What to do when you get cold feet

[garet]

My doctor recommended 2,500 grafts because he will focus primarily on the hairline and front third of the scalp. The middle of the top isn't as crucial and my crown doesn't need anything. I began taking Proscar which may slow that loss down (though I'm not convinced Proscar will do anything).

 

Anyway, I'd like to know more about these "pencil thin scars". Can you please recommend a surgeon? See the attachment of these scars. They look somewhat thin too, but I'd hate to have scars like these long smiley faces on my head, even if I didn't totally shave it.

 

Garet,

 

I think you were wise to cancel for now.

 

From the looks of your photos on your blog you will need at least 4000 grafts to get acceptable coverage. You seem to be somewhere between a NW4/5 for all practical purposes.

 

Forget about FUE as that will undoubtedly leave your bank account drained as well as a significant chance of failure IMO.

 

Seek the advice of the very best strip surgeons who do megasession FUT with the trichophytic closure. Do your homework properly and by the end you'll have 2, maybe 3 names left on your list.

 

For the record I recently had a 4496 graft megasession and my overall loss was less than yours. My scar at 3.3 months is as thin as a pencil line and my girlfriend cannot even find it; and it will only improve from here.

 

Whomever told you that you would never be able to have a short haircut again going FUT may just be a doc who is not very good at the procedure -- unless you have very poor laxity, or a history of genetically induced hypertrophic scarring.

[wb280]

scar 5, point noted but the description of reckless rationalism, uncalled for. Your statement does not encompass the truth. Its only a matter of perspectives.

 

I cannot write for ES, but my point is, if he has developed the tendency to progress to a higher NW, IMHO, the donor grafts might not be enough in the long run to give him a decent coverage should he opt for FUE now. I do not want to wade into the argument of FUE vs FUT but its well documented that FUT can assure u of a greater amount of donors to be used compared to FUT. You can reject my point but i am sure to find some supporters of this statement. Again its about perspectives.

 

If perspectives are different, that presents a good case for discussion. I appreciate that you have your point of view but to call it reckless rationalism, i think it is seriously uncalled for.

[wb280]

Garet, if u are intending to buzz down to such a length, i agree that FUT might not be the way to go for u. Scar5 is rejecting ES' notion that the scar will get better down the road which i do not want to comment.

 

Anyway like i said, if u intend to have your hair buzzed down, i am afraid the scar might show. If so, consider FUE and maybe delay it first and save up some money for the time being.

[garet]

Cold feet and funding??...Well, it is hard for you to imagine this right now from where you stand now, but if you are left with bigger problems down the road, the funds mean squat. Speaking of funds and the possibility that you may do something you may regret, have you thought about a series of small FUE sessions?? I know this may not be something to satisfy you initially, but having a mindset, I will modestly and steadily improve/maintain my appearance over the next 10 years within my financial means and if I change my mind and buzz, I will have that option. FUE is not as expensive as you might think. Well respected FUE surgeons now post prices that compare favorably with the big strip clinics we see on these sites. I think this is the way to go in future - a slow and steady approach with 5 to 8 FUEs over the the rump of the balding timeline. Have you seen Steve form BHR? That approach is a winner IMO. The reputable clinic means a good chance of graft survival, not so much the scar will not bother you. Give it a thought.

 

Please tell me, who are these FUE surgeons you speak of, and where are they? Please give me a couple of names. I live in Asia now, and the best surgeons here do only FUT. Most of the doctors I spoke with will only do FUE for eyebrow transplants or scar restoration.

 

I will be in Canada next spring, and could possibly take the trip into the states if that is where the best affordable FUE doctors are.

[garet]

Garet, if u are intending to buzz down to such a length, i agree that FUT might not be the way to go for u. Scar5 is rejecting ES' notion that the scar will get better down the road which i do not want to comment.

 

Anyway like i said, if u intend to have your hair buzzed down, i am afraid the scar might show. If so, consider FUE and maybe delay it first and save up some money for the time being.

 

See these 2 scar photos I posted from the web. They look somewhat thin, but still absolutely horrendous on a shaved head. I doubt I would shave my head, but I do trim it quite close on occasion. How do your scars compare to these photos?

