Electrolysis Hair Transplant Repair? Dr. Cooley Documentary Part 4

[JoeTillman]

In part 4 of the hair transplant documentary fearturing Dr. Jerry Cooley we see the FUE repair patient being prepped for the remainder of his surgery. To recap, he has FUE locally with a different clinic and the FUE scars were too big and the growth was not what the patient was hoping for.

As it turns out, some of the hairline grafts had to be removed, which is not particularly unusual, but it is something I've not seen often where electrolysis is utilized and on the same day of the surgery as well.

[Tofacitinib Lotion]

Why didn't Dr. Cooley extract those hairs and relocate them? Isn't he wasting precious grafts?

[GNX]

the problem I see Joe is electrolysis takes more then one pass to kill the hair. Ive been doing electrolysis and laser for years now to remove hair and can tell you with 100% certainty that one pass to the hair root won't kill it. even if its in its growth phase. it will surely weaken it if in the growth but if not in the growth then it did nothing.

[Haircenter]

Hello Tofacitinib Lotion,

Why didn't Dr. Cooley extract those hairs and relocate them? Isn't he wasting precious grafts?

You ask a fair question and it is one that requires a fair answer. No, he's not wasting precious grafts for two reasons. First, very few of the grafts were addressed with electrolysis. We only targeted the few grafts that were causing problems for the patient, and that would cause problems with the final result of Dr. Cooley's procedure. There were about 25 on one side of his hairline that were targeted and maybe another 20 on the other side. If transplanted we would be facing two issues.

1. The FUE extraction is more traumatic to the scalp as opposed to the fine needle used in electrolysis. The goal in any procedure is to keep the smallest impact as possible because it is better for the patient for the long term.

2. Dr. Cooley was only targeting the single hairs that were in the frontal hairline/temple region. Had there been multi-hairs then he would have salvaged what he could but when we're dealing with misdirected, badly angled singles the chances of getting each of them out intact, viable, and without leaving unnecessary tissue damage is low. Scarring from such procedures that this patient had in the past will alter the angle of growth in the scalp so it is difficult to follow these unnatural angles when you can't see them. Transection in a case like this could leave hair shaft remnants behind that would cause inflammation and possible complications.

GNX,

What you're talking about with laser is absolutely true. It does take multiple passes. In our experience, however, electrolysis works on the first attempt getting about 80% to 90% of all the hairs targeted. Dr. Cooley has been using this approach for about 20 years with lots of success. It is rare that we need to perform a second pass.

Dr. Cooley is an extremely experienced dermatologist so this knowledge that he has gained in his original specialty has been a great benefit to him and for his patients. This is just one of those benefits.

Below is an example of another patient that had a similar circumstance when he arrived at our clinic. The electrolysis was performed one time during the surgery.

[Sam23]

But if the skin surface is already not normal, i guess the electrolysis will not enhance the skin

using Fue extraction with smallest tool mightcmake the skin smoother

[Foreverlacey]

Sorry I have to correct HairCenter.

"What you're talking about with laser is absolutely true. It does take multiple passes. In our experience, however, electrolysis works on the first attempt getting about 80% to 90% of all the hairs targeted."

I have years of experience with electrolysis myself, and can say with 100% certainty that your information is inaccurate. GNX is correct, it takes several treatments to a single follicle to weaken the dermal papilla. Kinda like how DHT weakens the follicle every hair cycle, electrolysis works that same. I might be able to believe this if he were possibly doing blend or galvanic, but not thermolysis.

[Haircenter]

Hi Sam23,

No, electrolysis does not enhance the skin, per se.

[Haircenter]

Sorry I have to correct HairCenter.

"What you're talking about with laser is absolutely true. It does take multiple passes. In our experience, however, electrolysis works on the first attempt getting about 80% to 90% of all the hairs targeted."

I have years of experience with electrolysis myself, and can say with 100% certainty that your information is inaccurate. GNX is correct, it takes several treatments to a single follicle to weaken the dermal papilla. Kinda like how DHT weakens the follicle every hair cycle, electrolysis works that same. I might be able to believe this if he were possibly doing blend or galvanic, but not thermolysis.

Foreverlacey,

With all due respect, I've just shown an example that proves your 100% comment to be false. The patient I showed in the photos had one pass. Almost all of the hair was removed from this one pass and the surgery performed at the same time was a success (not your point I know, but worth mentioning). How can my information be inaccurate if I just showed you an example of this approach? Some cases do work better than others but the facts are the facts and I just showed as much.

[Foreverlacey]

Not throwing stones, and you maybe right. I just find it hard to believe. There could be factors involved that weakened these follicles which allowed for the one pass. Still it's pretty much unheard of in the industry. Photos do not prove anything.

[Sam23]

As you mention electroylsis work in same way like dht to make the hair weaker

Is it possible to use electrolysis then to soften the hairor laser maybe, so then the hair would be soft like the original hair

[JoeTillman]

Not throwing stones, and you maybe right. I just find it hard to believe. There could be factors involved that weakened these follicles which allowed for the one pass. Still it's pretty much unheard of in the industry. Photos do not prove anything.

Hi FE,

There are factors, indeed. I'm not an expert on hair removal but I do know that the efficacy of hair removal can depend on the characteristics of the hair itself. For instance, darker/coarser hair is easier to eradicate with fewer passes than lighter colored hair. Regardless, what you said about photos not proving anything, you're right, but there is no reason for the clinic to lie about this. They're not in the hair removal business so it's merely a side note in the overall treatment plan for this patient.

If a patient were to be in the same situation as this patient that I filmed I'm sure they'd have the option of not having electrolysis if they so chose and Dr. Cooley would be fine with FUE extraction. The problem with that however is that with FUE extraction there is the chance of visible scarring since there is no hair in the immediate vicinity to camouflage the resulting scar (and there is always a scar). I know people like to say that the scarring would be invisible but it is not always the case and cannot be predicted.

[Foreverlacey]

Actually hair color and skin pigment only apply to laser which isn't a permanent solution. I understand not going the FUE route, I was only coming to the defense of GNX who was correct. I feel if someone is to represent a clinic, then said person should know what they are talking about before telling someone they are wrong.

To answer Sam:

"As you mention electroylsis work in same way like dht to make the hair weaker
Is it possible to use electrolysis then to soften the hairor laser maybe, so then the hair would be soft like the original hair"

Absolutely you can however, this only applies to electrolysis and it would only take a few passes if it's scalp hairs. Laser would only retard and soften the regrowth through a few hair cycles, and would return to it's normal growth later.

[Haircenter]

Hello Foreverlacey,

I understand not going the FUE route, I was only coming to the defense of GNX who was correct. I feel if someone is to represent a clinic, then said person should know what they are talking about before telling someone they are wrong.

I know quite a bit, thank you very much, and I believe that I was accepting of GNX's position but stated clearly that my points were based on OUR experience with electrolysis. It was GNX that said I was wrong, not the other way around. Both you and GNX used made claims of "100%" certainty that I, Dr. Cooley, and the patients that have had electrolysis with us are wrong. I however qualified my position that electrolysis works for our patients 80% to 90% of the time which means that sometimes it does not so, indeed, a second pass will be necessary. I also provided photographic reference for the typical result we see the majority of the time.

The point is, this is an adjunct treatment that Dr. Cooley has used with great success for twenty years and we have many patients that would support our position and the use of electrolysis for their own cases. You are welcome to question the practice and you are welcome to give your opinions but please do not say that I am straight up WRONG about something we've been doing for twenty years. Like Joe Tillman said, we're not in the hair removal business so the weight of this issue is less than minor but I do not appreciate being indirectly called a liar or inept with my position.