Regular Member Peperoni Posted March 17, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hi Guys ....... This is my first post to the forum and just wanted to share my experience having just had a scar repair procedure with Dr Jose Lorenzo. In the past I have had a number of strip surgeries which left me with bad scarring to the rear of my head. The results of the FUT surgery had not gone well at all and so for a good number of years I had been covering my scalp with a hair unit - until this year I decided to try and do something about it. I had read great things about Dr Lorenzo and had previously approached a number of Dr's for their thoughts and suggestions. Many came back with different approaches such as excising the scars and many did not even want to attempt trying to correct my scars. Anyway, I booked a consultation with Dr Lorenzo through Mick at Farjo (who is exceedingly helpful) and popped along to see what could be done. It was agreed that it was going to be a difficult case and two procedures would probably be needed. The first would be to to correct the scarring, fill out some of my balding crown and then in 6 months time see how the scarring looked and fill out the rest of the crown area. Please note that I do not have any desire to have flowing locks but rather a short haircut that does not contain any bald areas. So, I do not not need to have tight density as long as I have do not have a bald patch. I like the buzzed cut look as I have spent too many years trying to cover, conceal and worry about wind, rain etc. After a very thorough consultation it was decided that 3000 FUE grafts would be performed over two days on March 13th/14th. The main area to concentrate on was the scars and any remaining grafts to fill the crown, the sides and help sort out a crooked hairline. Fortunately, I have really good bear hair and the plan was to use 1000 grafts from my beard and 2000 grafts from my scalp. The beard hair was primarily for the scarring. I had booked into a nearby hotel which was 5 minute walk to the clinic and so I arrived promptly at 7.45 am to start the procedure. A few anti inflammatory tablets and a sedative were taken and then straight to work. I will not go into great detail about the staff and facilities as much has been written about this recently on this forum. I can assure you that the clinic is wonderful, the staff are excellent and all that has been written prior is true - it is a great place to have any procedure. Dr Lorenzo is a very focused and diligent worker and his attention to detail is exemplary. We had discussed exactly what was going tot happen and I even pointed out a few little extra things I had been concerned about. He cut my hair and then spent the morning extracting grafts from my scalp - lunch soon came and then quickly back into the chair to start removing the beard hair. The afternoon was spent placing the grafts but it was only done on the right side of my head so that I could sleep easier on my left hand side that night. The following day was a repeat of the first day but a little more comfortable as I was able to sit upright in the chair whilst he worked on my crown area and sides. I would like to thank Dr Lorenzo, Mick, Sara, Grace, Kelsey and all the other wonderful staff who helped me through what was a more difficult procedure. FUE into scar is not as straightforward as many procedures and I think Dr Lorenzo was excellent as my wife and family thought I had had the scars cut out when I returned home - not knowing it was just FUE that had been placed. I will try to upload more pictures as I progress to show my beard hair and how that is healing. But I expect to be able to shave after 7 days of the surgery so a little longer to go yet. For the techie guys who are interested here are the stats: Total graft: 3101 Graft from scalp: 2051 Graft from beard: 1050 From scalp: Hairs: 4400 Hair per graft: 2.14 Singles: 408 Doubles: 1014 Triples: 556 4 hair FU: 74 Hair thickness: 56-58 microns over scars; 48-50 below. From Beard: Hairs: 1368 Hair per graft:1.30 Singles: 756 Doubles: 273 Triples: 22 Hair thickness: 62 microns Punch: 0.8 mm Thank you once again Dr Lorenzo and to all the staff at the Farjo clinic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairshopeing Posted March 17, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Great write up!! Bad fut scars!! If anyone can fix them then I'd imagine its Lorenzo!! Didn't know he used beard grafts, interesting case to follow!!! Fingers crossed for you pal! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted March 17, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Attached are Pictures of where Dr Lorenzo removed the beard hair. He took 500 grafts from each side, 500 on Thursday and 500 on Friday hence the difference in healing. I cant wait to have a proper shave ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted March 17, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Thank you HairShopeing ..... It was kind of you to offer your well wishes. My fingers are firmly crossed too. Pepe ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Spanker Posted March 17, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hope it goes well. You picked a great doctor. Did you have a small FUE procedure before as well? I really hope you are able to meet your goals. Looks like you had some pretty poor results in the past. 