Hair transplant just a short-term result?

[Bluetox]

Looks good on the picture Jotronic. Wish I had a beard like you I watched your HT story and from what I could gather you are a special case since you have been able to have much more transplant then normal people. So what would the head look like if it was not a special case like yourself?
How long do you expect this new head of hair to last?
Ones you had one is it normal to have several transplants? Just wondering as I would have to travel very far for a HT.
To be honest I got tons of questions, but maybe not the right place to ask.


Yes Topcat you are probably right. Pretty early in my "research" I been stuck with 3 doctors in my mind, Dr. Wong, Dr. Epstein and Dr. Feller. I have yet to see anything bad about them, so either they are great at their work or people with bad results just dont step forward. Either way I take everything I read on forums like this and the internet in general with a grain of salt, but thanks for the warning.

I'm actually baffled that people take hair transplants at other doctors not on the IAHRS or atleast do a little research before. I thought this forum was one that weren't being moderated by the industry, but maybe I'm wrong?

[J_B_Davis]

Looks good on the picture Jotronic. Wish I had a beard like you I watched your HT story and from what I could gather you are a special case since you have been able to have much more transplant then normal people. So what would the head look like if it was not a special case like yourself?
How long do you expect this new head of hair to last?
Ones you had one is it normal to have several transplants? Just wondering as I would have to travel very far for a HT.
To be honest I got tons of questions, but maybe not the right place to ask.


Yes Topcat you are probably right. Pretty early in my "research" I been stuck with 3 doctors in my mind, Dr. Wong, Dr. Epstein and Dr. Feller. I have yet to see anything bad about them, so either they are great at their work or people with bad results just dont step forward. Either way I take everything I read on forums like this and the internet in general with a grain of salt, but thanks for the warning.

I'm actually baffled that people take hair transplants at other doctors not on the IAHRS or atleast do a little research before. I thought this forum was one that weren't being moderated by the industry, but maybe I'm wrong?

You are smart to take what you read on these forums with a grain of salt. There are lots of opinions and you never really know what's behind them. The IAHRS is a excellent starting point because most of the top hair transplant surgeons in the world are a part of it. From Dr. Bisanga to Hasson and Wong, Feller, Esptein, Cole and many others, but, and this is a big but, these lists are just a starting point. You need to do your research outside of these forums. Meet with patients and see the work with your own eyes.

You know the old saying, opinions are like a-holes, everybody's got one. Do your own research and take both the harsh critics and the cheerleaders for what they are, just anonymous people on the internet. In the end you'll figure out who the best doctors are for your needs.

[topcat]

Bluetox the longer you wait and the more you learn through reading and interactions the better. Always remember many of posters on the forums are not even real in the sense that they have actual experience or that they are actually looking for answers themselves. They are simply here to steer topics and conversation in a specific direction. Usually one can only pick up on this with time it helps to look at their posting history here and elsewhere along with what they have posted as far as data about their own situation including pictures. This is a very bizarre industry but then again medicine in general has become something completely bizarre with expensive profit driven therapies being promoted with patients and family members being made to feel guilty if they do not choose what they are presented with and one can only get past that with some knowledge as with hair transplantation.

It helps to read history on some of the other forums. It’s time consuming but history will tell you so much at least what has not been deleted or buried at the request of a rep or clinic.

And I agree plenty of a-holes out there that live their life for that next dollar any way they can get it.

[Bluetox]

You need to do your research outside of these forums. Meet with patients and see the work with your own eyes.

Wish I could do this but I live in Norway so thats a big problem.

[Jotronic]

Bluetox,

My case is fairly unusual in that I've had so many grafts after I already had two bad procedures and two stacked donor scars. Had I started out as a virgin scalp my case would not be that unusual as I'd be on the high end of what an average patient can get in terms of shear numbers.

To give you an idea of what I would look like without so many grafts you can simply look at my result after two passes. This had me at 4825 grafts which is not unusual at all for a virgin scalp and in fact is quite normal. The photos below are at six months after my second pass...







In direct overhead sunlight...









As far as the longevity goes, I fully expect these results to last me indefinitely. They lasted quite well so far

Is it normal to have more work after you've had one procedure? Yes. Is it necessary? Not really but it depends on a few factors. First, if your loss is stabilized through medication. If it is then the chance of needing a second are low. If it has been only slowed then yes, you will need another in the future. But even if your loss is stabilized you may get hair greed which is fairly common. What I tell patients is that if you have one procedure then I guarantee that there is a chance you'll have a second.

