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Showing results for 'Dr. Jerry Cooley'.
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It’s definitely a cautionary tale with a happy ending. Very glad you found our forum and Dr. Cooley, he really hit this outta the park. -
Dr. Cooley did right by you. This already looks good at six months but I think by 12-18 as everything matures it's all going to blend even better. Good choice of doctor. -
Hi all, I have had two excellent FUT hair transplants with Dr. Cooley. It has been 11 months since the second transplant, so I am finally posting a comprehensive review. This forum was immensely helpful for me when I was first considering a transplant. In fact, this is where I found Dr. Cooley. So I hope that my review is helpful to all of you. 1st Transplant (2018) - Age: 26 - Grafts: 2,643 Background Info My hairline began receding around age 18. By my mid twenties, I was a Norwood 3. I started taking Finasteride at age 24, but I knew that the hair I had lost was gone permanently. While my father and paternal grandfather have no hair loss, my maternal grandfather is totally bald. So I figured my early and substantial hair loss was not a good sign. I was able to hide my bald temples by styling my hair a certain way, but I was very self-conscious. I was constantly worried about my hair moving out of place such that my hairline would be visible. So I decided to get a hair transplant, and I found Dr. Cooley here. I chose Dr. Cooley because he is one of the most elite hair transplant surgeons in the US and he was within driving distance of my city. After learning that the procedure would cost at least $10k, I decided to save up the money. This was a challenge in itself and took quite a while, but I was determined to pay cash. After speaking with Lollie (Dr. Cooley's Patient Coordinator), I went in for a consultation with Dr. Cooley. He recommended an FUT rather than FUE procedure because it would maximize graft yield. I was concerned about scarring, but Dr. Cooley is very experienced with FUTs, so I was willing to take the risk. The Procedure The night before the procedure, I checked in to the Hilton Garden Inn where Dr. Cooley's patients stay (near his surgery center). It was very comfortable, and they provided free breakfast plus a shuttle to the surgery center. The morning of the procedure, I woke up early (around 5:45am) to scrub myself down in the shower with Hibiclens (per Dr. Cooley's prep instructions). At the clinic, I was asked to pick out several movies to watch during the course of the procedure. Then, I took the medications they provided for the procedure: valium, prednisone, and antibiotics. Dr. Cooley shaved the area on the line along the back of my head where he would cut the donor strip. The valium made me very relaxed and sleepy, so I ended up dozing off for most of the procedure. The team woke me up for lunch, after which the procedure continued. Once the procedure was over, I went back to the hotel. I meticulously followed Dr. Cooley's post-op care instructions (spraying grafts, keeping them covered, taking required meds, etc.). Post-Procedure The day after the procedure, I went in for a post-up, where they checked my grafts and carefully washed my hair (felt great!). Having taken the week off from work, I then drove home to rest. I continued following Dr. Cooley's post-op care instructions meticulously. I had purchased a bag of the Help Hair protein shake that he recommended, so I also began drinking that daily. 3 weeks post-op, I began to experience shock loss along donor site where the stitches were. The hair there fell out in chunks over a period of days. It was quite terrifying, but Dr. Cooley's team reassured me that this happens sometimes and it would grow back. Thankfully, I had grown my hair out longer prior to the procedure, so I was able to cover it up. And ultimately, the hair there did indeed grow back within about 4-5 months. 3 months post-op, thin wisps of hair began to start growing on my temples. 4 months post-op, wisps of hair began growing more densely. 6 months post-op, my hair was back on my temples in full force. 