arfy

This post really makes me mad (Not you, Hugh, I'm glad you wrote it). As a guy with those punch scars, I've got to tell you it really sucks. And the fact that there are better ways of doing transplants, that obviously aren't being used, sucks even worse. Hair transplants have been done on a commercial level since the late 50s, with the punch graft method as the harvest technique. This creates the "shotgun blast" scarring in the donor area, as big plugs were punched out, and the holes were left open. The patient is sent home with open wounds in the donor area, that form big scars. The strip excision didn't really start to get popular until the late 80s- early 90s, with the majority (over 50% = majority) of clinics adopting the strip harvest method around 1991 or 1992. However lots of clinics were slow to adapt the strip technique, and I've heard rumors of clinics who still use punch grafting, but usually these are in foriegn countries. So it bugs me to hear that clinics are still using this technique (You are in Michigan, correct?) It is totally unnacceptable in 2004. As far as the Minigraft question, the term refers only to the graft size, not the harvest method. Punch graft ("open donor") harvesting can be used to create "standard plugs", or those plugs could be cut into smaller pieces like Minigrafts. If I remember correctly, it goes something like this: Standard grafts ("full size plugs") = 4mm to 5mm (This is the size of a pencil eraser... huge!) Minigrafts = 1.5 to 2 mm (I may be remembering this wrong, maybe someone can look it up) Micrografts = less than 1.5 mm. Technically, a "FU" graft is a specially prepared type of Micrograft. To answer your question, the majority of clinics use a "mixed graft" approach where they place Micrografts in the front hairline, and Minigrafts everywhere behind the hairline. However, that is not considered the best approach. Most clinics do use a donor strip, but do not use microscopes to create the all-FU transplant that most of us consider to be the Gold Standard. Even though mixed grafts are not considered the best, this approach is faster and easier for the clinic than doing an all FU transplant, so it is more profitable. It can be hard to transition from a mixed graft procedure to an all-FU procedure, as far as training the staff and ensuring quality results. Many clinics consider the mixed graft approach "good enough" and don't want to slow down their cash flow while they transition their approach to something new, slower and harder.

Hey FedUp77 Before you get any LASIK eye surgery, be sure to do your homework just like you would before a hair transplant. Just like HT, there are less-skilled and less-ethical clinics out there, that you should avoid. Some LASIK centers concentrate more on sales than they do on good results, and not everybody is using the latest techniques. Be careful! And there is no guarantee that you will not need your eyeglasess after LASIK. Also, some people are better candidates for LASIK than others, and some patients should avoid LASIK completely. Look at the website SurgicalEyes for more info.

I've had some body hair transplanted, but it was only a few weeks ago and I can't give you a definitive answer about the healing. However I can give a couple of comments... One issue for the noticeability of scarring is what type of complexion you have. The scars may blend in better depending on how well you heal in general, and how fair your skin is. Also, how much body hair you have is also an issue. If you have a lot of body hair, then any remaining hair will help conceal the scarring that is left behind. If you have ultra smooth skin and not a lot of chest hair to harvest, your situation is different than a guy who looks like a grizzly bear. However, I am more concerned with why you would consider using body hair first, and I also have to wonder if a hair transplant is really the best decision for you at this point in time (?) Most people feel that body hair is a second-best source of donor hair, that is really best reserved for the veteran patients who have already depleted their scalp donor supply. If you are a potential first-time patient, then I wonder if starting with body hair is a good move. While there is plenty of evidence to suggest that body hair can be useful, it is still a relatively new and experimental process. In other words, I wouldn't necessarily start with body hair as a first choice. Secondly, guys with diffuse thinning need to be careful of shock loss. This is when the surgery causes your remaining natural hair to accelerate it's cycle and be lost... sometimes permanently. There is quite a bit that is not understood about shock loss. It is not a problem for every patient, but if you still have a good amount of remaining hair, especially if you are transplanting into diffuse areas, you need to weigh the risk of shock loss into your decision making. The worst case scenario is to end up with LESS hair after your hair transplant. It is preferrable to graft into a well defined balding area, rather than an area of diffuse thinning. Also, transplanting the crown first can be problematic, and in some cases doctors prefer not to start with the crown. The crown uses up a lot of grafts, and conventional thinking is that the front needs to be nailed down first, before spending grafts on areas considered less critical like the crown. You don't sound like an ideal candidate to begin with, and your intention to start (?) with body hair may not be well-advised. I'm not sure, but you may be better off biding your time, sticking with your current regimine, and possibly adding some concealors to your arsenal. I would suggest discussing these issues with an experienced FUE practictioner, in person if possible.

