Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted October 31, 2010 Regular Member Share Posted October 31, 2010 (edited) Hey guys I am new to this forum and wanted to share my story and experience with my recent procedure with Dr. Charles. A little background about myself, I am 23 years old and had a vast amount of thinning on my right temple area which extended to the middle of my head. There was not much left to the right hairline, although the left side has kept in tact very well. I have been on finasteride + minox for a little over 2 years now and decided to have a procedure to fix the hairline and the area that extended in the middle of my head. Dr. Charles did the procedure yesterday and now its the waiting game. First off i want to say that i was very reluctant to have a HT for a long time. I knew i needed one eventually, but like most people i was scared of the procedure and everything associated with it. I did research that led me down some bad paths, and then I came across Dr. Charles and I must say his reputation does precede himself. Dr Charles was awesome, no other words can describe it. He is a very nice guy, funny, and makes you feel at ease. There have been a few doctors who looked at me, and my age and made me feel like "why did i even go there" after i met with them. Dr. Charles saw my loss and that i have been doing the right things to prevent my loss, and the only other option was a HT. He is very caring to your needs and wants you to feel as comfortable as you can in making this decision. I could call him on his cell whenever i wanted prior to the HT and he always answered my questions. I had a long drive back after the surgery and he wanted me to call him when i got home. That was very appreciated. He actually cares about his patients and is not some doctor that does the HT and is done with you. The staff was very nice and friendly, and the facilities were top notch. lunch was provided for me and that was very nice considering i was there most of the day. For someone considering Dr. Charles i would say you are making a wise choice. Of course i am still waiting the results, but i am very pleased with what has happened thus far. For people still weary of the surgery, i can tell you, i hate the fact of getting any kind of procedure done, and this was pretty easy. You sit down, get numbed up, and then Dr. Charles and his staff do the procedure. The only pain i felt was from getting numbed and after that there is no pain. I could feel some irritation on my head during the procedure but it was minor. I just sat there and watched sportscenter the whole time which Dr Charles is a sports guy so it was nice to chat with him about that during the procedure to keep me at ease. After the procedure there was minor irritation, and a little pain in the donor are after the lidocane wore off. Sleeping last night was a little hard to do and there was a little bleeding in the donor area, but all common and today there is no bleeding and very minor pain. Now i am just following the post op directions Dr Charles gave me and waiting this out. i have to say i am overall pleased so far with the procedure and Dr. Charles and i am glad i had this procedure with him. I will post some photos soon as soon as i can acquire them from Dr. Charles, or he can post them on here if he wishes as well. I will be tracking these results and posting pics in the months to come, but if anyone has any questions/ inquiries please let me know! Edited October 13, 2012 by rvlaw12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted November 10, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 10, 2010 12 day post op. Still healing but i have fair skin so there is still a little bit of redness. Ny concern is the hairline. The graphs places look kind of spaced out. is this going to produce a strong looking hairline? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member multiplier Posted November 11, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted November 11, 2010 Question: did he not make you shave your head before the procedure? Jan 2000 - 600 FUT with Dr Kurgis (MHR) Sept 2011 - 1411 FUT with Dr Paul Shapiro Jan 2013 - 1800 FUT with Dr Paul Shapiro Sep 2014 - 1000 FUE with Dr Paul Shapiro My Hairloss Blog » __________________ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member YouOnlyLiveOnce Posted November 11, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted November 11, 2010 ^^^ his har grows fast. I kid, I kid.. good write up. Happy growing to you man. A year from now you should be a pretty happy camper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted November 11, 2010 Senior Member Share Posted November 11, 2010 Rvlaw, Congratulations on your recent procedure with Dr. Charles. As you are well aware, he's an excellent hair transplant surgeon, and I think you've made a good choice undergoing the procedure at his clinic. I look forwarding to following your progress! "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted November 29, 2010 Author Regular Member Share Posted November 29, 2010 Here is some pics one month in post op. There is still some redness to the grafted area im not sure but it still might be from my fair skin..im hoping these graphs come in strong. It seems like i experienced some shock loss in the temple area..hoping that grows back as well Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted February 2, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted February 2, 2011 (edited) Heres a 3 month update that was on jan 29th. No noticeable change as of yet. I can see a few tiny hairs poking through but no structure. Still see redness in the grafted ares..not sure if that is normal or not Edited February 2, 2011 by