Updated Photos of NervousNelly

[MrJobi]

Group Hug!!

[hairbank]

Originally posted by NervousNelly:

Wow. Whats been happening here??

 

Janna, I'll save the hug for you and let these guys continue. New meaning to share the love.

 

With all of us demonstrating more of our feminine side you would think that there would be a lot less DHT around and we would all have full, thick heads of hair.

 

Starting my scalp exercises--my wife walked by and just shook her head and said "I won't ask"

 

 

NN

 

I'm with you NN.............I've been doing the exercises sometimes when watch a show with my wife or kids...............they look over like.....what's up?? Then it's the "oh, the HT, right?" Sheesh............a guy can't get away with anything these days, can he????

[Hairfree]

I love this thread. Very funny! We all should start Scalp Exercising classes at a local gym. Add some good music, beer, chips, and TV. Richard Simmonds available??

 

Oh I forgot! We don't live anywhere near each other. Nevermind

[Bill - Seemiller]

I love this thread. Very funny! We all should start Scalp Exercising classes at a local gym. Add some good music, beer, chips, and TV. Richard Simmonds available??

 

Looks like it's just you and me in the area Hairfree! Though I think we ought to keep Richard Simmons out of it and choose one of the hot women Better Bodies fitness instructors instead! Better not tell our ladies though .

 

Bill

[NervousNelly]

Gentlemen,

 

In reading other threads, I noticed that many of you have hairlines that are 5-6 cm from the eyebrow. I measured where my current hairline is and it is 6.5-7.

 

I have no plans of lowering my hairline as I think that it is currently age approproriate (and will be in future) and why when it will only chew up more grafts. I figure that I should be able to get more accomplished with leaving current hairline as is and going from there.

 

I guess I am curious as to why so many people and surgeons choose to lower the hairlines. If it gives a better look to the patient and frames the face and will provide a more natural final result than I can totally understand, but with Fu being so precious shouldn't the surgeon be attempting to have to cover as little scalp as possible while still remaining natural??

 

NN

[Gorpy]

That is an excellent question NN. What it comes down to is a balance between future needs and available donar. Obviously we would all like to have a lower hairline that better frames our face. It just looks better. If we didn't have that dang donar limitation wouldn't we all be choosing a slightly lower hairline?

 

Having said that, you could probably afford to lower yours slightly and close out your temples a little. Dr. Shapiro will no doubt examine you and tell you what your options are.

[NervousNelly]

Gorpy,

 

By my estimates, to lower my hairline 1 cm would be approximately an extra 16 cm2 of surface area to cover that would chew up about 640 FU if I was shooting for a density of roughly 40 fu/cm2. If I don't need to lower for a natural look (avoid looking like Burt--Burt and Ernie) why bother as it will allow me to have more density with the usage of those precious grafts in the current frontal 1/3 of hairline.

 

Now I may have adequate donor to pull it off without a problem but if I have no strong desire for lowering hairline should I take the chance. Granted if Shapiro says that it is his recommendation to lower and would feel more comfortable doing so to achieve the look he is attempting I would trust his judgement.

 

Does this make sense??

 

NN

[Gorpy]

It makes perfect sense NN. It all depends on your available donar and your future needs. If your hair loss pattern is stabilized with fin, then you can go for a little more hairline. Your crown loss looks fairly small. Is it stabilized at this point?

 

I remember struggling to decide about my hairline. I was going to go very conservative. I think it's a natural tendency for us to be conservative. I got to a point where I realized I was just wasting my time trying to figure out where to put it. I made a decision about a week prior to my surgery to trust my doctor's recommendation. That's why I think you really won't know until you hear what Dr. Shapiro has to say. Keep in mind that you don't have to lower it 1cm. Even .5dm makes a difference. And maybe that means placing a .5cm soft transition zone like mine in front of your current hairline.

 

I certainly don't want to encourage you to do something you're not comfortable with. It's not worth fretting over. I'm sure Dr. Shapiro can make it look very natural where ever you place it.

 

Here's what will most likely happen on your surgery day. You will sit down and the doctor will look at your situation after which he'll draw out a hairline that he thinks would be appropriate. At that point you will have a chance to discuss it with him. You'll voice your concerns. He'll adjust it if necessary. In the end you'll decide on the perfect hairline for you the individual. It'll be great.

[NervousNelly]

Gorpy,

 

Lately I have not been explaining myself well. I guess my point is that I don't want to make an obvious effort to lower my hairline, however do realize that hair will be placed in front of current hairline to camouflage old work and provide a zone of transition. Sorry for further miscommunication.

 

For the most part my crown does seem somewhat stabalized. Hard to say really but I am now 39 and have been losing my hair since 19. I started off with hair density like a beaver though. The hairdressers and barbers used to complain and hate cutting my hair because it was too thick. Don't seem to get that now for some reason.

 

My donor is good from what I have been told. I did get some huge discrepencies from docs in terms of the potential FU but all were positive. (6000-9000 left) Either way should not be an issue.

 

 

 

NN

[Gorpy]

I understand NN. Forgive me if I was rambling a bit. I think, as you say, if you go slightly in front of your existing hairline it will work out great.

