Beyond hope for hair transplant?

[Lucky_UK]

Respect to gill for the well meaning post :agree:

 

[s.a.f]

BUT REALIZE SOMETHING my friend. You cannot have your cake and eat it too. Meaning, if you do move forward with hair transplant surgery, you will never be able to wear your hair as short as your pics, PERIOD. And I'm talking strip OR FUE. I don't see your donor as being real dense but you do have above average hair characteristics or what I will call hair quality. Yet you need enough work done (thousands of grafts) that if you do it all by FUE, you will definitely end up with a moth-eaten donor appearance. Remember, your density level appears average at best.

That's why if you heal well, your donor scar should come out thin and you'll be able to get multiple strips done providing your laxity remains adequate to support them. But you will need to wear the length longer going forward, no more buzz cuts. That's the trade-off. If you cannot accept that compromise, DO NOT GET A hair transplant. :roll:

But for many of, it's not a compromise. Look, anyone with considerable loss who undergoes thousands of grafts in surgery GROWS THEIR HAIR OUT. I rarely and I mean rarely see patients undergo that much surgical restoration to only end cutting it all off. Think about it.

Well said :bravo: , this is the double edged sword situation of hair transplant's, many young guys refuse to compromise. You've got to weigh up the choices :
More hair but without the option of being able to do everything you might want with it,
Or
Less hair but the security of knowing that its all totally natural.
But consider that you are getting older all the time and the older you get the less you will want to have extravagant hairstyles and the more acceptable it will be to have thinning or less coverage. Eg a nw3 at 20 - 25 would almost certainly opt to shave it because they would'nt want to display any signs of hairloss at that young age but at 30+ they'd feel more comfortable just keeping it fairly short and adopting a conservative hairstyle.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Just having hair on top of my head would be a dream come true, to not be bald anymore. Just decent coverage and by decent I mean you can't see my scalp through the hair. I don't need ultra thick mane like Collin Farell, just enough so that people look at me and say, "He's not going bald.". At this point I'm not sure if that is too much to ask, but it is my hearts desire none the less.

 

[s.a.f]

When you say he's not going bald do you mean bald as in nw6 or do you mean he's not doing too bad for someone his age? Most NW6's would give anything to just be nw3.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Well this is were relativity comes into play. As we all know from the various posters on this board, people have different ideas as to what constitutes being bald. Some think bald is a receding hairline or even just temples, some think its a slightly thinning crown and people like myself think that bald means that the hair on top is so far gone that there is an obvious boundary between the visible scalp on top and the hair on the sides and the back, hell some people even think an nw1or2 constitutes being bald, however ridiculous that is. Even if I got the best results possible for my situation I realize there will be some people who still won't find my hair to be satisfactory. As long as I am pleased with the results, that is what matters most. TBH, I would be stoked to have your hair S.A.F..

 

[metalheaddude]

Well this is were relativity comes into play. As we all know from the various posters on this board, people have different ideas as to what constitutes being bald. Some think bald is a receding hairline or even just temples, some think its a slightly thinning crown and people like myself think that bald means that the hair on top is so far gone that there is an obvious boundary between the visible scalp on top and the hair on the sides and the back, hell some people even think an nw1or2 constitutes being bald, however ridiculous that is. Even if I got the best results possible for my situation I realize there will be some people who still won't find my hair to be satisfactory. As long as I am pleased with the results, that is what matters most. TBH, I would be stoked to have your hair S.A.F..

There is a difference between bald and balding. I think balding sounds worse. The bald version you described is what I would call bald. But anyone else with a thin area, receaded temples, crown loss, is balding.

Neither of them are particularily good.

 

[s.a.f]

Well this is were relativity comes into play. As we all know from the various posters on this board, people have different ideas as to what constitutes being bald. Some think bald is a receding hairline or even just temples, some think its a slightly thinning crown and people like myself think that bald means that the hair on top is so far gone that there is an obvious boundary between the visible scalp on top and the hair on the sides and the back, hell some people even think an nw1or2 constitutes being bald, however ridiculous that is. Even if I got the best results possible for my situation I realize there will be some people who still won't find my hair to be satisfactory. As long as I am pleased with the results, that is what matters most. TBH, I would be stoked to have your hair S.A.F..

