1975 grafts Strip at 6 months...

[lesterpaul]

I used to be a poster here a few years ago. I searched a thousand pages. I used everything you can think of. finasteride, minoxidil, vitamins, essential oils, too many herbs to mention, sprays, shampoos, and so many more. I got minor results with finasteride & minoxidil, but I honestly think that vitamins, herbs and all those hair potions are worthless. I probably could have paid for a transplant with all the money I spent.
Take my word on it, a transplant is the ONLY thing that works.
Having said that, I am now in the 6th month after a 1975 graft strip procedure. (sorry, no pics) I have a lot of hairs growing strong. If you look at me from the front, I no longer look like a balding guy!
The thing is that if you look at my head from the top, its still very evident that I'm losing it. You can still see the area previously balding. I have a diffuse landing strip about 4-5" wide from the front to about 2" down from the tip top.
I have read posts that said that i am about at 50% of the final result. Could that be right? I find it hard to believe that more hairs will sprout out since the ones there have been growing strong for 3 months. Is the issue that the hairs will thicken in diameter? They seem about as thick as the hairs in the back. Can I really expect better looks over the next 6 months?

 

[s.a.f]

Yep at only 6months there is much more improvement to come. How much though I cant tell, it sounds as if you are a fast grower.

 

[lesterpaul]

I have looked at a lot of before / after pics lately and yes, the average number of grafts is 3,000 to 4,000 for guys with severe hair loss. I believe that I needed that many, but the surgeon said that what I had was a "mega-session" that is, a full day job.
I probably actually need more like 4000, but I only paid $6,000 (12 months same as cash) and the hair IS coming in like gangbusters. The doctor has thousands of jobs under his belt and I feel that it was done correctly. I read a few posts here where it was said that doing 4000 grafts at one time was risky. Is that really true?

 

[Jason_2009]

Hi..Can I ask who your Doctor was?
and can post some pics please?

 

[lesterpaul]

It was Dr. Paul Weiss in the Cleveland area, but he does work in several states. Sorry, no pics.

It may be that the fast growing is from 2 things I use. MSM, about 2-4,000 mg/day and a great shampoo called "FAST" made by Nisim.
This stuff works. Won't grow new hair at all, but what you have grows extra fast. A plus when you want to get grafts going!

 

[Petchsky]

Currently using MSM now to speed the growth of my hair back as I shaved down the recipient area. Been some doubters as to whether it really does speed up hair growth, so good to see you type that it has worked for you.

 

[CCS]

When you do few grafts in a big area on a virgin scalp, they tend to grow back in fast. I did 900 grafts in a big area, and they never shed. They just started growing right away, using the same shaft. All my other hair transplant's shed though.

 

[lesterpaul]

Interesting.

I feel that I have areas that would do well with an additional hair transplant.
I can't handle the expense of another mega-session.
So what's the deal with a thousand graft session? What's the size of the donor strip? What did it cost? And what exactly do you mean by "virgin scalp"? Do you mean an area with no previous surgury?

 

[Petchsky]

To answer your earlier question Lester, 2000 is a mega session, but the top docs can do 4-5k in a day, which is also a mega session. This can be done by the top docs because of the number of techs they have.

 

[s.a.f]

I would'nt call 2000 a mega session, I'd call it a minimum session. Anything under 2000 I'd recommend getting FUE. Its not worth the scar for such a small amount.
My idea of a megasession is over 4000 at least. Hassan and Wong have done over 10,000 and regularly do 7000+.