• 03-22-2009 03:00 PM
    SpencerKobren
    We’ll be continuing the NeoGraft discussion tonight on the live broadcast. If you don't subscribe to XM Satellite Radio, you can watch tonight’s program here:
    The Bald Truth Live!

    Feel free to call in to join the discussion. The toll free number is 1-877-885-0007. The program airs at 5pmPST/8pmEST.
  • 03-23-2009 08:35 AM
    PayDay
    Great Show!!!
    Great show last night guys. You guys sounded like you were having a blast. Vey informative as usual too! How come TeeJay got to do the show with you guys. I want in.:)

    Paul
  • 03-23-2009 09:58 AM
    Winston
    The show was very entertaining , I enjoyed listening very much. Hairloss stuff can be so dry when I read about it, but it’s cool to listen to the people in the know talking about it.

    I still don’t know however if the Neograft is a good thing or a bad thing. Spencer seems to be on the fence about it and Dr. Law said it had some value, but Dr. Feller makes it out like it’s worthless. What’s the answer?
  • 03-23-2009 11:32 PM
    TeeJay73
    I'll throw in my 2-cents as a pure layman and as a happy hair transplant patient (strip method). I even had a chance to say this on the show last nite. (Thanks Spencer, you're THE MAN!).

    If I am going to undergo cosmetic surgery (and I have), then I am going to do as much research and due diligence beforehand as possible. When I put all of the information that I have learned regarding the strip method next to all of the information that I have learned regarding FUE (regardless of how the FUE is performed, machine, or no machine), I conclude that the strip method has a substantially greater knowledge base attached to it and is significantly more time-tested, trusted, and "doctor approved". I also conclude that the strip method produces consistently, very well-known high yield rates (meaning that the % of transplated grafts that grow in their new area is 90% or more). The FUE method, on the other hand, and again based on what I have read and learned, seems to produce very sporadic yield rates, sometimes as low as 50%.

    The mere fact that "yield" is a focus point in HTs means that when a patient undergoes an HT, he/she is actually reducing the total # of hairs on his head. He/she is simply creating the illusion of a fuller head of hair thru the cosmetic redistribution of hairs across the head. If I am going to pay my money to reduce the total # of hairs on my head, then I am going to go with the method that offers the best possible guarantee of the minimization of this reduction, and the strip method seems to be the clear winner. I'm too conservative and I'd be too nervous to undergo FUE of any type, not knowing what % of my precious grafts were going to survive the surgery. And I'd be on "pins & needles" for the 6 months or so that are needed to get some idea of the HT results. So, as a pure layman, FUE isn't something I'd even consider, irrespective of how the grafts are extracted (machine, or no machine).

    I say this, and at the same time have complete and total admiration for Dr. Bauman. If I lived in Florida, there is not a doubt in my mind that I'd choose him to be my physician. His results are incredible and I love the fact that he is so leading-edge in his practice, using the latest tools and technologies in an effort to make patients happy and advance the surgical HT field. I like to be leading-edge in my own work, too, using the latest tools and technologies, even if they aren't time-tested yet, or accepted entirely by my peers and colleagues.

    I guess the dividing line here is this: as a doctor, charging ahead with new tools and technologies, as well as challenging them, ultimately benefits HT patients, even if it may not seem so at the immediate moment, and it certainly endears me (and probably other patients) to the doctors that use and/or challenge these new tools and technologies. But as a patient that is altering his physical appearance (quite expensively, too!) and undergoing the risks of surgery, I am just not interested in the additional risk that FUE seems to come with, no matter how it is performed, even if that means the strip method is slightly more invasive and produces a linear scar, both of which in my opinion (as a veteran HT patient) are no big deal.

    TeeJay
  • 03-24-2009 11:09 AM
    gillenator
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Dr. Feller View Post
    Gil,
    In the end, as you've already eloquently noted, it's all about RESULTS.

    The device is described as making extraction FASTER, but not a word was said about extracting grafts SAFER.

    I do not see where this mega-machine improves graft safty by lowering graft trauma. In fact, I see the opposite with respect to that spinning punch and the gauntlet of suction tubing the graft must travel through.

    This is why I am so adament about articulating and describing the forces working against us: Torsion, Traction, Compression. Any proposed FUE advance must address either one or ALL of these forces to be of any use.

    I could not agree more Dr. Feller. I just shuddered when I read about the dynamics of how it works and the additional trauma the grafts would sustain. I mean I don't know how it could be avoided considering the mechanics.

    Where is the scientific evidence regarding lowered transection and improved yields? Because without that, I am trying to figure out what benefit it has for patients.
  • 03-24-2009 11:32 AM
    gillenator
    Great post TJ and I agree with alot of what you stated. The only thing though is your statement about being time-tested or not. Something like this piece of equipment must be time-tested or clinically substantiated with scientific proof. And for the reasons you stated, donor limitations and yield. All of my work was done by strip but now I am out of laxity. If I ever do have any touch-up work, it may have to be done by FUE because I don't think I can regain enough laxity after four strip procedures.

    But if I do ever have FUE, you can bet it won't be by Neograft.
  • 03-24-2009 01:01 PM
    HelpROGER
    Saw you on the show TJ, your hair transplant looks very natural. You were quite good on the show too, were you nervous to be at the radio station and to talk on the radio?You sounded quite relaxed.
  • 03-24-2009 03:51 PM
    amadeus
    If there was evidence that the hair grafts really got “cooked” how can this machine be sold and used for hair transplantation? How can you tell if the grafts were heated to the point of being destroyed and don't you think it would be counter intuitive for a company to sell a hair transplant machine that results in inferior hair transplants?
  • 03-24-2009 04:05 PM
    TeeJay73
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by HelpROGER View Post
    Saw you on the show TJ, your hair transplant looks very natural. You were quite good on the show too, were you nervous to be at the radio station and to talk on the radio?You sounded quite relaxed.

    Hey HelpROGER,

    Appreciate the hair transplant and radio compliment. It's been an interesting hair journey, man, but I am very lucky. One botched up surgery with a non-IAHRS clinic (800 grafts), and then a great surgery with Doc McAndrews of the IAHRS (1600 grafts). Doc McAndrews really fixed me up good.

    Being on the radio was friggin' sweet. Spencer is one of the coolest guys ever, seriously -- laid-back, easy-going, and fun. Turns out I wasn't feeling nervous; I just gave into the experience entirely, which was an awesome one and I have Spencer to thank. I did knock down a thing or 2 in the studio, and spilled some water all over the place, but I think that may have been the little bit of scotch I downed, as opposed to nerves:)

    TeeJay
  • 03-28-2009 10:32 AM
    PayDay
    Why don't they add some kind of a cooling sheath, something that does not conduct heat, to the inside of the punches used? This will solve the heating problem.

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