Donor Scarring

[SADbutTRUE]

hello there diamond, thnks or responding, im a nw5a, so strip is the best way to get the most out of my donor. ive seen countless examples on the web from many docs, i seen several fue examples equally good , but most of them are lower nws, there just isnt the same amount of results out there with nws5 and above, dont want to start a fue vs fut debate, both have place in hair game, donor is precious so it must be used wisely .

 

[hairtech]

These are all great posts once folks started opening up. As a person within the HT industry I have seen some of the worst cases done over the years. And it wasn't limited to plugs, scalp reductions, hair lifts, the Brandy lift, cobble stones, pitting, low hair lines, poor graft usage, massively wide strips,donor depletion, FAILED EXPERIMENTS IN BODY HAIR TRANSPLANTS, and FUE using large punch usage... the worst part is the shilling and the behind the scenes down right predator marketing.

This post may seem mostly negative however it is what it is... As what Diamond SadbutTue, the topcats of the hair forums are always saying... You have to do your research. You have to ask questions. You have to be vigilante. You have to look beyond ANY representative of any clinic. Most of the representatives mean well but there are a significant number of people who are out there paid to bring you in and/or to mis-lead you. Just saying.

 

[diamond8]

Yes this is true Hairtech. It can be a life changing experience for the better or worse. I would not rush into any surgery and it would be a last resort. Thankfully my last bit of donor that was used was productive and I was repaired. It is not perfect but overall better than the Piece. As Hairtech states ask questions and definitely meet patients with the same pattern that you have to get an idea of what to expect.

 

[SADbutTRUE]

hello hairtech, whats your history in the hair game, u seem very knowlegable on hairtransplants, what clinics have you worked for? im planning my first ht with SMG. im in the beginning stages, ive researched on and off for ten years,lol insane right, but i want to get it right the first time, i feel for all the repair patients because you go in to improve your hair situation and the last thing you want is to add another problem on one your trying to fix.there are some good forums out there,this is one of them, you can learn alot ,and there are patients out there that will offer advice to you, the key is to have your mind right, because if your not emotionally grounded , you can make a wrong decision, like rushing into surgery without research. or thinking all clinics are equal.

 

[pvtpoint2010]

I agree with Hairtech.

IMO the industry is just another way for Doc's to make money regardless of the patients feelings and overall outcome. Except for the few artistically talented surgeons most are shooting from the hip.

However when the time is taken to ask the correct questions, ask for referrals, and /or see patient results most Doc's get aggressive and see you out of the office. AS They feel you are being a trouble maker.......I learned this first hand....If they get the impression you know too much about the industry they go on the defensive and deny to work with you.....WHAT THEN?....There is just too much "you need to trust me" or i wont work with you....... in this business....

 

[pvtpoint2010]

Janna I understand your point regarding good strip scars vrs bad ones however what is the norm via percentage...%%%...

All I want to know......out of say 100 strip scars patients done at your office what is the actual number of perfect scars as in the photo's....

Are those the norm or the elite few......If they are the norm ill book my 1500 graft session with Dr Ron tomorrow morning.....But will wait till your states temp gets above "0"...lol

I'm looking to make my decision over the next few weeks for a top Doc for March...So far its down too...Dr Ron....Dr Dorin or Dr Hasson for strip and Dr Cole for unshaven FUE....

Since I already have 2 strip scars all opt to do another strip however all feel one may be too high and one too low...Cole feels FUE is the way to go unshaven as I cant shave due to work issues....But if Dr Ron felt I could get the needed grafts and a tight scar id go with him....I have white dotting in the past from Cole

 

[mars]

I would rule out the unshaven fue if i was you,there will be obvious loss of density even when the hair is long,especially with 1500 fue,bad idea!!

I would go with a scar revision if you are against shaving.

What would be the best idea..would be to bite the bullet shave your donor area get fue and revise your scars while your at it,done and done!!

 

[Sparky]

pvtpoint2010 wrote:

Janna I understand your point regarding good strip scars vrs bad ones however what is the norm via percentage...%%%...

All I want to know......out of say 100 strip scars patients done at your office what is the actual number of perfect scars as in the photo's....

Are those the norm or the elite few......If they are the norm ill book my 1500 graft session with Dr Ron tomorrow morning.....But will wait till your states temp gets above "0"...lol

I'm looking to make my decision over the next few weeks for a top Doc for March...So far its down too...Dr Ron....Dr Dorin or Dr Hasson for strip and Dr Cole for unshaven FUE....

