agenteye

Hi dbury,

Welcome to the forums!! I don't know if it's any consolation to you, but I think you have a really great head of hair....and it looks terrific on you! Your hairline really does well to frame your face and features!! I really wouldn't worry too much about it at this point, and would continue to monitor it over the next year. You MAY be experiencing a tiny bit of recession, but it is extremely minimal and nothing at all to lose any sleep over. I first started losing my hair at 25 also....only mine seemed to become a lot more advanced quickly....and I wish I would have known about the treatment options available and started on fin and Rogaine back when I could have prevented a lot of loss. I just had my first transplant a couple weeks ago (I am (was) a NW IV), and am turning 32 next week.....so again....just continue to watch your hair and then consider a regimen to halt loss if you need to later on down the line.

Although genetics seem to have a high correlation to your own future pattern of loss, there are no guarantees. If you looked at the "deciding" members of my family, I shouldn't have any hair loss. At best....I should have started seeing thinner, finer hair (but complete scalp coverage still) just after my 80th birthday....but ALAS, that didn't happen!! :rolleyes:

Anyhow, this forum is an excellent resource for information and support....and you are in good company with all of the members here!

Keep us posted as to what you decide to do.....and best of luck!

Cheers,

Mike

Maybe for FUE....but his FUT prices are very competitive/reasonable....and he'll give up to 50 grafts free!! He's a stand-up physician and his work seems to be second-to-none! (Hope I can confirm that after my grafts start growing, but alas, I'm only 2 weeks out!!!!)

I personally just had my procedure with Dr. Rahal, and have to mimic what RCWest said in that he is considered inexpensive at $4/graft and then down to $3 after 2500 grafts. Likewise, they help with travel reimbursement if you're not a local....and the entire experience and care of his clinic is top notch! It sounds like you are receiving some other really good recommendations for surgeons closer to you however, if you prefer to stay in Montreal?! I have seen several results from Dr. Simmons work, and he also produces a quality restoration. At any rate.....don't try to get the job done TOO cheap. $5,000 doesn't give you much to play with....and yet if you are a NW II or III you can probably get a lot of coverage for that amount. Option B is to wait a little longer til you save more up, and have it all done in one pass? At any rate, good luck on your transplant, and keep us all posted so we can follow your journey along the way! These forums will be a great resource for you....and you'll find a lot of support here! Welcome!!!

Best,

Mike

Wow, that is a hell of a long post there! :eek: :confused:

Unfortunately, and even with the clarification, I think it is still an absolutely crazy request, and doubt you're going to have much (if any) luck finding someone willing to participate in your experiment. Most of us who have jobs in this economy are pretty thrilled, and I don't think you're going to find too many people who are going to risk employment to be a guinea pig in a strange fetish-like request such as this!! Forget explaining our new look to our friends and family......there are bigger, more devastating issues to consider contending with here......and I'm not willing to lose my home or anything else for the sake of appealing to a minority population just for science sake!!!! Another thing to mention, comparing a man's preference of blondes and brunettes with this bizarre experiment, would ONLY make sense in a parallel universe!

With all that being said, best of luck to you in your quest for the very un-normal!

Welcome Andreas-

The shedding after starting your regimen above is very normal....and as the others here have said, you must give it some time to begin to work. At this stage, I would definitely not focus on the hair you are losing as a negative. Stressing yourself out over it is not any better for your hair....so try to be positive and know that most of us went through the same shed when we first started on the meds. The longer you use the treatments, the more improvement you will see. Things will stabilize soon for you. In answer to your question, I have never heard of Proscalpin before, however if the active ingredient is 1mg of Finasteride, then it should be the equivalent of a pill of Propecia, or a 1/4 pill of Proscar......and both are recommended treatments for battling hair loss! Keep us posted in the next few months on your progress as the meds begin to kick in!

Best,

Mike

Hi Rexel-

Welcome to the forums, and congratulations on choosing Dr. Charles for your hair restoration. I am a big fan of him and his work, and you will be thrilled when it starts growing in!! You are about 2 weeks further along than I am in your restoration.....so now we both get to wait for the "ugly duckling'' phase to end, and for the growth to begin! You'll find a huge network for support on these forums, and we appreciate you taking the time to post your experience with Dr. Charles, and I'll personally be looking forward to following your progress/journey along the way! Judging from your photos, the work looks very clean as always.....should be exciting to see the transformation it will make very soon!

Best,

Mike

Wow, excellent result.....and all at only 6 months post-op! This is going to look even better when the restoration reaches full maturity! This patient must be thrilled to see such a great improvement so early on! Nice work as always Dr. Radha!! Can't wait to see 12 month photos!

Congeestar-

Congratulations on your recent hair restoration procedure with Dr. Hasson! He is a remarkable surgeon, and you can be certain you chose one of the very best in the entire World! I was originally scheduled to have my procedure there, but unfortunately due to a scheduling conflict, I had to go an alternative route. I can mimic what you said about Joe and the rest of the Hasson and Wong staff being top notch! And top it all off that Vancouver is one of the most beautiful cities I've ever been to.....so you got an ethereal experience with your procedure to boot!! =)

Sorry about the pain with the staple removal. I had the same issues with just general sutures....but hey, the good news is we're in the clear now, and through the hardest part! Well, I guess the hardest part is waiting for the new growth, but that is coming next!

