Hair Transplant Patient 
Seeking Repair Work on Linear Scar

This service is intended to provide general information only for the patient. Patient are advised to arrange an actual face to face consultation with a doctor before making any hair transplant decisions. Information provided here does not constitute medical advice and should not be construed as such. 

Patient Pictures - click to enlarge
Scar	Scar	Scar	Scar
Crown Crown Crown Front Right Side Left Side

Hair Transplant Patient 
Seeking Repair Work on Linear Scar

Dear Dr. Jones:

I post as "Tang28" in HairSite forum. This is kind of an urgency for me and I would greatly appreciate it if you could offer me some advice at your earliest convenience.

I am 28 years old and I had one session of strip surgery done before.  Due to the fact that I'm looking to go into the Fire academy and they make you shave your head down to a level 3, I am in desperate need to get my donor scar filled in as soon as possible. 

I posted pictures of my linear scar as well as the rest of my head at the top of this page. The linear scar stretches from above my ear to half way across the back of my head. At the thickest part it's about 1/4".

In April 2003, I had hair added to my scar by another FUE doctor. However, the work was barely completed and I would like to get it finished by a Doctor who has more experience. The pictures above were taken after my procedure the other FUE doctor. 

The reason you can't see any of repair work is because I only had the procedure done on April 7th, 2003.  In addition, this other FUE doctor only added 92 grafts after he made more then 242 sites.  He said, he couldn't get enough of a yield from my hair follicles. Basically, I think he was having a problem extracting my hair and didn't want to damage anymore of my follicles.  I guess he didn't think they would grow.  Which is very surprising since he told me I was a candidate for his procedure.  There is a test he gives to see if someone is a good candidate for a FUE procedure.  Anyway, when he finished my surgery, he told me that I would have to get one more procedure, but I would have to wait eight months to a year.

Instead of going back to the same FUE doctor, I am exploring other options so that I can pursue my career with the Fire Department as soon as possible.

Questions:

1) If another FUE doctor is having difficulty extracting my donor follicles, does it mean that I might not be a good candidate for your FUE technique as well? What are the chances that you will also experience difficulty extracting the donor follicles? Last thing I want is to keep spending money on repair sessions that give me little or no yield in the scar tissue.  

2) Based on the pictures above, how many grafts do you think are necessary to camouflage or fill in the linear scar so that I can buzz cut my hair?

3) Is it true that not all the grafts may "take" in scar tissue? Can you give me a rough estimate as to what percentage of the grafts may yield in the scar tissue? 

4) Can I accomplish my goals with just one session?

5) What are other options besides using FUE to fill in the linear scar? 

6) How long is your waiting list? Do you have any stand-by program for patients who are in desperate need for repair work as soon as possible?  

7) Can you give me an estimate as to how much it would cost to fix the linear scar?

8) Have you done similar repair work on your patients before? Can I see some before and after pictures?

9) Is repair work of this nature pretty routine and straight forward? That was my assumption until I had my first repair session with this other FUE doctor and I was quite disappointed with the results. Am I being unrealistic to think that filling in my donor scar with FUE grafts is a pretty routine procedure? 

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Again, this has become a time sensitive issue for me as I am unable to pursue my career until I get this donor scar fixed. Your prompt response would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Sincerely,
Tang28

Dear Kenny

My answers below:

1) I have done several patients that were told that they were FOX negative without difficulty. I expect that I wouldn't have a problem doing your FUE transplant.

2) 1000 grafts in the scar should make a significant difference.

3) The growth rate in scars is about 50% in my experience.

4) 2 sessions of 500 grafts would be better

5) The only two options for scars is revision or planting grafts into them.

6) Yes, I have reduced rates for repair patients able to come at the last minute.

7)  500 grafts per session, at $8 per graft

8) Yes, I have. the patient has made up a web site to show the work he has had done. He lives in New York. His web site can be found at
http://mysite.verizon.net/vze3hjqi/. This fellow had some FUE work done by another doctor, was unhappy, and I have done further sessions on him that he is very happy with. Feel free to contact him.

9)  This type of repair work is routine for myself.

Sincerely,
Dr. Robert Jones