Dr Pitella impossible hair transplant

[Bandit90]

Holy smokes - that is a lot beard hair transplanted, reminds me an old school Dr Umar case. Interesting to see how this turns out. Beard grafts generally make a good filler on the mid-scalp, but they can be limiting beyond this. That said i'm  really interested how this turns out! 

[Fox243]

Would love to see if there’s any way we can get an update on this. I totally understand if it didn’t work out well, but if it’s even half decent, it might be the best HT ever done.

[Melvin- Admin]

36 minutes ago, Fox243 said:

Would love to see if there’s any way we can get an update on this. I totally understand if it didn’t work out well, but if it’s even half decent, it might be the best HT ever done.

It’s only been 3 months. There wouldn’t be any significant growth yet. 

[Melvin- Admin]

I asked @Dr. Felipe Pittella for a follow up to this case, at 4.5 months. On record, I’m gonna eat my words. 

I was skeptical. I thought it was gonna be a failure. I would’ve told this guy to give up. I will be careful doubting Dr. Pittella. 

I was given permission to share these photos as long as the face is blurred. What do you guys think, proof BHT is viable. Paging @Approach

[YodaHead]

Wow! Thanks @Melvin- Admin for updates on this! Incredible at 4.5 months.

[mr_peanutbutter]

32 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I asked @Dr. Felipe Pittella for a follow up to this case, at 4.5 months. On record, I’m gonna eat my words. 

I was skeptical. I thought it was gonna be a failure. I would’ve told this guy to give up. I will be careful doubting Dr. Pittella. 

I was given permission to share these photos as long as the face is blurred. What do you guys think, proof BHT is viable. Paging @Approach

ok its still early…dont want rush to conclusions…but somehow i have the feeling this will turn out awesome?

[Fox243]

2 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I asked @Dr. Felipe Pittella for a follow up to this case, at 4.5 months. On record, I’m gonna eat my words. 

I was skeptical. I thought it was gonna be a failure. I would’ve told this guy to give up. I will be careful doubting Dr. Pittella. 

I was given permission to share these photos as long as the face is blurred. What do you guys think, proof BHT is viable. Paging @Approach

if pitella can cure this guy, we're all cured lol

[Fox243]

@Al - Moderatorwhat are your thoughts?

[Dr. Felipe Pittella]

4 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I asked @Dr. Felipe Pittella for a follow up to this case, at 4.5 months. On record, I’m gonna eat my words. 

I was skeptical. I thought it was gonna be a failure. I would’ve told this guy to give up. I will be careful doubting Dr. Pittella. 

I was given permission to share these photos as long as the face is blurred. What do you guys think, proof BHT is viable. Paging @Approach

Hello guys! Thank you for tagging me @Melvin- Admin. This is a very interesting topic and discussion. Hair restoration possibilities are reaching unprecedented levels thanks to the advent of new technologies. One example that I use on a daily basis is ScalpScan, which uses artificial intelligence to precisely map the scalp and estimate the best approach for any sort of baldness. This patient is a clear example of a bold strategy proposed by ScalpScan. The lack of scalp donor area due to botched procedures made it even more challenging. TBH this was the most difficult case I faced.
But… why did I even considered doing a procedure in such a case prone to completely failure?
Those who don’t know me might think I’m a money grab, or whatever, to take such a risk.  
Those who know me understand that what matters for me is to care about any individual, patient or not, that come to seek my help. In this specific case I was, as he said, his “last hope”. I couldn't just turn my back on him. I understand that what I do is not for myself but for the patients that come to me. Maybe this is a silly philosophy, but it’s what I’m made of. 
The first step was to understand what his expectations were and then I evaluated all the resources that were at my disposal and concluded that, yes I could help him. He wasn’t expecting a result not even close to what he had already achieved with only 4.5 months as you can see below. And from what he texts me he seems really happy with the result. He lives in US and periodically sends me feedbacks.
How this will turn out in the future I honestly don’t know. But judging by the improvement of the first 4 months I’m having high expectations for this case. Of course he may have some limitations on hairstyles, probably needing to have a short hair. Below the photos he sent me are some photos I shot before surgery. If you’re interested I’ll send updates from this case to Melvin. 

 

4.5 months

 

 

 

 

BEFORE 

[Shesayshesay]

On 3/5/2024 at 5:39 AM, Stewie said:

I still agree with you and @Gatsby that if he has had multiple surgeries and ended up with nothing on his head then I find it hard to believe this will go any different? but I would love to be wrong! Where as this case you have linked too is amazing but it does not mention failed HTs like the other guy, and then there Is bad donors and then literally zero donor like the impossible case. But only time will tell

Is there a way to know how well you will respond to a hair transplant? Is this something a surgeon will look into before doing a hair transplant on you? Or is it simply a roll of the dice and hope they grow?

[Approach]

8 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I asked @Dr. Felipe Pittella for a follow up to this case, at 4.5 months. On record, I’m gonna eat my words. 

