EpilepticSceptic

Here are some shots with a little toppik applied to the scar. Took about 50 seconds to apply the toppik. I took the shots in my bathroom under the most harsh flourescent light possible. Notice that the distance is about the same that someone at the checkout counter behind you in the grocery store would be. Does the scar "scream HT" in your opinion ?

Here are some shots I took yesterday of my donor scar after a #3 clip over my whole head. I'm at 8 months post op from a 4500 FUT strip surgery. I don't normally cut my hair anywhere close to this short, but I wanted to even everything out since I've haven't had a real haircut since the surgery and it was looking pretty wild. The scar is still a bit red as well which makes it more visible at this length. But unless somebody is really looking for it, it is hard to find IMO. With a little toppik it becomes even less noticable than this. I'll post some toppik pics next. At any rate, IMO it doesn't stand out and "scream HT" in public like alot of other posters will have you believe. I've been walking around like this for 2 days in bright sunlight and harshly lit store environments and not one person has given me a funny stare.

Did you see this under the "TISSUE SAMPLES" section in the longer article ? 1.2-mm- and 1.7-mm-diameter cylindrical punches are performed to remove bald frontal scalp and create vacant recipient sites for donor scalp. This normally discarded tissue from the frontal scalp was used as the bald samples. It seems whomever got these hair transplants went to a clinic where they are still using the old punch graft technology in 2010. Can you believe it ? I guess these 54 male patients are just modern day lab rats, right ? OUCH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I'd place my bet on this approach becoming the soonest available alternative to current treatment and methods. We are, after all, mammals with a close relation biologically to rodents; so it stands to reason that if they have successfully grown new follicles from rodent stem cells then it will work the same for humans. Of course, the hair may be thinner but then it could still be used in largr quantities than normal for filler. MPB is now being attacked from all different angles and my view is that something somwhere has gotta give. Whether it's figuring out a way to get the progenitor cells working again in dormant stem cells, with injections, or with cloning follicles in a lab for transplant -- I am convinced it WILL happen and likely within 5-7 years from today. When it does it will be a most heavenly moment to quit finasteride use!

OK, but how does ths relate to DHT ? I thought that they figured out what causes baldness in men when they found out it was hormonal, specifically DHT causing the hair shafts to miniaturize ??? Ya know, hairs are still being produced but are just too small and thin to see. So if they can get these progenitor cells firing again how will they prevent them from from being killed again by DHT ??? Or am I missing something here ?

I must say, this is one of the most interesting cases (if not the most interesting case) I have ever seen on the forums! Umar's work looks excellent, methodical and well planned considering this patient's circumstances pre-HT. It seems as though the goal here was to use FUE to redistribute the hairs from the donor in such as way as to provide equal density over the entire balding area, so that the patient could acheive a "look" popular today with a very close shaved head. The only negative I can see is that the patient will always have to keep the hair extremely short to pull it off; but considering where he was and what he's been through, if this can be acheived it will be Nirvana indeed! BTW, how much of this was BHT ? "HairToday72" -- man, I sincerely wish you the best of all outcomes! You've been thru the mill and this could truly be some karmic justice for you and give you a sense of closure from all the years of abuse you've endured from society.

Statham looks good because he's on the big screen, popular, rich, famous, etc. Plus, NOBODY looks the way they do on the screen in real life. I've spent enough time out in Hollyweird and seen alot of famous people face to face getting their coffee in the morning. Trust me, most of you would be shocked to see what some of them look like off screen. So if you took away the fame and hubris that somebody like Statham seems to have because of the roles he plays in films, plus all the editing room "enhancements" to his look, and stuck him in a crowd of other faceless balding ordinary everyday men then he'd be just that -- another ordinary everyday faceless baldie in the crowd who would have a hard time getting laid by a fat chick. BTW I think the OP has made some excellent observations and touched upon things in great detail concerning modern western culture and its' superficial obsessions.

Ramsey's yield will be good -- I'd bet my left nut on it. Armani can be competent when somebody important is in the chair. He just has no ethics or concern for the average Joe.

Thanks Phil, One last question: did you notice a substantial difference in growth/fullness comparing month 6 to 13 ?

Phil, I remember reading in your blog about how on surgery day there were complications and Dr. Hasson had to stay at the clinic that night and administer repeated injections of anesthetic to your scalp. How much do you think that affected the overall yield in your case ?

