Hello,

I pulled the trigger on setting a date for HT in September with DeYarman. I'm scheduled for 2800 grafts.

Thanks to all of you posters who keep the subject matter and discussion topics in reality. I now feel comfortable moving forward though there are days when I still second guess myself.

Karzon -

Good luck with you HT. Although, I think you will need roughly 4000-4500 grafts to be completely satisfied. And why make two trips if you can do it in one.

KG

Thanks for the response KG...

I consulted with 3 coalition doctors. Each thought 2 HTs would be the appropriate approach with total number of grafts in the vicinity you mentioned. 2 of the 3 doctors specifically mentioned being cautious with the crown area and to do that area second.

I'm curious to know more. What is the derivative of your recommendation? Is having 4500 done in one sitting common these days?

quote:

Originally posted by karzon:
Thanks for the response KG...

I consulted with 3 coalition doctors. Each thought 2 HTs would be the appropriate approach with total number of grafts in the vicinity you mentioned. 2 of the 3 doctors specifically mentioned being cautious with the crown area and to do that area second.

I'm curious to know more. What is the derivative of your recommendation? Is having 4500 done in one sitting common these days?

Yes, very common. H&W, Feller and/or Armani are clinics I've seen produce 4000+ on a regular basis. If however, you want numbers, H&W are the way to go. They can do 7000+ grafts in a session if your donour permits it.

I personally wouldn't want to do the whole thing twice. There is no medical reasoning behind the several sessions approach, merely the fact that the clinic doesn't have the facilities to cope with such large procedures.

Karzon,

It's definitely a process while considering HT and it's not for everyone. It's tough to tell just looking at your pics, but, I'd have to agree with kg007 and UM4L, if you want the appearance of density in the front you may want something more like 4000 + grafts. The only clinic to consistently deliver that number is Hasson and Wong. You might want to shoot them some pics for a consult.

I don't know much about DeYarman but if he is recommended as a Coalition Surgeon, I'm sure he's excellent or he wouldn't be there. You don't really look like you need much crown work to me and appear to have a decent amount of hair left from the top middle of your scalp to the crown. Are you on Propecia (finasteride)? If not, you may be ripe for keeping what you have and for some possible crown growth. You may at least want to get on it before the HT to assist in staving off any potential shock loss.

Best of luck to you in the journey,

I have been through two procedures, and I can tell you don't want to go through multiple procedures if you don't have to. More procedures = more pain, more down town, more waiting, will take 2-3 yrs to see full results compare to 6 months to a year with only one procedure. Just go through this website, you'll find tons of people with 4000+ procedures with Dr. H & W/Armani/Rahal/Feller(seen only one case). Your crown seems good. All you need is frontal 2/3. Do some more consultations with other docs before you give your deposit to Dr. D.

KG

Just a note of caution here: Perhaps the doctors do not want to shock out all of the remaining native hair with a mega session? In addition, 2800 should provide a great measuring stick for desired density and future coverage areas. I agree with both methods in this instance, just looking at the other perspective. 2800 in the frontal 3rd should really make a drastic cosmetic difference.

Thanks guys... Over the last couple of days your responses have made me think this through even more thoroughly. I'm still leaning leaning toward an initial 2800 verus the mega session. However, I'm going back to the docs to confirm their specific logic in what was proposed as well consider other options. I'll let you know how things progress...

Based on my experience, I don't think 2800 grafts will make significant improvement. you'll get coverage, but you'll have see-thru density. It's totally upto you. If you're looking for thin coverage, then 2800 grafts will be plenty. If you're looking for hairline and density like Bobman, you'll need atleast 4000-4500 grafts. As for shockloss, yeah you will suffer shockloss (regardless you do 2800 or 4500), but it will grow back. Good luck with whatever you decide.

KG

quote:

Originally posted by kg007:
Based on my experience, I don't think 2800 grafts will make significant improvement. you'll get coverage, but you'll have see-thru density. It's totally upto you. If you're looking for thin coverage, then 2800 grafts will be plenty. If you're looking for hairline and density like Bobman, you'll need atleast 4000-4500 grafts. As for shockloss, yeah you will suffer shockloss (regardless you do 2800 or 4500), but it will grow back. Good luck with whatever you decide.

KG

Shockloss is pretty irrelevant if you plant in the front only - which is the only thing you can really feasibly do with 2800 grafts. You can effectively write off the hair you have in the front because it provides little cosmetic value, and even if you lose it all, 4000+ grafts would produce a superior result.