My results + HW or Shapiro?

[ChicagoGuy]

Just found this web site, wow, would have been nice to have found this 5 years ago! I'm 26, have had three procedures at the Chicago hair institute--around 600 graphs/procedure. Not a bad place, but am realizing that there are MUCH better doctors out there.

 

The sides of the head don't look too good. As I loose more hair, the TP is becoming noticeable. I also think they gave me "too young" of a hair line. From what I've seen in great transplants, the new hair line connects to the reseeding hair line...if this makes sense. In the first photo, an arrow points to the area that is now showing up...I wish they hadn't filled that part in. The second photo shows the plugyness.

 

The funny thing is, I don't care about going bald anymore, I just don't want to get pointed out as having had a TP!

 

I would enjoy some advice on who would be the guy for the job as I try and do this right. I've read alot about HW and Shapiro. Do they both use the same methods? Is scarring minimum?

 

Thanks,

Steve

[ChicagoGuy]

Just found this web site, wow, would have been nice to have found this 5 years ago! I'm 26, have had three procedures at the Chicago hair institute--around 600 graphs/procedure. Not a bad place, but am realizing that there are MUCH better doctors out there.

 

The sides of the head don't look too good. As I loose more hair, the TP is becoming noticeable. I also think they gave me "too young" of a hair line. From what I've seen in great transplants, the new hair line connects to the reseeding hair line...if this makes sense. In the first photo, an arrow points to the area that is now showing up...I wish they hadn't filled that part in. The second photo shows the plugyness.

 

The funny thing is, I don't care about going bald anymore, I just don't want to get pointed out as having had a TP!

 

I would enjoy some advice on who would be the guy for the job as I try and do this right. I've read alot about HW and Shapiro. Do they both use the same methods? Is scarring minimum?

 

Thanks,

Steve

[Guest]

Steve,

 

I had my first procedure with Chicago Hair Institute in the fall of 2001. I came to this site shortly after my surgery and learned a great deal about the best techniques and surgeons. I should have done some research before the surgery. Even though Dr. Pomerantz didn't use the state-of-the-art methods discussed on this site, I still hoped that my results would be satisfactory. One year after the surgery, it was clear that I would not be comfortable without some additional work.

 

Dr. P's use of a punch to make recipient sites did not allow dense enough placement of grafts in just one pass. Because my hair is dark and on the course side, the big spaces between grafts created a "toothy" appearance to my hairline.

 

The use of punches also caused scarring that was not visible except upon close inspection. I was bothered by this because I was concerned that it might cause my scalp to be less hospitable to future grafts. Dr. P. maintained that the punches were superior because each punch removed scalp surface area, thereby lessening the area of bald scalp. I don't know about that. It just seemed that a lot of scar tissue formed.

 

Dr. P's staff also placed quite a few 2 and 3 hair grafts in my hairline. I don't know why they did this. It might have been accidental. They didn't use high powered microscopes to dissect and sort grafts. They also placed some very course hairs in the hairline instead of cherry-picking the finest hairs for placement in the hairline. Again, magnification may have been an issue.

 

I also became concerned about how much hair was wasted to transection. I guess I'll never know.

 

What bothered me most was that the hairs placed in the right side of my hairline seemed to be lined up in an straight line rather than distributed in a more random looking way. That really bugged me because it just seemed like carelessness. It was as if Dr. P. just ran his punch along the line he had drawn on my forehead.

 

So, you can see why I felt I needed some additional work. Most of the time, I used a little Dermamatch to improve the appearance of my hair, but I could not completely conceal the problems with the hairline.

 

I chose Dr. Keene for my second surgery in December 2002. She is associated with Shapiro Medical. I saw her in her Tuscon office. My hope was that she could improve my hairline enough to lose my self-consciousness about looking like I'd had transplants.

 

I agreed to Dr. Keene's recommendation of 1200 grafts and ended up with over 1300. She said that 1200 would take care of the hairline problems and give me acceptable density.

 

Dr. Keene did a great job and the results are far better than I'd imagined possible. I wish I had known about her to begin with. I've got a much more natural looking hairline now. She transplanted only single hair grafts in the hairline, the hairs were finer rather than course, and hairs were placed in a natural, random looking distribution.

 

She was also right about how many grafts I would need to achieve a decent appearance of fullness or density.

 

Fourteen months later, I could not be happier about my decision.

 

One Year Photos: Dr. Sharon Keene

[MDM]

I'm very happy for you, sounds like Dr Keene is the fine professional we've heard she is. I had my HT done by Dr Shapiro on 12/15/03, and am so very pleased with my decision. All the doctors associated with the SMG are top notch professionals. I will soon be posting pictures of my HT!

[Guest]

ChicagoGuy

 

I suggest you speak to both Doctors (email photo's first), to get a feel for what they are about. Both come highly recommended.

 

Whoops's web site

[Rugger]

your story about your first experience is excellent..it really highlights all the elements found in some of these hair mill and local plastic surgery outfits...they do hair strictly for the money, relying on the ignorance of people unfamiliar with what is really possible out there .....they dont care about improving their processes and techniques to achieve the results of a Shapiro, or Keene, or HW...its not worth their investment in equipment and tools and techniques.....its a shame they continue to operate on unsuspecting customers....