2nd Transplant (2020) - Age: 28 - Grafts: 2,101 Background I was very satisfied with the results from my first procedure. I was no longer worried about hiding my deeply receded temples, and I could style my hair in ways that I liked. However, because I had gotten an FUT, I now had a new worry: haircuts. I liked to get a fade-style haircut, but the short length would make my scar visible. This was not a surprise (I knew there would be a scar), and I would tell barbers to be mindful of making the scar visible, but this was a constant issue. To hide the scar, I tried using Toppik (hair fiber) to cover it, but that did not work well. I ended up buying a women's eyebrow pencil that matched my hair color and used that to color in the scar area. This was a far more effective solution, but the scar was still visible to anyone who looked directly at the back of my head. I reached out to Ailene (Dr. Cooley's Clinical Supervisor) to ask for their recommendations regarding scalp micropigmentation—where tiny tattoo dots that match your hair color are used to fill in an FUT scar. Ailene said they advised against this remedy. Instead, she said they could do FUE of about 200-300 grafts and place them in the scar site. I went to Dr. Cooley's office for a consultation. I explained the scar issue, and I expressed an interest in bringing my hairline down a bit more. He told me that I could do another FUT for my hairline, and that they would do a follow up FUE into the scar for free. I thought this was a fantastic offer, so I got a surgery date and paid my deposit. The Procedure The procedure itself was just as smooth as the first. However, this time, I was more awake and able to chat with Dr. Cooley and Ailene during the procedure. They were quite enjoyable to talk with on a personal level! Post-Procedure I meticulously followed Dr. Cooley's post-op care instructions. Thankfully, I had no shock loss this time—possibly because Dr. Cooley used a different kind of stitches. Present & Future 9 months post-op, I went in for a visit with Dr. Cooley. He took pictures and video of my fantastic new hairline. He took a look at my scar, and I reiterated that I would like to have it filled in via FUE. Dr. Cooley agreed, and I am now waiting to see when the FUE procedure will happen. Bottom Line Dr. Cooley's skilled hands have given me a permanent self-esteem boost that has allowed me to really enjoy my twenties. I highly recommend Dr. Cooley to anyone considering a hair transplant, and I am forever thankful to him and his team.- 1 reply
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Hi all, I had a transplant 10 years ago with Dr. Cooley. Great experience. Time marched on and I'm on board for a second transplant to fill in behind the hairline and restore the temple areas. I've been given a few options and was curious as to what your thoughts are? 1) 2500 to 3000 grafts to frontal 2/3 (depending on donor) 2) 2500 to frontal 2/3 + 500 grafts to crown 3) leave crown alone, no grafts but do exosomes 4) any of the above options + exosomes to crown and/or frontal 2/3 My main area of concern is the frontal 2/3 but I would honestly love to address the crown area in some way. Even a sprinkling of grafts would give my Toppik more to grab onto. Having a tough time visualizing what 500 grafts would look like in that sized area. Also wondering if exosomes would be a good alternative to the grafts, a good option to supplement the grafts, or if the improvement to the crown area would be minimal to the point that going with the option of grafts makes more sense. Thanks! -
I appreciate everyone's thoughts very much. I put together this comparison and sent it over to Dr. Cooley's office for thoughts.
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And here are the post-op photos (I also included one of the hairline that Dr. Cooley drew right before the procedure).
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I managed to find the drive that has my photos from the day of the procedure. Here are the pre-op photos that Dr. Cooley took. I'll do another comment below this one with post-op photos to show graft placement.
