Would you trade ten years of good hair right now...

[NateDog]

Would you get a hair transplant now and be assured of ten years of great hair followed by twenty years of thin abnormal hair with the shame of a transplant

I wonder how many guys will be in this boat in 15 years time and we will be talking about how FUT and strip really messed alot of guys up (younger guys who are unfortunate to have donor depletion and progress to norwood 5 or 6 with bad hair characteristics)

[ohlife]

yeah.. I'd probably put all my eggs in one basket and hope that, in that 10 years, some kind of 'cure' or at least more advanced treatment was on the market.

[KeepTheHair]

There will be a cure for sure in 10 years. Without a doubt. If even not that...which I am sure will happen...there will be better hair transplantation options.


I have the money for a hairtransplant...but not enough to afford it. If I could afford a good FUE transplant I would do it for sure... With some medication you could definitely make it last until histogen comes through for us.

[dgman21]

Keep the hair,
I'm thinking just like you..I'm afraid to get a blade in the back of my head and stitches(linear harvest) but FUE is something else. How much u think we need for that for a descent transplant in the front? U think there really will be something good in 10 yrs,like a breakthru?? How old r u?

[KeepTheHair]

I am 20.

dgman21, there is already a breakthrough. Though it is not out yet. It will be out in a minimum of 3 or so years. FUE is much better than the strip procedure. I don't consider the strip procedure an option for me anymore. It's to gruesome and the stories of it actually retracting the hairline back and weird stuff like that freaks me out.

FUE is very expensive though, especially considering you have to travel for it also. For me I think 1500-2000 grafts would do an amazing job. That though...is a LOT of money!

You can check out before and after photos on forhair.com

I am no expert.

[NateDog]

Stem cell research and Histogen

I really wish this is a long term solution however we cannot pin our hopes on this else we will truely be in for a fall should it fail (the tests done so far have been on twenty four people and true testing will take place over the next year or two) but lets face it we all live and hope and it looks promising just hope it has a positive effect on everyone plus hope the results last for a long long time that is the key

For hair is Doctor Coles site... I have heard he does not do the extraction from someone else on this forum and that scares me (the technicians come in and start taking the grafts out I am really not comfortable with this I would want the Doctor to remove it surely he has the skill because this is ensuring no transection of removed grafts)

Doctor Umar appears to be making strides in FUE and BHT also

That is what makes this whole process such a complex one to figure out. Shave your head buzz it transplant strip fue and everyone has an opinion do not do it... do it... shave it... buzz it... information overload. I think the hardest part is the whole crystal ball gazing. Fear of in twenty years time what will you look like will your transplant evolve into a power comb over when you are 45 years of age and if your sides and back thin out too much it may reveal your scar. That is the fear for me get 5000 grafts done now and sport a comb over if I progress to a norwood six naturally by the time I am 40 years of age :S

I wonder how many guys in this world wear a hair system for long periods most guys tend to wear for five years then get tired of it

[CIT_Girl]

For hair is Doctor Coles site... I have heard he does not do the extraction from someone else on this forum and that scares me (the technicians come in and start taking the grafts out I am really not comfortable with this I would want the Doctor to remove it surely he has the skill because this is ensuring no transection of removed grafts)

Just to clarify, only Dr. Cole makes the extractions in his office. Should he one day hire another physician and properly train him, he may allow that physician to perform the extractions but, at this time, he is the only one who extracts grafts and the only one who makes recipient sites.

I'm not sure where the confusion over who extracts the grafts comes from but I've seen a couple references on this site to non-physicians doing the extractions. For example, a patient recounting his experience at SMG credited a surgical tech with doing his extractions:

Tom was able to extract 1000 grafts on the first day. He used a 1mm punch if I remember correctly.

(http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1935) However, it is highly unlikely that Dr. Shaprio would allow a non-physician to perform such an important task (as NateDog mentioned, one that can have a big impact on transection rate and graft survival). My guess is that, because hair transplant surgery is such an enormous undertaking, that requires a team effort, it is possible that a patient might become confused as to who is doing what and when. More recently, there has been a lot of talk about surgery techs cutting into the skin to extract the grafts with the Neograft in some offices. Obviously, we can’t say what is going on in other offices and we have no ability to advise them, but we can assure you that only Dr. Cole performs the extractions in his office.

[vnspramod]

be close with patient

Do your absolute best to meet an existing patient of the clinic so you can see the quality of the work they've had done. More importantly you'll get to examine their donor scars upfront and for real. If the clinics transplants are really that good then they should have no problem with you meeting any number of previous patients. Remember transplants don't come cheap plus they are surgery so don't go taking any silly chances with your money or your health.