hairtech_

You obviously did not get my point here. My point is this. If I had to run a corporation in the best manner possible, then I would run it like Bosley. If "I" were to get a transplant, then that is a different question. I am not claiming to be an "expert", but hey, I know quite a bit about the things I talk about, and I challege anyone otherwise because of the following: I spent 4+ years in one clinic. I have spent many months going to different clinics. No one offers this type of unbiased information based on that person having opportunities to go to other clinics. You guys/gals are paid or happy to have gotten a transplant from Dr. X. That makes you more biased than others. Hey that is great. I am not paid by anyone and never asked for a penny. So there you have it. Unbiased information for those like you to become angered at. You will never see me say go to Dr. X or Corporation X. Why? Because that is not unbiased. Now here is a clue to my own biases... Who do I work for now? Sometimes you have to cross the tracks to see what is going on, on the other side, then you find out what is going on, make your own conclusions and then... life goes on. Don't speculate about my work ethics.

Ok guys let's try to be educated on this... Ive never seen ground beef in a donor area even from large sessions of FIT/FUE, however back in the days of plugs, where the individual plug had 20-40 follicular units... well that looked like a shotgun appearance. When one takes a single unit, by whatever means, could in fact be undetectable even after a shave down. A strip can be taken and also be close to undetectability. Damn I've seen this too. But over a group of 1000 strip scars and comparing that to 1000 FUE/FIT scars... What is the the bottom line here? Draw your own conclusions. I like all. What is good for all? I don't know. Why? Nothing that has cut into the skin is scareless. A scar is formed as a repair process of our body. Everyone scars differently. One can minimize chances of scarring, and most strip/FUE/FIT doctors try to do this. But no one can predict scarring. I do not work for any specific clinic on a full time basis. con?·sul?·ta?·tion (k?…??n's?‰?„?l-t?„??'sh?‰?„?n)-n.The act or process of consulting. A conference at which advice is given or views are exchanged. This forum is a consultation.

I knew this was going to come up and I knew I would be the one to break the ice on these subjects. Jess can u help part of this. She may have the pictures you are asking. As for what FIT and FUE are, that is a tough issue to answer. FIT Doed exist. As far as the marketing strategies and what not, I don't care about that stuff. What is good for the patient, I care about that stuff. FIT and FUE may/or may not be performed similarly or it may be performed differently. It depends on who is doing it. The terms follicular isolation and follicular unit are supposed to be conducted by a means of taking the grafts one by one in their natural grouping of the hairs. Follicular unit/grafts are composed of 1,2,3,4,5,6, and rarely 7 hairs. So one should realize quickly that the graft size has a direct impact to the punch size. In other words, since everyone's hair characteristics are different, then the follicular units are different. I've seen patients with all 2's through out the donor area and have seen patients with all 4's, and 5's. The punch size of FIT/FUE doctors all over the world is somewhere between 0.8-1.3mm. When hairlines are needed, follicular units are dissected into singles, two's, etc. This is standard paractice. Doctors are different on how they count them.

Kudos to Bill... Posters usually develop their own personalities. After a while other posters know them so they usually don't worrying have to apologize for everything. Say what mean, Mean what you say. A good poster will be honest and defend is/herself without worring about stepping on someone else's feet.

Erdlette, First thing, I have never been paid to post. I just like to post. Look me up on other sites to what I mean. I want to post to give insite to hair nerds like me. If I were able to have my clinic go worldwide and were able to have it run like well oiled machine, then I would say Bosley has found that niche. Quality of work at Bosley varies. Case sizes are average in that they are small to large cases. Sites are individualized to the types of grafts they are getting from the feedback from techs. # staff/patient Bosley is able to hire as much staff as they need to run two to three cases per day at least what I know personally. Most private doctors wish they had the resources Bosley has for their employees. One can develope a nice career life on any level and be promoted within. The thing i

To answer a few of these great questions, Jotronic is just jabbing at me. I will not give answers to questions that will pinpoint any physician in a way as of personalities and such. As for physicians contracting out to just anyone? That is not possible. For me to work with any of the aforementioned doctors, I had to pass their own personal way of doing things. Everyone (all clinics) are different when it comes to placing delicate grafts into sites. And most all doctors tell me that they know if they know what I am doing about 2 minutes after I pick up a graft. Furthermore, the doctors clinics have their own resident staff that also will watch over me like a hawk. Then after passing their individual tests , I am one of them. I always hear someone saying, "Shoildn't techs have a license? This work is for skilled professionals! And you are correct. However, our licese, if you will, comes from the doctors we work for. Believe me, when I say this, Their reputations are on the line. Do you think any one doctor would chance someone off the streets to train or someone who is seasoned by the top doctors? Do you know how long it takes to trin a technician? A dedication of sometimes years in the private sector. I have seen PA's, Rn's, LPN's, and MD's thrown out of a practice because they could not pick up the skill. I know techs that started in hair at 18, and now in their late thirties, that I would trust placing my own grafts because they are time seasoned.