I'll make a few comments here. First, based on your photos (unless Armani damaged your native hair and caused you to go more bald) you are clearly in the diffuse NW4 category. Forget about your family history, you obviosuly have the MPB gene or you would not be going bald. It could have come from a relative many generations ago. Second, I will likely be the only one to defend Armani here. I don't believe that he is incompetent at performing FUE because you can look and find many success stories from him that look amazing. I think the harsh truth is that he has no ethics and has also performed many more FUE surgeries than the newer FUE surgeons that you see getting praised on these HT forums. So what is the difference ? Well, because he has performed so many more FUE surgeries he is bound to have more cases of failure than the other surgeons. What this tells me is that the technique itself is hit and miss, and even Feller (who is likely in the top 3 for FUE) will tell you this point blank. FUE megasessions have proven to be a fluke for the majority of patients. You just can't extract 3800 grafts in one day from most patients and get good growth; the grafts are delicate and get destroyed in the process. FUE is good for small sessions, but if you need large #s of grafts then in most cases it cannot compare to FUT, not even close. Most of the competent, ethical top docs will tell you this point blank. You are smart to not trust FUE at this point. You only have so many grafts and from the way your photos look you will likely need them to rectify your situation. Good luck!

You're most welcome. Remember, I'm 41 and lost most of my hair from age 20-25. Fortunately, due to my particular genetics, my hairloss dramatically slowed down post age 25. Then I discovered finasteride at age 30 and have held MPB in check for over 11 years now. Dude, if you think 5 years ago was bad then try to imagine what it was like in the early 1990s when MPB was wreaking havoc on me ? It was like the wild west compared to today !!! There was no internet, no finasteride (or no way of finding out about it, or if you could get it it was RIDICULOUSLY EXPENSIVE), no coalition, and sleazy used car salesman clinics selling doll hair minigrafts, sewed in tunnel wigs that would cause permanent infection if you were stupid enough to leave it in (I WAS A VICTIM OF THIS SCAM!!!), snake oil "pore cleansing" shampoos from ads in the back of men's magazines to rip you off, and on and on to infinity !!!!!!!!!!!!!! I remember being age 23 in college and watching my hairline rapidly dissapear in the mirror everyday, being snubbed by chicks left and right or pitied by the compassionate ones ("you're going to be bald when you're older"), horny as hell because of unchecked overabundant DHT in the blood, being perceived as a 35/40 year old man by most people when you are in your early 20s, and with ABSOLUTELY NO HOPE OF ANY REMEDY !!! I also remember being a naive fool and getting the sleazy, cheesy NuHart Hair Clinics video where they promised a "permanent solution to your hairloss" with that stupid cheesy song they had. Those ruthless scumbags had $1000 of my school loan money as a down payment for a surgery, but something in my gut told me it wasn't right and I had to pull teeth and threaten lawyers just to get refunded !! Yeah, I've dodged some pretty sinister bullets in my time and it seems like a miracle that I somehow maintained a virgin head until age 41! So you see, this is why I get a little heated when I see so many of these newbies looking to get a HT and they haven't even tried propecia! You youngins are in the golden age of hairloss compared to where we were, you have it so frickin easy and many of you take that for granted. I know now for a fact that if I had been able to start propecia at age 20 then I would NEVER have had any crown loss and I would likely have only needed a small 1500-2000 graft surgery to maintain a NW1. Back then had propecia been available it would have seemed like a miracle cure given from God himself compared to what the other options were !!

