FUE scars

[Guest youngguy24]

So I've been members of this site for sometime now. I've come to the conclusion my hair loss is to severe to go with a strip technique surgery. I would be to concerned with future hair loss and wouldn't be able to shave down to the skin anymore. I was wondering if anyone knows of some links where I can see healed FUE scaring shaved down to the skin or cut very short! As a norwood 5a I think with about 3000 FUE I could get a decent look by cutting my hair really short, lets say a 1 or 2. But still have the option of going all the way down to the skin if I wanted. I wouldn't expect a full head of hair just some decent coverage. Do you think this would work out well? How may FUE can a doctor extract from a person with average hair density? About how much is FUE, 8-10 bucks each? Doctor suggestions?

[Guest youngguy24]

So I've been members of this site for sometime now. I've come to the conclusion my hair loss is to severe to go with a strip technique surgery. I would be to concerned with future hair loss and wouldn't be able to shave down to the skin anymore. I was wondering if anyone knows of some links where I can see healed FUE scaring shaved down to the skin or cut very short! As a norwood 5a I think with about 3000 FUE I could get a decent look by cutting my hair really short, lets say a 1 or 2. But still have the option of going all the way down to the skin if I wanted. I wouldn't expect a full head of hair just some decent coverage. Do you think this would work out well? How may FUE can a doctor extract from a person with average hair density? About how much is FUE, 8-10 bucks each? Doctor suggestions?

[Bill - Seemiller]

youngguy,

 

If you are considering FUE, consider carefully. If you have the right donor characteristics, 3000 grafts extracted with FUE at best may leave you with minimal scarring that can be hidden even wearing short hair.

 

There are some FUE cases where the head is shaved down mostly on this site and HLH. So I encourage you to look through photos.

 

My only advice is to be careful with all the online hype regarding FUE megasessions. Do your research before jumping in the surgical chair.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[beanz]

A small FUE procedure may yield acceptable growth; however, the risk for poor yield increases with larger sessions.

 

Compare a 3000 STRIP vs 3000 FUE procedure.

 

For the 3000 STRIP procedure, removing the donor hair, preparing the grafts, making the incisions, and inserting the grafts can easily be done in 1 day.

 

A 3000 FUE procedure, alternatively, will take a few days (2, 3, or maybe even 4 depending on the number of surgeries booked at the clinic and the surgeon's schedule). This is because the majority of your surgery will be allocated to removing the donor hair and preparing the grafts. Removing the donor via FUE requires a much more meticulous approach than STRIP since the surgeon has to repeat the process thousands of times. Even in the hands of a skilled FUE surgeon, fatigue will most likely occur which can result in transection.

 

The proof is in the results. For large sessions, STRIP will produce more consistent results than FUE. There are more documented cases of large STRIP sessions to support this claim.

 

Also, don't move forward with a FUE surgery until the clinic explains what punch size will be used to remove your donor hair. They must tell you this or give you some type of acceptable answer. If not, you are not being given informed consent.

 

Several months ago, I signed up for a FUE surgery with what I thought was a respected FUE clinic. The doctor is not a coalition doctor; however, he is supposedly one of the top FUE 'experts' in the US, or so he claims. I even flew down to the clinic for my consultation and personally met with the good doctor.

 

The clinic made me pay for the entire procedure, $10,560, prior to the surgery. After the cancellation deadline and after I paid the clinic in full, the clinic sends me a surgical disclosure and consent form. There was no way I was signing this until they answered my questions.

 

I never received back my money. I evaluated all my options and moved forward with several of them. I will soon be creating a blog documenting my experience which includes all email correspondences with the clinic and all forms the clinic sent me. I want everyone to be aware of the deceptive practices in this industry and the unethical practices of this clinic.

 

Are you on any meds currently? My derm put me on a higher dosage of finasteride. I also obtained a prescription for Avodart. If I don't respond to this more aggressive treatment, then STRIP is probably my only option.

 

Overall, I wouldn't gamble on a 3000 FUE procedure until I start seeing more documented cases to prove STRIP and FUE yield are the same.

