Anxiety Panic

Answers to Several Controversial Hair Loss Questions

We get hundreds of hair loss related questions sent to us on a weekly basis and we do our best to answer them all in a timely fashion. Below, we’ve highlighted some important and controversial hair restoration topics for your review and posted the answers in our news and blogs.

Feel free to ask your own questions and get answers on our hair restoration forum or privately by emailing help@hairtransplantnetwork.com.

The Reality of Today’s Hair Loss Treatments

Can Rogaine Speed up Transplanted Hair Growth? (answered by Coalition member Dr. Robert True)

Knowing You’re Getting the Hair Transplant You Paid For

Do Lesser Known Surgeons Produce Quality Hair Transplant Results?

What are your Thoughts on Platelet Rich Plasma (PRP)?

Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Dr. Vladimir Panine of Chicago, Illinois is Recommended on the Hair Transplant Network

The experience and skill of hair transplant surgeons vary, as do their results. That’s why only surgeons with a proven record of producing quality results are recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

Dr. Vladimir Panine of Chicago Illinois, his technique, and results were carefully reviewed over the last year by our hair loss forum community in consideration for recommendation. We are pleased to announce that Dr. Panine has been approved for recommendation by our online community. To learn how we recommend hair transplant surgeons, click here.

Dr. Panine has over 15 years of experience performing surgical hair restoration as the primary part of his practice. He has the staff and experience to perform large sessions of quality follicular unit hair transplant surgery exceeding 3000 grafts when appropriate for the patient.

After thorough evaluation and seeking input from the patient and physician members of this community, we believe Dr. Panine deserves to be recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

Dr. Panine is now recommended on the Hair Transplant Network. To congratulate and welcome him to our community, visit the “Potential Recommendation of Dr. Vladimir Panine of Chicago, Illinois”.

Those local to Chicago, Illinois and beyond considering surgical hair restoration should definitely consult with Dr. Panine and consider him for surgery. To view his physician profile and learn how to contact him, click here.

Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Is Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) the Solution for Young Hair Loss Sufferers?

Are young men with extensive hair loss more suitable for follicular unit extraction (FUE) due to the lack of a linear scar?  After all, I can always just shave my head later right?

This hair loss question was answered by Dr. Cam Simmons of Toronto, Canada, who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians.

I am concerned that some people may validate follicular unit extraction (FUE) as a viable option right now. I think you need to be just as cautious about starting FUE hair transplantation as you would be of starting follicular unit transplantation (FUT) by strip.

FUE is still a relatively new technique and it is too early to know all of the long term consequences. There are not a lot of hair transplant photos of patients who have had thousands of FUE grafts transplanted. I have not seen one photo of a class 7 patient on the Norwood scale of hair loss treated by scalp FUE alone. I have been quite disappointed by the results I have seen on-line and in conferences of extensive body hair transplant FUE.

More and more I hear the notion that it may be OK for someone to have FUE transplantation into their hairline then shave the head later if they lose their hair and don’t want or can’t do more surgical hair restoration. I believe that this is wishful thinking that has no basis in reality. Has anyone seen any good photos of anyone who has actually done this?

FUE scars are small but not invisible. If a patient comes in with medium or long hair I can always find the FUE or trichophytic scars with back-combing and careful examination. I can always see the scars from either method if someone has shaved their head. I have seen patients who had lots of FUE with grafts taken from well outside the safe donor area. I have also seen the start of a moth-eaten look in the donor area after extensive FUE. This is not to overlook the effects of strip surgery but just to state that FUE is not perfect either.

If you had a hair transplant then went quite bald and buzzed your head or shaved it slick, you would still have a five o’clock shadow in an unnatural pattern. The texture of the skin in the recipient area may be better than it would have been in the old days of the bigger graft but it won’t be perfect.

To make a good decision it is important to have realistic expectations. FUE transplantation requires just as careful planning as strip transplantation – especially for someone who could lose a lot of hair.

