TrOpiC00

hey guys, just an update. i didnt end up going through with the procedure. i scratched my head on underside of a desk the night before making the afflicted area not able to be operated on. i blame the hotel for not having the router plugged in. however, i did still go in person to see the result on my consultant Alex, from GLI. i will say he is a stand-up guy and it looked good on him. GLI was nice enough to give me a full refund on my deposit which was really nice even though they didn't have to. i think everything happens for a reason though. i am still a bit uneasy on the deeper injection method to make the procedure a one-pass operation by GLI and it scares me a bit for matching purposes and possible removal difficulties if things go wrong down the road. in the meantime i've decided to check out HIS hair as well. they seem like they have been around the longest and they have told me that they guarantee no blueing and removal would be easier as the pigments would not be as deep. i really like how they have a forum and users posting their photos and experiences there as well. hope all is well with everyone. depending on where i go i may start a new thread in the future.

sadly i no longer have access to topical propecia/finasteride, as Dr. Lee was the only reputable source that had this product before the FDA shutdown. but if you meant topical spiro cream, im currently using S5 cream. a google search for "topical spironolactone 5% cream" will direct you if you are interested.

yes that is true friend. i had some time where i was not able to take anything due to the govt shutdown. but you should know that topical spiro accomplishes the same effect as propecia except spiro's effect when applied topically to the scalp is localized only. it is a great alternative to propecia for those who have the sides from propecia lilke myself.

hey guys yes i do take meds on a regular basis. i used to use a great product called Xandrox that pretty much stopped my hair loss completely (topical finasteride/15% minoxidil/azleic acid solution) but the FDA shut them down sadly and that was the end of that. thanks U.S. govt.; im still very bitter about that but we wont go there... i went at least 6-12 months trying diff products until i finally found some good products again. now i use a product called Lipogaine (minoxidil/azleic acid combo) along with Spiro S5 cream and nizoral shampoo. i do not and will never use pill form finasteride again. it killed my drive. i thank you for your concerns friends!

tbh didn't know they were starting to implement smp; didn't see any info of it on their site. good to know though!

hi james and thanks for your reply. i am very happy with my transplant results, and i honestly would not have it any other way! but these pictures are 7-8 years old sadly. as time has gone by there has been some hairloss behind the transplanted hair and hairloss scattered on top. i like the shaved head look though, my fiancee seems happy with the switch too. but overall i would like to cover up some white space and get my scar camolfaged as well. smp seemed like a kill two birds with one stone approach. but there are still some other long-term things i'd like to discuss. off to work for the moment though. happy valentine's day everyone.

hey Scar and thank you for the well wishes and your comments. the evenness is probably my biggest concern with this procedure. i hope to discuss this further with the technician prior to the procedure as well but i do have some faith in their ability to create a natural looking result from the pictures i have seen and through talking with the consultant there. i am aware they go deeper with the ink though but i didn't really give the ink itself much thought as i assume they are using the best ink for this type of procedure. i did read on another forum though that they made a refinement to their ink in december to address the blueing effect (not with respect to sunlight), and my consultant did confirm this. nevertheless, im hoping for the best and just hope my faith has not been misplaced! i do wish that more who have had the procedure done would post some pictures!

hey Davis and thanks for the reply. i am looking for a permanent solution. realistically i will never be able to achieve the density i want with a HT. so combined with HT i believe this is the best route for me. i've spent the last year shaving my head with clippers (no guard) and applying caboki daily. it takes me an hour to apply and to be honest it is driving me crazy. i'm late everywhere i go and i have become less active. just want my life back tbh! on a positive note everyone seems to love the shaved head look and my fiancee is very happy i shave it now. the see through effect with the longer hair was kind of embarrassing for both of us i think.

hey guys it's been a while since i've been on here but i think that could be viewed as a good thing! nevertheless i have found my way back and hope to share my upcoming journey with everyone on the site. just to recap i have had two transplant procedures done with Shapiro medical about 7-8 years ago and the transplanted hair is still growing strong! unfortunately there is recession behind the transplanted area as well as some thinning on top. my goal is to achieve a more fuller look with this procedure, while still keeping in mind that i plan on getting another HT in the future to maintain texture all around. looking forward to posting some before/after pics and sharing my experience post-procedure soon! i welcome your comments and hope everyone is doing well! -tropic00

great idea guys and nice video (including mel)!

just thought id post some photos since i had some time on here. i had 2 procedures with dr. ron shapiro altogether. i'm not sure of the amount of grafts or anything though. i will try and get a hold of their office next week for numbers. i think its been between 5-6 months since my second procedure. here are 3 before pics (before any work) and 11 after pics i took personally. i also had some laser hair removal surgery to get rid of a little tuft of hair at the front tip.

ya thats true, its too early to tell your right. my incisions just seemed smaller thats all. id say you still have at least another 3 more months. didn't mean to cause any panic! sry man

i think these incisions look pretty big and wide spaced. maybe its just the scabbing i don't know. personally i would be concerned but i don't know what you were expecting as far as density goes. hope all is well bro. the wait is the worst. gl

sorry JacobS, but i didnt get a chance to see this special. I really wanted to see it but i got caught up in some other things. I was hoping someone else might have caught it too but perhaps my post of a day before was a bit late of a heads up. Anyhow, im going to keep my eyes open for more specials. I figure we are still years away from any implementation, but it's nice to always here about medical advancements occuring in this field.

