Would you or wouldn't you

[oj]

Hey guys

Would appreciate your thoughts/comments on whether or not you think it would be wise to go ahead with an hair transplant given my situation. Currently considering approx 2500-3000 strip with either H&W or Feller.

-losing hair since 17
- currently NW4a
-been on finas & minoxidil for about 5-6 years
-Age 28
-Brother is 40 & a NW5, father a NW6
- realistic expectations - i.e. don't expect to regain my 20 yo hairline etc
- Important that the average joe in the street would never suspect hair transplant
- don't necessarily want to be able to sport a buzz at blade 1, but would like there to be a good chance that @ blade 2 or 3 the scar will not be noticable

Would really like to hear everyones thoughts/assesments and advice as I don't want to roll the dice & regret it later!

Thanks buds

oj

can't figure out how to post pics, but here is a link to my pics on another site My pics can be seen here http://www.hairlosshelp.com/forums/mess ... adid=59678

 

[global]

At No. 2 or 3 there is a good chance your scar will still be noticeable, if wearing your hair that short is important to you, you should consider FUE.

 

[techprof]

oj,
welcome to the forum.
Sorry but you are not NW4a. You are just NW3 or 3.5 at the max. Your hairloss is only in the front. Do you mind if I ask you? Have you tried finasteride?
Your crown and donor area is very strong.
I believe that your scar won't be visible unless you start rigorous exercises immediately after strip surgery.
Have you tried topicals for the frontal hair loss (minoxidil and/or sods)?

 

[techprof]

oops. just noticed that you are using finasteride and minoxidil.
I can bet my *** that your crown and donor area look good because of finasteride only.
a good lesson for all the baldies who are in denial (just like I used to be). Get on finasteride or dutasteride even if you plan to get into the hair transplant route in the future.

 

[CCS]

Most people who get hiar transplants get a strip scar about 1/4 inch wide. some wider, though rarely ever 1/2 inch, and some smaller, though rarely under 1/8 inch. I don't know how much of this depends on your skin, how much depends on your post opperative care not to put any tension on it, and how much depends on the doctor you go to. My strip scar is very thin, about 1 mm. I thought my skin was scare prone after going to bosley, but now know it is not after going to dr keene for my second and third procedure. I just don't know what other doctors are capable of. The important thing is to keep your chin up 24/7 and keep it centered as much as you can and use ice to keep swelling out of the donor area and keep it clean and turn your enter body when you look anywhere for 3 months. That may be over kill, but it will give you the thinnest scar possible with the doctor you go to. While you want to incline your whole body during recovery, you want you head to be down straight with your body, not bent towards your chest by a thick pillow. If your bed is soft enough, you will feel comfrotable sleeping on your back all night. If not, you will change positions a lot and will stretche it in your sleep.

Ask your doctors how they close the donor area. Listen to see if they use internal stitches and a single filament instead of threads.

 

[CCS]

You have just as much hair as I do, except your top is thicker than my and i have a little more hair in my frontal tuff. I've had a total of 4000 grafts so far and am pretty close to tenage hairline now, with about a Norwood 1 or 0.5. My hairline is now 5.2 cm above my eyebrows, and my temples are now 1/4 inch outside my eyebrows. I'm going to get another 600 grafts for my 4th procedure in about 2 years, after I see what dutasteride and RU and other topicals can regrow, and put all the gafts in a 0.7 cm band around the hair line and temples just to bring everything to 60 grafts per cm2. At $4 per graft on average, these transplants are not too expensive to save up for.

With 2500 gafts, you are looking at a NW2 with 30 per cm2. If you go thinner than that, you can go NW1 and be prepared for your second procedure later and bring everything above 30 per cm2.

 

[CCS]

It is very important that you take time to decide where to put your hairline. With the grafts you are doing you can do about 100 sq cm at 24-30 grafts per cm2. Figure out about how hight that is and decide on the exact shap you want, drawing in lines and taking picktures and filling in the lines on a computer. The cost of pictures is much less than that of the procedure, so it is worth it. The doctor will give you a hair line that will look pretty decent, but if you want one that you love, you need to think about it. If you do want to lower it later and want your second one to have more than 30 grafts per cm2, you need to go thinner this time with 20 and go to that line now. But if you don't think you will be doing that in 6 months, then just go with 30 now and stay high.

 

[I_Hate_DHT]

Your crown is perfect...

 

[oj]

thanks guys for the welcome and the advice.

Would appreciate more opinions as to whether you think my expectations can be met or if you think theres a high risk of looking like an idiot in a few years?

 

[CCS]

the risk of looking like an idiot comes from who you go to and how much hair you loose. That is why it is nice to see if you can stop your hairloss with a regimen you can easily maintain even with a girlfriend.

 

[global]

oj,
welcome to the forum.
Sorry but you are not NW4a. You are just NW3 or 3.5 at the max. Your hairloss is only in the front. Do you mind if I ask you? Have you tried finasteride?
Your crown and donor area is very strong.
I believe that your scar won't be visible unless you start rigorous exercises immediately after strip surgery.Have you tried topicals for the frontal hair loss (minoxidil and/or sods)?

Number 2 or 3 is pretty short though, he should be aware that at that short there is a good chance the scar will show.

 

[LookingGood!]

You have just as much hair as I do, except your top is thicker than my and i have a little more hair in my frontal tuff. I've had a total of 4000 grafts so far and am pretty close to tenage hairline now, with about a Norwood 1 or 0.5. My hairline is now 5.2 cm above my eyebrows, and my temples are now 1/4 inch outside my eyebrows. I'm going to get another 600 grafts for my 4th procedure in about 2 years, after I see what dutasteride and RU and other topicals can regrow, and put all the gafts in a 0.7 cm band around the hair line and temples just to bring everything to 60 grafts per cm2. At $4 per graft on average, these transplants are not too expensive to save up for.

With 2500 gafts, you are looking at a NW2 with 30 per cm2. If you go thinner than that, you can go NW1 and be prepared for your second procedure later and bring everything above 30 per cm2.

CCS,

5.2 cm above the eyebrow????? Dude that is so low! The average is 7.5
as per the major docs: hassan/wong, Armani, Cole, even Bosely. That low with such low density...why even bother. You have to cover so muchg that low and take grafts that could be used for the future on top since you are so young and your male pattern baldness will certainly progress to a possible high Norwood. Did you ever consider this in that way?