Is FUE possible between punch graft scars?

[dmax89]

Advice needed on improving pluggy hairline...I have a bunch of punch graft scars from 90s HT with Dr. Weidig in Rockville - swiss cheese look. Can FUE from experienced surgeon give you a significant yield? If not, I'll have to consider beard, BHT because scars are on back and both sides and there is no virgin donor left.

[Spex]

Dmax,

Welcome to the boards. Yes FUE in the right experienced hands can definitely help. FUE scalp hair is definitely the way to go initially over BHT. BHT is considered to be somewhat of a last resort if not scalp donor available to work with.

I had my pluggy ( mini /micro) hairline repaired via 914 FUE successfully. Upload pics if you can in order we can help advise better.

[mattj]

Most people who underwent plug procedures do have usable donor remaining (or FUT or FUE), but exactly how much depends on how extensive the scarring is.

[dmax89]

Thanks Spex - great to hear from you as well. I've been following the Bald Truth for about a month and always appreciate your contributions.

I will be in touch with photos. I'm pretty scarred up so I definitely need skilled hands for my repair.

[Spex]

No probs. There are some great FUE docs out there who do excellent FUE repair work such as Dr Cole, Dr Bisanga, Dr Mwamba, Feriduni to name a few, besides the two docs i represent (who dont work with body hair) which might be an option for you to look at, if scalp hair is limited. Take your time and be very patient. Due your due diligence and meet as many Docs in person as possible for their opinion.

This way you can work out over time what your options actually are and who is best suited to help move you forward. There are no guarantees with HT surgery but by choosing a surgeon with experience and skill points you in the right direction.

Best
Spex

[35YrsAfter]

I had a similar situation. I was grafted in the late 70's by a large hair transplant outfit. My hairline was pluggy so in 2007, I made an appointment for a consult with Dr. Cole. At the time he recommended plug redistribution. I went the less costly route and decided to go with grafting around the plugs instead. My donor area was shot, perhaps from all of the shotgun scars on the back and sides of my head. I had the pluggy look repaired using body hair back when debates raged in the forums about whether it grew at all. 5 years later it's still growing and concealing the pluggy look on my hairline. I was told at that time by representatives of Dr. Cole's office that body hair is a last resort and scalp hair is superior. I now work at Dr. Cole's office. Three days ago I spoke with a patient waiting in our consult room and mentioned Dr. Cole fixed my pluggy hairline. He said my hairline looks natural and was amazed that body hair was used to fix it. I'm not pushing body hair, but it will work in a pinch. Results DO vary between patients and Dr. Cole politely told me recently that I didn't get as good of growth as some BHT patients have. Now that I have the hairline fixed, Dr. Cole is working on the shotgun scars on the back of my head. He is using beard hair and treating the donor and recipient areas with Acell. The thing about us repair patients, you get one thing fixed and the lower priority issues begin to move up the list.

-I work at Dr. Cole's office.

[northeastguy]

Hi 35yrs..... Nice to hear your repair work is going very well. Have you posted any before and after photos on another thread? I'd love to see some photo's of your repair work if your willing to share.

.....thanks for your input

[topcat]

Dmax depending on the caliber of those hairs it’s hard to say without pictures maybe you can post some. Those grafts were taken from the heart of the donor area and regardless of if it was punch graft or strip it doesn’t look right to the eye and always grabs the attention of others as something not being quite right. Redistribution might be an option if you think the caliber is not an issue otherwise redistribution while lowering the hairline a cm or so with thinner caliber hairs by way of fue might be a better idea that is of course if you have the donor.

Otherwise removing all the plugs and redistributing them further back while suturing up the holes left allowing them to heal and coming back a year later with fue might be better in the long run. But of course that is a huge undertaking and not easy for most to do.

Even all these years later one has to wonder how doctors could have been so greedy to do something like this and it’s no different with strip today. How exactly does a clinic justify placing thick caliber hairs in the hairline and convince themselves that this looks normal when it does not it looks odd.

[35YrsAfter]

Hi 35yrs..... Nice to hear your repair work is going very well. Have you posted any before and after photos on another thread? I'd love to see some photo's of your repair work if your willing to share.

.....thanks for your input

northeastguy:

I posted photos around 5 years ago. I need to take some new ones. I'm a tough case. My hair loss began when I was young. I noticed thinning when I was 15. Just before I began repair with modern surgical technology, my head was full of pluggy looking clumps on my hairline. The top and back of my head was slick bald. Now I have a natural looking hairline with thin coverage on top. My goal is to finish off the shotgun scars on the back and sides of my head. Thin hair doesn't bother me at my age. I personally see promise in the use of beard hair and Acell on tough cases such as myself.