Hello everyone,

I'm new here and I have been debating if I should get a hair transplant. I just turned 21 a few months ago and lately I've been thinking about how much hair I don't have. This is my situation. When I was born, I had a big mole on my head and the doctors said that they needed to remove it because they said it was Cancerous. The doctors told my parents to get it removed or else I wouldn't live. My parents were scared so they had the doctors remove my mole. After the surgery, they ran tests and the mole turned out to be fine. I'm kind of relieved they removed my mole because who knows it might have turned into cancer later on. Anyhow,when the doctors removed the mole, they did a skin graft. As of right now, I have a big bald spot on my head probably the size of an adult fist. My hair covers it sometimes, but sometimes it doesn't. I guess what's holding me back is the risks. Are the risks high? Do some people lose their lives with hair transplant surgeries? Are there any hair transplant surgeries that you guys suggest me to do? Please let me know. Thank you very much and have a nice day. Here's a picture of what my head looks like.

http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c210/CraigslistPictures/hair.jpg

Hey,

Im fairly new to the site myself. I am myself debating whether or not to have a hair transplant. There are far far better people who log on this site who can advise you and talk from experience.

From what i can gather myself, the risks are relatively low if you choose the right hair transplant surgeon. There are many to choose from world wide but only a hand full of really good ones. They operate mainly in the US. They are featured as coalition members on this website.
It is important to be careful choosing the correct surgeon for your particular problem. Each surgeon has a different style and look they go for in a hair transplant.

The good news is that seeing as you are a girl (i think..)and the hair loss is a result of a piece of skin removed means you won't loose any more hair. That means if you get a hair transplant to fix that patch you mentioned,You will never have to worry about getting a hair transplant again. For men once you have one transplant, then a second and possibly a third is obligatory. Otherwise the previously transplanted hair will look un-natural as the surrounding hair eventually falls out.

In any transplant there are 2 possible risks
1)The transplant will look un-natural
2)You could be left with a scar where the skin was removed from the back of the head from which the hair to be transplanted comes from.

With the good surgeon these risks are minimised substantially. A good hair transplant surgeon can fill in a bald area or replace a hairline which looks even better then the real thing.

If i where you i would look at/Google

Dr. Epstein: facial plastic surgeon. from what i have researced, the donor scarring among his patients is undetectable.
also look at
Dr. Shapiro, Dr. Hasson & Dr. Wong and
DR. Feller.

Note filling in a blank spot on the scalp is far easier then a hairline. Any of the surgeons i've mentioned would wizz through it.

These days a hair transplant is a tried and tested art. It has become very refined in the past number of years and done by good surgeon, it can be great. No one has ever lost there life from a hair transplant that i know of. The Surgeons i have mentioned are very well respected. Dr. Epstein as you will see on his site has featured in Vogue magazine along with about ten others you'll on his website.

One final point. There is another option. Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE)can be done. This is simply removing hair follicular unit (follicles) individually with a tool without taking a strip of skin. This is far more expensive. See Dr. Feller and Dr. Epstein and Dr. Bernsteins website.

Id say go for it.

Ms. Nguyen-

Badger has some great information for you. Since your not suffering from Male-Pattern-Baldness as most here do, you really don't have the risks of further loss (assuming I understand you post correctly). So, it is a matter of choosing the right surgeon for you to accomplish your goals.

I've never heard of anyone dying from a hair transplant. The procedure is may be a bit more complex but is really similar to any other outpatient surgery you may have..........possibly less severe. To simplify, the area containing the donor hair is numbed, then removed, then the recipient area is numbed....incisions are made and the hair is transplanted........Vioala!

Hope this helps.

Thank you Badger and hairbank for responding back with valuable information. I really appreciate your responses because they help me out a lot. I'm going to look into the surgeons you have suggested Badger. Hopefully one of them is close to California because that's where I'm from.

Ms.Nguyen if you go to the top of the page it says "find a surgeon" just click on that. It would be a good idea to send your pictures to a few Doctors and get an online consultation. And don't let traveling out of California stop you if you find a good Doctor out of state. A lot of these Doctors work with people that have had chemo and other treatments were the hair did not grow back. So you should have no problem getting a good head of hair.

Ms.Nguyen,

I hope it all works out for you. I just want to emphasise the point though that getting a hair transplant is something you have to really really really research. There are a lot of cowboys out there, people with no ethics that just want your money.

The surgeons that i mentioned, i have never met in person, furthermore, i have never seen any of their patients in person, only seen online. All the research i've done do far is internet based. They all appear pretty good. But at this stage it is an educated type of speculation.

The next step for me is to meet patients and see up close if the doctors work is actually as good as it appears in the photographs that appear on my laptop screen when i log on.
Before you make a decision, i would urge you to do the same.

Take your time. Don't let location be a factor. This hair transplant is something you'll have to live with. If it ends up costing an extra couple of thousand dollars for accomodation and a flight, its gonna be worth it. This could be one of the most important decisions you'll make.

Do research.

Hi

21 is very young.. Follow the instructions of the vets on here and do some research. Falceros posted a very good reply on here regarding this



http://hair-restoration-info.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/7466060861/m/7271009803

jb-

Just thought I'd point out this is a woman likely not dealing with future loss from MPB but rather a specific scar left from the removal of a large mole...........otherwise, I completely agree with you on HT's for a 21 year old !

ooooh

Thanks Bank. Them eliminate the Propecia & her situation might be a bit different.. See the qualified doc

thanks for the correction

Thanks for the link back to one of my posts Jobi! I see, however, as hairbank said, that Ms. Nguyen is in a different situation than others who are typically suffering from MPB.

