After months of researching I finally decided...

[JoDirt]

I know what Im going to do with the Tax Rebate check that is coming.

[hairthere]

JD, Use that tax rebate and save a little longer. Remember, a repair job will cost you far more than airfare to new york. Dr.Feller is one of the best there is. you should also check out dr. gable who is a feller protege and has some of his work on this site--it looks pretty good.

[JoDirt]

I just got the phone with Dr.Siporin and I am schedule for a consult with him on the 27th and if all goes well, my surgery with him is on the 28th. He gave me a rough ballpark figure of 1500grafts just by looking at the pictures I submitted. But the exact count will be determined once he sees me in person. I chose him because he is recommended by this forum and i believe he will do a great job.

thanks you guys for your advices and help.

[hairthere]

JD,

You should really try and see some patients of Dr.S's in person. Just because he is recommended on the forum doesn't mean you should just go with a doc. See his work in person. I'd also consult with a few other docs first--you may find you get very different opinions on graft counts etc. You also seem to be limiting yourself to doctor's in your area which is another mistake.

 

Anyhow, I've given you as much advice as I can, so again, best of luck in whichever path you choose.

[JoDirt]

hairthere

thanks for the comment, but I like from what I'm hearing about Dr Siporin on this forum and there are members here that back his creditinals. Im pretty sure I am making the right choice by choosing him. I wish I do have the luxury of chasing down potential doctors former patients, but i dont have the time nor $ to do that. This forum is the next best thing in choosing a high quality doctor because people here are real and living testimony of their experience with a particular doctor.

He's very conservative in his approach, he told me that the I might need a second HT for density. So he's not trying to push mega sessions, because i know from reading on this forum, one HT session may not be enough, but a second one maybe needed depending on how you want to look. As for me, I just want restore my hairline to where I want it to be-first, then a second HT will be considered years from now when technology advances.

i am fortunate that my hairloss hasnt been great but rather gradual.

[Bill - Seemiller]

JoDirt,

 

Dr. Siporin is a first-rate physician and is potentially being considered for the Coalition. Considering him for surgery would certainly be a a great idea. Be sure to speak with some of his patients who are on this forum. Use the "find" feature of our forum which will lead you to their experiences and photos.

 

Bill

[JoDirt]

Thanks Bill.

I chose him because of the forum recommedation and memebers who have experience with his first class skills. I have ran the search for his patients on here and found very good reviews and pictures.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Joe,

 

I feel that you've made an excellent choice in a surgeon. I hope you'll share your experience and post your photos so we can follow your progress.

 

When is the big day?

 

Bill

[JoDirt]

Feb28th is D-Day, where my back hair army will invade and conquer my frontal weak DHT stricken army.

[notgoing2gobald]

Dr. Feller's analysis of your situation seems a stark contrast from that of Siporin. Feller mentioned that in light of:

(i) the hair you have behind the receded area appears to be quite thick;

(ii) the fact that you are Asian and have a lower graft density in the donor area;

THAT--you will need a doctor who is capable of

(i) moving a LARGE strip---to compensate for the lower density in Asians;

(ii) and dense packing your hair line extremely tight---to match your current density in your native hair so that the transplant will NOT be obvious.

 

The patient Feller used in the example as a comparison for you had 3K grafts placed in a very small area in order to match his native hair. From my research, not ALL docs who are recommended on here can move the same amount of grafts in a single session. Quite the contrary, there are only a couple of docs who are capable of moving large amounts of grafts in a single session.

 

If it were me, I would take some time, get more opinions and evaluate which opinions seem to match your expectations.

 

There is a TON of down time after surgery. The last thing you want is to go forward with the ht, wait for the growth, then not have your expectations met and have to go through the whole process again.

My thoughts anyway...

[JoDirt]

NG2GB

The grafts count that Dr Siporin gave was just an estimate based on pictures i sent him. I am going to have a in person consult with him the day before my schedule surgery, then he will be able to determine the exact amount of grafts I need.

I am sure Dr. Feller is an excellent doctor in this field and I will bring up his evaluation to Dr Siporin for his input.

I know I wont have the same density I have back when I was 21 years old, all Im looking for is to recreate that hairline and hopefully get some density. It's very hard to acheive a density of 50% or greater with only one surgery.

[notgoing2gobald]

JD,

Im not too sure what doctors you have researched. So, I thought I would include some examples of what I would consider EXCELLENT, MEGA, SINGLE sessions. Many of these have a hair line/recession pattern similar to yours. Your situation is somewhat different, being that your density (in both donor and recipient) is lower being that you are Asian, but these are none the less great cases. Even more so, you need more grafts in a single pass:

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=246

(Outside links removed by moderator)

http://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/blog/home-page.asp?WebID=142

Edited November 24, 2012 by TakingThePlunge

[JoDirt]

NG2GB

thanks for your help..

below is a link on density which i found on the forum.

http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/content/news/hair...ticle.asp?CopyID=105

[notgoing2gobald]

the reason the 50% figure gets thrown around so much is that an individual with male pattern baldness will NOT even notice their hair is thinning UNTIL they have already lost 50% of their original density. As a result, if a ht can provide you with 50% of your original density you will have the illusion of no hair loss.

