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2000 Grafts - FUE - Dr. Alexander - 1 Year Post Op
Racer914 posted a topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
Hello fellow forum community, I’d like to share with you all my personal story of hair loss restoration in hopes of helping those who may see this, and be able to provide them with information, and more importantly, hope for a brighter future. Well, what can I say.. It’s been one year to the date since I had my hair transplant surgery with Dr. Scott Alexander and his fantastic team at the Biltmore Surgical Hair Restoration center on December 19, 2016, and I would like to share my journey leading up to and throughout today’s one year anniversary with you all. The Beginning: Hair Transplant #1 In 2009 while still in college I started to notice for the first time a thinning and receding hairline. As most of you could imagine at this younger age in life, it was completely devastating to my self-esteem, self – confidence, and self – image. I was so blindsided by this new look, it was as if I had awoken to a new me literally overnight. After weighing several options of how I would tackle this new burden I rushed towards a hair transplant surgery the very first moment I had. Little did I know what I’d be getting myself in to.. Back then, although it doesn’t seem that long ago, Bosley commercials seemed to be plastered everywhere, and the young me was on a mission to resolve my hair loss ASAP. Within the week, I had scheduled a review meeting and the then anticipated procedure date with their Beverly Hills office. Soon thereafter, I had undergone a FUT hair transplant with one of their doctors (whose name I can’t remember) for roughly 1,100 – 1,300 grafts. Unfortunately I can’t remember the exact amount. As I was in the midst of the early stage of recovery, I happened to be in Las Vegas flipping through the channels on the TV and saw a Bosley commercial pop up, and coincidentally saw the same doctor who performed my FUT surgery in the commercial! As I look back on that day, I admit I was too young back then to really realize how I should’ve felt about seeing that commercial that day, but I didn’t, and I thought nothing of it. Round Two: Hair Transplant #2 Several months later my first hair transplant experience was a success… a very lucky success as I would later realize. The Bosley FUT hair transplant, for what it’s worth, gave me several years (seven to be exact) of a care free type of life style (in relation to my hair). Unfortunately as with ageing, what was once a restored hairline had begun to thin once again, and I knew I would have to embark on a second procedure. This time around, I did my due diligence and I researched for several months what was the best route and option for me, while also reading numerous Bosley horror stories.. As many years had passed since I had looked in to researching this matter, the technology in this field had grown significantly and I wanted to make sure I knew all about it. I can certainly say that this forum was a true gem in answering all my questions, and sufficing all my queries and needs with the abundance of pictures, and doctoral input throughout the many threads available within this community. After the several months of researching hundreds of threads and viewing probably over a few thousand pictures of how many grafts this person had vs. how many grafts that person had, and who they went to, and how they had it done, I became dead set on proceeding with Dr. Scott Alexander. Through my initial conversations with SPEX on behalf of Dr. Alexander, I felt more and more comfortable with proceeding with my second hair transplant journey with the Biltmore Surgical Hair Restoration center. The key and what was the most important factor to me after thoroughly doing all of my research was that Dr. Alexander himself was the one who would be performing the procedure, and not a blind draw in the hat of who would be doing it e.g. Bosley.* After several conversations with Dr. Alexander, I had scheduled my second procedure with him and his team on December 19, 2016. We planned for a 2000 graft FUE procedure that utilized the ARTAS system for extraction, along with dipping the grafts in Acell, then utilizing Dr. Alexander’s lateral slit technique for insertion for that natural look. As the surgery date approached, I flew to Arizona from LA and was housed at the beautiful Biltmore Hotel – Arizona, which happened to be designed by Frank Lloyd Wight.. truly a sight to see and a very comfy hotel to relax at post – op. On the day of the procedure I arrived bright and early, ready to embark on this new journey. After briefly talking with Dr. Alexander, and taking the initial photos pre – procedure (below), we began on the surgery. The procedure went off without a hitch and Dr. Alexander, his team, and the ARTAS machine worked magic over the next several hours. Before I knew it, it was all over and was time to go back to the hotel. After discussing all of the post op procedures I’d have to follow, including getting on finasteride, I was on my way to a new me! Since then, I’ve had tremendous growth in which I am very happy about as you can see below. I feel like I once again have the ability to cut, crop and maneuver my hair in to new styles whenever and as often as I want, without the caring of who’s noticing a thin spot, as there is no more thin spots! So.. enough from me.. let’s let the pictures do the talking. ******************************************************************************************************************************* -
Hi. I am losing my hair and I want to get a FUE hair transplant. I have been researching this topic for 1 year. I read some negative reviews and a lot of positive reviews on dr Diep. I have seen dr Diep YouTube videos. I don’t know what is real and what is not real in terms of the comments. Is there something I should be aware of when analyzing his YouTube videos? Am I missing something? Is it too good to be true? I ask these questions because I am a true born sucker....lol. I watch magic shows and I can’t figure any of it out. I can’t tell whether pictures are photoshopped on magazines. I do not know anything about optical illusion either. So, please tell me bluntly whether I am being fooled. I am “considering” dr. Diep for my procedure. If I sound stupid please forgive me for my ignorance.
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My experience with Dr. Glenn Charles, DO
Milldawg posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
I am posting this as a review of my experience with Dr. Glenn Charles after I had a FUT transplant with him today (November 2018.) I will be updating my progress throughout the process. In addition, I want to give a brief summary of my hair loss experience and a (kind of) brief review of hair transplants from my perspective as an MD. 1. My history: 28 year old male who started balding in his early twenties. Baldness from both copies of my chromosomes, but my dad's side of the family really have it bad. It really accelerated around age 25 and has been in full force over the past year. I hadn't been on any medications until October, when I started Propecia. I decided a hair transplant was the right decision for me several months ago after over a year of consideration. 2. Hair transplants: I have some experience with the medical field as I finished medical school just over a year ago. Hair transplants weren't a big part of my education, to say the least. Luckily, I have more resources at my disposal than most (peer-reviewed journal articles, chapters from textbooks, etc.) I say this because I am concerned that most people don't have these resources or background to make a truly informed decision. I am by no means an expert, but I believe the following are true for hair transplants and hair transplant surgeons: a) Hair transplants have varying levels of success from mild improvement to moderate improvement (my opinion). Most people with severe hair loss will require several HTs over their lifetime if they have the wrong genetics (my case). The etiology of this variability is multifactorial and beyond the scope of my post. One factor you can control is your choice of surgeon. b) Many cases of dramatic hair loss improvement from a single surgery (i.e. nearly completely bald to a full head of hair) are the result of deceptive omission of information. Some pictures will show before and after pictures in different lighting, different angles, or with the use of thickener. Most importantly, I think that many cases of dramatic improvement are the result of the patient starting Propecia. 5% of patients taking propecia develop dramatic increase in hair density. Nearly one third show moderate increase in hair density and another third show mild increase in hair density. For these reasons, I think before and after photos are vital to your choice of surgeon, but not an end-all. Another factor is technique. c) FUT is an ideal procedure for patients with severe hair loss. Hair transplantation by follicular unit (FUE or FUT) is the gold standard in the industry from many recent journals I have read. FUE seems like a decent option for people who want to have really short haircuts and only have minimal-to-mild hair loss (my opinion). Use of multi-follicular unit grafts was something I had considered. It was the procedure used after "plug grafts," and before the advent of follicular unit transplants in the 90's. Some clinics are using them near the crown, saving single follicular unit grafts for the frontal region. There are sparse reports of this being a better option in a few subsets of patients (blonde haired Caucasians), but nothing that convinced me. Truly there isn't much data on this. My concern, which was shared by Dr. Charles, was that over time these grafts would look "pluggy" and unnatural as the native hair on the crown and frontal region fell out. d) Hair transplantation is a cosmetic plastic surgery procedure. This is not to say that only a plastic surgeon should perform it. It isn't as simple as a Botox injection, but it doesn't require such extensive training and education as a rhinoplasty, breast reduction, etc. This procedure can be done by a skilled physician from a variety of backgrounds (by law). In my opinion, I would like my physician (whether or not they are trained plastic surgeons) to have plenty of experience performing the procedure, preferably years. In addition, I would prefer that hair transplant be the only major procedure the physician performs. Especially (and certainly not exclusively) in the cases in which the physician is not a plastic surgeon, I would hope the physician shows that he has an interest in staying up to date on the latest research in the field. The surgeon should join societies like ISHRS, the ABHRS, or the AHLA in my opinion. 