Thinking of a transplant.. pics included.. old school poster

[richlocks]

So I used to post here in my early 20s. I am 30 now.

Long story short: Losing since i was about 18/19. Tried Rogaine in the beginning, and had terrible side effects (body hair, bloating, face looked like crap), and propecia which didn't seem to do much. I stop meds until I was about 23, where I then got back on Propecia until this date. Propecia then grew back a good amount.. I started losing at 25 again (but very little)... then at 26 i started losing a lot of hair (this is also when i started using toppik everyday). Now at 30..

I still have a low hairline, with major diffuse thinning.. probably in a nw4/5 pattern. I have one Grandfather who was a NW7, but my entire mom's side has full heads of hair and my dad's side is not horrible besides my grandfather.

Had an in person consult with Dr. Wong. Told me that it didn't look like i would become a NW7.. but who knows, i'm only 30. Now the question comes..

Researching and weighing in my options. I have some off-time from work now, so if there would be any time. .it would be now to get a transplant. I am playing with the idea of getting on Avodart - i've been worried about side effects, but don't think there is anything i can do now.

I've attached pictures.. and one picture with "toppik" in my hair which masks my hairloss completely.

Take into account the pics are with my hair wet.. with styling product.. and very high light. I believed i was a nw5 pattern with a nw2 hairline.. but some of these pics suggest i may be heading to nw7.

 

[s.a.f]

You're doing pretty well for 30 if you started at 18. You do seem to be losing it in the NW6 pattern area but judging by how much you still have I dont think it would get to NW7.
If its really bothering you and you have the oppurtunity then I'd say go for the hair transplant. And H&Wong are probably the best for your situation, they could sort it in 1 session but without meds you could have to go back for more work in the future.

 

[richlocks]

More Pics.

 

[richlocks]

and more..

 

[s.a.f]

Dry it looks even better I can see how toppic sorts it out.
Like I said before if it really bothers you do it you'd only need a few 1000 grafts to have a decent looking head of hair. You have good hair characteristics for a hair transplant - wavy hair.

 

[Petchsky]

Beware of the down time though, H+W will shave your recipient area and it may take months to get back to a pre op condition, not so bad if you can get away with wearing a hat, or just come up with an excuse like I did, scalp dermatitis.

I'm at 3 months and 1 week and not back to pre op state yet, check my blog for pics....although it is now getting better every week and I have lots of little hairs that will grow longer and turn darker, so happy days, but it's been tough.

 

[richlocks]

i have some people (including one doctor) who are actually worried about my donor (from pics).. and say i may be heading to a NW7.

Any of you see this in my pics?

 

[richlocks]

bump?

 

[Petchsky]

Looks more like NW6 potential to me, but hard to say either way

 

[richlocks]

So question is if i should even think of getting work done given the outline / pattern of loss i have..

 

[s.a.f]

If its really bothering you then get it done. Go conservative with the donor just to be safe. I'd say if you do end up having an issue with further balding/lack of donor it wont be for a long while.

 

[richlocks]

any opinions on FUE for my case?

 

[Devender]

You're doing pretty well for 30 if you started at 18. You do seem to be losing it in the NW6 pattern area but judging by how much you still have I dont think it would get to NW7.

How can you say it will not go to a NW7?

 

[s.a.f]

Because from everything I've seen the people who have higher degrees of hairloss NW6/7 nearly always have very aggressive loss at a young age.
I've never heard of someone with a NW7 who was'nt bald in their 20's.
So judging from the fact that this guy is in his 30's and still does'nt have a high degree of hairloss I'd doubt that he'll go onto NW7.

Of course nothing is set in stone but in that case you could say anybody could become a NW7 so nobody should get a hair transplant.

 

[richlocks]

Guys,

Been doing some crazy research... and now I'm going towards the strategy of FUE.

I can avoid the scar, but i will have to get multiple sessions. Right now i'm leaning towards a 3K FUE with either Umar, Shapiro, or Wolf.

Let me know what you think given my loss. I figure i can have 3K done, be presentable in less than a month after the surgery (although i will look balder).. hopefully have grown out enough by month 3-4 to at least be pre-op.. and then go in for another 2K a year after the surgery to have about 5K FUE.

