Be Very Careful When Deciding On A Hair Transplant

[jd_uk]

This popped up in my email the other day. Looks like the poor guy has permanent bald patches now in his donor area:

https://www.realself.com/question/airdrie-gb-donor-area-after-months

Remember, as much as you want to fix hair loss, it is better to look naturally balding or bald than to look surgically disfigured. Both FUT and FUE can leave real, obvious and lasting scars, just as incorrect placement of hairs can lead to an unnatural look in years to come (e.g. bald everywhere but transplanted frontal hair). Always think very carefully about hair transplants because there are a lot of crooks and bad doctors out there and even good doctors sometimes get bad results.

 

[WMQ]

That looks more like areata triggered by harvesting. I've seen similar case where the hair grows back pretty much as it used to be. That being said, the harvesting technique of the dr probably is to be blamed at least partially too.

 

[jd_uk]

That looks more like areata triggered by harvesting. I've seen similar case where the hair grows back pretty much as it used to be. That being said, the harvesting technique of the dr probably is to be blamed at least partially too.

I don't know...but what strikes me is the bluntness of the 3 doctor replies... One of them simply stating that there is no treatment for this.

 

[WMQ]

I don't know...but what strikes me is the bluntness of the 3 doctor replies... One of them simply stating that there is no treatment for this.

Well they're giving their opinions but do realize that Realself is a perfect place to find crappy doctors

 

[jd_uk]

Well they're giving their opinions but do realize that Realself is a perfect place to find crappy doctors

Sure but you also get many of the best hair transplant doctors in the world posting on there too. After 5 months that guy's hair really should not be looking like it does. If that hasn't grown within 6 to 8 weeks then he might wanna consider a very short cut and SMP. Hopefully it will come back somewhat.

 

[follicle2001]

At 5 months this is an extremely worrisome finding...

 

[Wylie]

Looks like someone will be shaving their head.

 

[Afro_Vacancy]

This popped up in my email the other day. Looks like the poor guy has permanent bald patches now in his donor area:

https://www.realself.com/question/airdrie-gb-donor-area-after-months

Remember, as much as you want to fix hair loss, it is better to look naturally balding or bald than to look surgically disfigured. Both FUT and FUE can leave real, obvious and lasting scars, just as incorrect placement of hairs can lead to an unnatural look in years to come (e.g. bald everywhere but transplanted frontal hair). Always think very carefully about hair transplants because there are a lot of crooks and bad doctors out there and even good doctors sometimes get bad results.

Holy sh*t what a disaster.

 

[spring15]

One of the patches is located above the ears, very close to the temple points, no surgeon would be extracting grafts that far around the head?

I think something else might be going on here, as someone said triggering an AA like effect..

 

[Dontwannabeabetabob]

sh*t like this is why I'm very skeptical in trusting a surgeon. Rather be bald than my head be butchered.

 

[Dench57]

this is what happens when people don't research and go to a butcher

at least he's got a hairline now though. shave down the back and sides and rock the SS/Peaky Blinders look. winner!

 

[jd_uk]

The guy just got alopecia areata on top of his common balding pattern.

My cousin suffered from this, it is sudden, unpredictable and looks exactly like what that guy has.

The fact that it has started right after his hair transplant was just a coincidence.

After all, "over 6.6 million people in the United States and 147 million worldwide have or will develop alopecia areata at some point in their lives."

"But but!" No.

Good job at spreading misinformation again @jd_uk .

You don't know that is at all. You're simply guessing. The guy has asked the dr's because he is worried that the area he has had hair taken from is now bald. All of the responding doctors have mentioned overharvesting. I hope for that guys sake that it is shock loss which has just lasted for a while but the replies of those dr's don't fill me with hope. There are thousands of pictures of horrendous hair transplant's out there (many worse than this). The point stands, people need to be very careful.

 

[jd_uk]

Look, that's not shock loss, this is what shock loss usually looks like: https://www.hairtransplantmentor.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/hasson-donor-shock-loss.jpg

Just google alopecia areata and see for yourself.

And please no BS about how his hair transplant "triggered" his AA.

We have no idea of what triggers AA, people have it at all ages and it really seems to be completely random, just a malfunction of your body.

Just like sometimes, cancer has no particular cause, just heredity and bad luck.

My cousin got it and he thought it was because of his "stressful" life (he doesn't have a stressful life) and his negativity.

Over-harvesting, please.

Not for the first time, I believe that you don't know what you're talking about.

This link backs up what I am saying (and backs up what three hair transplant doctors are saying):

http://fue-hairtransplant.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/what-about-donor-area-shock-loss-after.html?m=1

 

[follicle2001]

sh*t like this is why I'm very skeptical in trusting a surgeon. Rather be bald than my head be butchered.

I don't know if that's the right way to think about it. Most surgeries turn out pretty good. There is a risk with everything. You make your decisions based on risks and benefits.

 

[topcat]

It could very well be over harvesting. We don’t know the numbers extracted and we don’t know the pattern. Could have been 5000 extractions in a tighter pattern damaging adjacent follicles so not only would the extracted follicles be missing but all the follicles adjacent to the extractions that may have been transected. Or it could simply be shock loss that will grow back. Only time will tell with this patient but he is right at 5 months I would be worried and tend to believe damage has been done.


Most young guys don’t understand the numbers which is why over harvesting can easily happen. If one is going to lose 20,000 follicles in the area of their balding pattern and about 5000 is the limit with fue then that is 25% coverage long run. Either in a spread out pattern of very, very thin looking hair or a pattern that is denser in some areas and bald in others. One must also consider that a small percentage of those transplanted hair will also be lost to dht which could lower that percentage of coverage further while the donor area too is susceptible to dht. One must understand the math thoroughly before even considering a procedure and if a doctor does not explain the number during the consultation then that would be a red flag. Same goes for marketers is they leave out this type of information it is a red flag.

If too many follicles are extracted from the donor area to achieve more density now then one can easily begin to understand how the donor area itself can become bald in due time.

 

[resu]

Military haircut would be his only option going forward.

 

[topcat]

Yes I would agree a military cut high and tight on the sides would help at this point as long as the donor area looks passable. Hard to tell with the pictures and depending on the punch size, skill of the surgeon, along with the healing characteristics of the patient he might have visible scarring which might make him feel uncomfortable. If so he will need to overcome that discomfort which will take time. Other options include a longer hair style and concealer.


The real problem will come later if and when his hairloss continues and the gap between the transplanted hair and the recession grows wider and wider. At some point it could become difficult to conceal and another procedure may not be an option. At this point complete shaving of the head may be necessary but one must consider hair transplantion in reality is skin grafting with hair follicles. Having thousands upon thousands of skin grafts can become problematic depending on how it all has healed. One cannot expect virgin skin to appear underneath the transplanted hair, hopefully it works out for this patient. If anything it’s a learning lesson for those still researching.

Sometimes being bald is better than being disfigured so caution is advised.