Why my doctor won't use ACell

[HairTalk]

That is very common. For example, botox was approved for use in people with muscle contractures and spasms for years. Doctors first started using it for wrinkles in the face about 1992. Because of reported success, it became hugely popular...I've been treating people including myself, since 1995.

BUT, it was not approved by the FDA for use in wrinkles until about 2001 or so, and for a while, was only approved for the frown lines, not the forehead or crowsfeet. That is an example of "off label" use.

Conversely, chelation therapy uses chemicals which are approved for use in humans to supposedly remove cholesterol and other heart toxins from the body as an alternative to statin medicines or heart surgery. A fellow from my hometown made millions chelating people. This was never proven to work as an alternative to conventional therapy in scientific studies done in peer reviewed journals.

My uncle spent 10s of thousands on these treatments in spite of me being in medical school and suggesting he see a reputable cardiologist for a second opinion. He did, AFTER having a cardiac arrest and getting a 5 vessel bypass.

He later returned to the chelator for "preventative" care.

Some people never learn.

Dr. Lindsey McLean VA

Dr. Lindsey, are you familiar with Dr. Gho's paper on multiplying follicular units by longitudinally transecting grafts during harvesting? If so, do you have an opinion of the merit (or lack thereof) of this proposal?

[Dutch_Dude]

I heard Gho did a HM procedure on Wesley Sneijder - whether this is true or not I cannot say, but his HT looks great, the thing is if this is TRUE HM why isnt it in the press/mainstream media? lol

It is true and it does look good...and Gho is very well known here in Holland, he comes on TV very often on sunday's during a show about beauty and stuff...but I really have my doubts about Gho. If you look at his website you would think they would have better results with a technique like that...

[UK_]

It is true and it does look good...and Gho is very well known here in Holland, he comes on TV very often on sunday's during a show about beauty and stuff...but I really have my doubts about Gho. If you look at his website you would think they would have better results with a technique like that...

There was a doctor in Ireland that was trying to pass off regular FUE as a HM procedure that claimed to grow back hair in donor, patients AFTER the surgery still believed the hair in the donor area would grow back because they were told so, they're gonna have a shock when they shave their head one day (maybe years from now) and look in two mirrors at hundreds of punch-hole scars scattered across their scalp.

Thats one thing that puts me off any HT - you cant shave your head once you eventually lose everything. You end up stuck in this abyss of forced acceptance of the classic 'NW6 - 7 crazed professor look', I think i'd commit suicide if it ever came to that.

[Dutch_Dude]

There was a doctor in Ireland that was trying to pass off regular FUE as a HM procedure that claimed to grow back hair in donor, patients AFTER the surgery still believed the hair in the donor area would grow back because they were told so, they're gonna have a shock when they shave their head one day (maybe years from now) and look in two mirrors at hundreds of punch-hole scars scattered across their scalp.

Thats one thing that puts me off any HT - you cant shave your head once you eventually lose everything. You end up stuck in this abyss of forced acceptance of the classic 'NW6 - 7 crazed professor look', I think i'd commit suicide if it ever came to that.

I started a thread about my solution (I think) to these problems...I thought...maybe if I would do a transplant for the hairline and the frontal part, and leave the crown relatively thin, so that I can keep my hair short and use toppik on the crown, you know...I think that nowadays that may be more reliable than Gho.

[UK_]

I started a thread about my solution (I think) to these problems...I thought...maybe if I would do a transplant for the hairline and the frontal part, and leave the crown relatively thin, so that I can keep my hair short and use toppik on the crown, you know...I think that nowadays that may be more reliable than Gho.

Thats a good idea, its very difficult to gain density in the crown area, hence why Aderans wanna use their protocols to build density in the crown giving more leverage to build the frontal part of the scalp.

Re: Gho, I always say anything that would be that revolutionary would be all over the newspapers.

[Dutch_Dude]

Thats a good idea, its very difficult to gain density in the crown area, hence why Aderans wanna use their protocols to build density in the crown giving more leverage to build the frontal part of the scalp.

Re: Gho, I always say anything that would be that revolutionary would be all over the newspapers.

Gho was all over the papers...only this is my speculation: he does not take the full hair follicle, but a part of it. Maybe I'm not a scientist, but it seems to me that when you take PART of the follicle, the hairs growing out of it will be thinner. So then you get thin hair at the front and at the back. Instead of that, you can do a transplant (FUE of course) by Feriduni and restore your whole frontal area, and implant a little hair on the crown, just enough to get a natural result with toppik...I think all of that combined can get you a full head of hair...a lot of people think: nah, I don't want that, because it's not real hair...I say: if women are allowed to wear make up, so am I.

Anyways, by the time that we have done all those operations, some drug or treatment will be available, Aderans, Histogen, Trichoscience, Replicel, Bioregenative something that they are discussing now...

[t-bone]

I have prp + acell.It is the closest thing to a cure I have found!!

