Consultation with Dr Rogers

[Petchsky]

I eventually called and was surprised when they said they can get me in for a consultation on Sat. So, off i shall go.

Thought i would create a thread here about it and detail my experience. I'm looking at around 500 FUE to fill in my hairline and thinning patch at the back. I will report back here how it all goes.

Here is a picture of my hair...it's not a very good one and is quite flattering really. http://img213.imageshack.us/img213/2682 ... 9zc.th.jpg

 

[latecomer]

hey, i want to do exactly the same as you. please let us knwo what he says and costs,, location etc. do u have any pics of your hairline?

 

[tomsmith]

That's a report I look forward to hearing as well Petch.

I'll put money on him telling you 1000 grafts will do it. For some reason Doctors like to round up to 1000.

I think 500 doesn't create the desired result, especially on the hairline, as the hair there usually needs to be more dense than other places. Even more so for younger guys, despite the older ones telling you it's a mistake to get a new, super-dense hairline.

Let us know what happens though!

 

[whiskey]

I'm having FUE with Dr Rogers. I've had 1000 on my hairline so far & I'm booked in for another session later in the year. 500 grafts don't really do too much unless it's a tiny area. I had 500 in the first session & added density with another 500 between those grafts in the second session. It's growing out now & looks like I'll have a really nice result. I'm now getting greedy & hoping to lower the hairline by the same amount again with another 1000 grafts.
When I went for my first consultation Dr Rogers said he could do 1000 or 1500 or even pack in 2000 grafts into the hairline depending on the results I was after. I'm sure he'd do 500 grafts if that's what you want but the results wouldn't be that drastic.

Good luck

 

[Withnail]

It would be great to know how you get on from consultation to results.

I've never really considered an hair transplant til a couple of weeks ago. Spent a few years on the usual suspects: finasteride etc. and just want shut of this now with hopefully a final solution.

From what I've read on the net there's nobody else in the UK worth considering.

Don't know an awful lot but I think Rogers uses a special tool from Feller when doing FUE. Apparently Feller is one of the best in the world, so makes you think this guy wants to stay ahead of the game.

Anyway best of luck.

 

[Petchsky]

Thanks for the replies.

Had my consultation today and got there with two minutes to spare. Dr Rogers clinic is in the same town that Shakespeare lived. That'a why this little town was so full of tourists!

The consultation cost £50, which goes towards the cost of your transplant if you have one. I went through and met Dr Rogers, we both sat down and he talked about transplants giving me the basic info. He then showed me some pics on his laptop and inspected my hair and drew on a hairline where he would transplant the hairs.

The consultation was not what i expected and i left with plenty to think over. Here is why,

As i stated above my preference was FUE as it was least invasive of the two. Dr Rogers said he likes to use the strip method for hairlines as he can get a better result than with FUE, as hairs taken out by this method come out in different sizes...some will be thin, while others are chunkier. He also stated that he would prefer to leave the crown and not transplant any hairs there for now.

So, not really what i wanted to hear...he recommends strip over FUE for me and thinks i should leave the crown... mmmm.

On the plus side strip is cheaper than FUE and DR R says he feels he can achieve a better result...

He did say if i wanted FUE he will do it and will do my crown as well, if i want him to.....but do i really want to ignore the advice of DR R?

Looks like i have some thinking to do...What do you mofos think?

EDIT: Dr R suggested 1000 hairs to thicken up my front going to my mid scalp area

 

[DarklyCharming]

Hey Petch, did he recommend 1000 grafts or 500 grafts which would be around 1000 hairs?

 

[Petchsky]

Yeah i'm not to sure...i just remember the 1000 number. I think he means grafts.

