Thinking of surgery - would appreciate advice

[Magoo]

This is my first time to post although I've been reading the forum for some months now. I'm astounded by the generosity of many of the contributors who offer support to those who need it. As someone who started going bald at age 20, I know how important it is is to have someone to offer hope on the dark days. I only wish the internet was available back in the 80s.

 

My story is that I've had four transplant oparations to date, the last one in 1994. I'm left with several doll-like plugs and have no option to wear a hair system (which I hate!). I'm looking for a final surgical solution that will put my hair concerns behind me and allow me to live a normal life.

 

Given my previous surgery, I have limited doner hair on my scalp but have extensive body hair that wold allow me audition for King Kong if the part ever comes up again. I've read about FUEs, FIT, etc, but can't honestly claim to understand it other than to be aware that some people favour it and some don't.

 

Can anyone offer advice on where I should go from here? I'm now 39 and live in Ireland so I'd favour a European solution. However, if the best solution lies in North America, I'd be more than happy to travel.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Magoo]

This is my first time to post although I've been reading the forum for some months now. I'm astounded by the generosity of many of the contributors who offer support to those who need it. As someone who started going bald at age 20, I know how important it is is to have someone to offer hope on the dark days. I only wish the internet was available back in the 80s.

 

My story is that I've had four transplant oparations to date, the last one in 1994. I'm left with several doll-like plugs and have no option to wear a hair system (which I hate!). I'm looking for a final surgical solution that will put my hair concerns behind me and allow me to live a normal life.

 

Given my previous surgery, I have limited doner hair on my scalp but have extensive body hair that wold allow me audition for King Kong if the part ever comes up again. I've read about FUEs, FIT, etc, but can't honestly claim to understand it other than to be aware that some people favour it and some don't.

 

Can anyone offer advice on where I should go from here? I'm now 39 and live in Ireland so I'd favour a European solution. However, if the best solution lies in North America, I'd be more than happy to travel.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Teddw2ds]

 

My story is that I've had four transplant oparations to date, the last one in 1994. I'm left with several doll-like plugs and have no option to wear a hair system (which I hate!). I'm looking for a final surgical solution that will put my hair concerns behind me and allow me to live a normal life.

Magoo - you have a couple of options here. There are many doctors that are very skilled at corrective surgeries. That is, they can take your old doll-head plugs, remove them, slice them into more natural looking units, and reimplant them. This preserves the precious few follicles you have. Another option would be to leave them where they are, and just have additional follicular units (FUs) inserted around and between them, masking the pluggy appearance.

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>

Given my previous surgery, I have limited doner hair on my scalp but have extensive body hair that wold allow me audition for King Kong if the part ever comes up again. I've read about FUEs, FIT, etc, but can't honestly claim to understand it other than to be aware that some people favour it and some don't.

FUE or FIT technique is where the doctor takes individual FUs, rather than a whole strip from the back of the head. Since these are just individual units, they can be taken from just about anywhere on the body, and I've read about doctors taking chest hair or leg hair and transplanting it to the head. Interestingly, once transplanted, these hairs take on the characteristics of the host area, so they will grow longer and less course than chest or leg hair. In this case, your abundance of body hair may in fact seem like a blessing.

 

Tedd

[Magoo]

Many thanks to you both for your replies.

 

At this point, is there a definitive list of doctors that perform body hair transplants? Is it a technique that is likely to become more widespread (and therefore less expensive)?

 

I'm aware that DHI in Greece offer the service but I've read enough on this and other forums to be put off. I'd be happy to travel to the US or Canada if that's where the real skill lies.

 

M

[Manko]

Magoo,

 

I think someone posted recently where they had gotten the opportunity to see the body hair HT results, and I believe they felt that those hairs were noticeable. Not that the results weren't good, but there was a difference between head hair and body hair. From what I've read body hair does seem to take on most of the head hair characteristics, but only to a point. Along the same lines Dr. Jones in Toronto does body hair transplants, and if you look up TKDKID's posts, he has had body hair transplants done, and you can send him an e-mail as well and he's great at responding.

 

Good luck.

 

Manko

[Magoo]

Thanks for that Manko

 

Could anyone advise - if a doctor can perform FUE (and the number that perform FUE seems to be increasing) does this mean that he/she can therefore transplant body hair?

 

Is it then just a question of them having an opinion on whether body hair is suitable for the scalp i.e. they may be able to transplant body hair but don't believe in its merits?

 

If I'm approahing a doctor who performs FUE and I explain that I have limited doner hair, am I justified in asking them to perfom body hair transplants?

 

Thanks

 

M

[arfy]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Could anyone advise - if a doctor can perform FUE (and the number that perform FUE seems to be increasing) does this mean that he/she can therefore transplant body hair?

I think it is safe to assume that every FUE doctor will be different, and this is something you will need to consider when looking for a doctor. All of these doctors can have different approaches and different levels of experience (that is true of strip transplant doctors as well). Pick a doctor who has a proven track record, especially in the case of repairs, where you need to get it done correctly, and not make things even worse!

