Thinking of doing this.

[nico]

Hi guys,

I'd like to hear some opinions on this. I want to see a doctor about it soon, but I figured it might be good to ask it on the internet as well.
I'm a 24 years old man, and I'm at Norwood 2 right now (maybe the temples are actually a bit higher than N2). Yes, I can already hear some of you. "Norwood 2 is not even close to bald, get out of here!" Well, ok. But that's how it starts, right? And I figured, by starting to correct it earlier on, with some touch-ups over the years, I'll save myself the couple of years of discomfort of gradually becoming balder and balder.

So, yeah, it's the classic"M" shape of a receeded hairline: hair on the temples is gone, and the middle has receeded a few cm as well. If I go ahead with the surgery, what I want is to get the sides of the "widow peak" filled up with some new hair (and maybe increase the density in the middle, to get a head start in case I need another one later). I don't mind if the forehead is a little high; it's the "M" shape that I wanna get rid of.

I've heard the common objection to starting young: "You'll run out of donor hair, and if you go all-the-way bald, it'll look really stupid". Well, keep in mind, I'm ok if the treated area isn't as thick as it used to. As long as it's not so thin as to look unnatural, I'm not after the same original thickness as I had when I was younger; I understand that's impossible (at least until hair cloning comes around... which is just around the corner... right...? RIGHT??? I'm just kidding BTW).

What I want is to get rid of the "M" shape by filling up the sides a bit, and give my hair line a nice shape, even if it's a bit receeded (because then I can just make the frontal hair longer to hide the recession). I don't need to to be super thick either.

Also, my donor areas are actually TOO thick for my tastes; I need to get it thinned out every 2 weeks or so, otherwise it looks all goofy and stupid because it's too thick. And it's not because the top has thinnned; it's always been like that. So I figured, why not put some of that hair to good use, where it's needed?

Besides, I've seen this website, where this guy has achieved a full head of hair (perhaps a bit of a high forehead, but nothing major) even though he was fully bald before he started: http://www.headofhair.co.uk/ (look at the "today" gallery and compare it with his "before" pictures)

One last thing; I'd rather stay off drugs, and get more surgery in the future, than take drugs and risk the side effects. But I guess the doctor will tell me his opinion on that.

I guess that's it... opinions plz.
Nick

 

[andrei_eremenko]

it is something strange...regarding his balding area...the situation before and after ...i mean pictures of nowadays...because I was looking at his donor and it seems a little bit thin...so how could he make that full head of hair with that little donor?

 

[nico]

Wait, are you talking about me?? I havent posted any pictures at all...
Just refer to my text, I don't know what pictures you saw, but they aren't mine.

As I said, I have very thick donor areas, so thick that I need them to be thinned out every 2 weeks or so. And although I can't say for sure, it seems to me that by removing half of that density and moving to over to the top, would easily cover my whole head right up to the front.

I also failed to mention that right now, I have no signs of a bald patch on the top. The top is really thick, almost as much as the donor areas. And I'd say the hairline is about N2 or N3 right now. Maybe closer to N2 but a little higher. It's hard to say exactly.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

i was talking about the guy from this
http://www.headofhair.co.uk/

 

[nico]

Doh! I should have realized. Sorry.

And yeah, I thought the same thing. Maybe it's the length? I'd like to see how he looks if he wears his hair down.

But anyway, I figured, if this guy managed to get such a nice head of hair (Maybe a bit thin, but still very decent and great in terms of surface area), there's no reason why I shouldn't be able to, with all my donor.
I mean, basically, you can remove about 50 percent of the density of the donor area, before it starts being noticeable that something is gone... right?

But I guess what I'll do is listen to the doctor's opinion first and then decide.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

yea...the fact is that you are young...I was in the same boat as you...thinking at the hair transplant but I realized that I would make a big mistake...and it is possible to end up worse than feeling now...with a scar in the back...with depleted area...with a few hair on top...and with a lot of wasted money...so...now I'm thinking at hair piece...don't get me wrong...I have some pictures of young people...it look fantastic...if you are intersted to show you some...pm me!

 

[nico]

Yeah that's why I wanna be careful not to put too much hair, since I wanna have enough donor for my whole head (if I need it in the future, which isn't even a certainty)... even if it's not super thick.
My individual hairs are pretty thick too. Maybe that's why my donor area feel so ridiculously thick. If I let it grow normally, I feel like my head is almost as wide as it is tall. I actually WANT to get rid of some donor hair. LOL!

Like you said, I've seen some great results for young people, but then I've seen some that seemed good at first, and went terribly wrong after many years...

I guess it depends on the surgeon, right? I live in Japan (I'm not Japanese, I've got blond hair) and this is the clinic I'm contemplating (the page is in english)
http://www.yokobikai.or.jp/en/promise/index.html
Their technique is the one where they take each hair individually; so, it won't give me a big scar.

And thanks! Maybe you could pm me those pictures? If anything I might print them out and show them to the doctor when I get an appointment.

 

[captain_que]

I´m in the same boat as you. 24 wanting to fill up my temples, also with crazy thick donor.. But yeah, what sucks is if it keeps going further back. FUE is the only way to go IMO, at least then you can shave down if you have to...

 

[nico]

But yeah, what sucks is if it keeps going further back.

Yeah, but I'm hoping I'll have enough donor so that this won't be a problem.
If the doctor thinks that I'll have enough, then I'll start with the surgeries right away and keep getting more in the future if I need to.
Are you also seeing a doctor soon?

FUE is the only way to go IMO, at least then you can shave down if you have to...

Absolutely agreed, I don't know if it's more expensive, but even if it's twice the cost, it's worth it in my opinion (to avoid the scar).
I'm gonna try to take an appointment this month and keep this topic bumped to let people know how it goes. Maybe if you get one as well, we can use this thread to talk about it.

