Did HT at 19. Some concerns.

[Babester]

As the topic said. I had some entries, but not too deep. My hairline had receded some. I was not the typical image of baldness, but I was seeing some beginnings. When I went in for HT, I already had 6 months of taking Propecia.

 

Here are some concerns I think I didn't think through. I never went to an endocrinologist or dermatologist before considering HT. My hands tremble, and my family has a history of thyroid problems on my mother's side. So I didn't know if my hair loss was typical alopecia or hormones going loose.

 

Here's the thing: I used to have straight, shiny hair. Over the years in high school, it started getting wavy, and at the age of 20 I have a mix of curly and wavy hair now. My texture completely changed. My natural hair, however, is still very soft and smooth.

 

So I paid $5500 for 1500 drafts. They were supposed to do lateral entries, fill in the frontal part of my head to take out some transparencies (mild), and they lowered my hairline.

 

The surgery appeared fine when I went out of the room. I looked exactly like the videos in this site.

 

The doctor I went to is called Carlos Spera, and he has 2-3 trained women (the primary one supposedly trained decade+ already, bragged about being up to date and taking trips up to even Vegas for conventions).

 

2 of these trained ladies did my transplants. Since I'm prone to chatting, I asked when they mentioned that the drafts that would go on me would be 1-2 hairs. I asked why not 4 or whatever the max was. They said that the hair per draft was intended to make it look natural. Hmmm, weird for me, I thought we wanted density in a hairline, but whatever, they were the professionals.

 

Before surgery, I could not take anything at all for 2 weeks prior. Before the day of the surgery, I had to use some surgical shampoo they gave me.

 

After the surgery, the day after THEY were to bring me in and wash me. They did. They told me that I could not wash my had with anything but baby shampoo, nothing else, for a month or two. I should not use a shower, but a pouring cup instead and be very gentle for at least the first 2 weeks.

 

Being obsessive over my hair, I followed all advice very carefully. In recuperation, I took Propecia without fail, and I drank my vitamins for hair. After the requisite months of baby shampoo, I started using Nioxin products for my hair. I did not use any products in the 3rd month and onwards that are not leave-in conditioners. Any stronger haircare products were not used.

 

I have worn a hat for these past 12 months whenever I was to go out. I still dislike the transparency.

 

I did my surgery on August the 26, 2009. It is now July 27 and I have concerns.

 

For one, I do not see the coverage I saw in a completely bald man after he did 2000 drafts (only 500 more drafts than me, and my baldness was NOWHERE NEAR close to his degree). I fear that a large part of my implants still has not grown, because the line they did so meticulously simply hasn't defined with growth yet. There are some parts here and there, but the separation of implants thus far leaves way too much transparency. The density to have a non-transparent hairline (at least where they did the surgery; my previous hairline point is just fine; it's the parts where they did the implants that remain transparent).

 

So, I see quite some degree of separation between each hair that has grown which will not be sufficient for a natural look if compared to my natural distance between hairs. I'm afraid that nearing the 12 months, my implants have not grown completely.

 

I saw them in April, and they told me to come back in August, that I still had some time before quite a bunch of my implants would grow. I read in the internet that months 8-10 were the periods of largest growth; I saw no such large growth compared to how I looked in April, and nearing August I still see no such improvement.

 

On top of that, the hair that is growing on my side entries has come out with a completely different texture. It is coarse and kinky, while my natural hair is soft. The hairs that grow on the frontal part and hair line that they did are growing fine like my natural hair. I have read that the texture change is temporary, and I truly hope that this kinky hair goes away at some point.

 

So my question is the following: Can hair transplants sometimes take 14 months or more? Does the hair thicken? (some of the hair that has grown is a bit thicker, but some of the new hair growing is very, very thin). Are texture changes temporary?

 

This doctor and his clinic even appeared on TV. They are always packed in their offices, so they have some base of popularity. I'm just scared to death that my transplants might have gone wrong and not all of them will grow completely, and the texture changes scare me.

 

I'm pondering of at least visiting 2 other hair transplant surgeons and asking for a written opinion, in case my worst fears are confirmed and I have to confront my surgeon for a full refund.

 

I'm just praying that my results will take some time, as I have always naturally have experienced slow hair growth (even before baldness). I would be incredibly scared if I ended with something another surgeon couldn't repair.

