Senior Member NW4recession Posted September 5, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 5, 2012 I am scheduled for 1200-1400 fue with SMG this month. See my preop pics attached and let me know your thoughts. I have been researching having a HT for over 5 years now. I have decided to go with fue because I am 34 years old, my hairloss is minimal and very slow progressing at this point. There is still a chance that my hairloss may progress in the future and I am not committed to taking propecia for the rest of my life (I stopped taking it 10 months ago). Because of this I wanted to start with fue and avoid the strip scar for now. I am not opposed to having strip surgery down the road if I need to in order to maximize my donor supply, but for now I want to see if I am happy with the results that fue will give me. I picked SMG because of their reputaion, recent success with fue and I really like how their patients seem to have much less post op redness in the recipient area. Do you guys think I will achieve a significant cosmetic improvement with 1200-1400 grafts? My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member bigonefive Posted September 5, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 5, 2012 I think you should be able to get a good result with that number of grafts. I was quoted 1200-1500 grafts from Dr. Alexander in AZ, and my hairline is pretty much identical to yours. I was quoted twice that with a different doctor on here, and it sounded like way more than I would need. I'll be very curious to see how FUE works for you, as I'm not sure yet if I want FUT or FUE, myself. If you do FUE, how do you plan on hiding the doldrums during months 2 and 3? If you keep your hair longer in front, then that would work, but then how are you going to hide your donor area (and explain the weird haircut) during the healing phase? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member rev3 Posted September 5, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 5, 2012 i'd say twice that your hair looks very dense in the pics so if you want the new density to blend with the old... remember you are transplanting into bald and hairline/temples seem to take a lot i'd still go with the 1200-1500 if you are doing FUE but you might want a second pass over after 12 months Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Icecreamman Posted September 5, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 5, 2012 My hair loss was similar to yours, I had 1350 grafts and am very happy with my result. I think the amount you were quoted will make a significant improvement Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NW4recession Posted September 6, 2012 Author Senior Member Share Posted September 6, 2012 Bigonefive, I have 5 weeks before I start a new job, so my plan is to live with the bad haircut during that time and hope that I look somewhat normal when starting my job. I where a scrub cap most of the time at work, so it should be ok. I had 3-4 doctors that I was considering and one of the reasons I decided on SMG was that I felt like the recipient area would return to normal the fastest. If you look at a lot of the patient postings, SMG patients are significantly less red in the recipient area 1 month postop compared to a lot of other top docs. It will be weird though, because I never buzz my hair. My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member BadBeat Posted September 6, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 6, 2012 You're not going to have a "bad haircut." They will buzz your hair all over before the procedure and it will grow back evenly. I had a 1500 FUE done by SMG (Dr. Ron) 5 months ago. I was able to go out in public, without a hat, about 2 weeks after the procedure. It just looked like I buzzed my head. By the way, I am very happy with my result so far and I'm sure you'll have a great result as well. Everybody at SMG is awesome. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member s2thoudriver Posted September 6, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 6, 2012 I would say 1500 is not enough, more like 2,000 + You have a similar hairline to how mine was pre-op and i had approx 2,800 You look to have good density in the donor area so harvesting more grafts should be no problem. I think if you have 1,500 you will be left wanting a second procedure. Might as well do it right once. Rob 2800 FUE, Istanbul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spanker Posted September 6, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 6, 2012 i'd say twice thatyour hair looks very dense in the pics so if you want the new density to blend with the old... remember you are transplanting into bald and hairline/temples seem to take a lot i'd still go with the 1200-1500 if you are doing FUE but you might want a second pass over after 12 months Rev3 is right. If I were going to do FUE I would go with what is recommended, BUT, you are transplanting into a completely bald area bumped up against a solid head of hair. I think that you may want a second pass in a year. I would not go too hard on the doc that said you needed more, because you probably will want more. Yours is kind of similar to mind and I had 2100 and I had existing hair in the area. I am an online representative for Dr. Raymond Konior who is an elite member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians. View Dr. Konior's Website View Spanker's Website I am not a medical professional and my opinions should not be taken as medical advice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member GBU Posted September 6, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 6, 2012 spanker makes an excellent point . You should be prepared for a second surgery as your density expectations are not likely to be met with one pass . I wish you happy growing ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member orlhair1 Posted September 9, 2012 Senior Member Share Posted September 9, 2012 SMG has been producing excellent results with FUE. If I have a second procedure, that is what I will do (even though I had a great result with FUT). One of the things I really like about SMG is the results they are able to achieve using relatively small numbers of grafts for the area to be addressed. I think you will be fine, but if you have concerns, just talk to the Dr. about it......he is the expert! You will have a great experience at SMG....they are great people. Surgery - Dr. Ron Shapiro FUT 6/14/11 - 3048 grafts Surgery - Dr. Ron Shapiro FUE 1/28/13 & 1/29/13 - 1513 grafts http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/orlhair1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member NW4recession Posted September 10, 2012 Author Senior Member Share Posted September 10, 2012 I had my procedure this past Friday and ended up with 1322 grafts. Dr. Paul and the staff were wonderful and I am very pleased with the experience. I will try and post some pics when I get a chance. I did not want to lower my hairline too aggressively to start out with, so for me, this amount of grafts is perfect. If my hairloss looks stable in a few years, then I can always go back for a more aggressive hairline. The hairline that was designed by Dr. Paul does help frame my face better and assuming I get a good yeild will make a cosmetic difference. The density was 50-55 grafts/sqcm, so I think it should blend in nicely with my native hair. Wish me luck! My Hair Loss Website Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member bigonefive Posted February 20, 2013 Regular Member Share Posted February 20, 2013 Any updates, NW4? Pics? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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