hairbank pre-op photos's

[hairbank]

These are pic's 5 days prior to my upcoming HT with Dr. Lawrence Samuels. I'm looking for input on placement of grafts for my first HT of 1200 grafts?? Most likely I will follow up with another session of 1200 in about a year or so depending on my results. Your input is appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

 

[hairbank]

These are pic's 5 days prior to my upcoming HT with Dr. Lawrence Samuels. I'm looking for input on placement of grafts for my first HT of 1200 grafts?? Most likely I will follow up with another session of 1200 in about a year or so depending on my results. Your input is appreciated. Thanks.

 

 

 

[gillenator]

Hi Hairbank,

 

Thanks for posting your pics! How many grafts are you planning on and what recipient areas are they going in? Are you are on Propecia (finasteride) or minoxidil? How many potential harvestable grafts do you have in the donor areas? What are your goals in the first session? How old are you and to what extent is genetic hairloss in your family history? Any men in the Norwood 7 class like grandfathers, uncles, father, brothers, etc?

 

I do not mean to present so many questions at one time but more info would be helpful to give you some concrete feedback.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hairbank,

 

I'm excited for you about the upcoming surgery man! Keep us posted! It's good to see someone else with the same hairloss pattern as me! Hopefully my pics will give you some encouragement as the time goes on. Since I am only 3.5 months post op, I don't have a lot of thickness or length yet, but I am hoping to see a big change by 6 months.

 

Bill

[Spock]

Hi Hairbank

 

I don't know what kind of camera your using but it does not appear to be focusing correctly. Your head is out of focus but the background is in focus. See if you have a closeup mode, usually labeled to look like a flower.

 

Good luck to you and happy healing.

[hairbank]

I'm having my first session this Tuesday, Jan. 18th, with Dr. Lawrence Samuels. 1200 grafts. I was hoping to get input on the area to concentrate the grafts keeping in mind that I plan on doing another 1200 in about a year depending on the overall success of the first HT. Initially I was thinking 80% back/ 20% front but now I'm not sure, you opinions are appreciated.

 

I had been on Rogaine while in my 20's (I'm 38) and used propecia for a time about 5 years ago but stopped as I'm cautious about what I process through my body and felt I was attempting to "put of the inevitable".

 

Genetically, my father had loss but more from front to back. Mine was more of a back to front progression. I have very thick hair on sides and back and was told by the doc I could do this a number of times. My father had a HT about 10 years ago with grafts of 4-6 each. He only had 400 total but surprisingly he has pretty good coverage and it appears to have all stayed. I have a brother who looks like a "Chia Pet" with hair clearly from my mothers side.

 

Thanks for the posts. Any opinons as to recommended placement of grafts would be greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

 

Hairbank

[gillenator]

Hi Hairbank,

 

Thanks for the additional info and I agree totally with you that placement is a very important issue. Now there are a couple of things to consider.

 

First, find out your total potential grafts from the donor areas. Harryone made some interesting points to consider especially regarding coverage for those of us in the more advanced Norwood classes. Once you have a better idea of how much your donor will produce, you can better analyze where you want coverage in a lifetime. As grafts are added and then fully mature you will see the result and then again make decisions on where you want additional hair in future procedures. Most of us will inform you that there is more of a clinical advantage in doing a larger session to start with, but if you have budgeting concerns, you can still start with 1200 grafts. Your question however is where to place them right?

 

That gets back to your goals for Hairbank and only Hairbank. You are now 38 so I would presume you are not trying to acheive youthful density. In addition you mentioned you are considering 80% in the front and 20% in the back. Since the real impact of our appearance is viewed from the front, you are definitely on the right track. In fact after the first procedure grows out, you may elect to have even more grafts placed in the front to mid-scalp range to get the most aesthetic benefit possible. Now I have not forgot about your crown area but again by your comments, it appears that the front is ranking higher in your decision of coverage.

 

Since you prefer not to use finasteride, minoxidil, etc., the crown will undoubtedly lose more natural hair or at least plan on that happening. The circumference of that area can potentially demand as much as 50% of one's available donor (excluding body hair). That does not leave that much for the frontal and mid-range areas. You can always add a single pass through the crown area later by visually reducing the thinnig area, but it will not acheive full coverage unless you later add body hair in that area.

 

Now let's discuss potential shockloss. You have diffused thinning throughout the top of your scalp. One of the potential dis-advantages of doing mega-sessions is the probability of shockloss to the natural hair that is up there right now in the recipient areas. Since you are not taking finasteride or using minoxidil, the level of shockloss could be higher than expected and the natural hair may or may not grow back. The finer diffused hair that now looks like peachfuzz will not come back. Shockloss is unpredictable so patients with a diffused thinning pattern need to consider how large of a session they want to start with.

 

Remember, hair caliper (coarseness) is the single most important factor in gaining the "illusion" of coverage. The fatter the hair cylinders, the better coverage obtained. If you have not already, take a look at Ramo's pics. He just had I believe a 1300 graft procedure 7 months ago with most of the grafts in the frontal zone. Take note that he has a natural wave characteristic to his hair. His newly grown in hair in the hairline and front forelock area displays alot of volume or body for 1300 grafts, so the wave provides him additional benefit. Both of you have a wider color contrast but also notice the visual benefit he received as he is viewed from the front.

 

I wish you the very best in your planning and results!

[using this name]

any updates hairbank?