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 Peperoni Posted March 17, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Hi Spanker ...... I did have a FUE procedure back in 2007 over in Greece and they mainly worked on the hairline and left the rest of my scalp alone. The results were great but I made the mistake of putting my hair unit back on and I dont think the adhesives helped too much with transplanted hair. So, yes I do have some residual hairs left around the top of my head and a reasonable hairline. But I love the buzzed look and there is sufficient hair to getaway with it from the front. A little work to the sides and crown in my next procedure should hopefully give me and overall appearance of hair albeit nothing I could style into a quiff - ahem ! So the goal is no obvious bald patch and some work into the scars and I should be happy to get on with my life as the scars really held me back. Pepe .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted March 17, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Spanker ..... Just to add a little more about previous surgeries I am attaching some pictures of the look I had prior to going to Dr Lorenzo. I did wear a hair unit on the top so it was not too drastic and I did not walk around looking like that. You can see though that the hair I had from prior surgeries was really ineffective and the only hair that I did manage to retain was from the last FUE done on the hairline. Pepe .... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairthere Posted March 17, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Sorry to see what you have had to endure. I think your plan for repair with Dr. Lorenzo was the wisest choice. The good news is you have a nicely shaped head and it appears you can pull off the buzz look. I am the owner/operator of AHEAD INK a Scalp Micropigmentation Company in Fort Lee, New Jersey. www.aheadink.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted March 17, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 17, 2014 Thanks Hairthere ..... My family thinks the current buzz look takes years off me and wondered why I did not do this years ago. The scars were always the issue and if I can get them somewhat better then I am happy to buzz it down. The sad part is that I cannot take clippers to this hair for at least 5 months so I shall have to endure a slightly odd look for the next five months. Fortunately, I work from home and have few social engagements so I shall muddle through the next five months. Thank you for your well wishes ..... Pepe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted March 24, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted March 24, 2014 Just a quick update ..... For those that were interested to see how the beard grafts appeared post procedure. I was advised that I could shave after a week of my procedure and to be honest I could not wait ! As soon as the 7 days were up I shaved the very next morning on day 8 as my beard hairs were removed on two consecutive days. In all honesty it felt strange to shave and I may have had a little numbness in my cheeks. Having shaved on day 10 that feeling has disappeared and now it feels just as normal. I am attaching pictures taken on day 4/5 and Day 8/9 (bearing in mind the left and right side were extracted on consecutive days) Pepe ...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Aftermath Posted April 15, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted April 15, 2014 Just a quick update ..... For those that were interested to see how the beard grafts appeared post procedure. I was advised that I could shave after a week of my procedure and to be honest I could not wait ! As soon as the 7 days were up I shaved the very next morning on day 8 as my beard hairs were removed on two consecutive days. In all honesty it felt strange to shave and I may have had a little numbness in my cheeks. Having shaved on day 10 that feeling has disappeared and now it feels just as normal. I am attaching pictures taken on day 4/5 and Day 8/9 (bearing in mind the left and right side were extracted on consecutive days) Pepe ...... thanks for sharing your experience, I'm a big fan of Dr. Lorenzo's FUE work, I'd definitely consider him for a scar repair myself! 3 quick questions.... were the beard hairs used for the scar repairs? were any scalp hairs used in the scar and lastly were you given the option to extract from under the chin rather than the side of your face? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairweare Posted April 17, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted April 17, 2014 Apparently I had my procedure the day before yours with Dr. Lorenzo and echo your comments regarding his professionalism and intensity ( as a physician myself I feel that I am a good judge of that). I previously had 3 FUTs totaling 5600 grafts from 1993-2000. I am a NW6 with wavy medium brown (now graying) hair. I had a pretty good result considering that no scopes were used and the yield was not as good as what could be expected by todays standards. The last procedure was 800 grafts to my crown which only provided thin coverage. Unfortunately the scar widened after this procedure and the remaining native hair in the front and top which had hung in well into my early to mid 50's has now at age 60 essentially disappeared. This has left an overall thin appearance that I was not expecting. The progression of baldness is not linear which is something that many younger men fail to consider and at this stage in my life certainly took me by surprise. Dr. Lorenzo was able to transplant 1502 grafts in the front and top regions and repaired the scar with 300 beard grafts. I am now 5 weeks out and the beard grafts have predominately not shed and appear to be already growing! Half of the scalp grafts have shed but the ones remaining lend a slight improvement or at least an enhanced illusion of density. Due to limited donor supply Dr. Lorenzo took a conservative approach but thought I stood a reasonable chance to get another 1500 for my thin crown in 6-8 months. Good luck to you and I hope that both of our beard to scar transplants yield satisfactory results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member aaron602 Posted April 26, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted April 26, 2014 (edited) hey guys im going to be soon seeking a strip scar repair and adding density to my hairline with dr Lorenzo. I was just curious if you guys ever thought about taking the repair further and treating the actual scar itself? have you guys heard of recell? if not please check it out, ill be going to have this procedure done in about 6 months. from consulting with a person who has emailed the recell doctors in the uk and a client of the actual procedure i truly believe theres a chance to turn a strip scar into virgin scalp or close to a virgin scalp. ill be posting my results with Lorenzo and the recell doctor for all to see, to hopefully inspire faith into others that they don't have to accept a subpar result. **Outside links and video removed by moderator. Please google "recell" and "recell Mesa presentation" for more information. Thanks!** they get very good results and they are using cutting edge technology that cant be found any-where else. they are only doing the procedures in the uk and Canada I believe. and im told that the scalp heals better than any other part of the body, so im expecting some mind blowing results with my repair. I had a consult with dr umar, who I like very much and I think he has some very very good repairs and he was very nice. butn I must go to the #1 fue doc so i have the best chance of getting the result i want. dr umar told me id need 500 grafts into my scar and 1500 in and behind the hairline to add softness and density, and then ill be done with this ht suffering ive been going thru the past 9 1/2 months and still suffering let me know what you guys think about this post thanks--aaron Edited May 19, 2014 by Future_HT_Doc grammar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairweare Posted April 26, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted April 26, 2014 I wouldn't be so inclined to subject myself to a cosmetic procedure that has not yet even come close to FDA approval. The company has been around for quite some time and has been hemorrhaging cash. The CEO just stepped down and after being under fire for his compensation and poor performance. As a physician I tend to be skeptical about their clinical claims. If your scar is not particularly bad beard grafts seem to work quite well. I too saw Dr Umar who advised 600-700 grafts. I am now 7 week status post 300 grafts placed by Dr Lorenzo and the scar is barely noticeable as the beard grafts grew along side the shaved donor area with apparently little to no shedding or rest phase. I suspect that in 4-5 months the scar will be undetectable even with a very short haircut. I will say however that the placement of the grafts did hurt a lot more that the scalp grafts and the area post op itched and stayed tender for 3 weeks post op. Everything now is back to normal and I will be getting my first haircut since the procedure next week. I have little concern that the scar will be all that cosmetically visible even at this early stage. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member StaggerLee123 Posted April 26, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted April 26, 2014 Good luck Peperoni you have been through the wringer just like Wylie was. Really hope it turns out well for you, I think it will! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted May 19, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 19, 2014 Hi Aftermath .... I am so sorry for the late reply but it looks like I did not get any post updates from the forum so I had not checked in for a while. To answer your questions: 1. Beard Hair was used for the scar repair 2. No scalp hair was used for the scar repair 3. I was given the option of which hair to use, and my only request was not to use the gray hairs which seemed to be very evident in my beard. I was not too worried where the hairs came from but I feel sure that Dr Lorenzo would listen to any requests. The healing process was very quick and within a week everything seemed to have healed so well. So, I would advise taking an extra week off as you cannot shave anyway until 7 days post op, Apologies once again .... Pepe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted May 19, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 19, 2014 Hi hairweare ... You are abosultely right about people not realising the pattern of hair loss. But it sounds like you are well on the road to getting a result which you like. Alot of my newly grafted has managed to miraculously hang on albeit under the microscope I was pleased to see that there is more to come too. I wish you the best of luck and hope for a fantastic result for you .... Pepe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted May 19, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 19, 2014 Hi Aaron ..... That does sound fascinating but I think it is still in its early days. Personally I would wait and see how mainstream this comes and see further examples of the work. It does seem to be at inception and like my first hair transplants I really wish I had waited until FUE was available over strip. Best of luck sir ..