So there is a pending case coming up of BHT that I read about on one of the forums. This young man that is obviously suffering from very aggressive hair loss as a young age is contemplating going in for many thousands of body hair grafts. I’ve warned this young man of how unnatural BHT looks and never looks as natural as scalp hair. In short , body hair on the head looks like, well, body hair on the head.

Now he has posted that his doctor told him that since finasteride has shown anectdotal eveidence of slowing body hair growth that he should STOP taking finasteride else it may make the final result wind up with less overall growth. WHAT????

So effectively what finasteride is supposed to do, and does quite well, is fight further hair loss and stabilizes the hair that remains yet this doctor wants this kid to stop finasteride else it will inhibit the body hair growth on his head? I have an idea. How about not taking this gullible kid’s money and tell him to get a real hair transplant with real head hair for a natural result and not stop taking finasteride so he is locked into coming back over and over for more and more body hair so he can continue to look more and more unnatural! Mother of God!

Now comes my friend Dave. Dave approached me a few years ago about having his own repair work with Dr. Wong. After we got to know each other a bit and we had a few discussions we came up with the idea of video taping, in it’s entirety, his journey to Vancouver, his thoughts before his arrival, the surgery, the post-op daily for the first week ,then monthly updates to the first year. He agreed and one year later I had all material I needed. What I didn’t count on was the amount of editing that was necessary to make any sense of it! So, unfortunately Dave’s videos sat and languished for a few years. Now I have the first few edited and I am sharing them with you now. There will be several videos altogether (I don’t know exactly how many) but you will eventually see Dave with his one year result as well as a hair cut by his stylist.

Dave has a great sense of humor that is dry and witty so hopefully you find this not only informative but enjoyable too.

Part I – Dave’s History

Part II – Dave’s Expectations

Part III – Dave’s Journey to Vancouver

Part IV – Dave’s thoughts during surgery – part 1

Part V – Dave’s thoughts during surgery – part 2

Part VI – Procedure is complete + post op instructions

Part VII – Dave back at the hotel after his procedure

Part VIII – First morning after surgery, sleeping during the 1st night

Part IX – Dave is headed home and Day 2

Part X – Dave shows his progress at day 3, 4 and 5

Part XI – Day 6 and 8 and Dave finally gets his staples out!

Part XII – Day 9 and Dave’s first hair cut

Part XIII – Days 17 and 23 post-op progress report

Part XIV – Hair transplant 1 month post op mark

Part XV – Dave shows his month 2 and month 3 hair transplant progress

Part XVI – Dave shares his results so far at 5 and 6 months post-op

Part XVII – Month 8 progress report and another hair cut

Part XVIII – One year post-op results and visit to his hair stylist

Graft break down;

Singles…437

Doubles…2466

3&4 Grafts…676

[Show as slideshow]

“Frequently patients ask us about styling options after the hair grows in from their hair transplant. Will they be able to style their hair in any fashion or will they be forced to style it in a particular way to maintain coverage and naturalness?

In general,if the transplanted hair is directed correctly the styling options will increase with higher transplant densities. At low density it is important to comb the hair in a  particular direction to maintain the hair shingling effect to bridge over bald scalp until the hairs reach the next FU at which point the hairs from that next FU will take over the coverage function. In addition lower densities will require longer length hair for coverage. However, there is a point where the hair can be too long thus making the hair appear to give less coverage. Each patient is different so it is up to the individual to find the best length to maximize coverage.

If an individual intends to part their hair through a transplanted area that was previously bald the transplanted hair density required rises dramatically. The shingling effect is largely negated here and what becomes impacted is the distance between transplanted FU’s. Generally for a part to look natural transplanted densities of 50 FU per cm2 and up are necessary. Obviously the hair characteristics such as shaft diameter, color and curl will come into play as well.

As you can see the patients expectations with regard to styling should be an important part of the pre-op consultation. With sufficient donor availability patients with ever demanding expectations can be satisfied but it is important to identify those patients who are demanding in the absence of sufficient donor. These are the patients who should be counseled more extensively to avoid later disappointment.

Victor Hasson MD”

My second and third sessions, interestingly enough, coincided and even reflected the refinements and improvements being made to the procedure because in each subsequent surgery I went through my graft count actually INCREASED whereas traditionally subsequent procedures usually yield fewer grafts. All said, I receive 7917 grafts in three procedures over the course of 22 months. By the time I had my third procedure Dr. Wong and Dr. Hasson had already refined their surgical procedures to allow for more grafts in one session than other clinics and the refinements continue to this day. Not so much in getting more grafts, because there is obviously and end point to what is possible, but in the overall procedure itself.

Had I walked into the clinic in 2002 as a virgin scalp I’m positive I would have been the first patient to get 4000 or more in one session. Oddly enough if I had it to do all over again I don’t think that I’d change a thing because going through the surgeries really helped to put this procedure into perspective for me and has allowed me to truly relate to what others have gone through since then.