Thoughts On Getting A 3000 Graft Hair Transplant (crown/mid Scalp)

[optimus prime]

10 years ago (aged 23), 2007, I came to this site with a balding crown. The only option I had was Finasteride and Minoxidil. The plan; take both until something better comes along and use concealer to cover me until then, hopefully within the next 10 years.

Fast forward 10 years (aged 33) and I stopped using Minoxidil in 2016 and my crown held strong for 6-7 years but has now progressed to a point that concealer is no longer viable. What now?

Option 1: FUE Crown Hair Transplant
Dr Erdogan has suggested I need about 3000 grafts to fill the vertex and mid scalp (see image).

Pros
Resolve issues for short time (2-5 years)
Could hold me until new treatment comes out
Expectations are NW3/4 to see me until old man

Cons:
Need another hair transplant (not end of world if I have achievable plan)
What if I come off Finasteride? Don't plan to be on Finasteride for life.

Option 2: Shave head, move on, won't be back here.
That's it really.

My hair loss is progressing, slowly, but progressing. Without Finasteride I would be a NW5/6 at the moment and be a NW6/7 by 40s. My expectations, with concealers I appear to be a NW1. I would be content being a quality NW3/4. FUT hair transplant is not an option.

Thoughts on my options and if the option is hair transplant what plan do you think I should if I plan to come of Finasteride some day.

 

[spring15]

Option 1 gives me a hard on.

Option 2 makes me contemplate suicide.

 

[topcat]

Optimus starting a hair transplant at the crown is probably not a good idea for most and especially using that many grafts. Donor is very limited and you might need it further down the line. Yes shaving your head is a viable option or maybe an even shorter cut which would lessen the visual effect of the bald spot when contrasted with dark hair. Another option is to lighten the hair which also would have the same effect of lessening the contrast.


I would give that a try first and if anything another possible option would be 1000 grafts or less in the crown area which would give you enough coverage to also consider using a concealer again or not.


Disregard that suicide comment maybe it was done in jest. It’s irresponsible but sometimes young guys do and say things without thinking and it's the same the reason they are easy targets for bad hair transplant decisions which many in the industry take advantage of.


Give the safe options more considerations and in my opinion regardless of what you choose 3000 grafts in the crown is irresponsible long term advice. That alone should have you asking other clinics for opinions.

 

[JeanLucBB]

Optimus starting a hair transplant at the crown is probably not a good idea for most and especially using that many grafts. Donor is very limited and you might need it further down the line. Yes shaving your head is a viable option or maybe an even shorter cut which would lessen the visual effect of the bald spot when contrasted with dark hair. Another option is to lighten the hair which also would have the same effect of lessening the contrast.


I would give that a try first and if anything another possible option would be 1000 grafts or less in the crown area which would give you enough coverage to also consider using a concealer again or not.


Disregard that suicide comment maybe it was done in jest. It’s irresponsible but sometimes young guys do and say things without thinking and it's the same the reason they are easy targets for bad hair transplant decisions which many in the industry take advantage of.


Give the safe options more considerations and in my opinion regardless of what you choose 3000 grafts in the crown is irresponsible long term advice. That alone should have you asking other clinics for opinions.

f*** off you goddamn autistic, delusional idiot.

 

[topcat]

Optimus the real risk is ending up with a bullseye on the crown as the hairloss continues around the transplanted area. Then you may find yourself caught in a trap and the problem becomes as the circle increases the amount of grafts needed to address it becomes astronomical, basic geometry. For example 3000 in the center could easily create a situation where 2000-3000 are needed for the increasing crown loss. You would have then used up all your donor.

Wait it out and give it some thought and maybe your donor would be better spent on the front and midscalp when the time comes should you feel the same.

Until then just stay busy and healthy.

 

[optimus prime]

Optimus the real risk is ending up with a bullseye on the crown as the hairloss continues around the transplanted area. Then you may find yourself caught in a trap and the problem becomes as the circle increases the amount of grafts needed to address it becomes astronomical, basic geometry. For example 3000 in the center could easily create a situation where 2000-3000 are needed for the increasing crown loss. You would have then used up all your donor.

Wait it out and give it some thought and maybe your donor would be better spent on the front and midscalp when the time comes should you feel the same.

Until then just stay busy and healthy.

Thanks topcat, not necessarily what I wanted to hear but sadly I think this is the best advice for me at this time.

 

[JeanLucBB]

Thanks topcat, not necessarily what I wanted to hear but sadly I think this is the best advice for me at this time.

Considering you have a clear norwood 5 pattern forming and not a norwood 6 that is simply not true. Erdogan is known for giving high donor area measurements but I'm seeing more examples on the forums of him getting 5-6-7000 grafts with no noticeable damage at reasonable length. For you to cover the crown currently 3000 would be very effective and in the case that you lost the entire frontal region you could achieve a norwood one if you wanted for another 3000.

If hairloss isn't a huge deal to you then that is fine, but what topcat is saying simply isn't true.

 

[topcat]

Thanks topcat, not necessarily what I wanted to hear but sadly I think this is the best advice for me at this time.

Not a problem if you look at it logically it makes sense to wait. The bigger issue is why are these young guys going from forum to forum encouraging other young guys to have hair transplants and go for large numbers or start off in places that might not be good for them long term?. What’s going on here? It’s easy to then seen why other young guys who feel a little desperation fall into a trap. For example the poster Paleo and I’m just guessing here. It’s easy to get caught up with some of what these posters are posting and say to yourself yeah I should go for it and then regret the decision made in hindsight. I would like to hear how Paleo got caught up in this one day. Did the posters have an effect looking back in making a decision that led to regret or was it something else?


The donor is limited so many guys that fall into the promise of big numbers I believe will be worst off in time.