 

[whiskey]

It will be 1000 grafts as he always talks in grafts. That equates at around 2000 hairs.
I think that one of the things concerning his FUE vs strip is that he can do 2000+ grafts at once with strip so he can easily get the density in your hairline in one go. FUE is so time consuming he can only do 500 grafts at once which means you'll need two sessions to get the density & also it'll be longer before you see the results.
I've been leaving around 4 months between my FUE sessions, also FUE seems to have a habit of not shedding post op but then staying dormant for maybe 5 months before starting to grow.

It's really down to personal choice. I went to my consultation 100% sure I wanted FUE & nothing else. Because I was so sure of what I wanted he didn't talk about strip at all.
I wanted to know that in years to come I could, if I wanted shave my donor area down without the worry of whether the scar will be that obvious. If you're not planning on ever shaving your donor right down then the strip scar won't be that important, also Dr Rogers does manage to get very fine scars.

 

[Petchsky]

Thanks for your post Whiskey... it's good to hear from you.

The more i have thought about it and researched what Dr Rogers said the more it makes sense. I'm pretty sure i am going to go for it and i trust Dr Rogers. Probably won't get it done till early Feb 2006 as that is the most convienient date for me and i will have saved up the £3000 required.

 

[Jai]

Hello Petchsky,

Have not been on here fomr a couple of months, but just reading your post I had exactly the same experience with Dr R, (i mean with him not wantning to do the crown), And as I was late for my appointment I could not really have the time to discuss it with him in too much detail, However I DO want the crown area worked on, so he Actually said that about 1500 grafts would be most suitable and he would do 500 in the crown area and the rest at the from of my head. My procedure is due to be done in around six weeks, so I will let you know how it goes.

Im having strip done by the way,


Jai

 

[Petchsky]

Nice one mate.

Be good to hear about your experience with goold ole Dr R.

Good luck.

 

[carter]

Hi guys

I'd never considered surgery and the whole idea I find quite unsettling. I started to be aware of balding as an issue at 36 when I could start to see my scalp through my hair. Using Finasteride and Minoxidil have slowed the process. I'm 42 and single again (perhaps thats why I feel more vulnerable) and up until the hairloss I was cheating my age by about 5 years but now I'm being advanced forward which scares the sh*t out of me. I used to have a very positive outlook but I feel like I'm in terminal decline now! I just want to do something to stop it! Still I can laugh about it in the office as I get ribbed about getting thinner on top. I thought my attitude was healthy but I realise I'm withdrawing from socialising because the hairloss is battering my self image.

I'm thinking that while I still have enough hair maybe I should consider surgery (as perhaps I could get away with it without too dramatic a change) but I've only been thinking about it for 1 week now! So I'm thinking am I losing the plot! The idea of having someone slice off skin from the back of my head and then sticking needles in my head is the really unsettling bit. To me it feels like some kind of Frankenstein experiment lol.

My fear is what if it doesn't work and my head is marked for life - I would rather be bald than disfigured.

From what I can see Dr Rogers does seem to be one of the most respected practitioners in the UK and I if I was going to go ahead I'd want it done by the most professional person.

If I knew that I will look a lot better with no scarring to be seen I think I'd be really keen to consider a consultation for a start.

I really feel I'm a bit out of my depth here to consider a transplant, it seems such a major step but when I consider how much better I felt with my hairline of just 6 years ago I feel compelled to want to take action.

Perhaps its just the stigma I feel, I'm not sure what people I know would think of me for taking such action.

Don't get me wrong by the way, this is no criticism of anyone else's actions here.

I feel extremely vulnerable in considering a transplant. What if I look worse is my greatest fear.

I am keen to know how everyone gets on and do wish you all every success.

 

[Petchsky]

All your thoughts and fears are completely understandable. No one wants to have a bodge job on their scalp and that's why you spend at least 6 months researching and learning about hair transplants before you decide whether you should go through with it or not. By learning all about it you feel more in control and understand the risks, which are greatly minimised by picking a skilled, respected surgeon.

 

[carter]

Thanks Petchsky - I appreciate your comments and it's great to get genuine opinions and experiences.