Remember pharmaceutical co.will never promote prp! You can't patent blood!

The same Dr.'s that won't try acell are happy to prescribe propecia without knowing the longterm effects!

[Gubter_87]

T-bone; Have you actually had PRP+A-cell injections done? Where did you do it, how long ago and how have the results been?

Any prior treatments?

Cheers

[wilymon]

I have prp + acell.It is the closest thing to a cure I have found!!

Remember pharmaceutical co.will never promote prp! You can't patent blood!

The same Dr.'s that won't try acell are happy to prescribe propecia without knowing the longterm effects!

before-after pics?

[Dutch_Dude]

I would wait with ACell and PRP...although...I looked at the website of dr. Cooley or Cole...I don't know what their names are...anyways, the results on that website were quite good. It also states that he uses a special FUE method...he is literally able to restore a NW6 to someone with almost a full head of hair (at least, when you look from the front).

[HairTalk]

I would wait with ACell and PRP...although...I looked at the website of dr. Cooley or Cole...I don't know what their names are...anyways, the results on that website were quite good. It also states that he uses a special FUE method...he is literally able to restore a NW6 to someone with almost a full head of hair (at least, when you look from the front).

A "special F.U.E. method"? Smells an awful lot like bull-shit. As far as I know, F.U.E. is F.U.E., no matter how you dress it up. Sure, you can do it well or do it poorly, but the methodology is the same — instruments and such, of course, will vary from doctor to doctor, I imagine largely just by personal comfort.

[Dutch_Dude]

A "special F.U.E. method"? Smells an awful lot like bull-shit. As far as I know, F.U.E. is F.U.E., no matter how you dress it up. Sure, you can do it well or do it poorly, but the methodology is the same — instruments and such, of course, will vary from doctor to doctor, I imagine largely just by personal comfort.

He doesn't call it FUE though. I think it's FUE combined with ACell or PRP or something like that. You should look at Dr. Cole's website.

[HairTalk]

He doesn't call it FUE though. I think it's FUE combined with ACell or PRP or something like that. You should look at Dr. Cole's website.

I've seen Dr. Cole's Web site; if you're referring to a particularly page, please post a link. One of the most obscene things I think Cole does on there is advertise F.U.E. as, "C.I.T." ("Cole Isolation Technique"), trying to lend a sharp ring of unique and proprietary character to a procedure just about everyone else (of merit) in the industry also is performing. Call it smooth marketing, good business-sense, whatever you wish, if you will, but I think it's gimmicky and manipulative.

One of the most laughable and contemptible things I've seen, recently, must be this (on Cole's site)

Any comments? Anyone?

[UK_]

I've seen Dr. Cole's Web site; if you're referring to a particularly page, please post a link. One of the most obscene things I think Cole does on there is advertise F.U.E. as, "C.I.T." ("Cole Isolation Technique"), trying to lend a sharp ring of unique and proprietary character to a procedure just about everyone else (of merit) in the industry also is performing. Call it smooth marketing, good business-sense, whatever you wish, if you will, but I think it's gimmicky and manipulative.

One of the most laughable and contemptible things I've seen, recently, must be this (on Cole's site)

Any comments? Anyone?

Good.......GOD.

The thing is - I am obviously guessing that patient who received the Acell on his home page did not have a strip surgery - he had a CIT (lmfao - yeh I know, Christ almighty) which makes it VERY VERY difficult to see whether the Acell actually had any benefit.

With all the 'no-news' surrounding Acell.. I am getting pretty worried about its prospects.

[Winston]

I must caution those who believe Acell should be the standard of care. Its way too early to draw such a conclusion from the available data. The field of medicine is littered with thousands of “breakthrough remedies” that end up in the dustbin, having either failed the test of time, or worse, caused harm.

There are three ways to approach new ideas. One is to develop them yourself in the quest to find a better way, the next is to eagerly adopt new but unproven ideas, sometimes for profit, and the third is to remain skeptical, replicating results for yourself, and only cautiously adopt these ideas into daily practice. I’ve been in the first and third groups, but never the second. Dr. Cooley’s work is excellent, and his reported results are exciting. I’m sufficiently intrigued to begin my own trials with Acell, and many other docs will do the same, but only when many have demonstrated positive results in varied circumstances should a product or technique be widely adopted.

Also, the benefits of Acell in strip excision scars, FUE scars, and in conjunction with plucked hair graft survival are different and still need lots of work.

So in my opinion, your surgeon is appropriately skeptical of Acell. I would choose him over someone who blindly adopted new approaches. As I like to stress, if your surgeon is not able to produce excellent results without Acell, he or she will not have excellent results with Acell. Only when the basics are mastered can adjunctive products enhance the final results.

Great post Dr. Haber. There is too much mixed information about the Acell to choose a hair transplant doctor based on whether he uses it or not. It is still unproven by most standards and I do think some doctors are using it just to say that they are. Thanks for your insight!