 

someone with minimal hair loss which is primarily restricted to hair line recession (such as yourself) CAN expect to get 50% of your original density in a SINGLE pass if you go to the right doc. Someone who is a NW6 on the other hand, can not expect to achieve 50% density in a single pass.

[its752]

JoeDirt, You don't know how right NG2Gbald is!!!! Get it done right the first time!! I did two HTs two years apart with weak results each time, and only after I found this site and used what would be considered one of the very very best doctors in the world did I get a bad-ass head of hair!! You do need 1500 grafts--on one side!

[JoDirt]

its752

who was your last HT doctor that you went to?

[Guest josh - b]

jodirt,

 

well done on researching and coming back here asking for opinions.

We are so lucky these days with instantly accessable forums like this to put us right.

 

its752

I'm curious. Did you go down the hair mill route first?

[JoDirt]

okay

so i found this link, one that Pat wrote up on a patient by dr sharpio in MN.

I believe the patient has almost my kind of baldness pattern and Dr sharpio only used 1480 grafts.

So, i dont see where Dr.Siporin is off with his estimate of how many grafts i need.

http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/209...1/m/5521068082/inc/1

[JoDirt]

Josh-B

thank god for Al gore, who created the Internet.

 

without the "net" we would look silly because we would go to Bosley and getting all would get butchered. DAMN THOSE INFOMERICALS.

[notgoing2gobald]

ok, that's it! If you really believe Al Gore created the internet, then I'm through with this thread AND I have a lil bridge in Brooklyn I want to sell ya...

[its752]

josh-b, I didn't go to Bosley thank god, but had 800 minigrafts done with a now retired doctor who thank god didn't butcher me! After a couple years I had 1600 FUTs done with a decent and compassionate local doctor but didn't even come close to getting the results I hoped for until I went to H&W.

[JoDirt]

Its752

how long ago was your first second and third HT.

do you have any pictures? what norwood scale were you during your first HT

 

Im curious because if you went to HW for your third HT, how many grafts did the dr. transplant?

[its752]

JoDirt, My journey started about five years ago with two HTs two years apart. I had my third HT done in July 2007 with 2451 grafts transplanted to the frontal-third and into the temples, and had the hairline designed into a cool point. I hadn't posted any postop pictures because of the disappointment in years past waiting to see only weak results both times, but my enthusiasm is definitely back and should see some pics from me not far away.

[hairthere]

JD, I understand how anxious you are to get this done. I was the same exact way, and as a result made a rash decision. Now, you are lucky: you have the advice of the vets on this forum. I did not.

 

I have two opinions which would make me continue to consult with other docs. One, I do not believe in the 2 HTs for density approach. It makes no sense to me to have a surgery like this twice when you could accomplish the desired density in a single pass. Trust me, an HT is no walk in the park. The surgery itself is not terrible, but the waiting game afterwards is tough. There are still very few docs who can do megasessions succesfully.

 

That brings me to opinion number two: while I think the majority of the forum-recommended docs do modern, ultra-refined work, there are only a handful I would say meet TOP doc status. And when you are reconstructing a hairline you especially want a TOP doc. IMO, top docs are the ones regularly doing megasessions (read Feller's web site section on the importance of megasessions), dense packing, and very natural designs.

 

It seems you are considering your surgeon choices for all the wrong reasons: proximity and cost.

 

Again if I were you I'd save up, travel to see a top doctor, and do a one-pass surgery. With your hairline requirments and NW pattern it's totally possible.

 

The only docs I would consider are: Feller, Alexander, Rahal, Shapiro, H&W. Are there other docs out there that could do a good job? Of course. Could Dr.S give you a great result that you're happy with? Quite possibly. But these docs I've listed have proven themselves time and again with the aforementioned qualities and 1500 grafts just doesn't sound right. (Also don't compare your case to another of 1500 grafts--everyone has different donor quality.)

 

 

Again, these are just my opinions, and the bottom line is you have to make the decision that's right for you. Good luck.

[Bill - Seemiller]

I'm going to go ahead and disagree with some of the views on this forum.

 

Unless the pictures Joe posted are not an accurate representation of his hair loss, 1500-2000 grafts should make a big difference for him since it's only being placed in the hairline area.

 

In my opinion, ultra-large densely packed sessions are often over-pushed even when they are not always needed. I want to make clear that I am a huge advocate of these larger sessions when appropriate for the patient, but in some cases, they are simply not necessary.

 

JoDirt has a lot of natural hair left. Do you all really think he needs 3000 grafts (for example) in the hairline? What about keeping a strong donor supply in reserve in the event of future hair loss? If I missed Joe posting his age, I apologize, but he looks young which makes it even more critical to keep a good amount of donor hair in reserve, especially given that his donor hair characterristics may be below average in terms of density (typical in Asian patients).

 

In my opinion, based on the pictures posted, I would think that 1500-2000 grafts would be a good size session for you and would give you a nice feathered natural hairline with overall good hair density. More importantly, it will make for a nice natural blend with his native hair.

 

Bill