JakeVig

JUst-a-guy, You're negative reaction to HT's sounds typical of someone having received a bad HT from a mediocre doctor. Is this the case? i.e. was it performed by someone outside the coalition? Its just that even without the result, I still feel happy that I had a HT knowing that I will finally no longer have an obvious receeded hairline that I have been self conscience about for the last 4-5 years. Unfortunately like many I have shaved down before my HT - Unfortunately I do not look good without hair so the HT is really the only route for me to be happy with my hair. Also going to a doctor like Ron Shapiro my concerns about a Bad or noticeable HT were never an issue. He also considers your future loss and will tell you what can be achieved with your limited donor supply in the future depending on what NW you will get to in the end. So my future looks bright even from day 1 after my HT.

Hairbank, Having a look at your pre op and current pictures you must be ecstatic with how far you've come. You no longer have a thinning hairline and bald spot to speak of which must make you feel great. With still 5-6 months to go for the full effect things can only get better!!!

I have to agree, a HT is not something you want to skimp on, it is an investment for life. A difference between a good HT and a bad HT can affect your happiness for the rest of your life - and that is priceless. The current prices are very attractive compared with the hair mills and are also a necessity to run a high quality clinic with the latest advanced tools and equipment as well as talented dedicated staff that only do 1 HT per day. You have been provided a wealth of knowledge with this forum do not waste it by price shopping, it should be the last of your concerns. If you cannot afford an excellent doctor now you cannot afford a HT.

I'm not too sure about the cause of this either but this may have something to do with the quality of the surgeon and your own after care service. The reason why I say this is that after having my HT I went back the next day for my shampoo and the nurse had a very close examination of my recipient and found a couple of grafts that were raised and she put them back in place. I'd imagine that if they were not put back in place they would end up looking like a small bump like in the picture.

I believe it is a great cosmetic difference he looks more confidence now. I can notice a stronger Jawline, pointier nose, fuller lips and a slight change in his cheeks.

I reckon Dermatch is a life saver, without it there would've been no way to conceal my HT since I am unable to wear a hat at work.

I agree with Nioxin not being nearly as helpful as Nizoral but I just added there with Nioxin because a lot of people seem to alternate there shampooing with Nizoral/Nioxin (there not equals but I consider it to be a apart of the same regime). The only reason why I recommend laser therapy is because there are clinical studies to prove that is effective you can read the results of one of them here: http://www.ishrs.org/mediacenter/pr/pr5.htm I believe the following stats of the study cant be ignored: # 100% of men had stabilization of hair loss in frontal and vertex (top of the head) areas; # 84.6% of men had hair regrowth (11% of more from baseline) in the frontal area; # 82.8% of men had hair regrowth (11% or more from baseline) in the vertex area; I am not prepared to pay that much for a laser comb either so I decided to buy an amazinglasercomb.com instead it has more laser diodes and operates on the same frequency as the hairmax lasercomb and costs less than the return fee of the hairmax comb. Can you let me know what T-Sal and T-Gel are?

Unfortunately diving in soccer is a means to an end. If more referees did not reward diving there would be more exciting play. Thats why I liked the Italy/Germany game although I was pissed with half of his decisions to play on it resulted in the end of a free flowing, awesome, nail bitting game.

Unfortunately I'd rather be fat than bald because with enough committment you can lose weight (I managed to lose 14 kgs in 8 months myself). Sadly this is not the case with hairloss. If you're cursed to be heading for a NW7 there is not much you can do but learn to live with it. Unfortunately my friends do tease me infront of strangers - which really sucks! There is nothing worse than talking up a girl and have your mates tell them that you are going bald. At these times I generally go the silent treatment which helps cut the conversation topic short and hopefully sends the sublimal messages that a) I don't like hearing about it and b) it isn't funny.

john, I am the one of the few believers here that laser therapy can at least thicken your hair and at best provide some minor regrowth. But I would only place that even 4th on the effective hairloss treatment list: - DHT Inhibitor (Propecia/Proscar/Avodart) - Minoxidil - Nizoral/Nioxin shampoos to provide optimal scalp conditions for the above 2 proven meds. - Laser Therapy (hair comb brush etc) and a good healthy lifestyle. i.e. keep fit eat well take some good vitamin supplements.

The good thing about the coalition docs is that they consistently produce good results. This is not to say that they will always produce excellent results for every patient, this is surgery and your mileage will vary. Your after care of your recipient and donor area is also important in achieving excellent results. The best thing about the coalition is that they are peer and patient monitored. And the best thing is about this website that *real* patients are posting *real* results so you generally should know what to expect. Obviously there are going to be doctors that produce excellent results that are not apart of the coalition. I believe that Dr Feller is one of them as many of his patients post their results on this forum and I've never read anything but complete satisfaction from any of them. I believe that the coalition provides confidence that you are at least guaranteed not to get a bad HT (i.e. butchered) - which is worse than no HT at all. Unfortunately this still happens today when patients do not do their research and elect to go with a sub-standard surgeon. If I really needed to go to a doctor that was not apart of the coalition and has not demonstrated proven unbiased results, then I am going to want to be examining a number of their existing patients in person until I am totally confident.

King_FUT, I'm going to have an educated guess on this one, cause I want to know how close I will get . Though make sure you go and get the free online consults from the top docs for expert advice. I would say your closer to NW IIIA than a NW IIA, please refer to the Norwood Chart here to see what I mean: http://www.iregrewmyhair.com/my-story/the-hamiltonnorwood-scale/ And my estimation of grafts for a good density between 40-50cm2 is 2200-2500 grafts. Let me know what the *real* docs think.

Hi Jasjeet, Because you have long hair concealing the donor area will not be a problem. The only place you will have to worry about concealing is the recipient area (i.e. where you want to place the grafts). It will be a lot shorter than your existing hair so unless you choose to use your long hair to cover the area it will be noticeable. You have to be very careful with the grafts up to 3-5 days. They generally recommend that you wear a loose fitting hat when going outside during this time. The grafts are properly seated by the 10-12 day mark. After that Im sure after that it will be ok to wear a turban - Although not having ever worn one Im not sure how tight it is or how much pressure it will be putting on your grafts. I imagine a bandana will be ok as well if the tight part of the bandana is below the recipient area, since some doctors get their patients to wear a tight bandage around their forehead immdiately after their HT to stop swelling around the eyes. So personally I can't see it being a problem but follow it up with Matt to see what he thinks.

Having benefitted from a HT with Ron Shapiro I can tell you from experience that him and Matt Zupan will tell you exactly how many grafts you will need to achieve your desired results. In my case they also told me what would be possible for me in future with my limited donor supply had I progressed to a NW5/NW6 down the road. They really do have your long term intersts at heart. In the end I would take Ron Shapiro's advice over anyone elses.

Than he wont be able to buzz his hair, he is lucky cause he still looks good, athletic and slick bald. Also because of his recent display of god-like talent at the world cup he is adored by millions of religious followers on and off the field. Unfortunately his large bald crown will require too many precious donor grafts that it looks like he will only receive a thinning coverage at best if he was to go the HT. Personally I will add him to the few white people that look good bald category.

No surgeon will be posting your results without your consent. Having said that it will be hard for them to actually get your final results unless you go back to them for them to take the final pics. I would not be worried about the small sample size, apart from whats on their website you can see the fantastic results of what has been achieved recently on forums like this. I doubt they feel the need to post any more results as the top surgeons are always booked many months in advance. It seems like most top surgeons website do not put that much effort into their website, another example is SMG's website (http://www.shapiromedical.com/) which is now a couple of years out of date. This is a contrast to Bosleys very promotional and glossy website - and were only to familiar with the results from these hairmills. I guess the lesson here is not to judge a surgeon by their website

spoon, If you looked at the pics you will realize that he has a lot more area to cover and has nowhere near the donor hair available that jotronic and Bobman were lucky to have. My personal assessment is that he is not a good candidate for a HT. I hope the best for Zorba but I would have to agree that the final result will be modest at best. Unfortunately I believe that the extra 1200-2000 grafts available will definately be needed to achieve a natural result. On the positive it does look like you have a denser packed hairline which hopefully should give you a moderate hairline after 1 year. I am anxiously waiting your final result as Im still not sure if you would look better with a very thin or a buzzed scalp. I wish you all the best. If possible can you let us know the surgeon that ended up performing your HT?

