Female Deciding FUT 2200 Bernestein

[julie]

Hi Everyone

I am female.. which means hairloss is even more devastating for me...

I lost hair since I was 14.. now I am 33.. so about 19 years.

I have been considering HT since maybe 10 years ago.. But I never had the courage/money/ etc to do it.. But now actively I went to see a couple of doctors.

I am living in Philadelphia and so I am considering doctors in NYC.

I met with Dr Feller last year. He was insisting that he will shave the recipient area if I want to go for a HT.

Last week, I also went to Dr Bernstein office (actually met Dr Wolfed first and Dr Bernstein came for a couple of minutes to take a look). They suggested 2200 grafts ($7 each grafts) and they said the grafts would be placed mostly in front and maybe some near my part. but nothing in the crown. This is very similar to suggestion of Dr feller. Maybe Dr feller was suggesting more on the part of my hair. (In Dr Bernestein office, they said if I go with certain days, the price would be $5.5 per graft).

Dr Bernestein office recommended FUT to me. Becuase first, they cannot do FUE on female with their new robotic machine and second, because they have to shave my hair which is not acceptable to me. So I guess FUT is my only option. They will just shave a strip from donor area and do not shave the recipient area. Given that I am female, I cannot imagine shaving my head. Right now, I am using dermatch to conceal my hairloss which works pretty well.

Now my questions are:

1- should I go with Dr bernstein?
2- should I be worried about the FUT scar?
3- do I make a right decision to go with the surgery?
4- any recommendation/ suggestion/...

BTW, I am from middle east and potentially I could travel there and get it done in middle east/turkey etc.. but I am too scared to go to an unknown place for something big and life changing.

I think the density of my hair was 2.1. Dr. said, I havent lost much.. But mostly they have thinned on the top of my head and going to the crown area. I am attaching some pictures:

[CaliD]

If you do the FUT in the US Dr. Bernstein is a great choice. If you want to save some money and go to Turkey Dr. Karadeniz at AEK hair institute might be someone to consider. He's fantastic and he does both FUT and FUE. Even with the additional cost to buy your flight he'd save you a lot of money. I flew from California to Turkey for my FUE. It was pretty simple and a lot scarier in my mind than it was in reality. Best of luck.

[Sean]

Ive been to over 18 countries, including combat zones, and i can travel to mid east and Turkey with ease. Our media scares us more than anything. Yea, I wouldn't travel to Syria at the moment, but Turkey or Dubai or Qatar Or etc, i dont think it can phase me. Funny thing is, im watchful in some areas in the US where crime and violence is high.

Why not get more consults to put your mind at ease? Evaluate a surgeons surgical protocol. Who will do the extractions and incisions and closures, the surgeon or techs? How much will a surgeon be involved in the procedure? Will there be multiple patients (more than one patient) being worked on the day of your procedure? It is important to ask such questions. See if you can find out info regarding the surgeons consent forms and etc., it is ideal to know prior to non-refundable deposit being paid. Ive come to see that this surgery should require a careful evaluation and you need to weigh all the risks involved. Some docs don't mention everything. It is good to ask plentu of questions to try to get them to answer. Best of luck.

[J_B_Davis]

First of all, the fact that Dr Bernstein did not turn you away for surgery is a very good sign. From what I have read and heard about him, he believes that very few women make good candidates for hair transplant surgery, so if you go with him you will be in some of the best hands in the world and someone who is confident that he can help you. There is nothing wrong with traveling to have hair transplant surgery, like CaliD did because he traveled to see an excellent surgeon, but don’t just do so to price shop.

Also, as a woman you really need to be prepared for the possibility of shock loss after surgery, which can make you look worse before you look better, so ask Dr Bernstein about that. Consent forms and arbitration forms will be a part of any cosmetic surgery experience, the only red flag you should look for is someone who asks you to sign a form that inhibits you from posting your experience on the internet.