I've heard Procerin is bunk, it's a Vitamin, Herbal, Saw Palmetto mix. Vitamins and herbs are not going to prevent hair loss, and Saw Palmetto is supposed to inhibit DHT like Propecia (but not as effective as Propecia), and can have the same side effects as Propecia. As already stated, stick with the proven treatments and save your money for the stuff that works. Spending your money on bogus treatments just encourages these people.

I have not heard good things about Dr. Sword's clinic. The reports I've seen say that there is a strong "sales" aspect to the clinic, and I've seen several serious complaints about final results. There is a search button on this website, (although this site has been revamped recently, so it may not work for older posts). Bottom line is that Sword does not have a good reputation, based on the reports I've seen.

Hi Raid These questions are even harder to answer over the net, than they are to answer in person. A lot of your strategy will depend on how bad those plugs look. Do you think there is any way that the plugs could work to your advantage, if they were skillfully surrounded by fine, feathered single grafts? Do those old grafts look so bad, that no amount of camoflage could make them acceptable? If some of the grafts need to be removed, how many need to go? You can get into diminishing returns in some cases, if you try to remove all the grafts. In some cases you could find that the bad grafts can still contribute some coverage; whereas if you revise all the grafts very aggressively, you can sometimes end up with less total hair in the end, because some hairs do not survive the revision process. So it comes down to how many bad grafts are there, how bad are they, and where were they placed. (Also, the amount of hairloss you have, and your remaining donor supply are other factors to include.) It probably comes down to striking a balance between plug revision versus plug concealment (with new grafts). Some doctors like to start a repair case by 'cleaning the slate' as much as possible. But on the other hand, it's possible to remove more than you really needed to, too, sometimes. My experience is that these repairs can happen in stages sometimes. If you decide you don't feel satisfied with your progress, you can postpone or call off further sessions, or even rethink a new strategy with a different doctor. Sorry I can't be more specific. Different docs have different approaches, and it is par for the course to hear a variety of opinions, based on their different philosophies. I would continue to think things over, and learn as much as possible about repair work, how the various processes are done, see patients in person (repair patients if possible) and try to draw some conmclusions of your own. Then pick a doc who seems to make the most sense to you, based on your research. If you are having "analysis paralysis" keep thinking things over, keep learning as much as you can about various corrective surgery approaches, and try to get some feedback from other repair patients. Hope that helps...

I think you can get "disposable" digital cameras now. They are "one-time use" cameras, I think you drop off the camera at the developer or pharmacy, and they give you a disc when they are done.

For the transplanted hair, there is the dormant phase that you referred to, which lasts an average of 10-12 weeks. For the pre-existing hair in the recipient area (where the grafts are placed), there is no dormant phase. The pre-existing hair should continue to grow. However, that hair may sometimes be affected by "shock loss" or shock fallout. Depending on how strong or weak that pre-existing hair is, sometimes the surgery can cause temporary or permanent loss of hair. Not every patient has this problem, it depends on the person and many factors, and it is not something that is even completely undersood. But if you have a lot of 'at-risk' hair, a hair transplant may cause some of that hair to be lost. The worst case scenario would be that you have a small number of grafts added, but lose a lot of existing hair due to shock loss, causing a "net loss" of hair... you end up with less hair after the surgery. Shock loss is sort of a big topic, with several "ifs, and's and but's" so it's something that novices should investigate and consider as a potential factor. One thing that seems to help (besides picking a top doctor) is to have a strong prevention and maintenance routine, that has stopped your hairloss from progressing, well before getting any surgery.