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@BJ47 You had a strong frontal tuft 13 years ago, so I assume Dr. Cooley transplanted around it at the time? I would most certainly go with FUT again since you already have. Do you believe the transplanted hair for your first procedure has thinned out? You still have a strong bridge (between the frontal third and crown), so definitely stay on fin. -
@bostonguy Yes, I am currently on finasteride. I started finasteride at age 19, and had a period of a couple years in the time after my first HT that I stopped taking it. For the first HT, Dr. Cooley recommended 2000 grafts and we ended up at almost 2200. It was a FUT procedure and the grafts were placed into the hairline and frontal 2/3 or so. I had some thinning in the crown area, but Dr. Cooley said he did not feel comfortable transplanting into that area until age 40 or later once the hairloss had stabilized a bit more. My hair is slightly damp in the photos I shared in the original post. These are the images I sent to Dr. Cooley's office as part of the initial conversation for a second procedure and wanted to show the extent of the thinning. My instinct is that what we're seeing from hairline back in the middle are transplanted hairs, and the natural hairs have continued to thin from age and discontinuing finasteride for a time. My dad and two younger brothers are all slick bald on top and in the crown area. I very religiously and agressively use Toppik, so I'll try to see if I can find some "post HT 1" photos that were taking during the time that I was able to give it up. I know there were a few years in the time after the first HT that I was able to give it up completely, then continued it back up once I noticed the thinning was progressing. I do have a bit of peach fuzz in the crown area. Enough for Toppik to cling to. That makes me hopeful about the exosomes if they really do work as "advertised." I want to be smart about using the donor grafts that remain, but I also want to be realistic about what's possible and definitely want to do something to address the crown in my second procedure. Lollie said something along the lines of "I'd recommend putting off transplanting into the crown as long as possible and focus on the frontal 2/3." UPDATE: I was able to locate the photos that I sent for my first evaluation in 2008. These were pre-op and what Ailene used to make recommendations prior to an in-person visit. Also, in looking for photos I realized that my first procedure was in December 2008. So almost 13 years ago.
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First post ever. I was all set to finally start getting serious about booking an appointment for my first transplant after 13+ years of hair loss hell. Research over the last 6 months was wild. I'm a NW4/5 with a highly recessed hairline (hello huge forehead!), badly receded temples and thinning throughout the rest. I've tried basically every medication there is except for Fin(Would rather not get into why, just know it's a decision I came to a long time ago). Currently using Minox and dermarolling. If my Father's family history is any indication I'll be a NW6 later on in life. Naturally my brother has every speck of hair left having been blessed with my Mom's side's amazing hair genetics! The one thing that always kept me going towards the transplant route and somewhat "happy" was that I always had decent sides that were very "squared up" leaving only the traditional rectangular oval thinning shape in the middle which would be ready for the transplant. That was until recently. When to my absolute horror I began noticing something funny everytime I'd come out of the shower with my hair wet. As you'll see in the photos with my hair now dry, it appears 100% that my sides are now "dropping" a bit at what I would assume is called the very often unspoken about "lateral hump" upside down U area. I was horrified and devastated. Forget about my transplant plans I thought. Now I wouldn't even be able to pull off a hair system!!! Not to mention based on all my knowledge of hair loss it seems as if these lateral hump areas only seem to become a problem much later in life for men. There was a good horror story on these boards about a guy who got a transplant young and was then left with an awkward island of transplanted hair as the humps went and there was no longer any connecting hair. I am almost certain it was @Dr. Jerry Cooleywho did the repair which came out amazing. Maybe if he's out there he can provide insight on my situation... I am most wondering and concerned just how difficult of any area this would be to even perform a transplant on. Anyway, I'm now lost, deflated, and feeling as depressed about my hair loss as I did when I first discovered it at 23. For so many years it didn't bother me much anymore, and when the time came to start getting serious about a transplant I was more than comfortable looking into some of these top clinics overseas. I live in New York btw, and don't even want to tell you about some of the prices in Manhattan. ($4,000 for 500 grafts anyone?? Insanity.) As a side note - the doc DID say I had amazing quality donor hair, though it is a very narrow area of about 4500 grafts max in his opinion. So now what I wonder. My ultimate original plan was this: Transplant #1 in 2022 - Restore the hairline and temples with a rather high/conservative hairline to simply reframe my face and get me my confidence back. Estimate of 2,000 densely packed grafts to create a lifelong nice frame. Transplant #2 years down the road - after the rest of the forelock and front scalp goes, get another 2,000 grafts into that area for what would end up being a final result of a good frontal region of transplanted hair and face framing. As far as the crown goes I have no problem not caring about that. Fibers and dermatch have been a very good friend to me and would continue to be. Also I'm just not up for anything more than two surgeries/two trips overseas for this. I would be over the moon to have something that Rolandas has right now for example. Zero hair greed here. But now with this disaster that looks like lateral hump thinning, EVERYTHING is off the table and I don't even know where to start. What I DO know is that even if I ever wanted to try a hair system, I would have to get a surgery to even repair the HUMPS so they could connect to a hair system's hairline. That alone could be 1,000 grafts at least. Bottom line is I am not in a good place right now, at all, with my hair. I feel stuck, and almost hopeless. I've never seen a guy my age dealing with lateral hump hair loss. Any advice or thoughts are very appreciated. Also, before anyone thinks I have so much hair still on my head please understand I absolutely do not. What you are seeing is a combover of terribly thin hair with a few fiber still in it. My hair is shot and on top of that, the hairline and temples of course are completely gone. No medication could ever bring them back as we all know.
