People regreting HT

[Kennedy]

I've been through this forum and i've read all of topics from many people who went through HT regreting that they did! I was wondering why would someone regret having hair transplant?
I mean even if you didnt have the density that you were looking for still thinning better than slick bald

[ejj]

Hi Kennedy

I think that the majority who regret a procedure, do so due to scarring. Scarring does happen and I think its difficult to correct.
Slick bald is a lot better than thin hair and horrific scarring in my opinion.

The procedure is very limited due to donor limitations, every now and then some promote donor regeneration and claim they can create two or more hairs from one, under scrutiny these wild claims rarely stack up.

Some people now regret the procedure due to the donor being used to build up a frontal hair line and temple points, that relies on the hair behind remaining thick and untouched by mpb, unfortunatly with the onset of mpb the result looks less than satisfactory and often most of the donor has been used up also.

I would build up the frontal tuft, forelock area and hit this area only, donor permitting you can look at other areas later, the main objective is to be able to look normal and live a normal life, without withdrawing from every day activities that normal people take for granted

Regards

ejj

[JoeTillman]

Hair restoration regret exists for many reasons but in my experience it is not so much from scarring as it is from two other more common reasons; Unrealistic expectations or poor growth.

This is obviously relative to the experience I've had in the past working for two top clinics and I'm sure that the scarring issue may be at least somewhat more prevalent with lesser clinics but even then, when I would receive repair inquiries, they would not be so much about the donor scar as they would be about poor and/or unnatural results. When I was working for Dr. Wong the repair ratio was about one out of every three or four cases. Some had bad scars, yes, but most had just bad results overall and wanted an increase in naturalness and/or density. To clarify, I'm talking about patients coming in seeking repair from work received at other clinics.

One thing that never made sense to me was the idea that the surgeons that were trying to repair bad work that brought a patient in their doors would wind up taking all of the blame if the repair did not work out as hoped. It would be like me blaming Dr. Wong if he tried and failed to fix my two wide donor scars that I got from Dr. Norris in the early nineties. I'd be unhappy about the result, sure, but how could I legitimately blame him for not fixing the screw up by Dr. Norris? Dr. Norris was the source of all my problems for nine years and the eventual plummeting of my self confidence but even then, today, I share some of that responsibility simply because I was too trusting at the time.

Doctors that are trying to repair pre-existing failures are working from a deficit and this means that the outcome has a lot more going against it than that of a virgin scalp. The variables are of a magnitude more complex when trying to calculate a result for a repair patient. Because of this I know of some top tier doctors that rarely accept repair cases because of the added difficulty and potential for public condemnation.

[jamesst11]

I've been through this forum and i've read all of topics from many people who went through HT regreting that they did! I was wondering why would someone regret having hair transplant?
I mean even if you didnt have the density that you were looking for still thinning better than slick bald

It starts with a lack of research. This is then perpetuated by butcher doctors that feed off of their vulnerability. I think 90% of people that regret HT surgery are like me. They didn't do proper research and go to a place like Bosley, a place where ethics is minimal and the financial bottom line is the priority. I wouldn't be shocked if the surgeons at places like this get fired if they don't meet a quota or something. You see clinics that are doing multiple transplants in one day and have the technicians, who are vastly un-experienced, do all the recipient placing. They have a quick consultation with you, say you will look great, schedule an appointment and the day of just butcher your head with absolutely no remorse. My "doctor" literally didn't even know where she placed the grafts a month after. She would look through my chart and say things like, "o.k., so you're on propecia" and I would almost explode at her and say, "no! I have told you like 5 times I am not"... I mean, either she is the DUMBEST surgeon I have ever met, or knew fully well that an HT was a bad idea. She did it anyways. I know for fact she has done it to others as well. On one case their was a guy with almost a full head of hair thinning just a little in the crown. She placed all this grafts right in the middle of the crown and 6 months later he started to lose hair all around it and it looked weird.

