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Spanker-

Your hair looks terrific!! You definitely got a fantastic result, and it is great to see your experience with Dr. Konior was so great! When the rest of that hair comes in/matures....it's going to be unbelievable! :cool:

I look forward to continuing to see your progress along the way......gives us "newbies" who just had our first procedure something to look forward to seeing on ourselves in 4 months down the road!

Best,

Mike

Cargo-

In answer to your question, I am almost positive Dr. Rahal uses a motorized tool for his FUE. With that said however, his results are consistently amazing.....and his FUE work is no exception. I am actually especially impressed with his FUE technique!! I just had a strip procedure done with him, but noticed a link to some of his recent FUE sessions, and I was blown away!

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/167798-dr-rahal-fue-compilation.html

AJ-

Your result is going to look great!!!! I just had my procedure done, and I echo what you said about the recipient area numbing jabs! Holy mother of GOD did those hurt!! The funny thing is, at the end of my procedure before he drove me home, my surgeon told me that he was impressed at what a high pain threshold I had. Little did he know that it was all I could do from screaming obscenities when that first needle went in my forehead!! I bet he would have changed his mind about me if he was able to hear what I was thinking...... ;-D

Hi Multiplier-

I agree with Blake.....interesting question/plan of action! I was just curious....do you think 100 grafts is enough to make that big of a difference....in that, are you concerned what's remaining of your donor bank will limit the results you are trying to achieve? Looking at your signature would imply that you've only had about 2000 grafts to date transplanted, which would indicate to me you most likely have plenty more to play with for future transplantation. I can't imagine you'd want to pay to have transplanted hair (that you've already paid for once) relocated to a new area....especially such a small amount?! At any rate, I'm anxious to hear what you and Dr. Shapiro decide. You're in the hands of a really talented physician....as you must already know being a repeat patient and all! :-)

Best,

Mike

Looks like very clean work as always from Dr. Charles! Can't wait to see all the new growth in several months!! Thanks for sharing your photos with us!! Happy healing HurricaneDave!!

Congratulations, HurricaneDave!! I too really respect Dr. Charles both for the quality work he produces, and his active participation in these forums! You made a great choice, and I'm looking forward to seeing updates from you along the way! Here's to quick healing and great growth for your new head of hair!

Best,

Mike

Nice work Dr. Wesley!! I bet this patient was thrilled with his result, and rightfully so! He looks like a completely different person! 2500+ grafts did him very well :-)

Hi slimjim,

Congrats on your recent procedure with Dr. Alexander. Didn't notice in your post if you had strip or FUE done? I would normally assume with 2900 grafts that you had a strip procedure, however it seems FUE is seeing larger and larger sessions every day....so was very curious which route you went! Wishing you the very best on new growth to come soon!!

Cheers Buddy!!!

Hi Jeff. Welcome to the forums!! I would agree with what Shampoo and Blake said....in that you shouldn't limit your search for a great surgeon to Northern California. I just flew over 3,000 miles to get a procedure done, because the doctor is considered to be one of the best around. That can be said for many of the doctors recommended here actually. The great news is you have a ton of options, and it gives you an added excuse to take a trip to a city you've always wanted to visit! It has been my experience (if you wanted to stay only in the US) that the surgeons that consistently get the best results (to me anyway.....my opinion alone) are out East! And again.....you have 2 of the very best surgeons in Vancouver and Ottawa, Canada as well! Hasson and Wong definitely do amazing work, and if you were to want to limit the distance of your travels, they would be my first choice! Best of luck in your decision, and keep us posted along the way!

Best,

Mike

Although I opted for FUT, I also had my procedure done with Dr. Rahal just last week. I mimic what MTL30 says....you are in very good hands! =)

Congrats on your decision to take the plunge and looking forward to seeing updates on your hair restoration journey!! Hopefully the 'nervous and excited' will shift to just excited as it gets closer to your big day!! =)

Cheers!

