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<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>You will be numb regardless of the scar for the first 3-6 month because the nerves have to "reconnect/grow". Nerves cannot reconnect. If they could, Christopher Reeve would be walking around, and not in a wheelchair. It's very possible that you can permanently lose some sensation in your scalp after HT surgery. How much sensation might be lost is hard to say. If you don't think this is a risk, then I suggest that you ask your doctor if he will guarantee it won't happen, and have him put it in writing. See what he says.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>- (patients can come in for additional procedures for more density in previously transplanted areas as early as 3 months post-op from the prior surgery.) The risk of transection is minimal b/c the follicles will "push aside" when a new incision is made (as he put it....like putting your hand in a bucket of marbles.....they simply displace). This part does not sound right to me. The doctor is creating new recipient sites with a razor sharp instrument. It's going to cut into whatever is in it's path. A scalpel (or needle, whatever they use to make the sites) is not blunt like your hand. And your scalp is not like a bucket of marbles. It is absolutely possible to damage grafts by transplanting into a recently grafted area. Whether the doctor can see the already-transplanted grafts (and avoid damaging them) at the 3 month mark probably depends on the patient (and the clinic). To say that damaging grafts (or even natural pre-existing hair) is not a risk because "they get pushed aside", does not seem like a correct statement. By the way, I'm not saying it's impossible to go in with an additional surgery at 3 months (although that seems too soon. But it is definitely possible to damage unseen grafts at that point, and that any follicles already in that area will not simply move out of the way.

Don't sign up for surgery until you have researched the doctor and his approach. I looked up Dr. Mantse and it doesn't appear that he uses an all-FU approach (I could be wrong though). Go to the home page here and look for the article "Best hair transplant procedure". Notice the importance of using only Follicular Unit micrografts (NO Minigrafts or larger grafts or 'mixed' grafts) and the importance of using a microscope to dissect the grafts. Ask Dr. Mantse if that is his exact approach. If not, I recommmend that you look elsewhere.

Hair shaft diameter is just a factor in overall hair volume or bulk, but it's not a simple mathematical formula (I have twice the hair shaft diameter , so I will need half the grafts). It doesn't work like that. It is a separate issue than how close you need to plant the grafts to have the best results. Having a lot of volume is good for coverage in a 'shingle' or combover effect. Coarse hair covers better by taking up more space as it lays across your head. But you still want grafts that are tightly spaced. Grafts spaced far apart with big gaps in between will always look inferior.

There is data on this at the Propecia.com site Basically (as I remember it) 83% of users maintained their hair count (did not lose any more hair). 66% of users actually increased hair count (showed some regrowth). Age was not a factor in the study, but reports are that the sooner you get on Propecia, the better. It seems to work better on 'recent' hair loss. Since you are a younger guy, we can probably assume you've started to lose hair recently. Hopefully you will respond well to Propecia, and it will accomplish your goals, or at least come close enough. The best possible scenario is that Propecia works well enough for you to skip the hair transplant completely. Good luck!

I agree with Jotronic, guys should not get the impression that a hair transplant will restore a full head of hair. This poster probably meant that his whole balding area (however small or big it may be) was grafted. A lot of newbies think that a HT can restore all of their hair, so it is worthwhile to point out there is a limited amount of available donor hair, and a big difference between supply (donor area) and demand (bald area). A hair transplant gives you 'some' hair, hopefully enough to cover, but basically never restores a full head of hair, technically speaking. I'm glad the patients are pleased with their results, but this is worth clarifying.

The advertising says that you can style your hair any way you wish. The truth is that for most guys, some hair styles will look better than others. Just because you can style your hair 'any way you want' doesn't mean it will look good. Unless you have 'star quality' characteristics and an especially good result, you will probably pick a hairstyle that gives your transplant the best illusion of coverage.

