Gorpy

Anybody see this movie yet? I noticed the big goofy biker with the shaved head (sidekick to the leader of the biker gang)has a strip scar. No one else would probably notice this. We seem to have trained eyes to look for such things.

Anybody see this movie yet? I noticed the big goofy biker with the shaved head (sidekick to the leader of the biker gang)has a strip scar. No one else would probably notice this. We seem to have trained eyes to look for such things.

There is a guy named "Damo" who got good results from a Dr. Martinick in Australia. If I'm not mistaken this is the same Dr. Jennifer Martinick you are referring to. Help me out guys. Is this the same Dr. that did Damo's procedures?

I don't know if Dr. Unger is still using these techniques, but he still has this on his website: "Slot Grafts Slot grafts are three FUs long and approximately two FUs wide. They typically contain 10 to 12 hairs and are inserted into "slots" created with a special "slot punch" (Figures 8 and 16). They are particularly suitable for patients who want substantial hair density and who have a sufficiently good long-term donor/recipient area ratio. Once again, good hair characteristics, for transplanting, such as low hair/skin color contrast, frizz, curl and existing recipient area hair, increase the likelihood that these larger grafts will not be noticeable behind a hairline zone of FUs (and usually a zone of DFUs or TFUs behind the area treated with FUs)."

I feel honored to be the HEAD DENSITY ESTIMATOR . I enjoy doing it. It was no trouble at all. With B Spot as our LEAD STRIP ESTIMATOR we have all the bases covered.

So far it looks like a good clear procedure. Good growing to you Andrew.

Allari, I'm not sure what you are saying. Being a member of an organization like the ishrs means very little in terms of hair transplant quality. So you really can't count on that list. This forum recommends a small group of surgeons which are constantly reviewed by consumers like myself. That doesn't mean they are perfect. At times they are kicked out of our recommendation lists if they are not performing. Our forum makes no claims that we know of all of the good HT surgeons in the world. It is difficult for us to review and recommend HT doctors from India because we have not seen many results from there. We are always looking for good surgeons, but their work must be of a very high caliber and consistent to attain a recommendation by us.

Hairfree, Glad I could be of help. When a doctor talks about percentages, I think they are referring to percentages in relation to your natural density. So, since people have varying natural densities, it becomes much more difficult to translate into grafts per cm2 without knowing the base density he is using to calculate the percentages. Let's look at this. If he is starting from a 100 grafts per cm2 as your natural density, which he seems to indicate by the 65-70 per/cm2 = 70% comment, then I think the math could make sense. What this indicates is that he front loaded 65-70 grafts/cm2 in the front (but we don't know how deep that goes), then gradually dropped off to about 40 grafts/cm2. We don't know how gradual that drop of is. Let's say you averaged 40 grafts/cm2 for 60 cm covered (2400), leaving 10 to 20 cm to cover with 1100 remaining grafts. In that case, depending on the exact measurements of your area covered, the math does make sense. I think you will have a nice result from this. Gorp

Hairfree, From my rough estimate it looks like you covered approx. 80 cm2. If you take your approx. 3500 grafts and divide them over 80 sq. cm, you get a little over 40 per cm2. I'm usually pretty good at these estimates. In the worst case, let's say you covered only 70cm2 (I know you covered at least that much). The calculation would be 50 per cm2. No matter how you spread them over that area, there is no way you got 80/cm2 in some areas, 60-70 in others and 50 for the rest. Gorp

Looks very nice Hairfree. Looks like you got about 40-45 per cm2. Should be a very nice result for you!

Sounds like you are not getting generic Proscar. Are you based in the U.S.?

No, there is not really a reason for that. I think it is just common knowledge among us veterans as to the costs. Costs for strip surgery generally run about $4 to $4.50 a graft and usually that is discounted for going over a certain amount. For example, it could drop to 3.50 a graft for over 2000 grafts. Doctors have varying price structures for those types of things. Did you have a particular doctor in mind?

Uh Oh

Techs can definitely do many things. But they typically don't do a final refinement that Janna describes above. I think that is the key to a great hairline. The extra effort obviously shows with Dr. Shapiro's work. Dr. Shapiro's approach actually sounds just like Dr. Keene's approach. One of the lead techs helps place the grafts (on the opposite side). Of course they have worked together at Shapiro Medical Group for many years, so you would expect that.