Well most guys are balding to some degree, but to me to be described as bald would have to be anything over a NW4.
I'll be posting my 6months pics in a few days but it almost goes without saying that since you've done your research and I did'nt you're virtually garanteed to get a better result than me.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Well, I am very encouraged to hear you say that, and if it is true then I will be happy. However, I remember what you said about my donor area being average at best. I should let you guys know that I am leaving for California tomorrow so I won't be back on the board until I get my internet up and running in the new place- could be a couple of weeks. In the meantime I will keep taking steps to further this endevour i.e. getting a prescription for propecia (still unsure weather I should get 2 or 5%) and retaking my photos w/o flash. Other than that I am going to be very busy unpacking and setting up the new place, which is beautiful btw.

 

[uncomfortable man]

Dudemon wrote,
Guys who take the hair transplant route who are beyond NW3, in my opinion, may get mediocre density at best - depending on hair characteristics and donor supply. This is, of course, using all available donor hair, which isn't a good idea.

I would say only a very small % of (fortunate and lucky) guys with NW4 through NW6's (more 4's less 5's and even less 6's) that get transplants, are satisfied with density after all the surgeries are done. NW7's - forget it, they look like combovers.

From my own experience (I was a NW5 when I started hair transplant's), you wind up with a "see-through" look from simply not enough donor hair to fill in the gaps. 40-50 FU's/ cm2 is about the average after all the hair transplant's, while spending anywhere from $25k to $60k or even as much as $80k for all the surgeries. Honestly, even the bestest of the best surgeons in the world can achieve these results most of the time, on most of their patients, with extensive hairloss. Although results vary somewhat, is it really worth it?

What I'm saying is that no one should expect HM, Follica, or whatever to bail them out - if their hair transplant's didn't fulfill their expectations. For most of us hair transplant patients, the words "realistic expectations" are used synonomously to mean " low density"
...I'm so depressed.

 

[IBM]

un...man i dont know why you complain. I saw your pic and i think you're very good looking guy. For you hairloss is not an problem.

 

[s.a.f]

Good luck in California, I wish I could move there.

 

[HatPrisoner91]

Just having hair on top of my head would be a dream come true, to not be bald anymore. Just decent coverage and by decent I mean you can't see my scalp through the hair. I don't need ultra thick mane like Collin Farell, just enough so that people look at me and say, "He's not going bald.". At this point I'm not sure if that is too much to ask, but it is my hearts desire none the less.

I have that "fantasy" of having hair AT LEAST 500 times a day. If Im on a train, all I do is look at people's heads. I absolutely hate this.....

 

[Guest]

You're welcome UM and glad to be of help.

You can get 5mg finasteride at the pharmacy in the form of Proscar, and it's much, much cheaper than Propecia. When you look at the profits these drug comopanies make, it makes me angry that they take advantage of patients with their outrageous mark ups.

The derm may not want to script you for Proscar mainly becuae that doctor is not in internal medicine nor a urologist. My experience has been that one's primary doctor will be more open to doing this once you explain your intentions and assure them that you will indeed cut the tablets four ways to bring down the daily dosage to effectively treat male pattern baldness.

If that professional appears uneasy, simply encourage them to chart your medical file so that it is clearly documented for hairloss, not prostrate issues. My PCP was a bit reluctant at first until I suggested this. Now she continues my script for Proscar without blinking.

FOR GUYS OVER 40: Most of you will be having a PSA test after age 40 and if you are taking finasteride, DON'T FORGET TO INFORM YOUR DOCTOR BECAUSE FINASTERIDE EVEN AT LOW DOSE DAILY CAN AFFECT THE OUTCOME OF THE TEST.

 

[Guest]

dudemon,

Wow. Thanks for sharing all of this information. Those insurance companies can be real hit and miss and I am not surprised by your experiences. You make some very valid points and possibly the best option is to buy the generic form of Proscar. My health coverage is with my wife's employer so I never was scrutinized. As far as the best place to buy it? I would recommend staying with North American based pharmacies. I hear about scams on the internet all of the time.

Taking finasteride can indeed mask the onset symptoms of prostrate cancer and the outcome of the PSA test itself and that's why your PCP needs to know one is taking it at the time of the test.

 

[Guest]

When I mentioned your sides I didn't mean to transplant, many doctors look at the sides to see if there is any thinning / miniturization as this is a red flag and means you are not suitable for hair transplant.

Looking at your pics UM, apart from looking good with a buzz cut, in my opinion you could probably have enough donor to cover the top, so long as you don't wan't a NW1 hairline, this is from looking at other guys with similar loss, you are no worse off than Jotronic or London Lad.

My mate had that side hairloss and martinick still worked on him. Go figure.