3. My choice: I chose Dr. Charles in part because he fulfills all of these criteria and then some. The guy was president of the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery. He publishes research articles (though I haven't read them). His photos are all standardized. He is all over these forums posting results and actively engaging members of this community and others. He responds to patients even when they have a suboptimal result. He takes on complex repair cases and in my opinion has pretty decent results. He is fair and conservative in his promises. I am a physician and can tell you that this guy is a true doctor as the profession was meant to be. He calls patients and keeps them totally informed. It isn't a job to him, it is part of who he is. He must love what he does. He could have made plenty of money being a radiologist (with a better lifestyle), but chose this instead. I don't really care if my provider has a stunning personality (Dr. Charles seems thoughtful, compassionate, kind. I wouldn't be surprised if some might think he has a stunning personality.) I was impressed by his professionalism. My experience with his clinic was great. Pleasant staff, minimal pain, speedy procedure. As stated multiple times in this post, these opinions are my own. I would hope that they are adequately educated to be of some use to a person considering hair transplants. I encourage any criticism or additions to these opinions. This leads me to my final point: 4. Disclaimer: Not every hair restoration surgeon can be found on these forums. Many are new and many have no interest in participating in this medium. Not every hair restoration surgeon is part of professional societies. Many of those surgeons probably have great results. Some of those who are part of those societies or who participate in these forums do not have a great track record. In the end, many of the successes (or disasters) of a surgeon can be attributed to technical ability. I just believe that keeping up to date and active in the field are key factors that increase success rates and eliminate disasters. I plan on doing the same in my practice. Finally, I suspect that some members of forums and chatrooms are paid representatives for certain physicians. Given the fact that a physician can be smeared unfairly on forums like these, I can't say I blame them for taking this countermeasure. As a precaution, accept no one piece of information in isolation. Do your research as best you can. I will update the forum with my results. -
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1 year results - 2,500 grafts w/Dr. Vories
hairlosscpa posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Hi All, I had a 2,500 graft procedure with Dr. Vories focused on my hairline, midscalp and FUT scar concealment on September 18th, 2015. You can follow my progress in the thread linked in my signature below. I decided to create another thread specifically for my 1 year results. Since my procedure, I have been on .25/mg Propecia every other day (every day since last month) and Kirkland Minoxidil at least 1x/day. My pictures below are in the following order: 1) Pre-op, before any transplants with Dr. True and Dr. Vories (first 3) 2) Pre-op pics before Dr. Vories and 3 years after Dr. True (next 3) 3) Immediate post-op with Dr. Vories (next 3) 4) 1 year progress (last 6) I notice a little inconsistency in the density in my hairline (left side denser than right) but not too noticeable. Overall, I am happy. Please provide your feedback, thanks! -
FUE procedure, 3400 grafts, Dr Hakan Doganay
hyte posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Hair transplant experience Intoduction; I am nearly 35 years old male, suffering with male baldness since 10 years, mostly in my crown area, my hair line always been a Micky Mouse type and was driving me mad. I am classified as a Norwood 3 vertex but as I said my hair line have had just a slightly hair loss. My hair transplant decision was very spontaneous; I work in medical fields where I get to see lots of people suffering on daily basis. This make me concluded that life is too short for hesitation and we should do anything what could make us happy. Choosing a Dr. I after reviewing prices in London (I am Easter European Living in the UK) I have decided to go for Turkey. I have logged in to I think most of the forums for hair lost, hair transplant, hair restoration topics (with the same nickname). I think what I was looking at for choosing a Dr was his international credential in Hair transplant. In the forums there is lots of politics going on and it’s hard to distinguish what is right and what is false. My choice I have narrowed to actually few Dr`s in Turkey. Dr Erdogan, Dr Doganay and Dr Civas, Dr Karadeniz and Dr Yamman. Because I am HIV poz I also find out that sometimes is better to check if the clinic will accept me as a patient. So after the disclosure only one Dr left and to be honest was really pleased with him as he was my ultimate winner anyway (he is a member for the well-respected IAHRS organisation). His reps Didem and Mustafa were always super nice and very quick with replying all off my questions and never tried to push me to have the procedure with them. I also requested that I would like to have my hair crown done on one day and the hair line the next day and that the Dr do all the implanting himself which wasn’t a problem because this is their working protocol anyway. After reviling on the forums that I have plan of going with Dr Doganay I have met with lots of criticism of his latest work and warnings not to risk being butchered by “dogy Doganay”. At this point I was really confused and could not make up my mind. (Suddenly there is Dr Hakan ex employer who is spilling the beans about his unethical work and lots of not very favourable reviews at the same time. Apparently there was a time when AHD clinic was run by the technicians instead the Dr himself) Additionally I have contacted International Hair Transplant Mentor in USA to give me his opinion about Dr Hakan work and as I was expecting he just assured me that my choice it is a good one. First day I have arrived to Istanbul Ataturk airport and as prompted I was picked up buy a smiling driver who did not speak English but straight away he passes me his mobile so I could speak to Didem who explained to me the schedule of my hair transplant procedure. I was taken to very nice hotel near the airport ParkInn by Radison (the Ahd clinic is like 3 km away from the hotel) where I could just relax for the rest of the day. Second day After an amazing breakfast at the hotel I was taken I think by John (who speak English) to the clinic. There I met with Didem and the rest of the staff. I have already felt like someone important and long awaited for. Except Didem I also had been accompanied by a very young handsome translator Tfeem? Not sure about the spelling. Then I met with Dr himself who looked at my donor hair and find out about my expectation for the HT and baldness in my family. He also drawn the hair line which I was very happy with (I have seen some critics if triangle like hair line made by Hakan but I don’t think they can be true cause the Dr is using the laser toll invented I think by Dr Schapiro? The conclusion was that I have very thin hair (which is true) and I will need around 3500 grafts to have a nice density for my hair line and my crown cover. The operation was divided on to two days as requested and I was taken to another room to have my hair shaven. In the operation room the Dr was waiting for me already and draw another hair line and I think also marked the area which will be harvested. He then injected me with anaesthesia (which I think is the only painful moments in the whole HT procedure). My hair was harvested by Ahmed who sims very professional and like someone who is also well respected within the clinic. After 2. 5 h the harvesting was done (1750 grafts) and I had 15 min lunch break. When was the time for implantation the Dr again gave me anaesthetic injections (it’s not a shame if you cry there lol) and when everything was numbed and proceed with implanting my grafts. As a medic professional I also work in surgery theatres and must admit that everything was at the highest standards. They didn’t fault at anything and after I think 4.5 -5 hours first part was done. After the procedure I was given neck pillow some pain relief, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory meds and taken to the hotel where I have order room service diner. Third Day After a good sleep (yep I didn’t have a problem sleeping with the neck pillow) I was taken to the clinic and exactly the same procedure was performing on me with 1650 grafts. To be honest the second day was much easier as I was much more relaxed and didn’t feel that much pain while being injected with anaesthetics. Aha what I have to mention was that I have my crown done and hair line at the same time but the grafts numbers where divided on to two days (the Dr recommended that it will be the best option for best results) Fourth day I had my hair washed and instructed how to taking cate of them and also was given baby lotion baby shampoo (which I could take with me unfortunately) some anti-scaring cream for my donor area, biotin, finasteride supply for 3 months and sexy fisherman hat to protect my head from infection. Conclusion Over all I am very satisfied with the clinic, everyone was super professional, nice and helpful. The Dr himself is very approachable and even that his English is not best he does try to communicate with you to make sure you are happy and at east. Didem is very bobbly and nice to be around. Tfeem? Very claver 21 years old from Aleppo, Syrian boy who learned English form watching American movies, he always finds interesting subject to talk about with you. Finally, I am really happy how my hair looks like after HT and looking forward to the next moths. Hope my results will confirm that Dr Hakan Doganay is very talented HT surgeon. -
~3000 FUT grafts with Dr. Scott Alexander Feb 22 2017