 

[andrei_eremenko]

in us...1000 fue cost something like 8000$ so it is not cheap at all...and most of us don't need only 1000 grafts! and a scat in the back it will be a disaster for a young guy...at 24...you don't really know where are you heading regarding hair loss...!

 

[nico]

Well, at the clinic that I'm planning to go, it's 4300$ for 1000 strands of hair (they seem to charge by the number of hairs). I'm probably gonna need something between 500 and 1000.
500 strands is the minimum number listed on the site, and it costs 2700$.
The consultation is free anyways, so Ive got nothing to lose if I just go get the doctor's opinion.

By the way, can anyone tell me how big of an area can be covered by 500 hairs? Would that be enough to fill in the temples of a N2 or N3? How about 1000 hairs?

 

[andrei_eremenko]

a norwood 3 will need at least 2000 grafts...

 

[s.a.f]

@ Winterheart if you're not prepared to use meds to halt your hairloss dont get a hair transplant. BTW what is the situation with baldnesss in your family father, grandfathers, older brothers ect. Anyone who's hairloss is noticible in their early 20's is likely to progress pretty far in the next few years.

 

[captain_que]

s.a.f., I know this might be a somewhat silly question, but by meds you mean only oral, as in finasteride or dutasteride? this is what keeps me contemplating a lot, since I´m not sure about pills..

 

[captain_que]

-->

 

[captain_que]

But yeah, what sucks is if it keeps going further back.

Are you also seeing a doctor soon?

[quote:2lx0jg4i]FUE is the only way to go IMO, at least then you can shave down if you have to...

[/quote:2lx0jg4i]

I´ve been in touch with one of the best (and most expensive), and was thinking about getting it done this fall. After some thinking I decided to seriously consider getting on oral finasteride and see how that went before I went through with it. I´m not shooting for a straight hairline however, as I´ve never had one. I´m going more for a solid NW2 or along those lines.

-cq

 

[Boondock]

Anyone thinking of getting a hair transplant in their early 20s needs to at the very least consider:

a) family history

b) level of current minituarization

The likelihood is that either or both of these will point to further loss.

If you are going to experience further loss to a NW5+ level, you may see your hair continue to get worse, and may not have enough donor (or enough money) to keep up. IMO, most people who want this done at a young age are over-optimistic, and discount the drawbacks of the procedure. This leads to tripe like, "I don't like meds, I'll just get more procedures done in the future." Some people say this as if they're saying "I'll just go jogging more often" - it's not a casual matter.

To fill in a NW2 or NW3 would take at least 1500 grafts IMO. That's cost approx. $15,000 via FUE.

Food for thought, I hope.

 

[s.a.f]

Yes I'm talking about Finasteride. Its the only thing available that helps you keep your hair longterm ( and even it is'nt guaranteed to work). In terms of treatments finasteride/dutasteride really are the big guns everything else is just minor.
And just to reiterate what Boondock was saying above people need to understand that as far as hair transplant's go for every stage you advance on the Norwood level it gets twice as hard to get a satisfactory result.

 

[nico]

Thanks a lot to everyone for all the helpful replies.

I think maybe I should post some pictures. This is a picture of my "bad" side (the one that has receded more). If I get a hair transplant I'll also want some on the other side, but less than this, because it's already much lower.
The colors mean:
Red: The part I definitely want to get filled up.
Green: I'd be really happy to get that part filled up too, but I'd be satisfied with just the red.
Yellow: Maybe a couple of extra hairs to thicken up that area (behind the current hair line), since it's a bit thinner.
Opinions? Expected price?

if you're not prepared to use meds to halt your hairloss dont get a hair transplant.

Advice duly noted. I guess I'm mostly afraid of the side effects, but judging by your advice, I take it it's unheard of to have a hair transplant without taking medicine? Or it always results in disaster down the line?

By the way, does the Hairmax Lasercomb count as medicine? Because I've been using it since last year, it had slowed down my shedding considerably. I know, because I have the habit of passing my hand in my hair and checking for hair between my fingers; however, since last year, I hardly ever found any.
Sadly, since last month it seems like I'm shedding again, perhaps because of the warmer weather (because I sweat more)?
This shedding is actually what caused me to register here and post this thread in the first place.

BTW what is the situation with baldnesss in your family father, grandfathers, older brothers ect.

There is hardly anyone bald in my family. Actually, I think my dad's hair line is the same as my current one, which is kinda disheartening since he's 55 years old. (can't check for sure right now since I'm in Japan and he's in Canada)

Of course, his hair is a lot thinner; you can kinda see the shape of his head a bit, but the density is the same everywhere, and for a 55 years old guy, it's pretty damn decent...
Don't know about his dad, since he died when I was 1 year old.

As for my mother's dad, he's bald(ish), but he's like, 80 something, so that's not surprising. And I've seen some pictures of him in his 60s where he still had hair; a little receded, but hair nonetheless.

(I've got no older brother)

It's really weird, because I seem to be balding more than the other people in my family. I've been doing heavy weight training since 2 years ago, so I'm wondering if this could be the cause?

After some thinking I decided to seriously consider getting on oral finasteride and see how that went before I went through with it.

With SAF's reply I'm starting to think maybe I should do that too. I was planning on getting a hair transplant in August, but perhaps I should just try meds until next year and see how it goes. Because if I start with med+hair transplant right away, and then need to stop the meds due to the side effects, well, I bet it won't look so nice 5 years from now. (and yeah I could just get more hair transplant, but like other users said, donor is limited).

 

[s.a.f]

sh*t man if I was you I'd just comb some bangs and forget about that tiny recession.