High Neckline, Scalp Elasticity & FUT

[Jmorscha]

Hello,

 

So, I cancelled my ARTAS appointment with Dr. Leonard. I am 100% going with Dr. Rahal, but I am torn between FUT & FUE.

 

I am concerned with my scalp's elasticity and high neckline if I choose FUT. Refer to the attached photo showing my high neckline. What do you guys think? Will the FUT scar stretch my neckline even higher than it already is?

 

Also, this is the length I usually have after my haircut. Do you think my hair will conceal the scar well? I think my hair on the back of my head will conceal the scar, but I'm concerned with my sides.

 

I know that Dr. Rahal's trichophytic closures are very good...just looking for some insight.

 

Thanks!

[leftygolfer71]

Hello,

 

So, I cancelled my ARTAS appointment with Dr. Leonard. I am 100% going with Dr. Rahal, but I am torn between FUT & FUE.

 

I am concerned with my scalp's elasticity and high neckline if I choose FUT. Refer to the attached photo showing my high neckline. What do you guys think? Will the FUT scar stretch my neckline even higher than it already is?

 

Also, this is the length I usually have after my haircut. Do you think my hair will conceal the scar well? I think my hair on the back of my head will conceal the scar, but I'm concerned with my sides.

 

I know that Dr. Rahal's trichophytic closures are very good...just looking for some insight.

 

Thanks!

 

 

Take a look at my profile\posts. You and I are very close in terms of hair loss and my scar is already covered up at 7 weeks. I went to Rahal.

[esrec]

Good move. No contest between the two doctors. Curious, what motivated the change?

 

From those pics you appear to be a good candidate. I would go FUT.

[Jmorscha]

Take a look at my profile\posts. You and I are very close in terms of hair loss and my scar is already covered up at 7 weeks. I went to Rahal.

 

Wow, we have an almost identical hair loss pattern and hair characteristics. I would appreciate it if you could send me a photo of the donor area after/if you cut your hair short. My operation wouldn't be until March, so I have a few months to figure out which route to take.

 

Your post-op photo looks good. How many grafts did Dr. Rahal transplant?

 

Do you have a close-up of the scar if you don't mind?

 

BTW thanks for the response.

[Jmorscha]

Good move. No contest between the two doctors. Curious, what motivated the change?

 

From those pics you appear to be a good candidate. I would go FUT.

 

 

I'm really considering FUT because I want optimum density, but my scalp is pretty taut.

 

I changed because nobody could respond to my threads asking for firsthand feedback on Dr. Leonard. His office was only able to connect me with one patient, and that patient wasn't very helpful.

 

Also, Dr. Rahal has more documented results and he has far superior skill with the hairline

[leftygolfer71]

Wow, we have an almost identical hair loss pattern and hair characteristics. I would appreciate it if you could send me a photo of the donor area after/if you cut your hair short. My operation wouldn't be until March, so I have a few months to figure out which route to take.

 

Your post-op photo looks good. How many grafts did Dr. Rahal transplant?

 

Do you have a close-up of the scar if you don't mind?

 

BTW thanks for the response.

 

I'll try to get someone to take a closeup of the scar. I had 3700 grafts.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/181606-dr-rahal-3700-fut.html

[esrec]

I'm really considering FUT because I want optimum density, but my scalp is pretty taut.

 

I changed because nobody could respond to my threads asking for firsthand feedback on Dr. Leonard. His office was only able to connect me with one patient, and that patient wasn't very helpful.

 

Also, Dr. Rahal has more documented results and he has far superior skill with the hairline

 

Good call. Id advise you to speak with as many top docs as possible. Will only help you gain confidence to hear different perspectives and approaches.

[Sethticles]

Hey mate, I think you wouldn't be able to achieve the right look with FUE only, you hair loss looks up around NW5-6 range, thus i would think you need at least two sessions of about 3500+ per sess, over a 2 year period, may seem a long time but worth the long wait, all the best dude

Edited December 16, 2015 by Sethticles

[Jmorscha]

I'll try to get someone to take a closeup of the scar. I had 3700 grafts.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/181606-dr-rahal-3700-fut.html

 

Thanks. Dr. Rahal recommends 4,000 grafts to create my hairline and fill in toward the crown. I'll need another procedure to take care of the crown.

 

Good call. Id advise you to speak with as many top docs as possible. Will only help you gain confidence to hear different perspectives and approaches.

 

I've reached out to Bernstein, Diep, Meshkin, Mohebi.

 

Dr. Bernstein recommended 2,400 via ARTAS which seems very light and I'm not interested in ARTAS anymore.

 

Dr. Diep, my runner up, is on par with Dr. Rahal at 4,500 FUT.

 

Meshkin & Mohebi both recommended 3,000 FUT.

 

Dr. Diep offers ACell, so I need to see if Dr. Rahal does as well. I have to do more research on post-op treatments.