Slush posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Background I am a 34 year old male with light and fine hair. My hair was blonde, but as i have aged it has fallen out and the hair what has remained has turned a light brown. I first was teased about a receding hairline at age 12. My natural hairline was a "W". I noticed hair falling out after towel drying my hair. I went to my doctor at age 16 and was told that it was just genetics. That made me feel self conscious for some time. For at least a decade I have occasionally researched hair loss treatment. I did my best to accept my hair was it was, and for the most part i have felt fine with my hair loss. I am not one of those guys who struggles emotionally due to my hair loss. It turned into more of a "I wish i had more hair" or just the slow sinking feeling in my stomach when i saw pictures. Perhaps that's vanity? I generally just tried not to focus on it. Out of sight, out of mind. Finding My Doctor This past summer I had a deviated septum repaired in Beverly Hills. My surgeon, out of the blue, suggested a hair transplant surgeon that he had seen good work from. I did a lot of research and felt comfortable enough with FUE technology advancement that I was pretty sure I wanted to give the transplant a go. I spoke to many surgeons via email, watched countless Youtube videos, frequented surgeon websites, emailed back and forth with Spex, and of course, followed progress on this forum. After multiple skype/phone/email sessions, I decided that Dr. Alexander was the right doctor for me. I thought for sure i could find a top-notch surgeon in Los Angeles, but the doctor i felt was the best was in Arizona. Go figure! Why I Chose Dr. Alexander I was 99% firm on FUE. For years the FUT donor scar is what kept me from going forward with a HT. I sent pictures to Dr. Alexander. He reviewed and we had a Skype session. He was upfront with me in that my hair loss was progressive enough that protecting and optimizing the use of my donor hair was important. Due to this, he strongly recommended FUT. My stomach sank, so I stepped back from booking an appointment. For a couple of months I researched donor scars, Dr. Alexander's work, reviewed pictures that his staff sent me, and ultimately decided he was right in that I needed to make best use of my donor hair. This became especially important since I have been very resistant to using Finasteride. Dr. Alexander estimated 2400-2600 grafts needed for the frontal area of my head. He said he couldn't do my entire head in one session, so he suggested we wait on the crown. I wanted a one-and-done, but I trusted him as the expert. I am a scientist with an analytical mind. The other doctors I talked to simply had a "trust me" approach. Dr. Alexander instead was upfront about his techniques. He spoke specifically about: the density he targets, how he projects long-term hair loss and will transplant around that, how he uses smaller blades to increase HT density, and the "lateral slit technique". Why don't other doctors give more specifics on their specialization with this cosmetic procedure? I was impressed. Hair Transplant Procedure I flew out the day before surgery. I saw Dr. Alexander and he took a look at my hair. i was pleasantly surprised when he indicated that i had more hair in the center of my head than the pictures indicated. I was told that a total reconstruction would be done of my forward third, as that was the best way to ensure it would look good forever. Dr. Alexander sketched a hairline, we discussed it, and ultimately i told him to do what he felt was best. I went to the Biltmore Arizona Resort after the pre-op visit. This resort was booked by Dr. Alexander's office for me. It is really nice historic landmark. I wish i had more time to enjoy it, but I was there on a mission. The quality of the resort did put me at ease, as I didn't have to worry about accommodations whatsoever. The morning of the procedure went just as I had expected. I woke up eager and anxious, grabbed a protein bar, hit an Uber and arrived at 7:30am. The doctor again took pictures, gave me some (optional) Xanax, sketched a final hairline, and numbed me up. The donor section was removed. This all went relatively quickly, I would say within the first hour. I chatted with the doctor while he worked. The Xanax i was given started to kick in, which made me very sleepy. When Dr. Alexander started making the graft holes he said he needed to focus, so a movie was put on. I lasted about 5 minutes before I fell asleep. I woke up for lunch, which was provided. I was able to take a peek at the team of four technicians dissecting my donor hair follicles. It looked like a true lab, which made me feel at home! After the quick lunch, the doctor sat down with me and explained what was going to happen next. I had an unexpectedly high donor removal of 3000 grafts, despite my thin donor hair. I was going to get a surprise 500 grafts in my crown area. Score! The technicians showed up and began to implant the follicles. I did feel pain, but once I said something they had the doctor numb me up again. Sure enough, once that was done I was asleep in five minutes. I did a very poor job getting through that one movie! I was woken up at 5pm and told all was done. I wonder if i snored? Post-Surgery and Recovery I Ubered back to the resort. The staff gave me a bandana which was much better than my hat. I went to my room, ordered room service, kicked back and wondered, "what the hell did i just do to myself?" The pictures i snapped looked good, but I am definitely concerned that I'll have a large embarrassing donor scar. I'm a worrier by nature, so time will tell. I took my pain medication and passed out. I slept a lot in that 24-hour period! The next morning i showered per the post-op instructions and made my way to the airport. I wore the bandana and my hat. Just as Spex advises on his website, I told security that I had a "procedure on my head" and they let me go through without removing the bandana. Super easy and nothing to worry about. Even if I had to take off my bandana, i wouldn't have cared. As i sat at the gate i was my chatty self and told an old couple about the procedure. I didn't feel any shame, but I did keep my head covered. Once home, i went back to my regular routine the best I could. The only real problem I have had has been being comfortable while sleeping. The donor site is very sensitive, so laying on it is still quite uncomfortable. The first few nights I also found myself feeling very itchy. That has subsided quite a bit. Plan Moving Forward I have fair skin so I plan to be aggressive with recovery. Spex has advised Aloe Vera and distilled witch hazel a week post-op. I will do that after my stitches are removed. I have been taking Biotin and MSM. I have been gentle with the grafts and will continue to do so. I am working from home this week, and am a bit nervous about how I will look when I return to the office on Monday. I'll post pictures to share progress and thoughts. You will see this progress with me, the good or bad. I generally am very private, but I want to help others on their journey. Let's see how this works out... -
Hello All, My FUE procedure was completed 4-5 November 2015. 4000 grafts total, mostly two counts: about 8000 hairs total. I am happy with the hairline as I am 35 and frankly more is there now than ever before. I think I started losing my hair when I was like 8, lol. My caliber is of medium density. The only real pain during the procedure was when getting injections at the base of the neck, the rest was a cake walk. I traveled from Lexington, KY to Charlotte Douglass International via air and stayed at the Comfort Inn. The hotel was quiet pleasant and had been newly remodeled. Dr. Vories and his staff are true professionals and friendly as all get out. The Doc did all of the extractions and implanting. During all of the implanting I got to watch Guardians of the Galaxy which rocked as I had never seen it before. Today the pain is about the same, mostly coming from the donor area. My face resembles a puffer fish as the saline and topical fluids are absorbing into my head. I am having a bit of a itching reaction to the pain meds so I am going to start taking some Benadryl per the doc. I have been sleeping at a 45 degree angle nightly using one of those traveling neck pillows. I also tie my hands up while sleeping as to not inadvertently scratch out any grafts. So far I am extremely happy with it all. Feedback is welcome. Pre and post-operative pics enclosed. :cool:
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3,501 FUE with Dr. Jose Lorenzo (w/ pics)
Smash posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
In 2017, I travelled to Madrid and underwent an FUE hair transplant with Dr Lorenzo. A year has passed and I wanted to document my progress and help guide anyone else considering the Injertocapilar Clinic, or an FUE transplant in general. — I never knew I was losing my hair until it was too late. My rate of hair loss was gradual. There were no hairs on my pillow or in the plughole. Since I had a high hairline, I failed to properly recognize the degree of recession that was occurring. However, by my mid-thirties, my hair loss was becoming noticeable and I was not entirely happy with my appearance. Sometime around 2015, a friend took some photographs of my scalp and I was shocked to find that I was sporting the kind of thinning hair that I imagined I might have as an old man. My hairline was high up on my head and my crown had started to open up. As a spunky guy in my mid-thirties, I was not ready to have an aged man's head on my body. After some months of quiet anguish, I decided to do something radical and shave my head. This was surprisingly liberating. For the first time, I had control over my hair, rather than the other way round. As soon as I let the clippers do their work, I was no longer at the mercy to the whims of my scalp. I wish I had done this sooner. Hence, I’d recommend that anyone considering a hair transplant shaves their head first. Shaving is a big step to take in its own right. However, I immediately discovered that when there’s no hair on your head there’s no problem to deal with! A shaved head can also look (very) cool but you won’t know until you do it. Give it a try. I rocked the shaved head-look for over a year. However, I eventually decided to opt for a hair transplant: whilst I was confident with my new appearance, I wanted to recognise my face looking back in the mirror, rather than the physiognomy of a baby-faced Jason Stratham. I had my reasons. Several years ago, I had made it a personal mission to restore my youthfulness and vitality. My body was starting to pick up the aches and pains associated with ageing and living a sedentary lifestyle. However, I was able to turn the clock back, with a regime of calisthenics and an improved diet. I figured it would also be fun for my hair to also follow suit. Besides, I reasoned that if the transplant didn’t match my expectations, I could simply revert back to shaving my head and wearing the hell out of a suit. In this way, shaving my head actually helped me take the decision to get a transplant in the most positive of ways. Who knew? I began researching the various online forums (including this one) for suggestions on where to find a great doctor. I kept my time on the forums brief but eventually, I narrowed my search down to what I objectively considered, the top three hair surgeons. They were: 1. Dr Feriduni (Belgium) 2. Dr Rahal (Canada) 3. Dr Lorenzo (Spain) I contacted each of their clinics and made online enquiries. I sent in photos of my hair and corresponded with their respective staff. Spex, who represents Dr Ferudini, was particularly helpful. However, Dr Lorenzo contacted me personally (on Christmas Day, no less). I appreciated this personal touch, his frank feedback and the breadth of his portfolio of work. Many before me considered him the greatest hair surgeon on the planet. I figured that if I was going to get this procedure done, I’d opt for the best of the best. With a mixture of gut instinct and mental deduction, I chose Dr Lorenzo. (NB. There was not much difference in quotes given by all three. I paid in several instalments and I believe the total was around 12-13K Euros) It is a big decision to fly to another country and undergo a hair procedure. Personally, numerous objections in my mind came up, such as: ‘You’re already happy, surely this hair procedure only serves your ego?’ ‘The procedure is expensive, wouldn’t you rather spend that on a holiday?’ ‘Do you want to be taking Finasteride for the rest of your life?’ I decided I have a whole lifetime to make more money and that getting a hair procedure was more to do something good and nice for myself. However, the thought of taking meds every day, admittedly, held me back. I view my body as my greatest asset in life and I didn’t want to be dependent on ‘popping pills’ for my cosmetic appearance. However, after researching Finasteride, I deduced that any negative side effects were pretty much short-term and fully reversible. (I read the horror stories out there too but I calculated, statistically, the risk-to-reward ratio very favourable toward a positive outcome. I'm geeky like that.) I sourced the Finasteride online (www.hairlossexperiencesshop.co.uk), which came as 5mg tablets that I divided into five smaller bits and took every day. After several months, I had happily encountered no ill effects. At this point, I decided to contact the clinic and book the procedure with Dr Lorenzo. There was a 10-month waiting list, which was frustrating in the face of my impatience but the time quickly flew by. Before I knew it, I was on an economy plane seat to Madrid. I enjoyed the city, which has a great cultural vibe and is easy to explore, via the metro system. I stayed at a nearby hotel arranged by the clinic. I met Dr Lorenzo, who speaks perfect English, for a consultation several days before my procedure. We had conversed online and his personal assessment was that my temporal peaks and hair line would need completely rebuilding. I also had a small gap appearing on my crown that could be filled. On close inspection of my scalp, Dr Lorenzo also noted that my donor area was excellent (hair, I think, was 53 microns) and suggested a transplant consisting of 3,500 grafts. (NB. I didn't appreciate at the time that one graft can have several hairs, so the amount of hair that was to be transplanted was much more than 3,500...) During my consultation, I asked lots of questions that I had written down and he candidly answered every one. His focus throughout my consultation was the pinnacle of professionalism and this put me instantly at ease. I left his office feeling that I was in very safe hands. On the day of the procedure, I arrived at the clinic very early. I met Grace, a nurse from the UK who now works with Lorenzo. Grace would be on hand over the next two days to talk me through what was happening. I changed into scrubs and was given a valium. My heart rate was also taken. My head was shaved and I was asked where I would like my new hairline to be! I decided to let Dr Lorenzo draw the line on. After all, I figured he’s done this a lot more times with a pen than I have. Just as the valium started kicking in, I was lead to the room where the procedure would take place. Let's fast forward. What does having a hair extraction feel like? Well, the short answer is that it feels like having your head pricked with a cocktail stick around 1,500 times! The procedure began with me laying comfortably on my side whilst I let the anaesthesia take effect. Dr Lorenzo oversaw the extraction team as they began removing my hairs. He performed several extractions himself and guided the team, as required. I listened to music and even fell asleep several times. Occasionally, I’d feel an extraction, which felt like being jabbed with a sharp stick. More pain relief was promptly given. This procedure went on for about four hours. With everything considered, the whole process was actually not too bad: about as uncomfortable as flying on a budget airline plane seat for a long haul. Bearable, not terrible...with much a better lunch. After all the extractions had taken place for the day (1,500 in total) I stretched out and ate some lunch in the kitchen area of the clinic. I chatted with the extraction team and Grace, who was on hand to assist. Everyone at the clinic was very friendly. After a short break, it was time for my extracted hair to be implanted. What does having a hair transplant feel like? Again, it feels like having your head pricked with a cocktail stick...a further 1,500 times! Dr Lorenzo, with a Jedi-like focus, began the procedure of implanting my extracted hairs. I am usually a very chatty guy but, in this case, I had the sense not to interrupt him as he entered a flow state of concentration. It was at this moment I was supremely glad I had chosen a true expert to perform this intimate type of work –and not got it done on the cheap in a less developed country. With hindsight, I would definitely recommend a 'saving n' shaving' approach when selecting a doctor: it is worth it. Dr Lorenzo is clearly an artist as well as a surgeon and I sensed that he really took care to make sure every hair was inserted at just the right angle in just the right place. One by one he added hairs to my scalp. I listened to music and dozed off a few times. After several hours, we were done for the first day. I looked in the mirror and, for the first time in almost two decades, saw that I had hair again! It was an emotional moment to see how my entire image was being transformed. However, at this stage, my image was more akin to a whimsical Harvey Dent than a handsome Bruce Wayne: there were two distinct sides to my face: one side with hair, one without. Before departing the clinic for the day, I was given careful, simple instructions on how to look after my freshly transplanted hairs and driven back to my hotel. This mostly involved spraying my head with a saline solution to keep it wet. Despite having a head like a hairy Swiss cheese, I had a pleasant night’s sleep. I awoke the next day with light trepidation: the sleepy thought of being pricked another 3,500 times was a little disconcerting. Then I remembered how awesome the prospect of having hair was, which dispelled the negative feelings. At that moment, the hotel shuttle whisked me to the clinic. I arrived, met the staff and the work continued. I was prepped in the same way as the previous day, and the procedure was repeated. Poke, poke, poke! The time passed slowly. However, by the end of the day, I had hair. Bruce Wayne achievement: unlocked! My head was a smattering of red dots but the hardest part was done. That night, I slept carefully in my bed, using a pillow provided by the clinic and, again, spraying my head every few hours with the saline solution. I also took some vitamin D3 to help assist in the healing process. Before heading home the next day, I attended the clinic for an assessment and a debrief. For those interested, here are some stats from the surgery: Extractable Grafts: 6,924 Actual Grafts Used: 3,501 Overall Hairs Extracted: 8,477 Total Hairs Used: 42.8% Hair/graft ratio: 2.42 Temporal: 300 grafts (2.25 hair/ graft) Parietal: 1,451 (2.41 hair/ graft) Occipital: 1,750 (2.46 hair/ graft) Single: 353 Double: 1,488 Triple: 1,497 Quadruple: 159 Quintuple: 4 Sextuple: 0 The procedure had been a success and now the task was up to me to keep my head protected to ensure the optimal conditions for all the transplanted hair to grow and the donor site to heal. Apparently, it takes nine days for the transplanted hairs to completely take root in their new locations. Dr Lorenzo suggested this happens even more quickly but I fixed my sights on keeping free of any potential stress for the next nine days. The initial days following the operation were quite challenging in ways I had not anticipated. My head swelled up for a few days due to the lingering aesthetic in my system. I looked like Thanos’ nephew. Happily, the comical swelling subsided and was then replaced with a bigger challenge. The donor area was covered in thousands of little scabs that became incredibly itchy. Of course, I was under strict instructions not to scratch. I can imagine the greatest feeling in the world would have been to have scratched those itchy bits…but…I resisted! However, the itchiness was so severe it descended into a mixture of pain and mental despair. It kept me awake for several days and was far more challenging than the transplant itself. Eventually, I found relief by applying cold aloe vera gel (kept in the refrigerator) to the affected area of my head, which significantly eased the sensation. After a few days, the itchy condition passed and my sanity returned. After a few weeks, with the redness of scalp starting to fade, I could enjoy my newly transplanted hair. It even started to grow! Although short, it felt great to have my hairline restored to my younger self. During this journey, I made a point to tell almost everyone about what I was doing. I decided that trying to hide the obvious is the same thinking that leads to comb-overs. Lots of my friends were really interested in the procedure and everyone was supportive. Curiously, I think the question I got asked the most was “…how much did it cost?” After a few weeks, my transplanted hair began to fall out as I entered the so-called ‘ugly duckling’ phase. I guess no patient likes to see their new hair vanish, even temporarily, so, at this point, I decided to skip the drama and keep my hair super short, returning to my former Jason Stratham look for the next few months. However, this time around, I wasn’t able to use clippers (you have to wait five months) but I got by cutting my hair with scissors. Short hair made the process of dealing with the changes happening on my head much more manageable. However, as soon as I cut my hair short for the first time, post-op, I made a positive discovery. –There was no scarring in my donor area! I had assumed