WHO SHOULD I GO WITH??????

[Hairfree]

Thats a good idea. I can cut it short and then tell people I had surgery. Had some bad moles removed or something, etc. and wear a hat.

 

By the way, what kind of hat is safe to wear. Do people wear a baseball cap? Or something different? How many days after is it safe to wear a hat?

[Tha Joe]

Guys, I am puzzled as to why everyone is pushing these huge sessions. I am no newby to this industry so I have seen what can and can't be done effectively. Any doctor can do large counts but at what cost? Large, long and high raking scar, limited number of surving grafts, swelling, etc...

Call me safe or old fashioned but I still feel that the end result should be about quality and not quanity. However, I do understand wanting to get the most from as few procedures as possible. I just think the envelope is being pushed. Just my personal opinion and everyone knows the old saying about opinions.

[hairbank]

Tha Joe-

 

The HT industry has drastically changed over the past 5 years. Where 1000 - 1500 grafts used to be a large session, surgeons have staffed up and refined the procedures now being able to harvest more than 7000 in a session if a persons donor and laxity call for it.

 

Your right, everyone has an opinion . I do disagree with you about the envelope being pushed too far. The only point you made which I feel is valid is about the scar because it will be longer with a larger session. However, most who get HT's don't ever wear their hair short enough for the scar to show..........and, with Tricho closure, most can clip to 1/2" or so without any trouble. Also, look at the benefits the larger sessions provide:

 

<UL TYPE=SQUARE><LI>One Session instead of 2-3 which means much less trauma and downtime<LI>Costs are much less due to the standard discount for over 2000 grafts most places<LI>Only dealing with shock loss and regrowth one time

 

I might add that I have not seen any studies showing grafts survial percentages decreasing with larger sessions. I think this was initially a scare but, after numerous successful large sessions it has been diffused.

 

I guess where I'm going with this is that if the only downside to the larger sessions is the longer scar, I'm not sure it matters because most who get HT's aren't concerned with the scar or they would not have opted for getting a HT.

 

Just trying to provide another prospective.

 

Peace

 

HB

[the B spot]

Well, we are currently defining huge or mega, or mega-mega/ultra-mega sessions at this point.

 

Here is how I view them in the hands of the BEST Docs who possess the skill and the staff to handle such sessions.

 

0-2500 average sessions-strip 1cm wide 15-28cm long

 

2500-3500 mega session strip 1.2-1.5cm wide 25-30cm long

 

3500-5000 mega-mega session 1.6-2cm wide strip 26-30cm long

 

5000+ ultra-mega sessions 2.1 cm wide strip 30cm long.

 

Now this is based on a density of 85 fu's cm/2--- BUT if you have a density of 92-95 fu's cm/2 then obviously either less tissue is needed to reach the numbers, OR, more grafts will be extracted than the averages.

 

Your correct though, you should not approach these sessions lightly and you should only choose a clinic that is capable of meeting your needs easily.

 

Cost is also a factor as well.

 

I hope this helps you out.

 

Take Care,

J

[hairbank]

Originally posted by Hairfree:

By the way, what kind of hat is safe to wear. Do people wear a baseball cap? Or something different? How many days after is it safe to wear a hat?

 

Sorry Hairfree, I missed your Q in my earlier post .

 

I can't speak for other clinics, but H & W provides you a baseball style cap to wear. Really, you just need to find something fairly loose-fitting to cover your head and make sure it doesn't rest on the grafts. Maybe someone else can chime in, but, if I had much temple work done, I might opt for a bandana........otherwise i'm not sure how you could wear any hat.

 

As long as you "mind the grafts" while wearing/removing the hat, you can start wearing it immediately following surgery, I wore mine on the way back to the hotel...no problems. Once your grafts are seated for good at around the 7-10 day mark, you shouldn't have to worry about weather or not ANY hat rubs the grafts.

 

Hope this helps.

[Tha Joe]

Hairbank

I can appreciate your views as well. I always look at everything from as many angles as possible and you do have valid points. I guess it just comes down to the individual and what they are wanting to accomplish.

 

The tricho closure has to be perfect or some issues can arrise. It was a subject of discussion last week at the ishrs meeting in Orlando.

 

Everyone is concerned about a scar to a degree.

[hairbank]

Originally posted by Tha Joe:

Hairbank

I can appreciate your views as well. I always look at everything from as many angles as possible and you do have valid points. I guess it just comes down to the individual and what they are wanting to accomplish.

 

The tricho closure has to be perfect or some issues can arrise. It was a subject of discussion last week at the ishrs meeting in Orlando.

 

Everyone is concerned about a scar to a degree.

 

Cool.. .

 

Anything on the tricho worth mentioning from the ishrs meeting? From what I experienced, I like it better than the standard scar I received from my first HT because the hair grows through it. The only negative I've seen so far is that the hair growing through the scar causes a slight "cowlick" when I clip down to 1/2" or so.

 

Peace,

[Tha Joe]

Yeah, several doctors have had issues with excessive scabbing, raised scars, healing slowly etc... The fact that the hair grows through is awesome though.

[Guest]

Large, long and high raking scar

 

I agree with Tha Joe about pushing the envelope. I have mentioned it before but the subject is promptly dropped. It seems that people are afraid to voice thier opinion on this subject. I'll leave it at that.

[Hairfree]

Hairbank..Thank you for answering my question.

 

This forum has turned into an interesting discussion. I am opting for a mega session (3000 grafts) to fill in my front 1/3 and hope that propecia will slow down the loss on the back 2/3 so I won't need a 2nd HT for some time. I dont have any loss in the crown area yet and my hairloss has progressed slowly back from the hairline so I feel a bit safer to take the aggressive approach and try to fill it in with one session. I might get hair greed and want a 2nd HT with FUE to work on the hairline within a year. Who knows..like everyone say we can't predict our hairloss. I am being optimistic! I hope I am making the right decision. If you were in my shoes would you approach it the same way?

 

Anyway I have never taken propecia or proscar. I am going to see if Dr. Rahal will send me some in the mail to start on it ASAP. Has anyone experienced major side effects from propecia?

Anyone experience regrowth with propecia?

 

I am going to start shopping for a loose fitting hat. I look forward to hearing from all of you..

[hairbank]

I looked at your pic again..........3000 in the frontal 1/3 won't be too bad and MAY give you what you're looking for. Pics are sometimes deciving, Dr. Rahal is good so trust his judgment. Didn't see any pics of your crown but if it's holding on now, and you get on Finasteride for loss prevention, you may be set for quite awhile . Your approach sounds reasonable to me. If I were you, I'd do exactly the same, focus on the problem at hand...the frontal 1/3, don't worry about the rest unless you need to.

 

I started Proscar (Fin) a little over 1 year ago. Since my 2nd HT was for the crown, it's tough to tell what it's done for me there. I have had mild regrowth in the hairline which tells me it has to be providing some value to me. It's not super thick hair yet but there are alot of them and there are enough to soften my hairline. I didn't have any side effects from it. I do take it every other day instead of daily which you may want to look into. Dr. Wong advised me of this stating that Finasteride actively inhibits DHT for 72 hours thus the daily does isn't necessary. You may ask Dr. Rahal about it.

[hair man]

i will first tell the people on this forum that I have extensive experience in hair transplantation and marketing on the web.

 

I will also tell you that I have had 2 transplants of 2500 grafts each and know most of the surgeons in this country and have met personally with many of them over the years.

 

Even though I have left the hair industry and have moved onto plastic surgery, I feel that people should know the truth.

 

this message is for anyone that is reading this post and is, let's say, a bit naive about what happens in these forums.

 

Based on the canned questions that "HAIR FREE" is asking, I would say that he actually works for Dr Rahal.

 

There is no surgeon in the U.S. that would be as negligent as to make blanket statements that any client can produce over 3,000 grafts in a single session.

 

In addition, there is a good likelyhood that there will be extensive scarring. To be specific, the width of the scar could be wide due to tension on the scalp. And, the technician would be pushed to work faster creating recipient sites---inevitably cross-secting existing hairs in the process.

(robbing peter to pay paul--so to speak)

 

Almost every prospective patient should consider some comments in forums to be contrived. Especially when they say they are going to have a procedure done by a practice that answers them online. It just does not happen that way.

 

see your doctor face to face and do not believe most of what is written in forums

[pisa]

Hair man

you need to reeducate your self with the current methodology of the hair transplants before shooting your mouth off.

But more likely, your post smells like you have a secondary agenda. It really reads like you still work for a clinic that does NOT or CANNOT do bigger sessions. And here you are trying to insult the clinics that commonly do.

There is nothing about hairfree's questions that really suggest any ulterior motive, yet this is your first post, and you come out with your guns blazing accusing the integrity of both the patient "hair free" and Dr Rahal.

[NervousNelly]

Hairman,

 

Why do you feel the need to provide the same post twice and not offer up any facts about your statements. We all know that the HT industry has had a shady past and that there are still clinics out there with only their interests in mind, but that is the purpose of this site.

 

We are trying to educate people so that we can elliminate those clinics from existance and avoid people from having bad experiences.

 

Have you read all of Hairfree's posts. I rather doubt that he works for Dr. Rahal. We are bright individuals and would have picked up on that. Thanks for your help though.

[hairbank]

hair man-

 

After your post, I reviewed Hairfree's posts again in this thread. I have to disagree with your assessment of him as a shill for Dr. Rahal. He asked for opinions on a couple of Docs, we offered, he chose.......it's that simple. Dr. Rahal is already recommended by this site as part of the Coalition Surgeons.........what does he have to prove or gain from this?

 

What's you're point of reference when you say there will be extensive scarring? Are you talking about the length of the scar? If so, yes, it's longer if you get more grafts, however, I received 3886 grafts from HT#2 and my scar is less detectable than the one from HT #1 where I only received around 1200 grafts. Plus, with the Trychophytic donor closure method the hair grows throw the scar so you can't see a scar even if I clip to less than 1/2".

 

Another thing.............I don't believe ANY of the Coalition Surgeons recommended here have their techs creating recipient sites..........surgeons only. Techs sometimes place the grafts, but I believe all the cutting is done by the surgeon. There are plenty of surgeons now producing sessions of more than 4000 grafts very successfully with great results which speak for themselves.

 

IMO...this site is better than most at detecting shills and removing them. It's not really that tough to tell when someone is promoting their own agenda. If you have extensive knowledge of the HT industry as you claim, I'm sure you can benefit us with your knowledge. However, I wonder what YOUR agenda here when the only purpose of your 2nd post here was to discredit someone else.

 

Read the threads on this forum.............we aren't selling surgeons and aren't compensated for our advise. We're merely trying to offer support and possible solutions for those with hairloss. This forum has helped many who have used recommended methods for loss prevention, or received HT's and stayed around to post their before/afters to help others. As for your comment about "a procedure done by a practice that answers them online"......I had HT #2 with Hasson and Wong and started by emailing their consultant, Mike Ferko, back and forth......emailed pics, spoke on the phone...........I've been completely satisfied with my HT 100%..............why do you say "it doesn't happen that way?"

 

If you're here to help...........I earnestly welcome you hope you will participate. If not, please move on.