Mike

Erica-

Do you have any photos of your hair in your current state? Also, have you had another consultation to see how much donor you have left for future procedures? Do you know how many grafts you're aiming for on your next restoration....or roughly how many you think you will need to achieve your desired outcome? Just curious?

Best,

Mike

Erica-

I think it's safe to say we are ALL here because, well...... "it's a self esteem issue"!!! Even if it doesn't seem it to you.....the members of this forum are here to help and provide support!!

Sorry to hear of your issues with finding a clinic to hear you out on a pre-authorized payment from your insurance company. I can imagine that is frustrating.

I would have to agree with the others who have already mentioned that it would be best to pay and get reimbursed. I can see how you might be reluctant in doing so if there was a question on whether or not you'd be reimbursed, but since you know that your insurance company has your back, it's a no-brainer!!! At the very least you're temporarily inconvenienced with having to front the money to the clinic. Most of us would kill to have our very expensive restorations even partially covered by the insurance companies!!

Ultimately, you have to live with the result of your transplant.....and if it were me, I'd rather be out the money initially and choose the restoration surgeon I wanted to go with right away.....than having limited options because you're holding out to (hopefully) find a doctor that will do the work and bill your insurance company directly!! Too much of a gamble, and it will ulitmately impact the size of the pool of surgeons you'll have to choose from.

Just my .02.......

Best of luck to you!

Mike

Hi MSH89,

I started mine and did them religiously for 6 weeks prior to my procedure....and I too did them for 30-45 minutes every night, instead of twice a day as seems to be recommended. My sides were definitely much looser (your description sums it up very well), and I still managed to get almost 4800 grafts in one pass!! I hope this helps, and good luck on your procedure! I'll be pulling for you on reaching a high yield!!

Best,

Mike

Congrats Icecreamman,

Your hair looks terrific....which is no surprise considering you went to Dr. Feller for your hair restoration! Enjoy the new hairline.....you're not done maturing yet, so I'm sure it's going to improve even more in the next few months! Keep us updated, although I'm sure you'll be too busy out enjoying your full head of hair! Congrats again!!!

Good luck tomorrow buddy! Get a good night sleep tonight!! Will be thinking about you and looking forward to seeing your updates on your experience as soon as you're feeling up for it!! Happy journey!! =)

Mike

I mimic what every other poster has already said here! You look terrific! Great new hair; you must be over the moon with the result!! I definitely wish I had the "wavy" hair going for me, as that certainly helped a bit with the appearance of your density I imagine!! Congrats to you and Dr. Feller for another outstanding and successful transplant. I look very forward to seeing how your hair continues to mature in the upcoming months!

I'm a huge fan of Dr. Lindsey's work, always have been! I really dig your new hairline, and at only 5 months you are going to see some really exciting things in the next 5! Looking forward to tracking this result, and congrats on your new hair! Grow well!!! :cool:

Great hairline and age-appropriate density/look! It's amazing what a significant improvement this patient experienced at the hands of Dr. Shapiro! Always a fan of SMG's work!! Thanks for posting!

Thanks Raphael!! I CAN NOT WAIT to be able to shower next weekend! I think I'm looking more forward to that than I am for the new hair to start coming in! ;-)

Hi Getsome1,

I just had my hair restoration surgery last Friday, and I too have the same concerns! It seems like on the majority of the post-op pics I've seen on these forums, that the follicle in the recent transplanted follicular unit is visible on the surface, and gives a very obvious idea of what to expect when it starts growing permanently. I too however, can only see what my new hairline will (should?) look like based on scab formation (granted I'm only 9 days post-op). I was hoping I'd see a bunch of new hair in my recipient area before it begins to shed in the next couple of weeks.

I am keeping my fingers crossed that having a visible hair follicle above my scalp at this stage is not indicative of how successful my transplant outcome will be, and that more importantly, the graft is indeed successfully transplanted where it needs to be in my scalp?! I don't understand why some patients have visible hair immediately post-op, and others like you and I don't?!

