Author Archive for Joe Tillman
Joe Tillman’s first experience with the hair loss industry was back in 1993 when he accompanied a friend to a hair transplant consultation. After the doctor recommended a surgical treatment for his friend he then informed Joe of his hair loss potential and recommended a similar hair transplant procedure. Joe had two procedures in that year on the recommendation of the doctor so that he could “stay ahead of his hair loss”. At the time Joe was a NW2 and was 23 years old. After nine years of continued hair loss Joe became a full blown NW6 and the only hair left were the pluggy mini-grafts that were placed by the doctor in 1993. Joe began using the internet as a tool to research alternatives to correct his hair problem.
After having his first successful restoration and repair with Hasson & Wong Joe started the first internet website dedicated to documenting his personal experience. Joe’s efforts have helped to improve the industry as a whole and have encouraged hundreds of other hair loss sufferers to document their own progress.
Joe is currently a representative of Hasson & Wong Hair Transplant Center in Vancouver, BC Canada and Seattle, Washington. He is still an active participant on the various hair loss and hair transplantation internet discussion boards, has appeared on numerous episodes of The
Bald Truth radio program on XM satellite radio with Spencer Kobren and The Business Shrink with Peter Morris on Sirius satellite radio.
Body Hair. The Next “Big Thing” in Hair Restoration Scams
Written by Joe Tillman on March 17, 2008
No longer should prospective hair transplant consumers be weary only of bad plug jobs and hair transplants that look like a picket fence in Huckleberry Finn. Now there is a new black cloud that has no silver lining. This would be the promise of body hair transplantation or “BHT”.
First off, what is BHT? BHT is the transplantation of body hair from various parts of the body with the intent of placing it in the scalp. If performed correctly there is a great potential source of donor hair that would be, compared to scalp hair, limitless depending on the amount of body hair that a patient has.
The problem with this, like so many other ideas in the unregulated hair transplant industry, is that good ideas do not necessarily work out to be so great in reality. BHT is relatively new in the hair transplant field and is only practiced by a few clinics worldwide. These clinics however tend to promote the use of body hair as being reliable and effective. The truth however is that BHT is not only NOT reliable there are few success cases if these cases can be called successful to begin with.
BHT is not performed like a traditional hair transplant. The standard method of transplanting hair for the purpose of increased volume and density on the scalp is via the “strip” method. This is where the doctor removes a strip of tissue from the back and/or sides of the scalp. The effectiveness of this procedure allows for consistent growth. This is not to say anything about artistry and naturalness as these qualities in a surgeon vary widely but we know that in most hands this technique works. For better or for worse the hair tends to grow in the vast majority of cases. Body hair is taken with a small punch tool that will vary in diameter from .75mm to 1mm or slightly larger. The challenge lies in the extraction of these grafts and whether or not the follicles will be damaged during the procedure. Read more
Your Doctor Works For You
Written by Joe Tillman on February 13, 2008
We’re the best! This is something that you will read or hear from just about every hair transplant clinic in existence. Why else would you choose them if they are somehow less than the best, right? So the problem becomes one of figuring out if the hair transplant clinic you are interviewing is actually “the best” for you. Here’s how to do it.
First, notice that in the paragraph above I mentioned an interview. What does an interview have to do with picking a hair transplant clinic? It’s pretty simple really. You are hiring a clinic to do a job for you, in this case, restoring your hair. They are working for you so it is up to you to make sure you are “hiring” the best clinic for the job. Think of the hair transplant clinic (s) you are considering as contractors that you want to build a house. You want to make sure you are dealing with a contractor that has quality employees to consistently build great houses. Read more
My Doctor Must Be Good Because He’s Performed Surgery for Many Celebrities
Written by Joe Tillman on February 1, 2008
Recently I had a conversation with a sufferer of hair loss about his surgical recommendation and he mentioned that he had already had one hair transplant by a different clinic. He told me that the doctor said he had worked on many celebrities including Nicolas Cage and Sylvester Stallone just to name a few. I chuckled under my breath because I’ve heard this one before but NOT from the same doctor. In fact, I seem to recall this same story being repeated as originally stated by no less than THREE separate doctors. It seems to me that dropping names is something that is looked upon as being beneficial by some doctors and that it instills confidence for the patient.
The first problem with this type of claim is that it is most likely a bold faced lie as was the story told to the patient at the beginning of this post. The chance of any doctor that you are speaking with having actually performed hair transplant surgery on an “A list” actor or celebrity is pretty small unless that doctor is in the Beverly Hills or greater Los Angeles area. Now, this is not to say that they absolutely, without a shadow of a doubt, are lying but the chances that YOUR doctor worked on a big name celebrity are slim. Read more
My Temples Have Receded. Am I A Candidate For Hair Transplant Surgery?
Written by Joe Tillman on January 28, 2008
I have to say that the single biggest misconception about hair loss that I see on a DAILY basis is that of temporal recession especially among younger men. This is usually the first area of loss that a young man notices. Unfortunately, most young men that see temporal recession immediately think they are going bald and are going to look old and beyond their years. This is not necessarily the case.
Almost all young males (teen and pre-pubescent) have a hairline that is more or less “straight” across their forehead. As males begin to mature the corners of their hairline will usually recede somewhat but this is perfectly normal and does not necessarily dictate that they will be bald or balding later in life. I sometimes call this the final stages of puberty as I think of temporal recession as the final indicator of maturation from that of a juvenile male into an adult male. Of course, that is not to say that future loss is not going to happen, because it can. Read more