Please keep us updated on your progress along the way. 3700 grafts from Dr. Hasson should serve you really well...and can't wait to see what it looks like in 6 months to a year down the road! Do you know how many hairs you got in total for coverage? Do you have any pre-op photos so we can see what your hair looked like prior to your procedure?!

Once again, congratulations.....and thanks for sharing your experience with the great H&W!!!

Happy Growing!

Mike

I hate to mimic what everyone else here has already said, but WOW!! The post-op photos are amongst the cleanest I've seen from ANY restoration so far......and as someone else already mentioned, it looks as if the area was shaved and nothing more!! This is going to make for an incredible and drastic transformation! Will definitely be checking back here regularly to monitor updates on your progress along the way! Meanwhile, CONGRATULATIONS on your restoration.....you must be beyond ecstatic with the results at this stage of the game!! :cool:

Best wishes on your growth buddy!

Mike

Dan-

Hey buddy! Thanks for providing us with some clearer pictures from different angles. Although it appears that there COULD be something going on other than just a natural whorl, any thinning is minimal at least....and it doesn't look like you have a whole lot to worry about at this stage of the game. And then some people just have a bigger scalp-show in their natural whorl, so you may not be losing any hair here at all. I'm sure a consultation with a restoration physician will give you the answers you seek!

Just out of curiosity, are you taking any medications or tried Rogaine at all? Rogaine is specifically designed to treat the crown, and if started now can help to prevent loss, and in a lot of instances, regrow it! Just a suggestion if you're not already giving it a go.....as it worked really well for me personally!! Again, I wouldn't worry about your hair at all.....looks like you have a very full, thick head of hair.

Best,

Mike

Hi everyone-

Thanks to everyone in these forums for the support so far. Just a quick update with some photos. Just hit the 16 day mark since my restoration. I had my sutures out Friday (14 days) and took some photos of the recipient and donor area after my first "normal" shower yesterday! I haven't really shed many transplanted hairs yet, but I'm sure it's coming really soon!

The recipient area is obviously very pink still, and my scar is somewhat irritated because my GP had a difficult time removing the sutures. He said that he was somewhat unfamiliar with the closure technique used, so there was a little bit of extra tugging/pain involved until he finally figured it out!! I think I'm starting to have a bit of shock-loss also where the incision for the donor removal was....but I was expecting this would potentially happen!

Alas, nothing to do but wait and grow now!!

I'll update again at the one-month mark! Pictures at the link directly below:

Photos 15 Days Post-Op

Hope everyone has a great weekend! :cool:

Mike

I'm not entirely convinced that there would be any circumstance that would make this okay....even if Blake does get a response from the doctor?!! I mean....it's not like the patient was getting a transplant to mask the remnants of a loss due to disease or a traumatic incident.......a hairline restoration could ONLY be construed as cosmetic.....and therefore was done prematurely and without any reasonable train of thought!! Even with parental consent, the clinic should have not proceeded with this particular case! Pretty disappointing......

Hi Seni-

Welcome to the forums!! You mentioned that you need discretion for the nature of your work....but as a NW IV or V, wouldn't a hair transplant be evident once your hair starts growing in, given the dramatic transformation it will make? Maybe you meant discretion strictly speaking of the healing process of your transplant? At any rate, I imagine FUE would be a more viable solution to the results it sounds like you're trying to achieve, and within the time frame that you're looking to be out before you head back to work.

Keep us posted on what you decide to do, and best of luck to you on your hair restoration journey!

Best,

Mike

I agree with hairthere! When I first saw this post, I thought/was hoping it was a joke?! Sadly, I don't think it is......pretty odd request if you ask me!

Fighting-

I've recently seen a lot of posts from recent recipients indicating that their newly transplanted hair never shed and continued to grow. 10% of your transplanted hair probably isn't entirely uncommon, but maybe a physician or someone who knows better could chime in here? I'd personally be thrilled if 10% of my recent transplant decides to stick around indefinitely! =)

Best,

Mike

I have to agree with PupDaddy on a couple of his points! I think it is always really nice to see a well-written response from a representative of the clinic, however if it was me......well, I wouldn't be particularly pleased with the result!!! Additionally, being offered 100 "pro-bono" grafts, although a nice gesture, is pretty minuscule to achieve much by the same token.

I certainly don't want to stir the pot any, but if the above medical conditions (diabetes and thyroid disease) of the patient had the potential to inhibit the growth of the grafts to begin with....wouldn't the physician either A.) educate the patient that the grafts may grow very delayed or not completely at all or B.) try to have the patient steer clear of the procedure altogether? I may be reading the clinic's response wrong, but it sounds like the details of the patients medical background were apparent (before the procedure), during his medical history evaluation. At the very least, the patient should have been informed of the limitations that could potentially work against him and his graft progression so that he wasn't "surprised" at 7 months when his results weren't what he was hoping to achieve!! Again, because of his medical conditions......the clinic recommended one type of procedure (FUT) over another (FUE) because of safety concerns in healing time.....yet should any procedure have been done at all if the patient was potentially going to be dissatisfied with his results?

