TheHairLossCure

Between the "bump" and the fleshy part of the neck on the back of the head, there is hard ridge of scalp from where the tissue is removed.

TheEmperor, If early retirement is a big goal for you, I would not give that up for a HT. But, if you think HT surgery will raise the quality of your life (and you are at least an adequate candidate), I think you can do both. The point I made about the patient who gave up smoking was more about using your hair restoration as a motivator to do other healthy or positive things. If you can alter your health or "consumer" habits in a way that saves money it is sort of a win/win. Things like walking/biking instead of driving, not smoking, raw fruits and vegetables for breakfast or lunch versus drive-thru windows etc. You can save money, sometimes a lot of it (!), on a daily basis by revising unhealthy habits. Obviously, not everybody is going to go for that idea, but I thought it was interesting enough to bring up in this thread.

Let's face it, a $10,000 item is a big purchase for most people. I think folks have a hard time justifying it. But the bottom line is that hair restoration is a quality of life thing. There are a lot of patients that have a fuller life after surgery. They feel better in social situations, more carefree, and generally happier to see a framed face in the mirror. By no means will HT remedy depression or anything like that (!), but it can and often does enhance everyday living. I like the way Bill justified his recent HT expenses. You will not get in the hole from surgery if you find a way to increase you income or decrease you spending accordingly. I know a patient that was trying to stop smoking, and also wanted to do a HT surgery. He felt guilty spending the money for the procedure, but rationalized it by setting aside money he would have spent on cigarettes. For everyday that passed smoke-free he added another $5-$10 to his HT fund. What a great motivation to stop smoking too!

Yes NV. It is the seeds, not the soil.

Let's assume we are taking about Male Pattern Baldness... Hair transplants rely on the concept on "donor dominance". The hair on the back of the scalp (the donor area) is genetically programmed to grow forever. On the other hand, the hairs on top can be genetically susceptible to the causes of hair loss. When you relocate genetically resilient hair to areas of balding, the hair will remain resilient.

Yeah, FUE should not be considered a hair removal technique; it a hair transplant technique. Laser hair removal is very successful, particularly if your hair is dark and your skin light. It usually takes more than a single session to get the desired results, but the results can be very good.

The session Dr. Feller suggested - 3,000 grafts total - is a healthy strip sugery. That sounds about right for a NW4. If you have at least average density you will be able to do more work should your hair loss accelerates later on, or should you just want more density etc. 7,000 FUE grafts seems extreme to me. I have never seen 7,000 FUE done in a single session. Also, 7,000 grafts is a lot for a 30 year old (young guy) considering your potential for additional loss. I hope long term planning is a consideration.

I would concur with Herr Billros on this one. Sounds like your doc thinks Propecia is a good treatment for you so, if there are no side effect, try to ride it out. I've heard many patient say that they stopped Propecia and regretted it. Hair loss is progressive, but the progression is not smooth; it stops and starts. Your hair loss might "fall off a cliff" in the near future, and preventive therapy can often delay or soften sudden progressions. By no means am I trying to scare you! I am only saying that preventive drugs can sometimes spare you some heartache while you are researching docs or waiting for certain other treatments to develop.

Perfect Fit, What do the 2 docs you mentioned proposed in terms of how many grafts are needed to treat your hair loss? You threw out some numbers but I think you were referring to other patients. I tend to think that Strip is a better choice for patients needing over 2,000 grafts.

Good to hear that the pinkness is a non-issue. In my mind, that is the biggest obstacle. Scalp flaking is not uncommon, but it is not exactly a HT tell sign to the average person. Buzzing your head might improve the uniformity of the hairs. Obviously you can cut hair shorter, but you can't cut it longer. You might want to buzz it down grade by grade, starting a bit longer, so you can determine the optimal length to balance the recipient area while still covering the donor incision.

Follicular density per unit area drops off naturally as you move toward the temples. It's totally normal and not specific to people with hair loss. You may recede a bit and require temple reconstruction, but not necessarily.

At 9 days post op the shafts will not be long enough to pull on. She would need to tug or pluck the stubble between her finger nails. Even then removing the shaft will not dislodge the graft. I don't think you need to worry. Still you will have just had surgery in that area. She needs to gentle while you heal (for your comfort if nothing else).

I have not had Lasik myself but I believe a blade is used to cut the cornea before the laser treatment. Regardless, for superficial incisions on the scalp, small flat blades are very precise. Interesting article, BTW.

