Hi all. Please see attached pics and rate my suitability for FUE. I'm 38 starting balding mostly in crown at 25. Bizarrely things haven't changed much in the last 5 years, it's like my hair is willing me to keep trying! All i want is a bit more thickness in the crown region. The crown is not slick bald as you can see and a dab of concealer works like a charm but it does come off after 24 hours. A little extra thickness goes such a long way. The front hairline is ok and stable as is much of my hair. I tried finasteride but couldn't handle the sides. Regaine 5% foam worked amazingly, took me back 10 years, but then i stopped due to dark circles then went back on but it no longer worked. Gutted minoxidil stopped working...it was such a miracle. Anyway, any input on FUE appreciated.
Please trust me when I say - a hair transplant is a HORRIBLE idea for you right now. Shookwun is right, you're not a good candidate and I will tell you from personal experience, a hair transplant right now has a 99% chance of f*cking up your entire life. Here is why.
1) You are not on finasteride. Because of this, most ethical hair transplant surgeons will not perform on you.
2) After an hair transplant, be very very emotionally prepared to experience a LOT of native hair loss. Anyone that denies is simply wrong. The cushy term "shock loss" is often really the more severe telogen effluvium, a condition that lasts months and causes lots of hair loss.
3) correlate 1) and 2) above together. Most surgeons won't perform, because without a complete assurance of regrowth, by having stabilized on an anti androgen, then, like shookwun mentioned, you will end up looking weird. You will have lost lots of native hairs exposing the thick grafts around them, and will need another hair transplant down the road.
The ideal candidates - Have COMPLETELY stabilized on anti androgens (finasteride/dutasteride) and have maintained a distinct pattern for years. These are the successful cases. PLEASE - THE HORROR STORY ABOVE HAPPENED TO ME. I am not trying to scare you, rather warn you of a very real reality. Go online and thoroughly research this. As a former hair transplant victim, it is my duty to warn whoever I can. Will I get an hair transplant in the future? probably. But, if so, I will have very minimal expectations and probably no concern for my native hair.
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How are you certain minoxidil stopped working? Try a higher concentration perhaps? You can get 10-15%. What sides did you have with finasteride? How long were you on it.