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Grafts and Surgeon Choice?


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  • Regular Member

I am a 30 year old female who has been dealing with gradual hairloss since approx 2008.

 

I have not yet seen any before/afters in regards to this type of hairloss, only full front where they are repairing hair lines in women. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

I am setting consults with surgeons at this point and will be completing necessary bloodwork, labs, physical as well. So far I have emailed for consults with Dr Konior and Dr Shapiro - I know they are both top of the line but are they good for these types? I originally received an email back from Dr Nadimi at Konior's office but was unfamiliar with her and couldn't find info on the web.

 

Also, does anyone have a rough estimate on what I am looking at as far as grafts or even if this is surgically fixable?

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  • Senior Member

Both outstanding Doctors. I don't know Dr Nadimi but Konior wouldn't let her practice in his office if she wasn't top drawer.

 

I have to disagree that this is traction alopecia. To me it looks like classic female patterned loss on the Ludwig scale. As far as numbers of grafts go I think you could get a very nice improvement for ~2000.

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

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  • Regular Member
Both outstanding Doctors. I don't know Dr Nadimi but Konior wouldn't let her practice in his office if she wasn't top drawer.

 

I have to disagree that this is traction alopecia. To me it looks like classic female patterned loss on the Ludwig scale. As far as numbers of grafts go I think you could get a very nice improvement for ~2000.

 

You actually posted this right as I was getting ready to try and edit mine. I just now stumbled upon a picture of my aunt I haven't seen in years and she has the exact same thin/bald spot. So apparently this is something that is running my family (lets hope it skips my daughter, for her sake).

 

I finally broke down bawling over it last weekend though after YEARS of covering it with keratin fibers and showed it to my mom... mind you nobody had ever seen my head like this before as I did such a good job covering it up. She immediately offered to pay the money for the surgery if I am a candidate. Now I cross my fingers that I can get an appt with Dr K.

 

2,000 grafts is much lower than I was expecting and would be great! I really hope I can get this fixed... I see how much misery the guys on the boards here go through with these kinds of situations, let me tell you being a girl going through it is even worse. :(

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  • Senior Member

You hit the nail on the head and it can be worse for women like yourself because you're not expected to bald or thin noticeably so early in life.

 

Provided the hair on the back of your head is stong then there shouldn't be any problem fixing it.

 

I say 2000 might be enough because the way women wear hair is much more forgiving for conservative graft amounts, e.g. growing hair long and sweeping it to the side etc. Also, it pays to be a bit conservative in case you need to return years later for another transplant.

 

You actually posted this right as I was getting ready to try and edit mine. I just now stumbled upon a picture of my aunt I haven't seen in years and she has the exact same thin/bald spot. So apparently this is something that is running my family (lets hope it skips my daughter, for her sake).

 

I finally broke down bawling over it last weekend though after YEARS of covering it with keratin fibers and showed it to my mom... mind you nobody had ever seen my head like this before as I did such a good job covering it up. She immediately offered to pay the money for the surgery if I am a candidate. Now I cross my fingers that I can get an appt with Dr K.

 

2,000 grafts is much lower than I was expecting and would be great! I really hope I can get this fixed... I see how much misery the guys on the boards here go through with these kinds of situations, let me tell you being a girl going through it is even worse. :(

4,312 FUT grafts (7,676 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2013

1,145 FUE grafts (3,152 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - August 2018

763 FUE grafts (2,094 hairs) with Ray Konior, MD - January 2020

Proscar 1.25mg every 3rd day

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  • Regular Member

I am assuming you had a good experience with him as a surgeon as well? I have been through about 4 forums reading all the experiences I can find on him and can't find anyone with complaints so that makes me feel good, and him being less than 3 hours away helps as well!

 

Any idea what his wait time usually is?

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  • Regular Member

 

I may look into him as well, thank you! I am not going to take graft estimates to heart I just wanted to see a ball park number. The hair on the rest of my head is EXTREMELY thick which makes this even worse, everyone is constantly commenting on how beautifuly my long thick hair is and they have no idea what I'm dealing with. I actually have to get it thinned every 6 months or so or I get bad headaches from the weight... but of course the hair I lose is right front and center, ugh.

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  • Senior Member

JP,

 

The loss appears to be confined in the frontal core verses it being in the traditional Ludwig diffused pattern. IMHO, that equates into more potential to fill in that area and have a pretty nice result.

 

Because of the wide hair color to scalp contrast, it may take several passes (procedures) to get the density to the level you will be happy with.

 

I also think that roughly 1500- 2000 grafts would be a good number to start with and I think many of the docs you would consult with would tell you the same.

 

But get multiple opinions, and ask for examples of women that they have already done procedures on that have similar hair characteristics as yourself and similar pattern of loss.

 

Best wishes to you in getting some resolve...:)

Gillenator

Independent Patient Advocate

I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk.

Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY

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Okay I have scheduled a consult with Konior for June 12th... like I said his partner/apprentice there was available within 2 weeks but I have not been able to find any of her work on the internet and would prefer someone with more real life reviews.

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There are three interpretations for the "thick hair" reference. Either A: You have large diameter hair shafts, as HLS2015 assumes, or B: you have high density or 😄 both.

 

I agree with Gillenator in that your loss appears to be isolated to the frontal region which indicates a male pattern of hair loss, which does occur in women from time to time, so this means that you could potentially have a strong donor supply. You would ultimately be better off with strip in the long run as some have said but be sure you isolate (if possible) the cause of your loss before you proceed. Also looking into PRP and ACell treatments to help augment any surgical procedures you may undergo.

Online representative for Dr. Bernard Arocha

 

Learn more about Hair Transplants in Texas!

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  • Senior Member

You made a wise choice contacting Dr. Konior, he's one of only a handful of surgeons I'd trust with my head.

Hair loss patient and transplant veteran. Once a Norwood 3A.

Received 2,700 grafts with coalition doctor on 8/13/2010

Received 2,380 grafts with Dr. Steven Gabel on 9/30/2011

Received 1,820 grafts with Dr. Steven Gabel on 7/28/2016

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  • Senior Member

Just curious but have you ever tried any of the hairloss medications? Women seem to respond better to them to they could make a good combination with the surgery to provide an even more full result.

Spiro and regaine could probably give some density back and reduce the amount of grafts needed if its actually androgenic alopecia.

If you have a 3 month waiting time just for a consult, it couldn't hurt to try.

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Okay I have scheduled a consult with Konior for June 12th... like I said his partner/apprentice there was available within 2 weeks but I have not been able to find any of her work on the internet and would prefer someone with more real life reviews.

 

If you're not comfortable with Nadimi, definitely consider Shapiro. You seem to have fairly thick hair and a confined balding pattern, so aesthetically it may look very good. The concern is how the balding pattern will develop over the rest of the hair, but you only live once...

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I have not tried any medications at this point. It is something I literally hid from everyone until recently. My general dr has no experience with any of this and at this point I felt it was safer to wait, go to the consult with Dr K, and then see what he says... he very well may recommend I start a medication or shampoo before the surgery to see how it is effecting me.

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  • Senior Member
Okay I have scheduled a consult with Konior for June 12th... like I said his partner/apprentice there was available within 2 weeks but I have not been able to find any of her work on the internet and would prefer someone with more real life reviews.

 

It certainly cannot hurt to get more opinions from surgeons who do have some concrete examples of other women they have worked on.

Gillenator

Independent Patient Advocate

I am not a physician and not employed by any doctor/clinic. My opinions are not medical advice, but are my own views which you read at your own risk.

Supporting Physicians: Dr. Robert Dorin: The Hairloss Doctors in New York, NY

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  • 2 months later...
  • Regular Member

I had my consultation with Dr. Konior and Dr. Nadimi on Monday morning (Dr. Nadimi was present for part of it but I never got to see her since she was only there during the biopsies).

 

Dr. K said he could not make any good guesses on what is going on by the visual appearance of my hair, since it is an atypical pattern. His only thought was frontal fibrosing alopecia. He did say the hair looked great, very strong and thick, my scalp looked healthy (including the bald spot), and I believe he said he saw some miniaturization of hair (which I do not know a lot about). However I have a lot of shedding going on for unknown reasons yet.

 

Two biopsies were taken, one from the core of the problem area, the other from a control area on the edge in a "healthier" area of hair. Biopsies were sent to Dr Troy in Wisconsin and now I not so patiently wait for the results.

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  • Senior Member
I am a 30 year old female who has been dealing with gradual hairloss since approx 2008.

 

I have not yet seen any before/afters in regards to this type of hairloss, only full front where they are repairing hair lines in women. Can anyone point me in the right direction?

 

I am setting consults with surgeons at this point and will be completing necessary bloodwork, labs, physical as well. So far I have emailed for consults with Dr Konior and Dr Shapiro - I know they are both top of the line but are they good for these types? I originally received an email back from Dr Nadimi at Konior's office but was unfamiliar with her and couldn't find info on the web.

 

Also, does anyone have a rough estimate on what I am looking at as far as grafts or even if this is surgically fixable?

 

Is that the entire list of doctors being considered for female hairline work?

My opinions are my own. I am one representative of MyWHTC Clinic's European branch.

 

Consultation Dates & Cities for Dr. Patrick Mwamba

London, United Kingdom - Available (Sat.)

Zurich, Switzerland - Available (Saturday)

Bologna, Italy - Available (Saturday)

Brussles, Belgium - Available (Sun.-Sat.) *No Fee*

Dr. Patrick Mwamba is a member of the Coalition of Independent Hair Restoration Physicians

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