 

If these scars are the norm, then I'd better wait until I can afford FUE or commit to never ever getting a haircut below a level 4 guard.

 

If your hair isn't very short, I guess it would be difficult to compare with these photos though.

Edited September 1, 2010 by garet

[wb280]

Garet, u r right, i dun think i will ever buzz down to such a length if i can. In fact, if i want to buzz down, i will not be here chatting with u as i do not see the need for a HT

 

I am at 2.5 months so i cannot really comment though it seems to be recovering fairly well. Back to your question, if u consistently have short hair ( like the ones u posted ) and if the docs feel u r a good candidate for FUE, my advice is to go for FUE

[Guest donald]

thats whats giving me second thoughts about my ht when i look at those scar pics,i mean who knows how short you want your hair in the future or how thin your donor will be in old age.

[garet]

Garet, u r right, i dun think i will ever buzz down to such a length if i can. In fact, if i want to buzz down, i will not be here chatting with u as i do not see the need for a HT

 

I am at 2.5 months so i cannot really comment though it seems to be recovering fairly well. Back to your question, if u consistently have short hair ( like the ones u posted ) and if the docs feel u r a good candidate for FUE, my advice is to go for FUE

 

Right, well, I didn't say I wanted to shave my head, but I do cut it rather short sometimes. I just want to know how short I could get away with without it showing through. I guess that is the disadvantage to the strip method. Less costly, but bigger scar.

[Danielkiwi]

Please tell me, who are these FUE surgeons you speak of, and where are they? Please give me a couple of names. I live in Asia now, and the best surgeons here do only FUT. Most of the doctors I spoke with will only do FUE for eyebrow transplants or scar restoration.

 

I will be in Canada next spring, and could possibly take the trip into the states if that is where the best affordable FUE doctors are.

 

Garet

 

I kinda agree with Scar 5 right now. Also, it looks like he has been there and done that. I dont have the experience of HT surgery to claim anything but beleive that i have done enough research for the past 3 years to give my advice to you..I had booked my FUT session with a top 3 doctor on this forum and everything looked rosy. He convinced me to get on propecia for around six months prior to the surgery and so i did..In the beginning everything was fine and i also saw great improvement in my hair..but suddenly, i started developing sides and had to discontinue...That actually opened my eyes and i thought that i would be fighting a life long battle with meds, scar, continious surgery, one way prison etc..The doctor who i had consulted with never did a density check on my donor hair and he told me that they will target 2500+ grafts, start in the beginning and then go to the back depending on how many grafts they can obtain..in hindsight, i feel like a fool to commit to surgery on that response..I actually selected him based on the reputation on this forum and am not sure if this forum has this in their standard of recommending doctors. If a doctor cannot do a density check and tell you how many grafts you can precisely get, i think there is a big red flag right there!!

 

Anyways, coming back to your point, i think it is very important to have an option to throw in the towel because the future is uncertain..Nobody knows how much hair you are going to loose, if your body is willing to take finasteride all your life...I dont think all this mental suffering is worth it..FUE gives you an option and i totally recommend it!!! now the key question is to choose the correct doctor..Do your research in multiple forums and you will be able to shortlist some doctors who do good quality FUE at an affordable price...

 

For starters, I would look into Dr. Bisanga, Feriduni in Belgium and Dr. Keser in Turkey..I live in the US and would love to find a good FUE doctor who has confidence in his work, is affordable and knows what he is doing. unfortunately, my research has not yielded any doctor in the US yet but who knows!! Remember, you can also use Body hair to augment the crown area..FUE gives you a ton of options even buzzing to no.1 in the right hands and i totally recommend it!!!

