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Strip vs FUE vs mFUE - Dr. Alan Feller Great Neck, NY


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  • Senior Member
Yes, Dr Feller, if that's what you require. I mean, you're the boss with this, seeing as it's a very generous free offer!! I was just hoping we could avoid the wait til October to schedule a surgery date because I think there are significant donor areas outside of the prime strip areas - on the sides and at the back a bit further towards the top. If you think I can avoid the wait til October that would be great. Thanks a lot, either way. LHTS

 

London,

 

Seeing that its a free procedure, and you don't want to wait until October, you could always consider flying across the pond for the consult - I know its expensive - but potential free procedure - so.... just saying ......

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  • Senior Member

Yes, if a Skype consult is out of the question (?), then I think I'll be flying to New York to get a decision because the wait til October won't be much fun! I hadn't realised how much I'd thinned in the crown and vertex region, hence my keenness now to get it fixed. A little thinness at the front is far preferable to crown and vertex thinning in my case, I feel. And I'm now on Propecia for life (or til some other cure) as of a week ago.

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Yes, if a Skype consult is out of the question (?), then I think I'll be flying to New York to get a decision because the wait til October won't be much fun! I hadn't realised how much I'd thinned in the crown and vertex region, hence my keenness now to get it fixed. A little thinness at the front is far preferable to crown and vertex thinning in my case, I feel. And I'm now on Propecia for life (or til some other cure) as of a week ago.

 

Were you ever on Propecia before?

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No, because I mistook slowly progressive hairloss for non-progressive. My brother is 10 years older than me, at 48, with a full crown and vertex, so it gave me a false sense of security. Anyway, since the last couple of days I've got onto Avodart and I'm hoping that will kickstart some regrowth as it's fairly early stages of thinning. After a year of that I'll go onto Propecia longterm.

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  • Senior Member

So you skiped Fin & jumped on Avodart? that's like taking your A levels before you passed your 0 levels.

You do know Avodart has the higher risk for side effects right?

What dose you going to take?

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I did a week of Propecia. I don't want to mess around so I figure I'll go straight for Avodart. I'm good at tolerating meds in general. I once did three 6 month courses of full strength Accutane with 6 months between each and I doubt it will be worse than that. I'm starting Avodart on 1mg a day and going to work up to 2.5 mg over a couple of weeks then taper down over say a month, to 0.5 or 1.

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No, it's from reading about it online. It seems Avodart is dose responsive, unlike Fin, so to give it a kick I'm working up to the full strength dose that was used in the Avodart trial, then tapering down again after a month. Yeah, I'll watch out for bad signs...

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Okay good.....

I hear Avodart is the stronger & works both MPB but most start of on Fin & see how it works out & if they feel its not as effective then they switch over.

I guess people are different what works for each of us.

 

Your in the UK so guess you done a online order right? Kinda pricey anit it tho? What did it cost if you don't mind me asking.

 

Well I wish you well, & hope you get a kick.

 

come back & let us know say after 16wks

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Yes, I did it online. It was 20 quid for a private prescription and 25 quid or so for 30, 0.5 mg pills, so yes it's expensive if I'm going to do a high dose. I'm going to see my GP about an NHS prescription, though I doubt I'll get it.

 

I'll keep you posted.

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Avodart can cause massive shedding so something to potentially watch out for. Personally I don't think there is a logical reason to start with Dut if you have not given Fin a decent go first. The difference in hair counts between the two is marginal, and Fin has a much better documented safety profile for long term use.

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Sorry for bringing this full circle again, and I really hope I don't instigate another huge round of discussions and personal derision. I'm a young guy (25), not on fin and probably around NW3 or 4 on top - donor area seems pretty good (though what do I know?) Hair loss is having far to big an impact on my psyche and holding me back from starting my career, playing the sport I love and leaving home without a cap on, so I've decided to explore the transplant route.

 

From what I have understood ( please correct me if I am wrong) FUT has a higher yield and leaves donor area intact, yet linear scarring will be visible to some extent, FUE doesn't have the same yield - at least not from surgeons here in Europe which I can afford but is quicker to recover from with less noticeable scarring. mFUE provides a comparably high yield with FUT with the other benefits of FUE - a kind of panacea...yet is only performed my a few surgeons in the US.

 

So based on this, a strategy I am considering is to go for a strip session now, wait to see how my hair loss progresses and get another procedure in the future by FUE/mFUE. I have a lot of chest & beard hair, and could potentially use this to fill in the scar if it bothers me, right? Does this make sense? As always, i'd really appreciate any advice/tips you can give. Cheers.

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  • Senior Member

Gbh,

 

Pretty much nailed it. Feel free to ask any additional questions

"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.

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  • Senior Member

London,

 

I'm always available to Skype if you do have any questions or would like to go over things.

 

I'm going to be at the office Thursday. I'll go over all the images and videos you sent with Dr Feller at that time.

"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.

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  • Senior Member

Hi Blake,

 

Thanks a lot for the reply! I guess the main question I have is whether to go for a large amount of grafts for the first session if it is a strip session despite still being young, or keep it conservative. I just don't like the idea of risking bad scarring for fewer grafts :/ Also, as one of the mods here, who would you suggest looking at for FUT in europe (incl Turkey)? When do you think mFUE will take off here?

Cheers, gbh.

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Gbh..

Being your only 25 & you say your a NW 3 I would defo think about Meds prior before any HT.

