arfy

Ignore the credentials, usually they just obscure the more important question... does he do consistently good results. I'm not referring to Dr. Epstein, I mean with ALL hair transplant surgeons... even the worst doctors have credentials that seem impressive. The best thing is to see as many of his patients in person as possible. Hopefully these guys have similar characteristics as you do (approximate age, amount of hair loss, hair characteristics etc)

Dr. Gallagher makes holes? That is a major no-no.

It's an outdated technique that should be avoided. Dr. True says he gave it up years ago. The "dilators" are there to make the techs job easier. The problem is that a percentage of patients will have pitting or other problems like additional scarring, when this technique is used. You don't want big holes to put the grafts in, you want the smallest possible grafts in the smallest possible holes. Any doctor who still uses this technique is 10 years behind the times.

Avavcor is Minoxidil with some herbs and other ingredients you probably don't need. It definitely is NOT 'all natural' as they advertise. Basically it is overpriced Minoxidil that has been repackaged with some extra fluff. You can buy generic Minoxidil for much cheaper.

These HAVE to be microscopically-trimmed Follicular Unit micrografts, otherwise all bets are off. In order to maximize healing speed, the grafts need to be as small as possible (trimmed under binocular microscopes) and the recipient sites need to be as small as possible. You don't mention your doctor's name... If he doesn't use the smallest possible grafts and the smallest possible recipient sites, that will increase your healing time. Vitamin C speeds healing, take about 1000mg spread throughout the day. Smoking slows down healing, so if you are a smoker that's a problem.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I went in for a consult, and the Doc said I don't really need anything done yet, maybe just a few hundred grafts, but he said I should wait (which was very proffesional). However, I insisted on the few hundred grafts so we went ahead an scheduled. What if i went to a cosmetic surgeon and asked him to put my ears on backwards... should they do it? What if I was really persistent about it? Try to prevent any further hair loss with medications. If you continue to lose hair, you will have a tuft of permanent transplanted hair floating in the middle of your head, and you run the risk of looking bizarre.

This may be old news to some, but I don't believe this was posted in this forum... Extreme close-up pics of a Woods patient's hairline, that I believe is among the top hairline work being done. When you consider this is an extreme repair patient scenario, it is even more impressive, in my opinion. Make sure you see the enlarged views of the Before AND Afters. Timetested repair pics

This may be old news to some, but I don't believe this was posted in this forum... Extreme close-up pics of a Woods patient's hairline, that I believe is among the top hairline work being done. When you consider this is an extreme repair patient scenario, it is even more impressive, in my opinion. Make sure you see the enlarged views of the Before AND Afters. Timetested repair pics

Helsinki Formula is junk, and I am sure Ervanartin hair lotion is junk too. Finasteride is the most effective treatment. I would add it to your routine and give it one year. Finasteride and Minoxidil supposedly work well together. And these medications can work anywher on your heaed that you have miniaturized hair. The temples are tough to regrow, but you should be able to reinforce all of the areas you still have some hair left. Some guys want to do everything "natural" and will not want to use Finasteride. In which case I remind you that there is nothing "natural" about getting a hair transplant. But Finasteride is the most effective treatment by far, nothing else comes close, that Ive heard of yet.

You are correct, a surgery can speed up the death of the existing hair, if it is already 'fragile' when you have surgery. It looks like you should be concerned about that, as you do have existing hair all over your head. Have you tried Finasteride? I know that some people do not want to use medications, but it looks like you would be a good candidate for Finasteride (Propecia in the US, I believe it is called Fincar in India). You should try to stop the progression of hair loss, before getting surgery. That can help prevent the aforementioned "shock loss" from surgery. Also, a hair transplant cannot replace your entire head of hair. The more natural hair you can maintain, the better you will look, whether you get a transplant or not. You should probably not expect to graft in the crown area, as most guys do not have enough donor supply to do the entire head. A percentage of guys do lightly graft the crown, but don't assume that you will automatically be one of those guys (although you may turn out to be). I disagree with the person who said it looks like you have a strong donor area. What little we can see of your donor area looks a little bit "see through" or lacking in density. If you have never tried any medication like Fincar and are open to trying it, I would use it for a year and postpone any thoughts of surgery until you re-assses your progress after that year is up. It is always better to preserve the hair you have, rather than resort to surgery. You look like a good candidate for Propecia, plus if you did decide to get a hair transplant at some point, it should help prevent shock loss. I am not impressed that Dr. Martinick can't provide you with any sample patients to see in person. What is your approximate age? How long have you been losing hair? Guys with recent hair loss tend to respond better than average to medications like Finasteride. If Finasteride did work for you, you could probably skip grafting in the crown altogether, which is ideal.