 

Hey mate, I think you wouldn't be able to achieve the right look with FUE only, you hair loss looks up around NW5-6 range, thus i would think you need at least two sessions of about 3500+ per sess, over a 2 year period, may seem a long time but worth the long wait, all the best dude

 

I noticed that you spaced out 4,785 grafts over 3 FUE sessions. I'm waiting for Dr. Rahal to respond with the maximum number of FUE grafts he'll do in one session. I know the most that others will do is 2,500/session.

[JON86]

For the number of grafts you are considering I would personally go fut.

I would do more research there are better fut doctors than those you list.

I have dealt with Diep and in no way would I recommend him. Google real self

and you will see how bad his after care is. I have witnessed it in person and it's

terrible. A cell has not been proven to work at all so I wouldn't let that make a difference in your decision. Don't fall for the you tube videos. The best doctors live off referrals of their work not you tube. If it looks too good to be true it usually is .

[esrec]

For the number of grafts you are considering I would personally go fut.

I would do more research there are better fut doctors than those you list.

I have dealt with Diep and in no way would I recommend him. Google real self

and you will see how bad his after care is. I have witnessed it in person and it's

terrible. A cell has not been proven to work at all so I wouldn't let that make a difference in your decision. Don't fall for the you tube videos. The best doctors live off referrals of their work not you tube. If it looks too good to be true it usually is .

 

What he said.

 

I'll refrain from endorsing any one single doctor in particular, but my best advice would be to lock yourself in a room, email H+W, Konior, Shapiro, in addition to Rahal, and drill them with your most important questions and see who has the best long term strategy for your profile and determine who you connect with the most during your consult.

 

There's plenty of great doctors, but if you want to put yourself in a no-brainer decision for FUT I think you'll hear those 4 practices come up most. Good Luck.

[Sethticles]

@Jmorscha - yeah i had originally planned for 4000 mega session, but when i had a face to face consultation with Dr Bhatti he was concerned that he may damage grafts taken 4000 out over 2 days and sadly i had to settle for 3000 and insisted on waiting for things to heal before he could remove more, hence the 10 week difference between sessions.

[Melvin- Admin]

I have a very similar hairloss pattern, I chose FUE, I got close to 4,000 grafts spaced out in two surgeries, if you're ok with a linear scar go for FUT, it's cheaper and you can move move more grafts at once, but at the sametime just cause your a high Norwood doesn't mean you can't get FUE, just means you'll need several surgeries to achieve what one FUT could, something to consider.

[Jmorscha]

What he said.

 

I'll refrain from endorsing any one single doctor in particular, but my best advice would be to lock yourself in a room, email H+W, Konior, Shapiro, in addition to Rahal, and drill them with your most important questions and see who has the best long term strategy for your profile and determine who you connect with the most during your consult.

 

There's plenty of great doctors, but if you want to put yourself in a no-brainer decision for FUT I think you'll hear those 4 practices come up most. Good Luck.

 

I contacted H&W, Shapiro, and Konior. I'll wait for those consultations before making my final decision.

[Jmorscha]

@Jmorscha - yeah i had originally planned for 4000 mega session, but when i had a face to face consultation with Dr Bhatti he was concerned that he may damage grafts taken 4000 out over 2 days and sadly i had to settle for 3000 and insisted on waiting for things to heal before he could remove more, hence the 10 week difference between sessions.

 

10 weeks...Rahal's office told me 8 months. Maybe I misheard. I would definitely consider two FUE sessions if the doctor is confident with a second operation at 10 weeks or a few months.

[Jmorscha]

I have a very similar hairloss pattern, I chose FUE, I got close to 4,000 grafts spaced out in two surgeries, if you're ok with a linear scar go for FUT, it's cheaper and you can move move more grafts at once, but at the sametime just cause your a high Norwood doesn't mean you can't get FUE, just means you'll need several surgeries to achieve what one FUT could, something to consider.

 

I really want to do FUE. How long did you wait to have the second operation?

[Sethticles]

10 weeks...Rahal's office told me 8 months. Maybe I misheard. I would definitely consider two FUE sessions if the doctor is confident with a second operation at 10 weeks or a few months.

 

not going to lie it was a risk on my own behalf, would i put my grafts through extra trauma would i cause the first transplant to fail due to new trauma,

 

i pushed ahead anyway and hoped for the best, id say 99% of everyone on this site would have said. don't do it, wait a full year and if i hadn't done it myself I would suggest otherwise

 

look the reason I did do it 10 weeks apart was I had a new job offer and with virtually no chance of getting away from the new office in the near future, i rushed ahead and got all done before i started the new job. subsequently took another 2 years before i could plan another one, which now has caused major shockloss, currently looking worse than the ugly duckling, looking back I did the best in a tight situation.

