Tacola`s story

[Tacola]

Hi!

I`m new her, but I have been lurking these sites for a while. Now I`m scheduled for a treatment with Doctor Gho in may (orginaly in september, but there was an canellation). The procedure is with 1200 grafts, and hopefully this will help me out when it comes to the density problem. What do you think when you look at my hair loss on the picture? If you have time to answer, I`m very happy since this is something that I do not know to much about what one can expect with 1200 grafts.

I`m choosing Gho because of regeneration of the donorarea so that I one day can use it again. Maybe next year. The reason why I`m only doing 1200 grafts is because they told me that I couldnt put more hairs in since they were not so sparse in the first place. In addition to this they also spoke of that they didnt want to exhauste the donorarea, giving it time to heal properly. What do you think my results with 1200 grafts will look like?

I`m now on a smal dose of propecia and just started to use rogain again. I`m also using some kind of tablets called kollagen which is some kind of supplement for the health of the hair. I know that rogain has helped me before, but it is just such a hazzle to put in and wear it. Do you know if I can add it for about an hour before I wash it out again. Doing this to times a day, is a bit easier. Do you think this will work?

Thanks guys! Hopefully there will be a cure availible through Replicel soon! Or one of the other candidates. I talked to them per mail the other day, and they are pretty much on schedule releasing data in april/may this year. They also said that they would release pictures from the test showing hair growth (if so).

Best wishes! (Sorry for my bad english!)

[NotBelievingIt]

Wait...when did you sneak into my house and take pictures of my head? WTF!

I guess I don't need to post any of my own photos...as what you've got going on on the top of your head is basically the same as mine, though I think I'm a bit further along in the loss but my front is a tad thicker and with less of an obvious M...but in general its the same.

Your hair in the second pic, while a bit blurry, is obviously shortly after a haircut and I think it looks great. Probably can't tell a darn thing from any angle except top down.

[Tacola]

Hehe, I guess we`re in the same boat then

The first picture is with wet hair and the second picture is shortly after a cut. I do have very thick hair on the side of my head, and my hair loss is pretty much diffuse thinner in the normal male pattern hair loss area.

What do you think I can do with about 1200 grafts added to my scalp? I will put them in the top region from the crown and to the front. I`m not gonna lower the hairline or anything, just thicken it up. Hopefully this will have me going until a couple of years down the line when Replicel, or one of the others, will make it into market.

[NotBelievingIt]

I really can't speak to grafts in terms of count and what it will do to density.

Question and before/after pics should be asked for in the HT portion of the site.

[25 going on 65]

I feel compelled to say I, and many others, are very skeptical of Gho's claims to be regenerating donor follicles. If that's the main reason you're going to him, I would be very cautious and research heavily beforehand.
I don't want to scare you and I'm not trying to change your mind one way or the other. Just make sure you stay on top of the research. Regrowing donor hair is something of a holy grail in surgical transplants, and if he's been doing it for as long as he says he has, I don't understand why there wouldn't be more noise about it. In my view it's an unverified claim at this point, even though there are members of this forum who would disagree with me.

Anyway, on your minoxidil (Rogaine) question: I thought you were supposed to wait several hours before wetting or washing your hair after applying. You could check the directions that come with the product and also call the company directly, but from what I understand, one hour would be too short a time.

Good luck to you!

[Tacola]

Thanks for the answer guys!

Regarding Gho I feel that I have done a lot of research. I have talked to them many times, and several other doctors. They say that they can regenerate, and they show it with pictures f.example. In addition they also use a smaler needle than normal FUE. Especially compared to the other clinics I have talked to. This meaning lesser scarring (none at all). Normal FUE leaves, as you know, small white dots in the back of your head. I have also followed the site (hasci.com) and some of theire customers (Joling f.example) is very open about it. I guess that he gets part of the treatment financed, but still he`s very open and shows the results that he is achieving. I find them quite good.

I talked to another clinic about what Gho is doing, and they told me that he is splitting follicles. I confronted hasci with this, and they that this is something that they dont do at all. They specify this on their site. So...if they say they do it, and they have a looooong waiting list of customers. But still I feel it comes down to believing it or not. I might be wrong, but I cant understand that someone (the clinic) that is that official and say that they can do this, are wrong. Why hasnt anyone tried to prove them wrong?

