My Experience with Dr. Umar

[Helmethair]

Greetings fellow hairloss sufferers,

 

This is my first post on these forums, so I'll give you a little background. I began losing my hair when I was a junior in college, and within a 2 years or so I had a nice NW6 horseshoe doo, and wore a cap everywhere to hide it. I tried shaving my head, which was in my humble opionion shockingly awful. In any case, fast forward a few years to last May (I'm was 28, just turned 29 recently).

 

I started to consider hair transplant with BHT, since I am not a candidate for anything beyond partial restoration with scalp donor supply alone; just a simple issue of too much demand and not enough supply. On top of that, I have thin hair, so one follicle doesn't go very far for me. Because I like to cut my hair short, I never seriously considered a strip procedure. With the advent of FUE, I see no reason for strip when surgical outcome alone is the basis for choosing. In any case, I was fortunate to be in contact with Heliboy (knew him from another site), one of Dr. Umar's miracle cases, and he was helpful and forthcoming in discussing his experience with Dr. Umar. Since Heliboy was in much the same position as I was, and gave glowing reviews of Dr. Umar, I decided to pay him a visit for a face to face consultation.

Dr. Umar spent the morning discussing my options with me, and he was very down to earth and practical. He did not simply make empty promises, but instead told me truthfully that I might lose even more hair (yes, the dreaded NW 7) and that if he started by giving me a "teenage" hairline, it would look pretty odd if I ended up with insufficient supply for that extent of coverage, ie from crown to full glorious dense hairline. Even though my biggest goal was to frame my face with a nice new hairline, Dr. Umar convinced me to pursue a more conservative approach, which in my opinion is a sign of a quality doctor. The first phase would be to give me light coverage in the front, with the hairline starting out high enough so as too look like a natural baldness pattern even if I had no more procedures. Next, if I decided to pursue it, I would have the crown area restored and blended into the previous work. Finally, in the last phase, provided there was adequate donor supply, we would increase the density in the front and restore a thicker, lower hairline. Again, the wisdom of this method of this method is each level of progression can stand alone and look natural.

 

On that first visit, I had 2300 SFET/FUE and ~200 SFET/BHT from my chest. SFET is Dr. Umar's name for his "Single Follicular unit Extraction & Transfer." This is the reason his donor sites heal so amazingly well, and also one reason he can artisticly restore hairlines, swirl patterns, etc. I found his procedure both for BHT and FUE to be very precise and painstaking, with extremely small wounds. I am happy to say that 6.5 months later, my initial 2,500 grafts are looking good, as are my donor sites, where there is virtually no sign of extraction.

In September I returned to Dr. Umar for the real BHT test. BHT is more tolerable in the crown area, particularly for short hairstyles. For me this is ideal, since I don't need to have really long hair anyway. Dr. Umar used the SFET/BHT technique to place ~7,900+ grafts from my legs, chest, underarm, and pubic areas into my crown. It's been roughly 10 weeks, and my donor sites look fantastic (see the photo of my chest, which has been harvested twice now). I am waiting for the grafts to grow out, and will let you know how it goes.

 

I have personally had very good experiences with Dr. Umar, and find his work to be of exacting quality. I do not feel that he is dishonest or untrustworthy in any way; he strikes me as being a genuinely good guy who cares about his patients. I'm extremely pleased with his work thus far, and quite blown away by the fact there are virtually no signs that I've had a transplant.

 

It doesn't seem like I can add multiple attachments. Guess I'll have to post again to show the whole story.

[Helmethair]

Greetings fellow hairloss sufferers,

 

This is my first post on these forums, so I'll give you a little background. I began losing my hair when I was a junior in college, and within a 2 years or so I had a nice NW6 horseshoe doo, and wore a cap everywhere to hide it. I tried shaving my head, which was in my humble opionion shockingly awful. In any case, fast forward a few years to last May (I'm was 28, just turned 29 recently).

 

I started to consider hair transplant with BHT, since I am not a candidate for anything beyond partial restoration with scalp donor supply alone; just a simple issue of too much demand and not enough supply. On top of that, I have thin hair, so one follicle doesn't go very far for me. Because I like to cut my hair short, I never seriously considered a strip procedure. With the advent of FUE, I see no reason for strip when surgical outcome alone is the basis for choosing. In any case, I was fortunate to be in contact with Heliboy (knew him from another site), one of Dr. Umar's miracle cases, and he was helpful and forthcoming in discussing his experience with Dr. Umar. Since Heliboy was in much the same position as I was, and gave glowing reviews of Dr. Umar, I decided to pay him a visit for a face to face consultation.