If you like my beard in those shots check it out two weeks ago in London



This is 12 days of growth. Unfortunately I'm seeing more and more grey hairs coming in

[Bluetox]

Edit: problems with image links

[Bluetox]

Looks good Jotronic, but to be honest I don't see any difference and I wish the pictures were dated.
If I understand correct the elasticity is the only deciding factor for the amount of transplants a person can have?
If that’s correct then having a transplant after losing hair for just one year like in my case wouldn't be very wise?


My hairline


Lost alot of hair the last year....


I assume I will end up with my fathers head of hair


or like my uncle


Is using medication after a hair transplant recommended to all patients?

[Jotronic]

Looks good Jotronic, but to be honest I don't see any difference and I wish the pictures were dated.
If I understand correct the elasticity is the only deciding factor for the amount of transplants a person can have?
If that’s correct then having a transplant after losing hair for just one year like in my case wouldn't be very wise?

I'm confused. You don't see any difference? Where? As far as dated images, all of those images were six months after my 2nd procedure. If you mean you don't see any difference between then and now then I can't help you there. My hair is thicker all over but when you have already existing coverage additional density is more difficult to see than if you went from bald to not bald. Make sense? My biggest cosmetic improvement was by far the first procedure because I was not only very bald but I had the pluggy grafts so I not only went from bald to not bald I also went from abnormal to normal. That was the big "night and day" change.

If I understand correct the elasticity is the only deciding factor for the amount of transplants a person can have?

Incorrect. Donor density is equally if not more important. Just yesterday we had a patient that had a fairly tight scalp but his donor density was insane. We got 7000 grafts in one pass.

Based on your existing loss a procedure might make sense but only if you are confident your loss has been stabilized with medication and you are not too young. Forgive me but I do not recall if you stated this information. Anyone that has a procedure is guaranteed to potentially need more work in the future. Once you're cut, you're cut and it cannot be undone. If you do have a procedure and you need more work in the future it is not the end of the world and as long as you move forward sensibly and do not get greedy then you may be fine with it. If you are not prepared for this possibility then forget about hair restoration completely.

[Bluetox]

I'm confused. You don't see any difference? Where? As far as dated images, all of those images were six months after my 2nd procedure. If you mean you don't see any difference between then and now then I can't help you there. My hair is thicker all over but when you have already existing coverage additional density is more difficult to see than if you went from bald to not bald. Make sense? My biggest cosmetic improvement was by far the first procedure because I was not only very bald but I had the pluggy grafts so I not only went from bald to not bald I also went from abnormal to normal. That was the big "night and day" change.

Yes I ment on those pictures compared to now and yes that makes sense

Incorrect. Donor density is equally if not more important. Just yesterday we had a patient that had a fairly tight scalp but his donor density was insane. We got 7000 grafts in one pass.

Oh ok. Thanks for clearing that up. Lets use the picture of my father as an example. Could he expect more then one transplant to look optimal if he had a average donor area \ scalp?

Based on your existing loss a procedure might make sense but only if you are confident your loss has been stabilized with medication and you are not too young. Forgive me but I do not recall if you stated this information. Anyone that has a procedure is guaranteed to potentially need more work in the future. Once you're cut, you're cut and it cannot be undone. If you do have a procedure and you need more work in the future it is not the end of the world and as long as you move forward sensibly and do not get greedy then you may be fine with it. If you are not prepared for this possibility then forget about hair restoration completely.

What if using medication is not an option for me and is using medication after a hair transplant recommended to all patients?

In general I'am sceptical to the use of medication unless it is matter of life or death, also the medication is extremly expensive and strictly regulated in Norway. My main reason though for not wanting to use medication for hair loss is the risk of going limp in the down stairs department. That would 100x worse then being bald.

Why does age matter?
I have friends who gone bald at the age of 24, I'm 29 though and started losing hair about 1,5 years ago.

[FearTheLoss]

If you'd like to see long term results you can see my own. To be fair, I did have a procedure 2.5 years ago but it was mainly into an area that had never been touched before, the bottom half of my crown. Before that my previous procedure was in 2004.

https://www.hairtransplantmentor.com

Before...





And me a few months ago at the gym...

Thank you very much for posting. These results are incredible and give me hope for what I could achieve if I lose most of my hair.

[Bluetox]

What increases my doubts even more are people who are in the media alot like one Norwegian model who had a free hair transplant if he wrote about it in his blogg. He documented with pictures and wrote twice in a span of a few months and never heard anything about it again. Another example is Wayne Rooney. He looked great the first year or so, now it looks like he is using tons of concealer to hide that his new hair is thinning or disappearing.

Video of that Norwegian model I was refering to:

2011: http://www.vgtv.no/#!/video/38906/he...ransplantasjon

2013: http://www.vgtv.no/#!/video/63970/sj...bruke-i-sommer

As you can see there isn't any noticeable difference at all