The tablets get a little bit crumbly after you split them. Like Rugger, I dont do more than one at a time. Personally, I don't want a pile of split tablet segments rubbing against each other and maybe falling apart even more. If you get a tablet splitter at your pharmacy, they usually have a little bin where you can keep your remaining split tabs (a few anyway). I don't see any advantage to splitting a whole bunch ahead of time. It only takes a second to split a tablet, and i don't see how it is any more convenient or faster to cut them all at he same time. (Maybe I'm missing something?)

Well we'll have to agree to disagree then. I think transplanting square temples on very young guys is unethical. And there's no such thing as being "ethical part-time", you are either ethical or not.

I would keep your head covered up from the sun, especially if you had recent surgery. I read a post in the Doctor's Forum that said exposure to the sun could potentially cause pigment changes that make your grafts more noticeable.

If the doctor told you you got a round number of grafts 'exactly' (example: 1800, 2000, etc) then one of three things probably happened: 1. You got struck by lightning and by some miracle, you got EXACTLY 1500 (or whatever round number) of grafts, when they dissected your donor strip. That is extremely unlikely! 2. You actually got an odd number of grafts (example: 1507 grafts) but your doctor told you 1500 because he was rounding the number up or down. Maybe he gave you 1541 (for example) but only charged you for 1500. Etc. 3. Your doctor harvested an odd number of grafts, but when they hit 1500 (or whatever number) they called it quits and threw the remaining precious donor hair into the garbage. Maybe you only paid for a certain amount, or they ran out of time, or they didn't know where to put the remaining grafts. Whatever the reason, throwing away potential grafts is a HUGE no-no and I think it should actually be illegal. Maybe ask your doctor if you can see your chart, your exact graft count should be part of your records.

Actually Dr. Woods did say that to me. It's true, the bigger the area you 'stake out' with grafts, the bigger your financial committment. Really, that is just a minor point though. Some guys have plenty of dough and won't care. The bigger issues in this discussion are about looking correct as you get older, and not running out of donor hair before you've accomplished your goals. If you have a problem in either of those areas, it doesn't matter how much money you have, or how much you've already spent, you are still in trouble.

Beware that there is a Lawrence Shapiro in Florida, who I have not heard good things about. The Dr. Shapiro who gets good feedback is RON Shapiro. I don't know if Ron Shapiro has a Florida office or not. Just giving you a heads up...

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>arfy said: "You might want to move your hairline back if it started to look strange as you got older." Big1 said: Doubtful. I have seen some strange looking hair transplants but none that looked "strange" by virtue of the fact that it was "youthful". Well wow. I guess Big1 has seen so many hair transplants, that he's actually "seen it all"? Hard to believe. However, the doctors who have been doing hair transplants for a long time (including corrective hair transplants) almost all warn young patients to not square their temples. I'm just repeating the conventional wisdom on this issue, that was developed over several decades of doctors doing trial-and-error and making mistakes with things like squared temples. Big1 also suggests this argument against square hairlines is 'bullsh#t" because in some cases (older guys) it can be okay. Every thread complaining about doctors who do square temples (that I remember) has also factored in the age of the patient. There have been patients who have posted their photos with square temples, and nobody peeped...because they were OLDER patients. Most everybody seems to understand very well by now that transplanting square temples is a risk in the young patient, except maybe you (Big1), because you're bringing it up again. I don't know why we need to hammer this out over and over again.<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>We're not talking about cutting off ears here, and the mere fact that you tacitly allege that squaring temples is comparable to such a procedure acutely reveals that this topic has not been beaten to death -- contrary to your (the high priest of hair restoration's) opinion. If you have so much common sense, then why didn't you grasp that during these 'controversial" threads we've been talking about the risks to young patients all along? One more thing: Lower hairlines = more grafts in the long term = more profitable for the doctor.

I'm not Canadian and I can't tell you for sure, but this may be a resource: http://www.consumer.ca/

You might want to move your hairline back if it started to look strange as you got older. You also may decide that you need those grafts more in another place. Think about how much your face changes over a period of 20 years. Your hairline may look unnatural if it's at adolescent levels, when you are in your 50s. This topic has been beaten to death, but if your point is that there are "IF'S" attached to warnings about temples, I agree. The younger guys are the ones who need to be the most careful. As far as the doctors' role, they are supposed to be the expert in the patient-doctor relationship. The patient is paying them to use good judgement. Doctors should not just be a "surgery machine" that you insert money into, to have them do whatever you want. What if a guy walked into a plastic surgeon's office, and asked the doc to attach his ears backwards, and the guy was holding a stack of cash. Should an ethical doctor do it? I say "no".