Some of the best clinics in the world work on multiple patients in a day, Hasson & Wong is an example of this, it all comes down to if their team and if their facility can accommodate this, so unless its some small mom and pop operation I don’t think this should be much of a concern either, unless of course they are doing like 10 cases a day, which is very unusual here in the U.S.

[jamesst11]

My PERSONAL opinion is that you are not an ideal candidate for a hair transplant, and I am quite shocked that Dr. Bernstein would take you on... I hear amazing things about him, but I don't think this is a good idea... You are diffused thin throughout one area of the head, which means that hair loss, due to hormonal imbalance, or whatever it is, is effecting this area... I ask, what happens if you get drastic loss from the HT due to telogen effluvium, especially in the recipient zone? Are those hairs going to grow back??? I am a man and obviously, every one's biology is different. My personal experience was I had thinning, like yours, in only my left hair line area. I got an HT of 900 grafts and 6 months later, my native hair was almost completely gone and miniaturized. The trauma induced TE and the hair fell rapidly and the follicle was too far gone to produce more terminal hair. I AM NOT trying to scare you, however, just share my story and hope you take these factors into consideration. This is A VERY REAL possibility and you can read countless cases of this.

[J_B_Davis]

My PERSONAL opinion is that you are not an ideal candidate for a hair transplant, and I am quite shocked that Dr. Bernstein would take you on... I hear amazing things about him, but I don't think this is a good idea... You are diffused thin throughout one area of the head, which means that hair loss, due to hormonal imbalance, or whatever it is, is effecting this area... I ask, what happens if you get drastic loss from the HT due to telogen effluvium, especially in the recipient zone? Are those hairs going to grow back??? I am a man and obviously, every one's biology is different. My personal experience was I had thinning, like yours, in only my left hair line area. I got an HT of 900 grafts and 6 months later, my native hair was almost completely gone and miniaturized. The trauma induced TE and the hair fell rapidly and the follicle was too far gone to produce more terminal hair. I AM NOT trying to scare you, however, just share my story and hope you take these factors into consideration. This is A VERY REAL possibility and you can read countless cases of this.

Jamess11 is right about the shock loss possibility or TE. That's why I suggested you talk to Dr. Bernstein about it. Even if Dr. B thinks that you make a great candidate, that possibility always exists and if you can't deal with that possibility, surgery is not an option for you.

[Sean]

First of all, the fact that Dr Bernstein did not turn you away for surgery is a very good sign. From what I have read and heard about him, he believes that very few women make good candidates for hair transplant surgery, so if you go with him you will be in some of the best hands in the world and someone who is confident that he can help you. There is nothing wrong with traveling to have hair transplant surgery, like CaliD did because he traveled to see an excellent surgeon, but don’t just do so to price shop.

Also, as a woman you really need to be prepared for the possibility of shock loss after surgery, which can make you look worse before you look better, so ask Dr Bernstein about that. Consent forms and arbitration forms will be a part of any cosmetic surgery experience, the only red flag you should look for is someone who asks you to sign a form that inhibits you from posting your experience on the internet.

Some of the best clinics in the world work on multiple patients in a day, Hasson & Wong is an example of this, it all comes down to if their team and if their facility can accommodate this, so unless its some small mom and pop operation I don’t think this should be much of a concern either, unless of course they are doing like 10 cases a day, which is very unusual here in the U.S.

Agree for the JB but i'd like to add something. However, H&W are two surgeons at that clinic right, but some places have only one surgeon and operate on multiple patients.

So, Julie, do research that with whomever you choose. And ask plenty of question. I can't stress that enough. There may be things you may not be aware of, but somethings may not be as visible and you will have to dig deeper across the web overall.

I can understand consents and arbitrary forms are routine and required, but other top docs commented and did agree with me on some other forums that such forms should be given prior to deposit in order to have a proper informed consent and etc.

So, Julie, it may be very wise to know the details of sentence fragments you will need to sign and initial prior to your surgery, otherwise if you say no to those items, your surgery can be denied and your deposit gone.

It is best to filter out things to avoid headaches later.