[scar5]

Garet, 1. Check Steve from BHR, as I said before. NW5, 5 FUEs. Be aware he works for composite clinic and may encourage strip first, then FUE, 'if you need it' ..but follow his actions rather than his words if you get my drift. 2. For prices, do your own leg work. Sorry for the tough love here, but clinics will give (they need to, a simple business reality) different prices for different patients at different times. 3. A thin scar is as bad as a thick scar if you want to buzz down. (I don't necessarily recommend buzzing down, but I have many associates who do and proudly, whilst secretly taking meds - u know the story)

Wearing your hair is a social gambit, nothing more or less. The option to 'choose' is paramount even tough it is a superficial thing. To wb, I hope you understand when I say I mean that 'reckless rationalism' is a term I use because hair transplantation is a big deal for everyone involved and it takes guts to do it and to not do it. I have been guilty of it too. I honestly believe strip gives the grafts that go in the slit a better chance, but I think a partially balding man trying to hide a strip scar is a tragedy, and all to save a few thousand bucks( even though, say, An FUE could work out cheaper i the long run) And I respect ES's posts too.

[wb280]

Daniel kiwi, i was reading your post and let me get the facts right. You started developing sides and discontinue. However, u din mention how the HT results were. Satisfactory? Unfortunately, for those who have continuing hair loss, multiple surgeries are needed hence it feels like a one way ticket to prison.. it sucks but thats the truth. However, that does not diminish the results of a successful HT, that is if you had one as u din mention.

 

Density check? U mean the estimated donors the doc can extract from the strip? Or miniaturization test?

 

I live in Asia ( same as Garet so i m not sure abt FUE docs in US but i gathered there are quite a few... however, i prefer not to comment as i am in no position to do that!

[wb280]

scar 5, explanation noted and no hard feelings. Just wanted to clear things up as i took the 2 words literally

 

For myself, i opted for a strip as i was not a gd FUE candidate to begin with, according to a couple docs. Yes i do agree that the scar might be an issue when i continue to bald but i believe i should be able to keep my sides at least a couple cm long to cover it up. HT is a risky decision and yes, it takes lots of courage to decide and go for it. I made my choice and i can only wish for the best

 

Garet, i think this thread has presented to u many sides to FUT vs FUE. I feel, the ultimate factor is whether u r suitable for FUE. Let a few docs examine u and if they concur that indeed u r suitable, please opt for FUE Money can be earned but bad scars cannot be erased

[Danielkiwi]

Daniel kiwi, i was reading your post and let me get the facts right. You started developing sides and discontinue. However, u din mention how the HT results were. Satisfactory? Unfortunately, for those who have continuing hair loss, multiple surgeries are needed hence it feels like a one way ticket to prison.. it sucks but thats the truth. However, that does not diminish the results of a successful HT, that is if you had one as u din mention.

 

Density check? U mean the estimated donors the doc can extract from the strip? Or miniaturization test?

 

I live in Asia ( same as Garet so i m not sure abt FUE docs in US but i gathered there are quite a few... however, i prefer not to comment as i am in no position to do that!

 

i am sorry wb 280..I forgot to mention. i cancelled the surgery after i developed sides as i thought a partially bald head with a smily scar would be worse than buzzing down and balding naturally..I could have done the surgery if i did not have sides but who knows what sides you are going to get long term by blocking DHT and creating hormonal imbalances...not worth it IMHO but every bodies body responds differently..

 

With respect to density check, i meant estimated donor i could get by maximising strip surgery...the doctor never did a density check but looked at my donor hair and said that i had great laxity and density.. it turns out that my density is not that great when another doctor used the densometer for me!!! i feel blessed to have cancelled the surgery for now..i think it is extremely important to know how many stones you have before you can begin contructing a bridge..Did Dr. path do this test for you?

 

As far as FUE doctors in the US, please tell me if you know if your research can help us..I gather Dr. Feller is pretty good but $10 a graft is insane amout of money..Also, he does not seem to recommend FUE..I hear Dr. Shapiro is good too, is reasonable but a lot of his patients have not posted after pictures..i dont know what to make of that...Dr. Umar is good too but secrecy about his tools does not inspire confidence..anybody else you can think of??

