Dr. Paul Shapiro and SMG 1578 FUE Hairline Results

[RockZ]

Alright, so I had my first FUE hairline session at Shapiro Medical Group today with Dr. Paul Shapiro and members of the SMG staff. I believe they implanted approximately 1161 grafts and the plan tomorrow is to finish up and fine-tune everything. Not to sound like a plug for SMG but I have to say the experience today was excellent!

 

The Valium and pain killers made everything basically pain free. The injections to numb the donor and recipient areas were the only things that even remotely stung and even those weren't bad at all. I watched Fracture, Bruce Almighty and The Manchurian Candidate and chatted up with the surgical techs (Tom, Shelli and Gwen), who were very personable and very easy to talk to. Matt Zupan and Janna came in to check on how I was doing as well which was really nice.

 

I was initially hoping to only shave the sides and back of my head but leave the top a little longer to potentially conceal the work though this was not advised. Since grafts were being implanted behind the hairline to support the thinning area in retrospect I don't think they could have realistically done this without shaving my whole head. Sylvia, one of the surgical techs cut my hair down soon after I arrived. It doesn't look as bad as I thought it would and I'm actually glad I had it buzzed like that otherwise it would've looked really odd. I think I'll be just fine going back into the office (work in corporate finance) since I wear my hair somewhat short anyway and it's probably more commonplace for my age group (28) to get by with a buzz cut.

 

A few interesting things to note today were that ACell was used (I had only initially heard about this in the forum for repair cases) and it's something I believe SMG will to continue to regularly use in the future. My understanding was that this will assist with the graft survival / yield which will certainly be beneficial for FUE cases in particular. Additionally, one the surgical techs (Tom) mentioned during the extraction that my grafts were coming out very well. The FUE grafts were said to optimal because of the extra adipose (yellow fat cells) surrounding them. Please see the close up visual below (third picture). Dr. Harris, as well as the Shapiro brothers and Tom (surgical tech) believe that this extra tissue is better than completely naked FUE's. Furthermore, my grafts were all taken with a 0.9mm punch and around 50% of my grafts were 3's. I had less than 1% 1's. So they had to create a few 1's for my hairline.

 

All in all, the 'am I really doing this' feeling and nervousness subsided shortly after I arrived this morning and this definitely didn't seem like it was something to lose sleep over and this is coming from a natural anxious person!

 

I posted some pre and post op pictures in my blog link below. Here a few previews of some post-op pics from day one. I will update my blog with post-op pictures from tomorrow session as well. Please let me know your thoughts.

Edited May 20, 2011 by RockZ

[RockZ]

So yesterday the count was 1161 grafts. Today they fined tuned my hairline and the right temple area with about 181 additional grafts and placed the remaining number of grafts in the center, frontal section behind my hairline as a preventive measure as this area was thinning. This brought the total number of grafts to 1578 which was well within everyone's expectations. ACell was also used again today and from I understood I was one of the first patients to have it used on as part of their new regular protocol for FUE patients.

 

Here are a few stats:

 

1's - 445

2's - 731

3's - 402

Total - 1578 grafts

 

I posted a few pictures to preview here from today's session. Please see the rest of my post-op session day two pictures in my blog link below and let me know your thoughts. I'm extremely happy with my hairline design right now and extraordinarily excited for future prospects of growth. I'll be going in tomorrow for a shampoo and then I'm home free to recover. I will continue to update my blog periodically. I'd like to thank Dr. Paul Shapiro, Tom, Shelli, Gwen, Matt, Janna, Sylvia and Song and the rest of SMG for making it a top notch experience.

Edited May 10, 2011 by RockZ

[nordstrom]

Congratulations on your recent transplant with SMG. This should produce a great looking hairline. Thanks for sharing your experience in this forum. Happy growing man.

[Dutch]

Congrats indeed! You chose wisely. All the best. Hope to see your results soon!