I have seen some EXCELLENT results by Dr. Keene, and I really don't agree that there was any smokescreen marketing or bait and switch techniques employed here, however I can't understand why the patient wasn't educated better about potential poor yield and or deterred altogether based on his medical history?? Again, I like the physicians work and her ethics.....so these are very innocent questions that I had, and in no way mean any disrespect!

With all of this said, it sounds like the patient is 10 months post-op now, and most likely satisfied with his results....which is great news! Add to the fact that he is only 10 months in, and he will most likely see additional improvements in the characteristics of his transplanted hair!

Here's hoping to some more growth for this fella!! It is great that Dr. Keene and him were able to come to a solution in an amiable way, and that his issues have been addressed satisfactorily!

Thanks for the background information. 9 years on Proscar is definitely a good amount of time.....however if you notice the efficacy isn't what it was, well then its just that much more important not to get too crazy with using up all your grafts just to cover your temple points!

With that said, I am not saying you shouldn't consider a transplant. I think hair restoration can definitely give people a boost in confidence and a nicer hairline, I just think you need to do some more research and get the advice of some others on here. I just wanted to chime in and let you know that if it were me, I would stay conservative. Additionally if it were me and I were in your shoes, I would also seek a couple additional consultations with some of the other surgeons in your area. Getting more than the two consultations you've already had is a great idea anyway........

=)

HiJohnJohnB-

First off, welcome to the forums! They are a valuable resource for advice and knowledge!

It's really tough to say, but it seems to me that 2200 grafts is A LOT to put into such a small area of recession. Not to say that it couldn't be done safely by a skilled surgeon, but it just seems like a huge waste of your (limited) donor area. At 26 years old, you are still very young...so you want to plan for having some donor hair preserved in case you recede excessively later on. Likewise, you mentioned that Propecia stopped most of your recession? Is it safe to say you are still on Propecia, and if so, how long have you been taking it in total?? I tend to like the second doctors recommendation for a plan of attack with a more conservative graft count.....and not because I think that shock loss is a huge cause of concern in the right hands.....I just think you should start slow, as you have a really nice head of hair as it is!

Just my .02......

Keep us posted on your final decision!

Best,

Mike

Big improvement here!

Johnny-

Great hairline design...really suits your facial features. Now, just needs some density as the transplanted grafts mature more over the course of the next 7+ months! 4000 grafts is a HUGE amount for FUE in one session.....I didn't know that physicians were performing procedures that large.

From what I can tell though, the result looks really promising. I would love to see what your hair looked like before your restoration, just for a side-by-side comparison!

Congrats again,

Mike

Welcome to the forums Naltima! Whichever one of those two physicians you decide to choose for your restoration, you will be in excellent hands! I think you are making a very wise decision to put off a transplant for a couple years....and agree with you when you say there will be more advancements in the industry by that time. Even waiting just 3 years will sometimes give you the extra time you need to monitor changes in your hair and determine if there is any progression in your loss! Are you on any meds/treatment regimens currently? Have you noticed any major changes in your hair characteristics the past few years, or has your hair looked the same for a while now?

Cheers!

Mike

I absolutely understand your concerns Cargo.....and if I were going to go the FUE route, I'd much prefer a manual punch! With that said, FUT in my opinion, is still the gold standard for excellent results in a hair restoration procedure. For me, it was certainly the best option! Most people who go to a reputable surgeon, will have a near invisible scar.....and can still wear their hair very short!! I am perfectly satisfied with my decision to have gone this route! Keep me posted, and let me know whether you flip to FUE or flop to FUT!! :-)

Best,

Mike

Wow, 2739 grafts did wonders for him! Looks really natural, and that hairline really suits his features/characteristics! Hats off (pardon the pun) to Dr. Mohmand for this nice transformation!! I bet this patient is beyond thrilled with his result! :cool:

Just out of curiosity, how long after the procedure were these post-op photos taken? Just trying to gauge how long the transplants matured to produce these final results?!

Best,

Mike

Welcome Daniel! As Ireland said, you are in the right place for advice and support.....and you are ahead of the game in identifying and taking action to slow/halt the loss of your hair any further at only 20 years old. As the gentleman before me have said, meeting with a doctor who can potentially recommend finasteride and minoxidil now will be tremendously helpful in minimizing the impact of your hair loss. I am about to turn 32, and wish I would have known about the medications available to help treat alopecia when I was your age! I lost too much of my hair already before I ever started a treatment regimen, so unfortunately I had to go as far as having a hair restoration to get some of what I lost back!

Anyhow, welcome again. This forum is a great source of support, or to get opinions/advice as you have concerns or questions along the way!

Best,

Mike

This looks like another excellent case by Dr. Radha. That scar is ultra fine....and really impressive work! I bet there is virtually zero trace of an FUT procedure once that heals and fades! Congratulations on your stellar restoration!!!