corvettester, First off, let me say that you have excellent questions and all of the newbies here should pay close attention to them and what I am about to retort if they want to get educated quickly about HTs and skip ahead of all the BS I had to go through. Was 5 years of waiting worth it ? HELL NO !!!!!! Looking back I feel robbed of that time, and yes I could have been enjoying what I'm seeing now since age 35 when I came to the forums. What you must understand is that the forums were a VERY different place back in late 2004 !! There were only a few patients who posted pictures of their progress, Jotronic being the pioneer in this field. Most of the photos were pitiful and there was no way for even a mildly skeptical patient to get any clear vision of the truth. Even the H & W clinic only had a measly handful of posted results back then compared to what they have now, and no HD video. And this website was a complete joke back then compared to how great and thorough it is now. Add to this the false belief being preached back then (by shills) that strip was a barbaric, outdated technique and that FUE would completely replace it in 3-5 years time and you can see how a newbie back then might have a little fear throbbing in his spine about moving forward. Let me take this moment to also clarify that I DID NOT spend 5 years hanging around on these forums !!!! Anybody not getting paid who spends that much time on the dreary Franz Kafka novel (he never wrote) called the "modern HT forum" is likely somebody who needs to seek psychiatric therapy, or at the very least a good prostitute to remind him that he is still a living, breathing being. Nuff said about that !! If you study my story you will see that I spent about 3 months intensely researching on HLH (the site of choice back then), and it landed me in the offices of DHI in Athens, Greece. My experience in this place was a COMPLETE JOKE and left me with an extreme distrust and disgust towards both HT forums and the entire HT industry as a whole. At the time these 2 clinics were being praised on HT forums as the creme de la creme, the top dogs in the entire industry. But when I visited them they had NO PROOF to show me whatsoever, and the DHI clinic pressured me like used car salesmen to get butchered by their sleazy hands that I can now see have ruined countless lives !!! So after very narrowly escaping the DHI dragon I was utterly distrustful and abandoned HT forums completely for 5 long years. This was not really premeditated on my part, but since I have come to view that absence of time as an integral part of my research. When I finally got the inkling to return and see what the state of the industry was it was a very eye opening experience to learn that not only had FUE failed to replace strip, but SEVERAL of the docs/clinics who were talked about as "top dogs" back then had ARMIES of unhappy, butchered, disgruntled, suicidal patients who felt it was the worst mistake of their lives and who were also being SILENCED and THREATENED with lawsuits by the clinics !!!!!!! The old sleazy HT industry that has butchered countless millions of virgin heads since the 1950s had indeed NOT changed its' unethical, malicious, money grubbing ways. But then I dug further and noticed that the megasession strip clinics (3 in particular) that were popular at that time had not only refined/advanced their techniques even further, but one had posted a plethora of well documented mind blowing results that literally knocked me off my chair ! The HD video section of the H & W site just completely blew me away because I could see that there was no way that could have been doctored up! I have a background in professional photography/film and I could CLEARLY see that there was no funny business going on with this clinic's portrayl of their results. And not only that, but also the sheer volume of results they had posted was what finally got me to take my skepticism down a few notches and open up the door to trusting people in this industry again. It only took me about 3 more months after this to make the decision to book my surgery, and I made that decision with the clearest of conscience and trust in the skills of my doctor and his staff. So to make a long story short, the only regret I have now is that I let the bogus FUE shills on HLH at that time misdirect me and fill me with fear concerning the strip scar. It cost me 5 long years that I could have been enjoying what i am seeing now. The only benefit i've received by waiting is that I don't believe the tricho closure was being performed back then; and since I seem to be a "one and done" case, this was definitely a positive in my favor. What I'd like to stress to newbies here is that (IMHO) it means NOTHING that a doc/clinic is praised today !!! The most important lesson I have learned by far on these forums is that the top 10 doc of today can very easily become the hack/quack of tomorrow. So when you are doing your research IMO at the top of your list should be those clinics who have been around the longest and who have the least complaints. Always inquire about the number of surgeries both the doc AND staff have performed, look for the documented proof, and try to find patients of the clinic you can meet that the clinic does not recommend to you. If they make excuses and/or you feel something sleazy, simply scratch them off the list and move forward. You newbies are so frickin lucky because you will not have to go through what I did, you can just study my case and learn from my mistakes.(lol) I've learned so much about this stuff that I could probably teach a HT 101 course at this point concerning the do's and dont's of modern HTs. Ahhh, if I had only known back then what I know now!

Hi Spanker, I was a Norwood 4 pre-surgery with a very obvious (though relatively small) bald spot in the crown. Concerning the proof isuue, I probably should have been more specific. IMO the Hasson & Wong clinic has offered the most convincing proof for a highly skeptical patient like myself, and that is why I chose to go with them. For the record I actually turned down 2 offers for surgery from 2 other clinics that are considered at least in the top 10 here and elsewhere. I could have saved thousands of dollars going with these other clinics but I was not comfortable because they had nowhere near the level of documented proof of results, nor did they have the patient base for me to meet patients in person who had similar characteristics to mine. At the end of my research (5 years) it was really a no brainer as to who I would choose to have the surgery with.

