Fue Or Smp For My Diffuse Thinning?

[Mtn_Cdo]

Hi everyone,

I'm 37, have been losing hair since age 25. Tried finasteride but it didn't work for me. So my regimen consists only of minoxidil 5% foam.

I'm a diffuse thinner, with a hairline that hasn't receded too much. As such, dermmatch has worked extremely well for me...basically a life saver. However, my thinning has now advanced to a point where I need to basically call in the cavalry. My crown is almost bare, and the front is quite sparse as well.

Thus, I'm considering whether to get SMP or FUE. Took a consultation for SMP and they can get me the same look I get with dermmatch. I'd be happy with that, but given that it isn't cheap (~$3k), I'm wondering if I should just put in the extra $$ and go straight for FUE once and for all?

Please see attached pics of my peanut. The first set is immediately after shampooing, hair still wet, no dermmatch at all. The second set is after a 5 minute session of dermmatch. Based on these, do I look like a good candidate for FUE?

Any feedback is great appreciated!

 

[Kambrira159]

This is an aggressive type of hair loss. You need finasteride or you will lose all your hair.

 

[Mtn_Cdo]

This is an aggressive type of hair loss. You need finasteride or you will lose all your hair.

Thanks for the feedback Kambrira. I did try finasteride years ago. Not only did it not work for me at all, I had major sexual side effects. So It's not an option.

Minoxidil has allowed me to slow down the hair loss so that 13 years after it started, I can still get by with dermmatch.

As it stands, I've scheduled my SMP. I hope it will buy me another couple years to prepare for FUE.

Will post my SMP results. If at best it gives me what I get with dermmatch right now (or even close to it), I'd be happy.

 

[Lurker85]

I'm in the same boat, but 35. My hairline really hasn't receded and barely thinned. Behind my hairline is a crap ton of diffused thinning. Dermmatch covers 95% of it and fibers get the last 5% giving the illusion of a perfect head of hair. I'm always worrying about furthes loss and am looking into both FUE and SMP.

My issue with SMP is the fear of it discoloring and looking fake. I have tattoos that are mostly covered by clothing that have faded significantly from the dark black they started as. I can't even imagine how quickly it would fade and look strange on my scalp.

I've considered microblading and FUE over it. Microblading is like temporary SMP, which would help give the illusion of a full head of hair while the FUE is healing. If you are willing to travel you can get FUE from extremely experienced specialists in other countries... I've been looking into India. The procedure plus a full month in a hotel would be around $3k. Gives you plenty of time to heal before flying back.

 

[Mtn_Cdo]

I'm in the same boat, but 35. My hairline really hasn't receded and barely thinned. Behind my hairline is a crap ton of diffused thinning. Dermmatch covers 95% of it and fibers get the last 5% giving the illusion of a perfect head of hair. I'm always worrying about furthes loss and am looking into both FUE and SMP.

My issue with SMP is the fear of it discoloring and looking fake. I have tattoos that are mostly covered by clothing that have faded significantly from the dark black they started as. I can't even imagine how quickly it would fade and look strange on my scalp.

I've considered microblading and FUE over it. Microblading is like temporary SMP, which would help give the illusion of a full head of hair while the FUE is healing. If you are willing to travel you can get FUE from extremely experienced specialists in other countries... I've been looking into India. The procedure plus a full month in a hotel would be around $3k. Gives you plenty of time to heal before flying back.

Thanks for the response mate.

I looked up microblading. Looks like it has some limitations (doesn't work if hair moves). No studio that does it on the scalp where I live anyway, so looks like SMP is my only choice. Regarding fading, it's supposed to me good for 3-5 years before requiring a touch up. That should buy me enough time to prepare for FUE anway.

Definitely planning on getting FUE done from India, being that it's 3x-5x cheaper there. And I'm Indian anyway, so it's convenient

 

[whatintheworld]

You ideally want to get FUE + SMP. Since your FUE won't be able to cover all the areas, smp will create a nice blending effect that will allow it to look as realistic as possible.

 

[brill007]

Have you considered shaving your head ? Maybe you will like it.

 

[Derelict]

I really dislike the look of most of the SMP jobs i have seen, they don't look natural at all, i do remember seeing one pic of a guy who had it done and it looked alright though.