I don't know a lot about Dr. Martinick and never had her do any work on me, but I have some comments. First, there are some really BAD hair transplant techniques still being used in India (which I am certain Dr. Martinick does not use). I am talking about big punch grafts. If you don't choose Dr. Martinick, please make sure that the doctor that you do choose does not use outdated punch grafting techniques. Please look at the home page here, there is an article called Best_hair_transplant_procedure You want to make sure that whichever doctor you choose uses only "Follicular Unit Micrografts" and dissects the donor area using MICROSCOPES. I believe this is Dr. Martinick's approach... ask her. Many doctors do not use this approach, so read this article and be careful. Choose your doctor carefully and know what you are getting involved with. If you choose only a mediocre doctor, you will likely regret your hair transplant later. If you tell us some more details about yourself and possibly post a picture, we can give more specific comments. One website for good general information for novices is www.hairtransplantadviser.org Keep asking questions!

I have not done any kind of resurfacing, but I have a few comments... Is your main concern the elevation? If you were planning to have those grafts revised (for example if they are too tufty or the follicles are angled badly) then removing some of the follicles with FUE or "coring" will "de-bulk" the graft and often it lays flatter. To say it more directly, if you remove some of the follicles surgically, then the graft has less volume and usually lays flatter. I have problems with pitting and cobblestones, but I have never wanted to subject myself to dermabrasion or anything that causes scabbing and peeling. I've herad there are now "cool" lasers that do not remove the surface... they penetrate deeply, and stimulate collagen production (I think that's the story) and somehow the scalp heals a little flatter. I believe Dr. Jones in Toronto uses this laser (V Beam) and he also does FUE, which is a good technique for graft revision. I would suggest that you need to have someone examine you in person. Repairs are tricky so I suggest that you meet with several doctors and do as much research as possible. Dr. Jones has a patient named Dave who posts under the name hotty_ca, he recommended the V Beam to me, and I am thinking about it. Cool lasers are kind of new, and so it may take a little legwork to track down a clinic that uses them and has experience. The issue I have with dermabrasion is that it can cause changes in the skin color and texture.

First goal is to try to prevent your hair loss from getting worse. "Thanks for the replies. I am worried because I have heard some horror stories regarding HT's. Like i went on this site that was allot like this except it was for people to vent there horror stories." I would like to know which website that is???

Who was your doctor C2E? To make 800 extra donor sites is not a small mistake, that is a big miscalculation.

I made some comments on this strategy in the "Elvis Costello" thread.

If you have fine hair, you will need more grafts than a guy with coarse hair, to get similar coverage. Hair shaft diameter (fine vs. coarse) is a bigger factor in coverage than the total number of grafts. Since there is a limited amount of donor hair available, this is an important factor to weigh in your decision making. Especially because as a Norwood 6, you need a lot of grafts. You could get a nice result but it will be a very light coverage, not a whole bunch of hair. What are your goals? If your expectations are modest, and just a little bit of something to comb would satisfy you, then keep thinking about it and asking questions. If you really want a lot of hair up there, then maybe you shouldn't do it.

I think 10 to 15% is actually the amount of hair going into a dormant phase at any one time. I'm not too good at math...

Arginine raises Nitrous Oxide in the bloodstream, and NO is a factor in forming an erection. So Arginine is good for firmer erections. However, if your issue is a lack of desire, then in theory Arginine may not be helpful (I don't know... it may be a chicken/egg situation for some guys... what comes first?)