I might be wrong, but I really do trust them after several conversations with them and others. The big question with me is what I can expect with 1200 grafts. I will go throught with this, and when I have had it done I will keep you guys posted. I promise that. But still...I could really need advice in what to expect since I`m not in the same country as the clinic that I`m going to use, and therefore I have only had a consultation with them per mail. They told me that they could add to the density, but not how it would be. Do you have any idea what so ever concerning what I can expect with 1200 grafts? Do you think I might be able to grow the hair long with no very clear thinning? It`s only when my hair is wet, as in the pictures, you can se the thinning good. My hair is very thick so it covers it pretty good.

And also, I do appreciate that you tell me that you are a bit skeptic with Gho. I understand that.

For the record I`m 29 years old.

I`ll try to use rogain one-two times a day and keep it for some hours. During the night, there`s no problem, but it`s during the day/morning its a bit of a hazzle since I dont want to walk around with wet hair.

Puh, lets all hope that Replicel shows some good results in april/may!

[25 going on 65]

The big question with me is what I can expect with 1200 grafts. I will go throught with this, and when I have had it done I will keep you guys posted. I promise that. But still...I could really need advice in what to expect since I`m not in the same country as the clinic that I`m going to use, and therefore I have only had a consultation with them per mail. They told me that they could add to the density, but not how it would be. Do you have any idea what so ever concerning what I can expect with 1200 grafts? Do you think I might be able to grow the hair long with no very clear thinning? It`s only when my hair is wet, as in the pictures, you can se the thinning good. My hair is very thick so it covers it pretty good.

It's impossible to completely predict the outcome of a transplant. There are a lot of factors, like where and how the grafts are placed/angled, and what percentage of them grow. But assuming it's a competent surgery, you should have a significant cosmetic improvement in your frontal scalp with 1,200. Your hair doesn't look bad as is, so there's a good chance you'll be happy with the result, but it depends on your personal goals and expectations.

For what it's worth (this is just my opinion, and I'm not any kind of hair loss or transplant expert), 1,200 grafts at your stage of thinning seems reasonable. You don't want to front-load your scalp with too many grafts at this point, in order to conserve donor hair and also to avoid unnecessary shock loss, but you also want enough grafts to make a good-looking difference.
Some people might disagree about the number of grafts so I hope they will comment here and give their opinion.

[Tacola]

Thanks for your reply! It sounds pretty much what my thoughts are.

Like described I dont want to lower the hairline or anything, just fill in behind it. Make it a bit more dense. I know that my hair loss isnt that bad yet, and my goal is to keep my hair into my mid 30`s. By doing this procedure with minimum scarring I can cut it short when I reach 35 or so. If there`s any kind of hair loss cure by that point, that`s a bonus.

My main goal for this treatment is to get a bit more dense hair, so that I can acctually grow it a bit longer and dont think about the thinning. By keeping to a small dose of Propecia and rogain, and a healthy diet and excercise, I hope that I can keep the hair for 5-6 years more to come.

I have checked and talked with the surgeouns that will treat me, and they have told me that this can be done with good result for me. But I do really appreciate the meaning of people with the same "problem" (hair loss), since you are honest about what you think.

I have thought about more than 1200 grafts, but I dont want to blow my whole donorarea and dont want to risk shock loss or anything. This is what the doctors at Hasci (Gho) told me as well. They want to operate within the borders of safety, and they told me that my hair loss is not that severe yet, and by doing this treatment with 1200 grafts, I will keep my donor area (hopefully by regenerating it), but also by taking 1200 grafts I can, either way, do some more treatments. And also by taking "only" 1200 grafts this can, hopefully make a significant improvment on my situtation.

I do really appreciate your opinion! Thanks a lot! Since I`m a bit uncertain what to expect, I do really thank you for that. I know it`s hard to predict, but still. There are guiding lines

When I get down there in late may I`ll try to ask for some more information about the regenerating and why it hasnt been availible for everyone yet.

[25 going on 65]

You're welcome!
Many of us would be interested to read anything you have to post about your conversations with the clinic, and of course any results you post from your procedure. Good luck!

[Still-Researching]

Hi Tacola,
Its hard to see your level of hair loss based on your pictures as you have styled it, so it hides the loss.

