transplant nightmare

[Jack21]

Jack,
Thanks for sharing your story. I amletting my hair obssession get the best of me like your saying. Now I was told by a surgeon in person consultation that he will do 600 grafts but that doesnt seem like much due to my diffuse and frontal thinning. I have never had surgery before. I am too freaked out to shave my head due to the thinning area being very noticeable.

From what I recall I had about 1,500 micrografts. If I recall this was something of a "mini graft". There is nothing "mini" about the scar, however. There are of course numerous variables involved in this procedure that will determine the size of the scar (the density of the donor area and many others). Unless there has been a miracle in the science of HT in the past 5 years you will be left with a long scar at the back of your head. Long enough hair will cover the scar. If you are happy with having longish hair on the sides and back and considerably thinner hair on top, who am I to stand in your way? It is about reasonable expectations. As my doctor told me "You will NOT have a full head of hair. You will NOT look like you did 5 years ago. You will get more thickness on top, but that is all." What I managed to somehow completely ignore in this whole thing was the scar that would result. I did actually ask the doc. how long my hair would have to be to conceal the scar, and he said about 3/4" to 1". He was right. It was abslutely fine for a while - the results of the transplant coupled with toppik and couvre that is. Once my hair began to thin too much to be disguised by concealers, however, the game was up. Try to find a picture of a person who has had a HT and who was told ahead of time that his donor area was ideal in terms of density. I look at these model photos posted by physicians themselves and still think to myself that they look lousy. I cannot make up your mind for you, but I can tell you that my youth, desperation, and terror of losing my looks actually had the effect of ruining my looks. Let's face it. A shaved head does not look so good on most people. It does, however, look far, far better than a head with obvious surgical scars. Do not allow desperation get the better of you. If this happens (as it did with me) you will end up miserably disappointed or simply miserable. As my surgeon said to me "Why not just buzz your hair. You're a good looking guy." A shaved or buzzed head coupled with a good physique is not such a bad thing. Society is very odd. People see the scars on my shoulder and arm and say "Wow. what a badass etc etc." People see scars on my head and they recoil in horror. Do nothing rash. Research, research, research BUT never forget that whatever happens if you do have a HT you will have a long and possibly thick scar from ear to ear. I loved my shaved head and kept my hair shaved or very, very short for most of my time in the army. When on leave with a shaved head I met the girl I would end up marrying. She divorced me just about the same time I became horribky obsessed with my hair. It was not a coincidence.

[Don'tDoIt]

CIT girl, I am surprised that you would use the before/after images for that patient who obviously has longer hair in the "after" photo. The longer hair makes it impossible to tell if Dr. Cole's work really had an impact. Why did you choose this case?

If Dr. Cole is truly doing one of these types of cases per week, why are there not more results on your website showing that these scars are being improved? I am not saying that Dr. Cole is not getting good results with this technique but rather I am saying that the documentation is lacking.

It seems that Jack21 would benefit from FUE into his scar but I would first like to see some more FUE-into-scar success stories.

[Don'tDoIt]

deleted because of a double post

[Don'tDoIt]

Jack21 you should go to the hair loss help website and scroll down the page until you get to the section titled "Hair Transplant Repair." You should then read every thread in that section going back at least to last year. There is a huge amount of information in there. You need to do this to educate yourself about your options. It is at hair loss help with no spaces between the words hair loss help. It is a dot com site. After the dot com type in /forums.

Another way to find this site is to type "hair loss help forum" into a Google search and the site will be the first site of the Google search results.

Spencer, if you read this, sorry about plugging another website but I think that Jack21 deserves all the help that we can give, considering what he has gone through.

[Jack21]

Thank you. I've found it and am beginning to go through the posts. I really appreciate your help.

Jack21 you should go to the hair loss help website and scroll down the page until you get to the section titled "Hair Transplant Repair." You should then read every thread in that section going back at least to last year. There is a huge amount of information in there. You need to do this to educate yourself about your options. It is at hair loss help with no spaces between the words hair loss help. It is a dot com site. After the dot com type in /forums.

Another way to find this site is to type "hair loss help forum" into a Google search and the site will be the first site of the Google search results.

Spencer, if you read this, sorry about plugging another website but I think that Jack21 deserves all the help that we can give, considering what he has gone through.

[chasguy]

My scar is virtually identical to the one in the last picture you posted. It is not as fresh or bloody ,obviously, because 5 years have passed, but in size, shape, length and thickness it is virtually identical. You must understand that b/c of my experience I am very, very reluctant about having anyone take anything sharp to my head or any part of me for that matter. I have also had to have numerous shoulder surgeries since I was discharged which have left my shoulder,arm, and part of my neck covered in surgical scars and arthroscope puncture holes.

For the shoulder scars, try Cica Care silicone sheeting and see if they are improved. If they are, perhaps the same could be applied to your HT scar. Cica Care has had some really really positive reviews

[chasguy]

If I could get those results I would be very happy, but I seem to remember saying exactly the same thing to myself before my HT 5 years ago. I have seen a number of men over the years with shaved heads or v. closely cropped hair whose surgical scars from HTs were very obvious. I've seen men like this at the gym, at football games, at the grocery store. They were obviously at peace with their appearance. I mean they could all have been wearing baseball caps but weren't. I need to make peace with my apperance and try and salvage some sort of life. Mine is a cautionary tale. I have let obsession with my hair ruin the last 5 or 6 years of my life. I wish that I had never heard of any of these "solutions" whether surgery, concealers, or toupees. I wish that I had just kept my head shaved when I got out of the army. My best friend starting balding in college, shaved his head right then and there and has never looked back. He is the most self confident person I know and lives a happy life while I hide in my apartment b/c I am so ashamed of my appearance.

Even if the improvement were only modest, it is still an improvement and still going to help you recover some of your own self esteem

[Jack21]

Even if the improvement were only modest, it is still an improvement and still going to help you recover some of your own self esteem

What could be improved? The appearance of the scar? As I understand it that requires further surgery. Surgery is what got me into this mess in the first place, and my surgeon was far from incompetent. He is in fact very well known. Having another surgical procedure to try and minimize the appearance of a previous surgical procedure MAY yield some positive results ultimately. I do not want to gamble on MAY.

I am perfectly content with the way I look with a shaved head - scar and all. I need to be strong enough to weather the months of insults and frightened/ horrified looks and wait it out until people accept my looks. My plan is to come back after Christmas vacation with my hair shaved with a #1. By winter I will be pale and the difference in color between my scalp and my face will not be so pronounced. The world is going to just have to get used to "Jack the bald guy" who used to be "Jack the good looking guy". I got through some horrible years in the army, I will get through this. I have to.

[Jack21]

This is what I look like with a buzz and a bit of that thickening spray. You can't see the scar at the back, of course, which is the major drawback to doing this. Also if you look more closely (which you cannot do in this poor quality pic) at my head you would see that it is very unnatural looking - like a bit of stubble and a bit of paint.

[Jack21]

I've tried to enhance the pic. but it is a very low resolution webcam shot.