I don't mean to get into personal stories, but I do because they depict, first hand, what happens in the industry. The majority of patients that end of regretting HT's are those that go to unethical OR unknowleadgable, poorly trained doctors. I will say this with 100% certainty. Through my personal experience, I think this industry is both evil and beautiful, as with most industries. I can only hate it until I see a repair case by an excellent surgeon and see how they have finally changed some one's life. I definitely plan on getting another HT, actually I am saving up for it, doing CRAZY amounts of research and taking all the precautions this time.

[Driver]

I think that those who have said it has to do with expectations have nailed it. Some of this is on the patient (to understand that FUT and FUE are NOT magic) and some of this is on the doctor to give the patient realistic expectations of what they will get for their money.

I think that there are certainly bad outcomes we see on these boards but they are largely exceptions. I have been on many boards where someone showed their outcome and really felt that it looked awful/terrible/they were robbed etc, but I thought it looked just fine i.e. natural and age appropriate. I.e. most of those dissatisfied had unrealistic expectations.

[arfy]

I was wondering why would someone regret having hair transplant?
I mean even if you didnt have the density that you were looking for still thinning better than slick bald

One of the biggest risks is that the transplant won't look natural. For example:

Texture of transplanted hair sometimes doesn't match (transplanted hair can be kinky).
Transplanted hair can be incorrectly angled.
The spacing between transplanted hairs might not match the remaining hair (hairline issue).
The grafts can be pitted (divots) or bumpy (grafts not seated perfectly flat).
Surgery can accelerate your hair loss.
Persistent redness in the scalp that doesn't go away.
Poor future planning and not enough donor hair, resulting in an unfinished look.
Bad or incorrect looking hairline (too straight, too even, odd shape, too round, etc)
Etc.

Hair loss sucks, but an unnatural looking hair transplant is even worse. That's probably why guys can regret their hair transplant. If you're just losing your hair, it's normal and nobody will care. If you have a bad hair transplant, then people will notice.

[monty3001]

One of the biggest risks is that the transplant won't look natural. For example:

Texture of transplanted hair sometimes doesn't match (transplanted hair can be kinky).
Transplanted hair can be incorrectly angled.
The spacing between transplanted hairs might not match the remaining hair (hairline issue).
The grafts can be pitted (divots) or bumpy (grafts not seated perfectly flat).
Surgery can accelerate your hair loss.
Persistent redness in the scalp that doesn't go away.
Poor future planning and not enough donor hair, resulting in an unfinished look.
Bad or incorrect looking hairline (too straight, too even, odd shape, too round, etc)
Etc.

Hair loss sucks, but an unnatural looking hair transplant is even worse. That's probably why guys can regret their hair transplant. If you're just losing your hair, it's normal and nobody will care. If you have a bad hair transplant, then people will notice.

This^^ The only thing worse than being bald if you don't suit baldness is have a dodgy hair transplant. It's a lot worse.

[USP678]

many doctors and people representing doctors use the term "expectations" as an excuse to blame the patience for regrets, but this is just a cheap way out because many of these clinics gloss over the details and make it seem that these procedures are just a simple out patience procedure. They will overstate the hair being transplanted as looking very natural...but they understate the scars that are created to get the hair and in many cases a thin look for severally bald people. Also, many clinics use photo manipulation to show photos of people that appear to have nice thick hair but the reality is that in correct lighting it is thin. I would say that there is place for hair transplants but this should be for people with little hair loss but then the clinics would not survive with these number of people.

[pidda]

all my hair transplant did for me was that it made me fantasize about putting a bullet in my own head to just end it already

[HTsoon]

The elephant in the room is mental health, i cant count the various times ive read about guys being suicidal about hair loss, most of the time the guys have very little hair loss, i think a combo of body dismorphic disorder, low self esteem, and surgery simply do not mix. If youre feeling suicidal about hair, i would urge you to seek help from a professional and stay away from surgery until youve coped with hair loss.

Hair loss is progressive a hair transplant does not cure hair loss, even if youre on finasteride you will at some point in your life lose enough hair to the point of needing another procedure. If youre not mentally stable or prepared this will cause you even more heartache and depression.

Ive said this before but i think its true, surgery can help deal with an insecurity, but it can actually lower an already low self esteem, there is a difference between the two.