Category: Hair Transplantation

Hi Doc, two things.

1) I don’t know what the whole fuss about decreased libido with propecia is. I’ve been on it for a while and instead I’ve experienced increased libido,which,according to me,is a good thing (less mishaps in the bedroom!).

I have only one thing to say to all readers, don’t believe the horrors of internet stories of propecia users. I was really scared before I took the drug because of those very stories,but gave into better reason and took it instead. I’m experiencing no side effects, and my hair does seem to be filling up, although I’m yet to go for my second miniaturization test. Remember, the FDA *APPROVED* the drug, and there have been studies done on it. FDA approval means a lot.

And those lasercombs..They don’t have approval, they’re just allowed to be sold. That’s because there are few, if any, dangerous effects that could be associated with them. Just fancy toys.

2) How long do you think it would take for doctors across the country to use your FUE2 procedure? I would like to know how you went about training doctors when you first came up with FUE, and also how many you trained (it would be great if you could actually name some of the doctors across the country you trained personally).

Thanks for your time.

First, I want to let you know that I agree with your comments about not believing all of the horror stories some people post about Propecia (they’re unproven, for starters), and I also agree with your analysis of the laser products. Now onto the meat of this post…

When I originally pioneered the follicular unit extraction (FUE) technique, it took me 7 years to figure out how to do it. Then my group (under my leadership) published it in a scientific journal and presented the technique to the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery (ISHRS) in video form. I even gave out a free video showing how to do the procedure at the time of my presentation. I personally trained my team and the breakthrough became evident. Dr. Jae Pak worked along side me and was one of the members in California who I relied on for creating the tools and refining the technique. FUE had been under development for just under two years, and although many techniques were tested, the one breakthrough that ended up being the ultimate be-all-end-all became known as the FUE². The idea actually came to me while I was on a flight, and as I woke up from a nap on the plane the idea was staring me in the face. Building the technology took about 18 months and the first prototype was delivered to us a few months ago. It worked with great success.

Initially with FUE, I trained some doctors at conference workshops sponsored by the ISHRS and some doctors came through the office for a day to see how it was done. Fully 98% of the doctors offering the standard FUE with their own twist to it, have learned on their own by practicing on their patients. For those doctors, some performed incremental FUE (a few per patient) while others announced that they were experts on the subject in just days, weeks, or months. I am certain that the amount of follicular holocaust has been substantial in those that offered the technique with no basis of expertise. Since the process was pioneered in 2002. I wish I could name names for good and bad doctors, but I’m not going to do that. I have not seen the results of many of the doctors who claim expertise in the field. With regard to when I will release the FUE² technology, the answer is: when I am ready and fully understand the technique. Each and every week I am learning more and more about the value of this technology and I want to command it enough to teach it prior to releasing it.

I am a technology freak so I liked your FUE2 process. I already had a couple of hair transplants and the frontal area is still thin, needing more hair. I figured that you can use your new FUE procedure just to thicken up the front area with less grafts and more hair. If that is true, the price is a real bargain.

I think you’re essentially asking if the doctor can just transplant 3-hair and 4-hair grafts. You could arrange to have a limited FUE² procedure performed (without shaving your head) to add hair to the frontal area or crown very cost effectively. I would ask the surgeon to take out mostly 3-hair (or more) grafts and as long as they are placed at least 3/4 inch behind the hairline (or the crown), these grafts will be more effective for thickening up the recipient area. This approach makes sense, as many people who would like to get their hair to appear fuller could just come in for a limited FUE² procedure and have limited pain or detectability after the procedure. I say “limited pain” because although most won’t experience any significant pain, I’m not going to BS you and say it’s 100% painless — we have to give you a shot to numb the area, and some people might find that part painful. After the area is numbed though, you won’t feel a thing.

Anyway, with this approach to a more limited surgery, you can get hair without a substantial recovery process and at a lower cost on a per hair basis than when compared to a traditional strip surgery provided that you have naturally 3 and 4 hair follicular units. Some Asians, in particular, may only have one and two hair follicular units. Normally, a strip surgery in a person with a uniform hair density of 2.2 hairs mm square, will have about 15-20% single hairs and 70% two hair follicular units and the remaining 3 and 4 hair follicular units. On a hair for hair cost, removing only two, three, and four hair follicular units will create more value for the patient if he has them to remove. The only problem I see with approaching the FUE² this way is that the number of grafts you harvest is limited by the area that is shaved and the distribution of 3 and 4 haired grafts that you are born with may be so widely spread out that it would be impractical to remove exclusive 3 and 4 hair follicular units because the area of hair that has to be clipped may become visible.

Doctors,

So how soon can we expect to see pictures of patients you’ve performed on using the new FUE procedure?

It takes 6-8 months for people to develop enough hair to see the impact of any transplant procedure, and while this technology has been in development for some time, it was only recently perfected and announced. The FUE² is just another way to do FUE (which has been around for 6 years), so I would not expect anything but better growth for the process. I’ll post photos in the coming months, though.

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