HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

Wassup,

I know the results that you acheived are very amazing. yet rare. I was wondering what kind of hair characteritcs you have and did you have a larger than normal donor supply? Also, did you have to use any body hair, or was it all from the back and side of your head? I looked at the gallery of pictures you have, and those are amazing results.

Since you had amazing results, I was just curious to know how your donor supply feels right now? Is it thin at all, or still feel rather thick? One more thing I wanted to ask was, i noticed you had multiple strip procedures. If you had FIT all the way, would you have had even more grafts to be able to play with?

Thank you.

txl83 - many thanks for the kind words. I don't think my results are rare - just a lot of grafts and of course Dr. Cole's skill and artistry. In regards to my characteristics, I think my hair might have been a little on the thin side or at most average thickness (thus a higher number of grafts) and my donor was about average density as well - nothing super special if I remember correctly. I believe someone with better hair characteristics could attain similiar results with less grafts. Hopefully Dr. Cole can comment as well - he's the expert on that stuff and can comment more on what he feels my characteristics were like and if FIT existed back in 2000 when I first started, what my numbers may have looked turned out like...

Right now my donor feels full... Right after the last couple FIT surgeries my donor would feel thinner for a while but then thicken up some (not sure if I had some shock in the donor). Obviously it's not as thick as before (pre-HTs) since I've had a lot of grafts removed but it doesn't feel "thinned" out or anything like that. My left side might be a little thinner than the rest of my donor but the right and back feel pretty thick still...

That's very good to hear. Sometime in the future, i would hope to have results like that. Right now, I'll just stay on the meds and just wait till its the appropriate time for a transplant. Were you a norwood 5 before this?

Also, do you know how many grafts were placed on your crown, hairline, etc?

Also, are you on any meds right now. or were you in the past?

txl83 - I was on propecia and rogaine at different times when I was in my twenties but never did stay on them for long - big mistake. I'll be 37 in a couple months. Before any HTs I originally was classfied as a NW3 vertex (around 29) but after my first HT (1 month before 30) I lost hairs that were weak and miniaturized and my hairloss continued. I believe Dr. Cole said I was heading for a NW5 pattern. If I remember correctly I also didn't get on meds (propecia) until before my third HT. I'm on finasteride now (generic) and also use 5% generic minoxidil spray a few times a week as well. I defininitely would stay on the meds - they can at least hopefully buy you more time and help you keep what you have now. I don't know the official breakdown of the placement of the grafts in my recipient area but I bet a lot were placed in the front half but I have also had grafts placed all throughout the top and back and in the crown area. I believe almost everything or a large majority of what i have on top was transplanted hairs. do you know where your hairloss is on the norwood scale? best of luck to you. if you have any more questions let me know.

I'll also probably buzz down in the next week or so with a #2 or #2.5 guard (I want to see how the grafts in my strip scars have grown and see if I can get away with wearing my hair that short). I'll post some pictures and you can get a better look at my donor since you were interested in how thick it is now. I posted some picts in my gallery last month where I buzzed down using a #3.5 guard.

Right now, I am abouta 3, but only because I have been on meds. Hopefully, the meds continue to work. Unfortunately, I am also headed towards a 5 or maybe even 6, so I will also need many grafts.

Let me add on, I started losing hair at about 19, but i was really thinning at 21, and then i started using propecia and rogaine. I am about to turn 24 now, and as of right now, the propecia and rogaine have maintained and maybe even increased my hair count, its hard to tell since I did not initially take pictures. If you look in bright light, you can tell I am thinning, and my hair line has receded at the temples. Out of curiosity, do you know the approximately the total amount of grafts would be required to get decent coverage on both temples? I am not completely bald there, but it is thinning.