What is your family history? How long have you been on propecia?

Agree with some other posters - that I think it is highly unlikely that Gho can do donor-regeneration without making a big wave through the community. The smart money is on that he is splitting the grafts - taking 2 out of a 4 hair graft, which makes scaring less visible but then again harder to make density in the recipient area.

Unless you have some hair loss hidden below your hair style - I would wait and see what is happening in the industry this year. If you are unlucky and you get hair transplanted into areas of existing hair - you could end up loosing as much as you gain from 1200 grafts in shockloss, unlikely but possible.

Anyway I just done a FUE HT myself - so not trying to talk you out of it, but my end result might be close to your current situation but then again I am also 37.

[Tacola]

I have not styled the hair on the pictures. The first one is right after the shower and the second one is after a haircut (taken before the first one).

My family history is pretty good. I do have a grandfather who was bald (mother side) and of my uncles on that side of the family everyone except one had a full and thick head of hair. On my father side of the family everone has a really thick head of hair. My grandfather even had black and thick hair when he died aged 90.

Concerning the splitting of the follicles with Gho. I asked them about this, and specified that this was something that I was wondering about. I told them what you are saying, but they said that this was not the case. They said that they acctually mulitplied it. I dont know why no one else has taken this to their facility of treatment, but I cant understand why he has been aloved to keep on going and saying that he does this if it is not true. They even tried to take him to court, but he won that lawsuit.

I feel like this is something that I have to do. I know that I could wait and see, but still I do want to have a pretty good head of hair when I`m at my age. Hopefully 1200 grafts will do this. They also told me that they didnt want to take more grafts because of dangers of shocking the excisting hairs. So I do think that they are aware of this....

But still...I dont know.

[Tacola]

Regarding the propecia I have been on it for almost a year, but had to go off it for some time because of some travelling. Now I`m taking half a tablet. Hopefully this will have pretty much the same effect as taking a whole tablet...

[NotBelievingIt]

http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/album.php?albumid=364&pictureid=3049

This was one of the albums that came up when I refreshed the site.

Will give you an idea roughly. Its not 1200 grafts and its over a wider range of the head then you're looking for, but it gives you a *very* good idea of what results will look like.

It almost makes me rethink it.

Too bad i'm a friggin' tight wad and wouldn't want to spend $10k

Maybe if I make another spectacular trade in the market I'll do it. I made one back in '09 that netted $10k after taxes..then I proceeded to do the typical and think I'm the shit and lost it back heh

[Tacola]

Ok. I guess I`m at this point now regarding my hair loss, so hopefully the extra 1200 grafts will give it more a bit more density than on the pictures you attached, and hopefully I`ll manage to keep it that way until some other cure is on the market within the next 3-4 years. I`ll take another picture of my hair loss when the hair is dry to day so that you can see how it looks then. Now it`s a bit longer than on the pictures above.

I have sent an extra mail to Hasci and Gho where I`m asking directly what their procedure is, and where I ask them to confirm that they dont splitt the follicles once and for all. If they say that they dont, then I beilieve them. If they manage to regenerate the donor area, then they might have found some kind of cure to this hair loss crap that we all suffer from. And if they have, then I might take another treatment next year so that I dont need to be scared of becoming bald before turning 40. After that, I dont care really. Then I can just shave it down if the hair is still faling off. I want to keep my hair until I`m 35. In a perfect world, I would love to have hair until my 90th birthday, but well...if there`s a cure.

Hehe, crossing my fingers that you`ll do a good deal on the stock market. Maybe you should invest in some of the companies searching for a cure against hair loss. If any of these will be a success, they will be filthy rich.

[25 going on 65]

The guy in NBI's picture had coverage over a considerably wider area than what you seem to be going for, so I have a feeling your grafts would have a bit more of a dense appearance. The patient in the photo also might be at a slightly more advanced stage of loss, though it's hard to tell because his hair is buzzed short while yours is a bit longer in your pictures.

About finasteride: I've heard of guys taking half a dose daily and still getting results. It definitely still has an effect at .5 mg, though I don't know how much reduced the effect is (varies from person to person I'm sure). Out of curiosity, can I ask why you halved your dosage?

(Thanks for pushing Gho's clinic for information. Like I said, I'm not the only one who is interested in what they're saying to potential patients!)