[Janna]

The pictures are great. You did a nice job of taking the photos. Tom must of helped you with one or two of those. We'll take the usual pictures after your shampoo tomorrow. You'll be pleasantly surprised at the rate of recovery but we'll wish you well and speedy growth anyway.

 

Thanks for the write up and hope to see regular updates. All the best from the SMG team.

[RockZ]

Thanks again Janna! I look forward to seeing you and the SMG staff tomorrow!

[RCWest]

You really got your money's worth with all the 3's!

[aaron1234]

RockZ,

 

Congrats man! Looks like great work as expected. I am intrigued that SMG used ACell for your procedure. So keep us posted with monthly updates! Don't leave us hangin'.

[TakingThePlunge]

RockZ,

 

Congratulations! Looks like you've been set up for a home run result! I'm very interested to watch your progress and hope you'll be updated us regularly.

 

Happy Growing!

[RockZ]

Thank you everyone! Here are a few pictures I took myself in the hotel a moment ago. I just got back from a shampoo session and will probably go back in Friday or Monday for another one. I'll post some of the official pre-op pictures taken at the SMG in my blog as well as some more Matt Zupan (patient counselor) took about a half hour ago after my wash was completed by Tom (surgical tech). Tom also gave me a quick touch up haircut.

 

I'm happy how clean the donor area is (as technically I was still actually being extracted yesterday) and how fast it's healing (ACell being a contributing factor perhaps). I started swelling a little in the forehead last night as expected but it seems to be decreasing. I'm icing it every two hours and of course using the GraftCyte (Copper Peptide spray) on the donor and recipient areas every half hour which seems to be working great.

 

The staff at SMG were great as usual today and it certainly feels like I've know them a lot longer than a few days (besides Matt)! Dr. Paul's design of the hairline was exceptional and the only thing I'll be sad about it is when these new grafts start to shed!!

Edited May 11, 2011 by RockZ

[Janna]

Hi Rockz

 

Sorry I missed you today. Will catch you next time when you come in. You're really fast with your updates. I'll get the photos taken by Matt out to you later in the afternoon. Nice documentation again.

 

In regards to the shedding - it'll be a gradual process starting at day #10 to day#60 - and with us using hypothermosol holding solution, many of our patients are reporting that the shedding is not as noticeable.

 

I have my work cut out trying to keep up with you.....ha, ha. See you soon.

Edited May 11, 2011 by Janna

[RockZ]

Thank you for sending over the pictures Janna! These ones below are pre-op (taken three or four months ago I believe) and post-op (today) and show a side by side comparison. These were all taken by patient counselor Matt Zupan.

 

If you look at the second photo in particular, you'll notice how I was thinning on top at the frontal core (forelock I believe it's called) which is something I didn't really notice much until I went in for a consultation. Since I did comb over with my hair style around the temple areas, I felt the pre-op pictures may look better than they really are since they sort of hid my recession slightly. It got a little annoying styling my hair like that every morning for the last decade so needless to say I am very excited with the new hairline design and the placement of the grafts. With ACell fine particles being used in my case, we are all hoping for great growth!

[Starkid]

looks good,heal well!

density in recipient area??

 

thanks

[RockZ]

Thanks Starkid. As far as density, from a quantitative standpoint, I don't recall the specifics but we did not get ultra aggressive as it was not deemed to be necessary or optimal to go that route in my particular situation. My personal stance on this whole procedure was to basically let the artist (Dr. Paul) work his magic and allow the techs to execute upon that vision. Of course I had input and I did give feedback accordingly which was very much welcomed.

[Levrais]

Lookin good man. You will be surprised how fast the native hair grows back

[RockZ]

I'd like to give special thanks to forum member Levrais. He has been extremely helpful in answering questions and helping prepare for my transplant pre-op. Thanks again!

[Starkid]

Thanks Starkid. As far as density, from a quantitative standpoint, I don't recall the specifics but we did not get ultra aggressive as it was not deemed to be necessary or optimal to go that route in my particular situation. My personal stance on this whole procedure was to basically let the artist (Dr. Paul) work his magic and allow the techs to execute upon that vision. Of course I had input and I did give feedback accordingly which was very much welcomed.