Since I already have 2 strip scars all opt to do another strip however all feel one may be too high and one too low...Cole feels FUE is the way to go unshaven as I cant shave due to work issues....But if Dr Ron felt I could get the needed grafts and a tight scar id go with him....I have white dotting in the past from Cole

I also asked for examples of less desirable scars, but wasn't answered. It wasn't a knock at them, but there must be some scars that didn't turn out so well.......

 

[janna]

Pvtpoint,

I can't say I've looked at 100 patients this past year to give you the percentages. Of all the patients I have seen in the past couple of years, I'd say 80 to 90% have excellent scars, especially when it's their first strip surgery. Subsequent surgeries have greater risk of scars stretching but this has a lot to do with patient physiology not just the technique.

The idea of taking donor scar result pics is a recent phenomenon with my participation with the online community on fue and strip scars. In response, I've requested more pics be taken. However, it's still difficult to get donor pics because Matt is not used to taking pics of the donor. If I happen to see the patient myself, I look at the donor scar and try to take pics. Unfortunately, it's not easy to take scar pics when patients have long hairs and you cannot see the scar anyway. Strip scars have never really been an issue at SMG so we didn't pay much attention to it but only as a side note at the end of a follow up consultation that it's looked at. Patients just state they don't have an issue, etc. and they are on their way.

Sparky, I didn't take your request as a knock, I tried looking for some pics but didn't see any, also inquired with Matt but he didn't know of any either. The way we file our patients' pictures isn't the most organized.
You're right, not all strip scars turn out as we'd like but it's a very small percentage - like you can count them on one hand in a given year who may need a scar revision.

I understand there are some patients who have had aweful experiences with strip but there are many who had bad experiences with fue as well. This thread wasn't about FUE vs Strip procedures. I started the thread because someone stated that worst of the fue scars are still better than best of the strip scars - I happened to disagree and have pictures to prove it.

 

[topccat29]

May I ask what size punch that was, just curious.

 

[pvtpoint2010]

Thanks Janna and Mars

Its a hard choice as I only need a small amount of grafts to risk the scar stretching but on the other hand having 1500 extra white dots is not that great ether.

if I go the FUE route I was thinking of doing 750 and 750 over two sessions but Cole charges $10 per unshaven graft......!!....but I could get it all done at once with a tight small strip.....

I work in an office and wont be a able to take off for the 6 weeks to let my hair grow back

 

[pvtpoint2010]

does anyone have an opinion about Dr Dorin?...Ive read good things but never saw any patients in person....I live in NY

 

[diamond8]

Here is a site that I am not endorsing but Illustrates the Problems with strip scars. Yes FUE as seen in the photos can be improperly done also. These strip scars are what I used to see when I worked in the Industry. http://www.myhairclinic.com/en/fue-versus-strip-in-pictures-en.html

 

[Sparky]

That is bad fue scarring, but I have seen someone with bad acne who had a similar pattern

 

[SADbutTRUE]

pvtpoint clinics actually turned you away because you asked to many questions? thats crazy, thats a redflag to turn and run away from that clinic, i dont think that sort of thing would happen in other doc offices,that offered cosmetic surgies. not hair related, it seems ht field is the wild west , in cosmetic surgeries, things have improved greatly but for the guys in the 80s , they diddnt stand a chance, janna thats great odds of having a good scar result, a handful out of hundreds of surgeries a year . pvtpoint are you lookin for scar revision,fue into your scar or you want work done on top. good luck in ur research ,

 

[Prohairclinic]

Janna, is it possible to provide some more information about the picture you presented.
To me it looks like either an old picture, or case where large punches where used. In any case the picture does NOT represent 'normal' up to standard high quality FUE work.

 

[Boberto]

I have to agree. This is not typical of FUE done properly. I think Jana has stated though this is an example of some of the worst possible FUE scarring,

All of the FUE work i have seen from BHR clinic is undetectable. Even at grade 1 (and unguarded on myself.)

 

[Prohairclinic]

Here some example of our work 7-14 days after an FUE treatment.
We just posted blog topic on donor shock loss a couple of days ago. It also contains information related to this topic.
http://fue-hairtransplant.blogspot.be/

Picture : 10 days after 2900 grafts, blond hair type

 

[Prohairclinic]

16 days after 3021 grafts

 

[Prohairclinic]

14 days after 2671 grafts.

Under real time and normal conditions I would argue that the donor look untouched.