[Kaizen]

I was going over the recent propecia thread and figured it would benefit the forum if I posted my experience.

I had a hair transplant over a year ago. Not something I gave much thought too. Ive always had a full head of hair, decent thickness, only receding quite a bit at the temples and front. It bugged me a bit but not terribly. I played around with rogaine and propecia here and there

Anyways, when joking around about my receding hairline to a plastic surgeon friend of mine, he flatly asked me if I thought of a transplant. For some reason, I figured that the procedure was for the top and not the sides but of course it works the same anywhere. He also told me the 'guy who wrote the book' on hair transplant was in the city.

I figured I had nothing to lose and made an appointment. Before that I did some research on the Doctor and found out he's the guy a lot of hollywood celebs, heads of states etc turn to

I liked the doc when we met. He spent an hour with me. I asked him if he's had any disasters etc in the past. He told me 'I hate when I get asked that question. It feels like it can't be true, but every single one of my patients has been happy with the procedure. Not a single hospital admission from a complication. It's too good to be true.'

I booked within a week

A few months flew by and before I knew it , it was the day of the procedure. The day went by quick. A morning and afternoon session with lunch in between. Some valium by mouth and local anesthesia. No intravenous. I was quite sedated during the whole thing. My scalp was uncomfortable for a month after, which I just learned was much longer than usual.

Hair started growing in 3 months. No one knew I had anything done. At 6 months, some comments started coming in: 'you look different' , 'your hair looks good', 'you're looking good'; I guess since I was never really bald per se no one suspected anything.

I see myself in the game for awhile. Need any edge to look younger and happy I did it. If you're thinking about it, do it. Go to the right person. Only issue is cost, which can be the limiting factor. Ran me 15K.

Feel free to ask me any questions on the thread of PM me

[FretDancer]

Glad to know it worked out well for you in the end.

Personally I'm not much of a fan of plastic surgeries, surgeries, or transplants for esthetic purposes.

15K for the surgery? Jesus...

[Kaizen]

^ Ya its a lot of cake.
Im thankful to be in a good position financially. Rather spend the money on myself than having it sitting in the bank.
As for procedures, its the least 'plastic' to me...as its my own hair growing back where it used to....

[OldRich]

Congrats on the transplant! I would not hesitant to get like that done myself if/when I needed it.

You have this done in the states I assumed? have you looked into doing this procedure over seas to cut cost or is the doctor reputation more important to you?

[saturn]

Yeah congrats mate, I think about it only worry is if I get it done and then receed more...

Regarding cost 15K is cheap if it makes you feel great, I would pay that to keep my hair, definitely a better ROI than an expensive car or watch which many men buy to impress the chicas

[tomtud]

You can always do touch ups every few years if needed. Good doctors will take the aging factor into consideration.

Some of the results I've seen on doctor websites and YouTube are amazing. I may go for mine. Lost some hair in the crown.

[Smitty]

I know a guy who did the hair transplant (hair graft) and he looks MUCH better now. Hair was thinning bad up front and it looks completely normal now.

I would definitely pay for it. In fact, I'm considering getting it if my hair recedes any further.

[Teekay]

I would do it, too. However I'm as bald as Bruce Willis so I reckon I'd have to get a mortgage to pay for that. Oh well, better to invest my euros elsewhere like in game education, health & fitness, travel, etc.

[Duke Castile]

You can never go wrong by investing in yourself.

[bacon]

hey bigxxx thanks for the post but for 15 k were you pretty bald? because ive looked into this and that number seems high. i was thinking of getting a touch up in a few years and was planning on 3k just to add some thinkness. i dont have any hair line receding but somewhat thining. did you use hair club for men? or a regular doctor and if so how did you find a quality one?

[Teddykgb]

Was this a FUE or the strip scar?

I think fixing a receding hairline is easier than fixing thinning hair.

Joel Mchale is a perfect example of this. It seems people with thinning hair have a harder time of fixing it.

http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&sa=X&...x=50&ty=37

[soup]

Can you explain a little more about the procedure? Did they take hair from other parts of your head?

I thought balding happens when the follicles get smaller, so how did he get them to stay open?

[Bad Hussar]

Great stuff. I would definitely consider something like this, though US$15,000 is a lot of cash. Of course, as everyone here knows, medical procedures at many locations outside of the US cost MUCH less. Each person must decide for themselves whether the quality of care they are getting is comparable. Personally, I'd never have anything done in India, for example, since their reputation for hygiene standards is.....not good. But I'd definitely get complex procedures performed at a reputable clinic in South Africa, Eastern Europe, Brazil and Costa Rica.

Question for OP (Bigxxx):
Why the long wait between first consultation and the operation? Is there some sort of infection or inflammation that needs to be brought under control before the op can go ahead, or is it just a case of waiting until the doc had time in his schedule?

[Teddykgb]

Also are you on fin or minox?

