Tweet
This well educated scientist traveled to see us for repair of a sparse hairline. He’d had a procedure at a large chain and complained that the front of his hair was just never thick enough.
I’ve posted and you-tubed that I think there are really only 3 common mistakes folks can make in hair work. Number one is getting a big scar due to poor closure technique. Number 2 is having a perfectly straight and unnatural hairline. Mistake 3 is too little hair over too much bald head. There are others, but those are the big 3 that I see coming in the door of our office for repair evaluation.
This fellow, in my opinion, had #3. He reportedly had 1500 grafts placed, where I would have put 2500 or more. Now it’s unclear if that is due to budget, pre-existing hair that had not yet shed (and now that it’s gone he looks too thin), or poor growth. Regardless, in cases like this we cut the existing grafts down to about a quarter inch, then make slits right up to them, taking as much care as possible not to hit the roots while making new slits. Sometimes we shave the pre-existing grafts to facilitate placement, as in this case. Then we pack in the new hair.
He’ll look really pretty good for the next month as his old grafts and the new will give him a pretty decent crew cut, but then all will shed and it will likely take a little longer than virgin heads to start growing. He lives out of the area, and I’ve asked him to email pics in a few weeks and to blog on the forums. I do expect to get a postop picture when he’s in my area around the holidays and I’ll add this to the post.
Dr. Lindsey McLean VA
I’ve posted and you-tubed that I think there are really only 3 common mistakes folks can make in hair work. Number one is getting a big scar due to poor closure technique. Number 2 is having a perfectly straight and unnatural hairline. Mistake 3 is too little hair over too much bald head. There are others, but those are the big 3 that I see coming in the door of our office for repair evaluation.
This fellow, in my opinion, had #3. He reportedly had 1500 grafts placed, where I would have put 2500 or more. Now it’s unclear if that is due to budget, pre-existing hair that had not yet shed (and now that it’s gone he looks too thin), or poor growth. Regardless, in cases like this we cut the existing grafts down to about a quarter inch, then make slits right up to them, taking as much care as possible not to hit the roots while making new slits. Sometimes we shave the pre-existing grafts to facilitate placement, as in this case. Then we pack in the new hair.
He’ll look really pretty good for the next month as his old grafts and the new will give him a pretty decent crew cut, but then all will shed and it will likely take a little longer than virgin heads to start growing. He lives out of the area, and I’ve asked him to email pics in a few weeks and to blog on the forums. I do expect to get a postop picture when he’s in my area around the holidays and I’ll add this to the post.
Dr. Lindsey McLean VA
Attached Files