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Hi All, Planning to get a hair transplant in coming months. I live in NC and right now i'm looking at two options. Dr.Vories or Dr.Cooley, which one will you recommend ? Dr. Cooley is expensive than Vories. ($3 - $4 difference/graft). Dr. Cooley has longer wait times, next available appointment after 5 months. I see mixed reviews about Dr.Vories work mainly due to unnatural hairlines. Any suggestion guys ? Thanks, Sam -
Are you looking only in the US/Canada? Personally, I'm no fan of Diep at all. For FUT, the best are Konior and Wong, again in my opinion. I believe Dr. Cooley and Dr. Bloxham would be excellent choices, too. If open to Europe, Bisanga and Lorenzo would be on my short list. -
Hey HairNTear, Did you have 2 separate procedures for the repair? Did Dr. Cooley remove the grafts during one procedure and then a few months later due FUT? -
I had been researching a TON and have tried i-Grow and a couple months of Rogaine. I started liking the Turkey doctors, but realized that they may be too far/out of comfort zone. During the pandemic, I went and shaved my head (since I'm not going out anyway), and just to see what it looks like bald since I also thought about SMP. Not bad, actually. Initially, there was a doctor not too far away, FUT about $4500 I think, but the "manager" seems unprofessional and I didn't have a good vibe on the place. Other US doctors were around $10K starting. I started emailing Dr.Nader since he's a pretty good middle ground and have had good reviews. After seeing my photos (2 years ago), he said that I may not be a good candidate since I had thin hairs. He asked to get my blood test to see if if the donor area could thin out more and or gene related. I never heard back after sending my blood test. Fast forward, I mainly use Dermmatch concealer and would have the idea of doing more current research on and off. I think nothing really changed and there's less reviews of doctors on many hair loss sites/forums. I emailed Dr.Nader again (different email) and showed him the pics, along with what I was hoping to get (very conservative). Eventually Brenda said that he things 2000 to 2500 would be sufficient. I thought the price got higher, but maybe that was just me. My family would go with me (or not at all), even though there is nothing to see (attractions) and do (just hang in the clinic the whole time). Regardless of how people say that it's pretty safe (driven to and from the hotel). Additional $700 in airfare. I have the photos I sent him and pretty much, to cover the frontal part with some hairline (permanently thinning look is ok than what it is now). Top part, I won't see, so not as important and can probably be concealed better than front, which under the sun, to me just looks painted. I did an online/phone consultation with Dr.Cooley, also recommended 2000 grafts, much more expensive! Plus PRP recommendation I did go to another doctor in person and the doctor thinks I'm a good candidate, but maybe only about 2000 grafts for $10K plus topical ointments and PRP, etc. On the back part of the pic, the doctor in person said only the bottom area is harvestable since higher than that, is now thinning. Thanks. -
Hi Everyone, I am newbie to the forum and apologies if any of the questions are repeated. (I did searched previous posts but that raised more questions) Little bit about myself: 1. My Age: 33 2. My hair started thinning about 10 years ago and I used to use Minoxidil, 5% Topical Solution and Finasteride Pills. I took them for over 1.5 years and gave up on them as I noticed hair fall continued as soon as I stopped using them for even a week. 3. Since then I didn't took any care of my hair. (Probably a mistake but I just thought all solutions are temporary and transplantation is the only solution) 4. I have been thinking about FUE for an year now and I finally decided to go for it now (next few weeks). 