HTHELP

I've been researching this a lot and would love to hear more about your experience and see some pics if you have them, thanks

Hey Joe, pics are great indeed! Quick questio, in these pics had the grafts that were just implanted shed already? If not I can see it being a problem trying to explain to co-workers how you can go from having a buzz cut with coverage to a buzz cut with no coverage a couple of weeks later. Also if you don't shave your head already and all of sudden sport a shaved look then I think for the most part people are going to wonder what happend. Maybe not suspect a transplant to begin with but down the road they may put two and two together no? Like I said I think it's "possilble" to conceal by shaving but would imagine it would be MUCH easier to conceal had you not especially if your using a concealer to hide the thinning that you currently have and to hide any of the "pinkness" that occurs after the surgery. I just personally find it hard to believe that people wouldn't suspect something, the fact that someone might no say something to them at work is meangless to me. I had a co-worker who got a bunch of plastic surgery done to her face (facelift, lips etc). Everyone noticed, but did anyone say anything to her? No. Someone actually asked the group if they think it was okay to say something because they wanted to tell her that she looked great, but they decided against it. I think for the most part people just don't want to "go there", but rest assured people talk and i'm sure know something is up when someone's appearance changes like that. Anyhow I guess it's just a difference of opinion on this one. Regardless your result was clearly fantastic.

Originally posted by Jotronic:

The last thing people think of when they see our patients is that they had a hair transplant and we've worked on our share of professionals, including actors some of your may have heard of as well as CEO's and government officials. I have NEVER had anyone even a week post-op call me to say they were "found out".

 

 

 

I'm sure thats the case for some, and it obviously depends on what their hairloss/hair style was before surgery but if my CEO or any co-worker came into office 10 days post-op to with a shaved head (that didn't have one before)and scar going across the back of his head (i'm assuming that in this scenario the entire head was shaved to give a uniform look as the doctor mentioned) then I would say there is close to ZERO chance that people wouldn't suspect something. Based on what i've seen it next to impossive to to hide the surgery unless you have some extended time off OR you don't shave the recipient area (and even in the case of the latter its going to be a kind of difficult for most, especially if you are not a quick healer or experience shock loss). Actors can take months off at time if they want to, I for one don't have that luxury.

 

I'm not saying shaving down and concealing can't be done, but I would say people who were able to pull it off were either very lucky or had significant time to take off. (if not they were able to work from home/ wear a hat to work or something like that.)

 

Since a lot of us don't have this luxury and you want to also "hide" it I would say not shaving is the best option.

 

SMG, Cooley and Konior do not require shaving and are among the best in my opinion from what i've seen.

 

Overall H&W is certainly at the top of that list as well (as is Rahal and Feller if you want to go the shaved route though). I think the biggest benefit the shaved route (aside from the points that Dr. made above)is the ability to do a "mega" secession. From what i've read I think without shaving its basically limited to 2,500-3K grafts due to the extra time and risk of hurting existing hairs (Dr. Paul from SMG recently commented on this in great detail). So if your looking for the big time WOW factor with one of those 5K plus secessions then your more then likely have to shave, if not and you only need 2500 (or less grafts) then not shaving and going to one of those top docs will be viable (and im opinion) very good option as well. Personally the fear of not being able to conceal the surgery is a big factor in my decision on making the next step. Good luck.

wow, I didn't even think about the fading/turning of color of the tatoo great call on that. I did some google searches on "tatoo into hair transplant scar" (or something like that) and found some results/pics, and all things considered it wasn't that bad. I'm not sure if I can post the links here or not (is that okay Bill?) if so i'll get them and pass them along to anyone else who was wondering about this. It sounds like a combination of FUE into the scar, maybe some tatooting in between and then if need be a concealer and you can get a faily undetectable result (if all goes to plan of course). That makes me feel a little bit better I guess if the end result was having to go that route. Thanks again guys

thanks for all the feedback guys. I would have assumed that dermmatch would have been the concealer that made the most sense on the scar since it would be easier (or at least I assume it would be) to apply to that area.

(I currently use toppik on my scalp) but I can see both working I guess.

I've heard of some people tattooing into the scar as well. Has anyone done/seen this? If so what have the results looked like?

thanks for the responses guys. I understand that only a small pct, of us will ever reach NW7 but i'd rather plan for the worst and hope for the best. Even if that wasn't the case and you didn't become a NW7, maybe things just don't progress as well as you hope and then what? I would like to know what I could expect in regards to concealing the scar if it came to that.

Flyby, I agree with & understand the points you made. I would hope that even if the scar wasn't "pencil thin" that most of the docs recommended here would be able to produce a "good" scar and I was just curious what that "good" scar would like if someone buzzed it down and tried to conceal it. I guess not to many of you have tried that. Looking at EMAN's scar (since it was brought up) I would assume with some dermmatch (or similar product) it would be completly undetectable at the current length. I'll keep searching to see if I can find any examples of this, I would imagine that someone along the lines has tried it (maybe w/o much success though as I hoped/assumed since I haven't come across any).

