transplant nightmare

[jsw72]

Hi,
Just read your story and wanted to add my sentiments. I started losing my hear around 20 years of age - I'm now 38. It bothered me a lot at the start and as the years have gone on, I'm ok with with it. Sometimes it pees me off just because I can't change my appearance, other than growing a beard which sees me looking like a member of the Taliban (I keep it shaved - with a razor for about the last 8 years but in the last year, started letting it grow a little but only to a stubble).

The only reason I'm on here is because I saw someone on telly with nice thick hair and I thought 'lucky b@stard'. I started Googling hair transplants and was shocked by the number of celebs who have had transplants.

Anyway, just registering to pass on my support from the UK, and tell you that you look really good (I'm not gay or ought). You're probably finding it tougher because you're a good looking dude - if you were ugly you might not be as bothered.

I've not seen your scars but in my (completely unprofessional opinion) I'd see what the experts advice would be on minimising it and shave the dome. It's the way forward.

Good luck.

[chasguy]

Thanks for that link. I will definitely try it. I also have some burn scars on my chest that could benefit fro this stuff. We'll see. Hopefully I'll have some luck.

I have a scar on my ankle I'm testing Cica Care on right now. Maybe in a few months I'll have a personal experience to share

[Jack21]

thanks for the link

Thanks for that link. I will definitely try it. I also have some burn scars on my chest that could benefit fro this stuff. We'll see. Hopefully I'll have some luck.

There are non-surgical methods of scar treatment. If you're going to shave your head anyway, look into silicone sheeting. Below are some before-after pics I pulled from the web. No one knows for sure why silicone sheeting works, but it does actually work for many people

http://www.rejuveness.com/Scar-Treat...tures-c37.html

[Jack21]

thanks

Thanks to all who have encouraged me to just go with the shaved head. I have pretty much already made up my mind to ditch the rug over Christmas vacation. As I said before, I am not at all unhappy with the way I look with a shaved head. I do not think that I look handsome but I do not think that I look gruesome either. Too many women around me have said just the opposite - that I must do something to maintain the appearance of hair. I am not sure why they would care so much either way. If I had people in my corner like those of you who have been encouraging I could easily get through the whole thing.

Jack21, add me to the list of people who think you look great with a shaved head. You should go with that look. If any of the transplanted hairs look unnatural or pluggy, then get them lasered off.

Illinoisbaldy, a commenter on the Hair Loss Help forum had grafts removed by FUE and then had further grafts removed by laser. In retrospect, he wishes that he had them all removed by laser. You can certainly get those grafts removed if you so desire.

As for your scar, you seem dead set against the horseshoe look and you look great with a shaved head. For that reason, I think that you should consider FUE into the scar.

Keep in mind, though, that you will probably need two or more FUE-into-scar procedures to get the scar to be undetected with a buzz cut. Furthermore, even with a lot of FUE-into-scar, the scar likely will never go undetected with a shaved look. Also, as my previous post stated, there is little photographic proof that FUE-into-the-scar really works well. Even from Dr. Cole, who does a lot of it.

The bottom line is that you look great with either a shaved or buzzed head. I say ditch that rug once and for all.

[Don'tDoIt]

Jack21, add me to the list of people who think you look great with a shaved head. You should go with that look. If any of the transplanted hairs look unnatural or pluggy, then get them lasered off.

Illinoisbaldy, a commenter on the Hair Loss Help forum had grafts removed by FUE and then had further grafts removed by laser. In retrospect, he wishes that he had them all removed by laser. You can certainly get those grafts removed if you so desire.

As for your scar, you seem dead set against the horseshoe look and you look great with a shaved head. For that reason, I think that you should consider FUE into the scar.

Keep in mind, though, that you will probably need two or more FUE-into-scar procedures to get the scar to be undetected with a buzz cut. Furthermore, even with a lot of FUE-into-scar, the scar likely will never go undetected with a shaved look. Also, as my previous post stated, there is little photographic proof that FUE-into-the-scar really works well. Even from Dr. Cole, who does a lot of it.

The bottom line is that you look great with either a shaved or buzzed head. I say ditch that rug once and for all.

[CIT_Girl]

CIT girl, I am surprised that you would use the before/after images for that patient who obviously has longer hair in the "after" photo. The longer hair makes it impossible to tell if Dr. Cole's work really had an impact. Why did you choose this case?

I see what you mean and agree that the after photo isn't a great comparative image because of the inconsistency in length (but we can't really make a patient in for a follow-up shave his head for the sake of our photos). I just grabbed that one from our website because it was one of the few scar grafting procedures where a patient was willing to his shave his head. Few of our repair patients are comfortable being photo released so the images I can share are somewhat limited. Here's another case on a patient with longer hair:




Regarding Jack21's shaved-head photo: I think you look great! I'm not sure why there are so many anti-shaved-head sentiments on this forum...could it be a regional or cultural thing, or is it just a common personal preference? I took a little informal poll of the girls in our office this morning and I got three resounding "YES!"'s to the question "do you like guys with shaved heads?" We even have a tech here who shaves his head and it seems like girls can't keep their hands of his head!

