Density Improvement Program by Harklinikken

[Time to do something]

I received something in the mail today that looks interesting but I have no idea what it is or if it is legitimate. A coalition doctor (Paul Rose) is involved with it. Apparently it is a process called LHFUE (Long Hair Follicular Unit Extraction) where individual long hair follicles are extracted and placed as short hairs between existing hairs in the natural direction of growth. This just sounds to me like a regular hair transplant. Is there a difference I'm missing and what are the reviews on this procedure?

[Blake Bloxham]

Time To Do Something,

 

I could not find any information about this procedure anywhere. If you discover anything else, please update the community!

[Time to do something]

They have several websites:

 

www.haarklinikken.com

www.haarklinikken.de/en/home.html

www.thehairlosscure.com

www.tampadermatology.com

[Blake Bloxham]

Time To Do Something,

 

I'm afraid I'm still a bit confused. It seems as if the system described in those websites is a herbal topical treatment used after a follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedure? Where is the "Long Hair Follicular Unit Extraction" aspect? I'm genuinely curious and would like to know more.

Edited August 3, 2010 by Future_HT_Doc

[Time to do something]

Maybe we should get Dr. Rose to comment on it. In the letter it indicates that it is a state of the art minimally invasive method of hair transplantation. It is run by PhD's and MD's according to the literature. If you go to www.tampadermatology.com and search under the Hair Loss Services tab that is supposed to be where the information is. I'm glad I'm not the only one confused. I didn't think a coalition doctor would associate himself with any quackery which is why I want to find out more about it.

[Blake Bloxham]

Time To Do Something,

 

Thank you for continually researching the issue. I'll consult with Bill and see if we can get Dr. Rose (or a representative from his clinic) to explain the procedure a bit further. Again, thank you for sharing this information with the community.

[Bill - Seemiller]

TTDS and Blake,

 

I am familiar with the "long haired" hair transplant procedure wich from the sounds of the above, is what they're referring to. It was discussed briefly at the 2008 ISHRS scientific meeting in Montreal. Basically, it's the same procedure but instead of shaving the donor area, hairs are extracted/harvested without cutting them and then implanted into the recipient areas. The primary benefit of this procedure is that it's easier for the patient to conceal they've had a hair transplant the first couple weeks post-transplant. The transplanted hair will however, still shed in 2 to 4 weeks and require the usual amount of time to regrow. The major downside in my opinion, is that it's a bit more difficult for surgeons to perform. Thus, I would suspect that there may be some additional risk for poor growth due to the extra care and manipulation of the hairs required during the procedure.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Blake Bloxham]

Bill,

 

Thank you for the clarification!

[RCWest]

What do they do? Thread the long hairs through the cutter hole then cut the fu out? Sounds VERY tedious, and hair transplantation is already very tedious . It is probably even more costly than normally shaved FUE.

[omy]

I saw a pic of something similar an Dr. Limmers website . I think it was from a strip procedure . The patient had the grafts inserted in the recipient area with the normal length hairs still emerging from the graft instead of shaving the donor follicles pre op .

[Bill - Seemiller]

omy,

 

Yes, "long haired" hair transplants can be done via strip or FUE. The benefits and disadvantages of this technique remain the same for both strip and FUE.

 

Bill

[Sparky]

Doesnt sound like a very good idea to me.

[Cam Simmons MD ABHRS]

TTDS and Blake,

 

I am familiar with the "long haired" hair transplant procedure wich from the sounds of the above, is what they're referring to. It was discussed briefly at the 2008 ISHRS scientific meeting in Montreal ... The primary benefit of this procedure is that it's easier for the patient to conceal they've had a hair transplant the first couple weeks post-transplant. ... Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

The long-haired transplant was presented by Dr. Marcelo Pitchon of Brazil.

I believe this was done as a strip FUT procedure. My understanding was that the main purpose was to use it to simulate final density for planning. Patients could look in the mirror as the case progressed and could have input about whether they wanted more density or to cover more area. It was interesting to see videotaped patient's reactions when they saw themselves in the mirror with a sudden improvement. Dr. Pitchon explained clearly that the transplanted hairs would mostly shed then grow back like a typical transplant. It seemed to me that long-hair transplants would be more technically difficult and that the cosmetic recovery would be smoother with short-hair transplants but it was a very interesting presentation.

 

I, like many doctors, transplant slightly longer hairs where it is important to control the direction of the curl, such as in eyebrow transplants.