At 6 weeks, you are about half-way 'til you should start seeing some new hair sprout!! That's got to be exciting. I wouldn't worry too much about it as Buzz2 said......and he had an excellent result! Keeping my fingers crossed for both of us buddy!!

Cheers!

Mike

Another knockout result! He looks fantastic now and I'm really digging the new hairline!! Great job Dr. Shapiro as always!

That's a very natural looking result!! I bet that patient is so happy with that improvement! Nice work Dr. Alexander!!

I really like the consistent work they do at their clinic! An accolade well deserved!

Lukey-

Hey buddy! Congrats on your decision for a hair restoration in early 2013. Your hair looks great as is, but as someone else with poor image, I understand the quest for perfection. With your current state of loss, it shouldn't take much to accomplish the look you had mentioned in your thread....and your decision to go the FUE route as an actor makes absolute sense!!

Bummer that the Fin didn't act well with your body and your skin.....that's gotta be frustrating as fin is probably one of the best ways to stabilize the loss. Rogaine for me definitely only seemed to help in the crown area (understandably), but then again....my hair loss is way more advanced than yours.

It looks like you've narrowed it down to some of the most amazing and consistent surgeons, as is evident by the hundreds of testimonials and photos from this forum. Congrats on being able to feel confident that you're going to get a good result from whichever doctor you choose.

I just got my procedure from Dr. Rahal last week....so definitely way too early to share my result with you.....however, I did post a write-up of my experience with him and his clinic! I personally had an outstanding experience, and wouldn't hesitate to recommend him to others at this stage of the game! Likewise, I live in Northern Nevada here, so fairly close to you. Although I went the FUT route for my procedure (too much space to cover with FUE), hopefully I get some amazing final results that I can share with you in due time!

Anyhow, just saying "hello" here, and congrats again on deciding to take the plunge! Just out of curiosity, have you had a consultation with a hair restoration doctor before to see if you're an ideal candidate. Looks like you would be, and I imagine 25 years old is right around the age most would agree to do the procedure?! Feel free not to answer that, I was just wondering how far into the process you've made it, or if you are merely to the planning stage?!

Cheers,

Mike

Hey everyone. Today is day 8 since my procedure with Dr. Rahal. I still can't shower normally, and have my sutures in until Friday, but I wanted to snap a few photos of what my head looks like one week after surgery! Sorry for the semi-poor quality of the images....I am visiting family and only had my iPhone available to snap the shots. As you can see, (and all I can really see) there are lots of crusts and scabs and overall redness in the recipient area. This is obviously to be expected, but with the vitamin E oil and saline that I've been spraying on the grafts religiously (per post-op care instructions), I'm surprised I haven't lost any of the scabs/crusts at this point! I will post more photos in one week at just over 2 weeks post-op!

Have a great day everyone! :cool:

Mike

Hi Can't Decide!

Hope you had a fantastic Thanksgiving! Thanks again for the response and for personally emailing me and making me feel better right before I had my procedure last week. I really appreciated that!!

Yeah, the whole experience of sitting in Dr. Rahal's office just minutes before my procedure was surreal, and I definitely missed all the details of his density discussion and plan of attack. I am almost certain that there was mention that he was going for 50 cm density??? I vaguely remember seeing that written down on paper...but again, the day went by in a blur....and especially the technical jargon part of it all!! =)

The one thing I DO remember specifically is Dr. Rahal thinks I will need a second procedure to revisit a couple areas and make some final touches at some point, and I figured this would be the case. The thing that makes me feel better about it all, is he said that I had good donor characteristics and that I had plenty of grafts in my donor bank to take care of whatever else I'd need in the future. You can imagine how much better I felt after hearing this, considering I had never had an in person consultation.....I traveled all the way to Canada not knowing if I had decent density, laxity or anything else really. It was all a crapshoot, and a huge weight off my shoulders to see that I got the yield I did. Of course, I'm talking to you.....someone who got a considerable amount more grafts than I did. Your hair blog and updates are one of the main reasons I chose Dr. Rahal for my procedure, so thanks again for everything!!

Mike