micrografting procedure

[Guest]

hey everyone out there, hows it goin! I have just joined this forum site trying to find out some honest info. about micrografting. I am considering this procedure, but am uncertain about things such as the severity of the scar left and how natural the implanted hair looks, and the after effects of the operation. My cousin has had one years ago, which has not worked at all, leaving him with quite a nasty, not fully healed red scar which has not been able to be repaired. He also had quite abit of pain after the procedure. Maybe this is a rare case, but it has made me think a little about whether its worth it or not. has anyone had micrografting done-have you got any honest opinions on these matters, i would appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

[Guest]

hey everyone out there, hows it goin! I have just joined this forum site trying to find out some honest info. about micrografting. I am considering this procedure, but am uncertain about things such as the severity of the scar left and how natural the implanted hair looks, and the after effects of the operation. My cousin has had one years ago, which has not worked at all, leaving him with quite a nasty, not fully healed red scar which has not been able to be repaired. He also had quite abit of pain after the procedure. Maybe this is a rare case, but it has made me think a little about whether its worth it or not. has anyone had micrografting done-have you got any honest opinions on these matters, i would appreciate your feedback. Thanks!

[Guest]

by micrografting? Do you mean HT in general? Do you mean strip surgery? Do you mean FUE surgery?

 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

[vocor1]

Unfortunately, your cousin went through some drawbacks that are all too common in the HT chop-shop give me your money and damn your happiness industry. At least the one your cousin was exposed to.

There is a new era emerging of ethical, highly-skilled HT surgeons with reasonable prices and pride in their work and reputation.

You are in the right place.

All HTs have risk. Appearance of a scar is one of them. These days, a top doc will probably leave you with a scar no wider than 2mm. Pain is quite limited or nonexistant -- I'd call it discomfort as opposed to pain.

Micrografting is an outdated technology: DO NOT GO TO A DOCTOR PROMOTING MICROGRAFTS!

Chances are, in the hands of a top doc and armed with reasonable improvement expectations, your HT experience will be well worth the price of admission and risks involved.

It is up to you now to continue your research and information-gathering.

So far, I'm very glad I had an HT. I continue to document my story here, along with other posters.

Best of luck to you!

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

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

[Guest]

Hey mate, thanks for your honest opinion. My cousins doctor is different to the one im seeing, but unfortunately he only performs micrografting, and there is no doctors in adelaide, Australia who perform FU procedures here, only in Melbourne. I have researched alot about FU on this site and others, and they do seem something that might my be worth travelling interstate to have done, by a doctor called Barry White who is supposed to be one of the top 50 surgeons in this procedure(I got his name of this site). Your Situation of hair loss is very similar to mine as i started losing it at 22 quite rapidly, but now at 26 it has slowed down quite considerably to a stage were really i am only losing a smalll ammount at the front temples mainly and still have all hair behind. I did take finasteride and minoxidil for the first year or two, but i stopped them due to some nasty side effects such as erectile dysfunction, so i thought bugger that. So i think a one of procedure like this would be sufficient for me hopefully. Thanks alot for your reply and advice, Take it easy buddy!

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

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

[Guest]

isn't dr. woods in australia? And since you get sideffects using propecia - why not simply continue to use rogaine? It's been said many times on this forum, but it's better to go to a good doc, than to a doc that's close to you. Airfare's not that expensive when compared with price of HT.

 

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

[vocor1]

sots:

No problem. Woods is good, but very pricey, I hear. May be worth it, though.

Maybe even a flight to the US would be worth it too. I know that is expensive, though.

I've had really wonderful effects from Propecia, but as you point out, it has some potentially crappy side effects as well.

My libido is as high or higher than ever. I would stop Propecia if I fell victim to those nasty side effects. Which of course would mean the result wouldn't be as good.

Best of luck to you.

 

vocor1

Knowledge is Power

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

[arfy]

Technically a FU graft is a specific type of micrograft. The terminology is not consistent and it is easy to fool the patients.

 

Sots, you have two basic choices as I see it. One is to get a linear strip of donor tissue removed and divided up into grafts. The doctor sutures the area back up, which results in a linear scar. See the section "Best hair transplant procedure" here which gives a good overview. Print it out and ask your doctor if they use that method. Two key points: stereomicroscopes MUST be used to dissect the donor area once it has been excised from your head, and you should not get any "Minigrafts" (grafts that are larger than a micrograft). A few doctors say it's okay to sprinkle "a few" Minigrafts in, but personally I don't really buy it. What you totally want to avoid is the places that use "lots" of Minigrafts.

 

Most clinics in the industry will use micrografts (or FU grafts) in the front hairline, and almost all Minigrafts behind that...AVOID this kind of approach, it is not the best, it is only the most profitable approach for the clinic. If you get a linear strip excision, insist on a clinic where the vast majority (if not "all") grafts will be Follicular Unit micrografts dissected under a stereomicroscope, as explained in that article.

 

Your other option is to get each graft removed one-by-one (instead of taking a strip out and dividing it up). This leaves tiny marks where each follicle was, but those marks are basically imperceptable. This method is the newest and rarest technique in the field, with only a small number of practitioners world-wide (approximtely 5 or so). It is less invasive and more patient-friendly than the regular strip technique, but it is also more expensive. Being in Australia you are relatively close to Dr. Woods who is in Sydney. Woods basically invented the strip-free technique and has (by far) the most experience performing it. Look at http://www.thewoodstechnique.com/ for more information.

 

Hair transplants are not perfect, they have limitations and I hesitate to recommend them to anyone. But if you are really dead-set on getting a hair transplant and live in Australia, you should at least investigate and consider Dr. Woods and the strip-free method. You are obviously free to choose something else, but he is an option that should be considered.

[bverotti]

Fortunately for me there is always that exception to the rule. I did have mini and micrograft done with a doc that did not use microscopes.

Am I happy with the results ? YOU BET !

Are my results any different from full FU treated patients ? No, not at all. There was a meeting that I attended where several patients from several docs participated (FU, micro, mini ...) and even the FU docs that where present could not see any difference.

(pics are under topic "posting some pics").

Still, after researching and reading this board, my next HT will surely be FUE.