African American hair restoration for traction alopecia

As a woman, I’m sensitive with my hair. Growing up I didn’t quite realize that until it was too late. Since I was a child I went through many strains of hairstyles, cornrows, weaves, micro braids, chemical relaxers etc. Over time my hairline began to deteriorate, becoming thinner and thinner, breaking off, patching baldness and eventually receding. At the time I thought I could restore it to good health again by using products such as miracle drops, Rogaine, Nioxin, and hair growth pills. When all else failed I tried hiding it with Toppix. All of these products failed. Come to find out I had traction alopecia, which significantly reduces the chances of my hair ever growing back in those areas. So I wore wigs and have been doing so for about 9 years now because I was so embarrassed of the way it looked. I started thinking that the only thing I’ve ever wanted to change in my appearance was my hairline and so I began to do some research. I came across hair restoration and begun to look for doctors in my area. I came across Dr John Bitner page and looked at some of the hair restoration pictures with the before and afters. I was a little skeptic because I didn’t see many African Americans..probably only just one and they were a male. But I press forward anyways and went to a consult appointment. Walking into the office felt like I was walking into a spa. It was a very comfortable atmosphere. I went to check in and the staff at the desk were very polite and attentive to me. I didn’t wait longer than 5 mins and was called back by a technician. She took photos and then I met with the man himself, Dr Bitner. He was very informative as far as explaining what he recommended, the procedure, and answered all my questions thoroughly. We decided on the FUE (follicular unit extraction) procedure which is making an incision in the back of my head (donor site) that harvests about 1750-2200 grafts and then implanting them on my hairline. A lot more goes into it and there is a more in-depth description on his website. I booked my appointment on Sept 14, 2017 at 7am. I went in that day and I remembered how excited was knowing that I’m 6-12 months I will have my hairline back. The staff were also excited for me....maybe even more than me. I was put under anesthesia (thank goodness for spell autocorrect) as the incision was made and came to asthma technicians were implanting the grafts. I remembered waking up shaking but I wasn’t cold because I realized I had a blanket (heated...felt like a Queen) draped over me, it was just the anesthesia wearing off. The rest of the procedure just felt like I was getting my hair done honestly. There was a tv in the room to watch Netflix, or I could listen to music but mostly I was drifting in and out of sleep or having a conversation with the technicians. The whole procedure took 8 hrs, lunch was provided, limitless heated blankets and there were 2 technicians doing my hair (one separating the grafts while the other implanted). Honestly it went smoothly without a hitch even after I was discharged. I couldn’t get my hair wet for a couple of days and when it was time to wash my hair I could only use baby shampoo (which was provided). I couldn’t place anything on top of it for 2 weeks (so no more wigs). The area had to be exposed and it was NOT cute but I took off from work so it wasn’t that bad. Once the grafts scabbed over and fell out I was back to looking like I did before the procedure. I probably didn’t notice until my 3rd month that hair was actually starting to grow! I was super excited but continued to wear wigs because it still wasn’t enough but at the 5month mark I was in disbelief. My hairline was now prominent ....like O-M-G, I have a structured hairline!! And hair covering my bald patches! At this point I went to the hair salon, gotta pixie cut and it was STILL there. From there I styles and had enough edges to gel the baby hairs into a swoop....BABY HAIRS, EDGES! I’ve been wearing my natural hair since then, something I couldn’t or wouldn’t do 9 years ago. It took quite a bit of patience to wait 6 months but I know that it was worth it and the best is yet to come because I got 6 more months to watch as it fills out and thickens! I’m the happiest girl alive because of Dr Bitner and his team. I finally got my confidence back and am free from the artificial wigs and hair styles. Thank you Dr Bitner!