thanatopsis_awry

I can't imagine they would have forgotten to try to put grafts into that are; like Bill said, some immediate post-op photos would help clarify that. I would have to think you are either experiencing poor yield in that area, or are a very slow grower in that area. Hopefully it is the latter, and this will show itself in the next several months.

I've read, and seen, impressive work regarding Siporin the past couple of months; I beleive several surgical reports, as well as pics, are floating around the primary pages of this site. If you can't pinpoint them readily, run a quick search, I am sure you will find some good stuff -- email the thread starters, as well, if you can't get in touch wih them otherwise.

Congrats, must feel good to have lost your "hairline virginity"... Grow well, and like Balody referenced, hopefully we both end up coming into full bloom in record time!

Assuming both scenarios are taken as absolutes, and my fate is to be immutable in both, I would still insta-pick option "A". Wouldn't hesitate, either; though, if you substituted "obese" for "ordinary", I would have to give it serious, serious thought. Thankfully, I suppose, we have almost total control over our lives w/ regard to option A, and a good deal of control over option B.

Regarding Mwamba: it looks to me like he is asserting there to be a good deal of deception and lies surrounding him, and that he was operating under the notion that he was a Dr. when in fact he really wasn't.

Man, that is so insensitive that she would say those things to you....what balls. The axiom: men focus on 'looks', women focus on 'personality' is fraudulent as far as I'm concerned, and there is roughly equivolent emphasis placed on looks/personality by both sexes. And that emphasis is skewed towards the former. If anything, I do think women are more infatuated by aesthetics and place a greater emphasis on a "cool" appearance. Women are obsessed by image -- just take a gander at the popular magazines that are devoured and internalized. This isn't to say men aren't as well, and the gap has closed in recent years, but I don't beleive it to be as extreme. The notion of confidence -- I think it is important for us as individuals, insofar as it allows us to display our true colors. But confidence must be backed up -- backed up and tied to, in our case, by "hair" (i.e. image). You really need both in my experience, and if either is severely lacking you are at a major disadvantage. This is all a generalization, of course, and you can find plenty of individuals to contradict the norm. At the end of the day, finding the right person is a bit of lottery, and the greater your confidence and the greater your image, the more balls you have in the proverbial lotto machine.

You can lift. However, you run the risk of "stretching" your scar; the longer you wait to exercise, combined with how strenuous the exercise is on your donor, help determine what your scar ends up looking like. Different people give different answers for the specifics; you just gotta be cautious and pay close attention to any feelings of strain/stress in your donor. Exercises with your chin tucked are notorious, e.g., for being bad.

Difficult to say without seeing pictures; I would definitely post some if you can. It sounds like it might be scabbing. Washing the recipient area, as per your doctors instructions can usually help this. What did your doctor tell you? Also, which doctor did you go to?

FUE is less invasive, as there is no excision of a "strip", and while there is scarring, in the right hands it should be much less cosmetically significent; yield is generally weaker than strip, especially on larger sessions (e.g. some docs won't do a session well above 1k of FUE because they feel the yield is just too low to be worth it) though it can still be good in the right hands and done on the right person; it is much more labor intensive on the doctor, and time consuming. As such, it is much more expensive, so if your budget is 5k, perhaps it really isn't that viable for you, unless you got a super low # of grafts. The number of practicing FUE experts is also much less than FUT so your choices are more limited, but there are still some great FUE docs out there. You really need to consult with a couple of top-notch practices, above all else; do them online, if need be. They will actually be seeing where your hair is at, and can give you an opinion of the highest caliber. It is a bit futile to speculate and provide you with concrete advice as to whether you should "test out" the procedure with a super small session w/o knowing what your hair really looks like, and not having that piece of information to make a truly objective and informed opinion.

I took it when Rambler said: "Bill, yes of course I would allow that", he was giving that consent. (?)

I agree that some of *this* wave of patients will die down; though, I think a major factor of the extreme graft quotages will be that it serve as a pretty convincing mask for any weak yield. Let's hope that's not true, however, and that the proverbial proof in the pudding will be made transparent.

Many people travel across -- or out -- of the country to get to a bonefied HT expert. This isn't to say you have to, or even if you should, but just to exhibit how vital many people have found it to travel to find the right doc. **Many of these people, from my experience, are often "repair" patients, as well; that is, they got hosed by a poor doc the first go around. You will be hard pressed to find anyone on any open forum that will advise you to go with Bosley, or Hair Club. The standards at both places are horribly erratic, and pretty horrible on average. They are referred to as "hair mills" for good reason -- they operate primarily to make money. Most good clinics are run by doctors and staff truly passionate about performing state of the art hair restoration -- that they profit from it is their secondary concern, imo. I would not let distance play any significent factor in your decision; something as ultimately inconsequential as a few hour drive I would really caution to not even consider a factor.

Philippos, where do you live, and how many grafts have you been quoted? Plenty of good docs out there, and almost all are pretty open with their results. I've only heard of bad DHI experiences, and I know of one personally that was horrific; the "no touch" premise is just a sham in my opinion. I would most definitely steer clear.

