Dr. Timothy Carman

indigo2k1us, Great advice from all above. This site you will find to be an excellent resource for hairloss/hair restoration issues. I concur with all those posting above. Best to you. Timothy Carman, MD La Jolla, California

zgmf- I feel compelled to jump in here. First of all, although I did look at your photos, I would be very wary of forming the conclusion that you are experiencing ANY early or premature balding issues, based on that evidence alone. Please take a step back and, if you are really concerned, see a Hair Restoration MD in person so that the assessment can be made in the proper matter. The above posts, as always, are well intentioned and sincere, but in all fairness the diagnosis is best made in person. (Something we all cannot do here, so we all offer our best advice despite that limitation.) Hope that helps. Sincerely, Timothy Carman, MD La Jolla, California (link removed)

Red- First of all, I am sorry to hear of your experience. Regarding your situation: "Sometimes even small numbers of grafts, given limited donor supply, can make a big difference when these hairs are placed strategically, and/or combined with graft removal and retransplanting techniques." I couldn't agree more with Dr. Epstein. Placed in the appropriate manner, a small number of (newly transplanted) grafts can go a long way to improving a situation such as yours. Although we can address your situation in a general manner here, perhaps you could upload a photo or two which would be very helpful. Of course, the ideal case would be to have an evaluation in person, and I recommend physicians listed in the coalition without hesitation. Incidentally, that small number of grafts could probably be harvested as part of a scar reduction procedure- you mentioned you wanted to address that issue as well. Sincerely, Timothy Carman, MD La Jolla, California

Pokerbrat: "Ditto" tisab re your last question. Good questions.

Folica- About the only circumstance where I don't necessarily need to perform this type of closure is on older patients with graying hair. These patients seem to have the best cosmetically acceptable residua without the tricophytic procedure. This may be due to a number of factors, the two most notably being the low contrast between the gray hair and the scalp, and the other being the tendency in this patient population to form less of a scar in general. Otherwise, yes, I pretty much use this closure routinely with very satisfactory results.

folica- I would respectfully disagree with that observation. From my perspective, in general, anytime one performs a surgical procedure on a patient, the surgeon ought employ the latest proven techniques for maximizing the cosmetic outcome, irregardless of whether or not there may be a subsequent procedure. To date, the tricophytic closure is the "gold standard" of techniques, in my opinion, when talking about closing incisions made in the hair bearing scalp. Why have a more visible scar when you can have a less visible one, know what I mean?

Pokerbrat- The very least that propecia can do for you (in about 90% of men who take it) is that it will stop the progression of your hairloss. That in and of itself is a really big deal. Included in that group are also men who, in addition to maintaining their hair (stopping the progression of hairloss), saw various amounts of regrowth. Merck's (and others) research demonstrates that about 50-60% of men taking propecia see variable amounts of regrowth in addition to cessation of their hairloss. In general, I consider it an essential tool to consider when wishing to proactively deal with male pattern baldness hairloss. Hope that helps.

Kramer- I have not heard specifically about these two supplements and hair loss, so I can't help as far as an opinion on taking them specifically. I would like to suggest that you look at this "relationship" against a background of other medications which also list "hairloss" as a possible "side effect". I just randomly typed in that subject and got the following webpage: http://www.wrongdiagnosis.com/symptoms/hair_loss/side-effects.htm Just to keep things in perspective; My guess would be that it's a possibility, but not necessarily a probability. Hope that helps.