Gorpy

Speaking of other sites, they seem to be in the business of promoting a very limited set of doctors. The fact that their board members don't even know of a great doctor like Dr. Jeffrey Epstein should tell you something.

I added a 22 day post op picture. Still a little redness, but fading. Donar area feels good. It's only really noticable if I run my fingers over it. I can run my comb over it without a problem. There's still a little sensitivity there. Some slight tightness is noticable if I raise my eyebrows.

Here is a link to my story: My Story

This is an interesting idea. I don't see a real problem with it. That strip can be a bit of a pain in the rear. I think you would probably end up real happy with the 500 and then what do you do? More FUE or go with the strip?

Yes, I see quite a difference. Great news Bill.

Thanks Robert. How do you put one of those nice looking links to something instead of the full URL?

I see what you mean. That's a good suggestion. I'll do that from now on.

Just an update. I'm now at week 3. After week two, I started shedding transplanted hair. It now looks like I have lost about 50% of it. I'm actually happy about this because I know it is part of the normal process. It is also starting to look like I didn't have anything done at all.

It's one of those custom cut flat end blades. It looks like an ultra small flat head screw driver. Not sure that's a good description.

True. An article in the paper today says a study shows that smokers who break a leg require 62% more time to heal than non-smokers.

The standard sub-millimeter device that all of the top docs use. Why do you ask?

Yeah, by cutting up Proscar, it comes to about 20 bucks a month. It's not worth the hassle to try to fool my insurance company for a trivial amount like that.

Thanks for that explanation Pat. I personally think it is unethical to perform these kind of procedures without explicitely and clearly explaining to the patient what is going on. If then, after fully understanding, they choose to go ahead with it, then it is fine. But, I'm afraid most patients don't get the full pre-op understanding of the difference. I consulted with one of the top doctors whose big selling point was dense packing. To his credit, he did tell me that the dense packing he was referring to was only with the ones and twos, not the threes and fours, as they would not fit so densely. So thanks to this wonderful web site, many more people have an understanding of these subtle differences. Thanks again Pat.

Regarding the loss of some of your original hair (shock loss), I wouldn't worry too much about that. The same thing would have happened with a larger procedure.

Troy, I understand that choosing between a few of the top doctors can be very difficult. The only solution that I can suggest is that you consult with both of them fact to face. I think your decision would work itself out after that. Have a set of detailed questions, like "who makes the recipient sites and who places the grafts, you or the staff?" "What is your approach to hairline construction and where would you place my hairline?" "How would you distribute the density of my grafts across my head?" "What would be the approximate length of my donar scar and how do you determine that?". These questions, of course, would lead to many others. Also, look very closely at pictures of their patients. Find some that have hair loss and hair type like yours. If you don't have time to meet with them, then maybe you don't have time to do a hair transplant. I hate to be so frank with you, but I'm a little wary of people who can't find the time to make a correct decision. A hair transplant is quite a complex procedure. It is a much bigger deal than most people let on here on these message boards.

Lookin' good B Spot. It'll be fun watching those suckers grow. That's alot of hair!

Joey G, I understand what you are saying. Sometimes consultations go by quickly and all questions are not brought up. Before you know it, it's time to go. I received 2700 recently in just the front half of my head (see my photos in the photo album section). So if 2800 includes the crown, you are not going to get much density. Of course, it also depends on how far back you put your hairline. Obviously the farther back, the less hair you need. Did you discuss this with the Dr?

I recently took some photos that turned out pretty good. It doesn't take an expensive camera. I took them with my low end Nikon Coolpix 2100, set on max resolution (2 megapixel). If you are taking them yourself, you'll need a tripod. I used the self timer. One problem you have to overcome is the focus and exposure. When you press the shutter release button half way down it focuses and sets the exposure. However, if you are not in front of the camera at that time, it will focus somewhere on the background. I solved this problem by holding an object in front of the camera at the same spot my head would be (about 2 feet out). Then press the shutter button down half way to allow it to adjust. Then take the picture, which in this case, starts the 10 second timer. I then run around and put my head in the correct position in front of the camera and let it take the picture. Keep in mind that this is not a macro lens setting or anything like that. It's just the normal picture taking mode. I also zoom in a little. This flattens out the picture and avoids the hourglass look. If the picture comes out sharp and focused at this distance (about 2 feet), you can load it into a picture editing software and zoom in a little more and crop it. Whala! You have a nice closeup. Hope this helps.

Yeah, I've seen a joint formula at Costco that contains Glucosamine, Chondroitin and MSM. Apparently MSM has some kind of lubricating effect on the joints.

Generally the top qualitiy doctors are as cheap or cheaper than the franchise operations. This is a serious operation you are considering that will affect the way you look for the rest of your life. While price is certainly important, it should not be the primary factor in your decision making. Expect to pay about $4 a graft. Some docs will go down to $3.50 per graft if it is a large session, i.e. 2000+

I'm right behind ya Bill!

Yes, see them here: http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f...6060861/m/8491088831

What you are calling the vertex, commonly referred to as the crown, can be a black hole for follicles. By that, I mean that it can take very many follicles to fill it in completely. So, it all depends on your available donar hair, the area you want covered and the desired density. If you are comfortable with some thickening of your hairline and front, along with some thin filling in of your crown, then you might be ok. But for a Norwood 6, it becomes increasingly difficult to give good density to all of it. I don't mean to discourage you, but that is the reality. Having said that, the top doctors can really make a cosmetic difference in your hair with a quality transplant and aesthetic talent.

Dude, 2.5 months out is VERY early. I think growth at that time is pretty rare, especially for the 2nd HT. I'm just 12 days out so I'm just starting the waiting phase (tick tock, tick tock). My prediction is that you'll have a real nice Holiday come December :-).

Day 11 update. This is interesting because most of the grafted hair has not shed which gives me a good idea of what it will look like when it grows in fully later. For those of you wondering about redness. I'm one of those guys with sensitive skin, plus I had alot of grafts put up there. So the redness is slowly fading. I think it's going to take a while for it to fully go away.