[latinlotus]

It is common sense that FUE yield less (actually much less) than strip. The additional handling/twisting/extracting of the grafts decreases the chance of survival.

 

Dr. Feller wrote in a previous post that he estimates that the average yield for FUE for his patients is 80%. Compared to near 100% for strip, we are talking about 25% decrease in yield for FUE.

 

Do you want to (potentially) throw away 25% of your limited grafts (+ 25% of the cost of surgery) to avoid a scar hidden by your hair and that nobody will see anyway?

 

Damn, i sometimes can't understand the mass. That people are going with FUE defies any logic. I do understand that for small sessions, FUE is ok, but definitely not for mega sessions of 3000+ grafts.

 

It is almost like buying bottled waters. It defies any logic to pay for the same water that you can get from your tab.

[Franklin]

Megasession Fue doing 3000 in a day I would not feel comfortable with. I have had Fue over 5 years ago 1100 over 2 days. Growth rate from my procedures as good as any strip of 1100 being perfomed . In my eyes, from friends that have seen my work, and even some of the docs that are mentioned here. Now with that said. Sure it was a small procedure but if I had to do ever 3000 grafts. I would just spread it out over a few days. I personaly witnessed several of these procedures and the grown out results before I decided to get one hair transplanted on my head via Fue with my doc. As far as strip sure it is producing great results but under the right hands. My first 3 strips were not under the right hands. It works the same with fue procedures. You start with with online discussions but that is just a start . Then you would want to start e-mail dialouge with past patients that had the procedures done and possible meetings in person. Sure it sounds like a lot of leg work before you decide on a elective procedure but you only have one head and it is well worth it to not get messed up from the start. I have met many patients over the last 8 years that are in need of severe repair because of bad work. Arfy. Dj. to name a few. Been around for a while and I consider myself well researched in who is doing what out there. Just take your time you owe to yourselfs.

[Guest youngguy24]

Damn, i sometimes can't understand the mass. That people are going with FUE defies any logic. I do understand that for small sessions, FUE is ok, but definitely not for mega sessions of 3000+ grafts.

 

I looked at your weblog and it states you started losing your hair at age 33 and your currently a Norwood 3. Now place yourself in my shoes I started losing my hair at about 19 and have somewhat stabilized at a Norwood 5a at age 26 (I'll be 27 in less than 2 weeks). Great, a strip technique HT may be fine for you since your ruffly ten years older than me and have less severe hair loss. But things are much riskier for me if my hair loss becomes to excessive I'll look like crap and wouldn't be able to shave down to the skin. A strip HT at this time in my life just seems to risky and foolish. Sure I can take Propecia but there is no guarantee it will stabilize my hair loss for the next 50 to 60 years of my life. I'm most likely going to be very bald as I age and the last thing I want to do is walk around for the last 30 years of my life without being able to cut my hair short because of a 12 inch scar on the back of my head!

 

With a FUE hair transplant my result won't be as good, that's fine with me. Sure it will cost more and may need to be done in many sessions. But at least I won't have a large scar on my head, that will restrict the freedom of cutting my hair the way I like. One big impact of hair loss is lack of control and with a scar there is a chance that freedom will become even more restricted. I don't think my reasoning "defies logic".

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

I dont blame you about the scar ,it sucks.

One thing I can say though is Ive seen an Armani megasession shaved down after 6 months and it wasnt scarless.

The growth on the top was "alright" but he had a ton of small white dots everywhere.

Doesnt know what size tool they uaed as they dont disclose that

He shaved down with a 1 guard to even out the growth and took about 3 weeks before it wasnt noticable anymore.

So if your talking about shaving your head with a #1 or no gaurd youll might also have very noticable scarring.

Your in a tough situation and thats why doctor selection is so critical.