dhuge, I have similar hairloss to yours at 27 years of age. I am taking all the meds that I think will prove beneficial to combat future hairloss which includes: Avodart, Minoxidil, Nizoral, Nioxin, Multi vitamins and copper pepptides to minimize the minoxidil itch. I think this is the most effective regime after the research I have done. Note: I have tried Minoxidil many years ago but have had no success but after trying it again I believe it is more effective when you use it in combination with Nizoral and Propecia/Avodart as for the first time I am seeing some signs of regrowth. I have only started taking Avodart so I cannot vouch for its efficacy yet but having seen Roberts results I am hoping for the best: http://www.iregrewmyhair.com. I hope you find a regime that works best for you, although only being 5 months out I am estimating that you only have 40-50% of the overall cosmetic result of your 1600+ grafts, so it still looks like you have happier times ahead. Hang in there and keep us updated on your progress. I also believe hair multiplication and/or gene thereapy is also just around the corner (i.e. 5+ years or so). So the future looks bright.

I'm going to agree, your going to want to have at least 3000+ to be satisfied as it will take 1 year to achieve full growth. After that you can have another smaller HT to refine your final result.

Zorba, Im sorry to say this but I would have to agree. Your hair seems very far apart that I dont think that a thinning area will not look better than a clean shaved look. Who was your doctor? and did you see other results of what 1200 grafts can do over a similar coverage before you had a HT?

dhuge I would hangon for another couple of months as I am hearing that a lot of people experience a dramatic difference between 6-8 months. I hope that from now on in you are doing everything you can to hang on and possibly regrow your existing hair. Because you are young you have the best chance to regrow some hair with meds.

Scar and HT repairs are performed routinely by most top surgeons I know that Ron Shapiro also specializes in repair work. I would ask for a consult from the top doctors near your area for their advice. Spex has a very detailed website of his experience and scar revision which you can view here: http://www.hair-help.co.uk/ There are typically two ways to repair a scar, One way is to add grafts into the scar to camoflague it while the other is to have another donor strip removed that contains the scar and seal it off with a tricho closure. The advantage of the later method being that you will have some grafts left over to transplant should you need to.

I will quote Roberts website on his description on Nizoral shampoo: http://www.iregrewmyhair.com/my-story/5-ways-to-regrow-...-hair-loss-sufferer/ I can further add that it is also the best shampoo I've used so far to stop dandruff.

We'll knowing that you are using Minoxidil Im thinking that it might be just that - Its a good sign that Minoxidil is working for you! If you still think it is your transplanted hair growing than we definately would like to see some pics cause this would be a first at only 3 weeks out! Also post your diet and anything else you are doing that might've sped things up e.g. practicing witch craft, standing on your head 2 hours each day, etc :-). MSM is a supplement that is used to promote faster growth of hair and nails. You can read more about it on Roberts website: http://www.iregrewmyhair.com/my-story/product-review-msm/ Having been using it for a while I can vouch for the faster nail growth, as they are now growing faster than I can chew them, while watching my team advancing in the world cup :-)

Yes they should be still falling out by 3 weeks. The earliest that I've heard of growth is 6 weeks and that is only after the patient has used Minoxidil to speed up growth. Do you have any before and after pictures so we can have a look at the growth? Are you using anything to speed up your growth such as MSM or Minoxidil? If you are using Minoxidil you could be seeing regrowth of native hair, either way it sounds like a good thing. Im 3 weeks post op as well and my transplanted hair is still falling out I'd say I only got 40% of the transplanted grafts left - more is expected to follow. Since Im using Minoxidil and MSM Im hoping for some minor growth 3 months out.