that all the hairs taken from the donor site would leave little-pitted scars. I had seen such pictures, online, of other FUE patients and accepted this as par for the course. However, I had no scarring at all. My skin was smooth. I suspect this is because of the extraction technique used and the skill of the extraction team. I was a very happy client indeed and extremely happy I opted for Dr Lorenzo and Injectocappilar. Life then continued as normal. After five months I returned to the clinic for a checkup with Dr Lorenzo. I must say he really is a perfectionist and took the time to look closely at my hair and its progress. By five months my hair was beginning to thicken. There was some concern about the density around my temporal peaks. The hair in this area was a little thinner. Dr Lorenzo concluded that we must wait another five months to see how the hair will progress. Six months after the procedure I began to let my new hair grow properly. As the hair grew thicker and it was an amazing feeling to look in the mirror and see the same style of hair on my head that I had, fifteen years prior. After ten months, I returned to see Dr Lorenzo for a second, and final, check-up. The hair had thickened considerably during this interlude. He was very happy with the overall outcome. He suggested that we could put in 50-250 more hairs in the peaks down the line to thicken them up a little more. This is something I may consider, but it's not really an issue for me at present. What does transplanted hair look and feel like? Well, ten months after the procedure, the hair feels exactly like normal hair. It has all the same sensations when you brush or comb it. Running your fingers through your new hairline feels like it has always been there. The sensitivity of the scalp is identical to before the procedure. My new hair covers my head perfectly. I now have a hairline and temporal peaks that frame my face very nicely. The patch in the crown of my head has been completely filled, too. Dr. Lorenzo really stretched those 3,500 grafts well. The density of the transplanted hair at the front is not as thick as my original hair. However, it is pretty thick and from months six to ten (present) the thickness of my hair continues to increase. I’m not sure how it will change looking ahead. The transplanted hair is slightly darker than the rest of the hair on my head. It blends in perfectly well but I was curious about it. Dr Lorenzo explained that this is because the hair is strong. The transplanted hair has a slight curl to it. I was informed that this is because the hair is new. As it matures it will resemble the hair on the rest of my scalp. Even if the hair remained curly it would not be an issue. The donor area appears as thick as before I had the procedure. Upon inspection, it looks as if no hair was actually taken. I wondered if the hair around this area would be thinner but I can’t detect any change. It seems almost like magic. Dr Lorenzo takes the approach of using transplanted hair sparingly. He’s keen to not exhaust the donor area, whilst maximising coverage. I appreciated his approach in this respect. I learned I have about 21,000 hairs (not grafts!) remaining in the donor area for any future work. Although I made an effort to tell as many people about my procedure as possible it has been quite fun to meet old acquaintances who didn’t know that I was getting an FUE procedure. In every case they look at me, with slight befuddlement, and say things like: “...you look younger” or “...there’s something different about you!” These comments are always positive and some even have expressed an interested in having a transplant themselves. When I look in the mirror now, I now see myself looking back. It's fantastic not to have to worry about my hair anymore. It’s almost easy to forget I ever had issues with it falling out. The days of hair-woe now seem long ago, and I have no fear of them returning. Do you ever wish you could turn back time knowing what you know now? Well, I feel like I am twenty years old again, with all the smarts of a thirty-five-year-old! It’s a great feeling! This is, by far, the best money I have ever spent. I see it as an investment in myself. Looking forward, I am keen to see how my hair matures. I am delighted that I now have hair that I can style (although I probably won’t be using hair straighteners as much this time!) Recently, I even got a bad haircut from a dodgy barber, which I now consider a high-quality problem! Overall, I am a supremely happy client and highly recommend Dr Lorenzo and his team. I have gone from having a receding hairline to having hair. The difference feels like night and day! The level of care and attention he showed throughout my procedure was exemplary. Both He and Grace have been on hand and available to help with questions after the procedure. Like many others, I believe he is the best hair surgeon in the world. I’m writing this review on my own accord and as a sheer expression of my contentedness. I hope this gives you an overview of working with Dr Lorenzo or any other FUE professional. These opinions are all my own, so please do your research! If you have any questions, please ask below! I’ll do my best to answer them. I will check back into this thread every few months over the course of the next year. -
HAIR TRANSPLANT IN TURKEY: Overview by Dr. Karadeniz
Michael8 replied to Ali Emre Karadeniz's topic in Open Hair Loss Topics
Thank you Dr. K, This is an interesting thread about TRANSECTION RATE and how only trained physicians should be doing this part. A true trained doctor will have a better eye and as you follow the thread Dr. K does say that there could be techs who are trained up and could do just as a good job but the gamble of having a newly unexperienced tech/assistant doing the graft harvesting and site incisions should be only done by a doctor. I would like to know who the 10 doctors are that he speaks of and those are the doctors we should all go to. Cheers -
Dr Rahal FUT result 2516 grafts
404hairnotfound posted a topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
Edit - I spoke with Dr. Rahal for an hour on the phone and he has made a few things apparent to me that give a clearer picture of what is happening with my hair. What is odd about my case is that my results at 6 months were much better than my results at 12 months. At 6 months post op I was taking Minoxidil to speed up the growth of the transplant and I discontinued the medication shortly after the 6 month period due to side effects from the medication, mainly facial edema, under eye circles, and more prominent wrinkles. The reason I did not mention my 6 month results was because I thought that they were irrelevant to my result at 12 months, as a hair growth accelerator such as Minoxidil will increase the diameter of the hair shafts and give an appearance of thicker hair. I figured that not taking the medication for 6 months would allow my hair to return to its baseline state and therefore provide an accurate representation of the state of the transplant at 12 months. Dr. Rahal informed me that this is not the case, and that the result at 6 months is a better indicator that the transplant was a success than my current results at 12 months. It is very possible that by discontinuing the application of Minoxidil my hair has gone into a state of telogen effluvium that affects all the hairs on the scalp, both transplanted and native. I knew this would happen to a degree but I did not think that it would take longer than 6 months to recover from this. I consulted with Dr. Rahal before I discontinued the medication and was told that the transplants would still grow, albeit slower. In my case, discontinuation of the medication has caused a regression due to the heavy shedding brought on by TE. Dr. Rahal says that my 6 month picture is indicative that the transplant was in fact successful, and that the situation now is due to other factors beyond his control. This gives me hope that once the TE stabilizes my transplanted hairs will grow back. However there are no guarantees that my native hairs will grow back, so the result may still look sub optimal. The other issue he told me about is that my hair characteristics are not the most ideal for hair transplantation. Because of my very fine hair and poor donor density, Dr. Rahal said that I am one of those "on the fence" patients, where the result could go either way and it is impossible to predict the outcome. My hair caliber is very fine, and combining that with the relatively low number of 3's and zero 4's that were extracted, it is hard to create an illusion of density with very fine hair and mainly 1's and 2's. Going by this, Dr. Rahal said that he does not know if he would recommend that I have any more work in the future. He said that I could be a candidate for FUE possibly, but we will have to see how my hair stabilizes over the next several months. We talked about potentially doing FUE into my FUT scar so that I can shave my head if the loss gets too advanced to do anything more. He also recommended jumping on Propecia and going back on Minoxidil, but waiting until at least the 18 month mark to do so to give my situation a bit more time to stabilize first. I am not comfortable with the idea of taking medication but will give it consideration depending on how things are looking in another 6 months. Dr. Rahal also clarified what I perceived to be shoddy technician work. He said that within his team there is a lead tech who gives ongoing direction to the other technicians throughout the surgery. He explained that although things may seem a certain way out of context, it is not an indicator that anything is out of the ordinary. What I perceived as a new tech was just the standard way the team operates, and not indicative of any sort of lack of ability or ineffectiveness. I believe that he is correct, and that during the stress of surgery my mind could pick up on things that are not indicative of the true nature, especially in an environment such as an operating room where the vocabulary or jargon is foreign to me. I should also mention that both my good friend and I had the surgery done together. His surgery date was the day before mine and his result from roughly 2800 grafts was very successful. The team of technicians was the same for both of our surgeries. Dr. Rahal said he would like to evaluate my hair in person after 18 months has elapsed and go from there. For now, I am adding my 6 month photos in order to paint a clearer picture. While I am still disappointed that my 12 month result is not up to par I can not say that this is the fault of Dr. Rahal or his team. I will keep this thread updated with my 15 month and 18 month milestones to show how the hair progresses. Before and after photos (added photos at 6 months) Pre op: imgur: the simple image sharer imgur: the simple image sharer 1 day post op: imgur: the simple image sharer 6 months post op: http://imgur.com/SGCyYyN http://imgur.com/PSVsIet http://imgur.com/tXJkpeI http://imgur.com/au9qvxt http://imgur.com/JwBBlcQ 12 months post op: imgur: the simple image sharer imgur: the simple image sharer imgur: the simple image sharer **404 asked me to edit this post to include the 15 month pictures - Blake (moderator)** http://i.imgur.com/Hfkz2hN.jpg http://i.imgur.com/qg7DaMv.jpg http://i.imgur.com/VIA2VvZ.jpg Thanks for your opinions. -