[Dr. Bernardino Arocha]

FUE is not always scar less and FUSS does not always leave visible scars. FUE done with a .75 mm punch to score, then using the Safe scribe to blunt dissect is less likely to leave a visible scar, but using a larger sharp punch will leave the characteristic "shot gun pattern" scars." Anytime the skin is wounded, ie surgery , there is always a scar. With good 2 layer closure these scars are usually faintly visible if at all. The critical fact is that after surgery, the FUSS patient's wound is more sensitive to tension vectors applied to the wound margins, ie weight lifting, until this wound matures. The wounds can take 6-12 months to mature. It does not mean that you cannot weight train, just that caution is necessary to avoid loading the shoulders so as not to pull on the neck. Here is a link to one such example:

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/showthread.php?t=151565

[PLEASE GROW PLEASE]

Heres some really nice examples.

 

http://www.hairlossadvances.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=...aa26b25711cda7ad2f5a

[latinlotus]

FUE done with a .75 mm punch to score, then using the Safe scribe to blunt dissect is less likely to leave a visible scar, but using a larger sharp punch will leave the characteristic "shot gun pattern" scars."

 

Dr. Arocha:

 

For FUE a bigger punch may leave a bigger scar. But is using a smaller punch would increase the chance of transecting the graft?

You are also mentioning that squat exercise should be avoided to minimize tension on the scar. Are there other weight lifting exercise that should be avoided?

Thanks.

[latinlotus]

quote:

Damn, i sometimes can't understand the mass. That people are going with FUE defies any logic. I do understand that for small sessions, FUE is ok, but definitely not for mega sessions of 3000+ grafts.

 

 

 

I looked at your weblog and it states you started losing your hair at age 33 and your currently a Norwood 3. Now place yourself in my shoes I started losing my hair at about 19 and have somewhat stabilized at a Norwood 5a at age 26 (I'll be 27 in less than 2 weeks). Great, a strip technique HT may be fine for you since your ruffly ten years older than me and have less severe hair loss. But things are much riskier for me if my hair loss becomes to excessive I'll look like crap and wouldn't be able to shave down to the skin. A strip HT at this time in my life just seems to risky and foolish. Sure I can take Propecia but there is no guarantee it will stabilize my hair loss for the next 50 to 60 years of my life. I'm most likely going to be very bald as I age and the last thing I want to do is walk around for the last 30 years of my life without being able to cut my hair short because of a 12 inch scar on the back of my head!

 

With a FUE hair transplant my result won't be as good, that's fine with me. Sure it will cost more and may need to be done in many sessions. But at least I won't have a large scar on my head, that will restrict the freedom of cutting my hair the way I like. One big impact of hair loss is lack of control and with a scar there is a chance that freedom will become even more restricted. I don't think my reasoning "defies logic".

 

Younguy24:

 

I hear you and i understand your concern and it is great that you are planning so far ahead.

For any decision especially major decisions like a HT, there are always pros and cons. In my opinion and in the opinion of the substantially all of the doctors (except Armani of course) i consulted, the pros of strip far, far outweight its cons, when compared to FUE. Please note that if you are afraid of a scar, which i totally understand, per dr. Arocha, FUE is not scarless. If too many grafts are taken from the donor area, the donor may end up like cheese holes. If you want to keep your hair short or shaven, you might as well skip this whole HT process.

[Dr. Bernardino Arocha]

Sorry, latinlotus I was busy. That is correct, using the .75mm punch is better with regards the scar, but it is far more difficult to extract the whole follicular unit, hence traumatizing it or even transecting. If it is so important to employ microscopes to sliver the donor, then again to trim the slivers into the ultra-refined follicular units, that is one of the hallmarks of many if not all of the practitioners recommended on this network, then why would we think that it is equally good to attempt to extract these same follicular units using such a small punch blindly. It is my opinion that many products of these extractions are fractional follicular units rather than ultra-refined whole ones. I occasionally will do FUE, more often in corrective procedures to remove improperly placed grafts.

[Dr. Bernardino Arocha]

latinlotus,

 

Avoid any exercise that loads your shoulders downward as to pull on the neck, squats, weighted shoulder shrugs,etc...