2 other products to consider... Tribulis Terrestis is an herb that supposedly stimulates your body to increase testosterone production. It's not powerful like an anabolic steroid (not that I would know, I've never tried steroids) but anyway it is more subtle. Just realize that additional testosterone in your system can be counter-productive for your hair. The idea is that hopefully any additional DHT that is produced (or converted... can't say I understand the process all that well), is getting addressed by the Finasteride. Again, it is not a giant leap in testosterone, it is subtle. I've used it and it does make me more alert, more energetic, and higher libido (it's not Viagra or anything like that). Brands I hear good things about are "Sophia of Bulgaria" (the original resource for this herb) and Tribex made by Biotest (the kind I've tried). You have to take time off, to let your body return to normal, either skipping 2 days a week, or 2 weeks on 2 weeks off (?... I forget, so read the label instructions for better info) Biotest also has a new product called Red Kat that is herbal and supposedly helps with libido and erections, without changing testosterone levels. I've never tried it and just heard of it recently myself. Realize that there are a lot of bogus supplements, exaggerated claims, and stuff that works on paper but not in real life... just like hair loss treatments. So I'm not actually recommending anything to anyone. For all I know it only works on mice. If you do consider trying any of this stuff, you can get the best deals by shopping online, rather than the local GNC. I like a place called Netrition.com, but there are dozens or hundreds of places doing mail order. Hope that helps...

Your hair cycles through different phases, so it's possible that you are just doing a lot of normal shedding right now (I don't know). 100 hairs a day is considered normal for a guy with a full head of hair... that's not you, I assume. So 100 may be on the high side for a guy who already has lost hairs, but it isn't an emergency. (The idea that 100 hairs is a normal amount is based on the theory that a percentage of your hair is going into a resting phase, at any given time... i think it is 1%. A guy with no hair loss has an average of 100,000 hairs.)

Andy You might try the every-other-day routine, and see if you can still get results with Propecia without side effects. It's a possible solution. It does stay in your system for a long time (days or weeks) so a dose every other day is not out of the question, if you want to try a reduced dose. I would consider splitting your tabs in half or skipping certain days, if you can stand giving it a try...

This is the ABHRS "disclaimer" "Disclaimer ABHRS is not an educational institution and the certificates granted by the Board are not to be considered as degrees in any specialty. A certificate granted by the ABHRS does not confer on any person any qualifications, privileges or licenses to practice the specialty stated therein. The requirements for certification are distinct from those required for licensure. ABHRS does not interfere with or limit the professional activity of any physician." Okay, it's not an "educational institution" and they state outright that ABHRS certification doesn't actually mean anything in regard to qualifications. So there doesn't seem to be any practical purpose for this organization to exist, except to provide their members some phoney credentials.

I would be interested in seeing some pics of your work with Dr. Puig. Being president of the ABHRS means nothing, it's a small group that certain doctors started to give themselves an air of credibilty. It's like starting your own country and then naming yourself King. A person can call himself whatever he wants. I had some incredibly bad hair transplant work from Dr.Puig, maybe he has improved since then. I certainly hope so. He also used to do radical and bizarre surgeries like "the Triple Flap". If you know what a flap is, you are probably cringing right now. The logic of MHR putting bigger grafts in back is that "only the hairline needs to look completely natural". I disagree, I think the WHOLE HEAD needs to look completely natural. You'll get more specific comments if you post your pics. If you don't have any, ask the clinic to email them to you, they should have taken photographs before and after.

I think I do understand the look. Realize that the crown can use up a LOT of grafts. You could use up your entire donor supply just on your crown. Most doctors prefer to address the front area, before spending lots of grafts on the crown. The worst thing in the world is to be caught short, with more work left to do, and no donor hair to accomplish your needs. If you are thinking about grafting in the crown, go into it with the idea that the crown will be lightly covered... "dusted" with grafts, and not trying to match the original density. I don't think your idea is all that far out, but it needs to be approached with sensible, careful planning. Also, if shock loss is a risk for you, please be extra careful in your decisions. You don't want to trade in your existing hairs for expensive grafts, and not end up a net gain of hair.

It's hard to give much specific feedback, without having some pics to refer to. If your doctor used microscopically-trimmed FU grafts, then the cobblestones should lay flat, as healing progresses. But if your doctor used Minigrafts, then it could go either way.