I am also using hair cycle shampoo and conditioner, and as you can see, I am trying to increase my efforts significantly to maintain what I have for as long as I can. I hope I can maintain it for another 3-4 years. I was thinking about purchasing the lasercomb, but before I do, I would like to know the opinion of anyone that is currently using it.

txl83 - your definitely going about this the right way. stay on the meds and don't rush into anything... I think hair charateristics play a key role in what we each look for in recipient density. A person with thicker, more dense hair could probably achieve a similiar result with less grafts than a person with finer hair thickness. We're all different physically and have different ideals and expectations.

The only thing is that even though I dont want to rush into a hair transplant, I want to get a little work done on my hairline, especially at the temples. My right temple has a receded and is thinner than my left temple. I did the virtual consultation with Dr. Cole, and he recommended about 400-800 fit at the frontal third, but he also recommned on me waiting a little bit.

With Fit, if I were to ever shave the back of my head with a zero or very short, would i see any bumps or anything out of the ordinary after an FIT procedure?

just like hair characteristics, we all have different healing characteristics as well... I don't think any Doc can promise how any surgery will turn out or predict exactly how your donor will turn out post-op... FIT is minimally evasive compared to strip though so is great for small procedures (or large too)... if you couldn't shaved all the way down afterwards, you more than likely could buzz with a #1 guard or other very low guard. I wouldn't say I have great healing characteristics (maybe average or a little less than average) but you can see some shaved down and buzzed down picts of me in my gallery. Like I said they are not the best you'll see online but ok - if I had a higher density donor it would probably look a lot better. Dr. Cole is one of the best out there... you can't go wrong with him in my opinion...

When you had your first FIT procedure, was that after several large strip procedures?

txl83 - my HT history is something like:

1st surgery - 2600g strip - 8/2000
2nd surgery - 1250g strip - 3/2002
3rd surgery - 1900g strip* - 3/2003
4th surgery - 1100g FIT - 7/2004
5th surgery - 1470g FIT - 9/2006

* I did have a 2nd small strip removed after initial strip removed

Thanks, Wassup. Were you able to acheive better coverage/results on the top of your with the FIT than the strip, or were they the same. I mean, I would prefer to get FIT of course, but I remember Dr. Cole saying that with FIT, he is able pick which grafts he wanted to place instead of just having to deal with the grafts on that particular strip.

I was also wondering if you know people who have had success with the laser comb. I read a study conducted by Dr. Rassman regarding the before and after photos on the websie, and apparently, the results werent any different. They just appeared to be because in the after picture, the patient may have grown his hair longer and combed it differently, which is what it also appears to me. Any thoughts?

txl83 - I think I recieved good results from both strip and FIT but you are correct that the FIT grafts can be cherry picked - so in theory the FIT grafts can provide a thicker appearance. I also believe FIT grafts average a higher number of hairs per graft vs strip grafts as well. I also just posted some new 10 month post-op picts in my gallery where I buzzed down with a #2.5 guard...

http://www.forhair.com/hairtransplant/a ... ser_id=134

sorry - I don't know much about the lazer comb - I do believe I heard it was approved by the FDA for hair regrowth though...

Looks great! When Dr. Cole removed FIt's from your sides of the head, how far did he go? Did he remove grafts in the donor region past either ear, closer to the temples? Or just primarily in the back and areas on the side of your head behind your ears?

When I was looking through your results, I wouldnt mind having a style similar to yours shown in page 41, having the buzzed down look. You have great coverage (I cannot tell of any thinning!), and if I saw you randomly on the streets, I would never be able to tell you had a transplant other than the scars at that time. The coverage on slide 41 is great and your hairline is very natural looking. I would love to have some kinda results like that.

txl83 - in this last FIT procedure Dr. Cole extracted graft from above my ears - the previous FIT did not go around the sides as far and you can see where the strip procedures were from the strip scars. I should have post-op picts for both my FIT procedures in my gallery.

I probably would like the "short look" if it weren't for my strip scars.

Thanks wassup for the information. This helped me get a little more insight on the procedures.

I probably would like the "short look" if it weren't for my strip scars.

what strip scars?

That looks great!!! Great job in filling in the scars.