spineguy1

Paddyboy, I went to Hasson & Wong 4 years ago and had a 4100 graft procedure. There were no "abnormal" splitting of grafts or whatever Dr. Kiely was referring to. My results are wonderful and I'm completely happy with the results that I've achieved. Their clinic is 3000 miles from my home and I can tell you that it was well worth traveling to get the experience and quality from one of the worlds Top HT surgeons. Goodluck and keep us up to date on your journey.

I know that Avodart isn't approved, but has anyone had any personal experience with it? I'd love to hear some first hand accounts.

Has anyone had experience with both drugs? I've not committed to long term use of either, not enough to really experience any positive effects from either, but now I'm making the decision to get on either avodart or propecia and take it religiously. I know that Avodart blocks more of DHT than propecia, so it seems logical to go with the avodart. What do you guys think?

Eureka!! I just found the jest of this so called "study". If you read closely it clearly says ..."ProMox and ReMox are a line of custom Minoxidil formulations created by Dr. Oscar Klein of Physician's Hair Growth"..... This is nothing more than a commercial for Dr. Klein's proprietary formula of minoxidil and propecia that he's trying to sell. It's disguised as an actual drug study..it's NOT..just another guy trying to cash in on our plight.

Well, we all have Hoped and Speculated that combination therapy MUST be better than just one or the other, but as a professional pharmaceutical dude, I'm not impressed with this "study" I've read literally hundreds and hundreds of drug studies and reprints and this isn't what you'd call scientific data, or even a legitimate summary of scientific data...Who were the examiners/researchers of this study? What's the "n" value?(how many participants were in the study? What was the study design and method? What was the study entrance criteria? Who was omitted from the study and why? And finally, it says the results were statistically significant but doesn't give a "p" value. If this is just an excerpt then I'd be interested in seeing the entire reprint if one actually exists. All I know is that if I presented this type of data to a group of physicians as evidence of why they should use my drugs.....they'd chew me up and spit me out. We all hope it's true, but they're claiming extraordinary efficacy without legitimate data to back it up.

Blowdry, Binding of DHT to the hair follicle results in gradual miniaturization of the hair and eventual hair loss. DHT is primarily responsible for the physical changes that occur during male sexual Maturation and is thought to be proportionally correlated to sex drive as well as erectile capabilities in men. In addition, DHT has been associated with benign prostate hypertrophy (BPH) and prostate cancer. So your body probably needs "some" DHT although it seems to do more harm than good....I don't think any studies have been done to determine just how much we actually need for sex drive, it's probably a minute amount though.

notgoing2gobald, I can see this being an option for someone who has been severely disfigured by fire or other accident, but not as a cosmetic application. Yes you'd definitely have to remain on "anti-rejection" (basically immunosuppressive) drugs for the rest of your life and that still doesn't guarantee that your body won't reject the donor scalp. Can you imagine having tissue rejection of your SCALP??? It's not like you can just say "Go ahead and put my old balding scalp back on" To top it off, the infection from tissue rejection can kill you.

Morenewhair, First of all congrats on your surgery. It really doesn't matter if the barber cuts the new grafts, the reason they've gotten longer is that they've detached from the follicle and will soon be working their way out, sorry, it's just another peril we have to deal with in order to have "more new hair" Goodluck and post us some pics!

When I was consulted for my 3rd HT with Dr Wong (3rd HT, 1st with Dr Wong) It was estimated that he might get 2000 grafts from my donor area. After doing Jotronics Scalp exercises for 3 months, Dr Wong was able to harvest 4100 grafts! So listen to the gents and get to it, it really works!.....goodluck.

blowdry, I stand corrected, some antibiotics do have anti-inflammatory effects, yes the side effects that you mentioned are quite common, but I can see where some antibiotic therapy might help with graft site redness, maybe I'll try it on my next procedure and let you know how it turns out.

Janna, Yes what happened to me was horrible, and I spent many years suffering emotionally from it. I can only now make light of my situation because 3 years ago Dr. Jerry Wong fixed the train wreck that was on my head and changed my life from that point forward. Before that, I could barely go out in public without a hat on my head, now I can openly talk about my experiences and yes, even laugh at myself every now and again.

When I was a boy and got mad at my sisters I would practice Voodoo on their barbie dolls in hopes that sis would feel the pain I was inflicting.....years later, after my first Hack Job Hair Transplant, My head looked just like those doll heads.....Coincidence? Or was God punishing me? You decide...

Hey Guys. I just wanted to say a word about dutasteride dosing. As you all are aware there have been no studies of dutasteride as it relates to hairloss so the question remains: How much and how often do we need to take it? Well the medical community has a general rule: "the smallest dose for the shortest time" to achieve the desired effect. Our desired effect of course is the blockage of DHT without gynecomastia(man boobs) and other estrogenic effects. According to the pivotal study, the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of dutasteride were evaluated in 36 healthy male subjects aged between 24 and 87 years following administration of a single 5-mg dose of dutasteride. In this single-dose study, dutasteride half-life increased with age (approximately 170 hours in men aged 20 to 49 years, approximately 260 hours in men aged 50 to 69 years, and approximately 300 hours in men older than 70 years). Of 2,167 men treated with dutasteride in the 3 pivotal studies, 60% were age 65 and over and 15% were age 75 and over. No overall differences in safety or efficacy were observed between these patients and younger patients. What all of this means to US (Balding dudes) is that if you are between age 20-49 and you take ONE avodart gel cap, it will take 7 Days for Half of the dose to be eliminated from your body....So you decide for yourself. Personally I take one 0.5mg soft-gel capsule every 3 days and have Never had estrogenic effects of anykind and my sex drive is "Strong Like Bull" Hope this helps. Yes I've studied Pharmacology Extensively

Antibiotics have no "anti-inflammatory" properties, they fight infection. If you have an inflammatory response secondary to infection, then an antibiotic would certainly help, but not directly. For inflammation I believe that a COX2 Inhibitor like Mobic, or Naproxin Sodium (Alieve), or some other NSAID (non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug) like Ketoprophen would be a better choice. With drug resistance at an all time high due to the overuse of antibiotics , you can't be to careful. Party on Garth....

Anonymous, I'd be very interested to know if you've discussed your concerns with your doctor and what his/her reply was. Also, would you be willing to post pictures of your hairline and donor area?

hairdini, Congradulations on your surgery. Everything is looking good so far. I was curious to ask you, what kind of density are you expecting as an end result?

GFS, P.S. Concerning the Zoloft, you should read the PI (package insert) that comes with your zoloft prescription. Look under "precautions and Side Effects". The PI will tell you everything you want to know about the drug.

BeHappy, Ditto brother, ditto

GFS, GENETICS makes your hair fall out. I've studied pharmacology and human physiology extensively for the last 6 years and Yes, certain prescription medications (ie chemotherapy, radiation, etc) can cause Temporary hair loss....but when the medication is stopped, the hair grows back. If long hair caused hair loss, we'd have a ton of bald women running around. Lifting weight Can't cause your hair to fall out, but shooting up anabolic steroids while lifting weights Can (Rx Medication). In the end, its all about what your genes tells your cells to do with the Dihydrotestosterone that your body started producing at the onset of puberty and hasn't used for much of anything since, except to make your hair fall out and have an enlarged prostate. My best advice to you is....get on finasteride, or dutasteride, this will slow your hair loss considerably, and find a good HT surgeon. Oh, stress can also cause alopecia, so Stop worrying yourself to death. Making a plan of attack is a good start. Goodluck

Quench, When I had my consultation with Dr Wong, he pointed out that my temple on the right side had receded and the one one the left really hadnt that much. He brought my Rt temple out about 1/4" or more and it looks totally natural, in fact I often forget that Ive got grafted hair there. I told my wife that that temple was filled in and she didnt believe me.

hey GFS, I faced the same situation when I flew 3000 miles away to have Dr Wong do my HT. I did go out once for a consultation, then again for the procedure. I never went back for a follow up though. I just took a staple removal kit with me and took out my staples myself. It wasnt easy mind you, looking backwards holding a mirror in one hand and removing my staples with the other hand,,,,,hurt like hell too as I remember, but I have had medical experience so it wasnt new to me to remove staples,,,just never done it on myself before. My point is that staple removal is fairly simple and just about anyone could do it for you, if travel to your surgeon is difficult or expensive. The two trips to Vancouver was totally worth it by the way.

Great story big guy, Congradulations. Gets me pumped about my next surgery, looking forward to getting some hair in my crown again. Dont worry about the numbness, the feeling eventually returns, just takes awhile for the nerves to grown back together. I didnt think id ever regain feeling in the back of my head...

Good question, I've wondered this myself. Has this been studied?

It seems the good Dr isn't putting much emphasis on HT surgery these days. I can't even find a link or mention of it on his new site. If you need boobs though, looks like the place to go......

Sorry if I'm asking for outdated info, I've not really participated in the forums before, but has anyone heard of Hasson & Wong using a "new" closure technique that's supposed to really "Hide" your strip scar? I had a HT with Dr Wong 3 years ago. I love my results, but as I'm considering going back to have my crown done, I'm wondering if any headway has been made in terms of hiding strip scarring. I had heard a few months ago that H&W was doing something new....anyone had experience with this? My scar isn't unacceptable by any means, but I keep my hair buzzed and you can make out a fine line when I'm out in the sunlight. I have light hair which doesn't help. I've been asked about my scar, but no one has Ever detected the grafts, they're completely natural looking. Perhaps if I get the crown filled in, I'll grow my hair longer and it simply won't be an issue anymore. Anyone with info would be appreciated.