“I Hated My Hairline, So I Got a New One”

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“I Hated My Hairline, So I Got a New One”

A female hair transplant patient recounts her experience at Bernstein Medical.

Like many women, Alden Wicker felt self-conscious about her naturally high hairline and burdened with the high-maintenance of trying to keep her bangs perfectly positioned to cover her forehead. Alden discovered an article on Dr. Robert M. Bernstein, founder of Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration and pioneer of Follicular Unit Transplantation, and decided to see if he could fix her hairline. In an article she contributed to Racked, an online magazine published by Vox Media, Ms. Wicker describes her experience with Bernstein Medical and how thrilled she is will the results of her hair transplant.

Since the age of 13, Alden wanted full, voluminous hair and a lower hairline. After 16 years of covering her forehead with bangs, she started researching how to fix her naturally high hairline. In the course of her research, she stumbled on a 2009 article in the New York Times that featured Dr. Bernstein’s work in treating women with receding hairlines. She decided to come to his NY office for a consultation.

After Dr. Bernstein explained that she was a good candidate for a hair transplant, Alden scheduled her procedure for a cold Friday in January. Alden describes the entire procedure, including how Dr. Bernstein removed the strip and made sure the aesthetic plan was followed to a “T”.

She speaks about her post-op recovery and positive lifestyle changes that resulted from her procedure:

“By Tuesday, I was easily able to cover my forehead with my bangs and use BB cream to cover the yellowish cast to my forehead, the last remnants of the swelling and bruising.”

“When I went in for a trim before Memorial Day weekend and showed my hairdresser the new hairline, he was thrilled and started plotting with me to grow out my bangs.”

Alden even recollects how the transformation affected her self-esteem on a very important day, her wedding day. She says, “My new hairline had grown in enough to let my hairdresser pull the new hair back on the sides into a loose half-up style.”

Her bottom line:

“I bought myself aesthetic freedom, a carefree attitude, more minutes in my day that I could focus on living instead of ironing my hair and cringing at photos. And in that sense, it was totally worth it. My only regret is that I didn’t do this earlier.”

The article is titled, “I Hated My Hairline, So I Got a New One.”

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What is Trichophytic Closure After An FUT Hair Transplant?

Q: I have read that some doctors perform something called a trichophytic closure. What is this? — M.S. ~ Thornwood, N.Y.

A: Trichophytic closure is a way to minimize the appearance of the donor scar in a hair transplant using a strip incision. The technique provides improved camouflage of a linear donor scar in Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT). Normally, in FUT, the surrounding hair easily covers the scar. For some patients with very short hairstyles, the resulting donor scar may be visible. With the trichophytic closure technique, Dr. Bernstein trims one of the wound edges (upper or lower), allowing the edges to overlap each other and the hair to grow directly through the donor scar. This can improve the appearance of the donor area in patients who wear their hair very short.

The trichophytic donor closure can be used on patients who have had previous hair transplant procedures and are looking for improvement in the camouflage of their donor scar. It is particularly useful in hair transplant repair or corrective work. Trichophytic closures work best with sutured incisions. Stapled closures have their own advantages. The doctor will recommend which type is best in your case.

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Hair Transplant Pioneer Dr. Robert Bernstein is Included in New York Magazine ‘Best Doctors of New York’ Issue for 18th Year

Dr. Robert M. Bernstein, a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University and one of the leading pioneers in modern hair transplant surgery, is recognized for his leadership in the field of hair restoration with inclusion in his 18th consecutive edition of New York Magazine’s ‘Best Doctors of New York.’

New York, NY — Robert M. Bernstein, MD, MBA, FAAD, FISHRS, has been recognized by his peers with inclusion in his eighteenth consecutive edition of New York Magazine’s annual ‘Best Doctors in New York’ issue. Dr. Bernstein, a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University and founder of Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration, helped re-invent hair transplant surgery by pioneering the Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) procedure and by becoming an early proponent of robotic hair transplant surgery (Robotic FUE). He is the only hair restoration surgeon named to the prestigious “Best Doctors” list for so many consecutive years.

