Hey, c'mon guys. The Gillenator here will be 51 on the 31st of this month and my hair looks awesome after having three hair transplants, at least that's what everyone tells me. And listen my sides and back donor zones are not thinning out either. And I see lots of guys my age and even older that are multiple hair transplant patients and have the same attributes in results as myself. Listen guys, the best way any of us can get some kind of feel for what our donor zones will look like in our more golden years is look at your own blood family relatives. Did you father and uncles have extremely thin donor zones when they hit 50 or did they possibly just bald on top but had good donor zones. Now don't get me wrong, IF that answer is yes, then stay away from hair transplants altogethor. That's my opinion for whatever it's worth. BTW, I started taking finasteride in the form of cut Proscar in 1996 before Propecia was even developed and approved by the FDA. I never like the effects of minoxidil, the oily scalp effect and my scalp also flaked alot with Rogaine. I have not lost more natural hair which I credit to finasteride.
But my point is that I have been able to maintain my look of a restored scalp for some time now which I have been very happy with. Could that change on me in my sixties? Who knows? I do not plan on discontinuing finasteride unless it quits working or something more effective comes along. I do know if I quit the medicinal regimen, I'll start thinning more in my crown and midscalp. The thought of that freaks me out so I am not going to try and fix something that is not broken, at least not at this time.
Ash900,
None of us would want to see your natural diffused hair get shocked out man and surely you don't either. I know of some guys who have done some smaller levels of FUE in the areas you mentioned. These guys have the family history of hitting Norwood class 5 but not over class 6. So they elected to do sort of what you mentioned. They are getting density up to about 30 grafts per cm2 and then buzz cutting down to a number 2 guide once the growth came in. This concept is referred to as a "shorter is fuller" approach whereas the illusion of cropped hair length can appear to have more density to the naked eye. And obviously that's why alot of guys elect to start buzzing their scalps once male pattern baldness sets in.
HOWEVER, I personally warn every patient who will ask my opinion as an advocate on this point and I'll mention to you what I tell everyone else. IF you have family history of the more advanced classes of male pattern baldness, and you do not want to be skin bald on top but will settle for the buzzed look, plan on wearing that for life. Because obviously anyone in this type of situation will accept those facts and some even favor that look because to them, it's better than being skin bald on top. They recognize and emotionally "accept" the fact beforehand that full restoration will not be possible until HM or cloning, etc becomes viable.
That's why it's "extremely" important for any patient to understand their own potential as well as their own limitations in setting their own goals up front before making any decisions on having surgery. I hope this makes some sense to you my friend.
