Considering first time hair transplant

[BrianH]

DON'T!!! If I had it to do all over again, I would clip my hair close and forget about it. Here is what they don't tell you...

1. The estimated cost will always be significantly lower than what you eventually pay.

2. If you are above a 5 on the Norwood scale the density will not meet your expectations.

3. Even the best transplant will not look natural in direct sunlight.

4. Don't believe the moderator's rhetoric, this site is a glorified advertisement for Hair Transplant Doctors who pay a fee to advertise here.

5. You will continue to require transplants for the rest of your life...it never ends.

6. Keep your hats, you will still need them.

[Agio]

Originally posted by BrianH:

DON'T!!! If I had it to do all over again, I would clip my hair close and forget about it. Here is what they don't tell you...

1. The estimated cost will always be significantly lower than what you pay.

2. If you are above a 5 on the Norwood scale the density will not meet your expectations.

3. Even the best transplant will not look natural in direct sunlight.

4. Don't believe the moderator's rhetoric, this site is a glorified advertisement for Hair Transplant Doctors who pay a fee to advertise here.

5. You will continue to require transplants for the rest of your life...it never ends.

6. Keep your hats, you will still need them.

 

Some odd and in my opinion, quite inaccurate statements BrianH. It sounds like you have had a bad experience but with who? Sharing this may help others. No matter, at this time I'd like to address them one point at a time in the same order you posted them.

 

1. My transplant was "estimated" at 10000 for 3000 grafts. 4312 grafts were done and the cost was 12000. No surprises.

 

2. As with anything in life if you have unrealistic uninformed expectations, disappointment is sure to follow, no matter how good the result is. Oft times people only hear what they want to hear then cry about being misled.

 

3. I've visited with quite a few transplant recipients from top notch surgeons and though I didn't stand above them at high noon while the sun was blazing down upon them I noticed nothing untoward. See "unrealistic expectations"

 

4. This is truly a ridiculous statement and opposite of the truth. The 1st thing to do is read the intense vetting process Pat does on a surgeon and the second thing to understand is any money paid to this site by surgeons is chump change to them as they are for the most part considered the best in North America and hardly in need of money. In fact they have much more to lose being a member of the coalition or being recommended by this site as one crappy job reported on this site by one person could potentially cost them hundreds of thousands of dollars in lost patients. Essentially a surgeon is as good as his or hers last transplant and as with anything in the non-essential retail business, one bad customer cancels out 100 good ones. You don't see Bosley on here do ya? Lastly, if a surgeon is crappy, 'member' or not, people on here voice very strong opinions about them.

 

5. In this the person having the transplant done must take responsibility and exercise something called common sense. If you insist on getting a transplant while young or at the 1st onset of thinning no top notch surgeon that I am aware of will tell you that only one or two transplants will be required and it'll all be better for the rest of your life. It's called "male pattern baldness" for a reason. And of course it will end at some point as you know because we have a finite amount of donor hair, this even the worst surgeon will tell you. If you choose not to listen or do not do proper research, that's your problem.

 

6. I don't like hats.

[Agio]

Originally posted by Lenny:

I'm unclear on why so much research is necessary. If I go to one of the top docs that have been mentioned here can I still go wrong?

 

Lenny, I waited and did research for 10 years primarily because I'm paranoid and was also aware more advanced techniques were evolving. Now that's just me. In answer to the question, it's not so much things "going wrong" as it is that you will notice nothing however you will have scarring in the donor area and waste hair in the donor area. This is a precious non-renewable resource. Scarcer than oil!

400 grafts I think would yield a max of 800 hairs. As the top notch surgeons do 'dense packing' of say 45-65 grafts per sq cm the result will be virtually non existent. Measure out a sq cm on a piece of paper then put 60 little dots in it then look at the area a sq cm is on your head. It'll give you an idea. Of course if you just get a patch done in the middle of your forehead you might see something

[BrianH]

Well said...go buy a hat

[snakeoil]

Take some time to think this whole thing through my friend. You may be headed down a road that has no exit.

 

I have had multiple transplant procedures over the past 25 years and if I could do it over again...I WOULDN'T!

 

At the very least, get on Propecia and Rogain to buy some time. Then do your research, including having consultations with "A" team doctors listed on this site.

 

THERE IS NO TESTING THE WATERS TO SEE IF HAIR TRANSPLANTATION IS RIGHT FOR YOU!!!

 

Once you have a strip procedure done, you're pretty much committed to hair transplants for as long as your baldness progresses which is the rest of your life. There is no going back, as you will always have a scar across the back of your head and a patch of transplanted hair on the front of your head. Now this may be okay if your baldness does not progress. Use your father's pattern of baldness as how your hair line will look in the future. You're making a life changing decision don't take it lightly.

[wylie]

When I had my first session many years ago to fill in a receding hairline I never imagined all my native hair would disappear, but away it went, never to return. That was not good, nor were the results of my HT very good either, but

with today's technology you can achieve amazing results, provided you have the right surgeon working on you. I can honestly say I wouldnt do this again, but with today's advancements and knowing what I do right now, thats likely not true. I'd just make a much more informed decision before I did anything.

 

You could always schedule a session of between 1000 and 1500 grafts, which is considered small, but its all about getting the number of grafts you need, and if you only "need" 400 grafts, your hairloss is not progressed enough to even bother with any of this.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Agio,

 

Thank you for your detailed response and support of our online patient based community.

 

Brian,

 

You have already posted this very thing on the following discussion thread and I as well as other members are attempting to help you and address your concerns.

 

I am all up for an intelligent conversation and debate but let's keep it to one thread.

 

As I said, I agree with some of what you said and have addressed each point (similar to Agio), one by one.

 

But I don't appreciate you writing lies about the intentions of our online patient based community, infecting every thread like a virus.

 

Please keep it on this thread.

 

Regards,

 

Bill