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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. -
I'm sitting in the very nice guest house next to Dr. Rahal's clinic recovering from a 2,123 graft strip procedure (my second) on Thursday, October 9. The entire experience has been as easy and pleasant as surgery can be, and I have nothing but positive things to say about Dr. Rahal and his staff and facility. I'll add more details in the sections below; my previous pictures, both from before and after my first procedure, are in the link below. I'm getting my immediate pre- and post-op pics from Dr. Rahal's office, as well as my graft breakdown count, this coming week. I'll update then. Hair Restoration Websites Background I had a 1,450 FUT procedure in June 2012 with Dr. Robert Niedbalski in Seattle, where I live. I was a NW II prior to the procedure and was not on a DHT inhibitor. My procedure turned out well, especially for a surgeon that's not a member of this community. However, Dr. Niedbalski barely discussed hairline design with me, and implanted a very steep V-shaped hairline that I never cared for (pics in the link above). I wanted a lower and flatter hairline, and after years of research I settled on Dr. Rahal. I also began using Proscar, Nizoral/Regenepure, and Rogaine in September 2012. (Dr. Niedbalski did not mention getting on a DHT inhibitor prior to surgery.) I decided to "upgrade" to Avodart in mid-2013, and I currently take both Proscar and Avodart. That seems redundant, I know, but there's at least one study that suggests that they complement one another and have a greater inhibitory effect when used in tandem. The medications slowed my loss dramatically, if not halted it altogether. I cannot really tell a difference between my hair now and its appearance after full growth from my first surgery. If there has been any loss, it has been extremely minor and virtually undetectable. My Experience with Dr. Rahal I did an online consultation with Dr. Rahal in mid-2014, and we settled on a 2,000 graft procedure. As I explained, I wanted to boost the density a bit from my first procedure and then flatten and reshape the hairline. I dislike the V shape, and the angulation of the grafts from the first procedure was a bit off. The grafts were placed too perpendicular to my scale and stood straight out--I couldn't comb my hair down and have it lay on my forehead. I wanted that corrected. I flew to Ottawa from Seattle two days before my procedure so I could make my pre-op appointment the day before. At my pre-op, Dr. Rahal listened to me explain my goals, then examined my donor and recipient areas. He spent about half and hour drawing and re-drawing the hairline, which I appreciated. I pushed him to work on my right temple a bit more; it has always (since I was a kid) been weaker than the left, so he spent a bit of time combing through that area and outlining where he was going to reinforce it. Once the hairline was finished, I was done for the day. On the day of the surgery, I arrived at 5:30am. Dr. Rahal had to leave that afternoon to travel, so he wanted plenty of time with me to avoid being rushed; I was his only patient for the day. The procedure was extremely straightforward; strip excision took roughly 30 minutes and was completely painless. Even the numbing process was barely a pinch. After the strip was removed, the rest of the staff left to dissect the grafts and Dr. Rahal and I chatted while he made the incisions. He has a pretty reserved demeanor that's very analytical and cautious; he doesn't project any of the arrogance or aloofness that sometimes comes with plastic surgeons. He was pretty candid with his thoughts about the industry and his practice, which I appreciated. (I'll keep those private out of respect for his candor.) I couldn't feel a thing while he made the incisions. Once he wrapped things up, a swarm of techs descended on me on started implantation while I watched a movie and listened to music. His lead tech led the entire process and kept an eagle eye on everything that was happening; she was especially watchful of the front edge of the hairline and was inspecting all the grafts placed. She's been with Dr. Rahal for a long, long time ("I'd need a calculator to tell you how long," she said), and his pickiness has clearly trickled down. I started to regain some sensation after about 90 minutes, so Dr. Rahal re-numbed me. The entire thing wrapped up by about noon. Dr. Rahal sat down with me while I ate lunch and gave me his cell phone number so I could get in touch while he was traveling. His assistants took post-op pics and went over aftercare, then gave me my care package and walked me the whopping 50 feet to the guesthouse. I had a post-op appointment the next day to go over cleaning procedures and make sure everything looked up to par. The Guesthouse Here's the best thing about going to Dr. Rahal, aside from the great work: the guesthouse. The guesthouse sits immediately next door from the clinic, so it's a whopping fifteen second commute back and forth. The house is brand new; the clinic moved last year and both the clinic and guest house were new construction). The house is a large common area (roughly 1,000 square) feet with an open kitchen, living room, and dining nook. There are five guest rooms, each with their own bathroom, that open off the common space. The fridge is stocked with breakfast food--milk, juices, eggs, etc., and there are some other things, like bread, provided. There's a fireplace, an entertainment system with Netflix, and a washer/dryer. I'll upload some pics soon, but suffice to say that it's gorgeous--really nice finishes and furniture all around. The great thing about the guesthouse is the camaraderie. There were four other guys staying there when I arrived, and we hit it off right away. They were all in various post-op stages (two FUT and two FUE), and they let me take a look at their work. They inspected me, too, and looked at my first scar. I had my first procedure locally, so I went right back home and resumed my life. But I can't imagine traveling and recovering in a hotel room in isolation, surrounded by people who'll look at you funny if you poke your head outside the room. At the guesthouse, though, you're all in the same boat, and you can socialize without feeling self conscious. We walked around the house with the grafts exposed, ordered take out together, and took walks to Starbucks to stave off cabin fever. One of the guys even stayed a few extra days because he was having such a good time. I can't recommend the guesthouse highly enough; it's a huge, huge benefit of going to Dr. Rahal. (Doesn't hurt that it's also dirt cheap.) All in all, I had a great experience. I'm following the aftercare to a T and feel pretty close to 100%, aside from the tug at the back of my scalp from the scars. I'll update regularly. The attached pics are all 1-3 days post-op.
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2,300 grafts w/ Dr. Bisanga (temple and hairline work)
kimura50 posted a topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
I usually post under another username but having trouble logging on and I wanted to create a new account and thread anyway for privacy reasons. Just in case you're having some deja vu with some of these photos. I had FUE surgery with Dr. Bisanga in Belgium about this time 3 months ago. Approx. 2,300 grafts to restore the temples, also reenforce and lower the hairline just slightly. Pre surgery I was about a Norwood 2.5, got on Fin when I was 22 and a NW2 so that helped stabilise things a great deal. The surgery itself was a breeze (apart from those pesky numbing shots), Dr B is a true professional in every way and I felt 100% safe in his hands. He performed the manual punching on the grafts and incisions himself, while his techs did the graft harvesting and placement under his supervision. He gave me a direct number to contact him on to send him progress photos and if any issues or concerns arise, which I find incredibly helpful. Graft Breakdown - 1 Hair - 552 2 Hair - 640 3 Hair - 856 4 Hair - 261 On a side note I did a very long trip to Belgium back and forth, and managed to do it successfully and with minimal stress, so if anyone wants tips on how to handle the long haul flights just let me know -
Turkish Transplants
ILtrooper replied to kwacluver's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Folks, I had a great experience with Dr. Doganay, so my recommendation would be him. Well he is my only experience, so I can’t really talk about anyone else. Dr. Doganay did not do the extractions and honestly I wasn’t happy about that. But, I knew that going in, so I guess I can’t complain, but is there any doc out there does his own extractions nowadays? I mean we select certain surgeons for a reason and expect the work to be done by them. Anyways, I trusted his team and it ended up being great, but Noway in hell I would agree someone else doing the implantation as that is pretty much where the true skill is needed. So, Dr. Doganay did all the implantations for me. Upto this point, I am happy with the way things are. I will continue to share my experience with you guys and we will see how things turn out. I hope it just gets better from here. As for Erdogan, he yields great results from what I see. However, my biggest reason not choosing him was because all he does is the incisions (someone correct me if I am wrong, but that’s what I read online). So the team extracts and implants the hairs. I don’t know about you but I felt uneasy about that. However, results seem good, so they are doing something right. It appears pretty much most HT surgeons follow similar exercise. Also operating on multiple people a day doesn’t sound so practical to me. I m sure it yields in some nice $$ though. HT is Such a delicate procedure, I feel like a couple persons a day should be max before calling it for the day. But that wouldn’t make any sense in accounting perspective. I would hate to be the 4th guy after doctor pretty much blinded and fatigued himself with the other 3. -
What is the Problem with Erdoğan Hairlines?
