Middleson

Great post Bill, Another significant point. Patience! I remember reading that it would take a year before one could fairly evaluate their results, but I don't think I fully appreciated this concept until now. ...speaking as someone who is roughly 4 months, 12 days, and 6 and a half hours post op .

Oh man, this really sucks! Here I was thinking that only months 2 & 3 suck and I was all looking forward to better times and now I find out the next 2 months are also going to suck. [ ]

Wow wanthairs, A HT isn't exactly a little milestone, it's a MAJOR milestone. Congratulations, and welcome! You might want to consider reposting in a seperate thread so more people will see you (not everyone will check this particular thread). I'm sure you'll get a more proper welcome if you do that. irish homer, I haven't seen or heard from Nobuzz in a long time. I hope he hasn't dissappeared on us...would also be good to hear/see how he's doing.

IH, ..had a similar milestone this morning getting a haircut...had some trouble finding the donor scar. Also, the person cutting my hair made this remark "you know, I've seen quite a few of these [HT's] before, and I've got to say this is the first one that I would lose a bet on. I mean I know you had it done, I can see the changes, but if I didn't already know I wouldn't be able to tell...it looks totally natural and I would have been willing to bet you never had one." (it was kinda cool hearing that ) Come on month 5!!

Hey irish homer! (don't forget we're actually triplets...if memory serves, nobuzz also had HT same time we did )

Yeah, I'm hoping so Bayscholar (Elementary School sucks, can't wait to get to High School)

Congratulations folica, Looking forward to seeing the pictures. I recall not being aware the donor strip had been removed during my own surgery (and I was kinda dreading that part). A good surgeon can make all the difference in the world! Happy healing.

Wow Bayscholar, Those are incredible results man! Very impressive looking photos, for sure. By the way, I wasn't able to find your weblog, is the link still valid? I don't remember seeing your post-op & other progress pics and wanted to find them. Are they still around? So you're now a HT Sophmore? Congratulations from a 4th grader (just hit 4 months yesterday).

This looks like a good thread to post my own recent milestone. I had my own HT same day (or day before/after) as Irish homer. Prior to my HT, I was able to see my balding crown looking into a mirror if I tilted my head down and looked up. Now just 2 days prior to four months post op, I noticed I can no longer notice my [reverse] balding crown from the same perspective. However, I can very easily notice it using 2 mirrors. I've heard it takes longer for hair transplanted to the crown to grow compared with hair transplanted to the hairline & top of head.

Hello clife One word. Medication. If it's not already part of your pre-op plan, I would suggest getting a prescription for Ambien or Lunesta or something that will help ensure you get a good night sleep before your scheduled day of surgery. You might also consider having enough of the same for the first week following your surgery. If you're one of those folks who can sleep no matter what, then you might not need to bother with this. During my surgery I was not shy about asking for pain medication. IMO there's no reason to feel any pain during this surgery. However, even with medication sitting in a chair for such a long period is a bit taxing. I was in the chair for over 12 hours...I didn't think Dr Cooley would ever stop placing hairs on my head! I recall thinking it was kind of funny that I wanted him to stop. I also remember thinking the procedure was over sometime around 7PM and I started to put my shirt on and Dr Cooley laughing and telling me to get back in the chair and then he worked on refining my hairline for another couple hours! Fortunately, he gave me more medication which helped with the jitters. All things considered, it was really quite a day. Fascinating when I really think about it. Thanks for posting and I hope you'll also decide to share some photos with us. We do enjoy photos and stats/numbers. Best of Luck on the 7th, we'll be thinking of you then!

Hey Irish, I was wondering how you & nobuzz were doing. You're looking real good for 4 months, and I know you're glad to have months 2 and 3 behind you (as I am). Simply stated, month 3 sucked. Even though we had our HT's the same week, I think I'm lagging a bit behind you since most of my work was in the crown area. Even so, I have some new growth including some transplanted on my hairline...just not quite as much action as you're showing at the moment. It does feel good to finally see some new growth! Yeehaw!

Like others, I also thought Occam was referring to Dr. Jeff Epstein. Since Dr. Jeff Epstein is so highly regarded here and since the confusion is almost unavoidable, might I suggest Occam edit the first post in this thread to clear this up. I know I would appreciate the clarification if I were Jeff Epstein.

Hey Glock, Looks to me like you've had some really impressive improvement during your 6th month! I'm also amazed at the 7 month transformation...and to think it's probably going to improve even more. Good stuff, thanks for sharing the photos.

I held on to mine for about 5-6 weeks. Just when I was convinced I was going to be one of the lucky ones & keep all my transplanted hairs... I'm guessing I might still be holding on to about 5-10% of original transplanted hair and I'm about a week past the 3 month mark (not the most exciting time in the HT process).

Bill, I admire your ability to reasonably discuss contentious topics without resorting to emotional flare ups, or worse "taking your marbles and going home", so to speak (i wonder if the younger guys would undestand this expression?). Not everyone is emotionally freaked out over the topic of Hair Counts. But we might still have an opinion in the matter. Do I personally think hair counts are a valid tool for comparison? Yes, I do. Do I care if someone doesn't provide the number? No. Do I think they should by provided as a standard? Yes, from what I've read this would be my choice. Do I think not providing Hair Counts is deceptive? Not necessarily. Do I think I'm an expert in this matter? Certainly not! Kudos to you Bill, and everyone else who kept a cool head and didn't overeact about the subject of Hair Counts.

Honestly g255, I would agree with you completely. In my opinion, your hairline is perfect for your profile. As for the products you mentioned, I was under the impression they are not as effective for the temple/frontal region as they are for the crown region?