Dr. Umar spent the morning discussing my options with me, and he was very down to earth and practical. He did not simply make empty promises, but instead told me truthfully that I might lose even more hair (yes, the dreaded NW 7) and that if he started by giving me a "teenage" hairline, it would look pretty odd if I ended up with insufficient supply for that extent of coverage, ie from crown to full glorious dense hairline. Even though my biggest goal was to frame my face with a nice new hairline, Dr. Umar convinced me to pursue a more conservative approach, which in my opinion is a sign of a quality doctor. The first phase would be to give me light coverage in the front, with the hairline starting out high enough so as too look like a natural baldness pattern even if I had no more procedures. Next, if I decided to pursue it, I would have the crown area restored and blended into the previous work. Finally, in the last phase, provided there was adequate donor supply, we would increase the density in the front and restore a thicker, lower hairline. Again, the wisdom of this method of this method is each level of progression can stand alone and look natural.

 

On that first visit, I had 2300 SFET/FUE and ~200 SFET/BHT from my chest. SFET is Dr. Umar's name for his "Single Follicular unit Extraction & Transfer." This is the reason his donor sites heal so amazingly well, and also one reason he can artisticly restore hairlines, swirl patterns, etc. I found his procedure both for BHT and FUE to be very precise and painstaking, with extremely small wounds. I am happy to say that 6.5 months later, my initial 2,500 grafts are looking good, as are my donor sites, where there is virtually no sign of extraction.

In September I returned to Dr. Umar for the real BHT test. BHT is more tolerable in the crown area, particularly for short hairstyles. For me this is ideal, since I don't need to have really long hair anyway. Dr. Umar used the SFET/BHT technique to place ~7,900+ grafts from my legs, chest, underarm, and pubic areas into my crown. It's been roughly 10 weeks, and my donor sites look fantastic (see the photo of my chest, which has been harvested twice now). I am waiting for the grafts to grow out, and will let you know how it goes.

 

I have personally had very good experiences with Dr. Umar, and find his work to be of exacting quality. I do not feel that he is dishonest or untrustworthy in any way; he strikes me as being a genuinely good guy who cares about his patients. I'm extremely pleased with his work thus far, and quite blown away by the fact there are virtually no signs that I've had a transplant.

 

It doesn't seem like I can add multiple attachments. Guess I'll have to post again to show the whole story.

[scientist]

welcome

 

sounds like you had a good experience

 

please keep us updated with your progress

 

s

[Helmethair]

Scientist, your BHT restoration is also one of the most remarkable cases. I'll take this opportunity to try and attach another photo....this is my chest as of today, after two procedures with Dr. Umar.

[Helmethair]

And this is the current progress of the 2300 SFET/FUE + 200 SFET/BHT to the frontal area after over 6 months.

[Helmethair]

Finally, here's a view from the side...

[Heliboy]

Helmet,

I enjoyed discussing my experience with you many months ago and and anwering questions that you had. It is always very gratifying for me to know that my experience has helped another with any questions regarding BHT and what is now a very new and unknowing field to most. In general the entire field of BHT is bringing about many questions about what its role will play . I really like the descriptions of your expectations from BHT. After 1 full year now follwing my first procedure in Sept 2005 I have learned alot about BHT expecations and what it will take to meet further expectations .

 

I am VERY excited to see what your yield will be and also how far Dr Umar will further advance his S-FET methods in the next year . I cant imagine it getting any better but I thought the same thing only 1 year ago and it did. After 7900 grafts only 2 months ago - it looks like January and February will be exciting months for you. Just dont give up !!

[Heliboy]

Helmet,

Immediately after posting my comment I saw your updated pics- WOW !!! LOOKS LIKE YOU ARE NOT GOING TO NEED TO WAIT UNTIL JANUARY /FEBRUARY FOR YOUR RESULTS !!! This is very exciting.

[Gorpy]

That's lookin good helmet. I haven't seen too many body hair results. Keep us informed as to your progress.

[the B spot]

Hey Guys, not to rain on the parade here, but we are talking about BHT AGAIN!

 

AGAIN,we are talking about a MASSIVE session after a small test patch of 200 BHT.

 

Again, we have a Dr. preying on a young man who is devasted by hairloss.

 

Before I launch into any diatribe here, let me say that I SINCERELY HOPE this works out for you.

 

However, what I will not do is allow a thread concerning BHT to develop into a "over-whelmingly glowing happy dance" for a couple of Umar patients; who is not a member of our Coalition and quite honestly not highly regarded, (by me anyway).

 

I also find these posts to be a tad "convenient" as well.

Take that anyway you would like.

 

I want to know what guarantee's Umar gives after 7900 BH grafts?

 

How do you "qualify" to be a BHT patient?

 

What type of yield 30,40,50,60% etc... is guaranteed?

 

Cost?

 

Also, for those that are astounded by the "results", they are from SCALP FUE that you are looking at, NOT BHT.