Melvin-Moderator replied to djohnson's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
This is not a botch job at all, not even close. I would like to share a link of a true botch job, this community rallied behind this individual and got him a free repair, by one of our coalition surgeons Dr. Mohebi. For anyone reading please see what a botched transplant looks like. https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/43538-warning-if-considering-dr-james-boland-in-colorado-surgical-center-read-this/ -
Erdogan 2700 4/23/18
Melvin-Moderator replied to raptor's topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
For one, you created a thread with no pictures stating the results were bad. Secondly, I asked you to privately identify yourself with your name and date of surgery so I could confirm you are a patient of Dr. Erdogan, in order to maintain a fair environment we ask that patients provide us with this information, so that we can reach out to the clinic. I did not receive this information from you. Therefore, as I stated I was forced to move the topic out if public view. Furthermore, you have not posted any current photos of your hairline and you are not close to 12 months. Unfortunately, there is not much the clinic or this forum can do, because every patient must allow the alotted time for a hair transplant to grow which is 12 months not 6. Again, I will ask you to provide this information to me via private message. In addition, this forum is not a free for all to bash any particular surgeon, if you have a complaint about a surgeon we ask that you at least share photos of how your hair looks currently. Otherwise, what good does this thread do? For anyone researching a doctor they will only see a negative review with no photos to prove what the patient is saying is true. Thanks- Melvin -
Foreceps vs. Implanter
PupDaddy replied to Squidward's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
Gasthoerer, I dont' contend that one type of Category A tool is superior to another type of Category A tool (I wouldn't know), or that Category B tools are "superior" to Category A tools or vice versa. Category A tools and Category B tools have different purposes--apples and oranges. I'm only saying that I favor the use of Category B tools for insertion of grafts into premade recipient sites over forceps-only insertion of grafts into premade recipient sites. If Dr. De Frietas uses true implanter pens for his hairline work that could help explain why he isn't on my personal "tops" list of hairline docs, although I admit I haven't studied a lot of his recent work. Timely and interesting topic. -
3500 Scheduled with Dr. Cinik 12/12
Squidward replied to lukeyb1687's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
I have seen nothing but legit work from this Clinic, it almost seems too good to be true for this excellent of pricing. I know that he uses micro motor and forceps for implantation, but if his results are this good, it cant be much of an issue, and Mick50 I did get a clarification e-mail confirming the Dr. can do the channel opening, I guess I wasn't asking the right ?'s... but really, I've only seen great work so far, it is really tempting me to this clinic for the price and the great results -
Dr. Robert Dorin - Hairline/temple/crown enhancement- FUT
orangehair posted a topic in Results Posted by Leading Hair Restoration Clinics
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 . -
Dr. Robert Dorin - Revision - 888 Hairline FUE
orangehair posted a topic in Results Posted by Leading Hair Restoration Clinics
This patient after 3 previous strip surgeries and 1 FUE consulted with Dr. Dorin on making the most of round 5 after poor donor management and a underwhelming restoration thus far. Dr. Dorin performed a hairline session via manual FUE consisting of 888 grafts - 377 singles, 439 doubles, and 72 threes. This result is post-op 12 months. -
Early 6 month growth in 23 year old by Dr. Lindsey
Dr. William Lindsey posted a topic in Results Posted by Leading Hair Restoration Clinics
I've posted lots of younger guy's cases and a number of videos discussing how I think its key to avoid stupid decision making in hair restoration...especially younger guys who are "sold" a case that is not appropriate for them. Specifically, we encourage parents to come with the younger patients, always do a mature hairline...even if its not what all the young guy's young friends have...and we plan for future work down the road. Too many times a week I see a kid who has either a goofy low sparse hairline and is balding behind it and will never look natural, or a kid who really needed nothing yet...but had a surgery just to "prevent" balding.Do your research!This video is a 23 year old who is 6 months out. He looks to be growing at about the average pace...but it is still somewhat sparse. Guys recognize you will go through a period like this. And so that you can actually see what it looks like at 6 months with fine hair...watch our patient. Just this morning I saw a guy who was told by a doctor's salesperson...right in our area...that he'd be really growing well by his wedding in 5 months. I sadly said he should have started 7 months earlier but he should not do a case this close to his wedding. I suspect he's still going to proceed with the other doctor as they apparently sounded pretty convincing. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.The video is: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qu6lE4BFOlg And he almost certainly will be in for a followup in 6 months.Dr. LindseyMcLean VA -
Review of True & Dorin. Part 1 of 3: Pre-Op
corvettester posted a topic in Hair Transplant Experiences and Surgeon Reviews
Comprehensive Review of True & Dorin, FUT 1,696. Part 1 of 3: Pre-Op What follows is a comprehensive and exhaustive review of my experience at True & Dorin. I’m organizing it into three parts. Part 1 will review everything pre-op including my first consultation and the final decision to take the plunge. Part 2 will review the day of the procedure, and the immediate follow up, post-op care. Part 3 will review the growing phase, so is yet to be published, as I am only 4 months post-op as of writing this. I hope this review will help others to make an informed decision as so many of the reviews, posts, threads and blogs on the HTN helped me to make mine. The opinions express therein, are my own and on my own volition. I have not been compensated, incentivized or encouraged in any way by T&D, the HTN or any third parties whatsoever. So here goes… In short, every aspect of my pre-op experience with True & Dorin was exceptional. I have nothing but praise for the care with which they handled my case. I have no complaints, criticisms or dissatisfaction with their practice and my experience in any way. Now for the long version… I originally heard about T&D via the HTN and a Google search around the summer of 2009. I scoured the HTN website reading about the procedure itself and doctors who performed them. I was very pleased with the format and layout, as well as the comprehensiveness of the HTN. I also, viewed other websites, but I found the HTN to be my favorite. Soon thereafter, I made an appointment with three separate HT doctors in NYC. T&D was the first clinic I went to. I managed to book a same day appointment at T&D, which I thought was just great. Plus, there is no consultation fee which, although I understand why some clinics have them, I still don’t agree with the practice. That afternoon, I went to their office in midtown. My first impression of the office was very favorable. It’s very clean, professional and respectable. If anything, I was a little worried that this was going to be way out of my budget. Anyway, after only a brief moment’s wait, I met with Eyal, the patient educator. Eyal is very friendly in a quite, professional and sincere way. There was no flattery, sweet talk or nonsense, just a sincere, earnest and knowledgeable person. Eyal explained that he would do the initial evaluation and then I would meet with Dr. True to answer any further questions. The evaluation went well. He examined my hair, answered all my questions clearly and concisely without unnecessary digressions or anecdotes. He told me about the history of HT and the industry. Then he took pictures of my hairline, examined my density, etc… Most importantly, he showed me his HT, which I thought was just great! In fact, his was the first HT that I had ever actually seen in person. I thought it looked great, really. At this point, I was all expectations. Eyal is one cool guy. After approximately 30 minutes evaluation and conversation with Eyal, Dr. True came in. I found Dr. True to be very sincere and personable. He seemed like an experienced, wise sage in the classic sense of the term. Soft spoke, understanding and attentive, I liked him dearly. He too showed me his hair transplant, which I thought looked great as well. Dr. True then proceeded to review my evaluation and discussed with me further my goals and concerns. He took his time and gave me his full attention. At not point did I feel rushed or pressured, quite the opposite in fact. I felt very at ease, comfortable and fascinated. He must have spent another 30 minutes with me which easily could have turned into an hour had I not decided to wrap things up. After explaining how everything worked and what I could realistically expect, as well as the risks, he concluded that I should take a wait and see approach. Relative to others, my hair loss was not that severe—I was somewhere around a Norwood 2 or 3. Dr. True cautioned against rushing into an HT prematurely. Also, he cautioned against my initial request of significantly lowering my hairline. He suggested that I should continue researching HT, as it was obvious that I’d only spent a couple hours online researching thus far, and that I should follow up with him in a year to see if the recession had progressed or subsided. In passing, he mentioned that where it stood at that day, he would recommend 1,000-1,300 grafts in the temporal area and hairline, which would almost restore my hairline to it’s original position by bringing it down about 1.0-1.5 cm. It’s important to understand that I have always had a high hairline or a big forehead, depending on how you look at it. So when my hair receded just 2cm in the hairline and 3.0-3.5cm in the temporal area, it looked like I was definitely going bald. It looked bad! In fact, because my hairline had always naturally been so high, even as a teenager, girlfriends of mine would mention that it looked like my hairline was receding. Hence, I have always worn my hair forward to cover my hairline and forehead. Now at age 28, I had a proper widow’s peak. I had to grow my hair out especially long to cover over the loss. It was beginning to look pretty obvious. However, I was instructed wait a year to see if the recession progressed, because at age 28 it was still too early for an accurate prediction for future loss. At no point did Dr. True attempt to sell me on an HT. In no way did I ever feel pressured or browbeaten. He did not attempt to paint a rosy picture of a better life for me after an HT, nor did he attempt to fear monger. Further, he commented on what a good head of hair I already had and how an HT for me was not an imminent necessity. I actually left his office feeling better than when I had entered. I was impressed with the man, his facility and staff. I later went to two other HT doctors in NYC. To say the least, my experience at the other two HT clinics did not even compare to experience with Dr. True. They were immediately disregarded. Thus almost a year went by where I dabbled online, causally researching, learning and reading about HT. My hair did continue to recede but only slightly. By the summer of 2010, I felt like I was ready to pull the trigger. The only question was, where to do it. You see, I didn’t feel like only three consultations was really doing my due diligence. If I were going to go through with this, I was going to do it right. I wasn’t going to cut any corners because the risks are just too great. I have seen bad results. Even though I loved what I saw at T&D, I hadn’t made up my mind because I didn’t feel like I was qualified to make an informed decision yet. So then I got back on the HTN and really got to work. I read everything I could but always found the discussion forum to be the best resource. I wrote emails, talked on the phone and viewed case profiles of hundreds of former HT clients. Thank god for a resource