Check it out: Hair Restoration Site for Epileptic Sceptic

Megatron, My exact feelings bro! Actually my hair was not combed forward; it's just that at this length when it's dry it cannot be styled any other way. The temple regions are probably only about 50% growth at this point IMO. The density still has a good ways to go to catch up to the density of the forelock area that still had a decent amount of native hair, and of course the bridge that wasn't touched at all and is still super dense. But the good news for me is that at least I know 100% now that everything is on schedule and there are no unexpected complications. Also, even at only 50% growth the difference that the facial framing makes is absolutely incredible and it takes YEARS off of your age perception in the general public's eyes. I figure by month 10 or 12 I should really have a BIG smile on my face for sure!

Biscuit, That photo says day #77 which would be short of 3 months. You said this was close to your 4 month mark. Which is it ?

wb280, I saw your 4.5 month shots and things look pretty good for you; you definitely have the outline of the HT going so just be patient. Concerning FUE, I think alot of peeps around here have a misconception of how I feel about it. There are ALOT of armchair philosophers around here who come accross like experts on HT, but most all (if not ALL) of their knowledge comes from internet forums. One guy even called me "epileptic seizure" which was an obvious attempt to cut me down, and he seems to be one of these people who hasn't had a HT and has no real life experience -- yet he tells people that FUE is the way to go. I say if you need maybe 300-700 grafts for some hairline touch-up work then maybe give FUE a try and see how it goes. I've been on these forums for well over 5 years and nothing much has changed in the field. According to the FUE cheerleaders back then by today no one would be doing strip anymore, FUE would be perfected and much cheaper, many more docs would be doing it, and there would be hundreds of successful large grafts count cases to view on the internet. I waited and it never happened. I am a skeptic by nature and a cautious optimist. I think I am going to hit the barber shop soon and get a #2/3 clip just to see what the scar looks like at that length. I'll post shots here when/if I do that. My guess is that people will be just as amazed as they were with my growth at 5 months. I can't even find the scar digging with it for a comb in 95% of the places; only on the very ends can you see a little skin where there is no hair. I get a little heated when people cheerlead for FUE because listening to the armchair philosophers on HTN years back denied me 5 good years that I could have been enjoying the results I am seeing now; so the subject is a little personal for me !!!

No way Jose !! What you see is au natural. The only thing I've been doing to speed up the growth from month 1 is minox 5% (2x daily) and 3000 mg MSM. Also, keep in mind that I had VERY strong hair all around the crown bald spot; and the spot itself was pretty small but just very bald. Because at this length my hair falls forward you will notice a very thick & dense tuft of native hair right behind where the bald spot was (vertical crown section) that also aids in the illusion of crown coverage. If that was long enough to comb backwards then you'd likely still see that the crown HT hair is still in the maturing stage. 1200 grafts back there did me right fo su ! And all the HT hairs are still maturing. I CAN'T WAIT until they get longer and thicker so I can style it combed backward.

Anouar, I appreciate your suggestion, but i see no reason to remove the 1 month photo in the comparison to month 5 as I clearly state what months they are. I have more than enough pre-HT pics posted in my blog, and all somebody has to do is click on those links and they will come up. I feel like since I lived through that terrible time it makes the results I'm seeing now even more sweet. The things that are going through your mind during the ugly duckling stage can be quite terrifying indeed! But when you come through it you feel like you've earned your stripes and it makes you proud you were man enough to take it.

Looking at my 1 month post-op pics, it's pretty easy to see why you were scared for me. Just imagine what was going through my mind at that point ?