Dr. Bernstein said:

“New York has some of the finest doctors in the world, so to be considered among the best by my peers is quite an honor. It is equally satisfying when a patient tells us that we helped change their life.”

The ‘Best Doctors of New York‘ issue is an annual edition of New York Magazine that contains a more select version of the Top Doctors: New York Metro Area list published each year by Castle Connolly Medical, Ltd. New York Magazine’s list of 1,341 doctors represents about the top 2% of doctors in the region. In each list, the area’s top physicians are organized by specialty. Dr. Bernstein is listed under dermatology with expertise in robotic hair transplantation, surgical hair restoration, and hair loss treatment. To be included, doctors in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut are nominated by their peers then subjected to a physician-led review of their skill in diagnosis and treating patients, qualifications, and reputation. Castle Connolly Medical also publishes the America’s Top Doctors directory, which has included Dr. Bernstein in all sixteen annual editions.

Dr. Bernstein has earned top accolades from the hair restoration industry, including the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery’s Platinum Follicle Award, for his medical contributions to the field. Renowned for developing FUT hair transplants and introducing follicular unit extraction (FUE) procedures, Dr. Bernstein became one of the first in the world to incorporate the ARTAS Robotic Hair Transplant System into his practice in 2011. He has continued innovating through his collaboration with Restoration Robotics, Inc.; the company that developed the image-guided, physician-assisted robot. Recently, he announced a major upgrade to the robot with the release of ARTAS 9x. This latest version of the robot provides improved accuracy, quicker donor healing, and a faster overall procedure.

Dr. Bernstein’s hair restoration facility, Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration, is dedicated to the treatment of hair loss in men and women using the most advanced treatments and technologies. The state-of-the-art facility is located in midtown Manhattan, New York City and treats patients who visit from 58 countries and all 50 states. The board-certified physicians and highly-trained clinical assistants at Bernstein Medical take pride in providing the highest level of treatment and care for all patients.

About Robert M. Bernstein, M.D.

Dr. Robert M. Bernstein is a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University in New York and is the founder and lead surgeon at Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration. He was the first to describe Follicular Unit Transplantation and Follicular Unit Extraction in the medical literature, and his more than 70 medical publications have fundamentally transformed the field of hair restoration surgery. Dr. Bernstein has appeared as a hair restoration expert on many notable television programs and in many news and lifestyle publications over the years. Examples include The Oprah Winfrey Show, The Dr. Oz Show, The Today Show, Good Morning America, ABC News, CBS News, GQ Magazine, Men’s Health, Vogue, Interview Magazine, Columbia Business, The Columbia Journalist, The Wall Street Journal, and The New York Times. He is a co-author of Hair Loss & Replacement for Dummies. Dr. Bernstein graduated with honors from Tulane University, received the degree of Doctor of Medicine at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of NJ, and did his training in Dermatology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine. Dr. Bernstein also holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University.

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Why Visit a Practice That Specializes in Both FUT and FUE?

Q: Why go to a hair restoration practice that specializes in both FUT and FUE? — L.P., Bayside, NY

A: This is a great question, but the answer may be counterintuitive in today’s age of specialization. The answer is that you should always go to the practice that offers both. To deliver the best care, hair restoration physicians should have expertise in both Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT) and Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE) techniques and should offer both in their practices. There are at least five good reasons why:

1. FUT and FUE are both excellent techniques, but have different indications for their use; therefore, a patient might benefit from one technique over the other. If the doctor offers both procedures, the physician will be able to choose the best one for the specific patient rather than treating everyone with a single type of procedure.

The main advantage of FUT is that it typically gives the highest yield of hair. Therefore, when the patient’s primary goal is to achieve maximum fullness, FUT should be performed. There are many well-described reasons for this, including the precision of stereo-microscopic dissection (which helps preserve follicles and the protective tissues around them) and the ability to harvest efficiently from a more select area of the donor zone.