I think overall the results look good. I'd still like to see the progress of the NW-6. Also, the scar pics look good. Please keep posting results. On a side note - I noticed you don't do any 4 hair FU's. Can you give a brief explanation of why? Thanks, Gorp

I am a big fan of Dr. E. I think you'll be very happy with your results.

Ah yes, exactly what I thought. And who, my friends, is the Hairline King?

Thanks for all the kind words guys. I appreciate it. It's not that I feel undervalued. It's just that I learned a long time ago that a "consensus" does not make something accurate, true or the best. A consensus means that you have more people agreeing with your point than mine. Since Dr. Keene's hands on approach is in the minority, there will obviously be a consensus against it. Just like the argument about providing hair counts vs. graft counts - getting a bunch of guys to come on and say it is not necessary doesn't change the fact that hair counts have value. Years ago I learned this when presenting arguments for architectural/design issues in my industry. I quickly learned that the opposition would conveniently bring more people to the meetings that supported his position. In the end my side would lose, just because there was a consensus against me. That doesn't mean that their actual approach was better. I wised up quickly and started building my own supporters before the meetings

If you look at the link I provided, it appears the graft can go in and "curve" to different angles. That might be a subtle difference, but it appears to be real. Back to another point. I think the best hairlines are created by a final stick and place as I mentioned above. At a minimum, the doctor should do that.

Thanks for your comments Dr. Epstein. Sometimes we tend to forget about "maximizing results" with minimum grafts - which equals less trauma, risk and money for the patient. We are asking that all doctors provide hair counts along with grafts counts so that patients will know what they are really getting.

I see your point guys, but if that is the case, shouldn't we be evaluating the techs, knowing their names, experience, who they worked on etc? For example, this work was done by Janna of Shapiro, look at the artistry. Be sure she does your hairline. I do agree that techs can become very good, but to what extent? Why not teach them to make all the incisions? That doesn't seem very difficult. Do you think they could not learn that? Let's teach them to extract the strip. They could probably learn that also. The doctors could play golf all day and rake in the money. For that matter, what the heck do doctors do after they make the incisions and permanently leave the room? Are they doing consultations? I still think many of them could and should be working on creating a great hairline. There is really no excuse for not being there. It's just more convenient for them. That's the bottom line.

I have not heard of this PB. Sounds interesting.

If you lift, then you know that any kind of strain during a lift will cause muscles all over your body to flex, even in the neck/back of head area. So yes, you can get a bit of a pull on the scalp. I don't think it is just the bending over or looking down that does it, but a general tension brought on by the strain of lifting. I have come up with a general personal guideline that I think makes sense. I say take a look at your scar. Has the redness/pinkness faded yet. The fading of the redness/pinkness is a sign of healing. When most of the visible color has gone from it, it is probably safe to start lifting again. There is still much more internal healing to do, but at least at that point, much progress has been made. Keep in mind, it will probably be months before the color fades.

Sorry guys, I respectfully disagree. It does make a difference if the doctor places the grafts, especially in the hairline. Allow me to elaborate: The hairline is the most critical part of the transplant because it it the most visible. It takes artistic talent, but to apply that talent a doctor must do the final touches on it. Here's what my doctor did and frankly it is what I would want every doctor to do: Dr. Keene placed all of the hairline grafts and most of the other grafts. She spent a good HOUR at the end of my surgery sticking and placing in the hairline. Then she would step back like an artist stepping back from a painting only to come forward and refine a little more. There's a reason Dr. Keene does great, extremely natural looking hairlines. Take a look at this link from Dr. Keene's website. It explains about a natural angle to FU's and why she feels it is important to place them herself. She obviously feels very strongly about this and for good reason. She states that some of these subtleties might not be obvious in pictures but upon close inspection the difference it noticeable. You'll hear many opinions on this. Obviously, since the majority of doctors do not place the grafts (even hairline grafts), they will argue that it is not necessary. I expect a consensus against me (as usual). That doesn't make it right.

This has nothing to do with DHT, but I was having a tangling problem after shampooing (I know, it's a good problem to have), so I bought some Biolage detangler, which essentially acts like a conditioner. Dang, that's the best conditioner I've ever used. It makes my hair so soft, I can't quit running my hands through it.