2106 Grafts w/ Dr. Glenn Charles Boca Raton FL - 25 yr old Male

[stronglikebull]

Hello everyone,

 

I have just recently had a surgery with Dr. Glenn Charles of Boca Raton yesterday. In total I had 2106 grafts (FUT) filled in the frontal to improve volume and strengthen hairline. I am a NW type 2.

 

Overall, it was an extremely smooth and comfortable experience. The office staff was very kind to me the second I walked in for the consultation. I knew the quality of their services and I signed up for surgery the following week. During the consultation, Dr. Charles does not beat around the bush nor give you false hopes and expectations. He is straight forward and very professional and will give you his hnest opinion on your situation and goals.

 

The surgery:

 

I woke up (Fri October 08, 2010) and had a great big breakfast that my girlfriend made me before going. I get there at 9.15 and headed to the Docs office to take some pre op pics and go over the goals again and what to expect in the procedure. He is very charismatic and will make you feel at ease throughout. You walk into the surgery room and all the assistant are very nice. They sit you down and begin to to prepare. They inject the anesthetics where the strip will be removed and the frontal area of your head (ie wherever the recipient area will be)... REMEMBER this is probably the worst part of the procedure. It will feel like pouring lemon juice on a cut.. You will start to feel your head very heavy and numb like someone is putting on a tight helmet. They cut the strip with no pain and the Doc seals it like an artist... OH BY THE WAY... my beautiful girlfriend was with me the whole procedure.. my attention was all on her... but another alternative is watching a list of great movies they have for you to choose from... so the doc gives the strip to the assistants to cut and he closes the strip... he even showed my gf the scar and she was like woooooowww doc you got a talent.. i mean i saw it and its a pencil lin on the back of my head.. in two weeks nothing will be visible (barely detectable) .... so this whole part of injecting and cutting and stitching is approx 45mins... then everything is a piece of cake... remember.. whenever you have any discomfort or pain just let the staff know and they will immediately put more anesthetics and make it as easy and as pain free as possible...

 

so while the assistants cut, dr. charles starts to create the wholes in the recipient area and does it at certain angles so that the hairs grow at the natural direction.. while all if this is going on, my girlfriend is in the room with us and we are all casually talking and everyone sets a relaxing ambience for me... at 1230 they ordered lunch for us which was very kind of them to do... after lunch they kept on inserting the grafts into the holes and at approx 3pm i was finished and headed to the drs office to take some pics and go over the post op recovery care... he gives you a little package to take home and gives a call later that night to see how you are doing and to see if you have any questions... he leaves his cell number on the post op instructions sheet and he is always available for you....

 

So now you guys are probably thinking - where are the pics??? well i had forgotten to request them.. but they are no different than the other pics other patients have had with dr charles... I will be posting pics very soon..

 

Right now its Day 1 after surgery (Sat Oct 09, 2010) and its late so I have no patience to go back and check grammar,,, i apologize to all you english scholars....

 

ANOTHER THING TO ADD IS: I know you guys hve read similar stories about this Dr and find this whole procedure log repetitive... but let me tell you that overall, its was a great experience.. nothing as bad as it seems I highly recommend this doctor by all means... but i owe a lot to my girlfriend too... she was with me throughout the WHOLE procedure and shes holding the ice on the back of my head as i am writing this...

 

so please write back with any questions about anything i might have forgotten to mention and i will get the pics in as soon as i can...

 

Thanks

[multiplier]

Sounds great, would love to see some photos if you get the chance to post them.

[Scrounge]

I was there on Friday as well. I was having my stitches removed.

 

I'm glad your experience went as well as mine.

[Mercury]

Nice write up about a very talented doctor. I like the results I see from him.

 

Not to rock the boat, but were you a little concerned about having the procedure at your age. I keep reading on the forums that people need to be careful at that age. I had my first transplants years ago, and sometimes wish I waited (more for technology). I may be speaking too soon as i don't see your pics, but was the doc concerned at all of your young age and worried about hair lose later when you get older. Are you on propecia or minoxidil?

 

Just some thoughts.:confused:

[stronglikebull]

Mercury:

 

You re right. Although I am a NW type 2, there was considerable thinning on the top of my head and my hairline was accelerating backwards.. The doc told me that I hid my thinning hairs very well but once closely looking at it he could see considerable thinning (especially with light on it).. We did talk about the "dying" hairs that i had and what the procedure can do for me considering the ones that would anyways die in 12 months (hairs at their final survival stages)... In the end, it boiled down to the NET GAIN of the procedure and because i have medium/thick coarse donor hair, the net gain would be to my favor. Even though thos hairs will eventually die on me, as long as the doc was able to put new hairs right behind them to fall back on, it was good enough for me to do it.. Creating the holes and their respective angles was probably more tedious on my head than a completely bald patient because of the existing hairs he had to work around... but i had full confidence in his artistry... believe it or not all of my confidence and research of him i got through this forum... its everything expected in terms of service and quality... Of course I will need to re-assess my condition in 3/6/9 months post op....