 

Here is Dr. Carlos Spera's site, by the way:

 

http://www.carlosspera.com/micr.htm

 

P.S. I'm in Miami, FL.

 

P.S.S. I'll try taking some pics and presenting before pics. Just will take me time digging through pictures for my "before" results.

[thanatopsis_awry]

Hmmm....well, 1 hair grafts should predominantly, if not exclusively be used in your hairline, at least the most exterior part of your hairline. So, that's a good thing.

 

Being 12months out, your biggest changes will realistically be a softening, or maturation of your transplanted hairs in the next few months. Hopefully, they will soften some. I'd be surprised if you experience any more growth, and you shouldn't expect continual thickening, either.

 

I can't say I'm too thrilled by the guy's website, but it doesn't sound like you had no-growth, nor did you get a super-bad hairline. If you're dissatisfied with your result you should easily be able to get it fixed with an *elite* doc....and/or try to get a refund from Spera if you get evaluated and it's determined that they botched your growth. Don't be surprised if you have to jump through hoops, though, nor that you'll even get a true refund.

 

Sorry to hear you aren't too happy to date, with the density and naturalness; never a good thing, but being so young, if you take on the road of HTs you really deserve only the best the entire journey.

[Babester]

Thanks for the reply. And I'm fearing that end result.

 

What I do know is that I will get a refund or cost them the refund either through bad publicity and standing outside the clinic to talk to prospective patients, up to going to a claims court.

 

This surgery cost me an arm and a leg, and I can't afford to end up throwing that money into a failed surgery. I'll definitely need a refund if I plan to seek repair within the year.

 

It's just that I don't see the amount of hair grafts grown that I saw implanted after surgery, especially on the lateral sides. And when I do a side-comb, the transparency on the less bent hairs shows and my scalp is visible.

 

I have hair long 4 fingers deep after my shoulders. My hair is naturally thin, but I have a rather large amount of it, which gives me a lot of volume on the non-bald parts.

 

I only saw 2 doctors in this site recommended in Florida. I would appreciate a list of any elite doctors in Miami, FL (or near; I'm willing to travel 1-2 hours if need be) greatly.

 

My plan thus far is to collect opinions on the work and the texture of the lateral hairs, plus saving some videos and pictures of people who had surgery with close to my number of drafts, in order to confront them with the impression that I can't be fooled.

[splitting hairs]

Hi, so it sounds like your transplant is OK, with the exception of the kink in your transplanted hair. If that's the case, I'd like tp draw your attention to this thread: http://hair-restoration-info.c...021021073#6021021073

[Babester]

Originally posted by Phil_Harmonic:

Originally posted by Babester:

Here are some concerns I think I didn't think through. I never went to an endocrinologist or dermatologist before considering HT. My hands tremble, and my family has a history of thyroid problems on my mother's side. So I didn't know if my hair loss was typical alopecia or hormones going loose.

 

 

The big red flag here is your possible THYROID CONDITION.

 

Have you since dealt with this possible thyroid condition yet? I would get that out of the way before proceeding any further with hair transplants. Maybe this thyroid thing is slowing the healing and growth process.

 

If after you've taken care of that issue and the transplanted hair still doesn't come in, take a few *years* off from transplants and do some research. I would definitely consider another doctor, as this one should have known better than to operate on a 19 year old.

 

No insurance, so I've had to save as of late to visit an endocrinologist.

 

I went to a dermatologist in June, they made me wait 3 hours to get in, 30 more mins before someone got in the room, saw me for 5 mins (3 people dressed like nurses), refused to even comment on the surgery or inject my head due to the implants, and wanted to charge me on top of $150 consult for anything not related to my hair questions (the texture changes which they didn't even bother to transfer).

 

Part of the issue here is trying to find doctors that give a damn to examine you thoroughly instead of not even touching you and carting you off as soon as possible so they can squeeze the most money out of people and get out by noon if they're able.

 

So, yeah, even if I get a refund, I will certainly go see an endocrinologist before considering another procedure.

 

Originally posted by splitting hairs:

Hi, so it sounds like your transplant is OK, with the exception of the kink in your transplanted hair. If that's the case, I'd like tp draw your attention to this thread: http://hair-restoration-info.c...021021073#6021021073

 

Well, that's what I'm actually trying to figure out, if my transplant went OK. Because I have heavy suspicions it didn't, given the texture changes and not all of the implants having grown (after surgery I had a perfect hairline implanted; currently it's rather incomplete).