MrJB, Clearly you made the correct choice in restoring your hair. Here is the big question, and you touched on it lightly: Do you have a better attitude because of your greater success with women, or do you have greater success with women because of your better attitude? The great mystery of positive self perception...

$9.00 per strip graft is very high. I think you will find that the best independent hair docs in the world charge about half that. The minimally invasive technology employed by the better hair docs not only enables a more elegant and natural result, but it also promotes better overall graft survival. By the way, you look like you have generalized thinning versus well defined bald areas. If you can increase the hair diameter with medical therapy, even a little, you may find that your hair coverage is cosmetically improved. How long were you on Proscar?

IMO, cosmetic surgery is more socially accepted now. That is the way it should be too. If your family and friends know your hair bothers you and that you are doing something positive about it, I doubt you will get any negative comments. If others outside your inner circle tease you, well frankly, that's just lame. You're doing surgery to feel better, so do not worry about what the "uncool" might think. It is all for YOU.

Birdy, You can restore the temples and hairline surgically. Should your loss progress further in the frontal area, and it most likely will, you will need at least another session. Some patients can treat the entire front third in your situation if the core area is thin enough to graft between existing hair. This does not seem to be your situation though. I like to see patients get a stand alone result that will not require additional sessions to maintain a natural appearance. In order words, additional session would be optional, not mandatory. That is the ideal. The first and best step is almost always medical therapy if appropriate. That will hopefully buy time while you look at your surgical options. Meds will not restore your temples but will likely help you keep what you have while you plan the next coarse of action.

Mrjb spelled out the best options. In my opinion, a patient with sufficient scalp laxity should seriously look at the scar removal option via strip excision. A scar reduction will not always leave a perfect pencil line scar, but in almost all cases the scar can be reduced in size. If the sole objective is to improve the donor area, the width of the strip should not exceed the widest point of the scar; if you want more grafts, that's another story. The resulting scar can then be FUEed if you desire. Grafts grow in scars but sometimes the growth is not a good as we would like. That is one reason I think a scar reductions via strip is the preferable first step. FUE is great method to touch up revisions. It is also a good first line of treatment if scalp laxity is insuffient.

Firstly, the donor area is limited regardless of whether you opt for FUE or traditional strip harvesting. With FUE there is more flexibility in terms of where you harvest from because there is no risk of stretch back. FUE does reduce the follicular density of the donor. Therefore if you proceeded with a strip harvest after FUE, you may not get as many strip grafts. Silvering and dissecting grafts from strip tissue that has been FUEed does not necessarily complicate the process if the prior extraction were done well. If you are definitely planning a strip after your FUE, let your doctor know. Depending on the number FUEs you desire, the surgeon may be able to spread the extractions out over the donor zone and still avoid the area where the donor ellipse will likely be harvested from during the strip surgery. Sorry if that is convoluted explanation! My main point is that if you remove tissue for a strip, you should (if possible) leave the density in that area alone in order to max out the graft yield. Why? If you no other reason, strip grafts are less expensive and grow as well as FUEs. Also, harvesting the same area two times is just redundant.

Has the shape of your hairline changed or recessed? It sounds to me like you have congenitally high hairline, which is no cause for alarm in terms of hair loss.

They are really any sort of application ??“ fiber, spray, etc ??“ that either 1) clings to the hair to give it greater apparent thickness and/or 2) adheres to the scalp to reduce the color contrast between the hair and skin. Personally, I do not like to use these products, just because I do like to put anything in my hair. I do believe the results can be dramatic though (just not permanent of course).

The active ingredient in Nizoral is Ketoconazole. It is a dandruff shampoo, however it can be effective in retarding hair loss. I do not think you will see results with Nizoral like the ones we sometimes see with Propecia and Minox, but I think it worth using. I use Nizoral about 3 times a week. I need to shampoo my hair either way, so there are really no compliance issues(sometimes seen with Minox). It is hard to say, but in my case I believe it has slightly improved the diameter of some miniaturizing hair.

The average donor area has more 2-hair groupings, followed by 1s and 3s, with a smaller amount of 4-, and sometimes even 5-hair groups. There should be a similar breakdown when the hair is transplanted to the recipient area.

Minoxidil and/or Ketoconazole shampoo (Nizoral) can be good adjuncts to (or possible subsitite for) 5-alpha-reductase inhibitors like finasteride (Propecia) and dutasteride (Avodart). I think Propecia is worth a look if you are thinking of going for a HT.

Hello all. I let Dr. Rose know about this particular thread. Nobody is ignoring the concerns stated here. The doctor will address these shortly. Thanks.