Thanks for the reply, If you could post that pic that would be great. What's the size of your scar currently?

Just wondering if anyone has any pics with concealer on their scar when they have their hair cut short (#2 clip or lower.) One of my (and i'm sure others) concerns is hiding the scar long term. To me if I could conceal it well then I wouldn't care. I guess for me personall this is really a long term concern more then anything for me (what happens if you become an NW7 and your donar/options are gone etc). I guess what i'm asking/concerned about is even if I had to shave my entire head later on in life if the balding got worse and/or I didn't want to have any more procedures done can you do a good job of hiding the long strip scar on buzzed head?

Anyhow i'm curious on how many do/have done this and what the results have been. Thanks in advance.

These are the type if pics ALL clinics should post, ESPECIALLY any coalition doctors. From what I can tell only a select few actually do unfortunatly.(h&w, rahal, feller) in particular (some others as well). For me that's been the most frustrating part of selecting a doctor. Granted there are other very important factors, but this is a biggie. I say step up to the plate docs!! Please!!

Looks great man, i'm very happy for you!!

Indeed it would be great if you can use it, but i'm almost 100% certain I looked into it at one point and the FSA stated that cosemetic surgery was not covered for reinbursement. As Dewayne mentioned though a great issue to lobby for sure. With that said, I hope i'm wrong and it is covered currently.

I'm fairly certain you can't use it on cosmetic surgery. You could apply it to the blood work etc. But the insurance carrier won't reimburse you for the transplant costs. Maybe a dr. Could chime in but I think that's the way it works. If not I'd love to know as well as your looking at over 30 percent savings due to the tax benefit etc

I hear you on not wanting to shave. I have the same concern. What if you are a nw5? Will feller and wong bypass shaving if yiu didn't have a bunch of hair to begin with?

Hi guys, I posted awhile back and I am planning on going some consultations in the near future. I was wondering if there was a place I could view scars via strip (Trico) and FUE/FIT on shaved heads after the transplant has been in place for a while (not immediatly after). This is one of my biggest concerns (concealing the transplant) after I have had it and wanted to see how close you could cut your hair without it being detected (even if you have to use concelears to do so which I wouldnt mind).

Also for those of you had an HT how to broach that subject with your barber? Do you pull him aside and let him know? How soon after the HT can you get a haircut. Thanks in advance for your responses.

Thanks for the reply. Just took a look at your blog and the results looked great! Seeing how you were young when you got the procedure (as I am) do you have any regrets? Are you satisfied with the results? Do you think you will need another other transplant?

Also were you working at the time of surgery? If so did anyone mention anything to you (did you tell anyone you were having it done?). I think this is my biggest fear. Having to tell co-workers etc that I am going to have/ have had the surgery. Also since did you go to any other doctors aside from Feller, and why did you chose him from the rest?

I'm currently 30 years old and have been losing my hair since I was 17. Using the norwood scale I would say i'm in the 4A to 5 range. I currenlty use a toppik as a concealer. It was great but i'm now concerned about it being noticable etc (not to mention I hate the cleanup after applying!). I live in NY so i've been looking into Dr.Feller and Dr.True (I also came across Dr.Thomas Law but do not see any posts regarding him. Has anyone used him or have any feedback regarding him?) I guess my biggest questions about proceeding are regarding concealing the transplant after the surgery.

Can you use Toppik or another type conclear? (how soon afterwards?) How noticable is the transplant after a 2 weeks or so (if were to take off work for that long). I have no intention of shaving my head so I would like to keep my current hairstyle (combed forward ceaser type look) while the grafts grow. Also how accurate can "online" consultations be? Or should I not even bother and just make appointments. For someone like Hasson and Wang though I would think I would have to go the "online consulations route". Looking at their website I gotta say the results they post are very impressive I wish they had a NY office. Also has anyone shaved their head after having a transplant? Can you conceal the scar using a concealer? Thanks in advance for your feedback

I'm currently 30 years old and have been losing my hair since I was 17. Using the norwood scale I would say i'm in the 4A to 5 range. I currenlty use a toppik as a concealer. It was great but i'm now concerned about it being noticable etc (not to mention I hate the cleanup after applying!). I live in NY so i've been looking into Dr.Feller and Dr.True (I also came across Dr.Thomas Law but do not see any posts regarding him. Has anyone used him or have any feedback regarding him?) I guess my biggest questions about proceeding are regarding concealing the transplant after the surgery.

Can you use Toppik or another type conclear? (how soon afterwards?) How noticable is the transplant after a 2 weeks or so (if were to take off work for that long). I have no intention of shaving my head so I would like to keep my current hairstyle (combed forward ceaser type look) while the grafts grow. Also how accurate can "online" consultations be? Or should I not even bother and just make appointments. For someone like Hasson and Wang though I would think I would have to go the "online consulations route". Looking at their website I gotta say the results they post are very impressive I wish they had a NY office. Also has anyone shaved their head after having a transplant? Can you conceal the scar using a concealer? Thanks in advance for your feedback