Two transplants with Dr. Rahal. Hair thinning terribly. Patchy spots

[Mark Wolfer]

Given the itchy scalp you may want to see a dermatologist

[champybaby]

I'm just realizing I responded to a post that was more than a year old lol

[ITA]

Are you sure your scalp is healthy?  Try doing a biopsy and dermoscopy as it feels particularly itchy.

[Dr. Rahal]

Hi Mike.

Great to see you here and thanks for sharing. Definitely understand your frustrations. It's not a good feeling losing hair after a hair transplant. 

Would you be ok with us sharing information about your situation? We can explain what's going on... from a medical perspective... and what treatment options were presented to you? 

It would be helpful for those considering a hair transplant and what to expect long-term, also taking into account hair characteristic, donor availability, hair loss history, medications, etc. 

Of course any personal information will not be shared. 

Please let me know. Will also pm

[A Fue Good Men]

6 hours ago, Mark Wolfer said:

Given the itchy scalp you may want to see a dermatologist

This. I believe scalp health is underestimated.

 

do you have any redness or flaking as well?

[ITA]

20 minutes ago, Dr. Rahal said:

Hi Mike.

Great to see you here and thanks for sharing. Definitely understand your frustrations. It's not a good feeling losing hair after a hair transplant. 

Would you be ok with us sharing information about your situation? We can explain what's going on... from a medical perspective... and what treatment options were presented to you? 

It would be helpful for those considering a hair transplant and what to expect long-term, also taking into account hair characteristic, donor availability, hair loss history, medications, etc. 

Of course any personal information will not be shared. 

Please let me know. Will also pm

@Mike FlahertyHere, this is what is expected from ethical and reputable clinics, already the fact that they respond in public and not behind a silence, is already a point in favor.

[Mike Flaherty]

On 6/17/2021 at 10:54 AM, champybaby said:

I'm just realizing I responded to a post that was more than a year old lol

I do that too. lol. My initial post is well over a year old. I posted additional comments last week. 

[Mike Flaherty]

On 6/17/2021 at 1:59 PM, Dr. Rahal said:

Hi Mike.

Great to see you here and thanks for sharing. Definitely understand your frustrations. It's not a good feeling losing hair after a hair transplant. 

Would you be ok with us sharing information about your situation? We can explain what's going on... from a medical perspective... and what treatment options were presented to you? 

It would be helpful for those considering a hair transplant and what to expect long-term, also taking into account hair characteristic, donor availability, hair loss history, medications, etc. 

Of course any personal information will not be shared. 

Please let me know. Will also pm

Thank you. Yes, of course you are welcome to share this information. I also responded to your PM. 

[Mike Flaherty]

On 6/17/2021 at 2:16 PM, 5BetaReductase said:

This. I believe scalp health is underestimated.

 

do you have any redness or flaking as well?

I don't.

[Melvin- Admin]

On 6/17/2021 at 9:29 AM, Dr. Rahal said:

Hi Mike.

Great to see you here and thanks for sharing. Definitely understand your frustrations. It's not a good feeling losing hair after a hair transplant. 

Would you be ok with us sharing information about your situation? We can explain what's going on... from a medical perspective... and what treatment options were presented to you? 

It would be helpful for those considering a hair transplant and what to expect long-term, also taking into account hair characteristic, donor availability, hair loss history, medications, etc. 

Of course any personal information will not be shared. 

Please let me know. Will also pm

@Mike Flaherty

I ask that you please authorize Dr. Rahal to speak on your case. To keep our forum fair and open, it is in everyone’s best interest to discuss this openly. I don’t feel we can host a one-way discussion. Please respond to the request.

[Parasol]

2 hours ago, Mike Flaherty said:

Thank you. Yes, of course you are welcome to share this information. I also responded to your PM. 

@Melvin- Moderator I think he authorized Dr. Rahal to discuss the case in this reply above.

[Mike Flaherty]

4 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

@Mike Flaherty

I ask that you please authorize Dr. Rahal to speak on your case. To keep our forum fair and open, it is in everyone’s best interest to discuss this openly. I don’t feel we can host a one-way discussion. Please respond to the request.

Yes. I did respond and grant Dr. Rahal (who PM'd me and I will be Zooming with him I suppose in the relative near future) permission to do so long as personal details are not shared (as stated, I'm in journalism and don't want this to be the first thing people find when searching my real name).

[Melvin- Admin]

28 minutes ago, Mike Flaherty said:

Yes. I did respond and grant Dr. Rahal (who PM'd me and I will be Zooming with him I suppose in the relative near future) permission to do so long as personal details are not shared (as stated, I'm in journalism and don't want this to be the first thing people find when searching my real name).

Thank you Mike, I hope this can get resolved 🙏🏼

[mxm56]

I think dermopigmentation + some FUE grafts on the scar would fix the issue. Hard to put the blame on the clinic here. It is kind of an evidence that baldness might progress by time despite the treatmens.

[JohnRoss]

As a two time Dr Rahal patient (2006 and 2017) I can honestly say the guy has changed my life. People comment on how lucky I am to have a full head of hair: if only they saw what my hair was like in my mid-20s before I met Dr Rahal! The density that Dr Rahal achieved for me I honestly do not believe any other doctor could have achieved, anywhere in the world. Sure, not everyone heals as well for a variety of reasons. But all things being equal, I do not believe any other doctor comes close to Dr Rahal. I am just sad he will retire in a few years, before I need my third / final procedure. Dr Rahal, you are a living legend and I will be eternally thankful for what you did for me! 

