FUE Procedure?

[quality1]

Hi, I'm a new member, but have been a lurker for a little over a year. I am 28 years old and have been using propecia for roughly 4 years. I began using propecia with a hairline that was a Nowrwood class 3 (classic peninsula hairline). During these 4 years I have not seen any significant loss from when I was 23, though light occasional shedding does happen, there has been no noticeable change in appearance. I have never had a HT, but throughout the past 4 years I have used free consultations to my advantage to see what different doctors would reccomend if I were to ever have a procedure. All seem to agree that I have a receded hairline, but the hair that I have have is very thick and dense and covers it well, and that I would need only a small procedure (500-1000 grafts). Being 28 w/ a good career, I have decided that my 'mop-top'/'shaggy' style haircut has got to go soon. I have been reading about the FUE/FOX procedure at NHI, which seems to be aimed for people in my position, people that need a smaller minimally invasive procedure. I am not aiming to regrow my entire teenage hairline, but rather just get a very soft,subtle,conservative and natural look to what I have. I was hoping that some people may give some opinions on this procedure and my situation. Also, I am confident in Propecia, it is awesome, I wish that it would have come out 3 years earlier though, it may have saved my hairline!

I apologize if this was long for a first post.

Thanks in advance.

Todd

[quality1]

Hi, I'm a new member, but have been a lurker for a little over a year. I am 28 years old and have been using propecia for roughly 4 years. I began using propecia with a hairline that was a Nowrwood class 3 (classic peninsula hairline). During these 4 years I have not seen any significant loss from when I was 23, though light occasional shedding does happen, there has been no noticeable change in appearance. I have never had a HT, but throughout the past 4 years I have used free consultations to my advantage to see what different doctors would reccomend if I were to ever have a procedure. All seem to agree that I have a receded hairline, but the hair that I have have is very thick and dense and covers it well, and that I would need only a small procedure (500-1000 grafts). Being 28 w/ a good career, I have decided that my 'mop-top'/'shaggy' style haircut has got to go soon. I have been reading about the FUE/FOX procedure at NHI, which seems to be aimed for people in my position, people that need a smaller minimally invasive procedure. I am not aiming to regrow my entire teenage hairline, but rather just get a very soft,subtle,conservative and natural look to what I have. I was hoping that some people may give some opinions on this procedure and my situation. Also, I am confident in Propecia, it is awesome, I wish that it would have come out 3 years earlier though, it may have saved my hairline!

I apologize if this was long for a first post.

Thanks in advance.

Todd

[JohnH]

I would go with a strip procedure. FUE is twice as expensive and is not time tested. In other words, who knows what FUE recipients will look like in their golden years when the hair around the ears starts to thin. Your situation sounds a lot like Bluesman's. He recently had hairline work - search and you will find pics. With your thick hair, one thin strip in the back will be totally unnoticeable. Just my opinion.

[Teddw2ds]

Todd

 

I agree with JohnH. At least consider strip surgery. Unless you think the day will come when you want to shave your head completely, the scarline will be insignificant if you go to a top surgeon.

 

I chose Dr. Rose in Tampa, FL, and I too was a Norwood 3. I had 1535 grafts to reconstruct my frontal hairline. I went fairly conservative, so I am wondering what kind of aesthetic result you would get with only 500 - 1000 grafts at a NW3.

 

My results are just now starting to come in at the 2 months mark, but as for my scar line... it's getting hard to find at all, and I know exactly where to look for it. The scar is not a big issue if you go with a good surgeon.

 

Tedd

[bverotti]

I do not agree seeing a top strip doc and not worry about the scarline. Ask them to put it in writing that your scarline will be 1-2 mm ... good luck. Surely you have better odds with top docs, but even they cannot predict how your scar will come out because it is not exact science.

What you will 100% end up with a scarline. I too thought my scarline was OK since I always have longer hair in the back. After my buzz cut before my upcoming FUE procedure I was unpleasantly surprised by the scar. In fact I liked the buzz cut but unfortunately that is no longer an option for me.

About thinning in later years I say this >

If you thin out badly in your golden years you will look thinner FUE than with strip. But if the scarline is not perfect you will easily spot the scarline through the thinning hair !!! You make your choise.

