Cheating or Not? Need some feedback.

[good99mood]

I went to a clinic in FL for a hair transplant(with 3000 graft) on December 3 last year. Now I need to decide if I should return back for the second session. Here is my album link: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/good99mood/albums/1464

 

It is already 4 months since my first session. The given post-op instructions said the transplanted hairs will grow back in 3~4 months. But so far there are not so many new hairs growing back as what I expected. As shown by Pic9, there are only 3~5 grafts of new hairs per square cm in the recipient area near the hairline(those long thin hairs are my original hairs). In fact, the new growing hair density is lower in other areas. I also measured the scab density from one of the pictures I took right after the first session. As shown by Pic5 and Pic7, there are 20~24 scabs on each area of 4 square cm, which means there are 5~6 scabs in each one square cm. On the top and crown area, there are 3~4 scabs per square cm. It looks like the density of the new growing grafts of hairs is close to the scab density. I keep watching several scabs along the hair line and have noticed that hairs grow back at most scab locations.

 

In order to figure out the transplanted graft density, I measured my recipient area. It can be simplified as a trapezoid with a top length of 8cm, a bottom length of 14cm and a height of 17cm as shown by Pic8. The total recipient area is 187 cm2. The actual area is smaller than this number. This clinic claimed they transplanted 3066 grafts of hairs for my first session. Then the average graft density should be more than 3066 /187 = 16.4 grafts/cm2.

 

If there are 5~6 scabs/cm2 on one half of the recipient area and there are 3~4 scabs/cm2 on the other half of the recipient area, then the total scab number is between 5*187/2 + 3*187/2 = 748 and 6*187/2 + 4*187/2 = 935. I believe that each graft of hairs will form a scab around it after the procedure. Therefore, I think this clinic only transplanted less than 1000 grafts of hairs for my first session, even though they claimed the total graft number was 3066. I also checked some pictures from other clinics online and I found that the scab densities of their patients are much higher than mine.

 

I sent a message to this clinic and questioned them about the graft number they transplanted for my first session. They insisted that they transplanted 3066 grafts of hairs for me. Their explanation is that some apertures were closed after the procedures and no scabs were formed at all.

 

I just wonder if some experts here would like to take some time and check my pics and tell me if they are honest to me. Is it possible that 2000+ grafts of hairs never formed any scabs after the procedure?

Edited April 11, 2012 by good99mood

[England]

Hi Good99Mood,

 

I was about to write you a message that counting the scabs will be misleading because multiple grafts can combine to clot as 1 scab, or some grafts can heal quicker and not have scabs at all, but then I looked at your photos. In particular, the following picture is worrying:

 

 

While you don't necessarily get a scab everywhere there is a graft inserted, it looks like you have huge gaps in between your grafts where the skin looks completely unaffected as if it was untouched. Typically you would at least have some redness if there had been grafts inserted. This is reflected in your final results in the following picture:

 

 

This look is very typical of hair surgeries performed by surgeons who are not recommended, I notice you have 2's and 3's in your hairline which is a big no-no anyway.

 

You did have a massive area to cover and the 3000 grafts was never going to cover it fully, but this certainly doesn't appear to be a good result even for that number of grafts. It is also very early days in your journey so you should expect some thickening and growth to come. However, you should definitely not go back to the same clinic purely based on the sparse placement and usage of 2's and 3's in the hairline giving the classic 'pluggy' look, I would recommend contacting some of the excellent doctors on here who have hundreds of case studies posted by patients as well as by the doctors, rather than do more damage to yourself by going back for more.

 

In terms of the graft numbers, honestly it's difficult to say whether they actually gave you what they claimed, but if you're having doubt and don't trust them that's just another reason to steer clear. Best of luck in whatever you decide!

[RCWest]

Was this surgery in Florida done by Larry Shapiro by any chance? This looks like mini and micrografts.

[good99mood]

England: Thanks you for your analysis. It really helpful. I just downloaded more pics. I couldn't find any redness between hose scabs. I guess there were no hairs transplanted there.

[good99mood]

RCWest: You are not right. The clinic is Atlantis 2000 International.

[socbook1DB5]

Those graphs are very far apart. Wherever you went, they don't have the right approach. Do not go back them. That's not how it should look post op, or months later.

[Strata]

Another cheating clinic!!!