HT Reversal by Doctor Cole

[dmeyer8]

Ryan, are you able to post any pics?

[dangoesback]

Chuck, can you advise me on my situation? I have had 650 grafts with Dr. Bolton, where roughly 450 of them are multiple follicular unit grafts. Would it even be possible to remove so many grafts?

Any advice you have would be extremely helpful. I've been communicating with Vicky at your office since the beginning of the summer but I haven't been able to talk to Dr. Cole at all.

Is there any hope for someone in my situation? My scar isn't very wide but I have fine, straight, brown hair. I'm hoping that one day I can buzz my head and live a normal life, something I was deprived of two years ago, and that has completely destroyed my social life.

Thanks.

[35YrsAfter]

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

If you're not too far away, or plan to be in the Atlanta area, you are always welcome to come in for photos.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office - forhair.com - Cole Hair Transplant, 1045 Powers Place, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 - Phone 678-566-1011 - email 35YrsAfter at chuck@forhair.com
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice
Please feel free to call or email me with any questions. Ask for Chuck

[dangoesback]

Hi Ryan,

Would you be willing to take and upload photos yourself? Or otherwise, how does it look? I'm 23, had a transplant with Dr. Bolton in Ft. Lauderdale in July of 2012. The results just don't look natural and I'm thinking about having Dr. Cole do a reversal and fill in my scar. How do you wear your hair now? Is the scar or previous graft sites visible?

Thanks,
Dan

[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.

[northeastguy]

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

[gillenator]

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

[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).

[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!

[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! ).

[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.

[chicago99]

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

[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).

[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]

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.