Reply from silkwoodmedical

[Sarah leah]

Hi everyone,

I recently decided to begin saving for the lowering of my hairline to compensate for my stage 1 pattern baldness. Which has been like this for a decade sadly, although it has not got worse at least in that time.



I contacted Silkwood medical, their hairline lowering surgery, to get a general idea of cost. Today I got the reply and I feel it was uncalled for. Has anyone else faced this kind of issue too?

-----Original Message-----
From: Shopify Notification [mailto:mailer@shopify.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 20, 2015 11:45 AM
To: Marika Buckley
Subject: [Silkwood Medical] Contact Form from May 20 at11:45AM

Contact Form Submission:

  First Name: Sara
  Last Name: ----
  Email: ----------@yahoo.com.au
  Suburb: ---- SA
  Phone: n/a
  Select A Procedure: Hairline Lowering
  Body:

Good morning,

I am looking at getting my hairline lowered in the next six months due to stage one pattern baldness "IE 2-3cm reduction and perhaps looking at my temple region"." The reduction originally occurred 10 year ago and has not progressed thankfully. However due to starting HRT (hormone replacement therapy) in order to transition, I require my hairline to be lowered to fit with my gender type, as well as to fit within societal norms of my gender type. Due to privacy I can not post pictures at this point in time and therefore require an estimated figure for cost of the entire procedure. I look forward to your reply and thank you for your time.

Sara -------

Dear Sara

Thank you for your inquiry

We only offer hairline lowering to biological females as they can hide the incision lines very easily.

It is much more suitable for those like yourself to do hair transplants - this procedure doesn't leave visible incisions and will work with biological males.

We can recommend Dr. Russel Knudsen for this.  He has clinics in Sydney and Melbourne.  I'm not sure of who is available in SA that would willingly perform your preferred surgeries on non-females.

I hope this is helpful.

Kind regards

Marika Buckley
Medical Receptionist

P: 02 9387 3900
*Web address removed*

I honestly feel hurt by this or am I just reading into it far to much?

mod edit: sorry Sarah I have to edit out the offsite link ToS 1, sorry

[KristinaM]

i have heard about hairline lowering for other MTF patients going FFS, so what's the difference?  How can biological male vs female mean hiding a scar better?  Seems if you've been on HRT for a while that your ability to hide scar tissue would be as good as any other cisfemale, right?

I'm a little put off by that message too, but maybe they know something we don't.  Just have them explain maybe?

[cindy16]

Seems like a very ignorant and prejudiced response, but as Tristan suggested, perhaps you can ask her to explain why that supposed difference between hiding scars exists. And while you are at it, you can remind her about how you would like to be addressed.

[AshleyP]

I'd suggest getting a second opinion at a different clinic. I wouldn't take it personally. In fact, you could interpret their response to mean, "Using our techniques for hairline lowering, you probably won't be happy with the visibility of the residual scarring."

Good luck with it.

[kelly_aus]

Ashley has it I think..

I'll also throw in that it's very hard to find anyone that will do surgery on trans people in SA, at least not surgery that isn't fairly standard like an appendectomy or the like.

[Emily E]

just about all the surgeons that offer hair line advance acknowledge that there will be a scar as they had but some do a ragged cut to help hide the scar and others do this and recommend a follow up hair transplant in front of the scars to help hide it.  From their response to you I get the impression that they little to no experience dealing with MTF individuals and may not even be aware of the follow on hair transplant technique... I agree with Ashley and would recommend getting a second and even a third quote/opinion.

[Spicy]

I researched hair treatments before electing to get a transplant. I found that hairline lowering isn't a good way to deal with MPB. I think it has to do with the hairline being uneven and needing a different approach than only pulling it forward. Do keep looking into your options though, including hairline lowering (don't let me dissuade you from learning more). As for the response, I don't think the writer shows any ill-will or prejudice towards trans people. I do think the clinic

[Urban Christina]

If you haven't considered Finasteride, it might help a bit.

[Sarah leah]

Thank you for the replies everyone, it is very kind.

I am still preparing at the moment to chemically transition as I need to go back to see Dr Lyons to get the letter to start HRT. I was advised to drop 10kgs and lower my cholesterol, which I did and he has agreed that my approach to weight loss was a really sensible move.  After some in-depth discussions I felt it was best to focus on the small things like creating a comfortable environment for the "coming out" to family and completing University, which I have now done. I told my little sister and she was sort of ok with it but confused. She has not spoke to anyone about it which is good. I told my 8 year old daughter I was changing and she said ok as long as you love me I am happy daddy.

He also advised to begin on Laser as soon as I can.  Which I have on my neck, and it is fully cleared meaning the cheeks, chin and lip are next. So I feel that my slow progress is working even if it kills me that I can not speed it up. However I will be on hrt and ready to do the hair treatment in six months, so it will be worth it.

In terms of the advice from you all, thank you and I took it.

I contacted them directly on the phone today and made a list of questions to ask them. Sadly their response was somewhat dismissive insofar as they stated, "The doctor does not deal with this type of thing and would not be willing to progress with you due to your biology." I can respect this, but it still feels somewhat disheartening. I explained the situation to them and my desire to have implants over the scar down the road, but the same statement was repeated. I asked why it could be done to one gender type but not another, their response, "It is the policy we can not elaborate any further."

I will just look elsewhere and see what I can find I think, as dwelling on their feedback is not beneficial to my health.

[Sarah leah]

If you haven't considered Finasteride, it might help a bit.

Do you think I could get this before the HRT stage to help, or would it be a waste of time at this point in my transition?

[Sammy]

Do you think I could get this before the HRT stage to help, or would it be a waste of time at this point in my transition?

Nope, it will start working as soon as You take Your first pill (also, I would recommend looking into dutasteride first - it is more expensive, but "allegedly" provides better results). And when You will start Your HRT, both sets of medications will nicely click together and complement each other.

[Urban Christina]

Do you think I could get this before the HRT stage to help, or would it be a waste of time at this point in my transition?

It doesn't matter, it works with or without hrt. I agree with Emily. But be very careful- I don't know about transwomen but some men experience libido impotency from either. So whatever you choose (F or D), start at the lowest dosage and stay at it for at least a month and see how well you react before increasing.

[Sarah leah]

Thank you both for the advice I will start looking into it and ask my doctor

[Charlotte2]

Hairline advancement is a kinda specalized procedure. You may be better off going to a FFS surgeon.

To fill in the temple corners hair transplants are often recommended. I'm doing that myself.

I've heard that Dr Path in Thailand is OK for transplants. I don't know of any hair transplant surgeons in Aus who I'd recommend tho'

[Emily E]

filling in the temples is possible with hair line advancement as the scalp does stretch but what's involved is removing the bald skin and closing the gap then pulling the whole thing forward this reduces the need for a lot of follow on transplants... I now some people will scoff at this and say your making the hair at the front of your scalp thinner but it shouldn't reduce coverage that much and its significantly cheaper and quicker then trying to move all that hair follicle by follicle or unit by unit.