Confused by doctors (pics included)

[herenomore]

Another update.

I had mailed my pics to H&W and they said that it seems i would be progressing to nw7 and so doing an hair transplant rite now is not a good idea. I should try taking finpecia at least one or twice a week to help. After my hairloss has stabilized I should contact them again.


I met Dr. Feller as well. He suggested that I should get a strip hair transplant done for about 1200 grafts. He said I should target the front left to the middle portion of my scalp first as that would help me the most visually since its the direction i generally comb my hair in. Also using a small no of grafts will help me save more for the future hairloss.
He said that I should only consider a small no of grafts right now because one i dont need a lot to improve the visual appearance and second because we don't know how exactly my hairloss will progress. The most different response compared to other docs was wen i spoke to him about finpecia. He didn't ask me if I was using finpecia and he said he doesn't take that into consideration when planing a hair transplant as you never know for how long the patient would take finasteride or how long finasteride would work for a patient.
When i asked him about strip vs fue he said that I should go in for strip as I will have future hairloss and fue would just not cut it. It'll be more exp and I will get less donors. He also showed me his strip scars and told me that for him cost was not an issue but he still went with strip because strip was the right procedure in his case.


The summar so far is
1. Dr. Arvind poswal - 5000 grafts
2. Dr. Shapiro - 2200-2500 grafts .. strip procedure
3. Dr. Cole - 1200-1500 grafts .... fue procedure
4. Dr. H&W - no hair transplant right now
5. Dr. Feller - 1200 grafts ... strip procedure
So what do you guys think??

 

[andrei_eremenko]

i think that the best answer has come from H&W....AND DR. FELLER as well...some of us has already told you that you don't have to do hair transplant...so this was like a confirmation at what we have discussed earlier...

 

[Boondock]

H&W have sage advice.

If you're indeed heading to NW7, you have to be realistic. You could get a smattering of top coverage, and if that's OK for you then so much the better. But it will look like thin wispy hair.

 

[s.a.f]

Nw6 gives limited results but NW7 makes it impossible

 

[Vox]

Nw6 gives limited results but NW7 makes it impossible

I don't know, it depends on what it means "limited" since people's expectations vary. Here is an example of a NW7 guy undergoing hair transplant; one of the few on internet showing the results of the operation in such an advanced MBP stage.

 

[s.a.f]

A good result for the limited grafts but not really astheticaly pleasing overall.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

oh my god...I would will shave my head than being like that!

 

[Vox]

A good result for the limited grafts but not really astheticaly pleasing overall.

Yeah, of course, but given the limited number of grafts the real question here is: is he better looking before or after?

Unfortunately, this is the maximum that can be done today in such cases.

 

[s.a.f]

If your talking about how can I say its ok for some NW6's to get hair transplant's but not NW7's? Its easy, with every stage in the Norwood scale you go up its twice as hard to get a good result. so although its just 1 extra degree from NW6 to NW7 it is in fact twice the job. And whilst some NW6's can just about achieve a decent enough look. A NW7 needs 1000's more grafts but actually has much less donor.

You say NW4 is the cut off point, I'd agree its the cut off to getting great results but IMO NW6 is the very last cut off point to getting a decent enough improvement, to make hair transplant's worthwhile.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

hmm...What can I say...I already said that hair transplant are not for everyone...maybe just for the guys with minor recession...I will rather shave my head than looking like that...In my opinion the lack of hair it makes you look older...but when you're wearing just your horse she...in your 20' or 30' it is really bad...it makes you look older than a guy with a shaved head...life's really sucks...
why the hell some people had to go bald? why not the dogs? or horse and so on...imagine a a dog with a balding scalp...

 

[Vox]

why the hell some people had to go bald? why not the dogs? or horse and so on...imagine a a dog with a balding scalp...

Balding is common not only to humans but to other primates too. There are hypotheses as to why this happens. In the reference 17 of this wikipedia article the supported theory is that baldness is associated with social maturity and enhanced nurturing behaviour and that this is the result of sexual selection in the past.

In this hypothesis there is a clear link between advanced brain structure, social concepts and MBP.

Or rather we are probably victims of our own brains, burning the follicles from underneath? :woot:

 

[andrei_eremenko]

obviously that guy nick nitro wasn't a norwood 6... maybe a maximum 5...but....damn it...what kind of donor had that guy? it was something abnormal dense...the result is perfect...is hair it would be great for a 25 years old as well...I think this guy was very lucky and he had a very thick donor hair...

 

[s.a.f]

My whole thing is that what you are saying about NW6s being the "...very last cut off point to getting a decent enough improvement, to make hair transplant's worthwhile" is only true a small % of time. Most NW6s, from my understanding, will not get adequate density to be able to look that good overall. There are some guys such as Jotronic, Lonon Lad, Nick Nitro, etc ... (as well as yourself saf) that have been able to achieve very good results for NW6's (BTW, I don't think either LL or NN was a NW6 beforehand - one of them was like only a NW3, but let's just say they were). But those guys are "poster boys" for hair transplant clinics, all of them. Their results are the "best case scenarios" that you see on youtube, as well as the hair transplant clinic's website that represent the "very best" work that clinic can achieve.

