Rahal/Adamo/ARTAS

[baldymcgee]

I have been watching Dr. Rahal's work and website for a while and have seen that his first ARTAS patient (Adamo) stopped posting updates:
http://www.rahalhairtransplant.com/adamo

Can anyone close to Rahal/Adamo comment? How is he doing?

[topcat]

The phenomenon of very regular posters who seem to disappear often at times when it seems to make the least sense is an interesting one.

[baldymcgee]

The phenomenon of very regular posters who seem to disappear often at times when it seems to make the least sense is an interesting one.

For some posters, I can totally understand them "moving on". Maybe things turned out peachy and they stopped worrying about their hair/appearance. I'd totally understand that and bless them and their surgeons for getting them to the point where they can move on.

But certainly some of the "disappearing acts" must be because of unacceptable results.

And this is a good thing -- every time I gear myself up for a transplant I come across another vanished poster. It should serve to remind everyone that even the *best* surgeons/clinics *will* have procedures with poor yield or growth or other measures of success.

I'm not saying this is what happened to Adamo. I have no idea and I, for one, hope he posts something tomorrow (in that lovely Quebecois accent) apologizing for the delay and showing us great results.

But surgeries fail and we *all* need to be reminded of that especially when the industry doesn't share any of its statistics.

Oh well, I guess it's back to praying for Follica/Histogen/Bimatoprost for me

[gillenator]

I have observed this for over a decade. In my experience, most of the people that I have heard from do move on with their lives post procedure. They are happy and do not look back for the most part, at least not until they experience more loss in the future. In subsequent procedures, they generally know what to do unless there have been significant changes within the field.

Most of the guys that I hear from do not post but they do read and they do their research. Sometimes I will look at the number of people that are surfing a community at any given time and there are always far more folks reading the forums compared to the number of active posters.

Yes it's true that many of those with unacceptable results simply give up and blame themselves for ever having the procedure. I mean who wants to come public (even if they hide their identity) and show their poor results. It's very sad and I do hear from some of them.

Many guys are still be swayed by local media advertising campaigns promoting no name doctors with cheap graft prices. They put their ads in the main circulations especially the sports section and the hair mills continue to promote their infomercials. One of the largest chains is right now offering $1,000 discounts to the public. Some things never change.

And it is true that even the best HT doctors get a poor result every now and then. Most of the bad results however are from sub-standard or new doctors learning HT surgery.

Things are improving overall compared to ten years ago.

[gillenator]

Is it possible to PM Adamo? I don't remember him or if he posted in this community.

[baldymcgee]

Is it possible to PM Adamo? I don't remember him or if he posted in this community.

He did have his procedure on Sept 28 last year, so it's entirely possible that he is waiting for the full 12 months to pass before posting.

Then again he did promise a 9-month update...

Speculation isn't helpful so we should probably stop doing it

[baldymcgee]

Bump.

Since Adamo's procedure was partially ARTAS driven, should we be worried about ARTAS-based procedures with other surgeons as well?

[baldymcgee]

Thought I'd post a followup -- looks like Adamo's procedure went pretty well:
http://www.rahalhairtransplant.com/a...-year-post-op/

He seems to be shaving the very front of his hairline to create a more "square hairline" appearance.

Looks pretty good though -- not "outstanding" but he is dealing with a pretty large area (as I am ).

Might be nice to get him here for a reddit-style AMA, does anyone know him?

[rev3]

looks like he got good graft survival rate from ARTAS

but not sure about the placement

looks like that forelock the patient shaved is not going anywhere soon

maybe a "V" shape should have been done with receded temples

that can always be done in a second pass, no problem

glad this machine worked out for the patient as he was the first in the clinic

[topcat]

Looks good, as long as the patient was made aware of his options and this was an informed decision that is what's important. Everyone is entitled to all the information regardless of if it's hair transplantation or cancer.

I think most in the industry would agree with the quote from Robotic Hair Restoration Advance Follicular Unit Extraction” by Rashid M. Rashid. .

“ Currently, no robotic device can do the skilled work that a qualified doctor can do with a handheld extraction device”

Although many praises were included in the book for the system repeatedly this one in the middle of the book stood out as it was only mentioned once.