Edited September 1, 2010 by Danielkiwi

[wb280]

Daniel kiwi, no worries mate Actually i thought u made a smart decision. The worst u can get is to have aggressive MPB which will thin out your sides and expose your scar down the road. I admit thats a risk but based on my family lines, we very seldom had forefathers who were balding that badly. Its either frontal recession or crown problem. The safe zone is relatively in tact. I know thats a risk but i m not suitable for FUE and it seems that Dr Pat has a good history of successful HTs with very thin looking scars so i took that next step

 

Dr Oravan, his sister cum able assistant is a very experienced consultant and she did a very thorough density check and visual miniaturization test as well. Prior to surgery, Dr Pat went thru both checks again, albeit a more precise one with the weird looking spectacles.

 

As for FUE, in fact, i asked spex to get Dr Feller to have a look at my case. I cannot comment much but i dun think he will shun FUE. Probably i am not a good case thats all As for other docs u mentioned, i din do much research except to read up their cases from time to time

[EpilepticSceptic]

Garet,

 

If you ever intend on wanting to shave your head to the skin like in those scar pics you posted, then just forget about ANY type of HT -- period ! I have seen pics of numerous FUE patients shaved like that and there were white dots everywhere and others with a swiss-cheese look. The bottom line is that this is surgery and there WILL be scarring no matter how good the doc is. If you have 2500 FUE grafts extracted and shave down to that level then chances are high you WILL be able to see the dots in the back of your head! Choose your poison -- strip or FUE.

 

Scar5,

 

When I said my scar "will only get better from here" I meant that the redness will continue to subside and should be gone completely by 6 months. I am only 3.3 months post-op; so YES, my scar will indeed look better and be less noticable than it is now in the coming months. But even as it is now is a total non-issue to me.

 

DanielKiwi,

 

How is it that you can recommend FUE to Garet when you haven't even had any type of procedure yourself yet ? You mention having the option to "throw in the towel" and to me that is basically expecting failure from the start and being OK with that. Why not just throw in the towel now and save ALOT of money and potential heartache by just not getting any type of HT and accepting baldness ? What makes you think you will still have the shaving your head to the skin option after FUE surgeries of thousands of grafts ? Because you've seen a few pictures online where it seemed somebody else (who consults for a clinic) could get away with it ? Body hair, really ? You would consider that a better option than a lush, dense URFUT HT and a thin tricho strip scar ? Have you yet seen FUE patients in person who have buzzed the back of their head to skin and have 0 noticable scarring ? And why would you not choose Dr. Feller for FUE ? Do you think he is not very good at it ? Or is it perhaps because he is honest about how limited the procedure is for somebody expecting a "lush" looking HT result ?

 

 

Sometimes I feel forums can actually do more harm than good for prospective HT patients. Garet, if you have not met with several patients in person then you have no business scheduling any type of HT. This is an absolutely CRUCIAL part of your research! After meeting some patients in person you might very well feel ALOT more comfortable about going thru with a strip surgery -- I know I sure did!

Edited September 2, 2010 by EpilepticSceptic

[Megatron]

I agree 100% w/ ES

 

garet, I don't think you're a good candidate for FUE as you need at least 3,000 grafts to get decent coverage on the front 1/3 of your scalp. I don't know how any HT veteran can think you could do w/ less.

 

IMO - FUE is optimal for guys with NW2 or less that have had stable hair loss for many, many years. in other words, I don't think a lot of people should choose FUE mainly because of the cost and lower yield which are essentially the two most important things of a HT.

Edited September 2, 2010 by Megatron

[Danielkiwi]

Garet,

 

If you ever intend on wanting to shave your head to the skin like in those scar pics you posted, then just forget about ANY type of HT -- period ! I have seen pics of numerous FUE patients shaved like that and there were white dots everywhere and others with a swiss-cheese look. The bottom line is that this is surgery and there WILL be scarring no matter how good the doc is. If you have 2500 FUE grafts extracted and shave down to that level then chances are high you WILL be able to see the dots in the back of your head! Choose your poison -- strip or FUE.

 

Scar5,

 

When I said my scar "will only get better from here" I meant that the redness will continue to subside and should be gone completely by 6 months. I am only 3.3 months post-op; so YES, my scar will indeed look better and be less noticable than it is now in the coming months. But even as it is now is a total non-issue to me.