Ms. Nguyen,

From what I'm reading and from your picture, I believe you'd be a good candidate for an HT. I think the most important thing for you to do at this point is research doctors and find the right one for you. Start by doing consults here: http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/hair-loss-content...s/our_physicians.asp. Look at plenty of before, progression, and after pictures and find a physician that you are impressed by. Remember...consistency of results is important. Don't let one person persuade you by their results to go to that clinic.

If I can help you in any other way, feel free to PM me. Of course, my fellow brothers here have given you good advice.

By the way...there ARE other women on this forum as well, so do look at photos and read about their experiences as well.

Falc

Hi all. Thanks for responding back to my post, I really appreciate it. I've talked with my parents and I think that I am going to get my HT by a Kasier doctor. When I was a baby, Dr. Pearl who is now the executive director and CEO of Northern California removed my mole and did the skin graft. He no longer does surgery, but I am going to find out who has replaced him so that I can get my HT. The reason why I'm going to do it at Kaiser is because I think my insurance will help cover it. Hopefully everything will go well.

Ms.Nguyen, you only have so much donor hair. Maybe only enough to cover your bald patch. So make sure you choose wisely, because when it's used up, it's gone.

If it was my head, I would not got get a ht with a Doctor that removes moles, or does other surgeries. I would only go to a Doctor that performs ht's only, and has done thousands on them. And only from a highly recommended Doctor.

My suggestion is that you send your photos to at least 3 different ht Doctors, plus the clinic your thinking of going with. Research, research, research. You don't want to make a mistake.

Ms. Nguyen,

Just be careful in who you choose. I have no idea which doctor you will end up choosing, but keep in mind, it's important to go to a doctor who you know does quality work. This link will hopefully show you what is deemed as quality regarding what makes a quality HT doc: http://www.hairlosslearningcenter.org/hair-loss-content...ership-standards.asp

I have seen too many people choose doctors and get burned and not get the results they wanted becaues they wanted to choose a local doctor. PLEASE, for your own sake, do not let distance determine who you go to. I understand the advantage it would be if insurance covers it...however you have to determine what is more valuable to you: knowing for sure you'll get a quality hair transplant and feel natural again, OR getting it done for virtually free with the possibility of getting a low quality HT that looks unnatural and pluggy. Notice the use of my word "possibility". I am not saying that if you don't choose a coalition doctor you'll get a bad HT...but I plead with you not to jump into it because it's convenient. As as its-only-hair said, you have a limited supply of donor hair so you don't want to waste any. Good luck!

Falc

Ms.Nguyen,
If your insurance will cover you at one doctor, it will probably cover you with another doctor. Have you looked into that? As others have stated, be very careful in your choices.

Looks like I might not need a HT after all. I'm going to see a doctor to see what they can do. My parents told me that they may be able to put something in head so the skin stretches and I think they will just cut off the extra skin. I'm going to see a doctor next month so I'll keep everyone updated. Thanks so much for responding everyone I really appreciate it!

Hi Ms. Nguyen,

I read through your posts and just want to offer my humble opinion:

I am in no way a doctor or no much if anything about moles but if you have not already done so, I would research and speak to doctors who specialize in this condition to find out first what physical condition the skin/scalp where the mole was removed, is in. I would want to find out if this area is suitable as a donor area. It probably is but I would validate that .

Also, it sounds like you are talking about getting a scalp reduction? If so I would also look into the pros and cons of that. Here is some info on that from ISHRS:

Potential Complications and Side Effects
Careful planning and expert surgical skills are required to achieve good results in alopecia reduction. Complications are uncommon but there can be postoperative complications such as scarring at the suture lines, "stretch back" of scalp skin at the excised bald area, and a central midline scar called a slot deformity.

I also read that you may still have to get a transplant to hide the suture lines.

I guess my point is that you should really research in depth evey option you are contemplating.

Scalp reductions don't really work. I've had 5 of them and the balding area is pretty much the same size it would have been if I never had any of them done. After you have one done, it looks great at first and the Dr claims a great job, but your skin is stretched and tight. After a month or 2 you get stretch back and end up at the same point you started. There's not enough elasticity or fatty areas on the top of your head for a scalp/skin reduction to work there.

You mention stretching the area and then cutting it out. First it takes 3 to 4 weeks to stretch the area. You'll have something put under your skin to stretch it which will make your head look extremely swelled for those weeks. If they stretch the bald area all you're really doing is making the bald area larger just so you can have the amount of area that was stretched cut out and again end up being the same size you started with.

If you're going to try it, I think you have to actually have the area all around the bald area stretched where you have good hair. Then they can pull that up over the bald area. that way works better, but I'm not sure if you run a risk of losing patches of good hair from having it pulled away from your scalp for several weeks and possibly changing the blood supply to some sections.

I personally think you are better off just having a hair transplant.

DO NOT DO SCALP REDUCTIONS..

They are dangerous and today there are better technologies that work to replace hair..

quote:

DO NOT DO SCALP REDUCTIONS..

They are dangerous and today there are better technologies that work to replace hair..

JOBI

I agree. Scalp reductions (if that's what you are considering) are a thing of the past...an ancient procedure. I think a hair transplant in that area still might be your best bet. Consider ALL your options and research thoroughly before you jump into anything...it's for your own benefit.

Falc