[johnto]

18 minutes ago, JohnRoss said:

As a two time Dr Rahal patient (2006 and 2017) I can honestly say the guy has changed my life. People comment on how lucky I am to have a full head of hair: if only they saw what my hair was like in my mid-20s before I met Dr Rahal! The density that Dr Rahal achieved for me I honestly do not believe any other doctor could have achieved, anywhere in the world. Sure, not everyone heals as well for a variety of reasons. But all things being equal, I do not believe any other doctor comes close to Dr Rahal. I am just sad he will retire in a few years, before I need my third / final procedure. Dr Rahal, you are a living legend and I will be eternally thankful for what you did for me! 

Why do you day he is gonna retire ?? Also do you have a photo of your results? Im considering him for my fue transplant.  

Edited August 7, 2021 by johnto

[Mark Wolfer]

Your second procedure was 10 years ago, and you've only been on finasteride for 11 months as of this thread in June. I'd say your native hairs and your transplant hairs both were affected by DHT for 9 years and a month and this is why you've had more thinning.

Maybe the fin you're on now has caused a shed and it will grow back to how it was before you started on fin.

 

[Mike Flaherty]

On 8/8/2021 at 7:42 PM, Mark Wolfer said:

Your second procedure was 10 years ago, and you've only been on finasteride for 11 months as of this thread in June. I'd say your native hairs and your transplant hairs both were affected by DHT for 9 years and a month and this is why you've had more thinning.

Maybe the fin you're on now has caused a shed and it will grow back to how it was before you started on fin.

 

The second procedure was nine years ago. I've been on Fin for 15 months now and there's no doubt it has ravaged my hair. It's beginning to recede now at the temples and front where it's always been the strongest. I hope this is just a shed because when my hair is wet my scalp appears nearly 50% sparse. Gels, pastes, sprays work for ten minutes then the hair feels deflated again. My hair is in the same condition as it was right before my first transplant (maybe worse). 

In my Zoom call with Dr. Rahal there couldn't be much to diagnose as the lighting wasn't great and he recommended I fly to Ottawa to see him in person. The only thing he was certain of was that I was going to continue to lose hair, including transplanted hairs. I was advised to continue using Fin which despite what it's done to me in the past year, I intended to do. He recommended an additional 1500 grafts to address some of the more thin areas. Half of me believes that would help greatly, the other half worries it will help little. But he did feel my situation was urgent enough to see him in person. 

[Curious25]

6 minutes ago, Mike Flaherty said:

The second procedure was nine years ago. I've been on Fin for 15 months now and there's no doubt it has ravaged my hair. It's beginning to recede now at the temples and front where it's always been the strongest. I hope this is just a shed because when my hair is wet my scalp appears nearly 50% sparse. Gels, pastes, sprays work for ten minutes then the hair feels deflated again. My hair is in the same condition as it was right before my first transplant (maybe worse). 

In my Zoom call with Dr. Rahal there couldn't be much to diagnose as the lighting wasn't great and he recommended I fly to Ottawa to see him in person. The only thing he was certain of was that I was going to continue to lose hair, including transplanted hairs. I was advised to continue using Fin which despite what it's done to me in the past year, I intended to do. He recommended an additional 1500 grafts to address some of the more thin areas. Half of me believes that would help greatly, the other half worries it will help little. But he did feel my situation was urgent enough to see him in person. 

What’s it done to you in the past year ? 

[Mike Flaherty]

11 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

What’s it done to you in the past year ? 

It's thinned my crown, sides, front, center of my scalp. I only started it up again to help with some patchy spots I showed and addressed to a Rahal representative back in 2019.

 

[Curious25]

31 minutes ago, Mike Flaherty said:

It's thinned my crown, sides, front, center of my scalp. I only started it up again to help with some patchy spots I showed and addressed to a Rahal representative back in 2019.

 

So you are attributing finasteride to escalating the deterioration of your hair? 

Edited October 1, 2021 by Curious25

[Mike Flaherty]

Thinness in the left part of the scalp. If you look closer through my front thin waves you can see other bare areas. The area towards the back cown is thin as well as there's hardly anything there to bind my hair together. Would another 1500 grafts (maybe a little more) really add density? 

[Mike Flaherty]

This is what I'd LOVE to wind up with after three procedures. 

[digi23]

21 minutes ago, Mike Flaherty said:

Thinness in the left part of the scalp. If you look closer through my front thin waves you can see other bare areas. The area towards the back cown is thin as well as there's hardly anything there to bind my hair together. Would another 1500 grafts (maybe a little more) really add density? 

Its a bad quality photo, but it does not look bad at all?

To be able to answer anything we need good quality photos in good light, on all of the areas you are considering to add density in and also on your donor area/sides.

Edited October 4, 2021 by digi23

[Mike Flaherty]

16 minutes ago, digi23 said:

Its a bad quality photo, but it does not look bad at all?

To be able to answer anything we need good quality photos in good light, on all of the areas you are considering to add density in and also on your donor area/sides.

This one is probably slightly better quality as it's not zoomed.