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I am on day 4th from my FUT with Dr. Cooley. My experience on the day of the procedure is similar to the one posted by UKLad81 at I would like to add some notes about Dr. Cooley and his clinic: I currently live in California, I had the choice of clinics and doctors locally (convenient) or remotely (some cheaper e.g. in Europe) however, I felt that most of them followed the same sales pitch "we are top...you need x grafts...when should we schedule your procedure?" Not with Dr. Cooley's office, I talked to Ailene and she patiently explained the options and why FUT was better for me vs. FUE. I felt it was more fact and solution based than a sales pitch. That combined with all the good things (I liked that he reportedly continuously strives to improve his techniques) posted about Dr. Cooley I was convinced that Dr. Cooley's office was for me and worthed the long flight. I loved that Dr. Cooley was personally involved from the beginning until the very end (the day of the operation) and he gave me his cell phone just in case. Also, despite his status he helped me change into the robe and afterwords change from the robe to my clothes. He also let me use his personal restroom during a short break between the strip harvest and the preparation for transplantation. These and other subtle things made me feel that Dr. Cooley cared for me as a person and for the results. Like I said, Dr. Cooley was almost always there (as far I can tell since he was behind me), I focused to my movies because I didn't want to disrupt his focus/train of thought with Brandi (I could hear them saying things that mostly sounded technical, but wasn't paying attention on what was said). Bonus: the southern hospitality in North Carolina which I missed (I used to live in Virginia for a few years). My case I had hair loss in the crown and in the front. The back bothered me more, so it had more priority. Hair were added in both areas. I also opted for PRP. Summary: so far everything is going great, the most difficult/challenging part for me was the lack of sleep because of the ATP spray application. Day of surgery I was scheduled for 3500 grafts, but I told Dr. Cooley that was ok with me if he goes over to strengthen the result. He was able to get to about 4200 grafts. He said that my donor area had good elasticity (I was doing my stretching exercises for two weeks; maybe it helped) and that everything went great. The strip/donor: I only remember laying facing down, Dr. Cooley injecting a needle to my arm, I quickly doze off and then I was waken up and asked to flip face forward and it was done. It only felt like a short snooze, but it was probably a couple of hours long. During the surgery, almost 99.9% of the time, I just felt a dull pressure on my head during the transplantation. 1-2 times I had to receive extra topical anesthetic which I only felt a couple of pinches. After going back to the hotel, I was spaying every hour while awake and every 2 hours during "sleep". I also took Aleve and Ibuprofen for the pain in the donor area, it mostly felt like wearing a very tight cap/band). Day 2 Went by the office in the morning for the post-op check and wash. Everything looked great, Dr. Cooley was very pleased with the results. I was prescribed valium for better sleeping (for after the spraying nights are over) and pain medication. I haven't taken either. Back to the hotel after lunch, spraying a little bit every 30 - 60 mins. I continued the pain relievers (Aleve, ibuprofen), again the donor area felt tight. During "sleep" I was spraying every 2 hours or less (if I happened to be still awake). No face swelling. The night before I was repeatedly applying pressure using both of my hands at the forehead (on top of the nose) and tracing to the sides (using each hand) and down the temples/near the cheek bones). I read about this somewhere and Dr. Cooley verified that could help with draining any fluids away from the eye area. Day 3 Did the first self wash and I was very nervous. I used a cup to foam the shampoo and poured over. I haven't touched the transplanted area, only gently the donor area. Some dried blood was removed. The front of the transplant area had some crusting which went a way after the shampooing. Like I said I was very nervous ... partially because of lack of good sleep for 2 nights; that was the hardest part to deal with... as soon I was falling asleep, I had to get up and spray... Being nervous, I called Dr. Cooley after the wash, he answered right away and he reassured me that I was following the right steps and he was confident that everything was alright based on what he has seen the day before. He told me I could use the hair dryer to dry from some distance since I was very nervous touching the transplants. Day 4 Finally, after sleeping more regularly I felt much better and normal again, despite waking up every few hours. I took the opportunity and sprayed at those times. Valium was supposed to help sleep through the night, but I haven't filled the prescription and I don't think it will be real necessary for me. I washed my hair the same way, the back has some crusting but I am not touching it. I only touched the donor area during shampooing and for applying the ointment. I barely felt anything the donor area (unless I touched it) so I haven't taken any pain medication, but I will probably take some before sleeping. Still spraying regularly while at being at the hotel (most of the time anyway) - I will probably get a second bottle. Dr Cooley said at the post-op that he will be happy to provide an extra one as long as I will use it. Photos Day 3 Back - After self wash Day 3 Front - After self wash Day 4 Front - After self wash Day 4 Back (Top Back - Bottom Front - Sorry hard to get a good picture) - After self wash -
Dr Cooley 4222 FUT - 13th Dec 2018
Musicman74 replied to Merlin's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
I just had my procedure with Dr. Cooley in early December. My hair loss is isolated only to my crown area and I went with FUT 3100 grafts. I'm in week 5 and am in the dreaded ugly duckling phase. I've shed all my implanted grafts about 2 weeks ago and there appears to be some shock loss in the crown area. My bald spot looks wider than it did before. Reading though this thread has helped me immensely, waiting is the hardest and most frustrating part. -
Hi all! Been lurking here for over a decade and finally saved up enough money AND courage to take the step for FUT. First off, thank you all for the wealth of knowledge and encouragement. This network helped me make my decision in going with Dr. Cooley, plus helped to know what to expect. So, I'll keep it brief right now but happy to answer any questions. I just had the procedure yesterday and am already back home with little to no discomfort. Excellent experience at Cooley's office and seriously painless procedure. Below are some pictures before and after, and I'll be updating these every month or so with progress. FYI, I'm 37yo male. I've only taken Rogaine (no finasteride) for about a decade, though not religiously (that's about to change!). I've also decided to try finasteride at Dr Cooley's recommendation, and hoping for no side effects. My crown is thinning more than I realized, though frontal hairline was really all I was ever concerned about. Ok, so here's the pics so far. Love to hear your thoughts! -
2000 grafts with Dr. Cooley
home1212 replied to bobbleboy's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
they usually don't shave the back donor region for strip, just the area what will be excised, but as for the recipient zone, i'm assuming you didn't get any grafts in between existing hairs? otherwise that entire recipient zone would have been shaved to address miniaturization and avoidance of graft dissection... Dr. Cooley's work is so impressive! congrats -
For those who are interested, Dr. McGrath (mentioned during the above broadcast) has some videos on YouTube showcasing some of his own before/after photos from an exosome treatment 30 days prior. The results appear to be insanely good, though I wish the photos were larger. I've been able to dig up a few more photos of exosome cases from his clinic and others, and I will say the speed of the initial resoonse does seem to be startlingly quick. Obviously the process is in its early stages so it is not as refined as it could possibly be, but much like with PRP the efficacy and response to seem to differ slightly from patient to patient. Dr. Cooley and Dr. McGrath are supposedly writing a paper together on the efficacy of exosomes on hair regrowth, but it will likely be at least another year or so before we have a better sense of potential longevity of treatment as well as the most effective methods of delivery. Still, as someone who has actually seen good results from PRP+Acell, the prospect of a similar but potentially more potent treatment is intriguing. -
Getting better every day! All work was done to frontal hairline.
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In 1989 I was a college freshman with thin hair that was starting to fall out. Graduated in 1993 and had considerable hair loss. By 1994 I was almost done hair-wise, very traumatic for a young man who is just starting his life, I freaked. That winter, watching a late night informercial on HT's, I though I had the answer. After two consultations with the 'Dr.', I fell for the micro/mini graft, very small scar, full head of hair, etc from this Long Island Medical practice. No internet at the time and I didn’t even know plugs were a thing and as been repeated as I have recently read up on numerous message boards, “You trust a doctor and never would you think they could be so unethical.” This is much different thn a snake oil salesman selling a hairpiece. This is a doctor doing surgery that lasts a lifetime. As a young man I should have understood the supply and demand model and I still kick myself in the ass falling for the full head of hair BS. 3 Procedures winter and spring of 94. By fall I was obviously very unsatisfied. Unnatural small plug look with a few large ones, bad distribution, horrible donor strip scarring, etc, etc. My hair is kind of fine/thin so I feel it was not as bad as some I saw as I noticed more people with plugs (never really noticed them until after my ordeal started) but now I was stuck and stupidly went for one more ‘free’ procedure as I was told they just need to make it more dense.The next 4 years I got by and since my hair is fine/thin texture, under certain lighting, dark, sun, etc it just looked like a young man getting pretty bald. Under many other situations, angles, etc you could see the plugs, cobble-stoning, unnatural hairline, etc. I got by, met a nice girl (now my wife) who never really noticed until I opened up to her, etc, etc. Some days, and even to this day, people don’t notice. Other times in a conversation I could see eyes look at my hairline. Sometime when I am out I see, or just maybe imagine, people checking out my hair/hairline. Myself, as I wrote, I got by but was, and still, always self conscience.In 1998 I visited Dr. Bernstein (at the time he was with NHI in Ft Lee NJ) and felt he was very honest though understandably I lost all faith in the medical community, especially cosmetic medicine. He explained what he and Dr Rassman were doing (which now made more sense to me) and how he could try to camouflage. I can say that I think Dr. Bernstein used some of the best technique that 1998 technology provided and he tried to camouflage my pluggy look. I forgot how many grafts I received and the ones he added were the size he stated but my coverage, and at that point I was very realistic, was still less thn desirable. This is in no way a bash of Dr Bernstein as he never up-sold me, never promised a full head of hair, etc. He was ethical and honest with his graft size/hair per graft, no bumps from his grafts, and it was definitely an improvement though not what I thought it would be. I understood a full head of hair would never be in the cards for me but thought I would get more camouflage in my hairline and coverage. I’ve lived the most normal life I can since thn though I am always self conscious. So here I am today, 25+ years in this journey and things are changing. I have lost even more hair recently (crown area getting even larger) and I am graying. The contrast between my skin, gray hair and dark have given me a more pluggy look. Also, I don’t mind being bald but so is the case of a 48 year old compared to 23 year old staring out life. I actually think I pull off the very thin/very balding look ok and I do not even mind my gray hair. That said, I’d like to look more natural (or at least less pluggy) and maybe even fill in more spots to even out the thinness. My donor area seems kinda depleted so I am not sure how possible any of this is. I am looking at a few possibilities to just move forward being less self conscious as my life moves on. I have no problem with my scalp showing and just want a more natural appearance. I could care less if the plugs in my crown are removed/re-distributed to other areas as my crown will never be covered anyhow. Some things I’d like to accomplish if even possible or recommended. 1) Remove larger plugs in my crown area slice them into smaller grafts and redistribute them to areas of need to try to maybe balance out my thin appearance 2)Remove larger plugs in my hairline and a lil behind hairline dissect and re-distribute them to that same area or others depending what doc says. (Does plug excursion and re-distribution grow at a decent rate or is the return rate poor? What about scarring? Blood supply/flow to the head if plugs are removed and redistributed.)3) See how that goes and if I have any hair left to use in my donor area, just use that to even out some coverage for a thin or more natural appearance in areas of need. With FUE has the donor hair expanded to your sides?4) Fixing my donor scars if even possibleI do not know what is possible but I do know technology and techniques have changed since 1998. I also know, though many docs are very reputable I am very nervous having someone touch my scalp again. I have started reading message boards on HT repairs, articles, researching Dr’s etc. For you young bucks and older gents out there thinking of getting HT’s, you have great resources and you truly need to do your HW. I am shocked that there are still ‘doctors’ who will do bad work and destroy peoples lives. It is all really sad and sickening on so many levels. I live outside of