Senior Member JohnS Posted January 22, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 22, 2007 Guys, A friend of mine had a transplant last summer. The doctor made one side of his hairline higher than the other, not really bad but noticeable. Anyway the doctor said he would even it out in 6 months once the hairline is established. It seems he will need about 200-250 grafts or so to even it out. The doctor told him he wants to do it as a strip surgery, but my friend does not want his scalp cut open again for such as small procedure. He asked me what I thought and I agreed based on what I have read on this forum. Do you think a strip is the way to go for only this amount of grafts, wouldn't it be overkill? Wouldn't an FUE be more appropriate? Also the doctor told he will be charging him for it, do you guys think that is right? Seems like this doctor is really not making good on his error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member JohnS Posted January 22, 2007 Author Senior Member Share Posted January 22, 2007 Guys, A friend of mine had a transplant last summer. The doctor made one side of his hairline higher than the other, not really bad but noticeable. Anyway the doctor said he would even it out in 6 months once the hairline is established. It seems he will need about 200-250 grafts or so to even it out. The doctor told him he wants to do it as a strip surgery, but my friend does not want his scalp cut open again for such as small procedure. He asked me what I thought and I agreed based on what I have read on this forum. Do you think a strip is the way to go for only this amount of grafts, wouldn't it be overkill? Wouldn't an FUE be more appropriate? Also the doctor told he will be charging him for it, do you guys think that is right? Seems like this doctor is really not making good on his error. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Being that I don't know the age or hairloss condition of your friend, I can't give much advice, however, I agree with John_in_NC. Personally...it hardly seems worth it IMO to get a 200-250 graft strip surgery...perhaps an FUE session might be better (though it costs more). Keep in mind that, depending on his age, etc, your friend may lose more hair. Perhaps giving it time is the best idea to see if he needs a larger session. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member JohnS Posted January 23, 2007 Author Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 Thank you guys for responding. Sorry I omitted some info but here it is. My friend is 47, he is a Norwood 2,not really much hair loss. He has no thinning elsewhere just recession at the temples. His family history is good, no one has gone beyond this stage so it is unlikely he will. He only wanted to bring up his hairline so this defects is pretty important to him. I am by no means an expert but it seemed to me going through a strip was uncalled for. I am trying to advise him best I can so that is why I asked guys on this board their opinions. I still think the doctor should not charge him for the repair, it should have been done properly the first time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member nobuzz4me Posted January 23, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 JohnS, I think FUE is very smart to do in his case if that is all the grafts he will need. He should check with Dr. Feller in NY. At NW2 he easily has donor and even though FUE graft success in not as good as FUT he has plenty to spare to do just the hairline. FUE recovery is much easier as well. NoBuzz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 JohnS, how many grafts did your friend recieve the first time? At 47 and a NW2, he should be in pretty good shape and probably won't experience much future loss...though I suppose that is still unpredictable. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Franklin Posted January 23, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 even though FUE graft success in not as good as FUT I have been on this board (2002) and others and I see these statesments made I have to comment. It is a strait forward statement you are making.And I disagree as both a strip and Fue patient. It depends on the quality of the docs experience and technique they are using. My strip had poor yield. (Bad choice of doc on my part)1999-2001. My Fue produced great yield. And that was 4 years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HK500 Posted January 23, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 JohnS, Can you tell us who the surgeon is? Always good to know whether it's a good or bad experience. Franklin, Given an equal set of skill the strip excision will almost always give you a higher regrowth percentage versus FUE. You need to find an extremely skillful HT doc who specializes in the FUE method in order match the regrowth rate you'd get from a simply good strip surgeon, so yes, I agree with you. As I asked JohnS above, can you tell us who did your HT's? My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairbank Posted January 23, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 I wouldn't think of doing STRIP for 200-250 grafts. I agree with many of the others, in the hands of a proven FUE doc, like Dr. Feller, FUE would be the way to go. Franklin- I believe the STIP/FUE success comparison mentioned was based on average graft survival rate for each. At this point, STRIP is proven to have a higher graft survival rate than FUE. In your case, it sounds like a subpar Doc did your STRIP so you had less than average graft survival rate compared to what was likely proficient FUE surgery by a quality Doc. Just trying to compare apples to apples. On AVERAGE, FUE graft survival percentages are not as high as STRIP. Hairbank 1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's 2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong 3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day My Hair Loss Weblog Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Franklin Posted January 23, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 Ok here is the breakdown. As I have said