HAIR TRANSPLANT FORUM

[fit_questions]

I am considering a session with Dr Cole, but given that I like my hair very short on the back, I am concerned about the much talked about "moth-eaten" look. I did ead several postings and saw many pictures that that wasn't a problem, but then I saw these from Wassup. I do not want to end up like him with the holes on the back. I will need about 700-800 grafts.

Can someone please put my mind at ease ? Thanks,

[drcole]

In surgery there are no gurantees. Only God can make guarantees. If God made it, only he can fix it perfectly. If man makes it, man can fix it. Man cannot make hair grow. All he can do is modify God's work.

FIT is a procedure where hair is moved by individual follicualr units. In moving hair, you relocate the follicular unit. when you take a follicular unit from one place and move it to another, you create a void. It is just like moving a chair from the living room to the dinning room. There is going to be a space where the chair used to be.

There is no real visible scarring usually with FIT. What you get with FIT is a gap where the follicular unit used to be. This is far less noticiable than a strip procedure. Those who have very high donor follicular densities will not have notiable gaps. Those who have a lower follicular density will run a higher risk that you might notice some gaps.

If your goal is a perfect donor area with no risks, I encourage you to do nothing because no one can make this promise.

[fit_questions]

Thanks for the reply Dr Cole. I understand the mechanics, the void created and the risks. I also understand that scarring will occur, but how visible can it be is the concern. I posted it here since you have shown many other *virtually* scarless procedures and wanted to see if this is was an aberration. If you compare the white dots on the bottom with the untouched hair on top you can see that a lot was taken out. That's my concern, the punch size.

For hairlines, up to the 1.5 cm deep what size of punch would be needed? Thanks again,

[doggfather]

Dr. Cole, you said,

Those who have a lower follicular density will run a higher risk that you might notice some gaps.

Does that mean that East Asians have a higher risk than other races of having noticeable gaps since for the most part Asians have lower follicular densities than Caucasians? I would think though that since Asians usually have white scalps that it might be able to blend in better. What is your experience regarding donor scarring for East Asians.

[fit_questions]

it follows that east asians are more at risk, but if you look at the pictures, especially at the neck area, there's a LOT of tissue removed around the hair. It's not simply a "we removed a hair so there's a gap." I am nto sure if this was early technology with 1mm+ punch or what, but Dr Cole didn't answer the question. He simply avoided with general statements that have nothing to with this subject.

According to his statements even a 1cm round scar would be OK because scarring happens and he is not god.

[forhair]

fit_questions, i think Dr. Cole was very clear...every surgery has some sort of scarring, with FIT the scarring are minimal compared to the strip method and you will see in few cases small gaps "only" with a full shaved head.
If your goal is to have a full shaved head and are concerned about those gaps then just avoid any sort of hair transplant surgery and shave your head.
I don't see the point of having a hair transplant if you think about shaving your head, people who want to make a hair transplant seek for more hair not less and are not concerned about how they will look with a "shave to the bone" look.

[fit_questions]

OK, let me rephrase:

Has the technology improved or should expect the same dots as Wassup has on the bottom part? I understand that Wassup had these done over several years, so would Dr Cole be happy today if a patient had such dots after FIT?

I understand the scarring, we're talking about the degree of it, that's all, especially on the nape area since the hair is cut traditionally shorter.

thanks,

[drcole]

I never said you will have visible scarring. The small gaps in these photos represent a far better aesthetic solution than a strip scar. in this case they are not scars. The skin is very soft unlike the rock hard strip scars of the past.

I merely stated that the hair will relocated from the donor area one follicular unit at a time. it is not for me to determine whether you are happy or not. it is for you to decide. we have FIT cases where there is no evidence what so ever. when you have a decreased density after multiple strip procedures, you are more likely to see gaps when we do FIT.

in today's environment, would you prefer a procedure that might leave no visible evidence, might leave minimal visible evidence, or might leave a highly visible strip scar on the back of your head.

Listen, get this straight. Hair transplant surgery is not for you. You want no risks. When human engineering creates a no risk solution, come back and look at hair restoration again. in the interim, stop thinking about hair tranpslant surgery. it is not for you.

[Spinner]

Dr. Cole,

Your honesty is so refreshing!!! I'm looking forward to meeting you at the end of this year for my surgery. It will come our perfect though, right? With no scarring whatsoever?

Spinner

[drcole]

i really don't see scarring. the place we take the skin from heals soft like normal skin. the reason is that the incisions are very small and shallow. in the healing phase, sometimes the cells which make pigment, called melanocytes, are damaged by the post surgical inflamation. then the healing skin will not form pigment or you will have hypopigmented incision sites. of course any time you incise the skin, you will have a scar, but it is usually a non-visible scar because it is so small. FIT is like a reverse transplant. you take away follicular units one at a time. in a hair transplant you add them one at a time.

[orrible*]

but then I saw these from Wassup. I do not want to end up like him

That must be the 1st time, not wanting to end up like wassup and HT have ever been used in the same sentence

[nthmainneighbor]

I'm a Dr. Cole patient. I saw Wassup about the time those photos were taken. His head was nearly shaved to the bone. There were very small spaces between the hairs where the grafts were taken. I didn't see any evidence of scarring. I could only see the spaces as well as we see them in the photos when the light hit his head at certain angles.

Wassup responded to comments a while back about these very photos. He wrote: "If I wanted to cut my hair that short, I wouldn't have done HT in the first place."

He could always place some body hair in the spaces if he wanted, but I don't think he would because in-person this issue is cosmetically insignificant. It wouldn't bother me personally, having seen him.

I think Dr. Cole would have responded to the original poster with the solution of replacing his donor with body hair if he decided to do HT, but often times people who make these kind of posts are associates of strip-only surgeons and not perceived as someone genuinely interested in hair restoration.

[forhair]

Great post nthmainneighbor, this is so true...thanks.