I can tell you to "look" and "research" harder when it comes to what is involved in female hair restoration. Do not jump into this. Best of luck

[julie]

Thanks for the heads up. Does your hair grow back after telogen effluvium and loss shock? How long does it take?

[julie]

I opened this topic to ask you guys about things that I should consider and research on. So here I got a heads up for shock loss which is a good heads up... I am usually very strong and lucky. so I hope that is not an issue. What are some suggestions to conceal the loss if shock loss happens?
What other issues I should look into?

[J_B_Davis]

To be completely honest with you, 2200 grafts might help to give you a little more fullness but as you know, hair loss is usually progressive. You are still quite young, so no one really knows how far you will progress. At best, if all goes as planned, including all the grafts growing, no issues with the scar and no shock loss, it will be a temporary fix. Maybe 5 years, maybe 10 years, you just don’t know. If you do suffer with shock loss it can take a year or more just for the lost hair to regrow to around 5 or 6 inches so it won’t be that easy to hide unless you cut your hair very short.

I don’t mean to discourage you and Dr. Bernstein is one of the most knowledgeable and respected HT surgeons around, and is known for having great judgment, but if you are looking for a long term fix and if you believe that 2200 grafts will make a huge impact on your appearance, you might want to reconsider surgery.

[jamesst11]

To be completely honest with you, 2200 grafts might help to give you a little more fullness but as you know, hair loss is usually progressive. You are still quite young, so no one really knows how far you will progress. At best, if all goes as planned, including all the grafts growing, no issues with the scar and no shock loss, it will be a temporary fix. Maybe 5 years, maybe 10 years, you just don’t know. If you do suffer with shock loss it can take a year or more just for the lost hair to regrow to around 5 or 6 inches so it won’t be that easy to hide unless you cut your hair very short.

I don’t mean to discourage you and Dr. Bernstein is one of the most knowledgeable and respected HT surgeons around, and is known for having great judgment, but if you are looking for a long term fix and if you believe that 2200 grafts will make a huge impact on your appearance, you might want to reconsider surgery.

Couldn't have said it better... You are thinning in a DIFFUSE pattern and I don't think that anyone can argue with the fact that diffused thinners are the WORST candidates for hair transplants... How is any HT surgeon supposed to place the recipient grafts carefully enough to avoid transection among ALL the hairs you STILL HAVE in that area??? I personally believe with ANY HT SURGEON, you would be rolling the dice here... here are a few things to consider. Take this into account while remembering that I am not a physician, but I believe myself to be very knowledgeable about this, after years of research:

1) Is telogen effluvium likely after an HT? - I believe it is WAY more common than people think. TE is a response within the follicles to an extensive enough trauma ANY place in the body... This is a direct trauma directly to your scalp, right next to all the surrounding follicles. People chalk it up to "shock loss" and this comfy term is what a lot of doctors will tell you... BULLSH*T... I have read COUNTLESS times where patients continue to have drastic hairloss months after the transplant

2) Will is grow back? Once again, this is totally rolling the dice. You would be transplanting into a zone that is already thinning, DIFFUSELY... meaning that area of the scalp is containing follicles that are sensitive. If you do have TE, not only would you have wide spread hair loss, but my guess is that it would impact that area more significantly.

Once again, this is my opinion. I may be biased because, yes, it happened to me and it destroyed my hair. Like clock work, three months after the transplant, for about 6 months, I literally lost half of my hair and now it's even worst. Also, as I said previously, I am NOT trying to scare you... but you come here for personal opinions and patient experiences as well. I would SERIOUSLY question ANY HT doctor that would perform surgery on you.

Also, I don't know if I missed this, but are you on any medications?

[julie]

Also, I don't know if I missed this, but are you on any medications?

I am not on any medication. I just ordered minoxidil... But I know I wont keep using it for long as I do not see any result and I just notice the hassle and greasiness.

I have diffuse thinning on top... but no thinning on the back of my head.

Also, my hairloss has been stabilized for a long time (at least 13 years or so). I haven't seen any progress for ages. So I think it won't progress.