I been on here a long time met many of the Top docs mentioned here and elsewhere in USA. From this experience and many of consults. I firmly believe in my statements. First off yes I had a sup par strip surgeon tha Dr. Cordaro in NY. 199-2001. (800 grafts total)So this point I agree with you 100% If I had went to a surgeon performing state of the art stip ht my outcome would have been different. Now I am not getting into numbers because in my case I did not need as many as some posters here. I am talking graft for graft my Fue was performed by Dr. Ray Woods. Very experienced in Fue many cases I had viewed in person plus attending 2 seminars seeing live patients results is what made my descion to go. And if I went to for example to Hason and Wong I beleive I would have gotten the same excellent results. Graft for graft. So this is why I had to comment on the allways comment fue does not yield as good as strip. I encourage future ht patients to get out there and be in contact with former patients and see the results in person. I thank the ht forums on various sites for giving me the starting information to procede in finding a solution that I was looking for. Ht's are a investment in ones self so spending the time and travel is priceless. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HK500 Posted January 23, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 Thanks for the details Franklin. FUE is a great method with a very highly skilled Doc, too bad it's so expensive, I'll be going for my second and I hope last strip HT in two days, I never considered FUE because of the cost mainly. My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairbank Posted January 23, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 23, 2007 Originally posted by John_in_NC: At most, I'd say that the difference is in single digits for survival. For someone who agreed to pay more than double, a 1-5% failure rate (if this is true) is well within the "cost of doing business " margin. At least, it is for me. John_in_NC- I would agree that for someone with the cash, it's possible that 10% less survival rate wouldn't matter. Especially if you're talking about say 300 grafts........with STRIP let's say you have a 95% survival rate for a total of 285 grafts versus a 85% survival rate with FUE for a total of 255 grafts, 30 grafts less. IMO FUE is good IF you have the $$ to burn and for smaller sessions. Hairbank 1st HT 1-18-05 - 1200 FUT's 2nd HT 2-15-06 - 3886 FUT's Dr. Wong 3rd HT 4-24-08 - 2415 FUT's Dr. Wong GRAND TOTAL: 7501 GRAFTS current regimen: 1.25mg finasteride every other day My Hair Loss Weblog Disclaimer: I'm not a Doctor (and have never played one on TV ) and have no medical training. Any information I share here is in an effort to help those who don't like hair loss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted January 23, 2007 Share Posted January 23, 2007 Hello everyone...thought I'd add my two cents to this discussion. FUE, especially in recent times has proven highly effective if performed by the right doctor (Feller as an example has seemingly proven to take FUE to the next level IMO). I still feel that Strip is superior to FUE in a number of ways, however, FUE certainly has it's place and can prove to be almost as effective graft per graft as strip in smaller sessions. From what I've read, FUE has approximately a 90% survival rate whereas Strip is between 95-98%. Percentages are close, but strip still wins with the higher percentage. Whether or not the difference is worth it to some is definitely a matter of opinion. Strip of course has the upper hand when talking about large sessions....so for those who need a larger session, strip is still the way to go. BUT, I couldn't see myself going through a strip surgery for 250 grafts personally...I would rather choose FUE IF I was a candidate which brings me to my next point. There are more strip candidates than FUE candidates. Additionally, even Dr. Feller has admitted that there is no surefire way to know before starting the surgery whether or not a patient is REALLY an FUE candidate. So when moving forward with an FUE session, you are already taking a risk because you may not be a good candidate. Now Dr. Feller has made it clear that after 45 minutes of attempting an FUE session, if it doesn't work out, he will stop so as to not waste grafts and will offer strip in it's place. I can't speak for the policy of other docs because I've not had the priviledge of discussing it with them...but regardless...going into FUE, there is a chance that: a) you'll end up having to go to strip because you are not a good FUE candidate b) you'll end up going home with no surgery (and most likely less money) because you didn't want strip c) you'll end up getting an FUE that doesn't yield good results because the doctor performing the surgery gave you the full surgery anyway even though you may not have been a good candidate, which will significanly knock down the 90% success percentage. Of course, at best, going into FUE, you'll end up being a good candidate and yielding a high percentage growth rate. As Dr. Feller admitted...Strip surgery is much more of a surefire thing than FUE...but in best conditions, FUE can prove to be beneficial. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NervousNelly Posted January 24, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 24, 2007 Bill, I remember that thread well. Good point. NN Dr.Cole,1989. ??graftcount Dr. Ron Shapiro. Aug., 2007 Total graft count 2862 Total hairs 5495 1hairs--916 2hairs--1349 3hairs--507 4hairs--90 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member HK500 Posted January 27, 2007 Senior Member Share Posted January 27, 2007 What makes you a good or a bad candidate for FUE? My Hair Loss Website - Hair Transplant with Dr. Siporin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill - Seemiller Posted January 27, 2007 Share Posted January 27, 2007 What makes you a good or a bad candidate for FUE? Maybe a doctor could chime in here. Bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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