TomA

Thanks for the great responses! Speaking of Propecia, should I start taking it before I go in for surgery, or not bother with it? I haven't taken it for at least 7 years. If so I suppose that the rationale would mainly be whether it would help with the new grafts, as I don't have a lot left to lose...

Thanks! I usually cut my hair with a #4 or #3 guard on the back and sides (but leave it--or what's left of it--longer on the top). About what length should I let it grow just BEFORE surgery? Should I stay with the short guards or let it grow out some?

What is a diffuse thinner? That's really odd. I would have thought the opposite would be true, since people usually view the hairline straight on, while they typically view the crown at a sharp angle.

It seems that I have seen some strip transplants lately that are scarless--or nearly so. For example:

Thanks for all of your help so far. I have a few more dumb newbie questions. I'm leaning toward Dr. Pathomvanich in Thailand based on my research here. I think Dr. Wong seems great, but he's just out of my price range. I'm going to be in SE Asia anyway, so I'm not paying for the flights either. (Well, except for the cost of the $30 flight to Bangkok.) Any comments on the doc? Do they typically shave the donor area? Do they typically shave the recipient area? How long before a session did you start the scalp exercises? Do they really need to be 30 minutes a day? How long before I can safely travel (10,000 miles) after a large (say 4000+ graft) session? My job requires presentations in front of LARGE groups. How long after surgery can I expect before the surgery will REALLY be unnoticeable? I can't have everyone in the place thinking, "What is UP with that guy's head?!" rather than paying attention. If I schedule a surgery for July 20, will it likely be noticeable on August 22? Assuming a mega-session: When you see the same people week after week and your hair starts to grow back, do you start to get comments? It would seem like if you have 4000+ grafts that people would notice once they started to grow. If so, what do you say?

Thanks for all of your help so far. I have a few more dumb newbie questions. I'm leaning toward Dr. Pathomvanich in Thailand based on my research here. I think Dr. Wong seems great, but he's just out of my price range. I'm going to be in SE Asia anyway, so I'm not paying for the flights either. (Well, except for the cost of the $30 flight to Bangkok.) Any comments on the doc? Do they typically shave the donor area? Do they typically shave the recipient area? How long before a session did you start the scalp exercises? Do they really need to be 30 minutes a day? How long before I can safely travel (10,000 miles) after a large (say 4000+ graft) session? My job requires presentations in front of LARGE groups. How long after surgery can I expect before the surgery will REALLY be unnoticeable? I can't have everyone in the place thinking, "What is UP with that guy's head?!" rather than paying attention. If I schedule a surgery for July 20, will it likely be noticeable on August 22? Assuming a mega-session: When you see the same people week after week and your hair starts to grow back, do you start to get comments? It would seem like if you have 4000+ grafts that people would notice once they started to grow. If so, what do you say?

So, I've noticed that Dr. Mohmand is now on the recommended list, while Dr. Path is not. It's hard to figure out why that happened based on this thread. Can someone enlighten us? Thanks!!

Wow! Coming from you that's virtually an endorsement! You don't seem the type to toss around compliments, even half-hearted ones.

He said 6 years... (top of this page)

In another thread, some readers suggested Dr. Path in Bangkok. I have also sent photos to his office as well as Dr. Hasson's office. My guess is that the quite from Dr. Hasson will come back at a higher price than I will be comfortable with, however...

Well, they might be able to fix the "porcupine look" that caused you to want to shave it in the first place... Also, in the process, they would be moving more hair from the back and would therefore have to reopen the scared area. Perhaps they could close it better the second time around? I don't know--just speculating.

Well, I called Dr. Path's office to see if they received my photos and they did. He has a male assistant there now--he's not pictured on the Web site. The only problem is that he thought that they might not have any openings until August--and I will only be in SE Asia until about July 17-20. Oh, well, I'll hope for the best!

Scarred: I am very sorry to hear about your problems with Dr. Mangubat. I'll bet that they might be reparable, though. You should really consider looking into it!

Yeah, LOL! Yeah my hair is very fine, but it is also cut very short (about 3/8 inch in the first photos). I do that because otherwise I end up with that horrible "tuft" look where the thick hair becomes instantly thin at a certain spot on the crown. In terms of quality of the shaft--I don't know. The top (what's left of it) is not great, but I think the sides are as good as ever. If you look at the very last photo I posted, about 2-3 posts above this one, you can see a year-old photo that indicates how thick the sides get if I don't cut it short. I posted another one here...