I was skeptical. I thought it was gonna be a failure. I would’ve told this guy to give up. I will be careful doubting Dr. Pittella. 

I was given permission to share these photos as long as the face is blurred. What do you guys think, proof BHT is viable. Paging @Approach

Melvin-  Yes, you are are so right- BHT is viable!

t's strange to say but:  in many ways, the lessons I have learned by being on HRN are equally as valuable as my hair itself.  For ex, HRN moderators have taught me to keep an open mind, humility, respect for others, TRUST, learn to be less defensive, and be supportive to others-- to name a few.   So YES,  BHT really is viable.  Instead of being so fearful of it--  I now realize instead--  I need to be grateful it's even possible for a high NW like me.  And, be grateful Dr. Pittella is so good at high NW hair transplants.

[Al - Moderator]

7 hours ago, Fox243 said:

@Al - Moderatorwhat are your thoughts?

I have been saying for several years that I am a big believer in using body hair, mainly beard and chest, for hair transplants. If I was 22 again and starting over today I would use as much beard hair as I could right from the start. Why use all scalp hair and then do the hair transplant all over again using body hair when it starts to thin out over the years as you get older? Just use body hair from the start so you don't have to worry about it thinning out. Beard hair grows forever. There are plenty of old bald guys who grow beards.

Related to that is why I'm not a fan of purposely depleting your scalp donor using as much of it as you can in the recipient area and then using beard hair to restock the donor area. Why do that? You are transplanting twice. Just use the beard hair in the recipient area. Why use scalp donor which is going to thin out as you age for areas where you want hair to grow for the rest of our life, while using the beard hair that actually will grow for the rest of your life in areas on the back and sides that you will buzz or shave down or cut very short? That seems like it's the opposite that you would want.

 

[davidn]

4 minutes ago, Al - Moderator said:

I have been saying for several years that I am a big believer in using body hair, mainly beard and chest, for hair transplants. If I was 22 again and starting over today I would use as much beard hair as I could right from the start. Why use all scalp hair and then do the hair transplant all over again using body hair when it starts to thin out over the years as you get older? Just use body hair from the start so you don't have to worry about it thinning out. Beard hair grows forever. There are plenty of old bald guys who grow beards.

Related to that is why I'm not a fan of purposely depleting your scalp donor using as much of it as you can in the recipient area and then using beard hair to restock the donor area. Why do that? You are transplanting twice. Just use the beard hair in the recipient area. Why use scalp donor which is going to thin out as you age for areas where you want hair to grow for the rest of our life, while using the beard hair that actually will grow for the rest of your life in areas on the back and sides that you will buzz or shave down or cut very short? That seems like it's the opposite that you would want.

 

Well, because they look unnatural in the hairline No? And for some people they look unnatural in General? So the idea is they dont stand out in the donor as much. Also people dont expect their donors to thin when they start out this Journey.

[Shesayshesay]

56 minutes ago, Al - Moderator said:

I have been saying for several years that I am a big believer in using body hair, mainly beard and chest, for hair transplants. If I was 22 again and starting over today I would use as much beard hair as I could right from the start. Why use all scalp hair and then do the hair transplant all over again using body hair when it starts to thin out over the years as you get older? Just use body hair from the start so you don't have to worry about it thinning out. Beard hair grows forever. There are plenty of old bald guys who grow beards.

Related to that is why I'm not a fan of purposely depleting your scalp donor using as much of it as you can in the recipient area and then using beard hair to restock the donor area. Why do that? You are transplanting twice. Just use the beard hair in the recipient area. Why use scalp donor which is going to thin out as you age for areas where you want hair to grow for the rest of our life, while using the beard hair that actually will grow for the rest of your life in areas on the back and sides that you will buzz or shave down or cut very short? That seems like it's the opposite that you would want.

 

I’m 29 presently but I am going to wait until I am mid 30’s before I consider a HT with Dr. Pittella or Dr.Zarev, but I will absolutely be keen on using a lot of my facial and body hair from the get go and I would never have thought of this if it wasn’t for this forum.

[Carson85]

@Melvin- Admin I also found this case from Dr. Pittella on Instagram that you also reposted: https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4JMaa6vqkk/?igsh=MzB4NXVwOTF3YmM0

Do you know if only beard grafts were used in this case due to the poor scalp donor? If so, would you happen to know the breakdown? Also, is the large crown covered as well? I don’t see any shots from that angle, so just wondering. Regardless, this is also an amazing result from Dr. Pittella, and shows how underrated body hair grafts are when used by the right surgeon.

Edited July 12 by Carson85

[Carson85]

I think it is also worth noting that yes, body hair does not have the same nature as scalp hair, and usually stays short. However, for men with extreme baldness, they will probably be very happy with results like this, as long as they have enough hair growing out from the top of the scalp, that is sufficient enough to convince others that they are “not bald” and are keeping their hair short out of choice. It is obviously not the same quality of hair someone would have in their teenage years, but I don’t think it matters much, considering how much better this would be than their extreme baldness. I know I would be very happy if I were in the same situation.

