Giannotto Clinic HRG, Dr. Richard Giannotto Botched surgery. I am worse off now, than before the surgery. McLean, Virginia

I know this patient and recently saw her in follow up in the office. The shock loss she experienced after surgery was real and limited to the area of grafting. However, the patient continues to thin throughout her scalp and this thinning has no bearing on the surgical procedure she underwent 15 months ago. The patient has ongoing androgenetic alopecia throughout her scalp and not limited to the area of surgery. I thought that I had made this clear and demonstrated this to her at our last visit. The original implanted grafts did grow well and the donor scar was flat and thin as it should be. The surgical procedure went very well and the patient had growth from that procedure. Shock loss is variable in many patients. Some experience it and some do not. This patients major problem now however, is that she continues to thin in areas other than the surgical areas. I have spoken to her at length about this but for some reason she refuses to believe these facts and blames the surgical procedure for her ongoing hair loss. I will be more than happy to meet her again and discuss solutions to her problem. The public needs to be aware that hair loss is PROGRESSIVE. There are remedies such as propecia and/or laser light therapy that can slow this progression down, but in the end the loss may continue and other solutions must be looked into.