 

DanielKiwi,

 

How is it that you can recommend FUE to Garet when you haven't even had any type of procedure yourself yet ? You mention having the option to "throw in the towel" and to me that is basically expecting failure from the start and being OK with that. Why not just throw in the towel now and save ALOT of money and potential heartache by just not getting any type of HT and accepting baldness ? What makes you think you will still have the shaving your head to the skin option after FUE surgeries of thousands of grafts ? Because you've seen a few pictures online where it seemed somebody else (who consults for a clinic) could get away with it ? Body hair, really ? You would consider that a better option than a lush, dense URFUT HT and a thin tricho strip scar ? Have you yet seen FUE patients in person who have buzzed the back of their head to skin and have 0 noticable scarring ? And why would you not choose Dr. Feller for FUE ? Do you think he is not very good at it ? Or is it perhaps because he is honest about how limited the procedure is for somebody expecting a "lush" looking HT result ?

 

 

Sometimes I feel forums can actually do more harm than good for prospective HT patients. Garet, if you have not met with several patients in person then you have no business scheduling any type of HT. This is an absolutely CRUCIAL part of your research! After meeting some patients in person you might very well feel ALOT more comfortable about going thru with a strip surgery -- I know I sure did!

 

ES, first of all i dont know what is your definition of a lush looking HT..Everybody who has done a little research knows that HT creates an illusion of hair at best!!!And what i meant with throwing in the towel is to be able to buzz to No.1 or No.2 without a smiley face on the back of your head screaming for attention. I have seen a couple of patients with a no.2 buzz after FUE with no sign of scarring at all...i have not seen anybody shaved to the skin and i think it would be realistic to see some kind of scarring. However, FUE would still give you an option of having a neat hair cut instead of having a mullet and worrying about sides dropping for the rest of your life. You seem to suggest that you have seen FUE results like a swiss cheese. Can you specify what doctor it was? I have also seen buthered up scars from numerous strip surgeries. Lets make sure we are comparing apples to apples (ie top notch doctors). Also, you seem to be lucky in not having sides with finasteride..However, what if a patient starts getting side effects after the HT is done..Sides can come anytime and the meds can also loose effectiveness...in that case, the patient might try to still take finasteride for fear of his HT looking unnatural..not a healthy way to live imho..Also, i firmly beleive in less is more philosophy for a HT and FUE certainly gives you the option of buzzing your hair. Body hair can be used to cover the crown area and when you decide to buzz your hair, who cares about so called "lush URFUT" that will still look thin under certain light conditions..if you ask any chick what looks hot between someone who has a lush looking frontal third and bald crown and someone who has a no.2 buzz allover without the "lush" feel, you will get your answer right there!! To me it is a smart decision to have an option to throw in the towel rather than enter a one way prision with a point of no return and a life time of misery.. Future hair loss is uncertain, meds could start givinig sides anytime, nobody has seen the future...trying to cross a bridge without knowing the no. planks is foolish imo....and yes everybody who is on this forum would love to shave their head and be done with it..but it is not easy at all. We need to see what is available and select the best option...as you say choose your poison..A poison which gives you an outside chance to survive is better i think???

[scar5]

To all punters out there, including the guy who started this thread, but must now wonder whether he is even relevant.

 

Here is the way I see it for this guy and others in his position and yes, it has a lot to do with strip vs FUE and yes that is an argument that drives people crazy, but still the landscape is changing and peoples perceptions are very likely to be swayed by the appeals to this or that and the urgency one feels for a quick fix. I have been there so many times.

 

1) I don't believe in the essential ' FUE candiate" stuff. However, a higher degree of baldness points to FUE more rather than less, as is often stated on the basis that strip is good for 'big jobs' and FUE is for 'small'. With FUE you have "a line of retreat", which brings us to the next point.

2) I can shave or buzz down any of the FUE'd out areas on my scalp without a problem. Lucky characteristics? Maybe? But I won't do it anyway because I have obvious strip scars, some of them are wide (and old) and some of them are textbook 'pencil' and new and ALL of them, every cm of them are obvious and scream HT. By the way, I am completely plundered, there is not a hair left in my donor I can extract.

