Not Blown Away By My Results.

[McCloud]

I've had three surgeries since 2000. I was always Type II on the Norwood Scale. A lot of men would have been thrileld to have as much hair as I did. Still, I was losing my hair, no doubt about that. I haven't receded much, just thinned out. I have that "see through" hair. I can see through to my scalp in the front.

 

My first surgery was with Bosley Medical. Big mistake. My fault for not doing research. They did 5,000 grafts, I believe. Somewhere in there. I was concerned about the corner of my hairline, the only place that was receded. They told me they couldn't put transplants there because it wouldn't look natural, which is ridiculous. Of course, they waited until I was already in the chair about to be worked on before saying this. What did I know? They also discouraged me from using Propecia. Well, a year later I lost my surrounding hair rendering the transplant useless. I began taking Propecia in December 2001.

 

In '04 I had my second procedure, this time with NHI in San Jose. They ENcouraged me to use Propecia, even writing me a prescription for Proscar to save me money. This time they suggested 4,000 grafts would meet my needs. A year later there was a definite improvement when comparing the pics the day of surgery to what I saw in the mirror, but still I had that "see through" problem. Still too much scalp.

 

In November '06 I had my third procedure, again at NHI and again they suggested 5,000 grafts would do the trick. They weren't able to get enough from the donor area, so I ended up with 4,000. I don't have the pics they took the day of surgery, but I do have the pics I took the day before. I'd say there is some improvement, but when I look in the mirror I'm still seeing an awful lot of my scalp peeking through...AGAIN. I switched to generic Proscar not long after the surgery and it appeared I was losing hair. I think that generic Proscar is uselss. I have switched back to the brand name. I'm wondering if my hair doesn't look as thick as I'd like because I lost my surrounding hair while on generic Proscar.

 

Regardless, I'm still not where I'd like to be and I really don't want to do another surgery. I'm not even sure if I have enough donor hair at this point.

 

I don't think anyone notices but me. I don't wear a hat or anything like that. I comb my hair anyway I feel like. I'd just like to see less of my scalp.

 

I began using OTC Nizoral a few weeks ago and I take 1/4 of a 5mg Proscar every other day.

 

Wish they'd hurry up with that cloning business.

[McCloud]

I've had three surgeries since 2000. I was always Type II on the Norwood Scale. A lot of men would have been thrileld to have as much hair as I did. Still, I was losing my hair, no doubt about that. I haven't receded much, just thinned out. I have that "see through" hair. I can see through to my scalp in the front.

 

My first surgery was with Bosley Medical. Big mistake. My fault for not doing research. They did 5,000 grafts, I believe. Somewhere in there. I was concerned about the corner of my hairline, the only place that was receded. They told me they couldn't put transplants there because it wouldn't look natural, which is ridiculous. Of course, they waited until I was already in the chair about to be worked on before saying this. What did I know? They also discouraged me from using Propecia. Well, a year later I lost my surrounding hair rendering the transplant useless. I began taking Propecia in December 2001.

 

In '04 I had my second procedure, this time with NHI in San Jose. They ENcouraged me to use Propecia, even writing me a prescription for Proscar to save me money. This time they suggested 4,000 grafts would meet my needs. A year later there was a definite improvement when comparing the pics the day of surgery to what I saw in the mirror, but still I had that "see through" problem. Still too much scalp.

 

In November '06 I had my third procedure, again at NHI and again they suggested 5,000 grafts would do the trick. They weren't able to get enough from the donor area, so I ended up with 4,000. I don't have the pics they took the day of surgery, but I do have the pics I took the day before. I'd say there is some improvement, but when I look in the mirror I'm still seeing an awful lot of my scalp peeking through...AGAIN. I switched to generic Proscar not long after the surgery and it appeared I was losing hair. I think that generic Proscar is uselss. I have switched back to the brand name. I'm wondering if my hair doesn't look as thick as I'd like because I lost my surrounding hair while on generic Proscar.

 

Regardless, I'm still not where I'd like to be and I really don't want to do another surgery. I'm not even sure if I have enough donor hair at this point.

 

I don't think anyone notices but me. I don't wear a hat or anything like that. I comb my hair anyway I feel like. I'd just like to see less of my scalp.

 

I began using OTC Nizoral a few weeks ago and I take 1/4 of a 5mg Proscar every other day.

 

Wish they'd hurry up with that cloning business.

[notgoing2gobald]

Man, sorry to hear about all of this. had you not heard of this site prior to your last surgery? have you checked out any of the coalition docs recommended on this site? many of them have dozens of pictures of proven consistent results on a wide array of patients, repair work notwithstanding.

[Guest wanthairs]

this does not add up.....

 

5000 grafts first , then another 4000 , then another 4000? Thats 13 000 grafts total. If you had that many youd be a hairy gorrilla. You have your numbers wrong somewhere.......

 

NHI is run by Dr. Rassman, very well known and highly reputable guy........You should forget about mroe transplants, stick to the meds and maybe get TOPPIK to fill in any scalp...

[Bill - Seemiller]

McCloud,

 

I'm sorry to hear about your bad experiences.

 

The members of this community are correct...the number of grafts you've supposedly received doesn't add up. Though there are some hair transplant patients who may have 10,000 available donor grafts with strip, this is extremely rare. I'd suggest the average number of grafts available per patient with FUT is 5000-8000. Another 2000-3000 may be possible with FUE depending on the donor density.

 

At a NW2, approximately 2000-3000 grafts should have given you what you need.

 

How much did you pay for your transplants?

 

If you are considering another one, I strongly recommend consulting with one of our coalition doctors who perform state of the art hair transplantation. In order to become and remain a member of the coalition, they must meet and maintain our membership standards.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[McCloud]

You're right guys, I had my numbers confused. The 4,000 was the cost. The grafts were, I believe, 945 or so the first time and the 800 range the second and third times.

[pushing 40]

After only 1700 or so grafts total for #'s one and two they couldn't get more than 800 for the 3rd?

[Bill - Seemiller]

McCloud,

 

The good news is that you should still have a decent number of donor hairs available if you choose to get future work done.

 

In the event you do have another one however, my best recommendation is to choose a doctor from our coalition as they are the best in the industry IMO. Spend some time aquainting yourself with the "find" feature on our forum as well and search for patient before/after pictures and experiences before you proceed.

 

Being that this would be your fourth surgery, make sure you choose wisely!

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill