Lurker turned poster...

[thinning85]

Hey everybody,

I wanted to drop in and say hi after recently becoming addicted to the podcasts. I’m looking forward to learning more from this forum as well. I've been following for a few months now and figured it was probably time to say hi. My only regret is that I didn’t discover the podcasts and site before I taking the leap of faith and having a FUE (ARTAS) procedure this past spring. Fortunately, I’m only 4 months out, so I’m still optimistic I’ll see some gains here shortly. I look forward to learning from the collective experience in this community, sharing when I can, and perhaps commiserating, ha.

[pkipling]

ARTAS in and of itself isn't an issue - the more important factor is the skill of the surgeon operating it, so don't beat yourself up over that aspect of the decision alone. There are many other factors that contribute to making a responsible decision that don't involve the use of the robot.

That said, you are correct that you are only 4 months out. While many people start seeing growth between 3-6 months, it's not uncommon (or even a bad sign) if you don't start seeing results until month 6/7 or so. So stay optimistic and try not to check your hair every day for new growth. Once every couple of weeks should suffice. The less you think about it, the quicker the time will pass.

Keep us posted with your results. The most exciting time is yet to come, so enjoy the ride!
__________________
I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My views/opinions are my own and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.

[Delphi]

Hey everybody,

I wanted to drop in and say hi after recently becoming addicted to the podcasts. I’m looking forward to learning more from this forum as well. I've been following for a few months now and figured it was probably time to say hi. My only regret is that I didn’t discover the podcasts and site before I taking the leap of faith and having a FUE (ARTAS) procedure this past spring. Fortunately, I’m only 4 months out, so I’m still optimistic I’ll see some gains here shortly. I look forward to learning from the collective experience in this community, sharing when I can, and perhaps commiserating, ha.

The only reason I became interested in this technology was because Spencer Kobren described robotics as being the future of hair transplants, so if you are addicted to the podcasts you’ll know that he describes the robot as a good tool in the right hands. I’ve posted this before, this technology seems amazing! I keep saying how I believe it's only logical that this will surpass anything a human can do, but I have seen some doctors post some scary looking post operative donor pictures proving that if you don’t know what you are doing, any tool, or machine can yield bad results. If you went to a good doctor who knows how to perform hair transplants and use the robot properly you should have nothing to worry about.

Here are a couple of good examples of good Artas results. It all depends on which doctor you go to.

https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/thread...nd-back-1-year

https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/thread...cott-Alexander

[thinning85]

ARTAS in and of itself isn't an issue - the more important factor is the skill of the surgeon operating it, so don't beat yourself up over that aspect of the decision alone. There are many other factors that contribute to making a responsible decision that don't involve the use of the robot.

That said, you are correct that you are only 4 months out. While many people start seeing growth between 3-6 months, it's not uncommon (or even a bad sign) if you don't start seeing results until month 6/7 or so. So stay optimistic and try not to check your hair every day for new growth. Once every couple of weeks should suffice. The less you think about it, the quicker the time will pass.

Keep us posted with your results. The most exciting time is yet to come, so enjoy the ride!
__________________
I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My views/opinions are my own and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.

Thanks for the feedback, pkipling. My apprehension doesn't lay with the decision to go with the ARTAS, as much as it does realizing I dove in without educating myself as much as I should have beforehand, which is 100% my own fault. Had I known as much then as I do now, I would've been in a position to ask much more intelligent, targeted questions during the consultation that would've informed who I chose to perform the procedure. At a minimum, I likely would've chosen the lesser known physician in his practice to perform the procedure, seeing as how they were significantly cheaper and it seemed like the technicians were the ones doing all the heavy lifting anyway. I probably would've had the exact same techs supporting the other doc at a savings of several thousand.

To be honest, it never occurred to me that the surgeon wouldn't be the one doing most of the work. I was pretty surprised to realize just how involved the techs were. That said my surgeon has a strong reputation (he is an IAHRS member), so hopefully the strength of his reputation enables him to recruit and hire qualified, capable techs that he can rely on.

[thinning85]

Tried to delete; duplicate post.

[thinning85]

The only reason I became interested in this technology was because Spencer Kobren described robotics as being the future of hair transplants, so if you are addicted to the podcasts you’ll know that he describes the robot as a good tool in the right hands. I’ve posted this before, this technology seems amazing! I keep saying how I believe it's only logical that this will surpass anything a human can do, but I have seen some doctors post some scary looking post operative donor pictures proving that if you don’t know what you are doing, any tool, or machine can yield bad results. If you went to a good doctor who knows how to perform hair transplants and use the robot properly you should have nothing to worry about.

Here are a couple of good examples of good Artas results. It all depends on which doctor you go to.

https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/thread...nd-back-1-year

https://www.baldtruthtalk.com/thread...cott-Alexander

Delphi, I appreciate the feedback. I know Spencer talks about ARTAS as the great equalizer when it comes to quality and standardizing results across the field. My doctor has a strong reputation and is a name most here would recognize, although it seems like his name isn't mentioned quite as much these days as it was 5 years ago, so I'm not sure if he's still on the "Mount Rushmore" of surgeons. I'm also not even sure that HIS reputation matters since his techs did the overwhelming majority of the graft placements, with the exception of a few the doc placed at the front to create a "more natural appearance".

I know Spencer also talks about how well known surgeons are changing their operating model and relying more and more on techs these days -- I suspect my surgeon is one of the ones he is referring to.

[pkipling]

Thanks for the feedback, pkipling. My apprehension doesn't lay with the decision to go with the ARTAS, as much as it does realizing I dove in without educating myself as much as I should have beforehand, which is 100% my own fault. Had I known as much then as I do now, I would've been in a position to ask much more intelligent, targeted questions during the consultation that would've informed who I chose to perform the procedure. At a minimum, I likely would've chosen the lesser known physician in his practice to perform the procedure, seeing as how they were significantly cheaper and it seemed like the technicians were the ones doing all the heavy lifting anyway. I probably would've had the exact same techs supporting the other doc at a savings of several thousand.

To be honest, it never occurred to me that the surgeon wouldn't be the one doing most of the work. I was pretty surprised to realize just how involved the techs were. That said my surgeon has a strong reputation (he is an IAHRS member), so hopefully the strength of his reputation enables him to recruit and hire qualified, capable techs that he can rely on.

While it may seem that the technicians are doing the bulk of the work (and with some doctors, this may be the case), your top surgeons are responsible for the most important aspects of the procedure, and I hope this was the case with your doctor. Also, it is true that your best surgeons hire the best technicians. You want those extra hands on deck so that the surgeon is alert and able to perform the most challenging aspects of the procedure himself. For example:

The most important parts of the procedure are the extraction/removal of the grafts in the donor area and making the incision sites in the recipient area. These are the aspects of the procedure that separate the bad from the good from the great surgeons. So even though it may seem to you that the surgeon doesn't play an important role, that couldn't be further from the truth - so if your second guessing yourself for spending more money on a more experienced surgeon, don't. It sounds like you made a good decision.

Your top surgeons are going to know how to successfully extract the grafts without damaging them, remove them in a pattern that is inconspicuous and evenly spaced, make incision sites at the right angles and design a natural hairline, and place the grafts with the appropriate numbers of hairs where they naturally would be (for example, placing single haired grafts at the hairline). The technicians are there to help remove the grafts once the doctor has extracted them, count them, separate them into 1s, 2s, 3s, etc., and help with the placement. The surgeon will oversee all of this.

Hopefully that helps paint a clearer picture of what you should expect with a hair transplant and what exactly is going on on the other end of the equation. Based on what you've said, it sounds as if you may have lucked out and chosen a better surgeon to do your work than you would have otherwise had you made a decision based on who was cheaper....

Happy growing!
__________________
I am a patient advocate for Dr. Parsa Mohebi in Los Angeles, CA. My views/opinions are my own and don't necessarily reflect the opinions of Dr. Mohebi and his staff.