[saturn]

Think great results are poss see matthew-mcconaughey below, would be good to know reputable cheap places, I know colombia is a plastic surgery capital so what about there, or cuba I always hear about there amazing health system, any recommendations would be welcome

http://www.thebaldtruth.com/hair-loss/ma...rn-around/

[Kaizen]

@ bacon the cost was 12K plus canadian taxes. I didn't shop around at all. I was told the guy I was seeing was the best around and that's all I needed to know. Trust in the doc doing it was more important than anything. I wasn't bald by any stretch but receding considerably.

Even guys with total baldness usually have a ring of hair at the back of their head. These hair follicles typically last for life and it's from this area the surgeon will take follicles (donor area) to the recipient area (anywhere). In my case this was the temple areas and also the front. but really it can go anywhere on the scalp or usual hair bearing areas i.e. eyebrows etc.

The procedure left me with a scar which has come down completely and basically there is nothing to feel at the back of my head. Even if someone looked through my hair it would be difficult to find.

the delay between consult and procedure was simply cuz the doc is that busy. I think i actually got in because of a cancellation.

I considered rogaine going forward but it's proven more on the crown and back of the head. I know I won't stick to a twice a day lotion anyway. So I decided to do nothing and If i need a redo (in the areas beyond the new transplanted follicles), I'm fine with it.

i have some pics with I would post temporarily here but had some trouble due to file size (1.5 MB). anyone know how i can do this?

[MikeCF]

Joe Rogan got his hair done a while ago and has awful scars. He's said he regretted it but that the technology has been improving.

Jeremy Piven got his shit done, too.

http://inyourface.blog.ocregister.com/fi...ration.jpg

[Basil Ransom]

How does it work with the area where you still have hair, but are going to lose soon?

Imagine your head has three areas:
Area 1: Where you lost your hair and want to restore it
Area 2: Where you currently have hair, but are going to lose within the next say, 12 months
Area 3: The rest of your head.

What do you do about area 2 when you get a transplant? Do you have a middle section of your head that's just bald, and you comb over it?


And, do you think plastic surgery would give you more bang for your buck? Thinking rhinoplasty, face lift, etc. Though some plastic surgery wouldn't make sense until you're at least 35 or 40.

See http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424...78514.html

[Teddykgb]

(10-01-2012 06:38 PM)MikeCF Wrote:  

Joe Rogan got his hair done a while ago and has awful scars. He's said he regretted it but that the technology has been improving.

Jeremy Piven got his shit done, too.

http://inyourface.blog.ocregister.com/fi...ration.jpg

Yeah Rogan and Piven had the strip scar method which leaves a scar from the donor area.

Alot of people are doing FUE follecular unit extraction where they take one hair at a time from the donor area and then replant it. It leaves a small scar that is unnoticable to the eye but you can lose alot of hair during regrowth due to sheddding.

[Duke Castile]

I don't want to just throw out this stuff but I did hear that scientists are making a lot of progress with cloning these hair growing cells. That sounds really promising.

[Bad Hussar]

(10-02-2012 01:05 AM)Fisto Wrote:  

I don't want to just throw out this stuff but I did hear that scientists are making a lot of progress with cloning these hair growing cells. That sounds really promising.

Can you imagine how many pharmaceutical companies are busy spending $millions on research right now? Finding something that can really stop hairloss and even regrow hair, without serious side-effects, is worth many $Billions.

[Smitty]

(10-01-2012 06:25 PM)bigxxx Wrote:  

i have some pics with I would post temporarily here but had some trouble due to file size (1.5 MB). anyone know how i can do this?

If you're using windows, right click on the picture and select 'open with' and you should see "paint."

Once open, at the top you should see a button that says "resize." Select it. In the pop-up menu, make sure "percentage" is checked and "maintain aspect ratio" is checked. Then enter a number in the horizontal field (the vertical field will match whichever number you enter in horizontal as long as maintain aspect ratio is checked). I would enter 50 -- this will cut the picture size in half.

Once you have the new image size, make sure you "save as" and rename so you don't overwrite your original image. Another way to avoid doing this accidentally is to just edit a copy of the image from the start.

[Kaizen]

@ basil ransom: area that received new hair follicles (recipient area) is good for life.

area 2 beyond that is at risk for hair loss.

but a good surgeon won't just do area 1 and stop right at area 2. he will merge into zone 2 , also transplanting that area, thereby giving you some extra protection and essentially buying you more time

i had my first follow up recently where he have me a 50:50 chance I would need a redo again in my life.

[Expert Commander]

Bigxxx,

Thanks for sharing. I am wondering about the recovery time and how to disguise having anything done. You said nobody noticed. Could any girls tell if they touch your hair maybe 3 weeks after the procedure? I would like to keep this decision to myself if possible.

[oregonziggy]

I have some thinning as well. Thinking in the next year or two looking into some procedures. 15K will barely get a person a decent used car. I would think money well spent. As we all know confidence is key when it comes to life in general.