5. I am planning to spend up to 15,000 USD. Questions: Premise for Q1: I am in halfway between Dr.Vories (South Carolina, USA) and Dr.Cooley (North Carolina). I talked with Dr.Vories 12 months ago and he seemed fine to me. He was recommended to me by one of my friend who went through FUE and his results are just "ok". After joining this forum I learnt about Dr.Cooley and I am in dilemma now. I reached out to Dr.Cooley and still waiting for response from them.(Its been a week now) Q1: Any personal experiences anyone can share which can help me decide between Dr. Vories and Dr. Cooley ? Q2: As I said before I am not using any medicines right now. I have seen some posts in this forum where ppl recommended using some medicines at least 6 months before transplantation procedure. Is it a good practice thing ? or Is it mandatory to yield good results? Dr. Vories didn't talked about this and was ready to go with transplantation almost immediately. Q3: For last 6 months I am being troubled with dandruff. Tried different of the shelf shampoos. (Didn't really took care of my hair properly.) Should I take some serious medicines to get rid of dandruff before going with FUE transplantation ? Q4: For some mandatory ritual, I have to shave off my head in 18 months. Assuming I did go through FUE now, can I have my hair shaved after 18 months or ever in my life ? Am I going to loose any transplanted hair ? Will the aftermath of FUE will leave any spots on my head which will look bad and make me never be able to have clean shaven head or even short hair ? Q5: Are there any other solutions that can help me other than FUE ? Thanks in advance for your time.
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Hair transplant suggestions
JDEE0 replied to Rick_'s topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Yeah, your donor and hair characteristics are really good from what I can see. Crown is on its way out though. To be completely honest, I don't think it will have much if any hair left in it by the time you reach your mid 30's. Unless you take meds that is, then you will potentially be able to re-grow it back to a normal thickness and keep it that way for decades. You really should consider it. Read the actual studies, sides are rare, but do exist and go away upon discontinuation according to every placebo controlled study ever carried out on the drug, and according to all medical literature published on the subject. There's really no reason to be scared to at least give it a go in reality. Dr. Lorenzo's website has some good concise information on scientific data relating to finasteride side effects, good place to start and then broaden your understanding by studying other credible sources of info and reading the actual studies in depth - just find the finasteride section here: https://injertocapilar.com/faqs/?lang=en Good attitude budget wise. I'll put it this way, Europe and North America are the two hubs of quality hair transplantation. Both have a small number of doctors who are all very good and offer similar levels of skill and quality, but in general European Dr's are going to be around half the price for the same level of skill. So, whilst it's perfectly reasonable to stay in the U.S., you can get the same level of results for half the cost in Europe. My favourite European Dr's: Dr. Bisanga, Dr. Feriduni, Dr. Lupanzula, Dr. Bruno Pinto, Dr. Rafael De Freitas, Dr. Ximena Vila, Dr. Juan Couto and Dr. Bruno Ferreira. U.S./Canada: Dr. Konior, Hasson and Wong, Dr. Cooley, Dr. Shapiro, Dr. Rahal, True and Dorin (there are more but I'm in the UK so I don't keep too much track of them, others will be of more help for additional options). Do some research and take a look into them. -
Yep. Originally I was set on my original doctor but am worried of getting the same result again. I think I'm going to go with Dr. Cooley or Dr. Dorian? I wish I researched a bit better honestly.