Thanks guys !! Wow, I don't really know what to say. I know there's more to come, but at the same time it's hard to imagine that what is happening is real and not a dream. You look in the mirror and realize that you are looking years younger, and you have already forgotten the way you looked before and now you just feel like you look like the "you" in your mind's eye -- a truly liberating feeling! uselessgomez, I wouldn't say "full head of hair" quite yet, but it seems that the way things are progressing that by month 10 I might just be there and look like a Clooney/James Dean hybrid (lol)! Biscuit, Yes, I am on proscar 1.25 mg per day and have been on it consistently for 1.5 years now. I was very inconsistent with it from 1999 until 2009. I've always admired your results BTW, and your blog always helped me to not let the HT haters that troll the forums scare me out of it ! corvettester, I did have some native hair on top pre-surgery, though pretty thin in the front third for sure. That top down comparison is a bit misleading because my month 1 photo was after ALOT of shockloss and I was not that bald pre-surgery. So not everything you see grown back is HT hair, but if you look at some of my pre-HT pics I have indeed come a long way from my pre-HT state already. The crown filling in is by far the biggest suprise (1200 grafts were placed there). Also, I think my results pretty well PROVE that with Dr. Hasson patients need not worry about transection (permanent shockloss) of existing native hair. ALL of it has grown back, so please make sure you choose your surgeon wisely if you are going to be planting in between native hair !!! Surfarosa, Amen brother! I'd be nowhere even close to this had I gone FUE, and I'd probably be homeless by now if I had attempted it! TakingThePlunge, Thanks man! I wish everybody else here the best luck and growth as well; but my advice to everybody is to choose your surgeon AND clinic wisely so that you don't have to rely on luck. Pre-surgery I visited a few other clinics and H & W stood light years apart as far as the professionalism of the facility; it was the only place that looked like a real clinic to me, and that was also another big factor in my decision. This is a permanent cosmetic surgery and also happens to be the most difficult one in the world to perform correctly. A well-equipped modern facility with well trained and dedicated staff is a HUGE factor in the chances a patient has for a great outcome! I'm still taken back with how natural it looks and how people on the street have absolutely no clue that anything was done up there. Wind, rain, swimming pools, outdoor light, flourescent light -- it holds up under all these conditions. Keep in mind that NOBODY was more skeptical of HTs than me pre-surgery, hence my screen name is appropriate. I should probably get a trophy for the being the most skeptical patient in the history of HTs who actually had the gonads to go thru with it (lol) !!

link to my blog: http://hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=1792

Good for you! I would suggest avoiding any type of HT at all costs. If you have already scheduled a surgery date you would be VERY wise to cancel it immediately. Otherwise there is a high chance that in the not too distant future it will be the biggest regret of your life. Look around on the various forums for the "repair" patients and see what they have to say about it. Indeed, one of the best things about hairloss forums like this one is that posts like this are saved and preserved; that way you can come back in 3,5,10 years from now and see that posters with WAY more knowledge and experience about HTs than you were kind enough to warn you in advance about making a very stupid mistake.

Garret, Man, you still have ALOT to learn about HTs dude !!! You were VERY wise to cancel your HT. Spend a few more years doing research (both on and off HT forums) and then you may be ready to take the plunge. IMO without finasteride you will wish you never stepped into the HT ring. You simply do not yet understand how important the bridge, rim and crown hair that you still have is for pulling off a successful HT. If that hair is lost (which the chances are likely 99.9% that it WILL be in the coming years if you do nothing) then you will forever be chasing a mediocre result at best. Do yourself a favor and try to meet with as many NW5/6 patients as possible and see what you think of their HT results. You might find yourself running for the hills once you've met with some of these patients! As my results come in I find myself getting less and less interested in spending any time on these forums; a definite "disconnect" is beginning to form which is really where most of us want to be anyway. The reason ANY of us are here (and spend any time here) is because we are emotionally bothered by our hairloss. I've researched this stuff for over 5 years and I feel that many can benefit from my knowledge without having to spend as much time as I did. But most will probably have to learn the hard way anyway, which is OK by me. As far as finasteride is concerned, I see it sort of like trying out for a professional football team. Some will have the toughness and willpower to battle through the rough stages in the beginning where the body is still adjusting, and others will give up because it is not easy and they want everything to come easily. Some will make the team and go on to have great success BECAUSE they endured the tough times, and others will just sit in the stands and watch and wish that they were one of the success stories. And the only difference between the two is that one had the willpower to face adversity, and the other just wanted everything to be easy. IMO the only legitimate reason to quit finasteride (IF you REALLY are interested in having hair) is because of ED, gyno, or some other medically diagnosable condition. If you are with an attractive woman who is being sexual with you and you cannot get it up, then YES -- BY ALL MEANS quit the drug immediately!