Testing

Testing

double post, sorry. (was editing previous post to remove capital words)

Hey Neptune, Great Photos. What a difference this surgery is going to make in your appearance! It certainly looks like Dr. Epstein has given you some good coverage in that frontal zone and I think the reinforcements in your temple points will only enhance your overall results. My results won't be as dramatic as yours will be because most of my transplants went to cover my thinning crown. I know what you mean about that "nice little carpet of new hairs". It's a good thing! I hope you plan on sharing photos of your progress down the road because I think you're going to have some very impressive before/after shots! Happy Growing Man!

Hello g255, As others have said, I think you've got a pretty good head of hair, judging from the photos. Of course, it's all relative...if your own situation bothers you, I would only encourage you to do something about it. I also had quite a receding hairline at age 41, but didn't do anything about it until this year (I'm going to be 47 soon). I spent a couple years reading/researching/reflecting before I took the plunge. I wanted to share with you how my own perspective changed with regard to my own receding hairline (in the temple area). Like you, it bothered me to have the receding hairline during my late 30's/early 40's. In my case, I also had a thinning crown which bothered me even more. But, I found that later on (mid 40's) I started to not only come to terms with my receding hairline, but I actually started to think it looked a little distinguished. Believe me when I say that I would not have felt that way in my early 40's. For my recent HT, I had my crown filled in, and my receding hairline "slightly" re-inforced. Honestly, I could have afforded to "fill it all in" if I wanted to, but I decided to maintain a look that was somewhat "age appropriate" and comfortable for me. If you want to fill in your temple areas, you will easily be able to find a well qualified physician that will be able to give you EXCELLENT results. Do your research...especially on this website. I guess I'm just trying to caution you to consider the future. Of course, any decent HT physician will discuss this with you. Best of Luck to you and let us know what you decide.

I don't know if this will be helpful or not, but I grabbed points for and against hair counts as a valid comparison tool from this thread. I left out anything related to "witch hunts, personal attacks, etc.." Points made Against Providing Hair Counts as a point of Comparison: -not of significant value in the grand scheme of things -does nothing to explain final results -it only adds fuel to the fire -it is not the actual number of hairs above and beyond the number of grafts but more so the TYPE of hair which is important -Hair shaft diameter, coarse vs. fine, curly vs. straight, hair color contrasted against scalp color. These factors have a far greater impact than anything -the issue seems to be beyond counting hairs -I for one could simply care less. It is the final product I care about. -The last thing on my mind next year when the hair grows in, will be number of hairs per fu. -All it comes down to are results -Comparing graft to graft counts between other clinics are comparable -How do you really put a price on how great it feels to have a second lease on life -I just don't understand what can be gleaned from this that helps a patient understand what he is getting -I see it actually contributing to more confusion -If you are a patient, ask for them, if you aren't how is that your business if the patient himself is not complaining??? -If someone is armed with a hair count too then they have more ammo that to them appears to be logical when in fact hair counts have nothing to do with final results. nothing, zilch, nada. -Should clinics also make it standard practice to give out other details such as dystolic/systolic blood pressure readings, micrometer measurements of hair shaft diameter, exacting density placement diagrams, total volume of anesthesia used, background checks and qualifications of technicians? -the continued education of how hair characteristics play a role in final results should be improved first as it continues to be the #1 shortfall when people are learning about their options -With everyone's hair to graft ratio being different due to desity & caliber than the next guy, I believe it is impossible to establish a standard graft/hair count that is going to make sense. Points made For Providing Hair Counts as a point of Comparison: -I'd like to see detailed hair counts -if we are going to compare Apples to Apples, it is vital we have exact information to get an accurate comparison -as people surf this forum and educate themselves, people begin to want to know not just how many grafts they can get, but how many hairs -It's all about the numbers -providing detailed hair counts doesn't appear to me to be problematic -We want to know what the hair moved is versus the graft count -I'd like a hair count because I think it would be nice to know how many hairs I received (rather than an average) -I find such detailed information useful, since the trimming of grafts is rather subjective and the average number of hairs per graft can vary from clinic to clinic -I believe that physicians and their patients should ideally provide not only their final graft count but also the amount of hairs moved so that patients and potential patients can compare "apples to apples". After all, ultimately it is the amount of hairs and how they are distributed in the recipient area that determines what a patient achieves. -We want patients to request this info and receive it, no questions asked -Grafts are not equal to hairs -let's try to get all the facts so users on here can make a choice on similar data -The debate is really long over. Lets move past debating and request hair counts from all clinics and patients when ever graft only counts are presented on this forum. This request should be made of all clinics and patients. -The count is the end result. What else does a patient get from a hair transplant if not growing hairs?

Hello Neptune, I think each one of the products you mentioned has the potential to be beneficial in one way or another. I used epsom salts/saline solution for about the first 7-10 days. I felt this was a good way to keep the area clean and it really felt good! I had no scabs on the recipient site, but I did have some white crusting that I didn't really notice until about 8-10 days. I found that vitamin E liquid caused these crusts to almost melt away (with minimal massage). This was smelly and messy but I was able to shampoo it away very easily. I used the aloe gel on my donor site to help remove and prevent scabs from forming there. By the way, I also used the Graphcyte spray you mentioned b/c it was provided to me by Dr. Cooley.

good growth anyway? huh? bayscholar, if I've offended you then I apologize. I thought I was being funny. I guess humor doesn't always come across well in a written forum (at least my humor). I really have nothing to contribute to this discussion. I'll move on.