 

cheers:)

Edited May 12, 2011 by Starkid

[Spanker]

How old are you? You seemed to have really great hair in the first place.

[RockZ]

How old are you? You seemed to have really great hair in the first place.

 

I'm 28. Thanks Spanker and I would agree in general although my hairline was been slowly eroding for over ten years and one side was noticeably uneven (to me at least when it was combed back). The frontal core area behind my hairline was becoming progressively thin too but Propecia began stabilizing this and my hairline loss when I added it to my regimen about four years ago. I experienced some minor regrowth in a few areas after taking it.

[RockZ]

I started experiencing some swelling in my face yesterday and it's progressed down my face a little more today. It's not as bad as it was last night but it sort of looks I got my ass kicked by some UFC dude. The staff at SMG were funny and joked that the techs shouldn't beat up their FUE patients . I followed all the post-op procedures but I just seem to be more prone to swelling I guess.

 

Here are a few pictures I took a moment ago. I just got back from a shampoo cleaning and the staff said the grafts looked well. This is technically my second day post-op.

[Levrais]

I'd like to give special thanks to forum member Levrais. He has been extremely helpful in answering questions and helping prepare for my transplant pre-op. Thanks again!

 

Hey no prob bro. I'm happy to help. I had quite a bit of swelling too starting at day 2 and I think it was gone by day 4 or 5

[rock1911]

Its bad to get singles in the front hairline so im assuming you got all of your 2's and 3's in the temples right? sorry for the newbie question.

 

it looks like you had minimal loss to begin with so was your plan to get your old hairline back? is that even possible? I rarely see photos of people getting a flawless hairline so hopefully your one of those guys.

Edited May 16, 2011 by rock1911

[RockZ]

Its bad to get singles in the front hairline so im assuming you got all of your 2's and 3's in the temples right? sorry for the newbie question.

 

it looks like you had minimal loss to begin with so was your plan to get your old hairline back? is that even possible? I rarely see photos of people getting a flawless hairline so hopefully your one of those guys.

 

Thanks and good question. Though if I recall I thought the 1's and 2's are placed in the front of the hairline and the 3's and 4's are placed farther back. If this incorrect please (anyone) feel free to chime in.

 

As far as my pre-op situation, my loss was isolated to my hairline and as you mentioned perhaps relatively minimal compared to other cases. One side was receding more than the other resulting in an uneven looking hairline. I couldn't do a side part or comb it back at all without the recession being very noticeable. In addition, the area behind my hairline had a lower density and had been thinning a little.

 

Yeah, my goal (in collaboration with SMG of course) was to regain an even hairline and bring down the temples as well as reinforce the area behind my hairline slightly as a preventative measure. I don't see it as being 'flawless' in the sense that it'll look like it did when I was 18 (probably not realistic for one to have those expectations) nor would I ever want it to be like that anyway. The consensus seems to be that there is a hesitation to ever do that (as far as being that aggressive, especially with younger patients).

 

I'm extremely happy as to the design and how the grafts were placed (though they'll likely start shedding soon) as in my opinion it's made a significant cosmetic difference in how my face is framed. I think I would've looked like sh*t man with a shaved head pre-op but I actually like the way it looks right now .

[Levrais]

There should definately be ones in the hairline and the 2s and 3s further back. How's the swelling?

[RockZ]

Good. The swelling subsided completely a few days ago. The grafts are starting to blend in really well and the redness is almost gone already in the recipient area. I would say things in the donor area visually are almost undetectable. I'm pretty surprised how fast the recovery is going. There's still scabs obviously but I'll get to those in the next few days as I'm trying to err on the side of caution. On that note, however, I did some light lifting for about a half hour at about 60% of my normal capacity (perhaps I was pushing it starting this soon at about a week) but one of the techs said it was okay to do this. He just mentioned to use common sense. I'm going to post day six photos on my site here in a sec.

Edited May 17, 2011 by RockZ