HT Reversal by Doctor Cole

[ryan555]

When I was 19, I had two transplants with one of the chains to restore a maturing hairline to a juvenile hairline and I have regretted it ever since. I did not have "corn rows" by any stretch, but several hundred mini-grafts were placed into a hairline that had become too low for my current age (33) and it did not look good. So I went and saw all the top docs around the country and got many different opinions.

Dr. Cole was the most aggressive in his approach, telling me he could basically reverse the transplant. I have to admit I was skeptical because many top-notch doctors told me that it could not be done. But I finally decided to go for it and let Dr. Cole take a crack. I have to say, after only one week, I am amazed at the result so far. He actually took those grafts out one by one and transplanted them back into my old scars. He also used Acell and PRP which has made a tremendous difference in the healing time. I have what appears to be brand new skin growing in around my hairline.

I will post some pics when this fully heals, but I wanted to share some hope for any guys out there suffering with a bad HT who think there is no way to fix it. Dr. Cole is a very special kind of talent and he is undoubtedly the man to see for difficult repairs.

[CIT_Girl]

Ryan, I don't believe I had the chance to meet you when you came in for your procedure but I'm so glad to hear that everything went well. I definitely look forward to any updates on your healing and scar grafting growth. Best wishes!

[KeepTheHair]

Yup...Dr. Cole is extremely good...

[Don'tDoIt]

ryan555, roughly how many hairs were in each of your minigrafts?

Also, did you consider laser removal? Why did you decide against it? I recall reading on another forum that one guy had some of his minigrafts FUE'd out, and others removed by laser. He said that in retrospect, he would have just gotten them all removed by laser, since he did not have the grafts implanted into his strip scar.

[ryan555]

ryan555, roughly how many hairs were in each of your minigrafts?

Also, did you consider laser removal? Why did you decide against it? I recall reading on another forum that one guy had some of his minigrafts FUE'd out, and others removed by laser. He said that in retrospect, he would have just gotten them all removed by laser, since he did not have the grafts implanted into his strip scar.

I'm not 100% sure how many grafts were in there. They told me about 800 were originally transplanted, but I'm not sure all of them grew. I had another doctor take out 200 of them before Dr. Cole worked on me, and I believe he removed about another 400 - 500.

I decided against laser removal for a few reasons. First, these were not follicular units but rather older "mini" and "micros" so there was some ridging, pitting, and scarring that needed to be removed. I think if I had lasered them out there would just be some bumpy looking skin underneath. Second, I had some native hair still growing in my hairline and did not want to wipe all that out with a laser. Third, I figured why go through several sessions with a laser when I could knock it out in one day. Finally, I thought it was a bad idea to waste the hair if I didn't have to and I really wanted some work done on the scars.

I think there may have been a few grafts left behind because some were too close together for Dr. Cole to take out all at once. Depending on how this looks when it has healed completely, I may opt for some laser sessions to zap the few remaining stragglers.

[Dr. Glenn Charles]

Very interesting and cool. I also am now offering ACell to my patients and plan to strongly recommend it to patients in similar situations to yours. It has some real potential to help improve wound healing and may play a big role in repairative cases. Good luck.

[ryan555]

Dr. Charles,

I am totally convinced about the Acell and PRP. I had another very reputable doctor who you all know well remove 200 of them about 3 months ago. He did a good job and everything healed OK but he did not use Acell or PRP. With twice as many grafts removed 9 days ago, I'd say the healing is where I was at 6 or 7 weeks after the prior procedure. In fact, you cannot see any graft extraction sites at all. The skin is still pink and a little blotchy, but I think it's going to look really nice in a few more weeks (knock on wood).

[chicago99]

Hey Rayan555, could you please provide us with an update of your repair work by Dr. Cole? Merry Christmas,

[ryan555]

Hey Rayan555, could you please provide us with an update of your repair work by Dr. Cole? Merry Christmas,

There's not much to update. It still looks quite good, all things considered. My hairline is a little bit choppy, partly because it has thinned a little bit and partly because so many grafts were extracted. There is a slight whitish discoloration that can be seen at very close inspection under certain lighting conditions, but it is not very noticeable. All in all, I would say I am glad I took this approach instead of opting to have a hairline excision or laser removal.

[win200]

Ryan, did you remove the grafts because you had loss behind the juvenile hairline, or simply because the juvenile hairline didn't look appropriate for your age (or was badly designed)? At 33, there are still plenty of guys running around with juvenile hairlines (damn them! ).

[chicago99]

Hey Ryan, did dr. Cole remove your 500 grafts in one day? If so, how long did it take? Also, did he suture the extraction sites? Thanks in advance!

[ryan555]

Hey Ryan, did dr. Cole remove your 500 grafts in one day? If so, how long did it take? Also, did he suture the extraction sites? Thanks in advance!

I spent about a half day in there. I ended up having like four sessions overall to get them all out, but only did one with Dr Cole (only because it was more convenient to go to a different doctor).

[gillenator]

From a time perspective, the removal of 500 grafts in one session would not be difficult unless there were other complications.

[northeastguy]

Ryan, Do you have any before and afters you can share?

[ryan555]

Ryan, Do you have any before and afters you can share?

I'm afraid I don't. Dr Cole took before photos, but I never went back to have proper after photos taken.