 

but in your case you will need to assess the situation and know you are a couple of years of chasing your tail with hair restoration, step by step, its a long haul a long tiring journey of "i hope i really hope" will it grow, lots and lots of post op care, lots of daily treatment... lots of meds to take.

 

an option that i am looking at in the future will SMP to add some density which might be a suitable option for you.

 

also which hasnt been mentioned here is that you have very pale skin like me, which is great for FUE if you feel you want to shave down in the future.

[Stig]

10 weeks...Rahal's office told me 8 months. Maybe I misheard. I would definitely consider two FUE sessions if the doctor is confident with a second operation at 10 weeks or a few months.

 

Definitely do not do 10 weeks, that's crazy unless the Dr is going to work on two different areas, i.e. the hairline and then the crown, although if that's the case, then surly he can do the surgery over 2 days. If you do the procedure 10 weeks apart, you risk the surgeon transecting grafts that haven't grown yet when making fresh incisions - its absolute madness.

 

If you want a mega- FUE session, I would rather go with someone like Erdogan in Turkey who routinely does 5,000 graft sessions over 2 days.

[Stig]

I would do more research there are better fut doctors than those you list.

.

 

Excuse me - who do you believe is a better FUT surgeon than Rahal?

[Melvin- Admin]

I really want to do FUE. How long did you wait to have the second operation?

 

I waited 14 months to do my second surgery, I'm planning on having my third surgery next year at approximately same amount of time, it's best to let your results mature and then plan accordingly, why do you want to do FUE? The reason why I chose FUE was because a linear scar was unacceptable as I have always worn my hair at a zero guard to 1 guard on the sides, so it would be pointless for me to have surgery and not be able to wear my hair how I wanted, in my case I would've just continued to shave my head, I never considered FUT as an option, just know that there are certain limitations to FUE, you can harvest more grafts through FUT, I think most can get 5-6K grafts via FUE, but with FUT some may get 8-10K grafts depending on skin elasticity. These are generalizations though, everything is dependent upon your own donor density.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

J,

 

With those high, thick "lateral humps" (hair on the top sides of the scalp) and thick donor, I think you should really obtain a nice transformation here.

 

For many of the reasons others have stated, I would have personally recommended FUT for you. I'm not sure what you mean by high neckline?

 

Feel free to ask additional questions. Seems like you're doing your research properly, and this should serve you well in the end.

 

Best of luck!

[Sethticles]

Definitely do not do 10 weeks, that's crazy unless the Dr is going to work on two different areas, i.e. the hairline and then the crown, although if that's the case, then surly he can do the surgery over 2 days. I.

 

2 days was the original plan and 2 different areas were indeed planted, hairline & crown followed by the mid section, lucky enough because i was at the ugly duckling phase of 10 weeks it was pretty bloody easy to see where the first session was and wasn't. would i do it again this way, simple answer is no, but i was left with little options

[Britanium]

Having had both FUT and FUE I would personally think going FUT for your first surgery would be the way to go. I believe you have more options open to you then, I maxd out on FUT and then done the same with FUE. looking at your pics I had very similer loss to you.

[Jmorscha]

I waited 14 months to do my second surgery, I'm planning on having my third surgery next year at approximately same amount of time, it's best to let your results mature and then plan accordingly, why do you want to do FUE? The reason why I chose FUE was because a linear scar was unacceptable as I have always worn my hair at a zero guard to 1 guard on the sides, so it would be pointless for me to have surgery and not be able to wear my hair how I wanted, in my case I would've just continued to shave my head, I never considered FUT as an option, just know that there are certain limitations to FUE, you can harvest more grafts through FUT, I think most can get 5-6K grafts via FUE, but with FUT some may get 8-10K grafts depending on skin elasticity. These are generalizations though, everything is dependent upon your own donor density.

 

Just like most I'm worried about how our physiology is such a huge variable during the scar's healing process. I'll be honest that most of my fear is created by the bad expereiences others post about in their threads, i.e., shock loss, scar width, etc. I know as long as I follow my surgeon's post-op instructions, stay on my meds, and other post-op advice the scar has the highest probability of ideal healing.

 

I'm thinking FUT for my hairline and front-middle, then FUE for my crown.

[Jmorscha]

J,

 

With those high, thick "lateral humps" (hair on the top sides of the scalp) and thick donor, I think you should really obtain a nice transformation here.

 

For many of the reasons others have stated, I would have personally recommended FUT for you. I'm not sure what you mean by high neckline?

 

Feel free to ask additional questions. Seems like you're doing your research properly, and this should serve you well in the end.

 

Best of luck!

 

I'm starting to lean more toward FUT for my first session.

 

By high "neckline" I mean the hairline at my neck.

 

I'll probably have those thick "lateral lumps" forever. Here's a photo I had my Dad (66 years young, haha) take today. Don't know if he is considered a NW 5A still or NW 6. Anyway, I'm sure my hair is destined to end up like his if I don't do the HT.