Does non surgical treatment work?

[ricado]

Hi all, Im new to this site. Just wanted to ask if anyone has had the non surgical approach to regaining your hair? I am having a consultation with a new place that is claiming this is what they do, and I must admit I am very sceptical over the fact that anything else but surgery can work. I started to lose my hair in my 20's and I am now in my 40's. This has really been a problem for me to live with and although its taken me this long ive decided to find out a little about it. I have seen various videos on the surgical side of things and it looks a horrific operation. So I wanted to find out about any non surgical experiences before I make my decision. Any help would be great.

Cheers
Ricardo

[TeeJay73]

Hey what's the name of the place you are going to visit? What do they do specifically? Do you have their website address?

Most of the non-surgical treatments that have any viability on this forum would be medication (Propecia and/or Rogaine), undetectable hair systems, and cosmetic concealers (such as Dermatch or Toppik).

I'd definitely be suspicious too, if I were you, of this new place. Let us in on some of their info and perhaps the guys and gals on this forum can help you better.

TeeJay

[ricado]

Hi, Thanks for your reply, I have today been for a consultation on hair integration, not totally sure i was impressed. Can anyone tell me if they have had this and if they think it looked natural. The hair studio in bedford where i went had a guy who showed me his hair and i must say up until i saw the quite severe step in the front of his hairline (basically looked like an upgraded wig) I was quite impressed. Still not sure whether to go for the surgically option but would like to know who has had it done and how long its red for...any help???

Cheers.

[ricado]

Thankyou Dr Fellar,
I have been on your website and looked at the procedures you do, can you advise me if having the single plug treatment is better than having the strip and which one has the quickest recovery. Im concerned about the visual sores and scars and for how long they last. Also is the single plug treatment available here in the UK?

Many Thanks
Ricardo

[lizard5781]

Ricardo,
Many Toupee or wig salesmen try to use fear to dissuade people from seeking out true forms of hairloss prevention or restoration. It's an old and tired story.

The fact is, many of these hair systems create so much irritiation of the skin that long term use often results in skin damage FAR beyond that of the average hair transplant.

If your hair is just miniturizing then you have some proven options:
Finasteride, Dutasteride, Minoxidil, and PRP.

The first three are drugs, the forth one is relatively new and is not a drug but rather a simple in-office procedure created by a Florida doctor named Joe Greco.

The way PRP is performed is that a small amount of blood is removed from your arm, processed immediately into concentrated platelet rich plasma, and then injected into the scalp where the thinning is at its worst. Because local anesthesia is used, you don't feel anything. The entire procedure takes 25 minutes and you can drive yourself to and from the clinic with no problem.

What happens is that Growth Factors are secreted from the concentrated platelets into the thinning areas. This has a direct effect on the follicles themselves, but it also causes creation of new blood vessels which is the mechanism I feel is most responsible for any beneficial effect.

As with the other medications, PRP won't work on everyone because everyone's physiology is unique, but it's the first non-FDA approved treatment that I have found that actually has a sound and credible scientific basis upon which to work.

-Dr. Feller

Hair Replacement is different, it feels and acts like your own hair, it's light and u can create any style. There's no irritation unless u are wearing a WIG! there's a difference, you never need a WIG salesman for a good system, it sells itself. Hair transplant's can be good, but u risk scarring and cotton candy looking hair..... and if u want a few strands of hair to grow back or slow down you hair loss, use rogaine/monoxidil or better yet...... just shave it all off and rock it! Just remember, with a hair system, you always have to option of shaving it (no scarring). I have to disagree with Dr Feller, LOL

[ricado]

I had the transplant

Thanks for all your advice guys, I have to say I have now had a hair transplant. I took the plunge on the 28th sept 09 and went for it. I must say I was in a mess for a couple of days I looked like I'd been in an explosion, my head covered in blood and the back donor area hurt like hell...I hardly slept for the first week as you cant put pressure on the donor area and its in the worst possible place. The pain relief they gave me was injected into my eyebrows and nearly sent me through the roof, once it went numb it wasnt so bad except it wore off well before they had finished planting the folicles so I felt everything and I sure as hell wasnt going to let them inject me there again. I nearly fainted when they cut the back donor area so they laid me down further which in turn made the blood gush down my back.....
After the first week the pain started to subside but my head still looked a bloody mess, as for them saying take a week off work, well I went back after a week still feeling absolute rubbish and still having to wear a baseball cap to hide the mess. I am now 3 weeks post treatment and most of the scabs have come off, I was very reluctant to rub too hard when washing for fear of the folicles coming out although they told me they would be ok after 7 days so it probably took longer for the scabs to fall off for me. The back of my head is much better now after my girlfriend took the "disolvable stitches out" (she's a vet) but they pulled the side of my head so tight it was a relief to get them out. I now brush back tiny thin hairs back over my head and although i can see lots of hair, they are very spaced apart which means its still going to show my scalp through it. It wasnt till i was in on the day that they casually informed me that one transplant wont be enough......great Ive just spent £3.500 for nothing... now they want more... Would I do it again??? Not a chance in hell Its a huge layout financially only to be told that they want you to spend more. Had they have told me at my consultation initially that it would take more than one transplant to get a good covering I would not have even bothered.
So I'll leave it to you all to decide but thats all from me guys
Skint
very little hair
Sore
Ricardo.......