rvlaw12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 18, 2011 I havent updated in a while my progress, but i wanted to give some info now and then post some pics at the 8 month mark in 10 days...but honestly i have not seen any changes since april. I am noticing only about 5 hairs poking through in my hairline area if that..is it time to worry, i was expecting to see alot more than this coming through at 8 months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 18, 2011 i forgot about pics i took at the 5 month mark and these were taken in good light. At this point i was not noticing anything, but maybe you guys can judge it better. I will take some now to post so you can see the difference Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted June 18, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 18, 2011 heres 8 months with my hair a little bit shorter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted June 19, 2011 Senior Member Share Posted June 19, 2011 RV, I see a significant difference between the 5 and 8 month pictures and a definite difference between the early images and the 8 month followup. Additionally, keep in mind that at 8 months, you are only roughly 60% matured and have plenty of time to develop additional growth and density. However, I do think you're making progress and I hope you'll wait until the 12 month mark to make a full evaluation of the results. Feel free to keep us updated in the meantime! Good luck. "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted June 19, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted June 19, 2011 thanks for your input! Looking at the pics again i notice density in my temple area of my left side where ive had much of the trouble. The right side has stayed that way for years now, although Dr. Charles did put some defensive graphs in that area. i guess my concern is that im wondering how much of the graphs actually took and if by now i should be feeling and noticing alot more of the little hairs coming in or not. at 60% should i be noticing more little hairs coming in or just growth from the ones that i see now? because what i see now is not that much and i doubt that will add more density especially to the hairline. right now i am only seeing a couple in the hairline and my goal in getting the HT was to match the left temple hairline with the right and fill in the inner part where i saw loss. however based on the pics it seems to be more density from before which i like, im just hoping the temples match up and i get all of the 1611 graphs that was done. my hair does seem to feel and look alot more "healthier" as well and im not sure what happened to the little straw like straggling hairs on my hairline but they seem gone. it might also be the result of a good haircut though as well lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member BigBill1234 Posted July 1, 2011 Senior Member Share Posted July 1, 2011 Keep us updated! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted July 1, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 1, 2011 will do! just hit the 8 month mark as of 2 days ago, and i see no difference since my last pics, im still hoping to see new hairs poke through in my hairline, but none as of right now. I will post another set of pics at 9 months, im just still concerned that at 60% i should at least be noticing more new hairs coming in Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted July 2, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 2, 2011 thats all i have been doing!! lol. does anyone know the benefits of using a laser comb during the growth process? i remember dr charles mentioning it to me before and i have kind of a crappy comb that i have been using every few days, but is there any upside to using it as far as the growth of the graphs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted July 30, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 30, 2011 Im at the 9 month mark now and here are some pics to show you my progress. I don't see too much of a difference from my last pics, unless anyone else does. In the 6th picture you can see the area that concerns me the most because that area still hasn't filled in too well and a lot of graphs were placed in that region and in the hairline...im hoping for more improvement in the last few months but its still not the improvement i really expected Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hesaves0211 Posted August 30, 2011 Share Posted August 30, 2011 I hope you get the hair you paid for! Im sorta in your boat in regards to loss and I too am looking at maybe 1500'grafts. I just purchased an X5 laser and just started up on "perfect solutions" 15% minoxidil along w a minoxidil shampoo. I'll see how this goes in the next 7 months and go from there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted August 30, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 30, 2011 Here I am at 10 months and some pics to show where I am at. I contacted Dr. Charles last week and showed him pictures. He say he sees good results and can understand where I would be disappointed, but he still thinks that whats there is all graphs and any strangling hairs that were on my hair were eventually lost which is why there is spaces between the graphs. Im not too thrilled with the results although i do see improvement, I was just hoping to avoid having to do another HT on my hairline and temple area because my loss is only on once side. It seems I will have to do another eventually thought. Dr. Charles also said that this is about all I'm going to get out of the graphs and although I'm at ten months, there shouldn't be any more significant growth and we will evaluate what to do next after a full 12 months. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hesaves0211 Posted August 31, 2011 Share Posted August 31, 2011 So Dr. Charles just took you for your money eh? 1500 grafts which is what; around 4000 hairs or so? And you got maybe 5 hairs? That's so reassuring, now I'm certainly not motivated to look into a HT anytime soon. Sorry for your loss (money not hair). I hope in the next three months another 3000 strong hairs pop up, bro. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member TakingThePlunge Posted August 31, 2011 Senior Member Share Posted August 31, 2011 rvlaw12, I'm very sorry to hear that your results did not meet your expectations. I can certainly relate to that feeling as my first hair transplant also resulted in disappointing growth. My best advice to you is to wait at least 12 months and perhaps a bit beyond. Not because you will see staggering growth at that time but because you may see some added maturation and fullness that will help you to better plan your next steps. Knowing Dr. Charles's commitment to his patients and his excellent reputation, I'm sure he will do everything in his power to ensure that you are satisfied if your results are truly subpar. In fact, I interpret his the statement, "we will evaluate what to do next after a full 12 months" to be evidence that he plans to stand behind his work. hesaves0211 - I find your statement to be a pretty harsh accusation of a world class hair transplant surgeon, esteemed member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians and frequent contributor to this community. Don't you think Dr. Charles deserves the benefit of the doubt at least until the writing is on the wall? The harsh reality of hair transplant surgery today is that sometimes results don't develop as planned. Post-operative care and commitment to patient satisfaction is what sets the best apart from the rest. Let's give Dr. Charles an opportunity to comment before jumping to conclusions. David - Former Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant I am not a medical professional. All opinions are my own and my advice should not constitute as medical advice. View my Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member rvlaw12 Posted August 31, 2011 Author Regular Member Share Posted August 31, 2011 So Dr. Charles just took you for your money eh? 1500 grafts which is what; around 4000 hairs or so? And you got maybe 5 hairs? That's so reassuring, now I'm certainly not motivated to look into a HT anytime soon. Sorry for your loss (money not hair). I hope in the next three months another 3000 strong hairs pop up, bro. I would not go that far, Dr. Charles is an awesome HT surgeon and is high recommended by anyone as Plunge said. The problem with my hair, which I understand better now, is that I had existing hairs in place when I had the HT that were close to dying off, and Dr. Charles went around those..and when those hairs died off, my new hair was growing in and that left some of those spaces..not that I'm completely happy with the fact that I have spaces, but theres a valid reason I suppose why its like that, not that the HT went completely wrong Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member orlhair1 Posted August 31, 2011 Senior Member Share Posted August 31, 2011 I agree that Dr. Charles is a highly regarded surgeon and the explanation of what happened is logical. I am sure with some follow up work you will achieve the results you desire. Surgery - Dr. Ron Shapiro FUT 6/14/11 - 3048 grafts Surgery - Dr. Ron Shapiro FUE 1/28/13 & 1/29/13 - 1513 grafts http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/orlhair1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member socbook1DB5 Posted September 1, 2011 Regular Member Share Posted September 1, 2011 (edited) Achieving density with single hair graphs is limited with one HT. If you had natural hair loss in that area since the HT it's hard to gauge the result. But it looks natural. Only way to really gauge these things is when the transplanted hairs are on completely bald smooth areas. Then it just seems miraculous. 13 months is a good time to assess from my experience. Edited September 1, 2011 by socbook1DB5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dr. Glenn Charles Posted September 3, 2011 Share Posted September 3, 2011 My goal was to try and explain how these types lower density situations occur. Sometimes when grafts are added to an area ( especially hair line and temporal areas) of lower density the results can be only a small improvement. This is because no matter how careful the doctor is at avoidding physical damage to the existing hairs, often they cannot handle the stress of the new surrounding grafts and fallout shortly after the procedure. The end result may be only a small net visual gain. The hidden benefit is that if the shocked hairs are gone permanantly they most likely would not have been around much longer anyways and now you have replaced them with more permanant hairs. A second procedure usually does the trick. However, I stand by the work that I do and am always willing to do what ever is necessary to make the patient get as close as possible to reaching their goals. Density issues are going to happen and I try to deal with them fairly and honestly. Dr. Glenn Charles is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spanker Posted September 6, 2011 Senior Member Share Posted September 6, 2011 In all fairness, this does look like an improvement. I am an online representative for Dr. Raymond Konior who is an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. View Dr. Konior's Website View Spanker's Website I am not a medical professional and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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