[Bill - Seemiller]

NN,

 

There is no reason to lower your hairline if you don't want to. Higher more "mature" hairlines can look great too.

 

For me, when I started surgery, I had the resemblance of an existing hairline that I asked the doctor to work within. So for the most part, my hairline is just about as it was when I was 24 (keeping i mind that my hairline was probably a little lower in high school).

 

Besides...

 

You can always decide to lower your hairline later after you are satisfied with the coverage and density with a more conservative hairline.

 

Bill

[Mp96]

Nervous Nelly

 

Doctor Raul does minimal shaving. He also does minimal shaving in the donor area and the removal of the strip is hardly noticiable.. I am pretty much pain free and it's only been 3 days since my procedure. I stongly recommend him....

[Baboon]

Good luck NN,

 

I think you will have good result with Dr. Shapiro. Please keep us posted!=)

[NervousNelly]

Thanks guys.

 

Mp96 I have finally made my decision to go with Dr. Ron Shapiro and am scheduled for Aug. 13th so it's not far off at all.

 

Unfortunately due to my career and need to get back to the office relatively quickly, I can't shave my head for the procedure. What I think I will do however is allow them to shave part of the central core immediately behind the hairline so that they can do more dense work there. I don't have much density there anyways and when I comb hair back a lot will be disguised anyways. Moreover, this hair is some of the most miniturized that I have so likely it may jump ship anyways. I will give the doc my ideas and let him go from there with his expertise.

 

NN

[Mp96]

Nice choice.

 

I also think Dr. Shapiro is also a great hair transplant doctor. He seems to have excellent turn outs and great hairlines from what I have seen in the past.

Good luck to you with your surgery and post when you can please.. Thanks and take care, Mp96

[Guest]

I have finally made my decision to go with Dr. Ron Shapiro

 

You mean your wife made that decision don't you NN? : )

[Bill - Seemiller]

NN...

 

congrats on making a decision. Start doing those scalp exercises...you don't have a lot of time! I can't wait to see your pictures and read about your experience.

 

Bill

[balody]

congrats NN, good luck mate,from what i hear shapiro is an excellent choice!

[Toad_NW3]

Yes, good luck NN. I've always been impressed w/ Shapiro's work. Nice choice. Happy healing and growing!

[NervousNelly]

Guys,

 

Only 1 week away now. Still up in the air as to the exact plan as I keep flip flopping about things. Ultimately I am leaving a lot up to Dr. Shapiro as I trust his artistic and technical skills. As I have stated several times before, my priority is my hairline and frontal area but can't shave entirely for ultimate results with maximum denstiy and fu.

 

My latest thought is this:

 

1. Shave an approx. 2 cm area behind hairline. I have very thin hair there anyways. (est. 15fu/cm2)

2. Keep hairline a certain length so that I can comb back after surgery to hide work.

 

I think that this will give the best of both worlds and allow for meeting my desires and make things easier for Dr. Shapiro to achieve the best possible results and therefore I can focus all/most FU in frontal region. My hair might look a little more funky than I'd like when I go back to work 10 days later, but I can use some toppik also to try and hide things.

 

Soon enough all this research and discussion will come to fruition.

 

NN

[Bill - Seemiller]

NN,

 

Your gameplan sounds good.

 

Discuss it with Dr. Shapiro and listen to what he suggests as well. I am sure you will come out a new man...or at least a hairy man .

 

Bill

[NervousNelly]

Bill,

 

I'm sure that things will again change when I show up to Shapiro's but this latest plan has been thought out and I believe will be pretty effective. We'll see. Sometimes having hair present is more of a pain than starting with a fresh canvas.

 

NN

[Rhodeman]

NN,

 

Good luck with your procedure. It sounds like you know exactly what you want, & there's no doubt that you're in good hands.

[NervousNelly]

Thanks guys for your wellwishes. I am taking off either Friday night or Saturday morning and will drive to Minneapolis from Michigan. I chose not to fly since I don't want to deal with all the bullshit of flying when not feeling the best and my wife and I can make a bit of a road trip out of it. If our schedules will allow I might try to meet up with Bspot.

 

I am scheduled for Monday morning and am getting more and more amped about things, especially as I see such awesome results recently from some forum members and Shapiros work posted.

 

I have been doing scalp exercises although working 70+ hours a week lately it is a little challenging. Steering with a knee and doing scalp exercises is not recommended by the way. I have also been increasing my MSM and time on inversion table. I take Vit. A and Shen Min(realizing it might be useless) and ginko. I shampoo with Nizoral 1-2 times per week and use Vitalize shampoo. My motherinlaw asked what I was doing for my hair the other day because she thought it looked very healthy?? Who knows. Wait till she sees me with my new fro.

 

I am going to try and post some other pre photos in outdoor light and wet so that everyone has a better idea of what things really look like. I have the type of hair that can look much thicker when dry because it is waivy. Good for me I guess. Not sure when I will post apres photos but I will also allow Shapiro to do so if inclined.

 

This is it gentleman. Lots of time and learning invested in this and it now is only a few days away. You are all to be thanked for helping me in my decision and I promise to keep you posted along the recovery journey.

 

Take care

 

 

NN

[irish homer]

all the very best of Irish luck to you NN

IH