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  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Aug 2009
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    Default Second opinion needed

    Hi all,
    I wonder could someone help me. I recently went for a consultation with an excellent HR surgeon in Ireland. He assessed my hair and felt that I did not need a transplant of any kind yet as my loss is mostly at the temples at the moment. He advised me to continue using propecia and minoxidil and that hopefully I would never need his surgical services. However being a bit of a pessimist I asked him to assess my donor area just in case my loss continues. He examined my hair and said it was excellent. It's curly and wiry which is perfect (he commented that I must have African genes somewhere as the characteristics of my hair are so similiar), while my scalp laxity was also very high. The only thing he noticed was that while average donor density is 100 FU's per cm2, mine was lower at about 80 FU's per cm2. He felt however that my other characteristics more than made up for this and that if I needed one in the future, that I would be an excellent candidate. I was just wondering if anyone, either through their knowledge or experience, could back this up. That a the slightly lower FU count would not be a drawback considering my other characteristics? Any info would be great,
    Brendan

  2. #2
    Senior Member
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    Atlanta, GA
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    It sounds like your doctor gave you very sound advice and his comments on your donor availability make sense to me. Even if your follicular density is a bit lower than average, you may still have average or higher-than-average calculated density (the average number of hairs per follicular unit). Also, due to your personal hair characteristics, you will be able to achieve a denser look with less hair/FUs than someone with very fine or straight hair. One drawback of your type of hair is that, if you do elect to undergo a procedure, the transection rate could be higher than average if the doctor does not modify his technique somewhat to accommodate the fact that your follicles likely have a degree of curvature in relation to the scalp. This, however, should not be a problem in the hands of a skilled and experienced HT surgeon.

  3. #3
    Junior Member
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    Aug 2009
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    Hi CIT_Girl,
    Thanks for your reply. I'm sorry now i didn't know to ask the doctor how many hairs I had per FU. I've uploaded 2 pictures of the back of my head with the hair combed up(seem to be more towards the top of the back of my head) to photobucket. They can be seen at the following link http://s968.photobucket.com/albums/a...1000288.jpg%26 .
    I'ld really appreciate it if you (or someone else), could have a look and see if you can judge whether I appear to have many hairs per FU

  4. #4
    IAHRS Recommended Hair Transplant Surgeon Dr. Glenn Charles's Avatar
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    Boca Raton, FL
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    I agree with most of what has been said so far. Not sure about the comment about you having a African gene because of your hair characteristics. I reviewed the photos and your hair does not seem a curly as I thought it was going to be based on what you described. I do not think there would be any problem keeping the transection rate to a minimum during the dissection process of a hair transplant procedure.
    Dr. Glenn Charles
    Member, International Alliance of Hair Restoration Surgeons
    View my IAHRS Profile

  5. #5
    Senior Member bigmac's Avatar
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    The only doctor in Ireland thats any good in my opinion is Dr Collins.However whoever this doc was has given you good advice.Did he/she also mention meds to you if you`re not already using them.
    How many grafts were recomended and what hairloss pattern are you.
    cheers bm.

  6. #6
    Junior Member
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    Thanks for giving me your opinion Dr Charles. It's great to have access to someone with your knowledge and experience through this forum. I appreciate you taking the time to look at my photos. I was just wondering if it's possible to tell, using your expert eye, whether I have an average or below average quantity of hairs per FU? Looking at the pictures myself it's hard to tell. The second picture does appear thinner than the area in the first, however this may be because it's taken too high up my scalp. When he was examining the hair at the back of my head the surgeon observed that the area I thought was thinning around the crown was actually only the pattern my hair took as the hair at the back of my head grew down while the hair towards the top begins to curl upwards, and there wasn't evidence of miniaturization. It would be great to get your opinion on the apparent hair count per follicuar unit if possible.

    Bigmac, the surgery I went to actually was Dr Collins's, but I was seen by one of his associates. He didn't actually recommend a transplant yet so did not calculate the grafts. He said that the crown did not appear to be thinning and that I should stay on the propecia and minoxidil for my hairline. I explained that I had been on propecia for 14 months and minoxidil on my hairline for 6 months but that I still could not say for sure if I was maintaining or still losing hair at the front (somedays It seems like I'm losing the battle, other days I think I'm winning, depending on the length of my hair, lighting etc). He said that I was probably getting full benefit from the propecia at this stage (14 months), but that I might still get a boost from the minoxidil in the next few months (i'm on it 6 months so far). He said he would be surprised if I actually did end up needing a transplant but that if I did that I would be a good candidate for it due to the wiriness and curl of my hair and my scalp laxity. I was glad to hear that but I'm sorry now I forgot to ask him about how much of a drawback then lower FU density would be and what my hairs per FU count was. I think, like alot of hair loss sufferers, instead of focusing on the pluses (curl, laxity, etc) I often focus on the negatives and imagine worst case scenarios.

  7. #7
    Senior Member bigmac's Avatar
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    Dr Collins has been very upfront and genuine with you which is great to hear,hopefully the meds will work for you and you never need a HT.When your hair is looking thin you may be experiencing a shed which is quite common with people using meds.

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