Search the Community
Showing results for 'Dr. Robert M. Bernstein'.
-
Hello everyone, thanks for letting me join this forum. A lot of important and valuable information for anyone regarding hair loss! My main question is, when comparing Dorin to True is one better then the other? When looking at before and after almost all are done by Robert Dorin. Who is, an amazing and skilled surgeon who constantly provides great results and has a consistent track record. However, I can’t find much of True here or on the website. A lot of the post op photos Dorin and True post on their website are what Dorin surgically does and posts here so that’s how I distinguish them. My main concern is, does it really matter between the two if I had to choose? I know everyone on this website reiterates “do it right or don’t do it all”. Thank you for your help. 23, Norwood 2, no thinning and in propecia.
-
Hi everyone, I am writing to share my experience having an 1852 graft FUE with Dr. Dorin in New York. I have been helped so much by this forum, and I hope a thorough post can help someone else. The basics: I am a 40 year old man, Norwood 3V with likely progression to 5A if nature ran its course. I use Rogaine twice per day and have recently completed 3 treatments of PRP (with pronox which makes you loopy and indifferent to the scalp stabbings). I am not currently on finasteride but considering it along with switching to oral minoxidil. The plan: After a consultation with Dr. True, we planned for a 1500-1600 graft FUE focused on the front. Dr. Dorin would perform the surgery. Why I chose them: I had consultations with several other clinics. They were not good. One clinic bragged about their celebrity patients, only to reveal you, regular citizen, can't get the celebrity doctor. Another showed before and after pics that looked more like they had expertly adjusted the lighting than the patient's hairline. But from the very first conversation, True and Dorin were everything I was looking for: experts in both science and art with tremendous kindness. Oh, and one other selling point. I am scared of needles, despise needles, and also, to be honest with you, I'm not crazy about needles. But True and Dorin use a device called the CompuMed Wand that greatly lessens the pain of local anesthesia. Really? I asked three or four annoying times. Sign me up. Before the procedure: I had a lot questions and the staff at True and Dorin answered every one, no matter how small, very quickly and patiently. Want to jump on the phone? No problem. Talk to the doctor? Does tomorrow work? The morning of the procedure, they asked me to wash my head with Hibiclens, eat breakfast, and avoid coffee. They send an easy-to-follow list of instructions and call you to see if you have any questions for them. I had a prescription for Valium, and took a small dose (1mg) around 6:30am, an hour before we were set to start. I took another 1mg when I arrived, which I know is far less than most take (5mg to 10mg). The procedure: I got to the office at 7:30am, and the first thing that happened is Peter, a primary contact at the practice, took my before pictures. I didn't realize how emotional that moment would be. Sitting on that stool, I thought of all the times I'd shrink away from and dodge cameras, how many photos I am not a part of, how many memories I won't be seen in because I didn't want to see myself. Now, here I was, having one of the last pictures of me taken looking like that. Each flash made me smile—probably the first time I'd smiled in a photo in years. Too bad for the mask. Then, Dr. Dorin walks in and draws the hairline. He hands me a mirror. I think about this scene in the first Tim Burton Batman, when Jack Nicholson's Joker demands a mirror from his doctor after falling into acid. This wasn't that. To have one of the best in the world draw what he's going to do to help me, I felt a rush of gratitude. It's hokey, sure, but how many times do you know your life is about to change? But I do start to fear what will happen next, which are the dreaded numbing injections to the donor area. I lie face down on what I learn is a new chair, and a very comfortable one at that, and turn my head on my left ear. I hear Dr. Dorin turn on the machine and then...oh God...here it comes...it's...it's...not that bad. Then, Dr. Dorin's nurse, Rita, took over. She is hilarious and warm and the type of person you wish some scientist would clone so there would be more goodness in the world. Sure, the injections weren't my idea of a good time. And they did take a while. But, fellow needle phobes and haters, I promise you, they were easy. Halfway through, my anxiety went down making room for my excitement to go up. Soon, my head felt like a heavy helmet and Dr. Dorin began the extraction. He has great taste in music, so it was Sade radio as I felt a little pressure and heard the instrument whirling out grafts. They were initially aiming for 1500-1600, but we went for 1852. Awesome. The count in the end was 403 singles, 1121 doubles, and 328 triples. Then, Rita numbed the hairline. Now on my back, but lying down, she encouraged me to focus on my breathing, relax my shoulders and arms, and go somewhere else in my mind. That probably for normal people means a happy place like a beach or somewhere with burgers and beer, but I kept reflecting on how sad I had been, how many self-conscious moments I had had, how those days were numbered. During this time, I mentioned to Rita that I was hungry. Dr. Dorin walked in with the food I brought, asked me how long I wanted him to heat it up, and then brought me back my lunch. Yes, one of the world's leading hair transplant surgeons didn't tell me to wait until Rita was done, didn't order someone else to do it, but went and microwaved my food himself to help me. After the lunch break, Dr. Dorin made the incisions. He never dumbs down anything, which I love, but when he explained his technique I didn't understand enough to repeat it here. Between the crunching sound and Dr. Dorin counting to one hundred repeatedly, I fell asleep pretty quickly. But before dozing off, I also had blood drawn for PRP with ACell. I know that PRP is controversial on this forum. Go ahead, I know someone is going to say I set my money on fire. But there is a study that shows reduced loss of the transplanted grafts (at one month, 60% of the patients in the PRP group had greater than 75% density in comparison to none in non-PRP group) and all subjects in the study had greater than 75% hair regrowth at the six month mark. And while Dr. Dorin does not make guarantees, he has posted on this forum some success with PRP during the FUE. I figured it was worth a shot. The hardest part for me was lying still when they implanted the grafts. I was able to watch Netflix, but something about telling me not to move at all makes my leg itch, my shoulder ache, and my feet determined to flop. While trying to do the hard work of keeping still, Dr. Dorin walked into the room and asked if I was cold. I was. He grabbed a blanket, put it over me, and made sure it covered my arms and feet. Look, lots of people can learn science. But I am sharing these moments so you know how compassionate and detail-oriented Dr. Dorin and his team are. I only wish I could remember more of the team's names (there was Lisa, Angela, Marcia, Yanilda, but I know and regret I am forgetting some). They all had the same caregiving approach. The entire process was over at 4:30, and Peter took final pictures. I excused myself to the bathroom for a chance to stare at my hairline. What a difference a day makes. They went over the post-op care. I got a bottle of Liposomal ATP to spray on the grafts and donor every hour, a surgical sponge to blot on the grafts when washing, and a cover for my pillow. They also gave me two Tylenol which was all the pain medication I had to take. Dr. Dorin showed me how to put on my baseball hat so it doesn't touch the grafts, and they warned me to watch my head getting into a cab. (Since it is numb, I might not judge space the same way and bump it, knocking out some fragile grafts.) I was starving and went home and ate a lot of sushi. Follow-up: The next day, I went to the practice at 9am and they cleaned my head and answered some more questions. Dr. Dorin took a close look. We talked about finasteride and he wrote me a low-dose prescription. I am still on the fence and the more I read the less clear I am. I have an appointment with my PCP this afternoon to get her opinion. I bought a 45 degree pillow, and wrapped a hoodie around my neck in place of the travel pillow I should have also purchased. Sleeping has been rough. But there has been zero pain and the redness is already starting to go away, though there's a bit of swelling developing on my forehead. And sure, it isn't an on-off switch. But now I can look in the mirror and not focus on what's getting worse but what's going to get better. Pics: Okay, okay, here are some pictures. -
Dr. Carlos Wesley
Mar4art replied to DavidZ's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Yes I agree if it’s an in-depth check then that sounds reasonable. Especially if they put that cost towards the actual price of the procedure. I guess I’m just in the mind set of my last visit to Dr. Bernstein who gave me a initial consultation to see if I was a candidate for HT. I don’t want to go to Dr Wesley and pay $500 just to be told that I’m not a candidate for HT. Also it doesn’t seem right for a doctor not to post on their website the actual price of the consultation. I had to research from others on different forums to get an idea of how much the consult is. I mean take ML488, he was quoted $400 earlier this year. Why is there a difference I price there? In 2012 Dr. Wesley posted his response to a person speaking about the consultation price. And Dr. Wesley says that he started charging $100 for his consultations and that it’s also reasonable to charge $200 and $250 for a ONE HOUR discussion. Which I agree with. But today I was told $500 for 45 minutes. It’s just the difference in price that’s what I find hard to take in. -
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. -
Summary (because this review is long): Today is the 9th day after the surgery. I am very pleased with the Dr. Diep and her staff (so far.) Let's start with surgery info: Surgeon: Dr. Diep MHTA Clinic at Los Gatos, California Surgery Date: 11/12/2020 Procedures (graft): FUE (1411) + FUT (1211) Myself: Asian in my 50's with NW4 to 4.5. Start losing my hair since early 20's. Never take any med, tropical, roller, special shampoo, or anything for hair treatment (just too lazy to care.) My hair never give me trouble at work or dating. Live in the Bay Area and 20 miles from Dr. Diep's office. Reason on Dr. Diep: I have been following Dr. Diep's YouTube channel for more than 2 years and am impressed with the results. I also read a lot of reviews here and I don't see any justification for me to travel during Covid to see other doctors. My #1 requirement is not to screw up. #2 is nature hairline with good density at the front. I actually don't give a damn about the back since neither I can see it in the mirror nor I talk to others with the back of my head. Anyway, I decided Dr. Diep is the best fit for me. Cost: I was first quote $17k to perform 2K FUE to fill the front during the zoom consultation with Dr. Diep. When I got to the office, Dr. Diep was worry that I would not be happy with the density and suggest to go up to 2250 grafts. Since I am not a 1%er, I would like to stick with my original budget (I also heard Divorce is very expensive.) Dr. Diep then suggested to fill my front with FUE+FUT for $17k. Since I actually was undecided about FUE or FUT, I liked the suggestion. The Day of the surgery: Arrived at 7:30am shape. The office is at the very nice part of the Bay Area and is much bigger than I thought. The nurse then had me to fill out a bunch of forms that I read two weeks prior (same time the full payment was due.) I then chit chat with Dr. Diep for about 20 minutes about the surgery (procedure, med, and time), work, and also family. Btw, Dr. Diep is younger than me and I beat him on having much older children. Felt good since I likely retire sooner than him. The tech then lead me to a large surgical room (end up spent the whole day there) and Pam the nurse came in to buzz the back, front and the side of my head. (Pro-tip: If you decided to go with Dr. Diep, just have Pam to buzz off all the hair.) She was very nice but I told her not to quit her day job. I was start dozing off from the med and kind of in and out of consciousness. Don't quote me but my surgery probably starts around 10:30am. I aware there were two tech + Dr. Diep when they were getting the donors. The only time I was fully conscious was having my Pastrami sandwich (good), Fries (not good), and Apple juice (best I had ever taste but I think it is because of the med.) during lunch. I also aware that I may be bleeding a bit much (end up with IV) and talk a lot while I was out. I finally came back to full conscious when the two technicians (Kwan and Linsey) was injecting the hair to my head. I asked about the time and it was 11ish at night. We then spent about an hour making fun about the back to back Julia Robert movies (Pretty women + Sleeping with Enemy) on the TV. Dr. Diep would come in to check on us periodically and the surgery ends around 12:30am. Linsey then went through the aftercare package (med, shampoo, bandages, and shoulder pillow) while I pull my IV off my arm. She wasn't too crazy about it. Dr. Diep then spent couple minutes to give me a quick low down about my surgery (a lot of grey hair and it made things harder.) He was happy about the results after all and sent me on my way. After surgery: The pain was pretty ok. I took the Tramadol for the first two days and then just once a day Aleve afterward. I actually have more problems with the swollen and had trouble open my eyes two days later. I did not take any time off and went back to work the next day. I sent my photo to my boss and he told me not to get on zoom. I actually sent him another photo during the peak of my swollen, and he said never send him anymore photos. Things start looking up about four days later and the swollen was totally gone after 6 days. I still take Aleve right before bed time but it is more to do with the discomfort of the back of my head then anything else. Cleaning (day after): I went back to the office the next day afternoon to have my head clean. No appointment was needed. Jenifer the nurse was super nice and answered a bunch of dump questions that I did not ask the night before. It took about 20 minutes in and out. Billing mix up: I got a bill couple days later for some extra charges because my combined 2611 grafts are more expensive than $17K. I called the Monica the office manager and she was able to resolve it with Dr. Diep. Follow up call from Dr. Diep: Exactly one week after the surgery, Dr. Diep called my cell around 9pm to check on me. I can tell he just finished his shift and was getting in his car. He explained to me about the 14 hours procedure and the combination of FUE + FUT just took longer. He also apologized about the billing mix up due to the office manager did not read his note about the no charge. He ended the call to offer me a free ACELL injection ($600 value according to him) due to the billing miscommunication. Next steps: I have scheduled to remove the sutures in two weeks. An appointment with Dr. Diep for the first check up in four weeks. Overall: I am happy with the results and overall experiences. I can be just like many people her to nitpick stuff and expect the doctor to do everything perfect. You probably can tell by now that I don't take shxt too seriously. OK.. Let stop the rambling and see some before and after photos. -
Age 26, Norwood ~3V + retrograde + diffuse thinning (including donor) Medication: dutasteride 0.5mg/day, foam minoxidil 1-2mL/night Hair characteristics: high contrast with skin, fine, straight Cost: 2.15 euros/graft which is a discount from 2.25 euros/graft because I agreed to provide them anonymized photo updates for their own use. Posting this thread is my own choice. Though, I wish clinics would offer discounts for patients to post threads from start to finish. I see nothing wrong with that. Also, I think the price has gone up recently. Hair loss timeline: 18 - Looking back at old pictures, I had signs of thinning at the hairline 20 - Barber mentioned uneven nape, now I know it was the beginning of retrograde. Started noticing loss at the hairline/crown, found out about finasteride and tried to get on it but my awful dermatologist wouldn't prescribe it to me saying my loss wasn't bad enough 22 - Went back to the dermatologist, still wouldn't prescribe finasteride to me (I think because of side effects? don't remember). He instead prescribed topical minoxidil (requires a prescription in Canada) but he didn't make it sound like it was worth it (annoying to apply, need to use it for life), so I never went through with it 24 - Hair was looking awful, finally decided to do something about it - did my own research, went to a different doctor who was not a moron, and got a 5mg finasteride prescription. Quartered that for 6 months. Also started 1mL liquid minoxidil at the same time 25 - Didn't notice any changes after 6 months, seemed to have maintained. Switched from finasteride to dutasteride to keep as much hair as possible. Got a microscope and analyzed my donor, saw greater than average thinning 26 - Seem to have continued to maintain. Switched to foam minoxidil because liquid takes forever to dry Moral of the story - Many doctors are crap. Take medical matters into your own hands and leave nothing to chance. I carried those learnings over to my HT research. Choice of surgeon: I sent the following clinics (in no particular order) pictures/videos of my hair/recipient/donor. The main point of contention between their opinions was regarding the microscopic videos/images of my donor. Hasson - "Dr. Hasson felt there was more miniaturization than the typical 10-15% and therefore a procedure would involve a bit more risk." Wong - "Dr. Wong on the other hand did not believe there was any signs of dupa and would have no reservations performing a procedure." Bhatti - He was concerned, felt that my donor density was quite low and wanted me to get evaluated in person Bloxham - Wasn't concerned, was more interested in if I noticed any changes in my hair, and said a proper in person examination would be in order Konior - Not concerned, said my donor area was about average Bisanga - More miniaturization in the donor than they would like to see for someone my age, and suggested an in-person consultation Ferreira - Said my donor isn't great, but that I'm far from DUPA, and that my prognosis is good Lorenzo - Said I didn't have DUPA but didn't go into any more details. I feel like they may not have seen the microscopic videos. Wish they would have at least acknowledged my weak donor. Tried following up multiple times to get clarity, but they never responded Diep - saw him in person since I was nearby, he said I had 10k+ grafts available in my donor. 'nuff said. Rassman/Bernstein - said I have more thinning than average but not yet DUPA, suggested I wait a few years, but said I could get a small HT Hattingen - said they would not operate on me, suggested I send them yearly updates of my hair loss situation to see if their opinion changes HLC - didn't want to say anything regarding my microscopic videos, said I would need an in-person dermascopy evaluation, but didn't seem too concerned Pekiner - noted the miniaturization but said my donor was good enough and that they select the highest quality grafts At some point, I decided I was mostly interested in clinics where the surgeon does most, if not all the work. I understand the benefit of technicians doing parts of the procedure like extracting/implanting grafts, but I just feel more comfortable knowing that the surgeon is doing all the important aspects of the procedure themselves, and that I can hold them fully accountable. This left me with a few options at the time: Konior, Ferreira, HLC, Pekiner. Ferreira - I couldn't travel to Portugal because of COVID and wanted to see more results Konior - I think he is one of the best, but I was disappointed that he didn't acknowledge the miniaturization in my donor. My guess is he did notice it but that he's confident in his skills/work and doesn't want his patients to overthink things. I'll likely still see him in the future for temple point work or if I need any touch up on the hairline HLC - Didn't like not knowing which doctor would work on you, and the fact that you could have multiple throughout your procedure. Also have seen some cases where I felt the graft count was a bit aggressive for the patient's age. Have heard communication is also an issue Pekiner - I liked the technique, the small number of grafts per day (~1000), the fact that he is conservative and honest with his patients. Liked that he had a lot of patient reviews from start to finish (mostly on the Italian forum). Very experienced with hairline work and liked his hairlines and density (especially needed with my fine hair). Communication with his rep Alex has been very good. Aborting was a concern, but they told me that they now inform the patient of any findings but ultimately let them decide whether to proceed. Given he would select the highest quality grafts available, I was not too concerned. Also knowing that the graft count could be adjusted on the day of procedure (say down to 1500), my mind was more or less at ease. In the end, he said my donor was slightly better than expected. Procedure: Each day lasted from around 8am-5pm. On the first day of procedure, I had a discussion with Dr. Pekiner about my hair loss history and goals. We then took the photos, designed the hairline, and shaved the head. Then we moved on to the actual extraction/implantation. The way it works with Dr. Pekiner, similar to HLC, is you have two sessions of extraction/15min break/implantation per day, AM and then PM. In between these sessions, they have a chef who provides a meal for you (bonus points for catering to a vegan diet - the food was delicious). At the end of each day, they wrap your head in a bandage to protect the grafts/donor. On the third morning, they give you a final clean up and provide you with the aftercare kit including saline spray for the recipient and bepanthol lotion for the donor. 1 hair: 249 2 hairs: 682 3 hairs: 710 4 hairs: 164 Average hairs/graft: 2.43 Recovery: Sleeping - I'm normally a side sleeper, and started practicing to sleep on my back a couple months in advance. I don't think this is necessary, I just wanted to learn to sleep on my back anyway. Regardless, you'll need a travel/neck pillow anyway to make sure you don't turn in your sleep, and I think you'll be tired enough to fall asleep on your back even if you're not used to it. Another recommendation I have is to zip your arms inside a sweater, so you don't damage your grafts in your sleep. I've seen this happen enough times on these forums, even over the past few months, that I didn't want to take any risks. At one point I was very tired and fell asleep without zipping up my arms, and I actually caught myself lightly reaching up and tapping my recipient area as I was waking up. Nothing bad happened, but I was much more cautious the next times I went to bed and ensured that I zipped up my arms each time. Swelling - I noticed swelling mostly on days 3-4, but nothing too bad compared to what I saw online. I just let it pass with time. Pain - No pain for the first week really. From days ~6-10 I had some donor pain when I'd lay down on my pillow, so I'd just take paracetamol 20 mins before going to bed. Crusts/scabs - was instructed to start gentle massaging them starting day 6, increasing intensity with each day. By day 9, pretty much all of them were gone. Redness - I started using aloe vera as I've read that it helps. Haven't noticed too much improvement yet by day 30. The donor is still red but it's harder to see as the hair is growing longer. The recipient is still red, and the shedding is making that more visible. Feel free to ask any questions. I can add some recent photos soon. I'll probably update monthly. -
It's hard to say since my microscope wasn't of the highest quality. I never counted or was told a specific percentage, but several clinics did say it was higher than average. For example: Hasson - "Dr. Hasson felt there was more miniaturization than the typical 10-15% and therefore a procedure would involve a bit more risk." Bisanga - More miniaturization in the donor than they would like to see for someone my age, and suggested an in-person consultation Ferreira - Said my donor isn't great, but that I'm far from DUPA, and that my prognosis is good Rassman/Bernstein - said I have more thinning than average but not yet DUPA, suggested I wait a few years, but said I could get a small HT
-
Hey! I am 24 year old, and have limited beard growth and am looking to get a beard transplant once the covid restrictions are lifted. I wish to know which Doctor or Clinic is the best in Toronto to get a beard transplant. I found some names like Dr.Asaria and Dr.Robert Jones, everything look good on the web but want to know your realistic opinion of it. If the members here can give me some suggestions regarding which doctor/clinic is the best for beard transplant i would be grateful. Thank you. -
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. -
This patient was a Norwood Class 5 with slightly wavy, medium weight, brown hair. He has a donor density of 2.3 hairs/mm2. He had 1 hair transplant session totaling 2,016 follicular unit grafts. His after photos were taken 18 months following his hair transplant surgery. Before hair transplant 18 months after hair transplant Top view before hair transplant Placement of grafts Top view 18 months after hair transplant Donor area prepped Robotic harvesting of donor area Donor area 10 days after procedure Donor area 18 months after hair transplant -
Just came across this site and forum last week and have been impressed with the level of detail and information available, including the openness with which everyone shares their experiences. I have read many of the posts here and request members' advice. I am 35 years old and have been suffering from a receding hairline and crown. Given I live in SE Asia and don't have high quality HT Surgeons close by (except for India and Turkey), over the years I have made 3 visits to Dr. Robert Bernstein in NYC and is someone I am comfortable with. For a few years I was using Minoxidil and Finasteride until my wife and I decided to family plan (went off Finasteride). The family planning has worked well and we are now done with that phase of our life. During this time, hair loss was constant which leads me to the current condition. I feel I am eligible for an FUE procedure. Given the current COVID conditions it is quite difficult for me to make a trip to the USA just to meet surgeons with a HT to be done months later. It is also difficult to travel to India given the current COVID conditions and the fact that my country is making it very difficult for people to enter from India. Currently, the country with the fewest restrictions for me would be the USA (even though its a 25+ hour trip). Another reason I favor the US is that I was educated in the US, it has been constant holiday destination for my family, and its a place I feel comfortable. I shall be traveling to LA for my other medical requirements in mid July and was looking for advice on how best to proceed. I was ideally looking to have a HT done during my visit but was wondering whether I need to have a physical visit with the doctor. Also, I was ideally looking to get it done in/around LA so I don't have to make additional trips given that COVID is still an issue in the US. Nevertheless, I am well aware that the most important factor is the surgeon and not the location. I have a phone consultation scheduled with Dr. Yazdan in the coming week, but I realized there are very few reviews of him here and that concerned me. I had registered for another online consultation with Dr. Bernstein but have not heard back from their offices. Am attaching some pictures of my hair for reference. Greatly appreciate everyone who has read through this post and thank you in advance to those willing to help me through this process. I hope I have been clear in the explanations above. -
Dr Wolfeld reviews?
nyc_wm45 replied to shadowsauce's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
45 yo WM ... stage 4.5-5 male patter boldness ... was considering an FUE procedure So I called Dr Wesley's office - not even a meeting until mid-Sept. I saw Dr Stoller (it was a 2 week wait), but kind of on the fence with the experience. Dr. Woffeld seems to have some availability ... but I am just struggling to find reviews I could trust ... On another hand seems these procedures have been so commoditized, that does it really matter? (Saw someone on reddit mentioning that Woffeld was trained by Bernstein (and in fact Dr W did work for Bernstein for almost 5 years) -
There is precedent for hair growing slower after your 2nd HT. Dr. Bernstein even reported on it: https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/answers/hair-growth-with-a-second-transplant/ Does Hair Grow More Slowly After a Second or After a First Hair Transplant? August 24th, 2005 Q: This is my second hair transplant and is seems like it is growing more slowly than my first. Is this normal? – J.D., Port Washington, N.Y. A: It is common for a second hair transplant to take a bit longer to grow than the first, so this should be expected. It is also possible that there is some shedding from the procedure, or a continuation of your genetic hair loss. Propecia may be helpful in this regard. It is important to wait at least a year for the transplant to grow in fully and to give a chance for any hair that was shed to regrow -
This patient had a Follicular Unit Transplant (FUT) to restore his frontal hairline and add volume to the front part of his scalp. He decided to have an FUT (rather than FUE) procedure to get as much volume in one session as possible. He does not plan on keep his hair very short on the back and sides, so the fine linear scar from FUT will not be an issue. Results after one session of 2,009 follicular unit grafts with a donor density of 2.2. Before hair transplant After hair transplant Before hair transplant - detail of hairline Position of planned hairline Top view of position of planned hairline Placement of grafts Top view one year after hair transplant
-
Dr. Pak is Dr. Rassman's protege right? Dr. Rassman has trained some great doctors like Dr Mohebi and worked with other great ones like Dr. Bernstein. Plus he's super ethical. At the end of the day, you just have to look at the doctors results on patients with similar hair loss patterns as you. Look at the doctors style and whether you think their goals align with yours. For example, I had a local doc recommend my like 1200 grafts just because he's a conservative guy and then Hasson and Wong went and recommended me 3000 grafts the following week. Make sure you don't only look at the doctors cherrypicked results and find ones from real patients. -
It seems like the more research i do, the more indecisive I become. I was born with a very high hairline and pretty fine hair, though I’m quite confident it’s gotten even thinner as I’ve gotten older. I’m currently 25 and have done exactly nothing so far to combat hair loss, looking to change that now. I would strongly prefer to have hair over being bald but shaved head isn’t the end of the world for me. I have done several online consultations with various surgeons (Konior, Pekiner, Bernstein, amongst several others) and have been browsing this site along with R/tressless on a daily basis. Basically my decisions come down to this: Should I use fin 1 mg 3x per week? Will this be less effective than every day? I watched the hair loss show where they said to do it 3x a week to lessen likelihood of side effects, though my doctor who prescribed it “never heard of someone doing less than 1 mg per day”. I’m also not sure if I should do oral or topical minoxidil. I need to look more into micro needling but I have been reading a lot of people doing that. As you can see, my hairline is really bad.... like to the point that I question if I’m just delaying the inevitable here and there is only one true option, shave. I’m sure there’s a way that I can have a presentable hairline for once, but at what cost I’m wondering, as I’m thinking I will need multiple hair transplant surgeries. Dr. Konior believed that FUT would suit me best for what I want (basically I just want a dense NW2) he said 3000 grafts. He quoted me $26,000. Now if this was a one and done deal, like I pay $26k and I never have to worry about my hairline/hair again, I’d say you have a deal..... however as I’ve learned through others experience here, one transplant patients are rare. I have no idea how far my hair loss will progress, especially since it looks like this at only 25, but if I’m going to have to invest $75,000 over the next several years/decades into “maybe” having a good head of hair, I really question if it’s worth it for me. If I’m going to do this, I want it done right so I’m not willing to cheap out and potentially regret it. Some of the Turkish surgeons look okay and of course charge way less, but I do see various complications arising. Also covid has made everything a pain, so traveling to Canada or Spain or wherever is another consideration if I do it. also on the FUT vs FUE, it seems like FUT is the better option for me, however if I decide to throw in the towel eventually and shave my head, that scar is gonna be a beast. The fact that I would consider shaving in the future makes me really indecisive on that. Most of the doctors I’ve consulted with said i have a good donor area, which is nice to hear, but they are also only seeing pictures and not in person. If I do go through with all this, I would love to pay it forward and post results from the HT here, I’m just very unsure at the moment on what I should do.... right now I’m thinking, try 1 mg fin 3x per week and see how that goes, then proceed to topical minoxidil in a few months, see what I look like in about 6 months, then take it from there. ill say the bottom line though, if I can’t get to a reasonably dense NW2, then I’m not sure this is worth it to me. I’ve never been a huge fan of the nw3+ look, maybe if I were in my 50’s, but now I would really prefer to get to a NW2 or just shave. I also have some thinning in my crown/up top, so that will have to be addressed as well. Any input appreciated -
Patient is an African-American male with Norwood Class 4A hair loss. He has dark-brown/black, textured hair with a donor density of 1.5 hairs/mm2. Results after one hair transplant of 2,275 follicular unit grafts. Before procedure. After procedure. Before transplant. Position of planned hairline. Distribution of 2275 grafts. After one hair transplant session.
-
Time to pull the trigger
SD1984 replied to SixHouse's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Any top doctor in the US you are going to be paying at the very least a whopping $6 a graft. Bring it to NYC with guys like Bernstein or Dorin and you're looking at around $8 a graft. To my knowledge Rahal is still a top guy in the field, yes. Is money an issue for you? Bc if so there are a few great docs overseas who specialize in FUE these days. Bruno Ferreira in Portugal is an up and coming doc who goes great work, Dr. Freitas in Spain, and the same can be said about Dr. Bicer in Turkey. Then there are the regulars in guys like Demirsoy and Pekiner who are at the top of their class when it comes to FUE HT's. -
Are Hair Transplants Perfect?
SadMan2021 replied to Melvin- Moderator's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
I agree hair transplants are about managing expectations and at heart are an illusion of density. Even objectively great HT's can look bad under harsh lighting, have small areas here and there that didn't grow, and people may be stuck with certain hairstyles. I'm being somewhat sarcastic, but I always see people with HT's on here with the same slicked-back hairstyle. Its like that is the uniform post-HT look. I think this is in part because doing some wild/hip Robert-Pattinson style haircut would expose the sub-natural density of HT's. I do think perfect HT's (those with none of the above) do exist, but there is a high degree of luck involved. Combination of elite doctor + incredible donor hair + one's body has a fantastic response to the surgery. Of course one is in control of seeing an elite doctor, but even that is definitely not a guarantee of a "perfect HT". I have seen results from Dr. Konior, Dr. Diep, and others - that while objectively "good", had small but significant flaws you'd expect to see from a no-name doc. -
This patient had thinning at the frontal hairline when she came to Bernstein Medical for hair restoration. To treat her thinning, the patient had one hair transplant of 1,745 follicular unit grafts. Photo results of her hair transplant were taken one year after her procedure. 1 year after procedure Before procedure Before procedure Position of hairline Placement of grafts 1 year after procedure
-
Hello there folks - long time lurker in this forum. I finally decided to go in for my procedure this week. I chose Dr. Scott Alexander in Phoneix for my procedure. I had consulted with a few other doctors as well, and all of them gave me pretty much the same recommendations (except one): 1. Dr. Blake Bloxham - 2500 - 3000 FUT 2. Dr. Jae Pak - 2000 - 2500 FUT 3. Dr. Sahar Nadimi(Konior) - 2500 - 3000 FUT 4. Dr. Shaver (Bernstein) - 2500 FUT 5. Dr. Hasson - 5000 FUE 6. Dr. Alexaner 3000+FUT I also tried contacting Dr. Gabel a couple of times, but didn't get a response. I decided to go in with Dr. Alexander because of his excellent results that look extremely natural. Also, he was closer to me than the others (I live in NorCal) I am not going to bore you all with the details of my history - but just a quick background - Norwood 5A, Age 28 and been on Fin for past 1.5 years. I initially had a FaceTime consult with Dr. Alexander where he examined my hair and answered any questions I had. He recommended a 3000+ FUT as a first procedure to address the hairline and frontal scalp. And another 3000+ FUT after a year for the crown area. I booked a procedure date with him for Sept 10th. Since he had not physically seen me before, I was asked to come in the day before my procedure. He examined my donor and drew the hairline he thought would look good. I liked the design. I was out in about 20 minutes. The next day I was asked to be in the clinic at 7.30 AM. I was kinda nervous in the beginning. I had to sign some paperwork and they offered me a Xanax (which I refused). I then went in to meet Dr. Alexander. He started by drawing the hairline again. A few changes and we were ready to start. I was numbed at the back and he started to cut out the strip. This took about an hour. I was told I have thick skin. LOL (turns out my Mom was right all these years) Dr. Alexander then started stitching me up. He uses two layers of stitches. This procedure took about 1.5 hours. In the meantime, his techs started dissecting the strip in the next room. I was also asked for my choice of lunch. Next, I was numbed up in the front. Dr. then started making the incisions into which he would place the grafts. He told me he wanted to concentrate and not to talk to him. I selected a movie, and let him do his work. This took about 2-3 hours. I then had a quick lunch and went back into the procedure room. The techs then started placin the grafts into my head. Dr. Alexander only came in to numb me up when needed. The techs took turns working on me (about 4 of them in total, 2 of them planting hairs at one time). This took about 3.5 hours. I finally finished around 5.40 PM. A couple of tips for others looking to have a HT soon: 1. Eat well the morning of your procedure. I usually do not eat breakfast. But since this was a big day, I had a light breakfast (I couldnt eat well because I'm not used to it and I was nervous). Even though you are sitting the whole day, you get exhausted. Also its good to eat well as you will be medicated. So make sure you have a good breakfast. 2. A neck pillow is a lifesaver for the first few nights after the procedure. It prevents your implanted area from rubbing against the bed/pillow and gives you good neck support. Below are pre-op photos: Hairline design: After Incisions before graft implants (during lunch): Immediately post Op: Day 1 Post OP after rinsing the area: Donor area (not the best pic): Day 2 post Op: That's all for now. Will keep this thread updated as often as possible. -
Thanks Dr. Khokhar for pointing this out. Dr. Bernstein is indeed experienced and well informed in the field. Nonetheless, I have not come across cases of hair loss or hair follicles death in the many sutured scars that I saw or was involved in. I can see that a tight running suture might cause that if the wound is approximated in a single layer or if there is too much tension on the skin sutures. However, the general practice with sutures is a two layered closure using deep absorbable sutures at the level below the follicle, and a superficial running suture for the skin above the follicles. The skin ones are usually in the superficial layer of the skin and should be very loose to barely bring the skin edges together without any tension. I think with good techniques both sutures and staples should cause no harm and this is seen in the many scars done using both techniques. -
Interesting. I've never heard or seen this based on my convos with surgeons. I've heard from some surgeons that they prefer sutures since they think it can approximate wound edges better than staples and hence the scars won't be visible nearly as much from FUT. But I've also seen work done with staples where the FUT scar can't even be discerned. I wonder how common of an issue this is. Dr. Bernstein definitely knows his stuff well and I trust him. Thanks for sharing and I'll ask around from some surgeons what they think of this and get back to you. I'm in training so I'm always looking for evidence based medicine (as all surgeons should be). Thanks for sharing. Always great to learn about the intricacies of hair transplant surgery. I would ask @DrTBarghouthias well. -
I have the same questions as you have but the answer probably comes to $$$, even thou their sales reps won't admit it. Since in Canada it costs less than in the US, doing FUT is not as profitable, because imagine this: When they schedule a patient for FUT, they prevent another patient from scheduling FUE, and if they do this very often, they end up making less money in the end. They have enough patients for FUEs (they are booked months ahead of time) that they don't need to open space for FUTs anymore. A lot of americans would flood Canada for an FUT procedure if they ofered it, they already flood Canada for FUE When you talk to a clinic that offers both, ask them what is the avialability and chances are they have enough space in their agenda, so they don't have the luxury to reject FUT patients. Dr. Rahal and Wong/Hasson are the most popular ones, but they are not the only good ones in Canada. There's Robert Jones and others. -
The Hair Transplant Network recently interviewed Dr. Christine Shaver, Head of the NYC Division of Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration. Dr. Shaver is a board-certified dermatologist and performs Robotic FUE and FUT hair transplant procedures, which brought a uniquely qualified perspective to this conversation. During the interview, Dr. Shaver answers the following questions: What are the advantages and disadvantages of FUT vs FUE? Patients can come in with unrealistic expectations for hair transplants. How do you manage this and help give patients the best outcomes for them? What age is too young for a hair transplant? What are the key differences between robotic hair transplants and manually performing the procedure?
- 1 reply
-
- 2
-