one of my friends that i openly talk about hairloss with told me his head would always itch a lot in the thinning areas. my hair would itch too in the thinning areas as well. not sure if it was coincidence or not but it sucked. i would even get little pimples along the edge of the thinning areas that i could see on my receding front hairline. when i started using nizorol shampoo and propecia it seemed to help, for me at least. my friend didnt use anything since he didnt seem to be bothered as much as i was by hair loss. my head doesnt itch as much anymore and my hair loss seems to have slowed down at least so im happy. everyone is different though so you never know.

just heard on tonight's CBS evening news that they will be talking to a doctor tomorrow night on hair cloning and i thought i'd share the info in case anyone else wanted to watch or didn't know about it. i think the program is 6pm-7pm EST.

hey mudpuppy, would love to see your pics bro. i had two surgeries from shapiro myself and waiting on results from my second procedure. In a few months ill probably post some pics too. just wondering if i could get a link to this other forum somehow?

very impressive, looks great!

thanks for your reply kamin. I just was worried b/c the hairs that fell out looked different than other hairs have fallen out on my head normally, and no one really talks about that here. but glad to hear some feedback, thanks again.

Hey everyone, i have read a lot of the posts on here about shampooing on this board and my post op instructions. and after 10 days the concensus here seems to be that the grafts are firmly in place and it is ok to shampoo normally again. So i waited 3 weeks to resume a gentle but little more normal shampooing regime. Let me just say when it rains it pours. a lot of my new hairs were falling out. u could see the black follicles at the ends but they looked sort of deflated almost. i guess im a little confused as to why they were not in place as most would suggest they should be. just wondering if this is normal like for like you to see the black dots to the end of the hairs when they fall out. i mean, did they not take or is it shock or what? any heads up would be nice, thanks

Hey everyone, i have read a lot of the posts on here about shampooing on this board and my post op instructions. and after 10 days the concensus here seems to be that the grafts are firmly in place and it is ok to shampoo normally again. So i waited 3 weeks to resume a gentle but little more normal shampooing regime. Let me just say when it rains it pours. a lot of my new hairs were falling out. u could see the black follicles at the ends but they looked sort of deflated almost. i guess im a little confused as to why they were not in place as most would suggest they should be. just wondering if this is normal like for like you to see the black dots to the end of the hairs when they fall out. i mean, did they not take or is it shock or what? any heads up would be nice, thanks

Hi, i just saw this post and I know my reply is a bit late but me and my mom both had our noses done by a surgeon named Robinson U. Ordona, M.D., P.C. He did an excellent job and I would highly recommend him. He is in the royal oak, michigan area. My surgery was about 5 1/2 years ago and it was to remove an annoying bump on my nose. My mother had the same procedure done as well but maybe about 17 1/2 years ago.

I pay $100(with tax) for 200mg myself or could get bulk at a cheaper rate per mg

Hello everyone again. First off, I would like to thank Dr. Shapiro and his wonderful staff for the work that they have done on my hairline. I am confident that the work that they did will turn out great. Dr Shapiro is a great guy. He has personally responded on this board, through e-mail, and through telephone, which shows he is very concerned with each of his patients. I chose him because I knew he was the best in my eyes, and he is. I've been researching HT surgery for about 5 years, meeting with several doctors and clinics along the way. I knew that after the surgery, I would lose hair from both the surgery and perhaps shock loss. I was never concerned with that really, knowing it would mostly grow back in time. I was more concerned with just rounding out my hairline. It was more or less a miscommunication on my part, and, for that I am sorry. With that being said, I am very happy with the work that was done, and would definately go back to Shapiro Medical if given the choice. On that note, thank you to everyone who responded on this post. I appreciated your comments and want to thank you all for the encouragement that you have given me. I will keep you all posted on my recovery! Take care! Chris

Hi, I just had a hair transplant a few weeks ago from Shapiro Medical. I must say that I am dissapointed to say the least. I am 25 now and was hoping to get rid of this v pattern hairline that's been with me for about 5 years now. I'll admit, I've made some mistakes in my life, taking steroids and what not, but I didn't think I would lose much hair since some people in my family only have recession in frontal temple zones while others including my dad have a full hairline. I inherited the classic v-pattern hair loss everyone else did I guess. Anyhow, I was hoping to get my youth back and round my hairline out once again. Instead I am left here with the same hairline just filled in on the sides a little. My friends saw me a few days after the procedure and laughed a little saying they couldnt tell the difference. Either can I. I came to get a hair transplant to restore my hairline, not make it look so I am starting to lose hair again. It's crazy how many people you see with straight hairlines on TV and around you, yet its not normal somehow to these doctors. (and by straight I don't mean straight exactly) Anyhow, I'm tired with my life. All I do is wear a hat around everywhere I go. It's like being in a prison. I'm supposed to graduate in a few weeks from college. I was hoping to make a good first impression in interviews and in the workplace, but it doesnt look like that is going to happen now. I can't imagine how anyone can live this way, I know I can't. Best of luck to everyone else, Sincerely, Chris