JohnH

I recently had some work done to one of my ears. I've always been a bit self concious about my right ear. It (used to) stick out more than my left. As a matter of fact I've always felt that I was born with 2 different ears. I'm 49 years old and finally did something about it. I went to Dr. LeRoy here in Atlanta. He did a rather simple procedure to pin back my ear. The procedure involves scoring the cartilage to weaken it. This in effect erases the cartilage's memory. Then permanent stitches are placed inside the ear to hold it in its new position closer to the head. I only needed the top of my ear to be closer in which made for the simple procedure. For very extended ears, the surgery is more detailed. A wedge of tissue is removed and the ears are stiched back closer in. I am very pleased with Dr. LeRoy's work. I just wish that I had done this about 20 years ago.

My son just had Otoplasty done to his ears. He is no longer a child but has always been self concious about his ears. I found a surgeon for him and helped him pay for it. The doctor was here in Atlanta. His name is Dr. LeRoy. So far we are very pleased with the results. It was outpatient surgery and did not require general anesthesia. I definitely would recommend Dr. LeRoy. He has a web site that can be found be searching for Leroy Atlanta Cosmetic Surgery.

This could be a case of "you get what you pay for". The HT was probably quite a bit cheaper done in Sao Paulo. Colin - you definitely need to see a doctor here to get that scar reduced. With thick donor hair you should have gotten good coverage in the temples. Sorry this has happened to you.

V, dandruff can be a problem. One thing about dandruff - the thinner a persons hair gets, the less dandruff there is. This probably does not make you feel better however. I would'nt let this stop you from getting an HT if you want to get one. Try using several different shampoos. Use a different one each day. This approach seems to work better than just going though the same bottle of whatever. By the time you're half way through - the dandruff has gotten used to it.

Rob, I agree with the above responses. Here's something else to consider - the hairline is the most important part of an HT procedure. It's what people are going to see when they look and talk to you. If you get less than excellant work, you are going to be very disappointed. I would go to a top notch doc - drive a few hundred miles if you need to. Stay overnight before or after the procedure to make it easier. Take a week off of work. In other words - do it right. Don't rush into this. Research and preparation will not only save you money but will get you looking great! Regards.

Big red flag here!!! I too am curious who your doc is. Almost sounds like the recipient incisions were not made deep enough. For a 1000 graft session, he should have erred on the up side not the down side.

Greg, Are you sure that you are a Norwood 6? You look like you just have frontal recession. Are you also bald in the crown area? Based on your pictures, I would go for a full hairline session. I said this earlier - let your hair grow out. A good HT doctor is going to do some amazing work with you. I think you are going to be very happy.

Interesting. He posted on a Friday night at 11:30ish that he was sceduled for a Monday (morning probably) procedure with Bosley. He didn't give himself much time to change his mind.

Greg, I totally agree with Gorpy and JakeVig's advice to you. You definitely need to grow your hair out ahead of time. Plan your procedure with as much time off as possible like JakeVig. Not all of us can take a 3 week vacation however! Try this - schedule your procedure for a Friday. Take that Friday off and the following week. That gives you 10 days to recover. The scar will be covered by your hair and the recipient redness will be mostly gone. Later when you have a lot more hair, some people may notice. It's a lot easier to tell people then (if you choose to) because your hair will be looking a lot better.

Midiman, yes the scabs do latch onto the transplanted hairs. You must be very careful the first week to 10 days. Don't even look at a brush or comb for at least a week! You will want to use a cup in the shower to gently rinse your head after carefully shampooing. Don't let the shower water hit your head. After a few days you can gently rub the shampoo in - massaging the scags to encourage them to disappear. Many of us here have posted stories about losing a graft or two. You don't want to lose any but it's not the end of the world if you do lose one. You'll know because it will bleed a bit. Here's another bit of advise: Be careful getting in and out of the car. I scraped my head getting out of my car after driving back from North Carolina. Don't think I knocked any out but it hurt quite a bit. Good Luck!

Wow, there are some great comments here. I totally agree with everyone. Here's my 2 cents. If you take enough time off from work (work seems to be the main source of stress) you can avoid having to admit anything. I've recommended this before but I'll do it again. Schedule your appointment on a Friday. Take that Friday and the next week off for vacation. This gives almost 10 days for healing. By that time the scabs will have fallen off and much of the redness will be gone. You can even go to a tanning salon a couple of days before the procedure so that you will be "a little redish" before you leave for vacation. When you go back to work, do your best to comb your hair down to cover the recipient area. If you don't have any hair in front to cover - well you might as well just tell people up front what you're doing because they will know. After 3 to 4 months, your new hair will start coming in. You will be feeling so much better that you won't care what people think. But trust me, most people won't know that you had an HT. They will notice that your hair looks better. You can tell them a number of things such as - 1) using propecia and it's working 2) using a new gel or other product 3) found a different hair stylist 4) taking vitamins that are good for hair growth like flax oil For me personally - I don't tell people that I've had an HT. I've always had enough hair to hide the work (now that the work looks so good). I hope this helps.

Chich, how about posting a pic of your thinning hair? You will get better advice that way.

The pics look great. It looks like you are going to get excellant results! Keep posting - it will be fun to watch your improvement.

I agree with most of this except the beginning. The scabs last longer than 2-3 days. I usually use graftcyte - my last doctor gave me a bottle of it. Even when using gratcyte, I would say that the scabs last close to a week. also, Worried - salty ocean water is supposed to be good for healing, so relax and have fun diving.

Future Doc, shock loss is a hard thing to quantify. It's different for everyone. It's also different with each additional procedure. I didn't have any loss with my first ht. But with additional sessions, shock loss seems to rear its ugly head. It seems to peak at around the 2 month mark. That is the low point - you feel like crap because you actually look worse than if you had just left things alone. But then the hairs start coming in and the shocked hairs start to return.