Guard 1 with FUE?

[Mickey85]

Hey guys,

 

Was just wondering before if the notion of being able to shave down to a guard 1 after an FUE procedure is correct or not? Obviously it would count on the amount of grafts so let's say something like a 2,000 graft procedure? Could it pass as seamless on a low guard 1 given average density? Would there be a notable difference before and after?

[Thehairupthere]

At first your scalp will be red and you can experience some shock loss in that area, but it's not drastic. After several weeks you would look ok going down to a level 1 in the donor area. Once the skin has healed properly you will not notice a difference in your appearance in the donor area even though it is thinner than it was previously. You may see small white dots in the areas that have been extracted and those heal better over time, but even at a 1 guard it's difficult to notice.

[Janna]

Some FUE patients are able to shave to a 1 guard but not all will have this option. Much will depend on how you heal and the size of the punch used. Count on being able to shave to a #2 and anything shorter is a bonus.

[azazelgs]

Janna,

 

In Dr.Lorenzo's videos it is seen that fue can be used with the buzz cut with no clipper grade. Also many other fue doctors say that if the patient ok with the white dots in the donor area, fue can be used with shortest haircuts. What is your opinion about this?

[Mickey85]

Azazelgs, i too have seen the Lorenzo videos that you speak of. However my sentiments are that the 'look' of a zero guard after fue is not seamless. I was thinking a one guard would suffice however the general consensus is that even that due is not 100%. Especially after X amoubnt of grafts.

[azazelgs]

Mickey,

 

I mean there is some white dots in donor areas but recipent seems ok , do you mean donor or recipent???

[Mickey85]

Donor The recipient results from fue seem the same as FUT to me providing the yield is the same. Im just curious as to whether the white dots and lack of folicles would be evident at a grade 1 buzz.

[Janna]

Janna,

 

In Dr.Lorenzo's videos it is seen that fue can be used with the buzz cut with no clipper grade. Also many other fue doctors say that if the patient ok with the white dots in the donor area, fue can be used with shortest haircuts. What is your opinion about this?

 

With anyone's fue technique, you can have the patients shave down with a zero guard. But at what point can you not see any white dots? Most patients will have some form of white dotting with a zero guard.

 

Dr. Lorenzo took two patients to the ISHRS conference in Boston couple years ago. After everyone got to see his patients' results on top, he shaved his patients' heads down with a zero guard to show the donor area. You could see white dots but the patients themselves were not bothered by them. So it comes down to the individual patients whether it's bothersome or not.

I personally don't like the white dots as it looks unnatural - just the same as strip scars (in a different way)- it's not normally present on non transplanted patients. The patient has to assume the white dots will be present with a zero and #1 guard before he goes ahead with surgery. How short you can buzz your head afterwards without seeing any white dots will depend on how well you heal and what size punches were used.

[Mickey85]

Janna, with all the fue cases you have personally inspected, if you look hard enough can you see remnants of the scarring on a guard 1(on average)?

[Janna]

I haven't had the opportunity to see too many results with #1 guard, to be honest. Because many patients keep their hair style a bit longer, I see more patients with zero guard as they are prepped for another fue surgery. Some of these patients were done elsewhere and some patients from our clinic but I can generally see white dots with a zero guard.

 

Since I don't see too many patients who shave to a #1 guard, I can't report on it but I have heard back from some patients who say they are definately comfortable shaving to a #1 guard without any signs of white dots.

[SugarHighs]

I haven't had the opportunity to see too many results with #1 guard, to be honest. Because many patients keep their hair style a bit longer, I see more patients with zero guard as they are prepped for another fue surgery. Some of these patients were done elsewhere and some patients from our clinic but I can generally see white dots with a zero guard.

 

Since I don't see too many patients who shave to a #1 guard, I can't report on it but I have heard back from some patients who say they are definately comfortable shaving to a #1 guard without any signs of white dots.

 

Janna,

 

How about the appearance in the recipient area?

 

If the FUE patient had 50-60cm2 density transplanted, could he expect to see a fairly consistent density at a #1 buzz?

