I just wanted to ask a few questions about the donor scars from a strip procedure. I was at a seminar of one of the HT surgeons in Sydney. His name is Dr Barry White. He had a few models showing their HT's. He is supposed to be one of the best in Oz. When I saw the donor scars they where up to 5mm thick in some spots and nowhere were they less than 2mm thick. Also the base of the FU's did not look they were flush with the skin. It looked like the hair was coming out of a small bump of skin. Is that how a FU HT and donor scar is supposed to look? Because that did not look like a pencil line scar. The hair looked natural from far away but when you come up close you can tell that it isn't. I thought with FU HT's you can tell the difference. Can the docs please tell me if they are the results I should expect of is he just a crappy doc?

rna

my scar stretched up to 5 mill in 2 places.

jotronic has a pict somewhere showing his enviably thin scar. I'm still healing, but the dermatologist who removed my sutures said the suturing was very well done. Also, my scalp feels pretty flexible back there similar to pre-op. That gives me confidence that the final state of the donor scar will be good.
If you have a really tight scalp or inflexible skin, that will make things tough regardless because of pressure on the wound. Like shock loss, you just have to hope you have hair/scalp characteristics that help you avoid some potential HT post-op issues.

vocor1
Knowledge is Power
If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

quote:

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Also the base of the FU's did not look they were flush with the skin. It looked like the hair was coming out of a small bump of skin.

---

nra,
This sounds like plugs, or mini/micros to me. If I were you, I wouldn't go there. A properly trimmed and well placed FU wouldn't produce this type of result. The raised look is something that I've been concealing for years, and it's no fun, especially when you find yourself under an "unforgiving" light. I'm optimistic that Dr.Wong's repair work will take care of this.
Jim

Hi. Thanks for the great comments regarding my hair transplantion. In your question " is he really that good?"

Take a look at my story, and what I had to say with respect to him, and his procedures. Simply do a search with my name in it to bring up what I have said.

He changed my entire life. Those before pictures tell the tale. Nobody that I have researched, and looked into even come close to the results that he achives. Also look at his patients that come out here and eles were with there entore lifes changed.

If you do decied on hair transplantion you must only go to the best. As you know the results for some can be a total disater! Those are results you will live with for the rest of your life. There are lots of horrable horrable shady doctors. It's so heart breaking to heat the storys of guys that have gone through the terrable botched procedures. Nobody that I have looked into has the results he does. And none do temple areas and do the jagged natural hairline. No-one does. HOMEWORK IS THE KEY!

Talking about FUT AND FUE:

FUE is VERY expensive. However the price is going down each and every month. FUT Still provies mega sessions. I think for now it is stil the way to go. For someone like my self that wants to go back and fill in some areas FUE is the better option. FUE is simply to expensvie to provide mega sessions.

Also FUE is great to fill in the scar left by the FUT method.

hey arfy, so what are you trying to imply? he's not as good as i think? in your expertise or strong opinion, who is god when it comes to hair transplantation? dying to hear your answer.

I’ve got to agree with Vocor1 on this one. After having gone to Dr. Alvi’s site, I was amazed (and a little saddened) by the number of younger patients who’s hairlines had simply receded and on whom he had performed surgery. Yes, I know the pain of hairline recession at an early age. I at one point (around the age of 19 years) had the early recession, with the remainder of my head full and lush. If proscar had existed back then, I would have been all over it. The point here (and I’m echoing Vocar1) is that the odds are that the baldness will increase and the patients will be back for more. It’s rare that a young person will have a receding hairline and not progress.

On a side note, an exception is the great former Packer’s halfback, Paul Hornung. I saw a biography of him recently. The s.o.b. has the same receded line at the age of 70 years as he did when he was in college!

i know dude. i'm just saying he has a lot of bling-bling.

Just wondering - you mention that you could have gone lower in your hairline placement, but went conservative. Do you think you'll be able to lower it in the future, or is it no longer possible? Also would you even consider lowering it?

