Repair needed, not sure what to do next.

[jbwj2016]

I'm trying to figure out where I should go from here. Had my first transplant at 18 or 19 years old. I had an accident when I was 11 that left me with a significant scar on my scalp that always bothered me. One night I saw an infomercial for hair transplants and thought maybe they could transplant hair into the scar. I had a consultation and the Dr. and he said he could  do it. I understood nothing about hair transplants and had no idea what I was getting into. The first procedure was around 700 grafts. The doctor not only transplanted into the scar but also transplanted into the temple area's and created a new hairline to help cover the scar. The results were not good, the first person to see me with my hat off said, "God, gave you a wierd hairline." I was devastated and went back to the doctor to see what could be done. He said we just need to fill it in with more hair. I was desperate and so I did it.  I ended up doing 3 procedures with this doctor from the the age of 19-22. I honestly though it was going to be one procedure. After the third procedure grew in I finally knew it was only getting worse. I didn't know it but every procedure was making the situation worse. I was no longer concerned about the scar but now my new hairline. There were odd angled hairs, pitting, multiple hair grafts,  it looked like doll hair. I posted my story on a website and was told to go see some other doctors, to get their opinions on my situation. I went to Hasson and Wong and also Shapiro. They said it was criminal what was done to me, and all the doctors thought my best bet was to cut the entire hairline out with a resection, and then come back in and create a new hairline to cover the scar from the resection. This path terrified me. Then I was told that we could possibly use FUE to remove the hairs from the hairline. I choose the FUE route, which in retrospect was a mistake. I've been through 3 FUE procedures to remove the hairline, and just last year I had another FUT procedure to help soften and bolster the hairline. So where I'm at now. I've lost a lot of hair, a Norwood five for sure, maybe a 6 or 7. There are still hairs from the old hairline that need to be removed, still have some pitting, and multiple hair grafts that I'd like to get rid of, my crown is mostly bald, I have no more laxity, so strip procedures are done. I have some donor left if I go the FUE route, been estimated somewhere between 3,000 to 4,000 available. So what I've been thinking is I have two paths to choose from. More transplants till I use up my donor, and pray the Proscar allows me to keep what I have, or I could shave it all off, get SMP into the scar, and hope I could get comfortable with it. I've visited a few doctors and SMP practioners and I get different opinions. I'm really uncertain what to do. I get concerned that if I keep losing hair I simply wont have enough donor to keep up with the hairloss. The shaving scares me because of the strip scar, and pitting I have in hairline, that would be exposed if I shave. So I'm just trying to figure what I should do and hoping to find some feedback.   I'm working on getting some good photos.

 

[home1212]

sorry to hear about your situation, I can relate because I had a HT when I was in my early 20's in the 1990's, no idea what I was getting into other than I thought it was a solution to my fear of starting to lose hair, but it was the exact opposite, I got plugs put into my hairline which was fine for a several years until I lost more and more hair. I suffered for decades styling my hair in the most creative ways to try and conceal my hair loss, using hair sprays, gels, comb-overs, etc. I finally had enough after doing quite a bit of research and coming across this site, doing my research on new techniques, best in class doctors, etc. I finally got a few consultations with some top notch docs including Feller, Hasson, Shapiro, Konior, but settled on doing FUE with Rahal. I can't tell you how freeing it was to finally correct a problem and fear I was living with for years ... it was the best thing I could have done for myself. I hope you find a solution to your issue to, maybe Dr. Umar?? If your donor is depleted, he does some great work with body, beard grafts. Post some pics of your condition so others can give you some advice as well. Best of luck to you.

[jbwj2016]

Thank you home1212. That must be a great feeling to feel comfortable with your hair after living with a bad HT. I've been living with this for 20 years and want more than anything to be done with it. Going to see Dr. Umar in a week, hoping for a miracle.