Frechet Extender

[Dutch_Dude]

Hello,

Does anyone think that the frechet extender, and then a transplant to restore the frontal zone for someone who is like a nw 6...a good solution?

I saw a few photos on dr. frechet's website and I was quite impressed. Just wondering if anyone else had such an operation.

Thanks.

[Winston]

The Frechet extender seems to be the best out of all of these type of aggressive surgeries but it seems to me that you will be sacrificing a good amount of your donor hair if you choose to stretch the scalp so aggressively. Procedures like this are not done in this the U.S for a reason and I think it might be better to start with some good hair transplants in the front and middle of the scalp to see if you can be content with the results before you try such an aggressive operation.

[Dutch_Dude]

But how can it effect your donor hair? It's done on the top of the scalp to make that hughe circle bald spot smaller, right?

[Winston]

Imagine if you drew 100 dots on a balloon very close together. When you begin blowing up that balloon you see that those dots will start to move further and further apart from each other leaving big gaps in between. This is exactly what happens to your donor hair when you stretch it from the back and sides to cover the top of your head. The more you stretch the less you can remove from the donor without it being visible.

[Dutch_Dude]

it does make sense, but i still saw some amazing results of it...especially from dr. frechet himself...

[mattj]

The technique would look to have the potential to cover a wide area of scalp on men with advanced male pattern balding, and in conjunction with a transplant to restore the frontal area, the end result could be a good head of hair. The drawbacks would be, as Winston said, a thinner donor area which could tolerate the removal of fewer grafts, and possible issues with the direction of the hair growth on the expanded and stretched area. Despite the extreme expansion of the scalp, there could still be enough tension to widen the scars, and the scars must be quite substantial with this procedure.

Plus, you can't really be sure that the average result is as good as the examples shown.

[Delphi]

Well said Winston. I would never have that done!!!

[Don'tDoIt]

Dutch Dude, listen to the above commenters. Do NOT get this procedure done. You will regret it!

[mattj]

Spencer Kobren gives a good audio talk on the Frechet scalp extender procedure in this thread:

http://www.baldtruthtalk.com/showthread.php?t=1868&highlight=frechet

[Delphi]

Hey that was very cool! I never heard that one. Spencer Kobren has all the bases covered here