The main advantage of FUE is no linear scar. Therefore, when the patient’s primary goal is to be able to wear his hair very short, FUE should be performed. FUE is also indicated when there is an increased risk of a widened scar or when scalp laxity does not permit a strip excision. The patient may sometimes choose FUE simply to avoid the stigma of a linear donor scar.

2. The same patient may benefit from both procedures

There are situations in which both procedures are useful in the same patient. For example, FUT may first be used to maximize yield, but then, after several sessions, the scalp may become too tight to continue to perform FUT, or the donor scar may become wider than anticipated. In the former case, the physician can switch to FUE to obtain additional grafts; in the latter case, FUE may be used to camouflage the scar of the FUT procedure.

3. There is a cross-over set of skills from FUT to FUE

To do an FUE procedure well, the follicular unit grafts that are extracted should be examined carefully under a stereomicroscope and, when needed, trimmed and sometimes subdivided into individual hair follicles (such as for hairlines, eyebrows, temples, etc.). Stereo-microscopic dissection is basic to FUT and is a skill that is second-nature to the staff of hair restoration practices that regularly perform FUT procedures, so this critical step will not be hit or miss. A doctor and staff who perform only FUE will often lack this skill.

4. Practices that offer both procedures are usually more experienced

It is easier to learn and train one’s staff in just one hair transplant technique. In particular, FUE procedures require a smaller staff than FUT and, thus, many doctors entering the field of hair restoration surgery will perform FUE, but not master the skill or make the commitment (financial, time, and infrastructure) to hire and train the staff to perform FUT.

5. Better decision making

One could argue that if a doctor performed only one procedure, but the patient needed the other, then he/she would refer the patient to a colleague. Although this sounds nice in theory, it is very rare for a doctor to refer a surgical case to a colleague if it is a condition that he/she actually treats. More likely, the doctor will convince the patient (and probably himself) that the procedure he offers is the appropriate one, even though it may not be the case.

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Dr. Bernstein in New York Magazine ‘Best Doctors’ Issue for Seventeenth Consecutive Year

Dr. Robert M. Bernstein, pioneer of modern hair transplant procedures and a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University in New York, was selected for the 17th consecutive time to be included in New York Magazine’s annual ‘Best Doctors’ issue.

New York, NY — Robert M. Bernstein, MD, MBA, FAAD, FISHRS, a Clinical Professor of Dermatology at Columbia University in New York and distinguished pioneer of modern hair transplant surgery, was included for the seventeenth consecutive time in the ‘Best Doctors’ edition of New York Magazine. Dr. Bernstein was selected by his peers as one of New York’s top doctors on account of his prominent work in developing Follicular Unit Transplantation (FUT), Follicular Unit Extraction (FUE), and Robotic Hair Transplantation (Robotic FUE).

Dr. Bernstein said: “It is exciting to be part of the continuing progress made in the treatment of hair loss as technological advances in both robotics and traditional surgery converge to improve the care of our patients.”

Bernstein Medical – Center for Hair Restoration, founded by Dr. Bernstein in 2005, is a center of innovation for the hair restoration industry. So far in 2016, Dr. Bernstein has patented a modified FUE procedure and published research on improvements to the ARTAS® Robotic Hair Transplant System. Each of these advances is designed to enhance surgical outcomes for hair transplant patients. Bernstein Medical is a beta-test site for Restoration Robotics, Inc.; the company that produces the ARTAS robot and Dr. Bernstein is a medical advisor to the company.

The ‘Best Doctors’ issue is a special annual edition of New York Magazine that contains a peer-nominated list of 1,300 of New York City’s top physicians. The list of doctors is cultivated by Castle Connolly, Ltd., through a survey of physicians in the New York Tri-State area, which includes New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut. Doctors who are nominated must pass a rigorous physician-led review of their qualifications, skill in diagnosis and treating patients, and reputation. Castle Connolly also publishes America’s Top Doctors, which has included Dr. Bernstein in all fifteen editions, and Top Doctors: New York Metro Area, which has included Dr. Bernstein in fifteen consecutive editions.

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