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke

Microprose:
Maybe I misstated. I'm not interested in lowering my hairline. Without doubt, it would look better considering my "young face", but I think it would look weird later on in life. And you can't undo the HT.
Initially, I envisioned my hairline being a bit "broader". In other words, the hairline is not lowered, but the temples filled in more so the hairline is more "squared off".
I was then convinced that this was not a prudent course of action. We would have had to devote a lot more FUs to the front, adding more hairs to the hairline and sides, as the temporal angles and sides would have had to be recreated. I don't think that is a good idea considering my family's history of hairloss.
Anyway, I'm not going lower. I MAY add more hairs throughout the top and possibly round the hairline a bit -- very subtly. But I won't do that if they have to rebuild the sides.
For now, I'm happy with the progress. I've seen a lot of great looking NW2s. I'm not disappointed in that final state of my hair restoration.

vocor1
Knowledge is Power
If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

quote from TopJimmy, "IT PAYS TO WAIT WHAT YOUR TRUE MPB PATTERN IS"


That's all I am trying to tell people all along! I've had the same hairline, amount of hair, and thickness of hair since I was 19 (i'm 29 now). every male in my family has 1 of 2 hairlines:

1.) Full head of hair, or
2.) The hairline I have (NW2)

(and yes, arfy, my 80+ year old grandfather has "a teenage hairline" like you like to call it! oh wait, let me guess, he probably uses white toppik, right?)

so I am asking this: Is 10 years long enough to know? or should i wait till i'm 40 or 50 years old to do something?

Texas,
That's a tough one. I have a close friend who was kind of known for his thick head of hair. He started balding at the age of around 35 years and it became very noticable by 45 years. He's now 55 years and gone!

Personally, I would kill for the receded line I had at the age of 19 years. At the time, I thought it was the end of the world.

Hopefully, looking at your family history might give you a clue. As I'm sure you're aware though, this is no crystal ball. There is no guarantee. Maybe if you give your receded line a little more time, you won't mind it so much as you get older.

On the other had, maybe you could ask your grandfather where he get his "White Topik!"
Jim

Haha, thanks uncjim. you just never know with these things. I'm just gonna keep on researching this HT business a little further.

keep in touch

The answer is, you really truly never know when exactly is the right time to do an HT. How can you?
The warning to younger men doing HTs is not to be too aggressive and certainly give Propecia and Rogaine a chance first.
No one can tell you how to run your life. But certainly, it is better to hear criticism HERE than to go to a chop-shop or hair-mill and fall prey to their suggestions ("stay ahead of your hairloss", etc), which are clearly motivated by greed and not by your concerns. If your future is destroyed and they still get paid, they are still happy as hell with that. Will you be?
They play on fear. Better to play on knowledge than fear in my book. That's the only way to go forth with confidence and clarity of thought.

vocor1
Knowledge is Power
If the worst question is the one never asked, then the worst answer is the one never shared.

Personally, I would recommend against lowering a Norwood 2 hairline, pretty much at any age.

-If you do lose more hair (at any age) you have a problem.

-the ultra-low hairline is not necessarily age-appropriate.

-For a Norwood 2, the surgery is not worth the expense, hassle and risk (see point 1).

If I was Norwood 2 I would use Propecia and be happy. I would not get cosmetic surgery.

arfy,
from what i have gathered from everyone here, with the exception of one or two people, is that an HT should be taken on a case by case basis. Period! Each person should be judged individually. there are no rules set in stone as to when, how, who and where to get an HT.

also, if you are thinking why i love to parry and joust with people is that this is part of my research. i can get a lot of feed back from people if i ask pretty tough questions or make some smart remarks. am i going to get an HT any time soon? probably not. you'll see that i'll end up with 500 to 700 posts before that happens,

Your first two points are valid, but I can't agree with your last point:

"For a Norwood 2, the surgery is not worth the expense, hassle and risk"

It is very subjective, and for some people properly closed temples, with nice angles ARE worth the hassle, risk, and expense (money should play no role in any case).

"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic''. Arthur C. Clarke