like the HTN and the dedicated members. Without it, I could never had made the decision to go through with the HT. I’m so glad I did now though. Anyway, I did another in person consultation in NYC at a different HT clinic and five more online and phone consultations with other reputable clinics. I was definitely willing to travel to be with the doctor of my choice. The other consultations went well enough. I don’t have any complaints nor were there any major red flags for the most part. However, in my opinion, none compared to my first experience at T&D. So I went back to T&D for a follow up consultation. It had been over a year since my first visit there. In that year, I was never contacted or solicited by T&D in any way, shape or form. This was a huge plus for me. I don’t like unsolicited advertisements. I view such practices as acts of desperation. I believe that when you’re really good at something, business will flock to you naturally. Funny thing, to this day I still get a phone call and email every two weeks from Nuhart Clinic even though I asked them to stop calling me. Go figure! At my follow up visit a year later, I met Eyal again. I grilled him with my newfound knowledge of HT and found him a welcome source of information and experience yet again. Then I spoke with Dr. True again who this time made clear that if he had his druthers, he would definitely recommend the full 1,300 grafts. In the past year, my recession had become a little more apparent, though it seemed to have abated. I was glad to hear that he recommended the full 1,300. After all, I didn’t want to be too conservative. Also, most importantly, his recommendation of 1,300 grafts was still the lowest of all the previous estimations from other HT doctors with whom I had consulted. Other doctor quotes ranged from 1,500-2,700! This really hit home with me. Clearly, he wasn’t trying to upsell me. Clearly, he was erring on the side of caution. I felt like I could trust him. To me, Dr. True’s integrity really shined! Here’s a funny anecdote… while I was at a consultation with another HT doctor, the patient educator asked me who else I had seen. I told him about Dr. True and how many grafts he recommended and the price. The patient educator told me that Dr. True was one of only two doctors that he would recommend in NYC and that I would definitely be in good hands if I went with him. However, just to clarify, I do not want to insinuate that the other HT doctors with whom I consulted were lesser doctors, unethical, deceptive or misleading in any way. I don’t believe they were any of those things. For this reason, I will not mention their names. My review would be remiss if I neglected mentioning my experience with other clinics. I just want to focus on T&D and how I came to chose them. So by September of 2010, I had narrowed my search down to two clinics. True & Dorin in NYC and another clinic. Everyone I spoke to had nothing but good things to say about both clinics. Tuff decision then. So I decided to go back to T&D and meet with Dr. Dorin, just to see what happened because up until that point, I had only been in contact with Dr. True. I was welcomed back, of course. I told Eyal how I wanted to consult with Dr. Dorin this time, just to get a better picture of their operation. He totally understood and didn't question my request at all. So I met with Dr. Dorin with whom I explained everything all over again and where I was in terms of making a decision on whom to go with. He talked with me and explained his idea for achieving my goals. Dr. Dorin turns out to be a great guy too. He’s full of energy and charisma, passionate yet professional, and well spoken. I’m certain he could effortlessly beat me in arm wrestling too—the guy is in great shape. He showed me his HT too, it looked perfect as expected. Dr. Dorin, Dr. True, Eyal and Peter all have undetectable, flawless hair transplants. I simply could not tell that it was an HT with any of them, and I gave them a good inspection. I actually felt kind of bad staring at their hairline but I imagine they get that a lot. What better way to advertise your work? I was pleased to hear that Dr. Dorin actually wanted to be slightly more aggressive with my hairline than his partner Dr. True. He said he wanted to up it closer to 1,500-1,600 based on my goals. I admit that I was under the spell of the “dense packing rage” that is pervasive on the HTN—deep down inside, I wanted to go up to 1,800 and I told him as much. Now some people may view this minor discrepancy of opinion between Dr. True and Dr. Dorin differently than I do; however, I will say that I viewed it as a positive thing. To me, it shows independence. Even though they are partners, they’re not going to just spill out the same opinion. They think and act independently of each other. I respect this. I don’t respect conformity and uniformity in such matters. I want a man’s honest opinion. In fact, it makes me trust them even more. Ultimately, it was my choice whether I wanted 1,300 grafts or 2,500! So that is what basically sealed the deal for me with T&D. It was nothing against the other clinic which commands a very respectable reputation. Fortunately for me, T&D is much more convenient, a cab ride away whereas the other clinic required a long flight. Also, T&D was much more affordable. In NY, there are no state or federal taxes on medical procedures. So I saved big in comparison with my other option. One thing I noticed about T&D, which I do believe is necessary when considering an HT, is their prices. T&D commands one of the best reputations among HT clinics while maintaining some of the most competitive pricing as well. I assume it is because having two doctors cuts out a lot on overhead. However, as anyone who has ever lived in NYC knows, a midtown office the size and quality of T&D doesn’t come cheap. It’s really impressive to say the least. It looks like at HT clinic should look. As for my decision to choose Dr. Dorin over Dr. True, it was basically made for me. At this point, I just wanted to take the plunge and get the HT done. So I consulted with Eyal who told me that Dr. Dorin had an opening a week earlier than Dr. True. If I have to go back for a second pass, then I will apply the same criteria. Whoever is available soonest will do my work—unless of course, in so doing, I’m breaking some sort of rule of etiquette. That is the only reason I chose Dr. Dorin over Dr. True: Dr. Dorin had an earlier opening. If Dr. True had been available sooner than Dr. Dorin, then I would have went with Dr. True. By this point, I felt either of them would be great so it was only a matter of who could do it first. I was excited and anxious to get it over with. I wish I had some cool story to tell you about how one impressed me more than the other, but it really wasn’t like that. They’re both pretty sharp fellows. I felt completely comfortable with either one of them. The two weeks preceding the HT were torture because that was when I was at my most obsessive point spending hours each day on the HTN. Every time I came across someone with a bad experience regardless of the clinic and doctor, I had doubts. This is to be expected though. It really is a big decision. Luckily, I had developed enough of a social network on the HTN that whenever I had a doubt, there was always someone there to allay my worries. Eyal and Peter, the other patient educator, as well as Dr. Dorin were all there to address my last-minute concerns and questions. I even went in for one last consultation just to finalize everything and make sure everyone was on the same page. I felt a little guilty for being high-maintenance, but I had to feel comfortable, otherwise I would never have gone through with it. All the preliminary logistics of getting my prescriptions filled, paperwork completed, bill settled and personal preparation for the HT were all handled seamlessly and efficiently with the help of Eyal and Peter. At no point were there any miscommunications, setbacks or obstacles. It went very smooth. I showed up early on October 18th excited and eager to have my first HT. I felt completely confident in my doctor and his staff, as well as in my decision to chose T&D. I knew exactly what to expect and was pleasantly surprised how smooth it all went. In conclusion, my pre-op experience was exceptional. I have nothing but praise for True & Dorin. I would recommend them to others without reservation. In fact, I already have to several friends of mine. I wish I had something to criticize about T&D as I feel it would lend more credibility to my review. I really do believe that nobody is above criticism; however, I really don’t have any complaints in my pre-op experience, which is probably the reason I chose T&D. I mean, there were definitely some things I didn’t like about some of the other clinics I consulted with. T&D just did everything so well. Their entire operation is just so seamless, professional, well planned and well executed, which are exactly the qualities I was looking for in an HT clinic. This concludes my review of my pre-HT experience at T&D. If you have any questions or need clarification on anything, don’t hesitate to ask. I hope you find it helpful and useful in making your own decision. I will address the actual procedure itself, as well as the immediate follow up in part 2 of my review. In October of 2011, I will post part 3 of the review which will consist of my experience in the 11 months post-op / growth period, as well as my satisfaction with the HT final result. Until then, I got a lot of growing to do... Corvettester February 20th, 2011 NYC -
Do I appear to have good chest hair for HT?
Melvin-Moderator replied to silent's topic in Hair Restoration Questions and Answers
You bring Iniesta as a frame of reference however, you fail to realize that his balding pattern is a Norwood 5A which means his crown and sides are significantly higher than a Norwood 7. A true Norwood 7 like Behappy would require a complete lateral hump re-construction as well as closing in the crown just to have the same pattern as Iniesta. That would take a few thousand grafts itself, not to mention the grafts that would need to be placed on top. Here is a Dr. Cooley result which would highlight what Norwood 7 could look like given a good surgeon and good donor density. -
Richard Keller, MD./Chicago/NSHTS/3,650 FU
Dr. Richard Keller replied to Dr. Richard Keller's topic in Results Posted by Leading Hair Restoration Clinics
Hello, Thank you for the positive comments. The patient is very happy with his results. 3650 follicular units were utilized due to the patient's donor laxity and the his budget for the procedure. Melvin, approx. 900 FU were placed in the crown region to match existing hairs. 6000-8000 follicular units are not possible in one session unless you split the follicular units into smaller grafts. If you split the follicular units into smaller grafts you could injure the follicular sub-structures, which decrease the longevity and survival of those grafts. Approx. 10,000 follicular units exist in the donor region. Donor laxity does not allow 8000 true follicular units to be extracted in most patients-this would cause donor depletion, which would not allow for future restoration if the patient continues to lose hair. I consider the patient's family history an important part of his plans. My results made a great improvement in this patient's overall appearance. Regards, Dr. Keller -
3808 FUT on Norwood VI with Dr. Wong today 12/4/17
zaxter replied to zaxter's topic in Hair Restoration Results Posted by Patients
Thank you for your comments! True, one of the things that I think contributes to the naturalness of the hairline is that Dr. Wong planted it just behind where I still had some stray native hairs that remained in the tuft area. The scar is just barely noticeable above my ears right after I get a haircut, especially in the sunlight. Perhaps I'll try getting a scar pic right after my next trip to the barber. Melvin, I know Dr. Wong is especially a wizard when it comes to doing crown work, but at age 51, I think I'm ok with things just as they are. Having the hairline, frontal, and mid-scalp has made a remarkable change in my appearance, so yes, PeloDinero and lukeyb, I am ecstatic and totally over the moon about it! If not for this board, I probably wouldn't have considered going through with a HT, or known about the differences between doctors, so I'm very grateful. I'll continue updating through the one year mark.
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