My experience- Artas Robotic Hair Transplant- Just did 3300 Grafts-April 2015

[Hj Philadelphia]

New Update-25th day Post Surgery-Artas Robotic Hair Transplant 3300 Grafts-April 2015

Today 4.26.2015 is the 25th day post surgery (just added some photos-taken today) :
Till about a week ago, i felt that my healing progress was good but since then i feel a bit more irritation and more redness on my scalp (specially the donor area. This is noticeable when comparing the new pictures to photos posted last time.) specially since the numbness is almost all gone, I can feel the irritation more. I am not in pain and doing okay overall, however the back and even the sides of my head (the donor area) get irritated when I put it on pillow at night (touching any fabric irritates it) so i try to deal with it and at night I try to position myself in a way that my forehead be on the pillow and not the donor area.
Other changes: Numbness is almost all gone. I have also noticed couple of hair falling out from the recipient area but not a whole lot.
I am not an expert and this is my first procedure, so I was a bit concern that within the last week or so my healing has taken a step back and have a bit more irritation and redness. So, a few days ago, I sent an email with some pictures to Dr. Turowski expressing my concern, but i did not hear back from him. After two days, I then contacted his Lead tech person. She called me and gave me some advice which i am following. (for example, i had just switched to regular shampoo, which should be okay but she said for now go back to the shampoo & conditioner that was provided by the doctor office.)

[Hj Philadelphia]

Based on my research before choosing a Doctor, most willing to do up to 2000-2500 per 1 session. My Doctor told me he can do 3200 per 1 session, however we ended up with more grafts and did about 3350, i was told. Doctor told me that I was his second highest for #of grafts per session. But it was a long day, started about 8am and finished around 10pm (of course had lunch break, etc). But it was okay for me, i was watching movie on netflix, talking to tech team, be on internet... Also need to add that I went to Dr. office the day before just for couple of hours to do site making by the Artas. So, bottomline, it is not up to Artas alone but more important, depend on the Doctor and his team and their experience how the procedure go and how many grafts can or willing to do. I wanted to this only once so wanted to do as much as possible, plus I live in philadelphia and this Doctor in Chicago, had to do what needed in 1 session. I hope this help. Please let me know if you have any other question.

[sowrad]

Is it possible do more than 1500 Grafts/Session using ARTAS? I am under the assumption that ARTAS can do MAX of 1500 . In this instance we are talking 3300 Grafts using ARTAS . I assume it is 1 session.

Pls suggest

[Hj Philadelphia]

Thank you for your comments. I agree, it is hard to find good before and after pictures to see who is doing what! That is really why I wanted to share my experience to make it easier for others . I just added new update with new pics from today. I will update again in a few days. Good Luck.

[J_B_Davis]

J_B_Davis, I just wanted to say thank you for your interest. I just have to wait but hope for the end result to be great and during this process, I like to share the progress to help others understanding what I have gone through. So, I definitely post new photo/Update as often as I can. Thank you again for your interest.

I’m sure you’re going to have a great result and thanks for keeping us posted. This is really the first time that I’ve seen such detailed ARTAS information so I’m very interested in this forum as I’m sure the rest of the community is. I’ve tried to find decent before and after pictures online and it’s impossible. To be honest, many of the doctor's websites who use the ARTAS look very similar and I think share the same pictures since the same ones keep popping up, and they are usually in like a slider format that looks kind of fake to me.I think it’s great that you are taking the time to post your impressions and your detailed pictures. Thanks for sharing!

[Hj Philadelphia]

J_B_Davis, I just wanted to say thank you for your interest. I just have to wait but hope for the end result to be great and during this process, I like to share the progress to help others understanding what I have gone through. So, I definitely post new photo/Update as often as I can. Thank you again for your interest.

[Hj Philadelphia]

Thank you for explaining the Award, you understand it better and explained it better than I ever could.

[J_B_Davis]

With all due respect to other "awards" this Award actually means something. ARTAS center of excellence is only given by Restoration Robotics , a parent company of ARTAS to special places. This is the description from RR: Restoration Robotics has initiated a program to recognize and reward outstanding performance of the ARTAS Procedure. Because of your mastery of the ARTAS Procedure, we are designating your clinic as an "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence." As part of this recognition your clinic will receive:
A plaque and a certificate indicating that you have achieved "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence"status
A .jpg logo (attached) that can be used to post on your website and internet properties (e.g. Facebook, etc.)

Your team of assistants will receive a pin and a certificate recognizing them as "ARTAS Specialists"
The special designation will be noted on our ARTASHair.com consumer facing website
In order to achieve this status, a center must be able to perform ARTAS Procedures with the following performance criteria: procedures of ≥ 2000 grafts, follicle transection rates of ≤ 10%, harvest yields of ≥85%, and harvest speeds of 700 grafts/hr.

We congratulate you and your staff on this exemplary achievement and appreciate the contributions you have made to making the ARTAS Procedure a success.
We have been on the forefront of the robotic technology and are one of the most experienced centers in the world having performed over 300 000 follicular unit transfer with ARTAS so far....