Dr. Leonard The list will mean more, if the standards are kept high. According to a thread on this website a few weeks ago, Dr. Leonard told a patient that he 'does not believe in using a lot of FUs' or words to that effect. He supposedly made that comment a few weeks ago: http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=5696015661&f=7466060861&m=976009196 <BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I discussed the whole follicular Unit idea with Dr. Leonard a few weeks ago (and he is respected in the H/T world), but he kindly disagreed that it was not the way he felt they should be done. He said that if you move hair, you are moving hair. That single units are fine for hairline, but are hard to get density. Also since he does not do FU, he could not tell me what to expect! I asked him how many graphs I would get and he said he could not answer that. That they use to charge by the graft, but that it is done by the procedure. So I said then what can I expect for results and he said my thin hair would be about double! Way too ambiguous for me to commit to. Obviously, I don't agree so I booked it at Shapiro for less and higher quality.

I think you mean "FU" and not FUE. FU (follicular unit) is when they dissect the donor strip into grafts under a microscope, into the natural groupings of follicles with no excess tissue remaining. FUE (follicular unit extraction) is when the doctor moves FUs individually, with no donor strip. Don't worry, the terminology is confusing to everyone, unfortunately. Regarding your questions, my understanding is that the vertex and crown can sometimes show growth later than the hairline. (I'm not certain about that though). You are about 4 months out of surgery, so it is still too early to get alarmed about growth. Keep an eye on things but do not panic. Some guys can take longer to show growth. You might think about adding MSM to your diet, some guys have tried using it and say it makes their hair grow faster (?) I can't attest to that, but it's possibly something to look into. Minoxidil may be another option for kickstarting growth. The average guy does not see any growth for 10-12 weeks. Average means some guys will see growth sooner, and some guys will see growth later. You may just be one of the late bloomers. However, poor growth of grafts is a bad situation, so keep an eye on things, and keep us posted. In the meantime, try not to worry.

I think they would do it, because there are days they do smaller sessions. You could get fit in before (or after) another small session. I doubt they would turn you down because it's not 'enough' grafts... If you are local, they have a stand-by list. Bottom line is to contact the clinic and see what they say, but I would think it is no problem.

The idea that Minigrafts can 'fill in' better than all FUs is a myth. Read the article "The Logic of Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation" (which I posted a link to, above) to see a mathematical explanation of why Minigrafts do not lead to better density than FUs. Instead, Minigrafts mean that you will have bigger gaps in between grafts.

I would just leave it alone. It's probably going to dry up and fall out on it's own. But if your doctor is local, stop by his office and have him look at it.

Minigrafts and Micrografts are not trimmed under microscopes, like an FU is. This leads to 2 problems: -Too much excess tissue. Your transplanted hair will appear to be growing from a skin graft. When grafts are trimmed of excess tissue, it looks more like your transplanted hair is emerging from virgin scalp (not a skin graft). Excess tissue also contracts during healing, leading to a tufty look. The grafts can get compacted and look pluggy. -Superior visualization during dissection of the donor strip when using microscopes. If microscopes are not used, follicles can be damaged during dissection, and follicles can be missed by the tech and thrown away. A "coupled FU" is supposedly trimmed with microscopes, so it should be slightly better than a Minigraft. The docotrs who use coupled FUs would not turn off their microscopes, when dissecting a coupled FU (would they?) So it seems like a coupled FU is a trimmed Minigraft... a graft containing more than one 'follicular family' with some extra tissue connecting the follicular families. Read the article "the Logic of Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation" to read why coupled grafts are an inefficient way to use your donor supply (you get better coverage with lots of small [FU] grafts, then with fewer grafts that contain a few more follicles than a single follicular family [Minigrafts]. The Logic of Follicular Unit Hair Transplantation Here's another article that discusses the difference:The Cosmetic Significance of Follicular Units Vs. Small Minigrafts

Have you ever posted your FUE results? I saw your post-op photo, but I don't recall seeing any pics of your hair grown out. Look at these Norwood scale pics, especially the side profiles. I seem to remember you as a definite Norwood 2. If you have some pre-op profile pics that resemble the Norwood 3 pattern, I would love to see them. I suspect that when a guy really wants surgery, he tends to rate himself higher on the scale than he actually is.

