I have annoyingly-receded temples, giving my forehead a pronounced M shape.  When I go for FFS (two years away at the most), I'd like to have my hairline brought forward a little.  Is it worth fixing the temples with a small transplant beforehand?  (I'd also like to thicken things up on top a little bit, although HRT, minoxidil and finasteride have done wonders for that.)

Thoughts?

no, no, no...hair transplant always follows FSS, never before or you will be wasting your money because the skin where you will get the implants is more often than not removed

Hmm... Good to know

Some surgeons does Hair Transplant with your FFS in the same surgery but I think is better to do after the FFS.

Plus, they can help cover the scar on your hairline with the transplants if you do it after.

That all makes sense.  The advice is greatly appreciated.

Hi !

I did hair transplants back in January 2012, then in July 2013 and my ffs is planned for next March, the ffs surgeon is aware of that and will manage it accordingly. The only concern he had was to check the skin at the top and back of my head was not too tight in order he would be able to move the hairline down..hope that helps

Marie

I had FFS in Feb 2004 and my scalp was advanced 2" at the sides and 1 1/2" at the front. A lot of the non-hair bearing tissue was removed which saved me one session of hairgrafting. I used to have the typical 'M' patten.

I then had three sessions of grafting with Dr Paul Cotterill in Toronto, Canada. I was advised to go to him and nobody else by the dermatologist that I was seeing in London at the UK's - St Thomas's Hospital. Paul trained under Walter Unger who wrote the bible of hair transplanting.

See: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_P._Unger

and: http://www.drwalterunger.com/

My first session was 10 months after FFS ( Dec 2004), the second in June 2005 and the final session in July 2006.

I now have a full head of hair and when Simon Eccles ( the surgeon who performed my forehead revision four weeks ago ) saw my before and after fotos he was amazed at the transformation. He said that it was the best result he has even seen on one of us girls ... 

Next year I am going back to Paul for another session (which would have been impossible if I had grafting before FFS).

See his website. http://www.drcotterill.com/

You can see my result at the bottom of this page:

http://www.drcotterill.com/before-after/

In the fotos you can see me right after FFS and after the sessions. Paul also grafted some hairs along the top of my eyebrows to give them a fuller appearance (also to hide a terrible direct brow lift done in 1991 - a procedure that was out of date back then, which I wish I never had done by the awful surgeon that I went to).

In those days you had to seek out surgeons by word of mouth and thank God for today's internet.

PS. Never seen these. Some really interesting videos on Paul's website including eyebrow transplant.

http://www.drcotterill.com/videos/

Just to add, my FFS surgeon told me to wait at least six months between FFS (with scalp advancement) and transplants.

Paula, those results are really rather stunning.  How has the treatment fared over time?  Still remains thick and feminine?

My only worry with a hairline advancement is that it'll be pulling forward hair that might be susceptible to DHT in teh future, instead of filling in the gaps I currently have with hair that is proven resistant to DHT.  But then again, when I have GRS, male pattern baldness becomes a thing of the past, right?

Hi Brenda,

Thank you, it has changed my life.

As I have got older there has been a little overall thinning but it's typical female thinning ( all over the scalp) and not male pattern baldness.

My FFS surgeon and Dr Paul Cotterill suggested that I take Biotin soft gels ( a Vitamin B derivative) at a minimum of 2000 mcg a day. I buy them in Walmart when I am in the USA or get friends to bring them back to the UK. They are so much cheaper than in 'Rip Off UK'. These I have been taking since 2003 (a year before FFS). Biotin is also very good for the skin.

When I had my forehead revision one month ago, I suffered some very minor hairloss along the coronal incision so that is one of the reasons I am having a fourth hair grafting session next year. I was always going to have another session anyway 9 to 10 years down the road to just thicken up my hair. 

I had SRS in 1991 ( Gee is it that long ago !!! ) and hairloss stopped thereafter. But the bits that had thinned (my crown) and the typical 'M' Patten from my old life had to be sorted.

I have also been taking Finasteride since 1989 and that has helped enormously.

Good luck with your journey.

I started mine in 1988 and I am still travelling down the road ... 

Hugs

Paula 1

Quote from: Brenda E on November 07, 2014, 07:18:21 AM
Paula, those results are really rather stunning.  How has the treatment fared over time?  Still remains thick and feminine?

My only worry with a hairline advancement is that it'll be pulling forward hair that might be susceptible to DHT in teh future, instead of filling in the gaps I currently have with hair that is proven resistant to DHT.  But then again, when I have GRS, male pattern baldness becomes a thing of the past, right?