Regular Member Shearak Posted March 11, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted March 11, 2014 (edited) It's been a very long time since I posted on this forum and a very long journey for my hair transplant repair. I am schedule to receive 2500 grafts to repair my hairline and frontal area from previous transplants which resulted in a pluggy and unnatural hairline. Not to mention pitting and cobble stoning on the hairline. Background Between 1999 and 2000 I received around 700 or so grafts from Dr. Gianotto in VA in two transplants which was the biggest mistake of my life. Back then I was maybe a norwood 2 and he placed my hairline too low. The grafts were mini with 3 to 5 hairs compacted which grow out like ferns. The hairline had a lot of pitting and raise scar tissue. He also left me with some scars on the donor mainly on the sides. He promised the scars would be hairline in size and not visible and the grafts would be natural, none of which were true. In 2001 I decided to go to Bosley in New York to repair the hairline and add some density to the frontal. I received 1050 grafts on the hairline and the frontal areas. The repair was not a success as I still had hairs on the temples which Bosley was not able to remove and the hairline was still pluggy and unnatural. The procedure made things worse. From 2002 to 2004 I went to Dr. Bisanga to remove some of the mini grafts and transplant them back into the frontal and scar. These procedures helped a little, but did not address the pitting and scar tissue on the hairline and also how low the hairline was place. In 2012 I went to Hassan and Wong and had a repair procedure with Dr. Wong. He did a brow-lift procedure basically removed the hairline with the mini grafts scar tissue and pitting. The brow left produced about 750 or so grafts which were recycled and transplanted in the crown. Dr. Wong also removed some of the grafts on the temples, but was not able to get all of them. The procedure made the hairline less pluggy, but I would need an additional procedure to remove the existing mini grafts from the temple area maybe 20 hairs or so and rebuild the hairline and frontal areas. For my second repair procedure I decide to go to Dr. Rahal. In 2013 I did a online consultation with Dr. Rahal. He recommended 2500 grafts to address the hairline and frontal areas. 1800 grafts for the hairline and 700 grafts for the frontal. The goal is to have a softer and natural hairline and add density to the frontal. The linear scar from the brow-left procedure will also be concealed with the added grafts to the hairline. Dr. Rahal also will remove or reuse the mini grafts from my temples. I am hoping that he can get a bigger strip 3500+ grafts and add density to the mid scalp and a light pass on the crown. He also thinks I am heading towards a norwood 6 and I am currently 40. I have attached some photos of where I am now and hoping to get my hairline repaired for the last time. NOTE: I hope I did not gross people out with the brow-left photo. Edited March 11, 2014 by Shearak made a correction to a date Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member zyzz Posted March 13, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted March 13, 2014 Before your repairs, did you discuss with any of the doctors about removing those unnatural recipient hairs via FUE as an option vs doing a brow-lift procedure? Did they say that was even possible? 14 years is a long journey. Hope you great success w/ Dr Rahal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Shearak Posted March 13, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 13, 2014 Hi zyzz, Thanks for the kind words it has been a very long journey. Yes I did actually have Dr. Bisanga remove the grafts vs FUE and another Dr. who I can't menstion on this site. This did help breakdown the grafts some, but the hairline still had a lot of pitting and scar tissue and not to mention it was placed too low. Also some of the grafts that the doctors removed grew back. Here is a pic of the FUE graft removal on my hairline: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member rev333 Posted March 14, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted March 14, 2014 WOW! great brow lift! the scar was very thin!!! now with the FUE, this is going to look like a NW1 congrats Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member roimirka Posted March 14, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted March 14, 2014 well done job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Shearak Posted March 14, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 14, 2014 Hi rev333, Yes the brow lift scar is barely visible and Dr. Wong did a great job. I am actually do to get a FUT script procedure of 2500 grafts to establish the hairline and and frontal area with Dr. Rahal next Monday 3/17. The FUE picture in my post was from a previous repair session before I did the brow lift procedure with Hasson and Wong. I am hoping with all the scalp exercises I have been doing for the past few months that I can get a bigger script of 3500 + grafts to add density to the midscalp and a light pass on the crown if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member amtoo55 Posted April 15, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted April 15, 2014 Hi Shearak, How was the procedure with Dr. Rahal? How are you feeling now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Shearak Posted July 27, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 27, 2014 (edited) Sorry I haven't updated in a while, but when I got back from the procedure I had to travel overseas and wasn't able to post any updates. The procedure was great. Dr. Rahal originally quoted me 2500 grafts to repair and hide the brow left scar and the the previous mini grafts along the hairline and frontal areas. At the end I ended up get 3490 grafts and he was able to take out most of the donor scars (3) from the previous transplants. Dr. Rahal was also able to add additional grafts on the hairline and midscalp area because of the larger graft count. The techs trimmed down more hairs on the midscalp after getting additional grafts in the middle of the procedure. I was happy about the larger graft count. Hoping to get a nice dense coverage in my hairline, frontal and midscalp. Dr. Rahal indicates I have additional grafts around 2000 - 2500 for my crown, but knowing my own body I think I can get more like 3000+ for the crown. One thing that I can't emphasize enough is to do the scalp exercises if you want to get a larger strip. I started doing the scalp exercise for about 4 month before my surgery and I believe that made a big impact on my graft graft. Graft Counting 1 unit grafts -717 2 unit grafts - 2060 3 unit grafts - 713 Total grafts 3490 Total hair - 6976 Attached are pre and post op pictures and day 3. I will start a new thread and post my 1, 2, 3 month pictures. Supplements recommended and my protocol: Saw Palmetto: 160mg x 2 Super B-Complex: x 1 Glucosamaine, Chondroitin, MSM complex: x 2 Vitamin E 400 IU: x 1 Fish Oil 2400 mg: x 1 Vitamin C 1000 mg: x 1 Start using my laser device (IGrow) after one month per Dr. Rahal's advice. Edited July 27, 2014 by Shearak Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spanker Posted July 28, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted July 28, 2014 So you are past 4 months now. Do you have any pics of your current situation? How much did the brow lift actually raise your hairline when it was all said and done? Do you ever wish you would have just camouflaged the larger grafts? 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 Spanker Posted July 28, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted July 28, 2014 Also, have you considered getting on finasteride? 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...
Regular Member Shearak Posted July 28, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted July 28, 2014 Hey Spanker, I am 4 months now and will start a new tread shortly with my progress. The brow lift didn't actually raise my hairline by that much, but it did remove the larger grafts, pitting, ridding and scar tissue. I wouldn't have been able to just camouflage the larger grafts because I would have had to lower the hairline more to place single hairs and that was not an option with my hairloss. I was on Propecia for about a year and it caused serious side effects and I had to stop taking it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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