3) If you met me 'in person' for eight to ten years after my first few strips you would have been very impressed. 11 years later, my front on view was still brilliant. I could show you a passport photo but i'm shy of boards, pics etc..and for good reason in my particular case. You would have been very impressed in 1999 (thats's 11 years later) . If you saw me in 2006, you would have been appaulled. If you see me now, you probably think Mnn, not bad. But it has been a very hard road back and I have been a pain in the ass on these boards. I apologize for all of my dramatics and BS. And it should be said I cwouldn't take propecia for the longest time. In fact I started on avodart in about 2003, had bad sides, quit, and didn't start propecia till only three years ago. So you could say, well it's all my fault. But will we all tolerate propecia and for how long?

4) Tricophytic closure is not a panacea and is not something you can predict. ANy strip scar is unpredictable.

5) I don't doubt that we have some extremely happy strip patients here who have benefited from the brilliance their respective surgeons and surgical teams

6) IMO, generally surgeons, including the good ones, especially the good ones who do both types of surgery, hate doing FUE. The ones that do it exclusively make it their brand. The others fall into two categories, they do it sometimes at a price that varies from competitive with the best strip, to ridiculous. The other kind, they hand over the extraction process to teams and often machines. They are cheaper and very competitive with strip..

 

Good luck to all growers, shavers and buzzers etc..

 

P.S> Oh, ES , I understand about the redness. yes, usually, but not always, the redness subsides, and it is whiteness that becomes the enemy eventually.

[garet]

Garet,

 

If you ever intend on wanting to shave your head to the skin like in those scar pics you posted, then just forget about ANY type of HT -- period ! I have seen pics of numerous FUE patients shaved like that and there were white dots everywhere and others with a swiss-cheese look. The bottom line is that this is surgery and there WILL be scarring no matter how good the doc is. If you have 2500 FUE grafts extracted and shave down to that level then chances are high you WILL be able to see the dots in the back of your head! Choose your poison -- strip or FUE.

 

Garet, if you have not met with several patients in person then you have no business scheduling any type of HT. This is an absolutely CRUCIAL part of your research! After meeting some patients in person you might very well feel ALOT more comfortable about going thru with a strip surgery -- I know I sure did!

 

I didn't say I would want to shave my head after having a HT. I used those photos as examples because it shows the scar one year post-op clearly. I'm more concerned that the scar would show through with just a short haircut, with the hair 1-3 cm in length. I do periodically cut my hair short and I can't seem to find a straight answer about whether the scar would show through a short haircut.

 

Meeting HT recipients in person is a good idea, but how can I find them? I can't just go to the doctors office and expect the Doc to give me his patients contact info.

[wb280]

Garet, yup ethical doctors will not show u which means its up to u to find the past patients yourself and this forum might be of help Why not u lock down on a few potential recommended docs u are comfortable with and maybe ask if a past patient is able to meet u for a drink or something like that.

 

Anyway i concur with ES. If u periodically buzz down, i am afraid the scar might show a bit and even if not, u might be self conscious.

 

Also, by this time i m sure u realized there are 2 sides to a coin with regard to benefits of FUT vs FUE. There is no gospel truth to dictate who is exactly right as there are benefits and disadvantages to both. However, i still stand firmly on my point. I do not think that 2500 grafts will give u that good a coverage given the bald area. Unless the doc feels u r suitable for FUE, which is typically smaller sessions ( note : typically ), then 100% u should go for it. However, look around my friend, there are plenty of successful FUT cases with very thin scars. I agree that if the operation is not done properly, it might leave u with a scar u will regret for life which is why we choose recommended doctors here. Under a great surgeon, u will be able to utilise more total grafts to achieve your goal However, this is just my humble opinion without inferring to anyone.

[Megatron]

...a higher degree of baldness points to FUE more rather than less, as is often stated on the basis that strip is good for 'big jobs' and FUE is for 'small'...

 

I understand where you're coming from in that w/ FUE you can always buzz. But, I disagree with your statement above because if you're going to have a HT it's got to be all or nothing. That is, if you have a HT you must commit to trying to keep all of your hair by achieving the best possible yield and using hair loss meds. Otherwise, you're doomed to a freakish looking hairstyle.