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Dr.Vories or Dr.Cooley - Who is the best ?
Whatever101 replied to SamBoy's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Dr. Cooley -
Dr. Cooley is an elite Coalition physician, he is top tier. Dr. Vories is also very good, but not an elite Coalition physician. I would suggest consulting with both and then looking at the cost and convenience to be the determining factor.
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About me: 28 Years old, started Finasteride in early-mid twenties. My crown has been very stable since then, though I'm not sure whether it was due to the medication or not. Finasteride, however, didn't do anything for my hairline, which has been slowly creeping back at the temples over the years. I first started looking into hair transplants in early 2020 out of curiosity. I was prepared to ruefully accept my hair loss since I viewed hair transplants as high risk and unnatural looking. I have to give this forum complete credit for reversing my opinions 100%. Research: I consulted with some popular clinics recommended on this site including H&W, Eugenix, Dr. Bloxham (in person), and Dr. Wesley. All recommended in the ballpark of 1500-2000 grafts. Obviously, each of these clinics and doctors are highly regarded and have remarkable results. During my research, though, I was delving into papers published in the ISHRS journal by Dr. Cooley where he would discuss the conditions ideal for hair transplantation and graft survival down to the temperature and humidity of the room, which he controls during actual procedures. This level of perfectionism and attention to detail, in addition to his phenomenal patient results, really impressed me and in the end I chose him. The procedure: I took an Amtrak into North Carolina and checked into the Hilton the clinic booked for me. All of Dr. Cooley's out of town patients pass through here and they accommodate his patients well with an early morning shuttle to the clinic, as well as a shuttle back after the procedure is over. I barely sleep because of nervousness. In the morning I use an antibacterial/disinfectant wash on my scalp called Hibiclens as suggested by Dr. Cooley, eat a simple breakfast of an apple and a muffin and take the shuttle over to the clinic. I arrived around 7:15. The clinic is located within a modern medical complex a few minutes away from the hotel. Check-in was very fast and easy - they let me choose what lunch I wanted from the local sandwich shop and pick 3 movies (I chose Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon, one of the Cloverfield movies, and something else... these ended up being completely inconsequential). Dr. Cooley came in and took pre-op photos, discussed my goals, and drew on the outline for my new hairline. Dr. Cooley's demeanor was very friendly, but here I would say that the pre-op consult was quite rushed, taking less than 15 minutes or so. Dr. Cooley did not volunteer much information that outside of what was completely necessary for the procedure, for example, my hair/donor characteristics, my reserve for future procedures, etc. As I was pretty slide deprived and anxious at this point, I didn't get a chance to converse with the doctor as much as I would have liked. Regardless Dr. Cooley did seem completely present and was laser-focused on the procedure. I swallowed a bunch of pills, donned a gown and was escorted to the operating room. You'll have to excuse my vague level of detail for the procedure itself because the combination of pills and my exhaustion catching up with me hit me hard. I remember lying face down on the chair and hearing Dr. Cooley explain that he was going to begin excising the strip and that I may feel a pinch. I barely felt a thing and hardly noticed the strip being removed or even being stitched up afterwards. The techs went to work dissecting the strip into grafts and some indeterminate amount of time later, Dr. Cooley also made the slits on my hairline (I guess I also flipped over at some point). I had lunch before the afternoon implantation session. During implantation, the movies I selected also played but I was not awake for any of it. The only thing I remember is about 5 minutes of a fight scene from Crouching Tiger. That's it. I slept through literally everything else. I woke up around 5 and everything was done. Dr. Cooley wrapped my head up, went over my post-op instructions, and I took the shuttle back to the hotel. I was discharged around 5:30. Post-op: The week post-op was quite hard on me as I'm not good at sleeping sitting up. In addition, Dr. Cooley's instructions were to use a proprietary liposomal ATP spray every hour or other