I believe that hair transplantation of any kind should be considered a permanent step with long-lasting benefits and long-lasting consequences. You cannot undo any surgical hair replacement. The trade-off for having more hair on top is that the donor area will have some hair missing and some scarring. This can be minimized but not eliminated. Not everyone can get the coverage or density they would like but with careful planning they can have natural looking hair in a natural pattern that is better than they would have had without hair transplantation.

Generally speaking, men in their early 20s have a more unpredictable future and higher expectations to look like their peers. You seem to have a good understanding of how much hair you could lose. In my experience, intellectual understanding does not equate to emotional satisfaction. A conservative approach for someone who already has a class 7 pattern on the Norwood scale makes a noticeable difference and can be quite satisfying. The same approach for someone who is headed toward a Norwood 7 pattern will have less visual impact and will be much less satisfying. Decisions must be made on an individual basis but I would encourage you to explore every other option instead of hair transplantation right now.

Cam Simmons MD ABHRS

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Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor

Your Input Requested in Evaluating a Hair Transplant Surgeon for Potential Recommendation

Selecting a quality hair transplant surgeon is crucial to obtaining the most natural looking results. This is why patients have the final say as to which physicians are recommended on the Hair Transplant Network.

We would appreciate your advice and/or input regarding the potential recommendation of Dr. Vladimir Panine in Chicago, Illinois

Dr. Panine has over 14 years of experience in performing hair restoration surgery as the primary part of his practice. He and his experienced staff can perform over 3000 follicular unit grafts in a single session when appropriate for the patient.

Dr. Panine uses minimally invasive techniques to reduce trauma to the scalp and produce the most natural looking result. All follicular units are dissected by his staff under microscopes to minimize transection and maximize hair growth yield.

We invite you view his results and offer your input on the “Potential Recommendation of Dr. Vladimir Panine of Chicago, Illinois”.

To see our standards for recommendation, click here. To see the list of all current physicians recommended worldwide, click here.

Onwards and Upwards,

Pat Hennessey and Bill Seemiller – Publisher and Associate Publisher of the Hair Transplant Network, the Coalition Hair Loss Learning Center, the Hair Loss Q&A Blog, and the Hair Restoration Discussion Forum.

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Donor “Shock Loss” After Hair Transplant Surgery – Is it Common?

I  feel I have suffered hair transplant “shock loss” from the actual area where the strip was taken despite it being stitched up after the op. I am not talking about the top part of the recipient or frontal area. Has anybody heard of this before?

This insightful answer was provided by Dr. William Lindsey of Reston, VA who is one of our recommended hair restoration physicians.

Shock loss in the donor area definitely can occur after surgical hair restoration. We don’t see it too often mainly because of hair covering the scar. But I have a marine we worked with about 2 months ago who, like all marines, didn’t take his valium as he is tough. This guy was a character!  When I started giving him a hard time about 90% of my military patients not taking valium and then I gave him the first shot, he said “thank you sir may I have another!”. Indeed he was tough.

But I think he was nervous too. As he was fairly oozy on the first half of his strip (left side) but had calmed down and wasn’t oozy at all on the right. I recall using a bit of cautery only on 2 spots on the left. Well when he came back at 2 months, he had shaved down to almost no hair anywhere and it was clear that on the left side of his strip he had 2 areas of shock loss and on the right he had stubble growing through his scar. Unless you were looking specifically, it actually looked like he had a really wide scar on the left in those 2 areas, and you really couldn’t see but a fine line on the right. But with 2 mirrors and some pictures, I could show him that it was a nice fine line scar on the left with 2 areas of shock loss…almost certainly in my mind from that cautery. Alas if only he’d have taken a valium I think he would not have had any notable hair loss in the donor area.

But, he is one tough guy. Definitely tougher than me, and I sure would not want to be a bad guy in some cave with him on my trail.

I am proud to have him serving our country and happy to have him as a patient.

William Lindsey, M.D.

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Bill Seemiller – aka Falceros
Associate Publisher/Editor