Any thoughts? I love H&W, but i think the scar is just too big of a risk for me.

 

[amsch]

Guys,

Been doing some crazy research... and now I'm going towards the strategy of FUE.

I can avoid the scar, but i will have to get multiple sessions. Right now i'm leaning towards a 3K FUE with either Umar, Shapiro, or Wolf.

Let me know what you think given my loss. I figure i can have 3K done, be presentable in less than a month after the surgery (although i will look balder).. hopefully have grown out enough by month 3-4 to at least be pre-op.. and then go in for another 2K a year after the surgery to have about 5K FUE.

Any thoughts? I love H&W, but i think the scar is just too big of a risk for me.

I've had 3 strip hair transplant's. The scar blows!

I totally regret the ear to ear smiley face scar.

Go with FUE. You will regret having a donor scar from strip, if you decide you want to shave later.

Get FUE, I wish I did.

Well, not every hair transplant scar is the same. If you go to a top Doctor (like H&W, Rahal, and maybe Feller) scaring wouldn't be such a big issue.

Here are pics of some guy who had a hair transplant (over 5000 grafts) about 3,5 months ago with Dr. Hasson, and the scar is almost non-existent.

 

[Oknow]

Well, not every hair transplant scar is the same. If you go to a top Doctor (like H&W, Rahal, and maybe Feller) scaring wouldn't be such a big issue.

Here are pics of some guy who had a hair transplant (over 5000 grafts) about 3,5 months ago with Dr. Hasson, and the scar is almost non-existent.

If the guy chose to shave or buzz it short (suppose he got tired of having "thin" hair and just wanted to shave it all off, or buzz it) that is the problem he would run up against. I know, because this is the problem that I have.

I agree that the top notch docs like the ones you listed will have BETTER scars.

However, mine was done with a "top-notch" Doctor also - who used the latest "tricho closure technique." My scar is the "the width of a pencil lead...blah, blah, blah..."

...AND IT STILL MAJORLY BLOWS!!!!

I REGRET STRIP EVEN THOUGH MINE WAS DONE BY ONE OF THE BEST IN THE BIZZ!!!

Not talking trash about my hair transplant surgeon's work. But I HIGHLY recommend FUE.

So how come he blotched your hair transplant? Does that mean if you get your hair transplant done by the best doctor in the biz there is a chance things may mess up?

 

[Oknow]

So how come he blotched your hair transplant? Does that mean if you get your hair transplant done by the best doctor in the biz there is a chance things may mess up?

I have had 3 hair transplant's. The FIRST hair transplant was done by an absolute assclown who hacked me up. He gave me an overly agressive hairline, used "plugs" instead of follicular units, implanted hairs the wrong direction in the crown vertex region, lost some of my donor grafts by dropping them on the floor (approx 500), injected my scalp with something that caused me to get an infection after my hair transplant, ... etc...the list goes on and on...

I "settled" with him...and (I would had to have been an absolute retard to go back to him), so...

I had 2 more hair transplant's with one of the world's "top-notch" surgeons...probably one of the "top 3 in the world."

However, MOST of the latter surgeon's work went into "un-f*cking" what the first a**hole f*cked up.

I was forced to use up a lot of donor grafts during my 2nd and 3rd hair transplant's to "disguise" the first hair transplant I had with probably one of the world's WORST hair transplant surgeons.

Now I have but 1,500 to 1,800 grafts left, and my hair is only about HALF as dense as the guy in the pics above. (not to mention the fact that it still looks kinda "unnatural" and it probably will for the rest of my life).

Does that answer your questions?

Jesus, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it, is the first guy still practicing?

 

[s.a.f]

Well, not every hair transplant scar is the same. If you go to a top Doctor (like H&W, Rahal, and maybe Feller) scaring wouldn't be such a big issue.

Patient characteristics play a huge role in how the scar turns out even the best Dr's cant gaurantee a good scar.

 

[s.a.f]

Jesus, they shouldn't be allowed to get away with it, is the first guy still practicing?

Trust me some of the worst butchers have been in business 20+ yrs and they're millionaires, still ruining lives everyday.