These were captured with 'screen grabs'. As you can see, the quality of the text is still sharp. These pics are not good quality, they lack detail and some are even fuzzy. This is supposed to magnify their hairline? It's crap! Look at "Jeff W" that photo is downright terrible. The best pic is Wade Boggs, and you can see his photo has been sharpened and compressed. Compare the foreheads of "Craig C" and "Gerald Rs" to the other pictures. The other pictures look like they have been softened, while those two guys look like they were sharpened. Sorry, but these are not good quality photos. That they are supposed to represent 'close ups' is a joke.

I read that he had some scalp reductions. He may even have some sort of flap. Not every guy who got screwed up is able to have great results with repair surgery. He may think that now that he has established a "look" in the public eye, he is stuck with that. If he were to change his appearance, it may attract even more attention than where he is now.

It's not awesome, but it is far from the worst I've seen. He had a high and mature hairline done, which makes sense for his level of hair loss. He could definitely improve with additional work, but probably is satisfied with where he's at.

Be careful guys! First, there are very few doctors who do consistently excellent work. Second, it is all too easy to make a mistake at your age, and come to regret your decision to get a hair tranplant. Please, spend a whole bunch of time researching and reading on the subject before you make up your minds on getting surgery. A lot of guys have made bad hair transplant decisions, and since they are basically permanent a bad HT can be hell to live with. Good basic info here: www.hairtransplantadviser.org www.hairlossresearch.com Read up, and ask lots of questions. You may want to post some pics, if you want more specific comments.

The quality of the photos is lousy. No matter how close you zoom in, the pictures are still low quality.

Minigrafts and Micrografts originally began as plugs that were punched out and then subdivided into smaller sections to create Minigrafts (this was mid 80s). Later they were harvested via strip excision and cut into sections by technicians (the way most HT are done). Technically speaking, a FU graft is a specially prepared type of Micrograft. Many people refer to FUs as "Follicular Unit Micrografts". A true FU transplant will contain FU grafts only, and no Minigrafts. Here is a brief article on the difference between FU grafts and Mini and Micrografts: Best Hair Transplant Here is a longer article that explains the logic behind the all-FU transplant: What is Follicular Unit Transplantation To be a true Follicular Unit graft, it must be dissected and trimmed under a high powered microscope. Also, the natural grouping of follicles must not be divided, and must not be combined with other natural groupings to make a larger graft.

East Coast Email me if you feel like it hairtransplantdisaster@hotmail.com

What happened to the extra grafts that Dr. Moulton did not place? Did someone else place them? How many grafts were not placed? Please don't tell me that those grafts were thrown away? You have a VERY limited amount of donor hair. You may very well need all the donor hair you have, in the future. I think it is criminal, if a doctor throws some of your donor supply in the garbage.

This fellow went to Dr. Elliott: http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums?a=tpc&s=5696015661&f=3466060861&m=1746013785

Hair transplants are considered low-risk surgery, meaning that it is unlikely you will have a medical emergency. The biggest risk is that you will not be satisfied with your appearance, after all is said and done. Malpractice will not be an issue whatsoever IF you choose your doctor wisely. If you were going to travel to get a strip excision, then you'd need to get your local physician or nurse (or find a friend) to help you remove your stitches (or staples) 10 or so days after surgery, if you had returned home by that time. What I am saying is that you might want to reconsider your decision not to travel. Especially because FUE is more patient-friendly as far as recovery. Hair transplants are a niche procedure and the list of top doctors is small, even more so when it comes to the doctors doing FUE. I recommend that you try to figure out who are the world's best doctors, and make that your only criteria.

Post this in the "Ask A Doctor" forum and you may get some medical opinions.