Princeton NJ. Some of the Dr’s in my area that have popped on my radar in my short research are Dr. Bernstein, True and Dorin, Dr Carlos Wesley, Feller/Bloxham, . Anyone have any experience with their plug excursion and re-distribution? What other Dr’s should I put on my radar as I start my research? I am not against travel and have just started reading up on Dr. Cooley in NC, Dr. Lindsey in Va (against excursion), etc. Thn again, I have no clue and do not want to fall for some sales pitch again. Cost is also a factor though I will cross that bridge when it comes and make my decision. That said, who else should I look into? I’m sure I will have more questions but here we go with my first post. Thank you for reading and I look forward to answers and more discussion on this in this thread. Thank you in advance to any and all who read my journey and help answer any questions I've asked and will ask. -
Dr Cooley 4222 FUT - 13th Dec 2018
Merlin replied to Merlin's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Thanks. Dr. Cooley is solid. There are many good providers out there, but you cannot go wrong with him. My situation was that seemingly (partially due to change of hairstyle from long to short) my hair-loss became more obvious overnight and I was using a combover to hide with lots of hairspray. I had to be very strategic when going out to avoid the weather/activities mess my hair. Now I am more care free and I am not thinking of my hair unless I want to style them for some nice occasion. In August, I had a care free vacation at the beach and I was able to fully enjoy it. Now I just hope this will last for long time, and since the surgery I also started propecia with no side effects this time (I started very low and super slowly until I gradually reached the recommended dose; maybe that helped). -
Man, you're making me want to call up Dr. Cooley haha. Amazing result man and thanks for keeping us updated. I see you had a solid head of hair prior to this surgery. I think my crown is similar to yours. How much has your life changed since having the procedure? -
Good choice, H&W are a top notch clinic with a long reputation dating back 20 years. I suggest using our advanced search page to look up real patient reviews from both surgeons. Unbiased patient reviews are the best way to evaluate any surgeon. I also suggest consulting both of these clinics to get a personalized quote and to see who's philosophy you prefer. Keep in mind, Dr. Bloxham is primarily a strip surgeon, his philosophy is different than H&W who now perform both FUE and strip. Dr. Bloxham https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/physician/New-York/Blake-Bloxham/685 Dr. Hasson https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/physician/British-Columbia/Victor-Hasson/9 Dr. Wong https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/physician/British-Columbia/Jerry-Wong/632
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Had my surgery with Dr. Cooley on July 16, 2019. I've read several posts and looked at lots of photos. Here are some pics after the procedure, then monthly until now. The procedure was really painless. They take good care of you. You watch movies while they are placing the graphs. They stop and you eat some lunch as well. Cool stuff. I want to say it was about a 12 hour procedure. The next day after was great as well. They clean you up and talk to you about care etc. Looking forward to seeing the results. This was right after the procedure This was the next day after the followup/cleaning. You can see where the graphs were placed. This was 11 days after the procedure. (Left side) Showing how the graphs have started growing. Hope when they come back after the shedding it is this full. This was 11 days after the procedure. (Right side) This is the first month mark. (Right side) As you can see, most of the transplanted hair has fallen out. This is the first month mark. (Left side) As you can see, most of the transplanted hair has fallen out. This is the second month mark (Right side) This is the second month mark (Left side) I noticed after a haircut that I have some shockless in the back. I didn't take any pictures of the scar. The scar is barely noticeable. I looked for a while before I found it. I will take some pics of the scar and put those up soon. So far that is where I am. I will post pics on each months mark for a while. I am hoping the hairs come back as good as it was looking before the shedding. -
Dr Cooley 4222 FUT - 13th Dec 2018
Merlin replied to Merlin's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
@GrowingHair @mikemorrow2000 Thanks for checking in; I will post photos soon. Since I last posted, I haven't thought about hair loss which was the whole point of doing the procedure with Dr. Cooley. @ck432 I am sure that Dr. Cooley did an excellent job! It's still early, everything will come out fine in time. -
I’ve read many times in the past that prolonged use of finasteride is your best defense against shock loss of native hairs after your transplant. I actually believe that I would have experienced much more shock loss had I not had the PRP done, though. That’s speculation, of course. There’s no way for me to tell at this point. Dr. Arocha believes that PRP reduces the risk and I’ve seen Dr. Cooley speak in interviews about how he believes it reduces the risk of shock loss. Like I said, though, my shock loss was so very minimal and I believe the PRP helped everything from falling out. -
Dr. Cooley, Dr. Konior, Dr. Umar, Dr. Bisanga. Just to name a few can you post pictures?
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While I didn't create an account on this forum over the last couple of years it was invaluable in my research process and I want to pay it forward, especially since I seem to be seeing fewer patient posts with recent dates, at least for Dr. Cooley. Thus I will try to be thorough here in describing my process. Apologies in advance for the length of the post and the variability of the quality of the photos. I know they aren't the best. I am still only a few days/weeks out and will update this with before photos and after photos from the clinic and exact graft count(s) when I get them and try not to disappear throughout the process. My Past Situation I had an ill-advised FUT procedure when I was 21 to address temple recession. I wasn't on meds, it was premature, and I went to a cheap chop shop. CLASSIC, young guy being really stupid. :sigh The procedure (unknown # of grafts) involved putting grafts on the temples and unfortunately also some around the front of my hairline. It did very little cosmetically unless you count triggering massive loss of existing hair (most of which did grow back in fairness). The only saving grace here is that we were talking about a fairly minor temple area and because of my light hair/skin contrast I've been able to get away with a forward brush hairstyle that hid really poor work. Oh and it wasn't big plugs and the scar wasn't horrendous and avoided being in any disastrous region(s) thankfully. No matter what you do STAY AWAY from Samson Hair Restoration in Los Angeles regardless of what doctor they currently have cycled in. Why now Now, 11 years later at 32 with some additional thinning and some recession the previous work was becoming harder to cover, especially when swimming or my hair was wet. Plus, I just wanted it fixed to open up different hairstyles and to get ahead of managing what I believe will be future loss. Almost a gradual "replace" strategy I guess. In terms of meds, I had been on finasteride w/ no side effects for 4 years but then went off for 5+ years (don't really know why). I went back on 6+ months ahead in prep for a procedure and plan to stick with it this time. Not on finasteride or any other shampoos etc at the moment. Picking the surgeon In terms of research this time around I did a lot more homework using this forum as the basis for creating a smaller list of doctors. Ultimately I narrowed my list and research to consults with Lindsay, Bernstein, Cooley, Bloxham, and Nadimi. I felt these were really great doctors that didn't necessarily require a flight based on my East Coast USA location (I was intrigued by Rahal, Hasson/Wong/Kronior and some of the other staple of well regarded doctors as well but with only so much time felt good with my short list). I did not consider India/Turkey etc., not because I don't believe quality results can't be achieved there, but because I didn't want to take the risk and conduct an extra level of due diligence with respect to many of the practices and I was willing to pay $ for that peace of mind. Notes on my Consults During my consult with Dr. Lindsay I felt like he just didn't think I needed a procedure yet. He cited 1200 grafts and it was all relatively cursory. So not a fit for me Dr. Bernstein was a good consult (worth the cost) where I learned a bit and I felt comfortable with him and his work, but ultimately I wasn't blown away by the results I've seen from him either on his website or on this and other forums My consult with Bloxham was really terrific and I got a great feeling from him. He was ultimately my #2 but I did not choose him mostly because he is just relatively newer with fewer posted results. And right or wrong, some of the (rare/older) negative comments about customer service/interactions from Feller put me off. I did NOT have any of this sense from Dr. Bloxham and have never met Feller but the posts are there nonetheless. I will also say, they need to upgrade their facility. Not the medical side hopefully, but the rest of the place was old and run down feeling. Dr. Nadimi was also great (via Skype) and matter of fact but I got the sense she did more FUE than FUT. Similar to Bloxham there are just fewer patient accounts out there that I could find, but based on what I've seen and this consult I was very comfortable and impressed with her Why Cooley Ultimately, I went with the only doctor I didn't meet/ have a convo with directly in Dr. Cooley. I appreciated the consult with Lollie and a deeper understanding of their procedures and liked what I heard about use of Acell, how he preserved grafts out of body, his hands on approach, the tenure of his techs, and so on. But most importantly Cooley's track record of consistent results and patient experiences tipped me over (including one detailed repair write-up by a Blonde haired individual, of which there are relatively few results). I also literally did not find a single negative review (of outcomes) for Cooley in all my research and I valued that apparent consistency. Procedure - Why FUT I knew I wanted FUT as I (a) already had a scar I felt could be improved, (b) wanted to maximize future grafts and survivability, and (c) wanted to minimize recovery time. I am lucky enough to have a lot of Donor and existing hair that can be used to hide a procedure. Pre-Procedure and Day of All things posted about Cooley experiences were true for me. I followed pre-op instructions for scalp laxity. I think this helped as I could feel the sides definitely loosen up, and while the back still felt tight Cooley said it was great and helped with suturing (+ sutures out at 2 weeks vs. 3 weeks). The hotel they set you up in is excellent, easy, convenient and they already know why you are there and what you need. Shuttle drivers, check-in staff, and others there were helpful and discrete and the breakfast and gym is open early enough for day of eating and a last workout. On the day of the operation we met at 7am, had a calm and not rushed discussion where any other questions I had were answered, and re-affirmed my choice of 2500 FUT + PRP/Acell. In terms of hairline we were on the same page to opt for a conservative/mature hairline though Cooley jumped straight to the need for work on the temples which he said he does not always do. This process of agreeing on this was FAST as a lot of it was bridging existing hair and the past work plus a little bit of pulling temples out/down. In terms of PRP, Cooley was candid that for me he didn't know if PRP would make much of a difference as he didn't see a ton of minituraization but (a) I'm paranoid and think there is more than there is/I have very fine hair already, and (b) I am hopeful that it will help somewhat with avoiding shock loss or speeding up recovery. I know there's no real scientific evidence to back that up, but I was willing to spend the $ on the chance it helps. I will say that to make sure you get what you need before surgery begins you should 100% come prepared with your questions. For example in my consult with Bloxham he indicated that my past FUT scar had a small area branching into the danger zone for donor and advised forking the scar near my ear. I really did NOT want to do this, so asked Cooley about it. He decided to implant 10-15 hairs in the end of the old scar as part of the procedure and end the new scar in a safer location. I do not think we would have ultimately done this if I had not asked. H/T to Bloxham for noticing it in a really thorough, caring consult. I also asked about a few grafts poorly placed in the front of my forehead below the 7CM mark we agreed to for the new hairline. He said if I was OK With it that he would remove those with electrolysis which I agreed to and am relieved about as they were definitely not natural looking. Overall, it was a good conversation. I, like most others, felt comfortable and cared for by Dr. Cooley and all of his other wonderful team members. I do think the clinic could get better about having all their pre and post op documentation organized and sent in a big PDF but that's super minor overall and has nothing to do with the in-person interactions I had. One other area that I felt could be improved is in discussing recovery times. The clinic (not Cooley himself) were fairly aggressive in terms of discussing post HT recovery periods and timeline (no redness 5 days, not visible procedure at 8 days etc). It's not that they are totally off, it's just that they are definitely giving the aggressive, "best-case" scenario in my opinion and shaded this as an absolute vs. discussing the potential ranges of recovery times based on patient characteristics. Still thus far in my case it has proven to not be too far off the mark so far (devil's always in the details though isn't it). Procedure itself From the Cooley consult we moved into the procedure. Numbing/valium etc was painless. Unlike others I don't think I really went fully under for the ENTIRE duration of the procedure, I even heard a nice little "ripping" type sound on removal, but no pain whatsoever. By 11:30 the donor was removed, there were 5-6 technicians on the microscopes, I had had PRP and he had done the few electrolysis removals needed. I stopped for lunch and then we carried on. Cooley performed all of the donor incisions, with Brandi hovering nearby, and was present for probably 90% of the graft placement. I know for sure he was doing all the immediate hairline grafts. I believe he left for a little over an hour in the middle of the procedure (basically the length of a movie), but I'm not 100% on whether he popped his head in a few times during that time or not. While he was not actively working on my head Brandi was performing graft placement and I believe Amy also worked on placing grafts. Cooley returned and was essentially there the rest of the day long after many of the other techs had left post dissecting the grafts (easily 4-5+ more hours). It was clear he reviewed and had ample time to change, correct, or ensure any grafts not placed with him in the room were to his liking. Like others have mentioned it was clear throughout the day that this was a well-oiled machine, with team members that had worked together for years (decades even). Everyone was friendly and taking a dedicated and personalized approach to the operation, and I couldn't imagine going somewhere with a doctor doing multiple ops in a day. Throughout the process Brandi was constantly checking Cooley and making sure anything "controversial" about his approach was discussed (a few graft placements here and there, reminders about how many grafts were left etc). All of this was reassuring. I am sure the reverse also happened. Ultimately for the 2,500 graft procedure Cooley was able to get over 3,000 grafts (I will get exact counts later) and we did not finish the day until a bit after 7pm, meaning I was there for nearly 12 hours. This extra time and attention, plus the grafts that were not something I had to pay extra for, all speak to his long-running record of caring about his patients and working tirelessly to get results. I am obviously grateful for this. Post Op - Healing, Pain, and Experience (Week 1) Donor got painful at the end of the day during the operation so I was numbed up again before I went home. I was obviously a bit red and beat up but it wasn't as bad as I was expecting and they had already done a pretty good job cleaning a lot of the blood off. Plus I was wearing Saran wrap + a hat so able to avoid any weird looks. On night 1 I took some Tylenol but nothing stronger--which is good because I didn't get the prescriptions until day-of for stronger meds. Cooley's post-op care uses an ATP spray + saran wrap to increase moisture and prevent any graft damage and antibiotic ointment on the donor scar. You basically spray every hour you are awake and wake up and spray every 2 hours for the first 2 nights along with taking some preventative Prednisone for swelling. I followed the instructions religiously here and I think it really helped calm redness and speed healing. On night 2 I was falling back asleep pretty quickly so it didn't feel too onerous to keep getting up. For sure it kept the itchiness to a real minimum in the first 6 days. I went back the next morning for a post-op clean and got the all good from Dr. Cooley. During this cleaning Amy took time to answer any questions I had about the next week of care and was patient with what I am sure are the same questions everyone asks. In terms of the documentation they gave me to follow, I actually think it could have been a bit more detailed. It wasn't that it was bad, but I felt like an "FAQ" or just more exhaustive detail would have helped. For example, I asked about caffeine / alcohol / ibuprofen which were not listed (Cooley says moderate amounts of both are fine), and it doesn't give you much about how to sleep (when can you sleep sidweays on the grafts) and so on. To give you a sense of how smooth this was, I drove almost 7 hours home the very next day, which was completely fine and painless. Overall I found the post-op regimen easy to follow, the spray and saran wrap seemingly very effective even if I did probably use it too quickly/aggressively to try to get it through the native hair as I ran out a day or two earlier than I think the clinic expects. One curious thing with post-op care from the clinic is that it seems that Cooley's overall instructions,are more aggressive than many other docs (like the timeline to shampoo (next day) and return to regular shampooing (7 days) . I'm sure this is because Cooley is confident in the healing/quality of the grafts and incisions etc and has refined his approach over time but it does make me just a little nervous when looking at the instructions online from so many other places that are much more conservative. But he's my doc and I'm in his hands and so far so good. On night 3 I slept poorly but not really due to pain, I think I just missed exercise. On night 4 and 5 I had more pain when putting the back of my head on pillows (I slept elevated with an inflatable travel pillow partially inflated these nights to help with any potential swelling) and I did take a valium one night and the other pain killer + tylenol combo prescribed drug the fifth night. It almost felt like the donor was a little more stretched these two nights with whatever position I could find that didnt have too much pressure. If this continues I'll call the office to make sure it's normal. Some posters here have mentioned this as the return of nerve sensation but I'm not sure. Otherwise I have had some very very minor swelling which made me break out some ice on my forehead and eye area a couple of times and take ibuprofen periodically as well. It was never uncomfortable or especially noticeable to anyone else however. Last point, I am using the Hair Shake protein. I don't really think it'll do much but I've used protein powder a lot anyway so I don't mind and if it helps at all with speed of growth or minimization of shock-loss, then it's worth a couple months of it for me. I am not planning on using it long term and no one at the Cooley office actually mentioned it directly despite having it stocked there and having it listed as an optional part of the post-op procedure. Post Op Appearance - First Week The scar in the back is perhaps slightly visible with wet hair (first 3-4 days) but completely hidden with normal dry hair. As mentioned it wasn't giving me much trouble the first 3-4 days, although of course everything felt really "tight" there. At night or with pressure on it day 5-6 it actually has felt a bit worse and I've taken some of the prescribed meds just to make sure I get decent enough sleep. We will see of course on final healing and appearance, it is early days. Redness in the recipient has subsided each day, and now at day 6 is not bad at all. It's probably worse in the pictures than in real life. I am fairly pale skinned but had a deep tan going which some say can help. There is definitely scabbing, it is super mild/light and looks like when I return to regular shampooing and rub the grafts a bit it will easily flake off and be gone within the 7-10 day timeframe that they gave. In any case, it's really mild and not that noticeable. I have used their given shampoo and started leaving the conditioner in a bit longer which I think has helped. I have a couple spots of dried blood left but overall it's pretty clean and I haven't noticed anything remotely like grafts falling out. Really, not even many/any hairs yet. The kicker here for me is that I 100% had to hide from the world during this time because I was (a) spraying every hour and (b) couldn't style my existing hair for fear of touching/disloding existing grafts. So you could see the grafts taking hold and small stubbly hair, plus weird caked native hair that was a bit long already awkwardly plastered to my scalp. So all in all, a real lovely mess. Now had I managed this aggressively with a blow dryer on cool or if I was more comfortable touching and styling my scalp in this period I am sure I could have made it look better but I didn't want to take any risks. On Day 6 I did a bit of finger styling and with my existing hair I can make it look decent (see 1 of the pictures). Decent is not invisible however. The temples are harder to disguise and any close inspection things are definitely still visible so I feel I am very much still in hat land. To be fair, my wife says it's pretty hard to tell unless you get up close and personal already. We will see if my extended family at Day 11 notices anything. Summary of first week So far the difference from my first procedure has been remarkable. Basically instead of an immediate "oh shit what have I done" I felt more like a "I'm already looking better than I expected 12 hours later. and everything is going exactly like they said" It's nice to already feel like I made the right choice. The recovery seems to be text book according to their expectations, but I most certainly don't want to be out and about without a hat yet as it would be noticeable. The things I am worried about are (a) appearance at 10 days and masking it, (b) avoiding shock-loss as no work was done in the middle of the frontal third, and (c) continued management of the donor scar pain. All the rest is of course the standard, hurry up and wait, concerns about linear scar etc that we all have but if I can avoid shock loss I feel comfortable looking like I did for 6+ more months. I hope this is helpful and of course any feedback on the pics and actual quality of the work is welcome as well. Again, apologies on the photo quality I will get better ones from clinic later. I will try to post periodically as I hate the posts where people disappear but I also intend to try to live my life and not obsess over the progress over the next few months. -
Man that was an awesome write-up 👏🏼 Dr. Cooley is one of the greats. I hope you’ll consider creating a patient website, it gets linked to your surgeons profile and is a great tool for tracking and research. https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/
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I'm hoping to be on the verge of seeing some real growth. If I squint I can't kind of imagine the hairline, and it's definitely bit thicker than 3 months ago. I'm hoping the PRP Acell as well as the rogaine twice a day and finasteride will thicken the crown, where I didn't have FUT. Dr. Cooley feels confident I should see some thickening there. I've also added biotin, collagen and Pronexa shampoo to my regimen. More to come!
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Thinning behind transplants in frontal third
Mycroft replied to Mikey1970's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
You can certainly give PRP a go. I've never heard of it causing shock loss although an effluvium shed is possible. I'd make sure to only consider doctors with good PRP results though and don't get taken in by med spas or people offering it on the cheap. Mine was done by Dr. Arocha. Dr. Cooley has also shown some strong results. Dr. Greco in Sarasota was the first to offer the procedure as far as I'm aware. There are others, but do your research. I'd recommend only opting for PRP with some kind of extra growth matrix like Acell. -
Hi folks, I just wanted to share my recent experience following an FUT procedure with Dr Jerry Cooley yesterday. I apologise if this post is long and detailed but I took a lot of value from all the various posters and wanted to give the same back. Days leading to the procedure I had been speaking to Cooley’s clinic in September and had various conversations with Lollie as well as telephonic conversation with Dr Cooley himself. After speaking to them both I kind of knew that this was the clinic I wanted to go with. I paid a deposit at the end of October for a 4000 FUT procedure. During the lead up, I must admit it was a mixture of emotions and last week was possibly the worst. At one point I just wanted to cancel and not go through such was the nerves and anxiety. But ploughed through it and as the day got closer the more excited I felt. Travel to Charlotte from LHR Some of you may be aware the UK experienced snow fall which as per usual played havoc with some of the outbound flights. I was due to fly out at 13:30 and came to know in the morning prior to reaching the airport that the flight had been delayed to 14:20. 14:20 came and there was still no news about what gate to go to or if the flight had been delayed or even cancelled, despite repeated attempts to find out information from the relevant information desks. Finally, we were given a gate and told to expect to take off at 16:30. We boarded the flight around 17:00 and didn’t take take off till 19:30. Which meant we didn’t arrive in Charlotte till 23:30!! Immigration control was no issues, just told them I was here for vacation and they asked some additional questions such as “where I am staying, how long, what I do for a living, how much currency I have etc?”. Breezed through with no problems. The clinic had arranged for us to be put up in the Hilton Garden Inn which is about 20 mins or so from the airport and approximately 5/6min drive to the clinic. Day of procedure I was advised by Aileene to be at the clinic at 7am. The hotel offers a shuttle bus and because of the late check in they were unable to schedule this for me at short notice, so had to get an Uber to the clinic. Arrived at the clinic and was greeted by Stephanie and taken to a room where I was asked to complete the normal paperwork. These were actually sent to me prior so I could’ve made my life a little easier by completing these prior to arriving. Stephanie was very kind and didn’t make an issue out of this. She was very calming and friendly. Once the paper work was completed, I was asked to choose some movies (like most clinics they had a large range) and also lunch (again loads of options and if anyone is interested I had a turkey panini wrap). Once this was all done Dr Cooley arrived to greet me. Following an initial conversation about goals etc I knew this guy was top notch, such was his confidence, personality and straightforwardness. I had my photos taken and the hairline drawn not that there was much to draw as I already had frontal tuft it was just a case of bridging the areas which had been lost. He looked at my donor and said it was excellent and that laxity was very good. We both agreed that the frontal third would be the most dense and continuing in to the mid-scalp area with less density and also shrink the crown outside in but not completely fill. Once this was all agreed, I was given my meds; antibiotics, valium and two prednisone’s (these are to help reduce any swelling). Once that was done, I was taken to the room. The room was exactly how I expected it to be. I had previously watched Joe Tillman’s visit to the clinic and if anyone wants to see it, take a look on YouTube. My hair was then slightly shaved where the strip was due to be taken. At the same time Brandy was taking my blood pressure. It was a little high, not sure why as I was super calm and excited. Anyhow, I was asked to lie face down on the chair for strip removal and was also given something to calm me down. After this was done I don’t remember much. I vaguely remember the anaesthetic shots and these were not as painful as I thought they would be. After this I must have dozed off as I cant remember anything thereafter. I do remember it was around 08:30 when I was asked to lie down. I woke up later and asked for a rest room break (I was literally bursting!). Dr Cooley advised that it wasn’t an issue as he was almost done closing the strip. I got up and felt a bit light headed, so sat down, I looked at the time and it was 10:30. Dr Cooley advised that it was a straight forward removal and there was no heavy blood loss or any other issues which I was very happy about. The strip was closed with sutures. After the rest room break Dr Cooley and Brandy started to make the incisions in the scalp and at the same time I think I counted six technicians in the room doing the graft dissection. I felt absolutely no pain at all during this process. I just had my headphones in and probably nodded off a couple of times. I cant stress enough how painless everything was so far! Time for lunch around 12noon. I asked Dr Cooley how the work was going and he mentioned that they had done around 2000+ incisions and would be inserting the grafts after lunch. We broke for lunch for about 20/30mins or so. I ate and at the same time was talking to the extremely friendly technicians. After lunch the work continued and at the same time I was watching the selected movies. Don’t really remember the first two films. I had selected the Batman series and I do remember during the Dark Knight, Dr Cooley saying a few dialogues which I found pretty funny. Dr Cooley and Brandy meticulously inserted the grafts for the next 7 hours. Yes it was that long but this is purely down to both being perfectionists. One thing to note the anaesthetic shots (I actually don’t remember where these were placed in the front, I assume around the forehead area) but a couple did hurt just slightly but literally lasts for 5/10 seconds. It really isn’t that bad at all! During the latter part of the procedure I was quite alert and conversing with both Cooley and Brandy. They are both amazing people and extremely friendly to talk to. They actually bounce off each other was really refreshing. I did joke with them that they are like husband and wife which they found quite funny! The last hour was probably the most discomforting mostly because I had been in the chair for almost 11 hours and my shoulders and neck were getting pretty sore. Again I ploughed through. We eventually finished the entire procedure around 20:30ish. I asked how many grafts I got and was told over 4000 which I was really happy about. Post op pictures were taken and I was shown the back of my head and the top. I was slightly nervous about strip and where it was being taken from and if it would be visible. I can honestly say that Dr Cooley and Brandy have done a fantastic job as I couldn’t find it at all. The top of the head looked pretty good considering I had over 4000 grafts inserted. I was given my post op instructions, shampoos, meds, my post op ATP spray which I needed to spray every hour and every 2 hours when sleeping for the first few days. Dr Cooley showed how it is to be done (very simple!) and he asks to put a cling film type thing on top immediately after to help with healing, keeping the grafts moist and for the spray not to evaporate. He calls it the ‘green house effect’. Once back at the hotel, I sprayed as instructed even through the night although not every hour, every two hours in fact. In terms of pain, I feel minimal pain around the strip. Out of ten, I would rate it a two/three. I’ve honestly taken a pain killer since the procedure and today is the day after. The strip area does feel numb which I fully expected and also expect this to subside over the coming weeks. Post-Op Day 1 As I said earlier I took a pain killer in the morning as I was expecting the pain to increase. However, after the pain killers had worn off I still felt the same, no increase at all. Since then I have had very slight plan on the left hand side of the strip. The rest of the donor area is still numb but pretty comfortable. I did notice minimal swelling above my eyes, nothing like what I have seen on the forums and defiantly nothing major. Dr Cooley advises to take two prednisone’s the following morning after the procedure which I did and the has gone down. As also mentioned above I’ve continued following Dr Cooley’s post op instructions in spraying the post op ATP spray every hour. I also got my hair washed at the clinic and what can I say, the work looks extremely clean. Just a few blood spots but generally it looks just how I expected the work to be. Amy who washed my hair even mentioned that she found it difficult find the scar as she needed to put some antibiotic cream on it. This was refreshing to hear! Dr Cooley came in after the hair wash and checked things over and he mentioned that all looked well and that it looks exactly how it should be. He also mentioned me as the ‘model’ patient as I barely moved in the surgical chair and also kept the whole team entertained (while I was awake of course!)!! I did ask how many grafts we managed to get and he advised that the final figure was 4108. I’ll get the break down later this week and will share. He also mentioned that he could get another strip of about 2000-3000 if needed and some FUE grafts after that (again if needed). Dr Cooley also recommends a Help Hair whey protein shake which I purchased and have started to take this as well. I just felt it cant do any harm. Any how the day has been pretty comfortable and very pain less. To summarise my experience so far, I’ve definitely had a great experience with Cooley and his team. They all work extremely hard and are very meticulous in everything they do. Cooley (and Brandy) is a perfectionist and wants everything to be 110% correct. I know the whole team has put in 110% effort so that I can achieve the desired result!! Dr Cooley and Brandy were by my side every time I would look up and I probably remember Cooley walking out for a short while but I am 110% confident that he was there and doing most of the work throughout the day!! It really does ease any anxieties when you know the lead doctor is there playing a pivotal part during the procedure and being so heavily involved! I’m on my iPad and will be receiving a CD with post / pre op photos which I will update later this week. I have some on my phone and again I will post later (just need to blank out the face). If anyone has any further questions, please feel free to ask here or PM me. Apologies for the long write up, I hope anyone considering Dr Cooley and his clinic finds this useful. If anyone is due for a procedure in the next forthcoming days with Cooley, I am staying at the hotel until Sunday and am more than happy to speak to anyone! -
Beautiful work, Dr. Cooley. The patient must be thrilled. Excellent presentation too. I love the "comb-through" video. -
Hasson & Wong negative reviews
det9925 replied to zach0786's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Most docs simply dont care about their patients somtimes you have to learn that the hard way! Only ht docs seem trustable to me would be Dr. K Dr.Cooley and H&W Im sure there is more out there tho. -
Had a great experience with Dr. Cooley. I was in conversation with their office for months and scheduled my 2,500 FUE procedure with PRP/ACell on 11/27/17. Prior to the procedure, Dr. Cooley and I discussed my goals and where I wanted my hairline to be and we were in agreement on that. I was not going for an unrealistic hairline, just a reinforced one that filled in empty spots. He then took a series of photos and then shaved the back and sides of my head to do the extraction. He left the top unshaved which is good as it helps disguise the grafts and then went to work. Post Op Care The one issue I ran into day 1 post op was I woke up with some blood on my graft area which freaked me out. I've been sleeping with a neck pillow and spent the first few nights sleeping on a chair, with a surgeon's cap on, so not sure what happened. I called Dr. Cooley right away and I was able to come in that morning and his assistant fixed the issue and did a cleaning. He took a look at it as well and saw it was fine, which was a big relief. I stayed 2 more days and they were kind enough to do cleanings each of those days, which was great as I was super nervous about doing that myself. Dr. Cooley took professional photos pre-op, post-op and 3 days later and gave me a CD with them. They gave me a big spray bottle which includes saline and basically helps heal the grafts/scalp and instructed me to spray every hour while awake and every 2 hours while asleep. Today is day 7 and I've been continuing that process although not as frequently. I've noticed for some folks that their grafts crust up in a few days and mine still haven't, which they say is a good thing. I have washed daily with the conditioner they provided which has copper peptides. I read that a lot of people also use baby shampoo which I might do. I also am taking the Help Hair Protein shake his office recommends and continuing propecia. I sent their office some photos from today and they said it looked good. The one minor thing is the back of my head where all the FUE grafts were extracted started to become pretty uncomfortable on day 3, which was weird that it took so long and was basically throbbing daily and a bit hard to sleep on until day 7. Tylenol helped a bit, but not much. Thankfully I took 2 weeks of vacation so I could deal with all this. I read some folks use aloe vera on the donor area. Not sure if it's worth doing at this point. Final Thoughts So overall I'm very pleased with my experience with Dr. Cooley and his staff. He's very friendly and professional as is his staff. I've been a regular on this forum for a few years and finally got the procedure done. I did a ton of research before I went with Dr. Cooley and he fit what I was looking for. He has many years of experience and is almost unanimously praised on this forum. His photo and video results are great as well. I like that he's also on the cutting edge of PRP and ACell. I know it's early days, but I'm pretty satisfied. Can't wait until 3-4 months when the hair starts to grow. But just trying to get to the 10 day point where the grafts become secure then I can start to sleep more normally and not wear button shirts every day. Photo link is below. I'm going to try to update monthly until a year. Feel free to ask any questions. -
It's been a long time coming....over 13 years to be exact. I'm not going to rehash my previous stories, you can look them up on my previous threads. However, I am happy to say I have FINALLY repaired the Bosley mistake I made when I was only 21! I just got home from a long day at Dr. Cooley's office! I got there at 7AM, and they worked on me diligently until 6:45PM. I'm a little exhausted to say the least, so I'm not going to give drawn out details, just some bullet points: Customer Care: Impeccable. Dr. Cooley and his team were at my side every step of the way. Pain: Basically non-existent. And, I was very lucid for almost the entire procedure. I remember being blacked out when I had my Bosley procedure years ago...no clue what was going on. Atmosphere: Dr. Cooley's office is in a major medical center in Charlotte, NC. It's connected to a hospital. You could not feel more comfortable and confident in the setting. Procedure: Started with the strip removal, then incisions, followed by graft placements. Dr. Cooley was by my side at least 95% of the entire procedure, regardless of what was happening. And I have complete faith in his assistants. His lead assistant Brandi has been with him for 18 years! THE BEST PART!: I paid for 2000 grafts, but was adamant about not elongating my existing scar over a certain length. Dr. Cooley complied, and we fell short of the purchased grafts by roughly 225. Dr. Cooley performed a non-shaven FUE on me for the remainder of the grafts....and did not charge me the extra expense for this type of procedure even though I insisted on it. Overall: As a repair patient and someone EXTREMELY critical of this entire industry, my experience today could not have been any better. Of course, I'm now on to the waiting game. Attached are before pictures from last night, and post-surgery pics from 15 minutes ago. Any feedback is greatly appreciated! PS: Thank you for all of the support from fellow members of these forums, other clinics, and clinic representatives over the years. You know who you are and I can't thank you enough! -
Hey there friends~ I wanted to say thanks to everyone here for providing such a positive forum. As I began searching for the best hair transplant surgeons in the country, this forum was invaluable to me finding Dr. Jerry Cooley in Charlotte, North Carolina, of Carolina Dermatology. So I'm paying it forward by sharing just a few words about my own amazing experience. I'll probably have some photos to share later, but for now just wanted to write a little. I visited four different surgeons across a span of six months, before eventually finding Dr. Cooley--again, this site was very helpful in doing so! When I discovered Dr. Cooley's office, I knew it was the one. From the very beginning, I was given the most thorough discussion of the procedure by Patient Coordinator Lollie, who was also more helpful to me than anyone before her in what else I could be doing in the meantime, including starting Nizoral and Teva (and the exact dosing so as to limit or not even cause side effects--of which I have had none since beginning 4 months ago). The entire process leading up to the surgery was smooth, seamless, and the utmost professional. Day of surgery: Everything was so completely peaceful and yes, painless. The staff, including Brandi, Stephanie, Amy, and others whose name I didn't catch, were all incredible. Dr. Cooley and I consulted a little before the surgery and agreed upon the final hairline restoration, and I always had complete faith in him and his process. I had never had any type of surgery before, so this was a big deviation from anything else in my life, but it was something I had wanted for a very long time, about 20 years honestly. I had just had very light recession beginning then and even up to now (wasn't on anything like finasteride or Nizoral whatsoever). I just knew that doing something surgically would overall improve how I look, feel. We began at about 7:30am and were finished by 5:30pm. It was honestly so easy (as a patient!). Incredibly relaxing environment, and again, amazing staff and doctor. I left that day knowing I had made such a monumentally great decision for myself. If anyone from Dr. Cooley's office is reading this, thank you from the big animal-lover. You are amazing!!! And so kind. And to everyone who helps maintain these forums and contributes to them, thank you for all of the invaluable information you help provide as well. Thanks for the uplifting, mature discussion, and thank you for recommending Dr. Cooley in so many posts. For anyone looking for an incredible patient experience and high quality work (and I can only imagine how thrilled I'll really be in about a year) I can now also add my recommendation to Dr. Jerry Cooley and his team.
