Falconny

Any help here would be appreciated...... Does anyone know Dr.Farjo's (Manchester, England) pricing schedule for grafts. I tried his office on Thursday and Friday and was told to call back next week!! Not a very good start, made me wonder why they bothered answering the phone in the first place? Anyway this first impression will not put me off as I believe he is first rate? His website has no pricing but does have the online consultation thing. Can anyone give me a heads-ups before I start on this path?? Many thanks

Any help here would be appreciated...... Does anyone know Dr.Farjo's (Manchester, England) pricing schedule for grafts. I tried his office on Thursday and Friday and was told to call back next week!! Not a very good start, made me wonder why they bothered answering the phone in the first place? Anyway this first impression will not put me off as I believe he is first rate? His website has no pricing but does have the online consultation thing. Can anyone give me a heads-ups before I start on this path?? Many thanks

4000 grafts would be very nice

Aus Bloke, I am also feeling the pinch of the US$. I have booked a provisional date with H & W for March 2009. My original quote back in March equated to around 20,000 NZ$ and now it could be as much as 27,000 NZ$. I originally looked at all the Australian Doc's but after reading numerous posts on this forum decided not to choose a Doc on price or locality and go for someone with a proven record. I have to book my flights before Monday and make the decision whether to book the surgery as I have the time scheduled for leave from work. You could take a chance and hope the AUS$ improves after christmas as you will not have to pay for the surgery until nearer the time. It could always get worse as well!!

On Fin from September 2007. Gorgeous, healthy baby girl born May 2008. Follow the precautions from your doctor. I started Fin after conception and we used contraception through the pregnancy. If we where to try for another baby, I would personally stop taking Finasteride.

I also use Minoxidil twice daily. Not too sure how effective it has been, seen lots of small "peach fuzz" in the frontal area but nothing significant. I take 1,25mg (quarter tablet) of proscar daily. The HT doctor I saw in Australia who proscribed the Proscar advised that if I saw results after a year then maybe reduce the drug to Mon/wed/Fri, which I believe many people do anyway. Tragedy, I would not worry too much about not using Minoxidil for a short while, I believe both work good together but Finasteride is the sole drug I would account for my crown regrowth. Personally I would try very hard to use both Fin and Min together consistently for at least a year. I lived in the UK up until recently and there is loads of competition for sales of Rogaine, you should be able to buy it cheap from a online company.

1 year later!

Tragedy, far too early to tell what effect finasteride has had after only 6 months. I have been taken it for one year with good results. I first started taking it seven years ago but stopped after two months due the the expense and I did not see any results(fool!!) Take a look at my twelve months pictures. Both taken with flash on. Take into account my hair is longer now.

Cheers, I think I have almost got the idea here! I read that the average head would have in the region of 110,000 hairs, but how is that broken down into FU's? Do an even number of 1,2,3,4's grow evenly over the entire scalp. I do realise that most hairlines are made up of 1's and that a doctor may split 2,3,4's achieve this. When a doctor removes the donor strip will he typically find a mix of FU's? Is it possible that they may only be 1' and 2's and the Dr. may have to fabricate a 3 and a 4 by bundling them together? Also are all FU's placed into the same size incision in the recipient area? Again, sorry if we are going over old ground here, but so much information all over the net, it's getting confusing. Thanks

Could someone please explain what a follicular unit really is? I had a look on Wikipedia and no information there! I understand hair grows in naturally occurring 1's 2's 3's and 4 hairs, but what defines this? Are 4 naturally growing hairs in a follicular unit not just 4 single hairs? What is the method a Doctor uses to identify a FU? Are the FU's chemically / Biologically bonded together? Sorry for the question, I just cannot get my head around it, does anyone have a link to a site with diagrams as this may help me understand? Thanks

Could someone please explain what a follicular unit really is? I had a look on Wikipedia and no information there! I understand hair grows in naturally occurring 1's 2's 3's and 4 hairs, but what defines this? Are 4 naturally growing hairs in a follicular unit not just 4 single hairs? What is the method a Doctor uses to identify a FU? Are the FU's chemically / Biologically bonded together? Sorry for the question, I just cannot get my head around it, does anyone have a link to a site with diagrams as this may help me understand? Thanks

Found a quote on the web "Procedures have increased 42% in the past two years in Canada, according to figures released by the Canadian Hair Transplant Centre and the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS), making it the top cosmetic procedure for men, worth $76 million dollars." I make that around 15200000 grafts? Based on $5 per graft. Approx 5000 Hair transplants a year based on an average of 3000 grafts per procedure?? Help me out here, Maths isn't my thing! This is only Canada, so I would reckon the USA is probably more. My best estimate would be 20,000 procedures worldwide a year, can anyone give a more accurate figure???

Great answers, thank you everyone for the support. No one answered the question on HT popularity as to actual numbers of people having HT surgery. I know this is a hard one but I thought someone may have previously asked how many HT procedures are been preformed now compared with say 10 years ago. Obviously it has increased as the procedure and results have improved. I am only speculating but in my opinion I would have thought that the majority of prospective HT patients would have found their doctor through the internet, probably on sites very much like this one which may gave some indication as to the numbers. My interest is only to measure if we are going to see an exponential increase in the popularity of HT's as the word gets out there about the successful results people seem to be achieving. Again, thanks

Thanks guys, should have said i am NW5a and planning around 4000grafts to the front 1/3, I have attached a picture.

Hi all, Just having some concerns about a HT. 12 Months ago I would have considered anyone having a HT to be mad, be very vain or have far too much free cash. I have convinced myself this is now the right decision as I have been unhappy about my hair loss for over 10 years and had come to accept that the reality was that I would have to live with it. My wife thinks it is unnecessary but will support me in my decision but I am very concerned as to my family and friends reaction once I have had the procedure. Has anyone had any bad reactions or negative comments from people after their procedures? Do you find people talking about you behind your back and referring to you as "that guy that had the hair transplant?" I will probably have 3 weeks off work and try to wear a hat for work until some normality returns to my head but I guess you can not fool everyone? One other question, does anyone have any idea as to how many HT procedures are been carried out worldwide per year? And what as a percentage would be actual forum members? Thanks for any help on this

Aug 2008

Hi all, I have been on Proscar and Rogaine for 12 months and found that the crown has thickened and the front island of hair I had 5 years ago has returned but only very thin and most of the hair is peach fuzz. I have made my mind up for HT with H&W just have to plan time off work and find the finance. It may still be 9 months off so my question was: - I believe Proscar has maybe stopped the progression of hair loss from the crown and the rogaine produced some peach fuzz at the front, if I have 4000 grafts will the peach fuzz be of any cosmetic value? or will it be lost with the shockloss of the HT procedure? Many thanks for any advice

Hi all, I have been on Proscar and Rogaine for 12 months and found that the crown has thickened and the front island of hair I had 5 years ago has returned but only very thin and most of the hair is peach fuzz. I have made my mind up for HT with H&W just have to plan time off work and find the finance. It may still be 9 months off so my question was: - I believe Proscar has maybe stopped the progression of hair loss from the crown and the rogaine produced some peach fuzz at the front, if I have 4000 grafts will the peach fuzz be of any cosmetic value? or will it be lost with the shockloss of the HT procedure? Many thanks for any advice

Thanks for the help. Clive - intrested to know why you did not have your HT with Farjo Medical Centre in the UK?

Hello all, Is a price per graft just an estimate as to the final payment? Before surgery the Dr. May say they are planning on taken say 4000 grafts, so you would know the price prior to the surgery. If after surgery the Dr. was able to take more grafts than originally predicted, (Awesome for me) are you going to have to pay for the extra grafts. I imagine this may work the other way if less grafts are taken? Do I have to work on the assumption that the numbers of grafts are unpredictable so therefore so will be the costs? After surgery I may have to explain to my wife that it is actually 8 years and not 6 until she can have another holiday!! Cheers for any comments...........

Hello all, Is a price per graft just an estimate as to the final payment? Before surgery the Dr. May say they are planning on taken say 4000 grafts, so you would know the price prior to the surgery. If after surgery the Dr. was able to take more grafts than originally predicted, (Awesome for me) are you going to have to pay for the extra grafts. I imagine this may work the other way if less grafts are taken? Do I have to work on the assumption that the numbers of grafts are unpredictable so therefore so will be the costs? After surgery I may have to explain to my wife that it is actually 8 years and not 6 until she can have another holiday!! Cheers for any comments...........

This maybe a dumb arse thread, but here goes. Like many other people, making that final decision on HT may come down to a few good photos seen on the Web or the surgeon's glossy web page. Obviously as a business you are going to only show your best work. Even if you were to meet patients from the clinic they would probably be recommendation or "showcases" So my thought was - is there, or has there even been an open convention. Obviously not on a large scale as the individual cost on travel would be huge, but do any of the coalition surgeons stage open days?? Like I said this is probably a dumb question but taking into account the thousands of $$$ I have managed to convince my wife to part with a few days away researching may save money in the long term.

Cheers Guys for the great advice. I have just been quoted 4000 grafts by Hasson and Wong. Think the option of going for a first procedure of 2000/2500 graft is my best option financially at this stage. Saying that H & W offer a reimbursement for travel and accommodation. Still looking, not going to rush into it, took 18 years to lose my hair so I think I can wait another year for a good result. Very interested in your hair line procedure JoJo, please keep us posted as Dr.Knudsen is my most viable option and after meeting the guy he seems real genuine. Seems to be a lot of mixed reports on all of the Australian surgeons, none of them are in the coalition except Martinick. Josh, have you had a procedure carried out by an Australian Doc?

I am disappointed that I need 5000 grafts. I was working on the theory that I only need 40/45 Follicle units per cm2. After looking at other HT Blogs I may be selling myself short. 5000 grafts is also double the cost? Meaning double the wait as I need to save more money or sell my car. Was not too optimistic when I started on the Proscar but the results are definitely there. The lighting in the pictures is quite complementary but the difference over 3 months is better than I realistically expected. I have (so far) had no side effects from taking Proscar. Doctor warned me of depression, head aches, loss of sex drive, ect. All standard stuff you find on most prescription drugs. If there are no improvements after 12 months then it is not likely it will work for you. Not sure on the statistic on the drugs effectiveness, but the website is quite useful I will be sending my pictures to Hasson and Wong on their on line facility. Expectations from HT - Front hair line that looks natural and reasonable density, I am 35 and realistic. Looked at hundreds of picture of HT surgeries, but yet to actual meet someone in person. Until I do I think I will not be able to commit myself to HT. And there is the real problem; I live in New Zealand, (arse end of the world).

Sorry, last photo was a duplicate