CarlosM

Melanie, You say that your hair is filling in. I would give it more time before facing the knife. Carlos.

Figsy, You replied, "carlos go to baldtruth and read my post in ask dr bernstein section,should answer your questionsin depth." Do you have a link? I went to baldtruth.com and didn't find it. Where do I go from the main page?

Melanie wrote: >>I am scheduled to have 800 to 1000 grafts to my crown in 2 weeks How much is that going to cost you? Who is your doctor? Are you using the brand name Rogaine? Is there some type of generic with the same drug in it? Thanks. Carlos.

I would wait. For all you know, your hair will grow in on its own with your treatment. Carlos.

Dr. Bill Parsley, Thanks for the reply. Rogaine, if I am not mistaken, would not help me because it does not work for the temporal area. I am taking Proscar. Thanks! Carlos.

Thank you for your comments below. I will take no action until I am totally ready, and that could take a few years of preparation. I do have a moderate degree of recession, and I don't like the way my hair looks at all. First I want to see if Proscar will do its job and prevent further loss. If it does, I'll get a transplant when I am more confident. Cost is an important issue to me when considering engaging into the life-long commitment of getting transplants to repair future hairloss. It's not like I can save $2K and go get a procedure done; otherwise, I would get more excited because I am not very afraid of running out of donor hair based on my family history and my own hairloss rate so far. Based on my photos, how many grafts do you think I would need right now? Thanks. Carlos. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- to Carlos Although I appreciate Jebster's comments, I would be very cautious. You appear to me to be right on the border of transplanting. I would not blame someone for encouraging you or discouraging you. Keep the following in mind- once you start, it is a lifelong committment. Are you unhappy with your hair as it stands or unhappy with what you think it will become? If you would be happy if the loss would just stop, then I would hold off. About 6 months ago I did a procedure on a fellow who 25 yrs ago had some punch grafts placed into an area of frontal recession. His hairloss virtually stopped and he wished he had not had the procedure -fortunately it was correctable. You mentioned that you don't like it as it is now - in that case, I would lean more for a transplant. The frontal "V" can easily be widened and should look very good. But then you are committed. Your hair looks pretty good right now but it is obvious that you have had a moderate degree of recession. You are no doubt an excellent candidate for this procedure - if and when it is proper for you. Only you can answer that question. Just go into it with a good knowledge of the committment - and don't let anyone talk you into or out of anything. It is your decision and you need to be comfortable with it. No need for rushing.

Thank you very much for the sincere replies. Argy's perspective regarding what might happen years down the road is interesting. Arfy, do you think that the main risk is potentially running out of donor hair in the future? What a scary proposition. For the sake of this discussion, let's consider the following: A) I am almost 38, so I figure my hair will keep falling out at about the same rate that it has been falling out for the last 9 years. B) I will continue to take Proscar. I hope it will slow down my hair loss. Maybe it will even keep my hair from falling out at all. C) The first three pictures on http://home.attbi.com/~cmerighe/homepage/2002/011202/page.htm kind of show my father's hair. He is 60 years old. Do you guys think that he would have enough donor hair to repair his hair? Maybe the pictures are not very good to know for sure. If the answer is yes, then I think that I, given my own father's hair and my own current status after almost 10 years from the time my hair started vanishing, may be ok in the long run as far as having enough donor hair is concerned. I realize that this is speculation. You would think that you could safely ask a HT doctor and get an honest answer. Am I wrong thinking that a lot of HT doctors will give you their answers mostly based on the status of their bank accounts? You know, maybe part of their answers are based on whether or not they would like to trade in their Mercedes for new ones. For instance, one HT doctor was basically bad-mouthing Propecia and Proscar to me several months ago. I didn't say anything, but I became somewhat suspicious that he would rather have his patients go back for more when all he did was bad-mouth Propecia. He only focused on the side potential side effects of Propecia. I felt that maybe he was trying to scar me. When I asked him what Propecia was, he didn't bother to mention that Propecia is the only FDA-approved drug proven to treat hair loss in men. A responsible doctor should base his comments on research and experience. Maybe he should have mentioned that 5 out of 6 men kept the hair they had during the clinical trials, and that 2 out of 3 men even grew back some hair. I accept the comments about the side effects, they are a reality for some men. Perhaps he should have told me that only 2% of the clinical-trial recipients suffered from any side effect. Some people say that baldness is inherited from one's mother's side. That is not true as far as my family is concerned. My mother's father died with all his hair at the age of 80. Sure, his hair was totally gray, but at least he took all of it to his grave. The alternative for me is to wait until I am old and my hair quits falling out. That could mean having a hair that I hate for years to come, but I will take no action while I feel undecided. Thanks!

I have created this page today: http://home.attbi.com/~cmerighe/homepage/hair/012102/page.htm

I have created this page today: http://home.attbi.com/~cmerighe/homepage/hair/012102/page.htm

Posh, My reaction to the HairMax LaserComb product (http://www.lasercomb.net/home.htm) is similar to the reaction I have whenever I hear a radio commercial stating that some herbal vitamin supplement has been clininically proven to regrow hair. Right.

Has any research been done regarding the use of donor hair from dead people? I wouldn't mind, for instance, to donate my hair to a HT patient after I am dead.

Has any research been done regarding the use of donor hair from dead people? I wouldn't mind, for instance, to donate my hair to a HT patient after I am dead.

I am wondering, and I have not found any information on the subject, but could doctors prescribe Proscar as a form of prevention for prostate enlargement that many men will eventually suffer? If doctors are authorized to prescribe Proscar for prevention purposes, then I figure one could even use one's prescription card...

I am wondering, and I have not found any information on the subject, but could doctors prescribe Proscar as a form of prevention for prostate enlargement that many men will eventually suffer? If doctors are authorized to prescribe Proscar for prevention purposes, then I figure one could even use one's prescription card...

A large session is something that I will not allow on my head. After a few hours, the doctor(s) involved will feel exhausted, and that's bound to affect the quality of the work involved. I would rather split a large session into two more manageable sessions. I am kind of guessing that I will need about 500 follicles(?), but that is merely a guess. I have sent an email to a doctor in Brazil (I found his name on this site somewhere) asking him for a remote evaluation over the Internet. I'll see if I can get the same from Dr. Ray Woods, whom I am really looking forward to talking to as soon as they can call me back. Given the time difference between here and their country, I might have to call them in the evening, which is ok. I'll ask him for some type of preliminary evaluation over the Internet. I can get very high resolutions pictures of my head from several different angles. An experienced doctor is bound to have a pretty good idea of what it would take to fix my v-shaped hair.