hour, I forget which. The combination made my sleep very poor. In fact, the night after the procedure, I pulled an all nighter - sitting up in my hotel bed, watching TV, and spraying my grafts as directed. I will say that for me, there was absolutely minimal pain and swelling during this period. The day after the procedure, I was shuttled back to the clinic for a post-op wash, exam, and instructions. Everything went well and they gave me some gentle copper-infused shampoo to wash my grafts with. I thought it was silly at first, but the stuff is actually fantastic. The following week was more poor sleep. I slept so badly (getting only 3 hours or so each night) that I was legitimately worried that I was stressing the survival of my grafts. I also washed the grafts daily, as per Dr. Cooley's instructions, with very gentle motions and indirect water. I continued using the spray as directed (after the first few days, you ease off the spray frequency, but are still asked to use it multiple times per day, sealing it with saran wrap and a surgical cap). Also, though not suggested by the Doctor, I took some supplements such as vitamins C, D, and Zinc. Due to the sleep issues, I was extremely grateful to be working from home during this period. There's not too much else to say about my post-op. As I was back in NYC, I had to go to a local clinic to have the stiches removed. When he was removing the stitches, the doctor remarked that he had done stitch removal for hair transplants before but had never seen one like mine before. He said that the fine gauge of the stitches used were much more like those used for facial plastic surgery and the stitching technique was excellent. Miscellaneous thoughts: Though I volunteered to allow Dr. Cooley to shave my recipient for the procedure, he refused and said it would not make the work much easier for his team. I insisted and he did end up shaving a small area on the temples for better visibility. Post-op though, I have to say, I was shocked by how indiscernible the hair transplant was. I was meeting people less than a month out of the procedure and NO ONE knew that anything was done. Chalk it up to the magic of no-shave procedures. Because we were at the height of the pandemic it would not have been a huge concern if I had to shave my head since no one would see me. If I had to appear at the office though, the no-shave procedure would have been a major benefit. I am about 7 months out from my procedure as of the time of writing and all I can say is that I am extremely satisfied and am tremendously grateful to Dr. Cooley and his fantastic team. I feel much more confident in my appearance and am genuinely having fun with my hair for the first time in years. Whereas previously I was hyper-conscious about sweeping my hair over my temples and cursing every gust of wind, I feel much more at peace now. I am happy with my results and I am optimistic that it can get even better in the coming months. Photos: I prefer to keep a minimal number of pictures of myself on the internet so here are my pre-op photos as well as my photos about 6 to 6.5 months out from the procedure. I have a few photos of the period between I can share if you are genuinely curious but only via private message. Ironically for a pre-op photo, the temples are a little flattering. Here it is in the worst possible lighting: Grafts implanted. Dr. Cooley implanted grafts in between my native hairs to thicken my existing hairline in addition to reconstructing the temples: 6.5 Months out: Thanks for reading my thread. If you have any questions feel free to reach out via the thread or private message. -
Hello, Can anyone recommend a great FUT surgeon in Turkey? I've already had a large FUT procedure with Doctor Cooley a few years ago, so I would like to stick with FUT. It seems that most of the doctors in Turkey are doing FUE. I contacted a reputable FUE doctor in Istanbul and sent pictures. Based on the pictures, he said he could only get between 1500 to 2500 grafts using the FUE method because of my previous surgery. Dr. Cooley said my next FUT procedure could be 3000 grafts. I should mention, Doctor Cooley was fantastic. I'm just looking at Turkey as a possibility because the cost difference is extreme. Thanks in advance for any input! -
I mean everyone is suggesting you go to Europe, while there’s great surgeons in Europe. You can find quality doctors in the US, for example Dr. Gabel Portland, Dr. Mohebi Los Angeles, Dr. Cooley North Carolina, Dr. Konior Chicago. If you don’t want to travel outside of the US, there’s no need too. The US has plenty of options. Use our list as a guide and start from there https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/hair-transplant-surgeons.asp?sr=HRN-MOB
