Transplanting between native hair?

[jessie1]

Hi Guys,

 

I would be really grateful of some advice on this. I appreciate that this may have been covered in the past but I would really like some fresh thoughts and/or experiences on the issue of placing grafts between exisiting hair.

 

My next HT will be HT #4.

 

My hairline and zone behind it will be the focus of attention. This will involve transplanting in and around native hair which exists behind my hairline. This hair is particularly miniturized and weak.

 

Transplanting between hairs raises the old favourite topic of 'shockloss' which I'm sure will be a consideration here.

 

Therefore: Does anybody have any personal experience of a HT with similar requirements and/or any useful advice or reassurance?

 

Thanks in anticipation.

 

Jessie1.

 

Ps. I use fin (minox has never worked for me)

[gillenator]

Jessie,

 

Congrats on HT #4. I also had 4 seperate procedures and yes had the same concerns. Are some of the "existing" hair in your proposed recipient area transplanted? Or is it all "native" hair in that zone?

 

The weaker diffused hair will probably shock out and the weakest ones will not come back. The good thing is that you are replacing them now with terminal hair with good caliber!

 

I went through heavy chemo-therapy 1 1/2 years ago and 100% of my hair fell out, everywhere, icluding my facial and body hair.:eek:

 

Up until that time I had some weak native hair that was saved from using finasteride for the past decade. That hair did not grow back however all of the transplants grew back in. Some of those came back weaker in caliber but at least it did grow back in.

 

I am currently using a blow dryer and an air brush to create added visual volume and then I spray to hold it in place. That works out very well.

 

BTW, my recipient area was cut down on HT #4. I did not like the idea, but I knew better to have it shaved down then risk transecting the existing hair. I wore a ball cap most of the time post-op until the regrowth was enough to get by.:cool:

 

Who is doing your 4th procedure? Best wishes to you!

[jessie1]

Gillenator,

 

Thanks for yor response.

 

Let me tell you that I feel humbled by your experience mate. You have come through a very difficult experience in your life and you sound like a very positive and optimistic person.

 

To answer your question, I have some transplanted hair in the hairline together with native hair. I hope (fingers crossed) that the transplanted hair will be safe.

 

Its the weak native hair in the zone behind causing me the most concern as this area will need 'the works'. You have answered my query regarding potential shockloss. My hope is that the transplanted hair will not only compensate for any shockloss, but will outweigh it in terms of yield and offer the cosmetic improvement I am hoping for. I hope I am being realistic.

 

Gillenator, I have a few on the short list but Bisanga seems to stand out. I have not completely ruled out going back across the pond but my recent experience has knocked my confidence. Access to the Doc is a must in my opinion. I will send you a PM after my consultation. Interesting to see how the Doc views it all. Date yet to be set.

 

Thanks for your response.

 

Jessie

[gillenator]

Thanks for your kind words Jessie. Yes, it's been quite a journey that continues to get better each and every day my friend. We can choose to look at life from the perspective of what we do have, rather than what we don't, including our hairloss.

 

Hopefully, at least half of your frontal zone is visible transplanted hair that thank goodness is not as susceptible to shock as the diffused native hair. Can it still shock out? Sure, but it will grow back. Most surgeons want to shave the recipient area so they can see the direction of the exisitng hair so they do not transect them when making new recipient incisions. Yes, it's worth it in the end. You don't want to lose density.

 

In the end, it will be the degree of coarseness to your donor hair that will provide the single largest benefit of visual coverage. And that's also why we do not have to replace every stand of hair that we lose to attain the illusion of coverage. It's not necessarily the level of density that counts, it's the degree of coarseness more than anything.

 

I wish you the best in everything Jessie.

[fortune11]

Both my HTs (1 and 2) were between existing hair -- i found taking minoxidil helped a lot with the shock loss. This time around I am taking propecia as well. I did expereince some shock loss initially near the crown area, but seems to be recovering now with use of propecia.

 

One thing I would say is my grafted hair is a lot more thick and lustrous compared to the existing hair, so hair placement is key as you dont want lumps of shiny new hair somewhere and then thin existing hair elsewhere -- a good doctor should blend the two together nicely. With my HT, ppl who know i got it done tell me its hard to make out between new and existing hair since they blend in so well together

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

There are two additional options that you should consider to possibly minimize post operative shock. 1. Rogaine /Minoxidil used starting 1 week post op in the transplanted area. 2. Using Low Level Laser Therapy starting 2-3 days post a few times per week. Although there is no finished studies or data to confirm the success of these modalities, many hair restoration physicians offer them to their patients. Remember a final result is always determined by net gain. How much hair did you start with in the transplanted area? How much shock occured in the transplanted area? What percentage of the shocked hairs was permanant vs. temporary? What percentage of the new grafts grow successfully?

[gillenator]

It is so nice to see that some HT surgeons are documenting and charting these types of findings in their patients in order to make accurate comparisons, not assumptions, especially in the area of gain/yield achieved per session. This can be greatly achieved with the use of a videotelescope. The images on the monitor can be downloaded and saved to make future comparisons in yield throughout the regrowth process, until final maturation.

 

That way, patients can more accurately and visually see for themselves how close they are to their goal from their initial procedure, and what changes can be done to accomplish their goal in any subsequent procedure(s).

 

Patients and their respective doctors can then plan more intelligently and efficiently while all along managing each patients' donor supply accordingly.

 

Very impressive.

[gillenator]

Both my HTs (1 and 2) were between existing hair -- i found taking minoxidil helped a lot with the shock loss. This time around I am taking propecia as well. I did expereince some shock loss initially near the crown area, but seems to be recovering now with use of propecia.

 

One thing I would say is my grafted hair is a lot more thick and lustrous compared to the existing hair, so hair placement is key as you dont want lumps of shiny new hair somewhere and then thin existing hair elsewhere -- a good doctor should blend the two together nicely. With my HT, ppl who know i got it done tell me its hard to make out between new and existing hair since they blend in so well together

 

Glad to see that you are so happy with your result!

[bonkerstonker]

Jessie you've probably seen my blog but i believe Dr Hasson saved all my pre existing thin hairs and placed 5300 grafts around them i have to admit the temporary shockloss was insane.

 

like you i was scared of losing my hairs during the ht as it seems too hard for a surgeon to fill in these small gaps but remember the surgeon pumps fluid into your scalp and expands the gaps greatly so he has a lot more room to work than what you see in the mirror.

 

To conclude i have not doubts about transplanting around hairs anymore and have no idea what i was so worried about. Just make sure it's a good surgeon obviously!!