 

Also, before you assume you will need body hair transplanted, remember that FUE can take donor hair from all over the permanent zone... side hair, nape hair, etc. You should have "some" head donor hair.

 

Also, I am beginning to think that FUE is the preferred approach in reducing the plugginess of old grafts. The older "coring" method removes too much tissue, is slower (only limited number of grafts can be done per session) and can transect too many follicles.

 

What I am getting at is that the body hair phase might not come into effect until later, when you have already corrected the bad grafts, and transplanted head hair via FUE.

[Magoo]

Photo of crown area as referred to in last posting is attached this time.

 

M

[Smoothy]

Magoo,

From a person who also has had several HT, your not lost in your goals for restoration. It looks like a skilled surgeon who specializes in corrections will have no problem corning/removing your old plugs and disecting them in FU and reimplant them along your hairline, then use larger FU for density in the middle front. It also looks like you have some good donor hair on your sides? As for as the back donor, a good doc will be able to consolidate your strip scars and take about 1000 FU in the process leaving you with one scar (cleaning up what you currently have). If you focus your efforts on the hairline/temples/ and frontal third of coverage I think you will get mild coverage that will look natural (then you can grow it long and comb back to cover your crown bald spot if you wanted) .

Get a good surgeon/ a flight to Canada might be worth it? Good luck.

[Magoo]

Thanks Smoothy for your reassurance. I think yor advice in concentraring on the front third makes sense and it's broadly what I had in mind. What I hope is that a good surgeon can use my chest/body hair on the remaining two thirds of bals area (as well as to disguise my scars).

 

I have already been in touch with a couple of doctors, one of whom has suggested I start on Propecia immediately to avoid going to a NW7.

 

While I have know that Propecia is intended to reduce further loss, I have a number of question that I hope regular contributors can answer.

 

1) Might it also promote regrowth? If not, would I be better off using Rogaine?

 

2)Does it desi

[Magoo]

Thanks Smoothy for your reassurance. I think your advice in concentrating on the front third makes sense and it's broadly what I had in mind. What I hope is that a good surgeon can use my chest/body hair on the remaining two thirds of bald area (as well as to disguise my scars).

 

I have already been in touch with a couple of doctors, one of whom has suggested I start on Propecia immediately to avoid going to a NW7.

 

While I have know that Propecia is intended to reduce further loss, I have a number of question that I hope regular contributors can answer.

 

1) Might it also promote regrowth? If not, would I be better off using Rogaine?

 

2)Does it involve any risk? Have any side effects been identifed?

 

3) Is it a lifelong commitment? Like most people, I favour the fullest possible solution. However, I'm anxious to balance this against a lifestyle that reminds me every day that only medication is preventingme from going bald again.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

M

 

PS I just noticed a typo in my previous post. Can I reassure everyone that I do not intend to have my chest/body hair transplanted to my bals area!! I'm bad enough as it is.

[trying2moveahead]

 

...While I have know that Propecia is intended to reduce further loss, I have a number of question that I hope regular contributors can answer.

 

1) Might it also promote regrowth? If not, would I be better off using Rogaine?

 

2)Does it involve any risk? Have any side effects been identifed?

 

3) Is it a lifelong commitment? Like most people, I favour the fullest possible solution. However, I'm anxious to balance this against a lifestyle that reminds me every day that only medication is preventingme from going bald again.

 

Thanks in advance for any help you can give.

 

M

 

 

 

It is my understanding that Propecia is FAR more effective than Rogaine ever was (although I still use both). I had moderate balding in my crown that Propecia did a pretty darn good job filling in. I'm pretty sure that it has also significantly slowed thinning on top and the upper/front of my side hair (which has been tied into with FUT to build high temples), however it is still slowly creeping back and down there....slowly.

 

I've been on Propecia for 2 or 3 years and will NEVER stop unless it suddenly stops working and everything suddenly falls out. Has taken a little "lead out of the pencil" but has not been a problem (slightly reduced drive but everything works fine when it needs to!).

 

Can it regrow any of your hair? From what I understand, maybe. Especially if it has been recent loss. There has been one apparent documented extreme case of total regrowth with a very bald patient, but I believe this was a rare case. I think it is on the http://www.newhair.com website somewhere.

 

Lifetime commitment? Yes. As long as you want to sustain whatever effect it had.

 

Lifestyle change with physically taking the pill? No. Unless popping a tiny peach-colored pill once a day (bedtime for me) constitues an unacceptable lifestyle change for you!

 

On another note, I agree with the posters that stated you should concentrate primarily on the front 1/3 of the scalp. It looks to me like you do not have enough supply left for widespread coverage. You must know that the best you could probably attain with any restoration is an very thin (but natural) appearance, yes?

 

On a positive note, your previous grafts along the front are certainly not the "pluggiest" I've seen (I had some much bigger!). It looks to me like it is possible to retain some of the smaller ones and not remove all of them, then surround them with FU's. The bigger ones can be redistributed as Arfy (one of the wisest posters ever) said. You know, I kinda even like the general hairline shape that they currently form, although it would be helpful to see a from-the-front, eyebrows up shot. Is that possible?

 

trying2moveahead