Am I a candidate for a transplant FUT/FUE?

[CyberStorm]

Im 30 now - Live in South Africa.


I started noticing my hair thinning back in 2011 and it terrified me. My grandfather and dad both had the same balding pattern as me.


In 2012 I decided to do something about it and went to a doctor and got a prescription of 1mg finasteride. Happy days - My hair stopped thinning and all was well. I then started using 5% Minoxidil and after the initial shed, and about 6 months I noticed some growth. Things were going great till about a year ago when I the thinning had resumed with some menace.


So, I did some research and made a call and scheduled a consult at a hair transplant clinic. The surgeon that consulted with me tried to feed me a hogwash story about how I shouldn't take finasteride (because it supposedly doesn't work) and how its unnatural and bad for you. He then followed this up trying to to sell me his snake oil (some pill he had formulated that contained Saw Palmetto, Nettle Root and some mystery ingredient he refused to disclose.
He then told me that he would recommend doing a hair transplant for me at the time. Off I went, a tad annoyed after the consult.


Fast forward to today and I am still of the belief that based on my level of thinning a hair transplant is required.


I don't want to wait till my hair is really thin and has multiple bald patches to rectify this. My confidence has taken a massive hit and when I go to the mall of the gym and see these twenty some-things with their full heads of hair it makes me a tad annoyed/angry/bitter.


I just want to get a jump on this. I understand that I will probably need to have top up surgeries in future and I am okay with that.


I am posting some pictures here as I would like some advice - Am I a candidate for a hair transplant?
Any advice ?


Pic below were taken about 10 minutes before I made this post.

 

[teeth_of_lions]

It seems you are a diffuse thinner which unfortunately isn't the ideal boat to be in when it comes to a hair transplant (because a bigger area needs to be operated with a limited amount of grafts), however you are still a candidate and you can repair some of the damage. Because your hair is grown out it's hard to tell how many grafts you will need.

 

[CyberStorm]

Thanks for your insight. I think I'm lucky from a donor area aspect as the hair at the back and sides of my head is extremely thick. My dad's in his mid 50's and even though he is almost fully bald at the top he has thick hair a the back and sides. My balding/thinning pattern is mimicking my dads. I'm looking into an FUE transplant. I'm not too keen on having a strip donor scar at the back. Is FUE recommended for my situation?

 

[Wolf Pack]

The other issue is you have with a thinning area is if they did do a transplant there, you may get shock loss of existing hairs! Blood supply may not be maintained to these dying hairs, rather the new ones transplanted.

The first option would be medication. You have tried that. You could up the dose of finasteride or get on dutasteride with Minoxidil. Either way, you may have to let that area thin out more before you have a transplant.

 

[CyberStorm]

I am currently on 1mg of finasteride per day. Would 2mg be beneficial? Also, is duasteride superior to finasteride in stopping the Testosterone to DHT conversion? Lastly, what exactly is "shock loss" - I'm not familiar with that term.

 

[kirk]

Thanks for posting this OP. I have a very similar pattern of loss, and often wonder the same thing.

For a diffuse thinner, finasteride is crucial as you probably know already. The reason is changes in hair loss pattern over time can ruin a good hair transplant procedure.

@ wolfpack. Most Doctors say that shock loss is temporary. Do you believe that there is a risk of permanent shock loss even if you pick a quality Doctor?

 

[Wolf Pack]

Kirk

My understanding is that shock loss to transplanted hair is not a problem, it almost always will come back, it's quite routine. However, transplanting hair into an area which is not bald and has existing weak hair, well you may send those dying hairs into early loss. They may not come back as they were too weak. I would try and save them with meds first, if it doesn't work, be prepared to possibly lose them. I think it's to do with the metabolic demand in that area, the new implanted follicles will take priority over the weaker ones. Minoxidil can help post op.

Ideally you want to transplant into a pretty much sly area where there is everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[CyberStorm]

Thanks for posting this OP. I have a very similar pattern of loss, and often wonder the same thing.

For a diffuse thinner, finasteride is crucial as you probably know already. The reason is changes in hair loss pattern over time can ruin a good hair transplant procedure.

@ wolfpack. Most Doctors say that shock loss is temporary. Do you believe that there is a risk of permanent shock loss even if you pick a quality Doctor?

The finasteride is crucial. I'd probably be way worse off now if not for finasteride. I'm wondering if perhaps i'd have better results with duasteride? Any experience with witching from finasteride to dua?

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Kirk

My understanding is that shock loss to transplanted hair is not a problem, it almost always will come back, it's quite routine. However, transplanting hair into an area which is not bald and has existing weak hair, well you may send those dying hairs into early loss. They may not come back as they were too weak. I would try and save them with meds first, if it doesn't work, be prepared to possibly lose them. I think it's to do with the metabolic demand in that area, the new implanted follicles will take priority over the weaker ones. Minoxidil can help post op.

Ideally you want to transplant into a pretty much sly area where there is everything to gain and nothing to lose.

Just my 2 cents.

Some good points there Wolf pack. WHat youre saying is stay on the meds (finasteride and min and keto) for as long as possible and try to retain the hair that's there. When all starts to fail, and the bald spot is an entire area then go for the hair transplant? I'm reading between lines here.

 

[Wolf Pack]

Yes exactly and I do think adding Dutasteride or it replacing finasteride entirely, is worth a try. It works for some.