I am appealing to any experienced FUT professional (doctor or patient) for a favor. I did my surgery on last week and I cannot tell if my doctor (who is highly reputable) did as many grafts as he said. Could you kindly look at the attached photo and give me your opinion as to how many incisions/grafts this appears to you (we focused just on the frontal area)?
Many thanks to any one who gives me some guidance.
If you really want to improve your capacity to know exactly how many recipient sites were made, you should insist that your physician use the Counting Incision Device from Device For Hair. You can see this at Counting Incision Device (C-ID) . This device will cost your physician only 22.00 to use and he can give it to you at the end of the case. This device allows you to know precisely the number of incision sites filled with grafts and it is the only way you can know for certain how many incision sites were made. Of course, if you have a site that is not filled with a graft, then you should not be charged for the graft.
We have found that most physicians are not willing to spend the extra 22.00 to be accurate with their incision site count. While the Physician is making thousands of dollars on your procedure, he appears to be less concerned with accuracy and more concerned with the extra expense. Therefore, you might want to purchase one for your physician and insist that he use it and then give it to you at the end of the case. This way you can be certain what was done.
Don’t rely on the surgery staff to count your grafts or your incision sites. They have no real interest in being accurate and they are often more concerned with what they are going to have for dinner than an accurate graft count. Try sitting at a counter and cutting grafts day in and day out. It becomes routine and monotonous. Over time, the surgery tech’s mind begins to wander and they next thing you know, they have lost count.
Insist that your physician use the Counting Incision Device (CID) so that you can be certain what the exact graft count is.
One important point to consider with the CID is that it is disposable. There is no way to properly sterilize it once it has been used. Insist that the physician use a new one on you and not one that he used on someone else the day before. It really is up to you to insure that you get what you pay for and that your physician use properly sterilized single use CID instruments on your case.
Getting back on the subject of your grafts, there is some elongation noted and many of the hairs appear to be falling over to the side suggestive that they are about to be expelled from the skin and lost in your shower drain. This would not happen one day after a procedure.
I am 27 and first noticed that i had hair loss about 24..My dad also has hair loss so its should be caused by genetic. About 1 year ago,i already had very little hair . I have been using Minoxidil 5 %, and Propecia, and it helps to control the hair loss but recently i realize that there is excessive hair loss even though i use it faithfully. I tried other ways of different treatment but i dun see any results. I recently saw this product “provillus’,its main ingredient is saw palmetto. It is said that it is similar to propecia but it doesn’t affect your sex drive ,Is this true? Can you please advise me on what other methods can i try,i recently just bought a laser set,do you think it will be useful?
Hair Loss is a multi-factorial problem. This is probably why some people respond well to DHT inhibitors such as Propecia and why others do not respond as well. Some people respond well to Minoxidil or Rogaine, while others do not. We recommend treating your hair loss with as many options as possible to cover as many potential causes of hair loss as possible.
You can purchase saw palmetto over the counter in a health food store and take the pills each day. Saw palmetto is a DHT blocker. We recommend you use this.
We also recommend you shampoo with Nizoral Shampoo at least once a week. Leave the product on for 5 minutes prior to rinsing. The product is a topical agent so it needs skin contact to do its job. We also recommend Hair Cycle shampoo and conditioner 4 to 5 times per week. Again, leave this product on 5 minutes prior to rinsing. Hair Cycle is an anagen stimulator so it will help you keep the hair in the growing phase longer. This should help you prolong the life of your hair. Hair Cycle is also healthier for your scalp since it lacks sodium laurel sulfate, which is the agent creating lather in most shampoos. This lather is the equivalent to engine degreaser and it is not healthy.
Other products you might consider include topical spironolactone.
The laser comb is expensive, but should help. We are working on a less expensive model.
You might find that decreasing the dosage of your Propecia to three times a week on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday has less of an affect on your sex drive.
Please note that Rogaine Foam is a new version of topical minoxidil and seems to produce less skin irritation. It also is better absorbed and does not leave your hair oily or greasy the way most minoxidil solutions do.
What are the ways to camouflage strip hair restoration scars?
Camouflaging Strip Scars
Scars in the donor area from strip harvests may be problematic for many men. They may be short or run from ear to ear. Sometimes they widen over time, occasionally to more than two centimeters, which is deforming. This is usually due to an overly tight scalp, too low a placement, or poor surgical technique. They also change the direction of hair growth below the scar, relative to above the scar, which may cause a “shadow†of the linear scar to be evident even with the hair grown out somewhat.
IN order to minimize the appearance of scars, several strategies are available. There are cosmetics such as Dermatch, which may help disguise the scar. The hair may also be grown out fairly long to attempt coverage. This, of course, may not be an option for those with an over harvested donor region.
Surgical scar revision may be attempted, often without success. This consists of excising the scar and them suturing up the wound, hoping that the resultant scar will look better than the original one. This can work in some instances; however, if the condition that led to the scarring is not remedied, then even the best revision may fail.
Grafting into the scar is another option. Because yields tend to be lower in scars, this may take more than one surgical procedure over many months to have a significant cosmetic effect. Either body or scalp hair may be used; scalp hair is generally a better choice if it is available.
what is the best possible treatment for baldness for a 23 years young male?
The best treatment for a 23 year old male with hair loss will vary somewhat depending on the degree of hair loss at this young age. If you have an advanced degree of hair loss, surgical solutions should not be considered. The reason for this is simply that hair loss is a lifelong process. Once it begins, it will continue the remainder of one’s life. Typically it will advance in stages. This means there will be periods when the loss is stable and periods when the loss accelerates quite rapidly. An advanced degree of loss usually means that one will lose an excessive amount of hair over their life time beyond the capacity of the donor area to keep up with the pace of loss. Eventually there will be a mismatch between supply and demand. This can result in an unnatural result later in life. One should avoid crown work when possible at this age or at least minimize the size of the grafts to one and two hair grafts that will appear more natural as the surrounding hair is lost later in life.
For the advanced degree of loss at an early age, medical and other non-surgical solutions would be the best options. These include DHT blockers such as Propecia and Avodart. It also includes minoxidil (Rogaine) along with Nizoral shampoo. We like Hair Cycle shampoo and conditioner too. One might also consider a hair piece.
Less aggressive degrees of loss should also be treated medically, but one might also consider a surgical solution. The surgical solution should never include a strip procedure. Rather one should have FUE or FIT when they are less than 30 years of age. It used to be that the only surgical option was a strip surgery that left a permanent strip scar. Today, this is not the case. Alternatives that avoid strip scars are available today and a much safer surgical solution.
It is a good idea to put off surgery as long as possible when you are young. The longer you wait, the more likely you are to know the bald pattern you are likely to develop into. In addition, you may find that you panicked as a 23 year old and solved the problem surgically. As men mature, sometimes they become comfortable with their hair loss. Once you begin surgery, you increase the probability that you may require additional procedures as you mature and your hair loss progresses. If you are certain that you want to maximize the hair on your head and you are not expected to have an advanced degree of loss, then surgery may be an option for you, however.