[chasguy]

What could be improved? The appearance of the scar? As I understand it that requires further surgery. Surgery is what got me into this mess in the first place, and my surgeon was far from incompetent. He is in fact very well known. Having another surgical procedure to try and minimize the appearance of a previous surgical procedure MAY yield some positive results ultimately. I do not want to gamble on MAY.

I am perfectly content with the way I look with a shaved head - scar and all. I need to be strong enough to weather the months of insults and frightened/ horrified looks and wait it out until people accept my looks. My plan is to come back after Christmas vacation with my hair shaved with a #1. By winter I will be pale and the difference in color between my scalp and my face will not be so pronounced. The world is going to just have to get used to "Jack the bald guy" who used to be "Jack the good looking guy". I got through some horrible years in the army, I will get through this. I have to.

There are non-surgical methods of scar treatment. If you're going to shave your head anyway, look into silicone sheeting. Below are some before-after pics I pulled from the web. No one knows for sure why silicone sheeting works, but it does actually work for many people

http://www.rejuveness.com/Scar-Treatment-Before-After-Pictures-c37.html

[Jack21]

my bald head

This is my real head, shaved and shiny.




And this is at Halloween with a rug obviously. Compare and cry.

[Jack21]

I've tried to enhance the pic. but it is a very low resolution webcam shot.

[Jack21]

This is what I look like with a buzz and a bit of that thickening spray. You can't see the scar at the back, of course, which is the major drawback to doing this. Also if you look more closely (which you cannot do in this poor quality pic) at my head you would see that it is very unnatural looking - like a bit of stubble and a bit of paint.

[Jack21]

acceptance

Even if the improvement were only modest, it is still an improvement and still going to help you recover some of your own self esteem

What could be improved? The appearance of the scar? As I understand it that requires further surgery. Surgery is what got me into this mess in the first place, and my surgeon was far from incompetent. He is in fact very well known. Having another surgical procedure to try and minimize the appearance of a previous surgical procedure MAY yield some positive results ultimately. I do not want to gamble on MAY.

I am perfectly content with the way I look with a shaved head - scar and all. I need to be strong enough to weather the months of insults and frightened/ horrified looks and wait it out until people accept my looks. My plan is to come back after Christmas vacation with my hair shaved with a #1. By winter I will be pale and the difference in color between my scalp and my face will not be so pronounced. The world is going to just have to get used to "Jack the bald guy" who used to be "Jack the good looking guy". I got through some horrible years in the army, I will get through this. I have to.

[chasguy]

If I could get those results I would be very happy, but I seem to remember saying exactly the same thing to myself before my HT 5 years ago. I have seen a number of men over the years with shaved heads or v. closely cropped hair whose surgical scars from HTs were very obvious. I've seen men like this at the gym, at football games, at the grocery store. They were obviously at peace with their appearance. I mean they could all have been wearing baseball caps but weren't. I need to make peace with my apperance and try and salvage some sort of life. Mine is a cautionary tale. I have let obsession with my hair ruin the last 5 or 6 years of my life. I wish that I had never heard of any of these "solutions" whether surgery, concealers, or toupees. I wish that I had just kept my head shaved when I got out of the army. My best friend starting balding in college, shaved his head right then and there and has never looked back. He is the most self confident person I know and lives a happy life while I hide in my apartment b/c I am so ashamed of my appearance.

Even if the improvement were only modest, it is still an improvement and still going to help you recover some of your own self esteem

[chasguy]

My scar is virtually identical to the one in the last picture you posted. It is not as fresh or bloody ,obviously, because 5 years have passed, but in size, shape, length and thickness it is virtually identical. You must understand that b/c of my experience I am very, very reluctant about having anyone take anything sharp to my head or any part of me for that matter. I have also had to have numerous shoulder surgeries since I was discharged which have left my shoulder,arm, and part of my neck covered in surgical scars and arthroscope puncture holes.

For the shoulder scars, try Cica Care silicone sheeting and see if they are improved. If they are, perhaps the same could be applied to your HT scar. Cica Care has had some really really positive reviews

[Jack21]

thanks

Thank you. I've found it and am beginning to go through the posts. I really appreciate your help.

Jack21 you should go to the hair loss help website and scroll down the page until you get to the section titled "Hair Transplant Repair." You should then read every thread in that section going back at least to last year. There is a huge amount of information in there. You need to do this to educate yourself about your options. It is at hair loss help with no spaces between the words hair loss help. It is a dot com site. After the dot com type in /forums.

Another way to find this site is to type "hair loss help forum" into a Google search and the site will be the first site of the Google search results.

Spencer, if you read this, sorry about plugging another website but I think that Jack21 deserves all the help that we can give, considering what he has gone through.

[Don'tDoIt]

Jack21 you should go to the hair loss help website and scroll down the page until you get to the section titled "Hair Transplant Repair." You should then read every thread in that section going back at least to last year. There is a huge amount of information in there. You need to do this to educate yourself about your options. It is at hair loss help with no spaces between the words hair loss help. It is a dot com site. After the dot com type in /forums.

Another way to find this site is to type "hair loss help forum" into a Google search and the site will be the first site of the Google search results.

Spencer, if you read this, sorry about plugging another website but I think that Jack21 deserves all the help that we can give, considering what he has gone through.