"Stage II" of all of this -Real Laser Therapy after a Hair Transplant experiment...

As you guys know, I got a hair transplant six or seven years ago, and except for the most recent period with the laser helmet (as well as a period with Zix that slowed down the loss), my hair was aggressively receding behind that hairline for YEARS unabated! Thank god for the laser helmet... I'm no longer an absolute slave to toppik now, and I can even go out without it now.

So... I think it's time for the next step of this, which is doing something that we are ALL curious about... the effects of using real laser therapy AFTER a transplant! I want this to be COMPLETE, and I want people that see me to say "What baldness?! You have a perfect, full head of hair with flowing, beautiful locks". ...And believe me, they *will* be long and flowing. Just you wait.

Yep, I want to fill in the areas that have dead follicles that will NEVER grow back, but I really want to turn this into sort of a "public experiment" and log the results online. I think this would really help people do what I think they all want more than anything -to look their best.

This is the logical next step, and the step that I think might help a ton of other people out there make the best decisions for there appearance possible -none of this minox/propecia b.s. where you're looking in the mirror wondering if NEXT MONTH is going to be the month that your hair starts looking better, and "success" is considered simply "having more hair that you would have had without them". I've said it before... that's not my definition of "success", it's not most people's definition that have seen what real laser therapy can do, and it shouldn't be YOUR definition, either!

I'm going to get it done sometime in April, and I'm going to go to Dr. Jerry Cooley in Charlotte. I've spoken to him about our homemade devices before, and he really shares our enthusiasm for the do-it-yourself movement. So what I'm saying is that "He's one of us"! lol... He actually freaking LOVES this laser helmet stuff! That's so refreshing compared to a lot of doctors' views that we've had experience with in the forum world! Here's his site: www.haircenter.com/, and it's the "Carolina Dermatology Hair Center".

So, any suggestions on HOW I should go about this would be great. We know the average recovery/healing times and the average times that it takes the transplanted hair to start growing again, so I can compare them to that. I'm sure a lot of people are going to want to see what the healing times are anyway!

I'm going to have to design an "immediate recovery device"... because of the bristles and the weight of these laser helmets, I should wait two weeks before I use my Laser Messiah immediately after the surgery -because it could feasible knock out the grafts. I could use my original helmet since it uses the sides for support -or I could design a light, movable cluster design that doesn't have bristles. So, I'm not sure what I'm going to do for that YET, but I'll think up something in the next week or two!

Also, I'm going to have to decide during the first two weeks if the "three times a week" treatment is still the best option, or if 15 minutes every day wouldn't be better since we know that lasers have that unparalleled "wound healing" ability. I'm thinking that in a unique situation like this, it might actually be better to have more treatment times at the minimum "window of energy" entry point versus once every other day.

I'm going to need Jdp710 for help determining that, though! Lol...

I've always said that a transplant and

-O.M.G.

Perhaps you have another one of Dr Cooley's patients photograph results along with you - but SANS laser. The only problem there is your "heal time" could be very different.

I'll let you know if I'm wrong, but I would expect that time to be cut in half!

By the way, about those pictures from the Jan 2003 transplant (I think that's when it was)... I looked at them a few days ago, and it's AMAZING how much fuller my hair looks -ignorning the transplanted hairs. I'm talking about the sides and overall appearance/quality of the hair... EVEN BACK THEN I had that limp, dead, "bald guy hair", and I didn't even realize it at the time. I actually thought it was pretty full back then -until now! lol...

I was on the phone talking to someone and discussing the pictures, and I was staring at them for like 10 minutes. I then got up to go in the bathroom to try to look for my transplant scar and I was SHOCKED when I saw my hair now compared to those pictures! That person on the phone will attest that I said such things like "Oh my god... my hair looks GORGEOUS!" lol... I think that's funny.

But yes... I think that would be a good idea to put somebody else's pictures, too.

-O.M.G.

PS- I'm getting to the point where I may post my old transplant pictures at some point. Because it was so long ago, I'm "getting over" the fact that I look freaking awful in them.

See, normally I'm a STRICT believer in the 3 times a week, twenty minutes a day ONLY... but in this circumstance, I'm wondering if DAILY stimulation might be a little better -just strictly for the reason you mentioned... it might help to keep the hairs in the transplanted follicle and skip that whole shed-temporary dormancy-reawakening-regrowing phase.

-O.M.G.

Doc

I've always heard -and the doctor during my first transplant said this as well- that better results occur with lots of very light scalp stimulation during that first week or so -and you do become more likely to keep that initial shed from happening from the newly transplanted hairs. I actually ended up keeping the left side better than the right back then because I was slighly "massaging" my left side a lot more when I drove and I had my right hand on the wheel (and I drove A LOT back then).

So, yeah... I don't want to bioinhibit anything. I'm just wondering if it wouldn't be better that first week to break the laser treatment up into daily doses of 3 joules.

Anyway, I'll probably do it every other day just to keep the energy from compounding, but I wanted to clear up where I'm coming from so you guys don't think that I feel down and hit my head or something and all of a sudden got stupid! lol...

Oh, and Doctor Laser... I'm getting 1500 grafts this time. Yeah, and I'm going to get that High Definition video camera, too, and I'm going to plan to really do a good production with this thing!

I really hope to help a lot of people be able to freaking take life by the balls again by showing them hopefully an incredible transition -all possible with lasers and transplants! No hoakie minox/propecia NONSENSE.

-O.M.G.

This being the case, the only REAL way to determine if they do anything at all would be to laser half of your head. That way we'll see EXACTLY how the laser half healed vs. the non-lasered half, and nobody will be able to attribute any outstanding (or sub-par) results to normal HT procedure variables. I know lasering only half of your noggin would be downright nuts, but it would definitely prove a point if you see a dramatic difference in any of those variables I listed.

Good luck either way!

Even with the laser stuff, from the "get go" I told people I was doing this to save MY own hair, so I wasn't going to do any ridiculous experiments on myself with it! Hell no!

My goal is to have hair that is truly the envy of the hair loss forum world. That's right... I want to make you guys jealous of it. BUT, I am going to show you that pretty much everyone in here can do the same exact thing! You can join me in having ridiculous, beautiful, thick, long hair. No more of this half ass crap... I'm talking about having all my thin spots filled in, and using the right tool -a frickin' laser helmet- to not only keep it, but to keep your hair thick, beefy, and shiny!

Cuebreeze...

He said 1500 from the pictures I sent him. Too bad I didn't start this laser stuff three years ago! lol...

-O.M.G.

Also, he uses a needle instead of a scalpal to make the incisions so the hair is less likely to move. He also DOES IT HIMSELF... he only schedules one transplant a day, and he does most everything himself -unlike most places where the technicians do most of the work.

I don't know why I was surprised to hear about any of this... Dr. Cooley is a BELIEVER IN LASER THERAPY! lol... That one thing right there should tell ALL OF US that he's serious about this -about how we look and how we want to make ourselves look the best we can. I'm really excited about this.

-O.M.G.

when are you shecduled to go in for your transplant? You just said sometime in April before.