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted May 19, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 19, 2014 Hi Guys .... Well I am just over the two month mark now and returned to the clinic to have a check up. Dr Lorenzo seemed very pleased with how things had progressed and was pleasantly surprised that I had not shed all my transplanted hair. I was a little worried at how thin my donor area was - but looking under the microscope could see that there are still plenty of hairs which had not grown back to full length as yet. The donor area should fully recover at the 4 month mark. We looked closely into the scars and could see growth in the grafts which was a pleasant surprise. Also, many of the grafts in the lower part of the crown and the crown sides had remained in place and those areas will be addressed in my next procedure. I am still in the ugly duckling stage as I ultimately want to buzz down to a grade 2 and clippers cannot be used until after 5 months post procedure. So, I am counting down the days until I can really tidy up my hair ... but am giving it every chance to heal and be happy with the growth I am feeling. Anyway, I shall attach some pictures taken at the clinic from 2 months post procedure. All the best to everyone ..... Pepe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Blake Bloxham Posted May 19, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted May 19, 2014 Pepe, Congratulations! Look forward to future updates! "Doc" Blake Bloxham - formerly "Future_HT_Doc" Forum Co-Moderator and Editorial Assistant for the Hair Transplant Network, the Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Forum All opinions are my own and my advice does not constitute as medical advice. All medical questions and concerns should be addressed by a personal physician. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairweare Posted May 20, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted May 20, 2014 Your scars are already significantly improved at this early date as are mine. I am fairly certain my beard grafts also did not shed as I could feel the subtle difference in texture there as the shaved donor area grew back in. I will be cutting it shorter later this week so the improvement should be apparent. The main reason I chose Dr. Lorenzo was that he is in total control of both phases of the procedure. He is meticulous in how and where he harvests and is also extremely focused on the best placement of every graft. I am certain that the lack of shedding and early growth experienced by so many of his patients is not a coincidence. I suspect that the percentage yield I will get from the 1502 FUE grafts will far exceed that of my earlier FUT procedures. The difference may be as profound as 95 plus versus 70 percent. My new salt and pepper hair color and .058mm shaft thickness are factors working for me this time as well. At this early stage the short new hairs are creating a "floor to the forest" or Toppik effect which has enabled me to avoid the so called ugly duckling phase but I am anxious to get to the 6-7 month point to really reap the benefits. I look forward to seeing your updates as we progress along the same timeline. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member Aftermath Posted May 20, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted May 20, 2014 Dr Lorenzo seems to be a class act, I wouldn't hesitate to let him work on my scalp! What's happening post September though? I've heard he's going back to Spain, is the Farjo partnership ending? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted May 27, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 27, 2014 Hi Hairweare ... Thank you for the message and I can feel hair inside my scars at this time as it seems coarser to the touch. I may be imagining that although the microscope showed the evidence during my 2 month follow up. I am booked in again in towards the end of July for another 3000 grafts and I suspect a couple may go into the scars again - to really help them along. I must admit I cant wait to get to the 6 - 7 month stage either albeit I will be in exactly the same stage as of now - having a second surgery. I have tended not to get involved with Toppik or Nanogens as I did not have sufficient hair to make good use of the products. So I wore a hair unit for the last 12 years. My main goal is get away from all products, hair units and just have a short hair cut where I jump in the shower and jump straight back out without the need for a comb or brush. I have had too many years of faffing around with the mirror and styling and products etc. I think it is time for people to take me as I am and if the scars come out good then I will be a very happy bunny indeed. Best of luck and I wish you well ... I hope that 6 - 7 months come to you as quick as a flash ! Pepe Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Peperoni Posted May 27, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted May 27, 2014 Hi Aftermath ..... I apologise for the late reply, but yes I understand that Dr Lorenzo will be returning to Spain sometime around that time. I cannot really comment on the Farjo business and their future relationship and your question may be better put to Mick at Farjo who is very helpful. I know Dr Lorenzo has a great clinic in Madrid and it is only a 2 hour flight away. It is also a beautiful city to visit .... a quick call to Mick may help you find out a little more. Take good care .... Pepe ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Member hairweare Posted May 27, 2014 Senior Member Share Posted May 27, 2014 You apparently have excellent donor density considering that to get another 6000 grafts by FUE after previous FUTs is quite amazing. Dr Umar felt that I might have at most 2500 available before I went to Dr. Lorenzo and after conservatively harvesting 1500 he thinks that another 1500 is possible. I am nearing the 3 month (11 weeks) mark and there are definitely some sparsely grafted hairs that about 1/2" long, but mostly beard like stubble when I rub my fingers over the grafted areas and a few bare areas where hopefully hairs will soon start to sprout. Once I get a bit further along I will provide pictures on a separate post. I can see why this is considered the anxious phase as it is difficult to avoid looking in the mirror hoping for daily progress when one really needs to wait another month or two to appreciate a difference in new density. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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