 

Or is there a noticeable difference between the native and recipient areas, even at that length?

[aim4hair]

I had 2080 HST grafts done with Dr. Gho and here is how my donor looked like 13 days post op when i had my first hair cut (grade 1 over the donor and 0 on the very bottom).

 

 

[Janna]

Aim4hair,

 

Do you plan to document your progress? Thanks for the shot of your donor.

 

Sugar,

 

I would think it depends on the density of the recipient area. For majority of the patients, if you transplant to 50 to 60 per cm2, they will look fine with a #1 guard or any hair length but there are few patients who have 100-120/cm2 in the recipient area and the density of 50-60/cm2 probably won't look even. For these patients they're likely to need another session to bulk it up. You wouldn't want to dense pack too much in the first round or the blood supply is compomised.

 

Again, I'm not going to have much post op views of the recipient or donor area with #1 guard. However, the patients that I've spoken to feel they can sport a #1 guard cut in the recipient and donor area without any spotty looks.

[aim4hair]

Aim4hair,

 

Do you plan to document your progress? Thanks for the shot of your donor.

 

Sugar,

 

I would think it depends on the density of the recipient area. For majority of the patients, if you transplant to 50 to 60 per cm2, they will look fine with a #1 guard or any hair length but there are few patients who have 100-120/cm2 in the recipient area and the density of 50-60/cm2 probably won't look even. For these patients they're likely to need another session to bulk it up. You wouldn't want to dense pack too much in the first round or the blood supply is compomised.

 

Again, I'm not going to have much post op views of the recipient or donor area with #1 guard. However, the patients that I've spoken to feel they can sport a #1 guard cut in the recipient and donor area without any spotty looks.

 

 

You welcome Janna, yeah ill make a thread with more info soon once i have the time for it.

[aim4hair]

That's another shot taking 3 weeks post op with grade 0.5 (1/2), the pic is taken with flash using a 12 megapixel cam.

P.S. the noticable white gap on the left side was there before surgery.

 

im planning to cut it grade 0 next time and will update.

 

[Mickey85]

Thanks for that aim4hair. Very interesting! Feel free to use this thread to update us! Although I think a standalone thread would get more attention.

 

I think Gho claims an 80% regeneration rate? Does that mean that 20% of the extraction sites will have missing follicles but no white dots?

[aim4hair]

Thanks for that aim4hair. Very interesting! Feel free to use this thread to update us! Although I think a standalone thread would get more attention.

 

I think Gho claims an 80% regeneration rate? Does that mean that 20% of the extraction sites will have missing follicles but no white dots?

 

Thanks Mickey, yeah ill make a seprate thread with details soon.

Yeah they gurantee atleast 80 to 85% regeneration and according to them the follicles that do not regenerate will not create white dots since the punch size they use is 0.5 - 0.6

[Janna]

.5 & .6?

 

It'll be interesting to see if you get any white dots. Does Dr. Gho extract just single hairs with .5 punches, that's pretty small?

[feelzgood]

Aim4hair thanks for posting those two pics. Looks pretty good!

How many total grafts did you end up transplanting and if possible what is the graft breakdown singles, doubles, triples etc... I think I'm pretty much maxed out so I'm very curious and interested in Dr. Gho's technique. I believe that his method is extarcting a single hair from a multi-hair graft thus splitting it on the spot. But if that type of procedure makes virtualy unscared donor area...I'm all for it.

Keep us posted with updates and good growth to you!

 

Here are couple of mine #1 guard donor area pics after 4K+ grafts:

 

[aim4hair]

.5 & .6?

 

It'll be interesting to see if you get any white dots. Does Dr. Gho extract just single hairs with .5 punches, that's pretty small?

 

According to them they*use a needle of 0.5 up to 0.6 mm to extract only a minimal piece of tissue. This tissue contains part of the hair stem cells, which is sufficient to produce a new hair.

Regarding the grafts, each may contain 1 to 4 individual hairs.

[aim4hair]

Aim4hair thanks for posting those two pics. Looks pretty good!