 

You can consider my case as more of a preventative measure... However, this still means that there will be a possibility of me doing another procedure sometime in the future and it solely depends on the pattern of my loss and various other factors....

 

i will try to take some photos and post them today with my camera at home (prob 3rd day post op photos)

 

I hope this answers the question!

[Spanker]

Congratulations on the proceedure and having a good woman too!!!

[TakingThePlunge]

stronglikebull,

 

Congratulations on your excellent experience with Dr. Charles and staff. Can't wait to see the pics.

 

Happy growing!

[stronglikebull]

Hey everyone - thanks for the feedback on my post. Just wanted you guys to see the pre and post surgery photos taken on the day of the procedure.

 

Hair Count:

 

1’s-444

 

 

2’s-1072

 

 

3’s-591

 

 

Total follicular unit grafts=2106

 

 

I will be posting 3 day & 6 day and 18 day post op photos... the scar i have is almost undetectable.....

 

 

Let me know what you guys think!

 

 

 

Thanks!

[TakingThePlunge]

stronglikebull,

 

Thanks for posting your photos! As expected, Dr. Charles's work looks excellent. I look forward to following your progress.

 

Happy growing!

[YouOnlyLiveOnce]

was there any grafts placed into the mid scalp? if not, whats the plan for that?

 

it appears you're a diffuse thinner. Are you currently on propecia? If so, have you responded well? If not, do you plan to get on it? I ask because I recently started FIN and I hope it helps me maintain what I have.

 

I had a procedure about a week before you. Our loss is a bit different but it will be nice to track your progress with mine.

[stronglikebull]

was there any grafts placed into the mid scalp? if not, whats the plan for that?

 

it appears you're a diffuse thinner. Are you currently on propecia? If so, have you responded well? If not, do you plan to get on it? I ask because I recently started FIN and I hope it helps me maintain what I have.

 

I had a procedure about a week before you. Our loss is a bit different but it will be nice to track your progress with mine.

 

 

youonlyliveonce,

 

Day 3 post op pics attached so that you somewhat see where dr charles had worked on me.. he was very clean throughout the surgery constantly spraying and rubbing my head so i guess thats why its pink all over.....

 

but i was also a bit worried about how i looked after the surgery.. most of the immediate post op pics i have seen on people are crusty purple and red with thick dots all over... i dont know if anyone can tell me if my immediate post op photos look normal?? im 3 weeks post op now and i can still feel some stubble even on the top of my head but have had some considerable shock loss...

 

i do not question dr charles legitemacy whatsoever, he is a great professional and a great person, and i dont want to call him asking whether implanting on my diffused head was ACTUALLY HARDER than expected and whether the number of grafts implanted are accurate or whether i will see good results or not... maybe he should've shaved the recipient area down like dr wong does with his patients??

 

maybe what i am saying is just the typical post op blues and paranoia... but it would be really helpful if some of you experts can tell me what you think of the immediate post op pics...

 

I took a generic over the counter fin 1mg from argentina from sep 2008 to dec 2008 and it worked well for my hair but i had some side effects from it so i stopped. I never used rogaine as i have always been afraid of the quick impact it will have on my head when i stop using it... i started taking propecia when i got my surgery and i am now on proscar taking 1/4 for two days then i skip a day... i have ordered rogaine foam and msm pills and already began revita shampoo.... of course along with all those i continue taking multi vitamins, biotin, b-complex and fish oil... i hope to see your pics as well so that we can support each other throughout this tough growing phase!

 

wow i really have to start cutting down on my comments... theres so much bla bla lol... anyways thank you takingtheplunge for your support...

[rvlaw12]

Just had a HT with Dr. Charles yesterday! Im 23 and had 1500 done in around the same areas as you..just not so far up the head. I will say my scalp looks pretty much the same as yours. i would definitely keep with tee finasteride. take it everyday if you can. I have been on it for over 2 years now and have seen more thickness in my hair up to the point to get a HT. I was in a similar position as you..i have hair but had some thinning, but this is more preventative. i will get some pics posted so we can compare. We should see some great results!