Scalp Flap Experience

I am a patient of yours and I read a previous blog question and response from you the other day where you worked the problem out with the patient. I came to you 13 years ago with a problem that others could not help me with. After I explained the problem to you (which you listened carefully) I went into my solution. Although I prefer you not to use my name, you might want to tell your audience my story. I have been forever in your debt and grateful.

I remember you very well. You came to me after having done two flap procedures where sections of your scalp were moved from the back and sides of your head to cover the front (like a banana peel). This was an operation invented by a man from Argentina (Jury Flap) that was popular amongst certain surgeons in the late 1980s. This left the patient with an unnatural hair line, hair lying in the wrong direction and a hair line that (on my particular patient in question) was located far too high. You had gaps in many areas of your frontal hairline and there was no hair behind the flaps, leaving you bald in the mid-head. The donor area was depleted of substantial amounts of good movable hair so the supply was very limited and you lost much of your native neck hair as a result of the stress of the procedure.

I remember our first conversation and what you told me. You said (out of context): “I have been thinking about this problem for a few years now. I have met with doctor after doctor and when I finally figured out a way to manage the problem, none of the doctors who I visited would do what I asked them to do.” You went on to explain that your hair had a very strong wave and character to it (Italian hair of medium weight) and that if some hair was placed in front of these flaps, far in front of the flaps, then you could style your hair with a comb-back and a pompadour (like Elvis but much more subtle) and an angled combing style would hide your problem. You told me that you used gels and blow drying to achieve your looks; and you were convinced that this solution could solve your problem if I could find enough hair to transplant. After the first surgery (which was experimental on my part) and the ensuing 12 months it took for the hair to grow out to a good styling length, the results were fantastic. Your creative styling did wonders for the 600 grafts we put into your frontal hairline area. The good news was that we performed four surgeries over the 8 years we worked on you and you got enough hair to address, not only the frontal defects, but also the balding in your neck hair, which was a complication of the flap procedure. Today, you still must spend a few minutes every morning styling your hair, but even my eye can not pick out any defect on you- you looked great when last we met for dinner at one of your restaurants! Thanks for allowing me to share your experience.