But in most cases there's a HUGE difference between their results and the results that "Joe average NW6" is going to get, despite going to the same clinic as those three guys, and the one you went to.

That's all I'm trying to say. I found all of this out the "hard way;" the fact that no matter how many more hair transplants someone like me gets, my results are never going to be as good as those 3 guys. And I feel that I'm not alone. In fact, the more I research this (and, in fact, I have done some research on this) the more I find out that most guys are more like me with low density, rather than those 3 guys who have gotten phenominal hair transplant results for guys with advanced stage male pattern baldness. There just isn't enough donor for the average Joe to get good density at NW6 (or even NW5).

Oh I wish I could be one of the hair transplant poster boys but my 3 botched ops in the UK put paid to that.
However even with what I have now I dont regret hair transplant's just the choices of surgeons I made before I became educated in this. But all this has only made me more sure that had I actually gone to a the best surgeon available for my situation I too could now be as satisfied as Jontronic NN and LL.
And as I said above even with the poor result that I got I still prefer it to being the bald chrome dome guy. At least now I have something up there to frame my face andto the passerby or someone looking from across the room I'm just another guy not the standout bald head.

 

[Boondock]

Is this the same thread that dudemon was 'done with' back on page 5? :dunno:

 

[herenomore]

ok back to the original topic. I've been looking into something a dr told me but I can't seem to understand the concept. He told me that incase I get a strip procedure right now for say 1200 grafts, then in case I need another hair transplant later on ... i will not get another scare ... Basically over multiple procedures I will just have 1 scar... I dont really understand how this is possible. Do you guys have any idea?

Also, amongst
- Dr. Feller
- Dr. Shapiro
- Dr. Cole
- Dr. Arvind Poswal
I need to decide on which Dr. to go for in case I plan to go through with a strip procedure for about 1200-1500 grafts. How should I go about selecting one amongst them. What all should I consider while making my decision. Whom would you go for if you were in my position.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

man forget about hair transplant....! it could ruin your life...you are agressively balding...seriously now forget about it!!! it doesn't worth...I don't even know you but take this as the best advice you can get from a stranger! take care!

 

[Boondock]

I don't want to be a party pooper but I sort of agree with andrei.

The big risk for you is shock loss. If your implanted grafts knock out your existing hair, you stand to look more or less the same as you do now. You also clearly have a big Norwood ahead of you, and that only makes things harder.

Rocking concealers would work well for a diffuse pattern like this. If you haven't at least tried the buzz yet, it's worth giving a go.

It's your choice, obviously, but you should be aware that this will be a risky game for you.

 

[Nene]

I'm sorry bro but I agree with Andrei and Boondock. I wouldn't get involved with a hair transplant as your hair loss looks very aggressive. You look like you'll hit norwood 6 before 30 and it's not impossible you'll go norwood 7 . If this does happen you can end up with the "see through" hair dudemon always talks about. Maybe in the future once your loss is stable, if you don't mind having thin hair then you can go for a mega session with H&W or something. But for now stick to the big 3 and concealers. I don't mean to be a Debbie downer and I'm no expert on this but just my two cents.

 

[boss510]

ok back to the original topic. I've been looking into something a dr told me but I can't seem to understand the concept. He told me that incase I get a strip procedure right now for say 1200 grafts, then in case I need another hair transplant later on ... i will not get another scare ... Basically over multiple procedures I will just have 1 scar... I dont really understand how this is possible. Do you guys have any idea?

Also, amongst
- Dr. Feller
- Dr. Shapiro
- Dr. Cole
- Dr. Arvind Poswal
I need to decide on which Dr. to go for in case I plan to go through with a strip procedure for about 1200-1500 grafts. How should I go about selecting one amongst them. What all should I consider while making my decision. Whom would you go for if you were in my position.

I would say do not get strip surgery done, bro. I am 24 and about to get a transplant fue from Dr. Cole. The reason that I dont want to do strip is that just in case later on in life, if I dont like how my hair looks, I can buzz it real short. This is if I advance real high on the Norwood scale. In addition, I have decided not to worry about my crown if it goes. Because I have to keep in mind that I am young with alot a hair loss. Ill probaly get a bht in the crown, but I dont want to waste head donor on it. Anyway Iam planning to grow my hair long and slick it back. So that way my transplanted hairs in the front and top can adequately cover the crown. So what If its a combover to the back, I dont care. Also I am a Norwood 3 and I just want to be a Norwood 2 or 2.5 with this hair transplant.

Just my opinions bro, we must be carefull and develop a master plan for help us get good results.

 

[s.a.f]

But doing strip for 1200 grafts is just crazy.