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I thought sharing my experience might be helpful to others and to show my progress so far. I am 38 years old and have fine hair. I plan to update monthly for the first year or so. About a year ago I started to think about getting a HT after gradual thinning for several years. I first started Finasteride Oct 2019. I discovered this forum around that time and looked at results and reviews of many of the recommended surgeons. I did not mind traveling or price in terms of limiting my options. I first sent photos to H&W and they said I would be a good candidate for FUT, recommending 4000-5000+ grafts, noting a second procedure for the crown might be helpful. I then met Dr. Bernstein in NYC for an in-person consultation. He also recommended FUT, approximately 2500 grafts. His thoughts were similar to H&W, to start with the hairline, cover some midscalp, and only thin coverage to the crown. During continued research, I became interested in learning more about Dr. Cooley's practice. I found nearly all reviews to be excellent, results to be natural and excellent as well. I also liked the idea that he often seemed to transplant in the range of 3000-4000 grafts, somewhere between the other two recommendations I had received. I spoke to Lollie (an assistant of his for many years) for an in-depth telephone consultation after sending photographs to her. She was very pleasant and extremely helpful with scheduling. Approximately 3500 grafts were recommended by FUT. Also, Dr. Cooley does most of his FUT surgeries without shaving the recipient area, which was a big plus for me. I drove 12 hours to Charlotte the day before surgery because I did not want to get on a plane in the middle of COVID. On 6/10/20, I had the procedure. I had paid for 3,000 grafts in advance but was hoping for 3,500, as we had discussed. First I met Brandi, his lead assistant with many years of experience, to review some paperwork, etc. Then I met Dr. Cooley who discussed the hairline and asked for my expectations. He is friendly and reassuring. I asked that overall he use his judgement for what he thought would be the best in terms of overall improvement, and that I obviously wanted it to be natural. I asked that he err on the more conservative side to account for future loss, and to use as many grafts as he thought would be beneficial. His office is nice. The day was comfortable and the 12 hours (7AM-7PM) went quickly. You are given some conscious sedation at first to help relax (valium and midazolam), which I found helpful. Numbing is mildly uncomfortable for a minute or two. He was able to extract 3679 grafts (1- 1032, 2-1783, 3-714, 4-150). Post operatively, the following two days were mildly uncomfortable, but mostly only the first night. I did take tylenol and motrin regularly for about two days. I did not have swelling. Driving the long distance home over the following two days, starting after the post op visit with Dr. Cooley the morning following surgery, was not uncomfortable. I was first able to feel some growth around 3 months and think I have some noticeable visible improvement now at 4 months. I hope to share the continued improvement over the next many months. I would highly recommend Dr. Cooley and his team based on my excellent experience there. -
Hey everybody. Hope y’all are doing well in COVID-19 times. So I went ahead and did a hair transplant. Thought I’d post my results as the months go along. I lurked this forum for a while before deciding to get my scalp harvested. I appreciated the honest feedback/recommendations here so I thought I’d make a post so others with similar level of baldness/hair type can get an idea of what to expect with the # of grafts I got. I’ll update as things progress. Details: -31 years old -Had the surgery on 17/08/2020 - Started finasteride 8 months before FUE. Seemed to slow things down as I was losing a shit-ton of hair before starting it and ... that stopped once I started. (Still taking it, not using min or Nizoral... fin seems to have had the opposite effect that a lot of guys report. Dunno why but that’s neither here nor there.) - not using hair concealer Photos aren’t the greatest. I’m taking photos under the harshest light I can find in the moment. I’ll post photos from the clinic if/when I receive them! If anyone has questions about the clinic, procedure, aftermath, whatever, I’m happy to answer. I was pretty freaked out before I did the deed, and am still pretty anxious (but hopeful) about the end result. Take care errybody! Pre-transplant, taken the morning of the surgery: Right after surgery: Six days after surgery:
