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Showing results for 'Dr. Robert M. Bernstein'.
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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. -
Saw Dr Bernstein in his office and he says I'm not a good candidate for the transplant citing tight scalp and very fine hair. Max 2500K can be harvested. This is not what was told to me by Dr. Bloxham. In fact, Dr Bloxham told me the opposite. Not sure what is going on now as I went from being a candidate to not at all now. Have any of you been through this? I'm surprised by what I was told. -
Dr Bloxham has some great recent results - however I would caution that Dr.Bloxham is relatively new as compared to other options with super long track records in NYC - I've seen some pretty amazing results coming from Dr Carlos Wesley in NYC - if you stack up recent patient and clinic results from True/Dorin, Bloxham, Bernstein, Wesley........I dont think anyone is coming close to Wesley for number of homeruns...........next I would say True/Dorin for the extensive track record......Bloxham is coming up however but if you asked each doctor for their total transplants performed in their career I think he would be well behind these guys and I'd like a doctor who's seen every possible situation in their career or in the OR -
Dr. Robert Dorin would accommodate you. -
^this I’d also add Dr. Bernstein to that list as well. -
Patient presented with a Norwood Class 4 pattern with the intent of restoring density to the frontal recession and crown region. He had undergone an initial FUE elsewhere that was not successful. Total of 773 grafts allocated to the vertex and 2573 grafts to the frontal third. *Manual motorized FUE * Prp/Acell *Propecia -
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Hi, all. I haven’t posted here much since my last procedure in 2015, but happy to share an update with everyone about my latest surgery. As background, I had my first transplant with Dr. Robert Niedbalski in June 2012. I was a NW 2-3, and he transplanted 1,450 grafts via strip to form a lower, but still recessed, hairline. I wanted a flat hairline, so I had a subsequent procedure with Dr. Rahal in October 2015, when he transplanted 2,200 grafts, again via strip. The hairline design was great, but the right side grew in a little sparse. Nothing awful, and I could’ve gone without addressing it, but I wanted to go back to the well for a fuller hairline. I just turned 36, BTW. I've been on Avodart and Propecia for six years and essentially no longer lose hair--my loss is fully halted. I use Rogaine but discontinued before surgery per instructions. Links to thread about my earlier procedures are here: https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=2858 So, last week I drove from Seattle down to Portland for a third procedure--this time with Steve Gable. I’ve known Dr. Gabel for about five years and have really looked forward to working with him. He’s a precise, thoughtful guy, and I knew he’d be a great choice to refine my results. I left Seattle at 3am to check in at Dr. G’s clinic at 6:30. His clinic just moved to a brand-new facility, and it’s gorgeous--two ORs, a lovely lobby, and overall just a great, clean, attractive space. We sat down and discussed hairline approach, and agreed that we weren’t going to lower the hairline. I didn’t need it, and lowering it even a few millimeters would mean that I’d need to get in again to spruce up the density, and I wanted to be done. (My hair is still very dense and I want the hairline to match, so I don’t want to get stuck in a loop of chasing density in an ever-lower hairline.) We agreed 1,000 more grafts across the hairline--and concentrated in the right side--would do the trick. The procedure was very smooth. Strip excision took about 30-45 minutes and I didn’t feel any pain. Dr. G excised part of my prior scar, which ran from just inside left ear to above my right ear. He didn’t need to run all the way from end-to-end on the scar. He closed the strip with staples, which I hadn’t had before; he thought they’d do a better job at holding the tension and has had good luck with them recently. Once the wound was closed, he did the incisions--nothing eventful, and nothing painful. I didn’t bother to watch TV, but just spent the time chatting with Dr. G and his techs. If you haven’t met him, he’s a really personable, chatty guy, which was engaging during surgery. I had a Valium before surgery but didn’t feel it much, which was fine; I’m not the anxious type and was perfectly relaxed during surgery. I seemed more comfortable than my previous surgeries, but that’s probably due in part to the fact that it was fewer grafts so the sit was shorter. When we got to placing grafts, I’d estimate that Dr. G placed about 50%. He places grafts in all his procedures, and I was his only patient that day, so there wasn’t any need for him to pop out and attend to someone else. If you haven’t gone through a transplant before, it’s really disconcerting when you feel like a surgeon disengages from the procedure once the incisions are made and just turns everything over to the techs. Dr. G was omnipresent and was in the room for virtually the whole procedure. That’s not the norm. Of my three procedures, this was the smoothest and easiest. That’s no knock on Niedbalski or Rahal, but a huge compliment to Dr. G and his staff. The post-op materials were first-rate and included a calendar specialized for my surgery date so I didn’t have to count post-surgery days. That’s a nice touch that I hadn’t seen before. The recipient area was also very clean--virtually no blood or scabbing. They carefully washed it the next day and showed me how to shampoo. Great post-op hand-holding all the way, and Dr. G responded to an email same-day later in the week. Pictures are below, and obviously there’s not much to report in terms of growth. My scabs are falling off, but the recipient area is hardly noticeable because although it was shaved, I’m combing my hair forward. Hard to cover up the staples, but they’ll be out in another week. I’m definitely experiencing a lot of tightness in my donor area given that it’s been excised three times, so I’m trying especially hard to keep my head tipped back to keep tension off the scar. I’m a little concerned about a widened scar given that it’s my third strip, but I’ll keep everyone posted as that progresses. Please fire away with questions/comments; I’ll be checking in every day. Thanks! When reviewing pics, please keep in mind that the after pictures are both immediately post-op and then the next day; my hair is wet in both. Remember that the transplanted area contained both native hair AND previously transplanted hair, so the density will be much, much higher than the number of grafts you can see. -
2342 ultra-refined FUs transplanted to recontour frontal frame and add internal density. 728 singles, 1569 doubles, 45 threes. PRP administered intraoperatively.
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Do all of you use minoxidil twice a day daily?I have been using minoxidil 5% once day, I double the single use dosage. I have been doing so for years and believe it to be effective. However, I am also on finasteride. So not sure whether my hair would have been better if i used it twice a day. Any thoughts on whether using it once a day is less effective? I also remember reading on Dr. Bernstein's website, that minoxidil has a half-life of 22 hours, so its almost as effective, im assuming. Also, has anyone used minoxidil from minoxidilmax.com, I have been using their 5% with minoxdil and azelaic acid 5%. I came across this product that they recently launched, https://www.minoxidilmax.com/maxogen-x and seriously considering switching to this. Any expereiences, thoughts would be great! Thanks
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Considering leaving staples in for a little longer than the 14 days recommended by my surgeon. I'll also ask him but wanted the communitys view. Reason for doing this is this is my second FUT and laxity was a definitely reduced vs FUT no.1 and things were a bit tighter for sure post-op........so I'm somewhat concerned around stretching (1st surgery was OK scar wise about average I'd say) and given that the wound significantly increases strength in the early part of the healing it seems all things being equal leaving the staples in for longer will reduce the probability of stretching. Dont trust me Dr.Bernstein seems to think so leaving them in during certain cases for 21 days - https://www.bernsteinmedical.com/answers/when-are-surgical-staples-removed-after-hair-transplant/. They don't bother me so think that 18 or 19 days will be fine for me. Any downside anyone can think of? Again I WILL talk to my surgeon also
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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. -
Thanks Cosmo! I just researched using Minoxidil once a day and it seems to be effective. Dr. Bernstein advises: 5% liquid, once daily at night. (People can google 'Minoxidil once a day Bernstein' . There is a short audio clip at the bottom where Dr. Bernstein compares foam to liquid)
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Here's a 3 month update on our younger landscape guy Robert. Look back a few of my posts and you'll see his case in great detail. Before, during, first week... Well he was supposed to show up for a month scar check, but eventually showed up and did this nice short video. He wears a SHORT haircut and we discuss his scar. He's already been calling in saying its growing but really he's now at only 4 months so it'll be a while but I bet we'll have a 13 month video showing results, if not sooner. The video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZOFEJBJHEk&feature=youtu.be and the original video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2iy2AUIlfA Dr. Lindsey McLean VA -
Bernstein Medical Announces Scalp Micro-Pigmentation (SMP) Program Bernstein Medical’s Scalp Micro-Pigmentation (SMP) program is now in full-swing. The program is led by hair restoration surgeon Dr. Christine Shaver and SMP specialist Jennifer Oakley. “We bring Scalp Micro-Pigmentation to Bernstein Medical in order to provide an important non-surgical option for our patients. SMP can be used in a variety of scenarios with the most popular uses being the camouflage of thinning areas of the scalp and disguising a prior surgical FUT scar. Effective use of SMP can allow patients to stop fussy cosmetic concealers such as Toppik and provide a more elegant solution.” What is SMP? Scalp Micro-Pigmentation (SMP) is a non-surgical, medical-grade tattoo procedure that involves the placement of tiny pigment deposits within the upper dermis of the scalp that simulates the appearance of naturally growing hair. For people who are balding or thinning, the goal of the SMP treatment is to create an illusion of thicker, fuller, stronger hair by simulating the look of individual hairs. Many people find Scalp Micro-pigmentation serves to be a great option for hair loss, especially for those who would prefer a non-surgical cosmetic procedure. Call us at 212-826-2400 to schedule your SMP consultation or email us at contact@bernsteinmedical.com. -
Having attended many of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) annual meetings over the years, I've long known that Dr. Robert Haber is highly respected by his physician colleagues. In 1995 he was recognized for his innovative techniques with an "Award of Excellence" by the ISHRS. In 2001 he was awarded the Archimedes Prize by the Italian Society of Hair Restoration and the Michelangelo Award in 2002. He also served as the President of the ISHRS from 2002 to 2003. But seeing him and his staff in action confirmed that he "walks the talk" in all aspects of his hair restoration surgery from A to Z. The issue of how hair bearing tissue is removed from the donor area has been a particularly hot topic on the Internet the past few years. Patients have been concerned about minimizing scarring in the donor area, while maximizing the amount of hair follicles that are successfully transplanted. Dr. Haber is very much at the cutting edge of addressing these issues so that patient's get the optimal amount grafts from a given amount of limited donor tissue, while minimizing the visibility of any donor scar. In fact, his new device, the "donor spreader", which virtually eliminates any transection (severing) of hair follicles in the donor area during donor removal, was a big sensation when it was introduced at the annual ISHRS meeting in Australia in August of 2005. Dr. Haber's new "Donor Spreader" ??“ making Donor Harvesting Transection Free. The donor spreader enables a surgeon to remove a single donor strip from the patient's donor area without transecting the follicles along the edges of the donor strip. This single strip of hair bearing donor tissue is then carefully "slivered" (trimmed) under microscopes into smaller sections, which are then trimmed into 1, 2, 3 and 4 hair follicular unit grafts. While many leading hair transplant surgeons have the skill to cut along the edge of the donor strip and carefully remove a single donor strip with minimal transection of the follicles along the single blade incision, the donor spreader makes this process easier and more assured. This single bladed donor removal and dissection process, when skillfully performed, makes the harvesting and trimming of donor tissue into follicular unit grafts virtually transection free. Thus a patient can know with confidence that every follicle that is harvested from their limited supply of bald resistant hair follicles in the donor area is going to be carefully preserved and transplanted. Such careful attention to maximizing a patient's limited bald resistant donor tissue is the hallmark of physicians who really care about the patient's long term well being. Such care is often not taken by clinic's who use "multibladed" knifes to quickly remove and trim the donor area in one step without carefully avoiding transecting and damaging the precious donor follicles. Such multibladed knifes and other patient unfriendly means of donor removal, while expedient for the clinic, are silent killers of hundreds of thousands of precious bald resistant hair follicles each year. In my opinion, Dr. Haber's new donor spreader is an outstanding and innovative tool that will save hundreds of thousands of precious follicles in thousands of patients as leading physicians incorporate it into their practices. I really commend him for making the donor harvesting process virtually transection free! Making the Donor Scar Virtually Invisible Dr. Haber also uses a relatively new technique for closing the donor area called "Trichophytic" closure, which can often make the donor scar virtually undetectable to the naked eye. This technique, also referred to as the "ledge" technique, was also detailed on this forum by Dr. Paul Rose who has championed this technique along with Dr. Mario Marzola of Australia. The "Trichophytic" closure enables the top and bottom lips of the open donor area to be joined together with a slight overlap so that the hair follicles in the lower lip grow up and out through the upper lip thus making the donor scar virtually invisible to the naked eye. To enable the upper and lower lips of the donor area to overlap in a smooth and level manner the top and bottom lips are trimmed and beveled so that they join together flush. Such a high level of care in the harvesting and closing of the donor area is producing optimal hair yield for his patients, while minimizing visible donor scarring so that it will not be an issue for a patient. Given his interest in minimizing the chance of cosmetically significant donor scarring, Dr. Haber likes to limit his typical surgical session to under 2,500 grafts in order to avoid over taxing the donor area. Microscopically Prepared Follicular Unit Grafts and Minimally Invasive Incisions Dr. Haber's technicians take great care to preserve the naturally occurring follicular units, while trimming them into 1, 2, 3 and 4 hair grafts. These grafts are then placed into very tiny graft incisions that are carefully oriented and angled by Dr. Haber. Like other leading hair transplant surgeons, Dr. Haber is sensitive to the varying angles and directions in which hair grows depending on where it is located. By following the natural direction and angulations of hairs in a given area, Dr. Haber is able to recreate a natural flow and direction for the new hair. Patient Focused Care Produces Optimal Results Dr. Haber and his staff also typically focus on one patient for the day. Such individual attention enables them to take the time and care needed at each step of the process to give the patient optimal yield and growth, rapid healing and very natural results. Such quality work, although not widely known or recognized online, has earned Dr. Haber and his clinic a strong local reputation in Ohio. In my opinion, Dr. Haber and his staff are real gems in the rough who quietly and consistently produce excellent state of the art results at very fair prices. -
2000 Grafts FUT - Dr. Diep - June 2019
pkipling replied to chiadude's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
The first 72 hours are the most crucial in terms of making sure the grafts are securely anchored. After that time, the risk of them dislodging decreases dramatically, and continues to do so day by day, leaving them completely secure by Day 10. This is based on a study by Dr. Bernstein and Dr. Rassman. That said, when I mentioned I buzzed mine, I simply - and very carefully - buzzed around the recipient area so that the hairs were uniform and would all grow in evenly. -
I really, really need advice.
lebaneseguy replied to lebaneseguy's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Hello, I see your point; I definitely didn't get the consultation from one clinic but several ones and made many calls and took advices from many people who already had undergone a HT (such as Matt Dominance). I do follow Joe Tillman and Dr. Bernstein as some suggested, I have for some months now. I definitely will be consulting more clinics (world famous ones) for better understanding. The clinic I was recently contacting told me my donor holds up to 4500 grafts, and they usually resort to beard hair in case the donor area is risky to take more from. I did ask more about Finasteride, and I will be looking more for advice from pharmacies and local Drs. I was told it's safe to take it, and should I experience any side effect I can stop immediately. In any case, thank you all for showing concern and giving out advice - I am new to this forum as you all know, and I had some doubts about everything. I had way too many questions and was hesitant about the credibility of all the clinics I contacted, hence my topic here. I definitely feel more comfortable about taking decisions after asking here, as it's experienced people directly in contact with me instead of just theoretical research I still have a year to go in case I wanted to go for HT, I'll be spending the whole time doing as much research as possible to make sure I make a decision that will make me happy Regards -
Who would you choose
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Great results Dr. Bernstein, The results look natural and age-appropriate, the patient must feel great 👏
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Simply put, Dr. Bernstein is THE BEST in the field of hair restoration. He is an innovator, and at the forefront of the newest techniques. He is a tried and true expert in the field. He is honest and does not make any false promises or claims-unlike other companies who offer discount coupons and make ridiculous false claims. His results are better than i could have ever imagined. I truly feel like a new person. My confidence and self esteem has been greatly enhanced. The entire staff at Bernstein Medical is fantastic. Everyone is professional, courteous, friendly, very competent and do everything in their power to make the experience as easy as possible. They answer any and all calls immediately and Dr. Bernstein is always available for any follow-up visits or concerns you may have. -
Please recommend doctors to me
Melvin-Moderator replied to Win88's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Feller and bloxham, Dr. Wesley, True&Dorin, Dr. Bernstein also Dr. Rahal -
This is a thread documenting my recent 2612 graft FUE procedure with Dr. Rahal. I'm a NW3A in his late twenties/early thirties who has battled hair loss over the past few years. I've done the big three more or less consistently over the past few years and finally bit the bullet on doing a procedure after some bad experiences at work and with women that convinced me beyond a shadow of a doubt how important having hair really is. After doing some research last year I finally settled for Rahal. The Procedure As the thread says, I did a 2612 FUE procedure, which yielded a total of 5336 hairs. The total graft count was as follows: 1 unit: 547 2 unit: 1426 3 unit: 619 4 unit: 20 His head nurse technician Mike did all the extractions with a motorized extraction tool. Rahal did the incisions, and finally implanting was carried out by Mike and another experienced technician (6-7 years of experience). Two additional staff members assisted. The procedure lasted for 12 hours from 06:00 until 18:00. During the extractions I bled a bit more than usual, otherwise the procedure went smoothly. The clinic as most of you know does multiple procedures; another FUE procedure was going on the same day, for crown work. I stayed awake for the majority of the procedure and opted not to watch a movie as I wanted the staff to remain focused while they were working on me. My impression during the procedure was that they took their work seriously. I have some minor observations that I'll share based on the final outcome, but nothing serious. Worth noting here is that they were using a tool that had been introduced during the past 2.5-3 months, called an "implanter". This is essentially a plastic tube that reduces damage to the graft during implantation and allows for denser packs. According to the doctor this is part of a major shift across the industry. Apparently Lorenzo, Bernstein, Erdogan and other famous docs are already using this, though since adoption is somewhat recent only Erdogan has final results on file. During my consultation I became quite concerned about this as it introduced an additional element of uncertainty to the process. However, the doctor stressed to me that Erdogan's results had been amazing and that the introduction of the implanters would reduce risk rather than increase it. Pre-op/Post-op and Patient Experience As detailed by many others over the years here, this is a clinic that takes patient care and post-operative follow-up very seriously. A lot of thought has been put into the "journey" that you take from showing the first interest to submitting the final follow-up photos. I won't spend too much time on this here, just state for the record that I have had a uniformly positive experience throughout. I really like the staff and they have come across in a sympathetic manner in all the interactions I've had with them. The doctor himself is a good man. He has rock solid ethics. While there I met a NW3 patient who to my semi-trained eye would seem like a good candidate, but was ultimately turned down. For this patient there was a risk of donor depletion, and his final pattern of loss would make the transplanted hairline seem odd if the loss progressed. Another, younger patient was turned down during my time there as well, due to his loss being too minor. Some reviews I saw characterized him as seeming "rushed", however I have had the complete opposite impression. He has been very generous with his time to address my various concerns and my myriad of different questions about post-op care and the procedure itself. Personality-wise he does have a bit of swagger to him, however in a way that I associate with high performers from work. Full marks for him and his team in this respect. My concerns The industry is "caveat emptor", and I take some blame for poor research in selecting my surgeon. My intention with choosing Dr. Rahal was to derisk my procedure, which I thought I had done by going for a clinic with a good reputation online. I did not want to go to Turkey, and had been somewhat underwhelmed by the results of the euro surgeons that were available in a reasonable timeframe. Rahal is routinely mentioned in top #3 lists across the internet and I also spoke with a former patient of his that I trust, and got his assurances that a large FUE session would not be a problem. I dodged most of the obvious bullets, like ARTAS, newbie techs, dense packed Armani hairlines, cheapo third-world surgeons and fallen greats. However, I overlooked the negative experiences of forum member Sean (which I believe was due to a combination of physiology and inexperienced staff members working on him during his initial procedure) and SugarHighs (combination of factors but probably physiology seeing as the hairs grew and then shed), and some of the other rather subpar FUE results floating around here. Ignoring the fact that Sean's procedure was back in 2011, most of the results you can find are rather old and there isn't really a plethora of recent complete hairline FUE results similar to what I was going for. Some of the patient results posted here evidence poor growth, though there is clearly a trend of better performance over the years. Mike told me that they generally don't get poor growth, time will tell but he seemed confident when he said it. I should mention that the most recent results you can find here, those of zx_toth and ftbpicks, both had very good growth and final results. I guess I've attached some new meaning to "doing your research". It really means going the extra mile; scouring the web for results and first-hand accounts, and compiling everything into a timeline. Contact former patients that stopped updating. Get everything in writing before you go in, like how many techs will be working on you, what tools will be used and the doctor's involvement in the surgery. No matter how this procedure turns out, I'll be much more careful with my next one, that's for sure. The road ahead: The way I see it, I'm taking one for the team here, essentially. If the results turn out great then that should help assuage anyone who's apprehensive about doing a larger FUE procedure with this doctor. As I said, the patient experience is top notch and I'd recommend anyone that can handle a FUT scar to go with Rahal. Attached are some pre-op, post-op day 1, and day 11 pictures. I'll get some higher res pictures soon so I'll upload those as soon as possible. However, having browsed a few of these threads over the years I know most people don't care too much about the post-op pictures, the final results are what matter. I'm committing to semi-regular updates until the 12 month mark. Other recent FUE patients of Dr. Rahal are welcome to post here, especially those that are far enough out from the procedure to see how it turned out.
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Recommendations for Dr Stoller?
Melvin-Moderator replied to ghnyc's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Never heard of this doctor, but I would look in to Feller& Bloxham, True&Dorin, Dr. Wesley and Dr. Bernstein in the New York area. -
Feller and Bloxham, True&Dorin and Dr. Bernstein. I wouldn’t limit your search to New York though, spend some time on the forum looking up reviews and visit the surgeon that impresses you the most.
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Dr. Dorin treated this patient's corner/temporal hairline erosion as well as crown thinning with 1400 grafts FUT. Follicular units consisted of 506 singles, 871 doubles, 3 triples. Bio adjuncts: PRP (applied to recipient areas & overall thinning pattern) & Liposmal ATP holding solution / post-op spray application .
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