[Shesayshesay]

3 hours ago, Carson85 said:

I think it is also worth noting that yes, body hair does not have the same nature as scalp hair, and usually stays short. However, for men with extreme baldness, they will probably be very happy with results like this, as long as they have enough hair growing out from the top of the scalp, that is sufficient enough to convince others that they are “not bald” and are keeping their hair short out of choice. It is obviously not the same quality of hair someone would have in their teenage years, but I don’t think it matters much, considering how much better this would be than their extreme baldness. I know I would be very happy if I were in the same situation.

From what I’ve learnt, body hair or facial hair that is transplanted to the scalp can, overtime, start to develop like normal scalp hair.

[ScottishGuy21]

This is looking very promising 😎

[Fox243]

15 hours ago, Dr. Felipe Pittella said:

Hello guys! Thank you for tagging me @Melvin- Admin. This is a very interesting topic and discussion. Hair restoration possibilities are reaching unprecedented levels thanks to the advent of new technologies. One example that I use on a daily basis is ScalpScan, which uses artificial intelligence to precisely map the scalp and estimate the best approach for any sort of baldness. This patient is a clear example of a bold strategy proposed by ScalpScan. The lack of scalp donor area due to botched procedures made it even more challenging. TBH this was the most difficult case I faced.
But… why did I even considered doing a procedure in such a case prone to completely failure?
Those who don’t know me might think I’m a money grab, or whatever, to take such a risk.  
Those who know me understand that what matters for me is to care about any individual, patient or not, that come to seek my help. In this specific case I was, as he said, his “last hope”. I couldn't just turn my back on him. I understand that what I do is not for myself but for the patients that come to me. Maybe this is a silly philosophy, but it’s what I’m made of. 
The first step was to understand what his expectations were and then I evaluated all the resources that were at my disposal and concluded that, yes I could help him. He wasn’t expecting a result not even close to what he had already achieved with only 4.5 months as you can see below. And from what he texts me he seems really happy with the result. He lives in US and periodically sends me feedbacks.
How this will turn out in the future I honestly don’t know. But judging by the improvement of the first 4 months I’m having high expectations for this case. Of course he may have some limitations on hairstyles, probably needing to have a short hair. Below the photos he sent me are some photos I shot before surgery. If you’re interested I’ll send updates from this case to Melvin. 

 

4.5 months

 

 

 

 

BEFORE 

Dr. Pittella literally writes like (and seems to be)  an anime protagonist lol

[Melvin- Admin]

7 minutes ago, Fox243 said:

Dr. Pittella literally writes like (and seems to be)  an anime protagonist lol

He’s about to unleash super saiyan status on this patient.

[Approach]

On 3/4/2024 at 2:31 PM, Al - Moderator said:

 

The old transplants may have worked at the time (at least as far as getting growth), but his hair has thinned out so badly which means the transplanted hair would have thinned out just as much. You can see he has a few wisps of hair still growing over the top of his head when the Dr combs over it. The back is very thin, but the top will be even thinner because those grafts would have been spread out over a larger area than the small area where it came from. I'm in the same situation. It isn't as noticeable on me because I started repair work 10 years ago before it got so bad that I didn't have any transplanted hair left, but if I hadn't had any body hair added over the past 10 years I'd have almost nothing left throughout my entire original transplanted area right now.

Here is a picture I posted of myself some time ago. It's a bit blurry, but you can see the many rows of scars with almost no hair around them because the retrograde balding went up so far. This area was once full of thick hair which is why hair was taken from that area.

 

I have retrograde too.  The scar on the bottom actually is much larger than it appears, and it's raised.  Dr. Cooley said the surgeon that did my 1996 HT harvested grafts in an area too low.   I have 3 scars.  Two are Not raised so hair can be transplanted into them.  I'm less certain about the raised scar, on the bottom.  I'm hoping hair can be transplanted into the raised scar, but Dr. Cooley suggested it be cut open and re-sutured cleanly.

[Gatsby]

Simply brilliant is all I can say @Dr. Felipe Pittella. 💯👌 Also even further evidence that age has no limitations to still wanting hair. 👊🏻

[shanek]

What's the waiting time to get a Pitella job done ??

[Carson85]

On 3/18/2024 at 5:52 AM, Al - Moderator said:

 

I would say mild sexual side effects. It wasn't so bad that I couldn't deal with it, but if it's not going to keep my hair then I may as well get my libido back. If my hair had not started falling out again I would have stayed on it.

EDIT: I almost forgot. I should point out the biggest reason I stopped using finasteride. Since it wasn't keeping the hair on my head I knew I was eventually going to use beard and chest grafts as they were just becoming a thing then, but the finasteride was thinning out my body hair, so that was a big incentive to stop. Also, just for reference, I was taking 1.25mg about every other day.

 

Did your thinning body hair come back after discontinuing finasteride?

[Melvin- Admin]

12 hours ago, shanek said:

What's the waiting time to get a Pitella job done ??

Over a year, possibly two years.