M&M Procedure with Dr. Ron Shapiro

[M&M]

Before getting into this procedure, I wanted to provide a little background.

 

It was about 12 years ago when I had my first hair transplant at Bosley Medical in Seattle - 50 grafts placed behind my existing hairline. The goal was to 'stay ahead of my hair loss' (as they marketed in their brochures) with small procedures spaced out over time. After four of these small sessions (100, 300, 400) and the thinning of my own hair, all that was left was the Bosley Mini & Micro Grafts. Well, as you can see, the result left me styling my hair in a manner that would cover the thin and unnatural hairline.

 

My goal? To thicken my hairline and to allow me to style my hair in any manner I desire.

 

In early January of this year, I decided to look into Hair Transplants and did a search on Google. The first site that came up was the Hair Transplant Network and I'm *so* thankful!

 

In March, I selected Shapiro Medical Group based upon their hairline expertise and the photos I saw on this site and booked my appointment for early May. Matt Zupan at SMG was extremely helpful in our consultation and actually took nearly 1 hour on the phone with me explaining the procedure, the recommendation for me based upon the photos I submitted and answering all of my questions.

 

And ??“ 10 days ago, I had that procedure and I couldn't be happier thus far! It started with a long, long drive to Minnesota. On 8:30 am the day of surgery, I met with Matt in person, filled out the forms and within minutes, Dr. Ron Shapiro came in to meet with me. He reviewed my recession, took photos, and discussed and answered all of my questions. I truly appreciated the time they took with me prior to surgery (and during and after) to ensure my goals were realistic and achievable, to explain the procedure in detail and to answer any and all questions I might have had. It made me feel very comfortable and - dare I say it - relaxed.

 

The target was about 1500 Follicular Units to thicken and create a much more natural hairline. The other goal was to minimize my existing donor area scars. (Thanks Bosley!)

 

After freezing the donor area, Dr. Shapiro did the donor area strip removal and he followed the entire line of the prior scar so that he could remove the scar while using the Tricho-closure technique so that I would see a tremendous improvement in my donor area. I was so impressed with the careful attention to detail. In comparison, it took Bosley all of 5 minutes to get the donor hair ... and about another 15 minutes to punch the recipient sites.

 

Anyway - back to Dr. Shapiro.

 

Next up was the recipient site for the hairline. After trimming the hair a bit in front, the recipient sites were placed carefully and strategically. This took quite a long time - much longer than I expected. Dr. Shapiro even showed me on the monitor the level of magnification used and how he carefully finds locations to place a graft where one might normally not see the location. The recipient sites are so miniature!

 

Once most of the recipient sites were done, the rest of the team worked diligently on creating follicular units ??“ mostly single hairs for the hairline. Eventually, all was complete and my number was 1662 ??“ all in the hairline.

 

While watching all of about 30 minutes of Seinfeld on DVD, I fell asleep, ate lunch ... or was it the other way around?

 

The entire staff was so friendly and skilled and even though I spent a great deal of time sleeping during the procedure, the attention to detail in both the donor and recipient areas did not go unnoticed. In comparison to my prior procedures with Bosley, the time Dr. Shapiro took in both the donor area (to extract and to close it while helping to remove much of my prior scars) plus the time and care taken to place each recipient site and each follicular unit was truly remarkable.

 

It was also so appreciated how Dr. Shapiro personally placed every hairline graft and showed me and talked to me about where the grafts were going during the procedure, to again ensure that my goals were achieved. He is a true caring professional.

 

Similarly, my post-op care was of the highest calibre. At around 7:30 at night, photographs were taken to document my progress, questions were asked, post-op care was provided (verbally and written) and I was able to come back the next 3 days for a shampoo as I stayed in the area for the next 3 nights.

 

Included are photos from Day 4 post-surgery which I took mid-day Saturday after my shampoo. The results are truly outstanding, in my opinion. The grafts are so clean and the redness is almost completely gone already.

 

On Day 6 I was back to work and was able to style my hair in such a manner that you could not see anything. And the best part ??“ tomorrow I get the staples out!

 

Thus far, I'm very impressed with the results (and excited and anxious!). I think this also speaks volumes about the very quick recovery time that is possible when one goes to one of the best in the business!

 

I'll continue to post the results as each month progresses.

 

Thanks to everyone on this site for helping so much!!

 

 

 

[Guest]

Congratulations. Im sure it will look very natural.

Now you're in for the hard part, the 4-6 month wait.

[Pat - Community Publisher]

M&M,

 

Thanks for sharing your experience in detail. Looks like Bosley "lost another one to Ditech" so to speak. Congratulations.

 

I'm glad this community could play a role in getting you into the hands of the very best.

 

I expect you will see a real nice refinement in hairline as the new ultra refined session grows in both in front and through your previous hairline.

 

Congratulations again. Please keep us posted as things evolve for you. Feel free to also create a free Hair Loss Blog.

 

Pat

[M&M]

Originally posted by Pat - Publisher of this Community:

M&M,

 

Thanks for sharing your experience in detail. Looks like Bosley "lost another one to Ditech" so to speak. Congratulations.

 

I'm glad this community could play a role in getting you into the hands of the very best.

 

I expect you will see a real nice refinement in hairline as the new ultra refined session grows in both in front and through your previous hairline.

 

Congratulations again. Please keep us posted as things evolve for you. Feel free to also create a free Hair Loss Blog.

 

Pat

 

Thanks Pat! If it wasn't for this site, I would never have known about Dr. Shapiro and I would still be under the misguided notion that Bosley was as good as it gets in hair transplants.

 

I've now created a Blog:

 

M&M Blog

[M&M]

Just a quick note to say that I had my staples out today (Day 13) and *WOW* does it feel so much more comfortable without them in my head!! It doesn't feel tight at all and the nurse removing the staples commented on how good and clean it looked.

 

She also asked "Why did you go all that way? Was it that much cheaper?"

 

Not at all, I told her. I don't think it was any cheaper, nor any more expensive (especially in the long run), but the techniques have advanced so much and I wanted to ensure I was getting the very best.