HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

Dr. Cole,

I read on the Balding Blog (which I just discovered actually) that the doctors at the New Hair Institute do what's called "scalp mapping" where they look at your scalp under a microscope to track the thinning process and to better plan treatment.

Do you believe in this practice and do you do anything along these lines?

[I tried to attach a link but the site wouldn't allow me]

Also: I read on the balding blog that not everyone qualifies for the FUE procedure, what the New Hair Institute calls the FOX treatment. I was surprised when I read this. I assumed that FUE was available to anyone and was in fact the next generation of hair transplant. Any comments?

Take care,
Spinner

those are all good questions. Yes we do measure many areas on the sclap and many different paramaters. First we measure the degree of miniturization in over 10 different regions on the scalp. we are then able to map the present degree of hair loss. Second, we have a folliscope that allows us to measure density of hair and follicular groups, the size of the groups, and the diameter of the hair.

Not all forms of FUE were created equal and not all forms are equal today. Most offices offer some form of FUE, but will atttempt to talk you into a strip as soon as you arrive. They often say they perform FUE about 10% of the time, but they probably do this even less than 10% of the time. We perform our version of FUE, which we have called FIT in the past. There is another physician who claims he helped develop FIT and that he performs FIT too, but we were the sole developers of this procedure and every instrument used in the procedure. Because we do not want to confuse anyone with regard to FIT, we now have begun calling it the Cole Isolation Procedure, CIT. We basically have felt for some time that there is FIT and there is no quite FIT. FUE in general is a waste basket term for a procedure that many try, but few master. Therefore, be careful of where you go and who you have perform this procedure. Today, we are the world's leader in this procedure. We perform more procedures than any other physician and we have performed more grafts than any other physician. We have a very low transection rate and our transection rate is much lower than the average strip surgeon. We also average almost one more hair per graft than the average strip surgeon.

One other thing you should be careful of is the FUE physician who claims that smaller punches produce less scarring. They do not. We have studied it extensively and we were the first clinic to introduce smaller punches. The fact is there is minimal scarring with CIT. What you get is a slight reduction in pigment due to a decrease in blood flow to the skin when you remove the hair and a decrease in melanin production. When there is no hair, the skin does not need to feed the area as much nutrients and oxygen so the pink color declines. The melanin from the hair shaft adds color too and when you remove the hair, the melanin goes with it. The affect is exactly the same no matter what type of punch you use provided it is the punch meets certain geometric qualites. You should know that those who promote smaller punches do so only because they do not have consitent results to sell thier procedures. Look around. you will find we have many FIT/CIT results. We have more than any other clinic. Our results are consistent. Therefore, I recomend that you have your FUE procedure performed only by a physicain we have trained or someone with many consistent results over the years. You should not even consider the procedure from a clinic that claims you may not be a candidate or that you should consider the strip. We are able to perform this procedure day in and day out on all the patients who come to us. The only test we recomend is for those men and women of color who have extremly curly hair that kinks in different directions as the hair enters the skin. we recomend that these individuals have a test first. I would also not ever consider a procedure with a physician or clinic that claims they use smaller punches exclusively. these guys simply do not have a clue what they are doing and they do not have consistent high quality results.

Of course it is better to perform a test rather than to consistently produce poor qualtiy grafts that have a low probablity of survival. This is why it is important to have numerous options available to you so that you can produce consistently high quality grafts in all patinets.

Dr. Cole,

Thanks very much for your prompt and clear response. I am scheduled to see you this December and have been anxiously anticipating it all year. I have to admit that as the time gets closer, I get more and more nervous. Thanks for putting me at ease.

Looking forward to my visit,
Spinner

You do not need to be nervous about the FIT/CIT procedure. It is a procedure we do every day and we have become exceedingly skilled at it due to our extensive experience. Of course it is normal to be nervous, but with this procedure I cannot see you in better hands. People come to us because we deliver results. We are as much results driven as our patients. Therefore, we have wasted no amount of time, money, or effort to create the best procedure available.