 

In other words, if you've got a lot of baldness I think you must go with the procedure that gives you the best yield. Anything less will end up looking unnatural.

[EpilepticSceptic]

D,

 

What you seem to forget about me is that I am a 5+ year HT forum veteran who has researched this subject obsessively BOTH on and off the internet; hence, my view is NOT simply the result of prejudice for one technique over the other due to a lack of an open mind. I have seen in person the results of several FUE patients from 2 different clinics that were considered to be "top notch" a long time ago, in a galaxy far away called HLH.com. I have even been flown to Greece accross the ocean and had to back out of a FREE procedure of FUE because the results I saw were utterly pathetic.

 

That said, I would like to make you aware that back in 2005 there were many posters talking like "scar5" about FUE. Posters back then would make comments like "people just haven't caught on yet", or "the strip docs are resisting it cause it's too much work", or "in 5 years FUE will be the norm and anybody with a strip scar will curse the day they chose strip over FUE".

 

So what did I do ? I WAITED 5 YEARS TO SEE WHAT WOULD HAPPEN! What happened ? HUNDREDS of hacked up, depleted donor patients who jumped in head first and are now repair patients! HUNDREDS of patients who got no growth and feel it was a big waste of money! And YES, from docs who were once considered to be "top 3" on several popular HT forums in 2005. And what else did I see ? The same top strip docs were putting out ALOT of successfully documented cases of great outcomes, with great yield and very difficult to locate linear scars -- DOCUMENTED on HD video, not just hype and talk!

 

Fue is NOT new !! Dr. Woods has been doing it for almost 20 years now I believe. Some would even argue that his approach (he still uses needles) is antiquated by today's standards. Dr. Armani, contrary to popular belief around here, is NOT a totally incompetent quack IMHO. He is the doc who has actually had hundreds, maybe thousands of "lab rats" to experiment on whereas some of these new FUE docs have done mimimal work by comparison. People just assume that it must have been bad technique by those docs and that explains the plethora of poor cases they have out there; nobody seems to wonder that maybe it was just because they worked on ALOT more patients than these new FUE docs. Armani actually does have some very successful FUE cases, but the complaints seem to outweigh them to the well-researched prospective HT patient today.

 

I am also NOT anti FUE! I think it has its' place as simply another tool in the arsenal to battle the MPB demon. To think that you must simply commit to going one way or the other shows that someone is naive and doesn't take the DEMON seriously as a worthy (and merciless!!) opponent. I have seen great strip cases get nape hair added to the hairline via FUE and the results are amazing, especially in cases where somone has coarse dark hair. It has also turned out to be great for filling in bad scars or simply areas of permanent shock loss that can occur around the strip scar. But IMO it is NOT an appropriate replacement for the volume of hair that a well executed strip surgery can give a virgin head patient today, and it is also NOT as efficient of a technique. For somone with advanced balding like Garet there is no way in hell he is going to be happy going the FUE route! He will feel like he wasted alot of money for minimal difference and ended up on the FUE treadmill of chasing more surgeries to get a halfway decent result, and all because he listened to some anonymous posters on a HT forum!

 

I myself have a bit of anger towards some of the forum members who convinced me to wait another 5 years and see where FUE would be. I say this because I feel like they made me unnecessarily paranoid about the strip scar and denied me 5 years where I could have been happier with a great HT. I realize now that ALOT of people on forums who are anti-strip are guys who got their donor wiped out in the 1990s with antiquated procedures and have bad scars, pluggy grafts, etc. They are pro FUE now because they are like victims from the past and they have a personal vendetta against the strip procedure itself. You simply MUST know the background of anonymous posters before you can take any of their advice seriously. It may very well be that they'd prefer you not to get a great HT as a virgin head today because they have no donor left and know they can't do it themself.

 

One thing is for sure: if FUE really had become the thing that so many posters on HLH beleived it would back in 2005, then I would DEFINITELY have gone that route myself. Who wouldn't have ? In 2005 they promised in 5 years the prices would come way down -- that never happened! In 2005 they said that these "top docs" would have the technique perfected and it would offer equal (or superior) efficiency and yield as strip -- that never happened.

