I looked at the mirror - next move

[waynakyo]

I looked at the hand-mirror ( which I rarely use) and projected it on the big mirror in my room only to find that my crown is now quite BALD !
I am depressed, I couldn't even sleep. I am 27.

Now I am studying the next move. I hope you guys can answer some of my questions here, that would be very nice.

First: Will I be able to get a small FUT to cover this crown or will they tell me that i have to take care of the fronts too ? . My plan is to do things bit by bit, overtime, like this I smooth the money I have to spend and second, I don't have to live BALD waiting for the surgery. All I need is maybe about 1000 hairs to cover this area and i would like to do this with the best doctor.

Second: Suppose they do accept. This year I am going from place to place applying for jobs. So I would care that my surgery wouldn t be noticable. What should I expect ? Will they tell me to shave my head and then cover it for a month ??

please, i hope you ll answer my questions

i ll be up to post some pics soon

 

[Guest]

Don't do anything surgery related yet. There are some preliminary concerns which you need to address first.

The big question right now? Is your hairloss under control? What are you doing medicinally for your hairloss and what have been the results to date? Are you taking finasteride (Propecia) and or using minoxidil? Both are effective in the crown for many men.

What is the most advanced Norwood class in your family history? What Norwood class are you in right now? What are your hair characteristics?

Also, even if the more noticable loss is in your crown, you undoubtedly will lose in the front as well because genetic hairloss (male pattern baldness) is progressive. The thing about one's crown is that it can take 50% or more of the available scalp donor to cover it. There's never enough to cover the entire top.

Most of the guys I know that started in the crown continued to lose hair around the first surgery so then you are committed to chasing the loss in that location or you will be left with an island of transplant with nothing around it. See what I mean?

Most of them have told me that they wish they would have waited and then addressed the frontal zone instead because that's the highest area of visual impact.

If you are not on hairloss meds, go in and see your doctor. Right now the big issue is to get your loss under control. You want to minimize the progression of loss in the crown as much as you can and that's where the meds are most effective.

Keep researching. You owe yourself to understand the risks as well as the benefits.

 

[Guest]

Will keep an eye out for your pics :hairy:

 

[waynakyo]

Thank you Gillenator for your precious reply. Here are the answers:
1) I am using Minoxil 5% currently.
2) I will NEVER use propecia. Just a personal choice, I prefer to have to shave my head rather than playing with my hormones, and ending with a limp noodle.
3) My mother side, they are completley bald- and started blading at 18. My dad is only blad in the crown. For me, I feel I am somwhere in between, at the age of 27 now.
4) My hair is dark brown/black. Very thick on the sides. Thinner on the top, and extremley thin on the crown. Where the bald spot appeared.
5) I don t know how important is this: I have good supply of thick hair in the back and sides. I have an UNLIMITED amount if THICK hair on my body, YOU NAME IT AND I HAVE HAIR THERE.

Here is my thinking : Hair loss treatements are getting better and better over time. I just want to cover a bit my bladness in my crown, which is very ugly. This might give me about 2-3 years of decent, thin but not bald look. After that, when my salary is 100K, and when new treatments are appearing, ( and given my body hair supply), I can be quite sure not to end with an Island on the top. In worst cases I will shave. Why would I have to sacrify my "young age" to get better hair when I am 40 and married. This is something that some doctors do not seem to understand quite well. It is all about the Present Value.

 

[waynakyo]

+ How is Dr. Umar in LA , in that respect ?

 

[Guest]

You're welcome waynakyo. If you do have that much hair including BH, you do have more potential IMO.

A couple of things. When you said your mother's side is completely bald, I am assuming you mean class 7. One of the hints was that it started at 18 for most of them. Do any of them have thinning in the donor area?

I surely understand your feelings about the meds, but that part of the equation is the most critical one for you. What about minoxidil? Any luck with that?

 

[waynakyo]

No my uncles do not have thinning in the donor area.
I don t know how difficult it is to predict the process of baldness,
but from what I see, baldness stabilizes on average for quite a long time.

That is if I were to become a class 7 it will be in 30 years maybe ? But most likely I will just have thin hair on the top and a bald spot on the crown.

The point is, I am thinking since I have a lot of donor area ( my back hair will be enough to cover my head btw, euhh :x ) I willing to take a chance on medicine and technology. That is I am willing to try to look best when I am 30, hoping that when I am 40 I would have access to even better doctors and technologies/medicines and all that.
And maybe when I am 50 baldness will be a choice maybe.
And since this is quite probable, I don t see why I should listen to a doctor telling me to wait till I become completley bald. Some of them don t think this way, but many do. And they do - not only because they care for you- but also because they do not want to recieve BAD reviews, from people who just didn t follow-up with other operations, and obviously looked terrible in 5/10 years.

 

[dresden]

in the last 20 years there hasnt been great improvements in hairloss medicine so i wouldnt expect much for the next 10 years at least. if youre going for surgery, you might later lose hair around the implanted area and then not be able to shave it all without showing out some scars. Why dont you just try finasteride for some months to see how you feel about it? you can always stop anytime. it could give you all your crown back..

 

[Guest]

Well that's just it. We cannot predict the "rate" of progression because of the many variables in individuals including lifestyles. But the "extent" of hairloss can be more easily predicted based on family history. The only monumental difference is that we have effective meds that our forefathers did not.

An unethical Doctor will do anything you want, and take as much money from you that is possible. An ethical Doctor does not want to set you or anyone up for disappoinment in the long run. In other words, they are thinking of what your ultimate hairloss and needs will be for the long haul. And they know they cannot fulfill those needs based on a finite donor supply.

I have never met a class 7 who did not regret they started hair transplant surgery, and started at a young age. Class 7s do not have enough scalp donor to cover the top no matter how good your donor looks to the eye. It's mathematically impossible. That's why some docs are discouraging you from even getting started.

 

[Guest]

Well that's just it. We cannot predict the "rate" of progression because of the many variables in individuals including lifestyles. But the "extent" of hairloss can be more easily predicted based on family history. The only monumental difference is that we have effective meds that our forefathers did not.

An unethical Doctor will do anything you want, and take as much money from you that is possible. An ethical Doctor does not want to set you or anyone up for disappoinment in the long run. In other words, they are thinking of what your ultimate hairloss and needs will be for the long haul. And they know they cannot fulfill those needs based on a finite donor supply.

I have never met a class 7 who did not regret they started hair transplant surgery, and started at a young age. Class 7s do not have enough scalp donor to cover the top no matter how good your donor looks to the eye. It's mathematically impossible. That's why some docs are discouraging you from even getting started.

to be honest, it doesn't look like most class 5 or 6's don't have enough to cover their balding area, either, gillenator. it's really only if you're class 4 or lower that you can have decent density on your head.

 

[Guest]

Not necessarily true. I was a true class 5 on my first procedure on the edge of turning class 6. My coverage is front to back with donor still left after four procedures.

I have seen many class 5 and 6s with amazing results due to their above average hair characteristics, especially a good degree of coarseness.

I would agree that class 6s with less ideal hair quality may not reach those levels of restoration. Like anything else, there can be great variances between individuals.