minox and Dutas? Are they being shipped from the US? Oh just curious, I love tinkering with stuff too being an engineer... How did you learn how to build a lasercomb? How much did all the parts cost? Is there a site that you can go to that will teach you? I might rig one up just for the fun of it...

I was actually going to say the same thing. Where in the back did you specifically pluck it from?

Thanks for posting those links. They were very helpful. A lot of those links are from Hairlosstalk (HLT). Do you post there as well? What's HTN affiliation with HLT? Seems like the coalition doctors are being advertised there. Are the info on HLT endorsed by HTN as well as by you and Pat? If so, does it concern you that HLT is listing the lasercomb as one of the "proven" treatments here: http://www.hairlosstalk.com/research/men/treatment1men.htm .