Perhaps I stand corrected Dr. Turowski and again, it is obvious that you are an excellent surgeon which is made clear by your status as an IAHRS doctor. If I am wrong about this particular award, there was no harm meant. I was actually giving you compliment on your real credentials, which are very impressive and as you will probably agree, sets you apart from other doctors who might have been giving the same award of excellence from the company that makes the ARTAS. Like I said to HJ Philadelphia, no matter how he came to choose his surgeon he obviously made a good choice.

[Gregory Turowski, MD]

With all due respect to other "awards" this Award actually means something. ARTAS center of excellence is only given by Restoration Robotics , a parent company of ARTAS to special places. This is the description from RR: Restoration Robotics has initiated a program to recognize and reward outstanding performance of the ARTAS Procedure. Because of your mastery of the ARTAS Procedure, we are designating your clinic as an "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence." As part of this recognition your clinic will receive:
A plaque and a certificate indicating that you have achieved "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence"status
A .jpg logo (attached) that can be used to post on your website and internet properties (e.g. Facebook, etc.)
Your team of assistants will receive a pin and a certificate recognizing them as "ARTAS Specialists"
The special designation will be noted on our ARTASHair.com consumer facing website
In order to achieve this status, a center must be able to perform ARTAS Procedures with the following performance criteria: procedures of ≥ 2000 grafts, follicle transection rates of ≤ 10%, harvest yields of ≥85%, and harvest speeds of 700 grafts/hr.

We congratulate you and your staff on this exemplary achievement and appreciate the contributions you have made to making the ARTAS Procedure a success.
We have been on the forefront of the robotic technology and are one of the most experienced centers in the world having performed over 300 000 follicular unit transfer with ARTAS so far....

[J_B_Davis]

Thank you for your comment. I had done a lot of research not only to compare different procedures, but also compare doctors and their experience. I found out that Artas was the best technology to use, but also i found out that the Doctor running the Artas is as important. If the doctor you choose has not enough experience, you may not get the most benefit out of paying for Artas. There is an award given called "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence", my Doctor is one the ones getting it for I believe 2 years in a row. Just type on google "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence" and see what comes up. My doctor so far has been working well for me, and although not every doctor works for everyone, but at least I choose him for his credentials and proven experience/award using Artas.
I agree, it is healing pretty good. I still have tender/sore spots and skin feels a bit numb but progress seem to be good.

It great that you’re happy, and you should be, but with all due respect to Dr. Turowski’s skills, that award is probably not a real “award.” Companies basically just make up these types of “awards” to help market doctors who use their equipment. If these are the only credentials you see on a doctor’s website, this is usually a red flag, especially in the hair transplant industry.

This is not to take anything from the reputation of your doctor, but those awards mean nothing. The important credentials that I can see that he has is that he’s board certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery and that he is certified by IAHRS. I was not able to find his IAHRS certification listed on his website, but I see that he is listed on the iahrs.org website, which is probably the single most important credential for any hair transplant surgeon. So however you made your choice it looks like you made a good one. Good luck and keep us posted.

[Hj Philadelphia]

Thank you for your comment. I had done a lot of research not only to compare different procedures, but also compare doctors and their experience. I found out that Artas was the best technology to use, but also i found out that the Doctor running the Artas is as important. If the doctor you choose has not enough experience, you may not get the most benefit out of paying for Artas. There is an award given called "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence", my Doctor is one the ones getting it for I believe 2 years in a row. Just type on google "ARTAS Center of Clinical Excellence" and see what comes up. My doctor so far has been working well for me, and although not every doctor works for everyone, but at least I choose him for his credentials and proven experience/award using Artas.
I agree, it is healing pretty good. I still have tender/sore spots and skin feels a bit numb but progress seem to be good.

[J_B_Davis]

Thanks for posting the donor pics. I have to say that after only 9 days your donor looks incredible, especially after having 3000 grafts removed. I’ve read that ARTAS extractions leave bigger scars but from what I can see your donor looks better than a lot of guys who post their results after having manual FUE. It’s possible that the holes right after surgery might just be a bit more stretched open and when they heal they contract, because you don’t even look like you have much visible scaring and your hair hasn’t even grown out yet. Very impressive and congratulations!

[Hj Philadelphia]

Thank you. I agree Artas is fascinating. I will post update as soon as I can. Please see the new images added. They are from 2nd, 5th and 9th day post surgery (today is 9th day)

[Hj Philadelphia]

Thank you, I just updated and added more recent images: 1st pic is before, pictures 2nd through 4th are taken on 2nd day post surgery, next 3 pics taken on 5th day after surgery and finally last 4 pics are taken today which is 9th day post surgery. As you see on pics, it seems that is healing well. I have been taken regular showers since yesterday (low pressure water).

[pkipling]

Hey man. Congrats on taking the plunge and getting the HT. The ARTAS really is a fascinating piece of technology and I hope you get the results you wanted. Keep us updated with photos so we can see your progress.

I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My opinions/comments are my own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.