What you say about doing FUT first & see how that goes then maybe FUE later seem to be the way to go for advance MPB guys but I say it again best at least try Meds if only a low dose, let it run for a while & see where your at in say 1 or 2 yrs.

 

Body hair is last stop saloon IMO & good for maybe using such for FUT scar or even fill inbetween natural hair.

 

Don't rush HT esp at such a young age....all this need to be planned out by you & a good HT Dr.

 

Best wishes.

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Gbh..

Being your only 25 & you say your a NW 3 I would defo think about Meds prior before any HT.

 

Hey, thanks for the input. Yeah I've been told that many times, however the issue for me really is that I don't trust that there won't be sides. I just wish there was an alternative to fin and I would do it, 100%

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I respect that.

maybe look into speaking with a Dr who will compound a cocktail of Meds so you can use as a topical, this seems like this is becoming common for HT Clinics to do for people who cant or wont take it due to the side effects factor.

How effective it is? ive no idea but worth looking into i guess...something better than nothing as they say.

 

last stop could be natural supplements not as efective but could help also every little helps.

 

Best wishes.

Edited by ontop
tablet keys are crap
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From what I have understood ( please correct me if I am wrong) FUT has a higher yield and leaves donor area intact, yet linear scarring will be visible to some extent, FUE doesn't have the same yield - at least not from surgeons here in Europe which I can afford but is quicker to recover from with less noticeable scarring. mFUE provides a comparably high yield with FUT with the other benefits of FUE - a kind of panacea...yet is only performed my a few surgeons in the US.

 

So based on this, a strategy I am considering is to go for a strip session now, wait to see how my hair loss progresses and get another procedure in the future by FUE/mFUE.

 

As far as we are aware MFUE is a proposed new technique in which we are

Awaiting grown out results so you cannot speak in absolutes about this technique as yet.

 

Overall it sounds like you're quite young and have plenty of time. Some of your assumptions seem a little off.

I would do lots more research if I were you with regards your options and consider waiting 1-2 years before doing anything

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Hey, thanks for the input. Yeah I've been told that many times, however the issue for me really is that I don't trust that there won't be sides. I just wish there was an alternative to fin and I would do it, 100%

 

You could use minoxidil at least, it's better than nothing if you're dead set against fin. Or as mentioned above natural supplements etc. I would be extremely cautious about undertaking a hair transplant without being on meds. If you're a NW 3/4 @ 25. I would say that's conventional wisdom and not based on any sort of divine truth that I, myself claim to know :P

 

Also, I would definitely consider giving fin a try if i were you. The sides are real but it's very easy to get a distorted sense of how frequently they occur (not very often!) and how dreadful they are (I had watery semen for a week or two and no other side effects) when you read about them online. If you experience side effects, stop, they'll go away. Best of luck! :)

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  • Senior Member
London,

 

I'm always available to Skype if you do have any questions or would like to go over things.

 

I'm going to be at the office Thursday. I'll go over all the images and videos you sent with Dr Feller at that time.

 

Thanks Blake, that's great. I'll await your response after your Thursday review.

 

dutaschart.gif

 

I think I'm going to stick to 0.5mg of Avodart a day, it doesn't seem worth all the extra cost and risk for the small possible hair count benefit of going up to 2.5 mg a day, even for only a month.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • Senior Member

Regarding this topic I'm afraid to say FUT has 3 things going against it: the Scar, The Scar ,The Scar

Oh did I mention the scar, OK that's 4, that's the bottom line ,a guy phoned me looking for a recommendation from my Doc in Turkey Dr Resat [ Longevita] I had a FUE 4200 grafts I said to him maybe he should think about going for FUT ,straight away he said no way, now this guy is a 6 foot 3 fire fighter and he just didn't want to entertain the idea of having a scar no matter how discreet at the back of his head, the word is not on the street but I reckon in 2-3 years it will be, that you can get 4200 FUE grafts for 1750 pound about 0.42 pence a graft in Turkey, in my opinion hair transplant hasn't yet permeated the

guy on the street's awareness, but it's just a matter of time.

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Regarding this topic I'm afraid to say FUT has 3 things going against it: the Scar, The Scar ,The Scar

Oh did I mention the scar, OK that's 4, that's the bottom line ,a guy phoned me looking for a recommendation from my Doc in Turkey Dr Resat [ Longevita] I had a FUE 4200 grafts I said to him maybe he should think about going for FUT ,straight away he said no way, now this guy is a 6 foot 3 fire fighter and he just didn't want to entertain the idea of having a scar no matter how discreet at the back of his head, the word is not on the street but I reckon in 2-3 years it will be, that you can get 4200 FUE grafts for 1750 pound about 0.42 pence a graft in Turkey, in my opinion hair transplant hasn't yet permeated the

guy on the street's awareness, but it's just a matter of time.

 

Seriously? If you are representing this doc you keep talking about in Turkey you should have it in your signature block.

What has someone's height and profession got to do with having a scar or not?

If someone wants strip and are better suited to that techinque then that's all that matters and same goes for fue.

Hair Transplant Dr Feller Oct 2011

 

Hair Transplant Dr Lorenzo June 2014

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If you read back through my posts you will see I have never even recommended my Doc and have advised anyone to go with a recommended Doc just for peace of mind , as I stated before I took a risk going with a relatively unknown clinic as regard me mentioning the guys profession and size yea you're right not really relevant but somehow just struck me at the time, just to say of course I'm going to mention where I had my transplant people want to know these details and would get pissed off if I omitted place price etc.

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