 

So if you're making comments about a guy's hair still looking "see-thru" and thin when he had a 4000+ graft strip surgery as a NW5/6, then I think you'd just be chasing a fool's gold yourself getting FUE procedures and expecting to be satisfied. You might actually find that "throwing in the towel" is not an option due to all this new hair you have up front with the thinning hair behind as the future progresses. Ya know, that fine "chick" might be spending alot more time staring at your weird looking front third than your rear; she might be thinking "something isn't quite right up there." Yikes, time for another 10K surgery ?

 

Hmmm -- the FUE one-way treadmill !

 

 

 

 

ES, first of all i dont know what is your definition of a lush looking HT..Everybody who has done a little research knows that HT creates an illusion of hair at best!!!And what i meant with throwing in the towel is to be able to buzz to No.1 or No.2 without a smiley face on the back of your head screaming for attention. I have seen a couple of patients with a no.2 buzz after FUE with no sign of scarring at all...i have not seen anybody shaved to the skin and i think it would be realistic to see some kind of scarring. However, FUE would still give you an option of having a neat hair cut instead of having a mullet and worrying about sides dropping for the rest of your life. You seem to suggest that you have seen FUE results like a swiss cheese. Can you specify what doctor it was? I have also seen buthered up scars from numerous strip surgeries. Lets make sure we are comparing apples to apples (ie top notch doctors). Also, you seem to be lucky in not having sides with finasteride..However, what if a patient starts getting side effects after the HT is done..Sides can come anytime and the meds can also loose effectiveness...in that case, the patient might try to still take finasteride for fear of his HT looking unnatural..not a healthy way to live imho..Also, i firmly beleive in less is more philosophy for a HT and FUE certainly gives you the option of buzzing your hair. Body hair can be used to cover the crown area and when you decide to buzz your hair, who cares about so called "lush URFUT" that will still look thin under certain light conditions..if you ask any chick what looks hot between someone who has a lush looking frontal third and bald crown and someone who has a no.2 buzz allover without the "lush" feel, you will get your answer right there!! To me it is a smart decision to have an option to throw in the towel rather than enter a one way prision with a point of no return and a life time of misery.. Future hair loss is uncertain, meds could start givinig sides anytime, nobody has seen the future...trying to cross a bridge without knowing the no. planks is foolish imo....and yes everybody who is on this forum would love to shave their head and be done with it..but it is not easy at all. We need to see what is available and select the best option...as you say choose your poison..A poison which gives you an outside chance to survive is better i think???

Edited February 26, 2011 by TakingThePlunge

[feelzgood]

garet,

 

After reading this entire thread I gotta tell you that this thread motivated me to do my HT update that I just posted and it can be found here:http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/157624-my-fue-2-years-after-scars-1-buzz.html

I will never regret my HT and I'm so glad that I went with FUE blindly without me even doing proper research at that time. I was NW4+ and now I look like a guy with almost zero hairloss. If I was reading all this FUE vs. FUT stuff that I keep on reading now, I would probably go with FUT and I would never be able to buzz my head to #1. My proffered hair style was always short but for ppl that don't plan to buzz their hair I'd say FUT would be fine if not preferred option IMHO.

[wb280]

feelzgood, in a way, ignorance is bliss However normally ignorance brings disasters which was wat happened to some repair patients who fell prey to sales tactics and who did not do enough research prior to their surgery

 

I still feel its better u are armed and equipped with the knowledge of pros and cons of both restoration techniques. You are lucky that you were able to negate the NW. Many others were not.

[feelzgood]

wb,

 

In my case, the funny part is, that it was not an ignorance on my part. I started seriously researching HT forums while I was few months post-op (3 or 4 months can't remember now). My whole research was literally typing this in google search bar "Toronto hair transplant" and wolaa I was sold with first few links that showcased "great results", and the rest was history. But those waiting and reading months were sick. I was scared shitless of all the stories that I read regarding FUE all while waiting for my HT to deliver goods. All I gotta say thank God I'm not one of the unlucky ones with poor yield. sheeesh!