Planning for the future

Nene

Senior Member
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12
Hello everyone, many of you know my story. My hair loss has been so slow. I started losing my juvenile hairline when I was 15 after taking accutane. I was a mature Norwood 2 by about 18. Then I started rogaine and went back to Norwood 1. When I was 22 I stopped using rogaine and just accepted my Norwood 2 and hoped that it wouldn't progress any further. Then around 24 I saw that I was becoming a Norwood 3 and hopped back on rogaine and then added finasteride. Now I'm almost 27 and I guess you could say I'm still Norwood 2 but the hairs in the Norwood 3 area are so thin and whispy, and holding on for dear life, additionally I can see some very slight miniaturization in the middle/center of my scalp, foreshadowing an island.

Because my hair loss started so young, I always thought I'd be fully bald by my current age. Because the progression has been so slow, I think this gives me options.
So, now I'm debating what to do when the time comes that the big 3 is no longer maintaining a respectable amount of hair. I expect that to happen at around 30. At that point I might just say, hey, I've managed to have hair in my 30s, I guess I'll just accept it and buzz it off, and stop taking meds. finasteride is not something I want to take for a long time.

Alternatively, If I hit my 30s and I'm Norwood 3 or so, I would think that makes me a pretty good candidate for a small FUE procedure (strip is out of the question). I will be a couple of years out of school and hope to have a good job so I should be able to afford it, plus I live close to Feller. Maybe 1k or 2k grafts to bring me back to a Norwood 2 or 2.5 would be nice. Maybe I'd luck out and that would solve my hair problems forever.

However, then I'd have to stay on finasteride. Additionally I will probably need more work in the future as I don't know what my final pattern will be. The problem is I inherited hair loss from my mother and I don't know the men in her family. I'm pretty sure her father was at least a Norwood 4 and probably a 5. My crown is still very strong but that might go one day. My fear is that I will run out of grafts and end up with an unnatural looking hairloss pattern.

At that point I could either just buzz it down and deal with having a bald crown and hair elsewhere, or I could resort to BHT.

What do you guys think of this plan? I'm just sort of thinking out loud here. Any comments would be appreciated. How terrible would it really be to have transplants in the front and be bald in the back if you buzz it down and have no FUT scar?
 

keepinthehair

Established Member
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9
This is the exact question I have. I am NW2 with with a crispy crown, so I plant to be NW5/6. I am afraid finasteride/Min have peaked for me. Currently using RU with hairs becoming thick at hairline and mid.

I too am considering the future FUE beginning with a relatively dense mature NW2 hairline and working back until I run out of donors. I dont really care about the crown but would throw in maybe 1000 grafts to give it a thin look.

Many men begin balding at the crown while maintaing a NW2 hairline. Should look natural if done right. Hopefully Shapiro will still be around when the time comes. :)
 

Nene

Senior Member
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12
Thats what I'm thinking, It wouldn't be so unnatural to have a Norwood 2 and hair on top with a balding crown would it? Plus if I buzz it low I assume it won't look so awful. However, at least in my case, if my crown goes I don't expect that to happen till sometime near 40 so that means I get have my 30s with a good head of hair and then only in my 40s will I have to deal with a balding crown. At that point, I really hope that I will be busy and successful with a career and family and won't care anymore.
 
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