FYI, this is what the sides look like if I let them grow out. This picture is about 16 months old. Like I said, it gets pretty thick on the sides. In the above (current) pictures, my hair is cut to 3/8 inch. I'm actually not sure how good this is. Yes, there is a lot of donor hair. But, if I have some moved up top, it would take quite a lot to make it match the sides. And with the scar, I don't think I could keep it this short anymore.

rp1979: Frankly, if I looked like he did BEFORE he went in, I think I'd be pretty happy! Anyway, thanks for the info on Dr. Path! ALL: How long does it take--after the surgery--for you to look like you did before the surgery? (I'm not asking how long it takes for the hair to come it--that's 10-12 months, I know that. In other words, if someone looks closely (say 18 inch distance) how long does it take before it doesn't look like you had surgery at all? I'd like to get a few opinions on this.

A couple things: 1. Where is your other thread? 2. I wouldn't be getting FUSE, so that wouldn't apply to me. 3. If I may ask a personal question: Are you ethnically of European decent? I think it may be easier to do this with someone that is ethnically south-Asian because they tend to have much coarser hair. Mine is pretty fine (i.e. the hair shaft is not very thick).

Your warning is well-taken. However, I must say--and maybe it is just the photo--it really isn't THAT bad. Your hair is VERY short. Heck, if they had just put a little hair in that scar line... Can I ask a couple questions? 1. Who did yours and what did he/she tell you about scarring? 2. Is there any reason you don't wear your hair just a bit longer? 3. Did they try to add any hair to the scarred area? 4. Where did they put the donor hair? It doesn't seem like any was added to the back. Is this an early post-op picture?

I sent my photos to Dr. Hasson's office as you suggested... LOL, no I don't! It looks really good. About half that good would be OK with me. Even your first week post op looks fine. Maybe its just the pictures, but the line on the back just looks like a "scalp feature" even at that stage. It doesn't look like a surgery scar to me. Ok, but I haven't lost much in a long time, as far as I can tell. Does anyone just stop losing it? If not, then why is the donor region considered safe to transplant at all? Yep, exactly. Which is why I'm thinking about the guy in India. 4000 for about $4500. Everyone complains about his marketing practices, but I haven't seen a single complaint about bad hair. Wasn't there also someone that was even more highly recommended in Thailand?

I will contact him for a quote, but I seriously doubt that I can afford a session that large even in India, let alone here in the states. But just because I can't afford a Ferarri, doesn't mean that I won't keep looking for a late model Miata in good condition... I honestly appreciate each reply! Thanks

Thank you for your reply! WAS. I don't use Propecia anymore because it didn't really work for me. I still use Minox 5%, but I don't really think it works either. Really, it doesn't seem like I will lose much more hair either way. My dad looks about like me VERY thin, but not completely shiny on top and he's 70. He's never used anything. I will contact him for a quote, just to see what happens. However, honestly, my guess it that it will be FAR more than I can spend. My two oldest kids are both in college. For example, there's no way on this planet that I can spend $10k. I've also posted here and this may be my only real option: http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/746...861/m/1601050312/p/6 At least for now, I don't mind it being a bit thin--just not this thin. I'd like it to look better from a horizontal view, but I don't mind (for now) if it is thin when viewed from the top. The main issue is that it needs to be invisible when I wear my hair short--which I prefer. I don't want to wear it much longer than what you see in the photo. Maybe 1/2" min to 7/8" max. Thanks for that. I was thinking that just this AM, but I chalked it up to vanity. When I look at the hair loss drawings, I could never figure out which one I was... I'm not sure. It might be the camera. I can't notice much difference in thickness between the back and sides when it is grown out. Plus it's cheaper! Would it HAVE to be 3/4"? I'd like the possibility of wearing it shorter... Yes, very much, thank you again! I like the idea of getting that extra quote, even if I don't end up there just so that I know if other quotes are accurate.

Side view

Front view

Back view

Here are my photos. I'm 45. My hair grows pretty densely on the sides, but it looks ridiculous with the thinning crown, so I keep it quite short. I've used Propecia and Minoxidil. You can see how well that worked. I will be in Asia much of the summer and can go to India, Thailand, etc. Any recommendations? FYI, I probably can't afford to go with FUE. Top view