The 7900 were just implanted a few months ago.

they haven't had much time to be rejected, not grow, grow then minaturize, grow sparsely etc...

 

There is NOTHING at this point that lends credence to ANY argument for BHT while SCALP DONOR STILL EXISTS.

 

That's why it is necessary to have the voice of reason in place to make sure that these type of "scientific advances" are properly dispelled.

 

Why use ANY scalp donor first? Why not just do 7900 BHT and try to cover the scalp and wait to use scalp donor?

 

Why do scalp FUE, post the results of SCALP DONOR and then laud a Dr. for BHT when YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR GOING TO LOOK LIKE?

Why would anyone in their right mind believe you?

 

Come on guys, you should be spending most of your time crossing your fingers, praying to God, and hoping that the 30,40,50 thousand you dropped was worth it.

 

Sorry Guys, have to be the voice of reason.

[John_in_NC]

Good luck and I hope it works for you. Anything is better than a completely bald head so I will not pass any judgment as long as you know the risks and are willing to still go for it. Those 2300 grafts already broke up the color and you so much better. Even if 20-30% of the BH grows be happy.

 

To some it may look stupid why we shell $20K on 5000 grafts, to others it may look stupid when another spends $50K on experimenting with BHT: everyone is affected differently from hair loss and everyone has different budgets. I would have paid even $20 a FUE graft if that was my only option.

 

 

 

To The Doc: I hate when doctors try to invent new names for the same thing: SVET is FUE so stop trying to fool people.

[scientist]

Originally posted by Helmethair:

Scientist, your BHT restoration is also one of the most remarkable cases. I'll take this opportunity to try and attach another photo....this is my chest as of today, after two procedures with Dr. Umar.

 

thanks

 

your scalp donor looks amazing

 

makes me wish i didn't get stripped

 

i'm very interested to see how your body hair grows in

 

there are very few bht megasessions covering completely bald scalp

 

results from your 1st session are very nice

 

dr Umar is clearly the most talented ht doc in north america today

 

s

[Helmethair]

To all of you who have replied, thank you for reading my post.

 

B Spot -

 

I'm going to reply to each of your comments:

 

I also find these posts to be a tad "convenient" as well.

Take that anyway you would like.

 

* That is fine, take my honest information as you see fit. The point of my post was to give those people who are considering Dr. Umar some information about my experience with FUE and BHT. If you read my post, I made no comment about the outcome of my 7,900 BHT grafts, which is yet to be determined.

 

I want to know what guarantee's Umar gives after 7900 BH grafts?

 

*Do any doctors give any guarantees? Please let me know.

 

How do you "qualify" to be a BHT patient?

 

*Basically you decide to take a risk and share it with others, hopefully so that we can all learn something.

 

What type of yield 30,40,50,60% etc... is guaranteed?

 

*Again, I have never heard of a Dr. guaranteeing anything. Every medical procedure I've ever had has carried risks that were not guaranteed.

 

Cost?

 

*Prices are listed on Dr. Umar's website.

 

Also, for those that are astounded by the "results", they are from SCALP FUE that you are looking at, NOT BHT.

The 7900 were just implanted a few months ago.

they haven't had much time to be rejected, not grow, grow then minaturize, grow sparsely etc...

 

There is NOTHING at this point that lends credence to ANY argument for BHT while SCALP DONOR STILL EXISTS.

 

*Well, when you are unlucky enough to be an NW6, the simple fact is scalp donor is not going to cut it. Look at how thin my scalp hair is already, and that's just genetics. As I said, the 7,900 BHT were placed into the crown for a reason - I do not need much length up there. The first procedure was done, as I said, to help frame my face, and the 200 BHT were a test of chest BHT, which went well for me. I can identify the chest hairs that are growing along my hairline, but I realize they are hard to distinguish in the photos. Again, I'm not advocating BHT here as much as sharing my comments on Dr. Umar.

 

That's why it is necessary to have the voice of reason in place to make sure that these type of "scientific advances" are properly dispelled.

 

*I don't think my post presents any indisputable evidence for BHT as a means of providing large scale coverage, so the scientific evidence in that regard is inconclusive. Heliboy's excellent BHT results on the other hand are anything but disputable.

 

Why use ANY scalp donor first? Why not just do 7900 BHT and try to cover the scalp and wait to use scalp donor?

 

Why do scalp FUE, post the results of SCALP DONOR and then laud a Dr. for BHT when YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT YOUR GOING TO LOOK LIKE?

Why would anyone in their right mind believe you?

 

*Why scalp FUE in the front? - I will be styling this hair more, and BHT may not be as ideal for that. If you read my post, I certainly have not lauded Dr. Umar for BHT results. I have lauded him for amazing donor site healing thus far, and good FUE results with some BHT small scale BHT results (200 grafts).