How many total grafts did you end up transplanting and if possible what is the graft breakdown singles, doubles, triples etc... I think I'm pretty much maxed out so I'm very curious and interested in Dr. Gho's technique. I believe that his method is extarcting a single hair from a multi-hair graft thus splitting it on the spot. But if that type of procedure makes virtualy unscared donor area...I'm all for it.

Keep us posted with updates and good growth to you!

 

Here are couple of mine #1 guard donor area pics after 4K+ grafts:

 

 

I did alot of research regarding his technique including the scientific peer papers, documented cases, and other factors and im convinced that HST is about regeneration not splitting and this is what made me go for it. So far im really impressed about healing, minimum scaring and over all result, but it's still too early to judge about the final result and i'll state my openion honestly and if i end up being unsatesfied ill be the first to tell.

Btw on other forum there is a super clear documented result for a guy called gc83uk who had 2 HSTs so far and going for his third soon, and in his recepient it shows that the transplanted hair are growing with multiple hairs.

 

After all, It all comes down to your research and study, i beleive ppl who do their homework right are less likely to end up regretting their decission.

[michaeljames]

Hey guys,

 

Was just wondering before if the notion of being able to shave down to a guard 1 after an FUE procedure is correct or not? Obviously it would count on the amount of grafts so let's say something like a 2,000 graft procedure? Could it pass as seamless on a low guard 1 given average density? Would there be a notable difference before and after?

 

Hey Mate,

 

Lot of variables come in to play. The normal density of your hair, the colour of your hair, the healing of the grafts etc. So, let's take a best case scenario. Average density, If 2000 grafts were the recommended number by a physician then your probably in great shape to go with the military look. In some cases this can be combined with micro-pigmentation to further enhance the look of density too. We have noted good results with FUE patients who what to style their hair close. That is often a reason why the patient chose FUE. All the Best, Michael Here is a pic from this forum: http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/attachment.php?attachmentid=8224&d=1283494227

Edited September 11, 2012 by michaeljames
post HTN link

[aim4hair]

Hey guys,

I shaved my donor today with a clipper (no guard) just like i used to do it pre HT, which i think is the the shortest you can go before razor, below are the pics:

 

 

Edited September 15, 2012 by aim4hair

[Janna]

@Aim4hair - Your donor area looks really good. I'd like to see 3 or 4 hair grafts extracted with a .5mm and .6mm needles.

 

I guess I'm confused as to Dr. Gho's technique.... Is Dr. Gho's technique try to extract just the 1 or 2 hairs from 3 or 4 hair follicular units so that you don't have the empty spots like traditional fue procedures?

 

@Feelzgood - You had 4000 grafts, what size punches were used and do you have the graft breakdown of 1's, 2's, 3's and 4's? The #1 guard shows a lot of the white dots. Have you tried #2 guard?

[aim4hair]

@Aim4hair - Your donor area looks really good. I'd like to see 3 or 4 hair grafts extracted with a .5mm and .6mm needles.

 

I guess I'm confused as to Dr. Gho's technique.... Is Dr. Gho's technique try to extract just the 1 or 2 hairs from 3 or 4 hair follicular units so that you don't have the empty spots like traditional fue procedures?

 

Thanks Janna,

no dr. Gho teqchnique is not about splitting (extract just the 1 or 2 hairs from 3 or 4 hair follicular units). Based on his research and studies he found that a part of the stem cell is enough to make the follicular unit grow in the recepient and regrow in the donor area as well, for example, if he takes a part of the stem cell for a follicular unit of 3 hairs, it will grow again in the donor with 3 hairs and also grow in the recepient with 3 hair.

This will multiply the number of grafts but will not provide unlimited donor supply since they gurantee a minimum donor regrowth of 80 -85% so there is a possibility 15 - 20% will not regrow.

Dr. Gho has scientific peer review journals where he explains his technique in details, i beleive you can find those online easly, also there is a video interview dr. Gho did with spencer kobren, where he explains his technique, you can find it on youtube.