HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

This patient visited Dr. Cole and staff in 2004 with the goal of softening the unnatural look of his three prior hair transplant procedures. Due to the patients limited donor resources and fine hair character, additional grafting for plug camouflage was a less than perfect option. Laser hair removal was ruled out as the solution as this treatment would not have addressed the sever ridging in the recipient area.

The solution: graft removal and follicular redistribution via the CIT method. During the session Dr. Cole removed the follicular groups one by one from the large and unsightly plugs. The benefit of this approach was three-fold. On one hand the scarring associated with punching out and suturing full-sized plug was avoided. On the other hand, the volume displacement of removing the follicular groups (rather than lasering them) largely ameliorated the appearance of ridging. This is particularly evident on the hairline. Finally, the CIT extraction process (vs. laser therapy or electrolysis) enabled a HT reversal whereby healthy follicles could be replanted into other areas of the scalp.

As you can see from the photos, not only is the pluggy-look softened; it is entirely absent.

it is great to be naturally bald.

Yep, some patients that had their hair transplant with the strip method got this big pluggy unnatural group of hairs on the hairline and frontal areas, they wish they never started with the strip and just want to reverse the course of their bad hair transplant and look normal again. this guy looks so much better balding then he was with the pluggy hairline.
I think it's amazing that with the FIT punch there are no marks to the areas of the grafts removal, excellent work.

Looks great!!

How many procedures did it take to complete these results...?

Did he have the hair redistributed into his donor scar...?

The result you see was accomplished in a single full-day repair session.

The units derived from the plugs were relocated to the perimeter of the patient's crown.

I do not believe that any grafts were placed in the donor scar but this is certainly not an uncommon request for individuals undergoing transplant-reversal surgery.

fitlock and forhair, does this patient want to stay bald or is he planning to do a future Fit transplant to start filling hair?
I must say that he is one of these guys that have the head shape for the bald look...he looks better bald.

He is not planning on more grafts to the top of his head.

Happy to be bald and unplugged.

This is what I am intrested in. I have a consult scheduled, on the 23rd of Jan.

Is this an expensive surgery, or does it work out the same or similar to have a HT via fit? Seems its basically the same process but in reverse. If you look closely you can kinda see where his old HT hairline was, although I prob wouldnt be able to if I didnt have the other pic to compare it with.

(sorry to drag up a old post)

Hi Sparkyxx,

Due to the difficult nature of repair, cost is usually determined by the quantity of plug grafts, size of the plug grafts, and the difficulty involved with removing the plug grafts from the scalp.

Some patients want to add more hair to reduce the appearance of the plug grafts. Many of our patients schedule test repair sessions to enable the doctor to judge the difficulty of the case. Test procedures cost a small flat-rate and give patients an idea of what to expect in terms of post-op healing.





My advice is not medical advice.

Well mine arent plugs, theres nothing on my head that looks anything like what this guy has (all 2 hair and 1 hair grafts) I've just decided that I want them put back into the scar, and to have the hairline that I was supposed to have. I would be very interested in seeing what the skin looks like up close after some healing time, do you stitch the site where it is being taken from? I have no pitting etc, the skin looks very flat and I have maybe 500 or so hairs (so prob less than that grafts). Also would doctor cole be able to tell the diff between my natural hair and the transplanted hair (I assume this is done under a magnifiying glass?)

I only had my hairline done, and it was completley unessasry but I was young and naive.

Ive had two surguries with docter Cole for plug redistribution yet part of the plugs keep coming back .I think if more then three hairs grows out of a graft it doesnt look natural to the human eye.In the hair line it requires one maybe two hairs if the hair is fine enough. I had hoped to reshape the hair line because it seems too broad and I want it to look receded and softer. I think Dr.cole is afraid to move the sides back as it may show scaring but I really dont care as at least I will like the shape. Plugs are like the hydra you remove three hairs and three more grow back.I have bad ridging which has improved on my right side but left side is still raised.The hair placed into the scar is growing with each pass but I could see it will take at least two more passes. I know Im complaining and I want it to be clear that Dr.Cole is the best at repair but another two years has gone by and I want my life back. Ive had plugs since I was twenty one.Im now 37. I want more balance which can only be achieved by de-bulking the horse shoe pattern of corn rows and placeing the hair central and uniformly packing it so the transplant can look natural when it gets wet or I sweat or the wind blows.Cutting the hair short will help the wind but I cant yet do to the scar. I'm out of money after this second procedure but cant yet bring myself to take my hat off. Help!

Hi RIVA,

You are correct, 3-hair follicular units do not belong on the hair line. They only make it difficult for patients to wear their hair as they desire. There is always a possibility of the repaired area to change in pigment so it is advantageous to carefully approach the removal of larger grafts near the hair line and temple areas.

A percentage of the remaining plug grafts may have just grown. The plug grafts can all be take out and redistributed. This task is not difficult for Dr. Cole. I would like to know if you could send us a couple of photos to complete an evaluation. I will do my best to help you! Please send the photos to michelle@forhair.com

Have you got any up to date plug repair patients.You seem to show the same clients over and over again.I am in need of a frontal hairline repair myself.Have you any clients showing plug removal and redistribution.Either through FUE or browlift etc.Thankyou.

Sure. Attached are photos of a patient who had three prior procedures at a hair transplant clinic in ‘05. Each procedure added more density but were failures due to the unnatural appearance of the final result. All patients’ goals should be to have a procedure that will produce natural looking results. The patient’s goal was to obtain a more natural looking hair line and reduce the appearance of the previous plug work. 13 months ago, this patient was treated with 750 CIT grafts to the frontal hair line.

Nice results.This patient has great donor hair.Wavy hair from what I have seen makes for great results.This patient seems to have had his plugs high enough where it seems he was able to camoflauge them by filling in with fine hairs.Was anything done to thin out or remove any of the plugs.From the photos it does not appear that any of the plugs were thinned out or removed.My hairline is similar to his but lower.Can you explain what CIT is specifically and how it is different than FUE.How does Dr.Cole create his recipient sites.Thankyou

Geez.
happy not to be getting bald.
Wonder how he dealt with that.