new grafts still not falling?

[Jim Jones]

It has been about 3 weeks and no sign of my new grafts falling out. Earlier I was happy -- now I'm concerned as I recognize that they should fall. Perhaps too much rogaine and laser therapy? What is the deal?

[aska]

Better for you, are they growing?

[Jim Jones]

that's a relief. it does seem they are growing. i'm about 3 weeks post opt. thanks for your feedback

[Jim Jones]

hmmm... it seems like i may have lost shed some grafts, but many are still there. i am 4 week post-opt. i have no idea if grafts still in place will slow or expedite the growing process. actually, i don't care how long it times as long as my growth is significant

 

2500 grafts from Dr. Ziering = $15,000

[Bill - Seemiller]

Jim,

 

Transplanted hair typically sheds between 2 to 4 weeks but can sometimes hold on a little longer. Most likely, you will experience a shed. But if you don't, then don't look a gift horse in the mouth :-).

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Jim Jones]

Hey Bill,

 

 

Thanks for the reply. With all due respect, what does "don't look a gift horse in the mouth" mean? It must be slang

 

In any case, it sounds like it isn't bad news.

[Severn]

It means you are one of the few who were lucky enough to experience immediate growth of the newly transplanted hairs. I understand it happens, but in a very low percentage of patients.

[Forrest Gump]

Jim Jones, in the case of a very small percentage of patients there is not much shedding and the transplanted grafts start growing right away. Who knows, you might be among those lucky few.

[Jim Jones]

After all my cynicism, I might finally come up in this fight. Propecia may have saved my hair, but losing at mid-teens was devastating. I truly hope that the grafts stay and will continue to be gentle to the area and apply Rogaine liberally (3x per day -- see my question I posted on the forum my reasoning for this). I stressed out by reading "ok - bad" reviews about Dr. Ziering. I can understand the ethics of the person, but hey, if he's the best, then perhaps $15,000 for 2500 grafts (or less, who knows) might have been the best investment considering I already spent $50,000+ on Propecia alone. As HT patients know, that usually will continue unless I get sick of the money and "mild" side-effects". I question Proscar (even distributed) and it would be a pain to find a cool doc to write the script. I know my current one wouldn't.

 

Thanks for the uplift. Hopefully I will get lucky.

[Jim Jones]

Dumb question : are the grafts your actual hair or do they fall out and then new hairs arise? I thought it was the latter so that each graft than falls, there may be a shot at getting 1,2 or 3 new hairs.

 

So I'm beginning to understand that the graft is your new hair that's with you forever. If that's the case, then that sucks because I look practically the same. Again, I am missing something trivial with hair loss even though I have battled it almost half my life.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Jim,

 

Sorry, yes it's slang. And it's kind of a stupid expression...just like an unrelated expression "You can't have your cake and eat it too".

 

All I mean to say is...if you are lucky enough to keep all the transplanted hair without an initial shed, be thankful that you are among the select few and free from concern :-).

 

Regarding your last question...

 

A hair "graft" is just a term for a hair or group of hairs combined in a single unit. For example, follicular units (today's gold standard hair transplant) comes in groups of 1, 2, 3, and 4 hairs. Yet, a 4 haired follicular unit is still a "graft" as is a one haired follicular unit "graft".

 

Each hair per graft includes its own follicle below the scalp. When the hair sheds typically 2 to 4 weeks after surgical hair restoration, the follicle remains behind and goes dormant for several months. 3 to 5 months later, the follicles begin producing new hairs that grow just like your natural hair.

 

Understand that only so much can be accomplished with surgical hair restoration. The top of the scalp contains approximately 50,000 to 60,000 hair follicles which is equivalent to approximately 22700 to 27000 follicular unit grafts (if we use the average 2.2 hair per graft conversion). Thus, since the average hair transplant patient has an available donor of approximately 5000 to 8000 follicular unit grafts, full hair restoration (as in, prior to any signs of hair loss) isn't possible on someone who's completely bald such as patients with Norwood class 5 or higher.

 

Thus, donor hair must be used and transplanted strategically to cover the most ground and add density to the critical areas. This is what we refer to as the "illusion of density", which is approximately 50% of the scalp's original natural hair density. Critical areas typically include reconstructing a natural looking hairline and the immediate areas behind it and other areas as defined by an individual's goals.

 

Ultimately, patients and hair replacement physicians should discuss all these things befor hand and work out a suitable hair restoration plan the patient is satisfied with. Short and long term goals should be discussed, especially since male pattern baldness is progressive and subsquent procedures may be desired/needed to meet existing and future goals.

 

Does this make sense?

 

Bill

[Sparky]

50k on propecia? Ive been on it since 2002 and doubt Ive spent a grand so far.

[Jim Jones]

oh sparky, i meant $5,000+ on propecia

 

bill,

 

i enjoyed reading your response. although it isn't what i want to hear, you are absolutely right. there is so much we can do. thus, 7000 graft [huge amount in my opinion] is not too much if you are BALD. i took propecia and have thinning hair on the middle and the crown is bad. i was hoping to part hair in the middle with shaggy hair, but it doesn't seem possible unless i want more surgery. bottom line is propecia did save the hair i had -- otherwise i would be extremely BALD. i can use toppik and comb down with nobody really noticing. if i part in the middle, it is near impossible. so i guess 2500 grafts (6000 hair) is not much. 10% on main area assuming that 100% stay in tact