Believe me, it is a completely different experience strip vs FUE. I have had both and will never again have a strip done. PS > at the time of my strip there was no talk about FUE.

[quality1]

Thank you for your replies. I will take all of your opinions into consideration. I'll keep in touch with the forum.

[arfy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>I would go with a strip procedure. FUE is twice as expensive and is not time tested. In other words, who knows what FUE recipients will look like in their golden years when the hair around the ears starts to thin.

FUE has been used since the mid-90s by Dr. Woods in Sydney. I don't know how you can say that is not time tested.

 

Also, most clinics started using strip excision around 1990. So strip excision is not that much older than FUE. So if you are worried about FUE not being time tested, you should probably also wonder about strip too, since it is only a few years older than FUE.

[Mr T]

...and if you are thinking about shaving your head later, then don't get a f*cking hair transplant!

 

Mr. T

[Guest]

If I started to thin, I'm sure I'd be better off with FUE scars, than strip scar.

 

Mr. T - don't forget that the decision to shave your hair or not, may not be yours to make...

 

"There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't..."

[Mr T]

<If I started to thin, I'm sure I'd be better off with FUE scars, than strip scar.>

 

That's your opinion, but what if you had MAJOR FUE work done and then started to thin. Not only would you be thin on top, you'd be thin in back.

 

<don't forget that the decision to shave your hair or not, may not be yours to make...>

 

Can you give me an example?

 

Mr. T

[Guest]

chemo therapy, military, joining hare crishna (jk)

 

"There are only 10 types of people in the world: those who understand binary, and those who don't..."

[Mr T]

If I was having chemo, shaving my head would be among the least of my worries... but that's my opinion.

 

Joining the military is a choice... at least it is in the U.S.. And in most countries where military service is required, one would probably be past the age of their required military duty by the time they had pursued having a HT. Now people in the resrves are another story, but, again, that is their choice to enlist.

 

The last one made me chuckle.

 

Mr. T

[arfy]

Mr T

I don't get your logic that a long linear scar will somehow be less noticeable than FUE scars if your donor area starts to thin.

 

In my opinion, a linear scar will be more noticeable than FUE scars, if your donor area starts to thin.

 

I say that because peoples' eyes are naturally drawn to pick out recognizable shapes and patterns. A linear scar is more recognizable than a lot of miniscule dots. There is no shape or pattern to FUE scarring.

[el guapo]

It could be the simple fact that a shaved head looks good on some people, those with a "shadow" of a hairline. really short hair or shaved head always looks better on someone with hairfollicles than without.

(Dont even try to argue that fact)

 

i myself a contemplating getting a FUE HT just so that I can shave/buzcut my hair and still look good. As long as the hairline is there to frame the face when having a buzzcut if its thinning behind does not matter as much. Look at Vin Diesel

 

So thats a reson for you

-get a HT so that a shaved head looks good!

 

El Guapo

[JohnH]

"Time tested" probably wasn't a good choice of words in my earlier post. I'm not against FUE, I am even seriously considering it as I now have limited donor hair. Also, in the near future, FUE may become standard procedure as more doctors start to do it.

 

I'm probably just jealous of the people who have had these fantastic megasessions with incredible results. Had I waited until now to have a procedure, I would go with a large session and would choose strip due to cost considerations.

[Manko]

bverotti,

 

I'm not looking to criticize your previous work, but your scar in the back of your head was not good, and I believe it represented that doctors skill. Unless you have a very tight scalp that may have been one of the most stretched scars I've seen. I think I can agree though that FUE would lead to a less noticeable look if in the future a person thins in the donor area. On the other hand, if you have decent scalp laxity, would you consider a scar revision or if you decided to have more HT's to get another strip which would excise the old strip and hopefully create a thinner one. The only reason I say that is because after my 2nd HT I was aware that the scar on the back of my head was definitely wider than 1-2 mm, and that made me reluctant to have another procedure. Dr. H did my 3rd procedure, and he created an extremely small scar, and now at approx 3.5 months I really can't find it. I know it's there, but if I don't see it within 5 seconds of looking I don't obsess about it - my previous scar took about 1/1000th of a second to find.