I worked for Bosley offices in Atlanta, Georgia and Boca Raton, Florida.

Hey youngsuccess , Steroids do not cause baldness, however, they can speed the process up for those who are going to lose it anyway. Steroids convert largely into DHT, causing hair loss to quicken. I saw this phenomenon occur in a 20 year old cancer patient where after he received Chemo, lost his hair, It grew back as a freaking Class VI. Anyway, I don't think you made a mistake going for the HT at your age. Based on your post you are very informed of the problems revolving around further potential loss and you realize that you may be committed for further procedures. It sounds like you were a Norwood Class II when you got your transplant so you may be back to a Class I. Now the Propecia may hold you forever or it may not. There are two other medications if you feel that you Propecia is waning. Of course you need to discuss these options with your doc. And no, Propecia is the most prescibed, time tested,and is a single receptor blocker. Avodart is a dual receptor blocker. If all fails, and the loss is such that you can touch it up from time because it is gradual enough, then I would consider FUE or FIT. That way you won't cut too many strips out over a long period of time. If however your loss advances rapidly, then I would definitely try to move a one time large strip excision and then maybe follow up with some FUE/FIT into the scar if need be. Many surgeons are perfecting the closure technique better than they used to however no one can predict the outcome of any post operative scar. Take Care

DOnna B, Don't you worry too much about me. I am an independent contractor. Indepedent contractors in this industry by definition means physician schedule me to come work for them at their request. I fly all over the US. However, the independent contracting has been a recent thing. I spent more than 4 years with a private physician. And lastly, I post as "hairtech" on other popular forums. I have done this since 2003. Ask good old Jotronic. How is it going Jotransectronic. Just kidding. I hear you are busy.

I have been very fortunate to have surgical experience in: Follicular Unit Extraction(FUE), Follicular Isolation Technique(FIT), Body Hair Transplant (BHT), and repair case, i.e. plug redistribution as a technician. My experience spans to these highly respected physicians, Dr. Mwamba, Dr. Rose, Dr. Devroye, Dr. Cooley, Dr. Bisanga, Dr. Reyes, Dr. Baumann, Dr. Epstein, Dr. Cole, Dr. Harris,to name a few. Even more importantly, and somewhat controversial for my own personal reasons, I chose to get experience with large corporate entities such as Bosley, Medical Hair Restoration (MHR), PAI Medical Group, and Nuhart Hair transplant. These experiences put hair restoration in total prospective. I was surprised a few times as well as having to adjust my personal biases primarily from the many great results from many of the physicians. I can answer simple questions such as, "Do they use microscpoes? Y/N. DO they use specific storage holders? HEPES, BSS, SALINE, DMEM, etc. What types of closures? tricophytic, ledge closure,, modified ledge closure, standard, inner layer/outer layer, What Post-OP solutions do they Use? SALINE, HAIRCYCLE, COPPER DIPEPTIDES, etc. I will not be biased on this thread to any physician or entity.

I also remember this patient. To give more information of the crown pattern and gap. Dr. Mwamba does make sites that conform to a natural whirl as he usually draws the pattern before hand if the patient has no hair for reference of the previous whirl. If I remember correctly, the patient's main focus was the frontal 1/3. The crown was of lesser importance,and chose to use a light speckled pattern for a lesser amount of grafts. I do not see any plugginess. The hairline is good. These grafts are single follicular units. I would ask that if possible, to try to use wet shots and/or dry shots befores and afters, and not mix them up because it shows even higher levels of improvement when in uniform. Some people get confused when they see a wet before and then a dry after angle shot for whatever reason. However, sometimes these pictures are not available.'

Hello, I remember this patient also. I was there assisting Dr. Mwamba. This is really great, however I have to agree with Bill concerning shady lighting practices of other clinics. I also have to side with JessicaWHT as I do not think she is known for doing those things. She has a good reputation for hair.