Ya, it is a total sham and that whole operation looks to be a dangerous joke that has wrecked plenty of lives with wretched results, and will continue to wreck and wretch more. I'd run an exhaustive search(es) on DHI and whatever other doctor(s) you are investigating; unless you get back a pretty much sterling report I would abandon that ship ASAP and find a doc that you can trust and be assured of not getting hosed. Maybe you'd get a decent result at DHI, maybe you wouldn't...but why chance it...? EDIT -- in addition to numerous poor results I have seen documented online, I know of a horrid one personanlly.

Revolting. Feel horrible after reading all that, and it far exceeds whatever concerns over "ethics" I suspected his clinic might have; if there is an iota of truth to some of the stuff he states and the pictures he shows that is a true travesty, disgrace, and crime. He seems so aggrieved that he is willing to lay it all on the line, regardless of the "scare tactic lawsuits" that may get thrown his way. The website's postings seem to at least have been posted recently; in addition to paying so much (125k+ !?!?!?!) for BHT, I am guessing the case itself is from the recent past.

If you go to a top doc (having been found from research), you can't go wrong in that you will receive a quality HT. However, you should have an idea as to what is actually getting done to you and what the process is like as it is surgery; to also know what you can expect the results to be like, and whether you will most likely want/need another HT in a years time or at some other point in the foreseeable future. Also, judging by your posts, it seems like you may very well have minimal hair loss -- in which case you might be a great candidate for FUE. Whether you are or not depends on the research you have done into FUT and FUE, whether you are a good candidate, and if you think the pros of FUE outweigh whatever cons (namely price if you are a good candidate and go to a good doc).

Like a drunken' sailor, Balody, like a drunken' sailor..... Btw, in your latest 2month pics -- do you know what # buzz you are at? Looks to be an ideal length of shortness while also concealing the scar.

The "general pop" is so ignorant about this stuff you can safely attribute any miraculous, newfound follicles to some snake oil and it would be bought; chalking it up to propecia or rogaine and it is a cinch, imo. No way some random would say: "Hmm, I must say that is bullshit; there is no way that the efficacy of rogaine -- even the 5% foam when combined with finasteride -- could give you such robust regrowth in your horribly vacant frontal 1/3rd". Some things (intelligent) people have said to me about hairloss off the top of my head: "Why don't you buy some rogaine so you can have hair again" "I saw this amazing infomericial last night about this (topical) hair product that can make your hair super thick again, you really gotta try it" "Wow, the hair transplant is over with; come over to my place so I can see your new mane"

If Bosley was charging $3.99/graft and throwing in some shrimp chow mein I would sprint away; NHI certaintly is a respected clinic, and the word on Pak seems good, though I haven't actually seen overwhelming support to back this up. I would, however, insta-choose Pak over Bosley even if the prices you stated were reversed. There have been a few posts about Cali docs of late, I'd check them out -- Siporin has been getting a lot of good feedback, fyi. I'd also look into FUE fwiw.

Technically I still hold stock, but much like my once vaunted follicles, it is both puny and a shadow of it's former self. Bought Krispy like a week after it IPOE'D -- took all of my savings and a modest (for my age at the time, mammoth) inheritence and laid it all out on good ol' KKD after coercing my father to help me! Hah, thx for the tip, but I don't play around w/ the market anymore. Having a nice taste of success so early on was prolly' to my ultimate detriment, actually. Learned some good lessons, though, haha.....#1, don't put up a cent vs. people who care and know infinitely more than you....

KrispyKreme coffee always had a special place in my heart until their CEO ripped my very heart *fromt* me by over-expanding and having the once mighty stock sink like the Titanic. I just get some type of girly iced coffee @ Starbucks these days, cold weather be damned.

NG2GB is right, so it is tough to say other than giving you a range. Personally, my redness started to dissipate greatly after the first 3 days and after a week w/e small scabs I had went away and my scalp looked quite good all around(n.b. be dilligent with post-op cleanings, following the instructions). At less than 2 weeks -- at least I -- don't think there is anything that jarring about the coloration at all. Just looking at my pics again, and at but 13 days, in harsh lighting, I think the coloration looks pretty normal, though I could be way off.

Congrats man, looks really sweet, and I think it's going to look great as it's blended in with your natives. And damn, that is a lot of hairs! Btw, if your picture problem was due to some issue w/ size, try editing the picture, and using the "brush" over tool....at least for me, even if I just brush over a rather small, insignificent area of the picture, its size gets lowered dramatically.

I heard about the 10 year half-life on propecia, but I was always under the assumption that rogaine worked indefinitely...hmmm...

Speaking of "sub-conscious" effects -- over the past two years I have gradually (but clearly) become MUCH more reserved when I am out, and basically shut myself off from the opposite sex the last year; a deviation from how I am -- err, used to be. And, most importantly, want to be. At the same time, I definiely engage in less social things to begin with. e.g., I have the impromptu opportunity to go out late one night to a social gathering....but wait, I have to go through a song and dance with concealers, and even then it is a lottery as to how good it will end up looking and if I'll feel OK enough to go out and brave the night, meh, I will just tell them I am feeling ill (which I sorta actually am) and play it safe n' stay in. This isn't to say I've become a hermit; but, I certaintly have become hermetic. Also, and Mrjb can prolly' attest to this, but, post-HT, feeling a renewed sense of optimism; nothing specific, but just a more natural flow of optimistic feeling? I think for a bit I I had begun to just view things in a glass half-empty kind of way.