 

Good luck.

 

Manko

[poet]

no other FUE doc has before and after pics. Only post op. No pics showing growth. Only Dr.Woods can be trusted until we see proof as far as FUE.

[Mr T]

Arfy wrote <I don't get your logic that a long linear scar will somehow be less noticeable than FUE scars if your donor area starts to thin.>

 

I never said less the scars would be less noticeable... I haven't really thought that hard about it actually, but my logic was if your donor area thinned after having FUE, then you would be thinner throughout your donor area. (bverotti states that above in his post, too.) With a strip you'd have thicker hair in the donor area as only the thinning without the FUE had reduced the density.

 

el guapo wrote <It could be the simple fact that a shaved head looks good on some people, those with a "shadow" of a hairline. really short hair or shaved head always looks better on someone with hairfollicles than without. (Dont even try to argue that fact)>

 

I won't argue it because that's not a fact, that's an opinion. But if you're telling me you'll spend $10,000 or more on a hair transplant, so you can shave your head, I'll tell you I wish I had your money... to waste. And that's not fact, that's my opinion.

 

Mr. T

[NC30]

el guapo....

[NC30]

el guapo....

 

whoops...that last post was an accident.

I completely agree that being able to have hair to frame your face completely makes a huge difference. I did pay thousands of dollars, and I AM in a situation where a close cut is the norm. I dont have to shave my head completely, but I like to have it cut to a #1 or a no guard on the sides and very short on top.

 

Mr T...

 

If you're talking about getting a razor, gettin out the shaving cream, and shaving your head completely, then yeah, an HT would be a waste of money. But if someone wants to get an HT and have very short hair, then it is by no means a waste. My money's been well spent and as of right now, I have no regret.

[el guapo]

I just read your post and you said you had a Ht and you are now wearing your hair at #1.

Thats excactly what I wanna do.

What sort of Ht did you have and where did you get it?

You have any photos?

 

Sincerely

El Guapo

[vocor1]

My personal opinion is strip is preferred if you have to move a lot (a couple of thousand plus) FUs. I'm very much forming my opinion based on the idea that in truth, money is limited.

 

FUE costs about twice that of strip. Strips can have very fine scars. Often, they do.

 

You wear your hair #3 or longer, the fine scar is really no problem, I'd say. Even with a 3mm scar, #4 worked for me but I didn't venture shorter.

 

And a lot depends on donor hair density. If your donor hair is very dense, then a strip is harder to see/find. No kidding, more hairs to cover it!

 

I can speak only for myself in that I feel I must take the more expensive FUE/FIT route because I had some things turn out less than ideal and there really isn't anything I can do about that. At least my donor hair is quite dense.

 

Personally, if I had no scar issues, I'd have done two strips like Futzy and Joto. That's me personally who usually likes his hair at about #4 sides and back and longer on top. My head buzzed looks bad due to head shape and complexion. I've tested that route already.

 

Man, I guess what I'm saying is it REALLY is a case-by-case decision based on risk-tolerance, tradeoffs, and finances.

 

And for me personally, I don't regret the choices I've made while still saying I wish they had turned out slightly different. That's okay. What I'm going through now is NOTHING compared to where I was.

 

Ahh, I rambled here. I will look forward to posting my personal FIT to strip comparision in the future. It should be interesting.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

[Mr T]

NC30,

 

Yes, I meant shaving it bald. I think buzzing it is crazy after a HT, but I also realize "buzz cuts" are fashionable now.

 

I guess after not having hair for so long, I want to show as much as I can get!

 

Mr. T

[NC30]

MR. T...

I'd have to agree then....shaving bald would seem like an absolute waste.

I had a 1500 graft HT with Dr. Cooley in Charlotte this past March. I've got some pics (3 month and 6 month) for now, but havent done anything with them yet. Actually, now that I think about it, I have no pics of the scar area, but will definitely try to take some soon. I don't post them (permanently) since I'm still keeping the whole thing a secret. I'll try to get an online briefcase at yahoo and post them there temporarily.