Would A Hair Transplant Work For Me?

[The Balding Cat]

Hi everyone,

I'm 35, I have been losing my hair for over a decade now. All males in my family are losing their hair pretty aggressively and, from what I can see, if I don't do anything I'll probably end up with a NW7.

I have been using Minoxidil 5% since almost the beginning and I believe that has been very beneficial (I stopped once for 6 months and started losing my hair by the handful so I quickly went back to it). I have been using hair concealing fibers for the 2 past years but I have reached a point where it's becoming hard to cover my bald spots properly.

So I think it's time for something more radical. I'm talking about hair transplant of course.
I have been reading lots of threads on this forum but still don't have enough knowledge to understand if I could be a good candidate for such an operation (I still have hair, but I'll probably lose the maximum eventually). I'm not taking Finasteride at the moment but I'm considering it despite the infamous side effects.

Am I a good candidate? How many grafts would I need? How many operations? FUE or FUT?

Could you advise please? Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you!

 

[Pequod]

Minoxidil does nothing to stop hairloss, but that is another story. Yes you could do a hair transplant, even 3000 grafts would fill in the front 2/3rds and do wonders. To include the crown maybe 1500 more minimum. You have to get on finasteride though to save what you have.

 

[GoldenMane]

FUT to maximises the potential grafts available to you for the best coverage. FUE for lower potential graft yields but the option of shaving your head without an obvious scar at the back.

 

[The Balding Cat]

Thanks for your help guys. I'll contact a few surgeons and will post updates.

 

[nohairnohair]

Same prob here!
My family is just wired to lose their hair once the men hit our mid twenties. I tried finasteride for 2 years, but I was still bothered with the thinning on my hairline, so I went on to get surgical treatment. It was the best decision for me. Hope it goes well for you too. Where do you plan to get it?

 

[Tano1]

You have good density and you look like you could get some great coverage with even a single procedure. The crown would look thin still but the front and mid scalp can achieve great density. I'd say maybe 4-5000 grafts so that you can start the crown in the first procedure as well. READ THIS FIRST THOUGH- DO NOT go with old closure techniques if you go the FUT route. Those doctors need to just die out and leave the business already. go with a doctor who is experienced in trichophytic closures. Btw a warning to you: if for some reason you decide you want to shave your head or cut your hair to a 1 or a 2 guard then you're mistaken. Depending on your density you can probably get away with a 2 at the shortest but other than that, your scar is gonna be visible with anything shorter although there are some exceptions (great healer, doctor, technique) Remember regardless of technique the scar is for life (until the technology to remove them is here anyways) Good luck and make sure you consider all possibilities!

 

[The Balding Cat]

I went to Brussels a few weeks ago for a consultation with Dr. ********. Here is the report (translated from French):

Donor area has a density of 70/90 FU per cm2, which is better than average.
No miniaturization (I don’t know what it means…)
NW4V
Recommendations:
Keep the forehead’s hairline where it’s currently located and do 2 operations (FUE):
- First with 2500-3000 grafts for the front area
- One year later, second operation with 1500-2000 grafts for the vertex area

He also recommends I take some topical finasteride, something made in Italy apparently.

So overall I think it’s good news, especially since I know he does not hesitate to turn people away if he believes they are not good candidates for this kind of operation.

I started taking Propecia 5 weeks ago, do you think I should switch to topical finasteride?

I think I’ll try to meet a couple more good surgeons in Europe – which should take a few months – see how well Propecia works for me and if I can deal with the side effects, and if everything is good I’ll plan my first operation for the end of 2017 or early 2018…

Please feel free to advise or comment

 

[JeanLucBB]

I went to Brussels a few weeks ago for a consultation with Dr. ********. Here is the report (translated from French):

Donor area has a density of 70/90 FU per cm2, which is better than average.
No miniaturization (I don’t know what it means…)
NW4V
Recommendations:
Keep the forehead’s hairline where it’s currently located and do 2 operations (FUE):
- First with 2500-3000 grafts for the front area
- One year later, second operation with 1500-2000 grafts for the vertex area

He also recommends I take some topical finasteride, something made in Italy apparently.

So overall I think it’s good news, especially since I know he does not hesitate to turn people away if he believes they are not good candidates for this kind of operation.

I started taking Propecia 5 weeks ago, do you think I should switch to topical finasteride?

I think I’ll try to meet a couple more good surgeons in Europe – which should take a few months – see how well Propecia works for me and if I can deal with the side effects, and if everything is good I’ll plan my first operation for the end of 2017 or early 2018…

Please feel free to advise or comment

******** gets great results as do the other great Belgian's such as Feriduni and Lupanzula, but personally I think it's silly to plan for two operations when FUE surgeons such as Erdogan get equal if not better results with 5000-5500 grafts in a single two day procedure, and also with manual punch. Also you're probably much better suited to FUT, the best in Europe for megassessions being Hattingen.

 

[topcat]

If you are destined to be a NW7 you are absolutely not a candidate for a hair transplant. The math simply does not add up so be careful not to fall into a trap from which there is no escape. The procedure is very limited and ideally the patient is over 30 and believes they will not experience extensive hair loss long term. That does not sound like you so don't let them try to sell you.

Here is some quick math for you. On average most that have extensive hairloss will lose 20,000 fu of the 40,000 fu on their head. From that balance of 20,000 they can probably extract 5000 safely and even some of that hair will be suseptible to DHT long term so let's say you end up with 4000 where formerly there were 20,000 only in your case the donor area could be lower and the hairloss pattern larger. It ends up being a worse look then being bald so do some more research.

How do you feel about Joe Biden's look.............not sure how long it takes him to put it together but that is where the enslavement comes in. He needs to go through a time consuming ritual to make it look so good. Give it all plenty of thought. He might be growing the top long to cover the gap between the lateral humps and the hair at the top of his head. The gap looks like the 2 pictures below it. Not enough donor math didn't add up................probably nobody advised them.

 

[The Balding Cat]

If you are destined to be a NW7 you are absolutely not a candidate for a hair transplant. The math simply does not add up so be careful not to fall into a trap from which there is no escape. The procedure is very limited and ideally the patient is over 30 and believes they will not experience extensive hair loss long term. That does not sound like you so don't let them try to sell you.

Here is some quick math for you. On average most that have extensive hairloss will lose 20,000 fu of the 40,000 fu on their head. From that balance of 20,000 they can probably extract 5000 safely and even some of that hair will be suseptible to DHT long term so let's say you end up with 4000 where formerly there were 20,000 only in your case the donor area could be lower and the hairloss pattern larger. It ends up being a worse look then being bald so do some more research.

I know, that's why you keep taking finasteride, so that you keep that hair as long as you can and hopefully never reach NW7. And within the next 20 years there may very well be a better cure available and you'll be happy you maintained that hair.

How do you feel about Joe Biden's look.............not sure how long it takes him to put it together but that is where the enslavement comes in. He needs to go through a time consuming ritual to make it look so good. Give it all plenty of thought. He might be growing the top long to cover the gap between the lateral humps and the hair at the top of his head. The gap looks like the 2 pictures below it. Not enough donor math didn't add up................probably nobody advised them.

If I knew I could look as good as this dude at his age I would have already proceeded with the surgery!

 

[topcat]

Personally I don't like the idea of taking Finasteride. Yes I agree if you are willing to take it and it fits your lifestyle it would make a much better candidate for hair transplant surgery.