Seriously Considering hair transplant - Feedback Please (PICS)

[robotsex]

I'm seriously considering an hair transplant by one of the best doctors at this point to fill in my hairline and temples and possibly my crown, although I realize that may not be possible. Strongly considering FUE. Definitely going with one of the world renown doctors people seem to love, as money isn't an issue as far as an hair transplant goes. Overall I'd say my hairloss is slow and steady. Year to year its hard for me to discern a difference even with pictures, but I'm definitely still losing the battle.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/34349373@N07/sets/72157624097142973/show/with/4677539087/

Also, you can look at my full story, which is contained in my signature.

Thanks!

 

[flat_pro]

Hey,

Is there a reason you are considering FUE and not strip? I know everyone seems to think strip is evil, but done correctly It's very effective for high numbers of grafts.

Either way I would say you should have enough donar for what you want. But I would be careful about planning how the rest of your hair is likely to fall out / thin. Maybe consider increasing density all over the top...?

 

[s.a.f]

Looking at your wet photos I have to agree with Flat pro you have thinned out in the whole NW6 area. I expect that if it was'nt for your big regimen you'd have been forced to shave a long time ago.
Like flat pro says it seems wiser to thicken up the whole vertex rather than concentrate on any specific areas.
But in doing this you run the risk of shockloss so therefore its realy important that you choose a top class surgeon. Be conservative and I'd definatley opt for FUE.

 

[Nene]

Maybe you should wait a year or two? You're almost 30 right? I would wait till 30 or 31.

 

[robotsex]

Okay so I have sent consultation requests to he following Doctors:

Umar - Suggests 3500 FUE grafts to restore hairline and thinning at crown and top.
Shapiro Medical Group - Phone consultation Thursday.

H&W - No response yet
Rahal - No response yet.
Cole - No response yet.
Feller - No response yet.

I have also opted to order some Avodart after 11 years of sticking almost exclusively with Finasteride. However, I am not sure if now is the best time to start if I am actually considering a hair transplant soon. To me it would make sense to get on Avodart for a while to see where it gets me or layer it on a year after a hair transplant.

Thoughts?

 

[MrBastard]

You can get away with a concealer for some years and then see if any new miracle products have shown up, and then consider hair transplant imo

 

[DoctorHouse]

Robot, I know how you feel about wanting to do something NOW until it gets worse. Your hair can be styled in a way as you show in your pictures where it does not look that bad at all and you can almost give the illusion that your hair looks normal for your age. I am in the same boat as you are but of course in my situation I have just a thinning hairline mostly in in the center and some diffuse thinning in the front. I too can get away with creatively styling my hair so it looks great for my age but unfortunately I know underneath that hairline its starting to get thinner and it is bothering me and its getting harder to cover up. I don't know if I am going thru my summer shed or its just getting worse again. I too want to get a FUE to thicken up my hairline but all this talk of shock loss scares me. I think if there was no such thing as shock loss I would be getting one without hesitation. I think the only thing standing in your way is whether you might get shock loss and look worse and secondly that your balding will continue and you will look worse. Yet, the agony of having to wait to see if it gets worse is almost as bad as waiting to see if you get shock loss or whether your new hair transplant will grow in fully enough to satisfy you. At least for me it is. I know an extra 1500 grafts in my thinning areas will definitely satisfy me but the uncertainty of losing hairs surrounding those grafts is what bothers me. I wish doctors could tell how high the risk would be by looking at your hair but so far I have not found anyone that can. I just wonder how often people get shock loss if they have been on Propecia for years and have transplants in diffuse areas or thinning areas that still have hair. Anyone know? I want Shapiro to do my transplant but even he can't be sure whether my surrounding hairs would fall out permanently.

 

[robotsex]

Hey DoctorHouse,

I empathize with your dilemma. It seems to be a damned if you do and damned if you don't situation for sure. Everyone seems to tell me its too early and it will look weird as I continue to lose hair, but honestly I realize that and I don't mind the idea of having additional procedures in the future as needed. I by no means think one procedure will fix me for good. Also, I think its better to attack it in stages rather than waiting til I'm near completely bald at a NW5/6 because getting there is going to be agonizing. I'd rather risk losing now to potential shockloss and feel like I made an effort than hang out while I look noticeably bald.

Like you said, I'm sick of having to prep my hair, worry about lighting, and if I used toppik that day (which I do). It's a total pain in the *** and keeps me constantly situationally aware.

I'm going to keep talking to doctors and doing research and asking questions and see how it pans out. I'm not planning on pulling any trigger for several months anyway.

 

[boss510]

Okay so I have sent consultation requests to he following Doctors:

Umar - Suggests 3500 FUE grafts to restore hairline and thinning at crown and top.
Shapiro Medical Group - Phone consultation Thursday.

H&W - No response yet
Rahal - No response yet.
Cole - No response yet.
Feller - No response yet.

I have also opted to order some Avodart after 11 years of sticking almost exclusively with Finasteride. However, I am not sure if now is the best time to start if I am actually considering a hair transplant soon. To me it would make sense to get on Avodart for a while to see where it gets me or layer it on a year after a hair transplant.

Thoughts?

wasup bro,


for ur amount of hair loss 3500 is alot in my opinion. below is pic of my hair loss

http://img227.imageshack.us/img227/8553/dsc01812q.jpg


im also planning on getting an FUE, contacted Dr. COLE and he recommends about 1500 to restore my hairline.

iam 24 bro and have been losing hair since I was 17, i just got to do something about it. Rather get a transplant now to have good hair while iam young.


I think H&W and RAHAL do not perfrom FUE procedures, I might be wrong though.

 

[DoctorHouse]

boss, your hair is alot curlier and thicker than robot's so you may need less grafts. I always notice people with curly thick hair get great results with less grafts. My hair is fine so I got quoted about as much grafts as you did but some involves lowering my hairline which I really don't want it too much lower and my loss is way less than yours. I think the amount of grafts quoted for robot seems reasonable.

Robot, I think Shapiro and Feller do the best FUE jobs but Shapiro is cheaper and his hairline design seems to have a slight edge over Fellers but you can't go wrong with either one. I think if you need 3500 grafts, I would be more inclined to go strip now and save FUE for enhancements later. However, its best to ask the hair transplant docs what they would do if they were in your situation. I always think that question is a good one because you will get a fair answer. And ask them how likely is shock loss in diffuse areas when someone is taking Propecia already and the doctor is careful in where he puts the grafts. I am kind in the same thought process as you, I figure if I lose some to shock loss, then I can always get some enhancements later. I have plenty of donor hair and my age is perfect for a transplant. I have seen similar cases to mine from Shapiro and they come out great. Try to get them to show you photos of cases similar to yours.

 

[robotsex]

Yah, 3500 FUE grafts sounds like a great deal of grafts. Especially for FUE. If I did decide to go with Umar I would go down and how an in office consultation since he's about 30 minutes outside of Los Angeles. This would also be a rather costly procedure at around $25,000 so its a large investment.

I'll wait to hear back from other doctors. I am talking with Shapiro on Thursday for a phone consultation.

One thing I could do is switch to Avodart now and see what that does and re-evaluate in 6 months if I want to get an hair transplant procedure now. Dr. Umar doesn't think switching would make a good deal of difference at this point and that finasteride has probably been helpful in allowing me to hang onto my vertex even though it has thinned.

 

[boss510]

Yah, 3500 FUE grafts sounds like a great deal of grafts. Especially for FUE. If I did decide to go with Umar I would go down and how an in office consultation since he's about 30 minutes outside of Los Angeles. This would also be a rather costly procedure at around $25,000 so its a large investment.

I'll wait to hear back from other doctors. I am talking with Shapiro on Thursday for a phone consultation.

One thing I could do is switch to Avodart now and see what that does and re-evaluate in 6 months if I want to get an hair transplant procedure now. Dr. Umar doesn't think switching would make a good deal of difference at this point and that finasteride has probably been helpful in allowing me to hang onto my vertex even though it has thinned.

Bro, i also have phone consult lined up with Shapiro medical for Friday. its going be with Matt, how about you is it with Matt.

 

[robotsex]

Not sure who I'm going to be talking to. Good luck!

 

[DoctorHouse]

It will be with Matt. He does all the pre-consults.

 

[boss510]

It will be with Matt. He does all the pre-consults.

Uh ok, thanks.

Its either shapiro or cole

leaning towards cole though

I just am interested to see what shapiro medical suggests

 

[robotsex]

Got a response from Cole. He suggested 1200 - 2000 FUE grafts to restore hairline:

Front: 600-1200 grafts
Crown: 600-800 grafts.

Definitely much more conservative of an estimate than Umar's 3500, but if Umar is preparing to do as much of a full restore as he can could be worth it.

 

[robotsex]

Got a response from Cole. He suggested 1200 - 2000 FUE grafts to restore hairline:

Front: 600-1200 grafts
Crown: 600-800 grafts.

Definitely much more conservative of an estimate than Umar's 3500, but if Umar is preparing to do as much of a full restore as he can could be worth it.

 

[boss510]

Got a response from Cole. He suggested 1200 - 2000 FUE grafts to restore hairline:

Front: 600-1200 grafts
Crown: 600-800 grafts.

Definitely much more conservative of an estimate than Umar's 3500, but if Umar is preparing to do as much of a full restore as he can could be worth it.

That sounds better you have a fair amount of hair, 3500 is alot for the amount of hair loss you have, in my opinion. Btw how was umar planning to distribute 3500 grafts?


I know ill lose more hair, my dad is 46 and he is n6, so I know iam headed there. So my plan is to only use my head donor for the hairline and top. I not to worried about the crown, if I decide I would like to fill in the crown then I will only do a Body hair transplant.

That would be like 15 years later, I hope that by then Hair multiplication would be readily availiable. Then I would not need a bht to the crown. Either way im planning for the worst.

 

[flat_pro]

the scar is never going away. But if you've never had an hair transplant, I'd opt for FUE. IMO, if you can avoid the donor scar from strip you are better off.

That's why I'd go with FUE instead of strip.

I would disagree that you always get a scar from STRIP, I had my hair transplant 2 months ago and the scar is already hard to find (it's really more red with hairs growing through it then scared)

I guess it depends on the doctor.