I went in for my second HT with Dr Feller yesterday. My first Feller HT was in November 2005 for 2700 grafts into the front 1/3. Due to my limited donor supply and poor laxity, I haven’t been able to have very large sessions. Yesterday Dr Feller managed to get 1832 grafts. I initially planned to have a second separate strip in order to get the maximum number of grafts but Dr Feller gave me an option of excising the previous non-tricho scar; which he estimated would mean approximately 400 less grafts. In the end we decided to go for a compromise and Dr Feller went along the top edge of the old scar. The new scar is tricho, so I will only be left with the lower edge of the old scar. My old scar wasn’t bad and wasn’t visible with hair at the length I usually have it at. The final result should be an improvement on the first scar so I’m happy with that.

I saw Dr Feller in London several months ago for a consultation and at that time my hair had thinned out badly after using Nizoral. This made my hair look like it was miniaturizing throughout and Dr Feller said it wouldn’t be a good idea to fill my crown as it looked like I was going to lose a lot more hair and wouldn’t have the donor to patch up. Fortunately my hair thickened up and became much more healthy looking after I stopped using Nizoral. My crown thinned out when I was a teenager and isn’t much worse now at age 47 than it was at age 19, so Dr Feller thought it would be safe to do my crown with low density, just enough to give coverage. My bridge hair doesn’t look like it is going anywhere either, albeit a bit thin.

My first HT hairline was a sharpish V shape and I wanted to make the peak more round and widen the front 1/3 area and add a bit more density in one area. I printed some pictures of my immediate post op pictures of my first HT and showed Dr Feller what I wanted by drawing on the picture. Dr Feller then drew the new hairline onto my head and after a couple of minor adjustments it was spot on, exactly what I wanted. Dr Feller then drew in the area he wanted to fill on my crown and got it right first time – exactly how I would have asked to have it.

Dr Feller carefully removed the new strip bit-by-bit, clamping and stapling, checking for laxity as he went along and adjusting the width of the strip accordingly.

Dr Feller dense packed my hairline at 65+ / cm2, all singles along the hairline and some doubles in behind. I had approximately 1300 grafts into my hairline and the remaining 530 into my crown. All the grafts in my crown were multiple hair follicles so there is a nice number of hairs in there (I don’t have the exact breakdown of singles, doubles etc. yet but I’m sure I’ll get them from Dr Feller).

We started at 7:45 am and finished at around 3pm. I was injected with anesthetic around the donor area before leaving the clinic and given pain killers. I took a pain killer as soon as I got back to the hotel in Great Neck so that it would have time to kick in before the effect of the anesthetic wore off. The recipient area ached a bit and there was a bit of pain around the donor area once the anesthetic wore off. I dozed on and off all evening and at 2:30 am I took my last pain killer. I’ve been fine since, no pain at all. The staples don’t feel bad at all either; which surprised me. The sutures I had after my first HT were very uncomfortable for the whole 9 days they were in. I don’t know if the discomfort from the staples is going to kick in later, but at the moment I can hardly notice them and can turn my head in all directions without any feeling of tension.

I couldn’t really express how grateful I was to Dr Feller and his staff for the excellent work they did as I was a bit dazed from the procedure and injections when I left the clinic. I would like to take the opportunity to thank Dr Feller and his staff here for the excellent work and care – I felt like a VIP the whole day. Thank you!

Here are some pictures – how I looked before any surgery in November 2005:


A picture taken just before we started with HT#2 with my camera in Dr Feller’s studio – this was taken with ceiling lighting and studio lamps on stands at each side – taken with my own camera. Dr Feller took plenty of pictures with his own more professional camera that I will post when I receive them from him.



A picture where you can see my new hairline taking shape:



My grafts in separate cups for singles, doubles and multiples:



I don't have any crown pictures with my own camera but I'll post them when I get them from Dr Feller.

PB,
been watching your progress on the other site. Well done hope it all goes to plan, grow well.
IH

Dr. Feller is really doing what a physician should do. Refreshing. Looking good .

Looks nice PB! You're going to have a great hairline after this.

Gorp

I took a picture of my crown after giving my head its first rinse - 1 day post-op (wet hair):
(532 multi hair grafts)

PB,

I had the same problem with Nizoral my friend. I used it awhile after my first HT, and my hair became thinner looking and brittle. I tried again after my second HT, and I had the same effect. I don't use it anymore and my hair is looking much better. Of course, now that I've had three surgeries, my hair is looking much thicker anyway .

Congrats on your second HT bro. I remember your first surgery and how you had limited laxity. That's great that Dr. Feller was able to get almost 2000 grafts. I look forward to seeing your progress.

Falc

congrats pb,not a bad yield from your poor donor area me thinks.look forward to your progress.

Thanks guys!

It's strange that hair products that are supposed to prevent hairloss only make things worse for me. Minoxidil made me lose hair permanently, Nizoral caused terrible shedding but fortunately it came back once I stopped using it. I didn't use finasteride long enough to see any effect on my hair as I had other problems with it. I won't be using any other hair products again. I do use Nanothik after shampooing but it's not a medication and I think it makes my hair look a little thicker.

Pb,

I don't know how I missed seeing all of your photos with all of my time on this site. I just looked at everything and am very impressed with your results.

Dr. Feller did a great job on the naturalness of your Ht and should only get much better.

I'm happy for you and see you as one of the best that I have seen from Dr. Feller given your donor supply and the blend to natural hair. I like that he seems to have variation in his hairlines unlike some of the other top docs.

Best of luck with things.

NN

Congrats PB

Funny to see that Feller uses exactly the same blue background as H&W for the pictures. I wonder why. Is there a technical reason to prefer blue to white or something else? Anyway, looking good PB.

PB,

Things are much improved just from the initial session. Congratulations

Hey Hairworthy - hope you are well mate!!

Doc F has been using the blue background for over 3 yrs - helps give a much clearer pic.

What Nizoral solution did you use? I use the 1% over the counter just a few times a week to con trol flaky or itching skin and have never had an issue. Why would it cause thinning of the hair? Thanks.

I also used 1% -Nozoral/Nizorelle. I think the theory is that weak hairs shed to make room for new stronger hairs, but my new HT hairs shed along with the rest of my other hair. I guess it works in different ways on different people.

I'm just glad it did grow back once I stopped using it.