 

Come on guys, you should be spending most of your time crossing your fingers, praying to God, and hoping that the 30,40,50 thousand you dropped was worth it.

 

*My loss if it doesn't work out. At least I'm forthcoming enough to post my honest experience. Please have an open mind. Again, The intention of my post was to share my personal experience with Dr. Umar. I happen to be willing to take some risk, but I do not expect others to understand or to agree to the same risk. That's why I'm posting, to help others make a more informed decision, partly with regard to the excellent donor results obtained with the SFET techniques used by Dr. Umar.

 

Sorry Guys, have to be the voice of reason.

[the B spot]

Thanks for responding to my post in a very controlled manner, which saves everyone much aggravation.

 

I am glad you are not advocating BHT, it simply does NOT work for everyone.

 

For anyone that wishes to dispute this---Where are the innumerous SUCCESSFUL and FAILED patients?

They simply are not there.

 

This general statement in Dr. Umars "faq's" (from his website) sums up my take on Dr. Umar:

 

1. Is any test required to determine if FUE/BHT can be done on me?

 

No. All skin and hair types can be done with absolutely no need for any kind of

testing. Hair from any part of the body can be extracted intact and used

as needed.

 

That is ABSOLUTELY FALSE!

 

Just as every patient is not a candidate for strip or FUE/BHT, to generalize this is preposterous, and summons visions of paying test subjects (of which there are FEW testimonials)laid out in the name of science.

 

Now I am pretty open to listening to arguments about anything and everything, just as I am hopeful that these gentlemen realize their goals using BHT. I just want the patients that these gentlemen are hoping to "inform" to see that the evidence is OVERWHELMINGLY non-existant/negative when discussing BHT.

The fact that Dr.s such as Umar or Wolf possess a FEW postive cases, does not make BHT a real solution.

Remember: the absence of repeated success is the same as a negative evidence.

 

Last, my real issue(s) with Dr. Umar is simply that his website is a BHT sales pitch which is simply unsubstantiated at this point. Dr. Wolf (another BHT Doc) is VERY clear that BHT is only considered AFTER exhausting scalp donor.

It is NOT something that they approach by having the patient sign a waiver that notes a "risk" exists for non-growth.

 

Finally, YES, ALL TOP ETHICAL DOCTORS OFFER A GUARANTEE, PERIOD. That is why they are the best.

 

You have no proven results, just a couple of guys with enough money to cross their fingers and hope this works.

NOT a viable solution in my opinion.

 

I am glad that you agree.

 

Good Luck, and continued successful growth my friend.

[Helmethair]

B Spot,

 

Yes, I agree, being civil is the only way to have a productive debate, and I appreciate that you are explaining your position without insults.

 

BHT results are not consistent, and so it is admittedly a high risk procedure, although from what I've seen of Dr. Umar's patients, results are very good. I ask this sincerely: Are there any BHT docs that have a guarantee? I personally would rather have doctors that are willing to do BHT to give guys like me a fighting chance, even if the risk of low yield is deemed to warrant having no guarantee of results. It's just a matter of personal preference. Dr. Umar does point out the risk beforehand. I am curious about what doctors do give a guarantee on any hair tranplant results or yield, and what the fine print is.

[the B spot]

Thanks Helmet.

I have no knowledge of any BHT Doc that offers guarantees.

 

Again, best wishes!

[Danielkiwi]

hi

 

I might be waking up an old ghost here but i wonder whatever happened to this result and i have a question for B spot on his below statement

 

"Finally, YES, ALL TOP ETHICAL DOCTORS OFFER A GUARANTEE, PERIOD. That is why they are the best".

 

Does Dr. Ron shapiro offer guaranatees on his FUE procedure?

[wb280]

Daniel, i dun think any doctor will guarantee results in my humble opinion

 

There are too many factors which cannot be controlled. You imagine a HT goer in his late 60s who maybe has a few illnesses plus smoking a couple packs everyday. You get my picture Patient characteristics matter and i dun think any sensible doctor will reject any potential patient just because the results might not be as good. As long as the patient himself understand the risks, meaning the doc or consultant has made it clear that due to his own characteristics, results might be sub par and the patient agrees to undertake that risk, i see no reason why the doctor should be held responsible.

[Blake Bloxham]

DanielKiwi,

 

I think it may be more effective to send The B Spot a private message with your question regarding Dr. Shapiro. I'm just concerned he may not respond to an older thread.

[Sparky]

All doctors should be giving a guarantee, as long as the patient follows the post op instructions. Unless the patient lies about being an alcoholic and smoking 40 a day, if the patient does tell the truth and the doctor still goes ahead, its down to the doctor for operating in the first place.