It can be very depressing to have a problem hair transplant. Have you met with any doctors yet? Because there's a chance that you'll decide that the improvement from repair surgery won't be good enough to make the cost and hassle worthwhile. You may very well decide that continuing to wear a hairpiece is your best option for the time being. One of your tasks is to figure out how much improvement you can realistically expect from corrective surgery. Then you can start to weigh the pros and cons of getting corrective surgery. Some doctors donate work to people in need, so contact the doctors you're interested in, and worry about the finances later (consultations should be free). Figure out if repair surgery is what you want, before sweating the costs. Some guys get major improvement from corrective surgery, while other guys might not get as dramatic improvement. Get a handle on where you'll end up, if you decide to invest in more surgery. As far as dealing with the depression, try to stay busy, don't dwell on it, and I also find that getting exercise is helpful.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I'm not certain what is meant by "closing temples". Does "closing temples" mean that instead of hair angling back on the sides until it meets the top that it would go straight up or curve forward as the hair does on a boy? Some people call the temples "alleys" or "power alleys". If you look at Jack Nicholson, he has mega mega Power Alleys. The original post is really way too vague. EVERY TRANSPLANT "closes the temples". How could a transplant not close the temples? When you connect the hairline to the sides -BINGO- you've closed the temples. The issue is HOW the temples are closed. What most doctors warn against is "squaring" the temples, especially in very young patients. This means restoring an adolescent hairline. If the patient has Male Pattern Baldness and continues to lose hair, he could wind up in big trouble as he gets older. When talking about squared temples, you have to discuss the age of the patient, and the risk of extensive future hair loss in the context of a limited donor supply. Moving a hairline back can be one of the harder repair surgeries, in some cases. You can wind up with scarring where the moved grafts used to be, and it's right out in the open. Not to discourage the guys who may have this problem, but it's something that should be avoided from the beginning, if possible.

You should go talk to him. Don't schedule a surgery or make any big decisions on the spot, just go and solicit his opinion.

I don't have a laser comb. But if I were you I'd use it on the entire area you could potentially lose hair (the whole top of your head). I probably wouldn't spend time on the 'permanent fringe' unless it seemed to be thinning.

I use the conditioner and like it a lot. Thumbs up. I also like Thicker Fuller Hair but the VIVE is a lot cheaper. Does it make my hair 50% thicker? I don't know, is it possible to be 50% thicker than "jack shit"?

Some people say that applying Minoxidil to a hydrated scalp will help with absorbtion. To do that, apply after a shower. You'd towel dry your hair, then about 10-15 minutes later apply the Minoxidil. You don't want the scalp to actually be wet, because that would dilute the Minoxidil (your hair could still be a little bit damp I guess). Somehow your skin retains water for a little while (think of the "prune" effect on your fingertips if you spend too long in a hot bath). And somehow that helps the Minoxidil absorb better. If you can't manage to apply Minoxidil when your scalp is hydrated, just apply it whenever it's convenient. Supposedly even once a day is better than nothing. Your doctor probably told you to apply it to your hairline too, to hopefully help prevent more hair loss.

Dr. Leonard sells laser therapy at his clinics. You sit under this hair dryer-type thing, and laser light is supposed to stimulate hair growth. Does it work? Nobody really knows for sure. Well, don't you think selling an unproven treatment might be putting the cart before the horse? Since this treatment costs thousands of dollars, shouldn't they make sure it works, first? That bothers me. There is another thread about Dr. Leonard, where he is compared to Dr. DiStefano. Look around for that thread.

Paco If I were you, I would "play the field" for a little while. Meet with several doctors, just to get their opinions. Read up on hair transplants. Meet patients in person. Spend time looking at a variety of doctors. I worry that you are rushing into this, and could be better-informed.