hdude46

you are better asking off coalition docs sucxh as feller and shapiro if you are a good candidate rather than "our opinion"...which means squat. get on meds and see if you can stabilize your loss (you should). One thing going against you is that your hair appears pretty thin, so you will need more grpahs to get as much coverage as someone wit dark coarse hair. H&W do great work and I would trust them as far them developing a long term plan for you. You are only in your twenties once, and while you better plan conservatively so you dont look weird by the time you are in your 40's and 50's, I say go ahead with it.

Thanks for taking the time to answer that Dr. Shapiro. Makes sense to me. As far as propecia and loss in efficacy, I have read some people cycle off the drug once every say 18-24 months for a period of a few weeks so as to make sure the body doesn't build up a tolerance to it. I remember reading a few guys doing this after the drug stopped working for them as much and then after a few weeks off started back up and it started working anew for them. Do you think this is something worth trying? On something unrelated, but how much does mpb and scalp itch correlate to each other. I have been to several derms and they say nothing is wrong with my scalp but have given me anti-inflams, medicated shampoo, topical steroids, ect.. but nothing seems to work. I also notice that my itch is right in the spots where I seem to be losing hair. It's so annoying and I have yet to find a remedy. Some say propecia could help with this but I guess I have to try it to find out. Going to get thyroid and diabetes tests to rule those out but just wondering if you think the two are correlated at all. Sorry for all the questions and thanks again Dr. Shapiro. SMG does great work and if/when I decide to have a procedure, I already know where to go. Also well said Dr. lindsey, I agree 100 percent.

yeah, but if you are losing your hair at a rapid rate, you are more likely to aggressive loss, whereas if you are losing slowing, TYPICALLY its not going to progress as far on the nw scale. just my two cents tho.

Thanks Dr. Shapiro that definitely helps. It seems that rate of loss plays just a big a role as age. I have seen a lot of patients who start to lose their hair in their twenties but at a slow rate who actually by the time they are in their 30's have more hair then someone who starts losing in his thirties but quickly. In your experience, how much do meds like propecia really help? All I see on these forums is people complaining sides or having the drugs stop working after a few years. Is this what most of your patients experience? Thanks!

"In young patients I do not believe we can accurately predict future hair loss." So does this mean you don't operate on younger patients? Isn't family history and degree of loss as well as rate of loss enough to get aguage of where they might be headed?

from what ive read the average is more around 8,000 from strip. with some people only getting around 6,000 to some getting 10,000.

so what do i tell my doc to test for, what specifically? i didnt know you could actually test for dht?

ok this thread is confusing me....basically this thread is saying that one needs to go to their doctor and ask for a dht test? Do they even have such a thing or will he look at me weird as hell? I'm just confused.

it aint coiming on the market in 2-3 years, if ever. you probably wont see something like that for another 20 years or so. even then its no guarantee.

dont listen to mikethedance...in fact only having frontal loss makes you a great candidate b/c the surgeon will have a "clean" workplace. They wont have to worry about shock loss and damaging surrounding folicles. I dont know where mikethedance got his info from but its wrong. what makes you a bad candidate is your age. your only 22, so if you can hold on til 25-26 that would be better. good luck

b/c EVERY OTHER TOP DOC CANNOT GET MORE THAN 1500 GRAPHS IN ONE SITTING SAFELY!!!!. How is it that Armani can get 4-5k in one day w/o being careless and damaging surrounding folicles?! He uses a drill, this allows him to get large amounts of graphs with little regard for what they do to the surrounding folicles Do a search on this site and see what people have to say about him. The fact that I'm talking you out of going to him tells me you havent done nearly enough research and arent ready for a ht. Do more research, especially on this site.

look up stingray's armani fue results, there are countless others, but even if you got a "good result" from armani, the damage he is doing to surrounding folicles in the donor you just dont seem to understand or care about. A little fue to fill in the temples is much more than that. This is a life long comitment. Look at ALL male relatives in your blood to get an idea of what a wrose case scenario might look like for you. If you want to go to armani, do it, but i guarantee you will regret it.

This is the only site which holds the physicians accountable. Each physician and clinic has been peer reviewed and most have recieved glowing reviews from patients. When I first started researching ht's I for sure thought I would go to Armani. his results seemed awesome (all strip) and he would put my hairline wherever I wanted it (no ethics). But as I researched more and got a bit wiser, you realize that being a NW1 is just not realisitc. You need to plan LONG TERM, not just for the next 5-10 years, but for your life. Dense packing 4000 graphs in a 23 yr old is not ethical and will leave the patient looking like a freak as he gets older. Moreover, Armani's extraction FUE techniques are terrible. Every single dr. on this site will tell you how difficult it is to perform just 1500 graphs a day, yet here is Armani churning out thousands per day! He is most likely damaging a ton of hair folices as well scarring the donor area. Hairsite is a joke, ask Pats205 to show you his fue crown work from armani, he's been promising pics for 18 months now and nothing...he friggin works for armani, so draw your own conclusions on the results. If you want fue, I would reccomend feller or shapiro. Shapiro is cheaper and they are known for hairlines. They use the same tools and are both really really good and really ethical. Good luck

Thanks for that Dr. Shapiro. If I may ask, what factors do you use to determine whether or not a patient may progress to a NW6-7? What hair characteristics would you deem are to be the "ideal" candidate? Is there a way one can measure their own donor density (or have an idea of it)? Its interesting to hear different clinics comment on available donor hair. While everyone is different, I'm seeing more and more patients approaching the 10,000 graph mark. Just from looking at some of the pictures on Dr. Shapiro's page as well as his brothers, the amount of coverage and naturalness of their transplants is second to none IMO. I don't think if I have ever seen them use more than 6,000 and change on a patient. Plus with FUE, you can get more graphs now safely than ever. Will be interested to hear Dr. Shapiro's response...

so should we assume that if we exsperience mpb that we all will go to a nw6-7? I just dont see how this is possible. While hairloss does follow a pattern to some extent, that pattern is different in its own way in everyone. My family for example has no nw6 or 7's. My grandpa is a 5, my dad is a 1, his brother is a 3-4, other uncle is a 1. you get the idea. According to dr. rassman: ???The general rule is that for those who have hair loss in their 20s, most of it will slow down by the mid 30s and by the time the person reaches 40-45, it should slow down even further.??? He also says that people in their twenties just experience an early progression of the gene. I hear a lot of people say that their hair loss stabalizes as they get older, is that true? There has to be something to explain why we all dont go to 6-7's, otherwise how the heck are ht's docs in business?

nice find...i know everyone always says five years five years, but I think within the next 10-20 years there will be treatments that are better than propecia and hair transplants. I mean look at how far we have come in the past 10-20 years as far the as old plugs and whatnot. Hopefully someone will have some type of cloning, stem cell based treatment for all of us soon!

lostandgone...not only go to a coalition doc, but to a WORLD CLASS SURGEON. You look like you need major repair work and a lot of graphs. If it were me, I would go to Hasson and Wong, they can take care of you in one large session. Dont let money hold you back, its very important you dont screw this one up.

so how come not everybody progresses to nw6-7's?

any sides specifically? I think i will give propecia a go just cant believe nothing else has worked for this itch.

yeah...i got to think having a smaller head (hat) size is a good thing...although my dome is kinda large too lol...any docs want to chime in?

how long have you been this bald for? If you started losing at 17 I would guess that you have been pretty much bald since your early twenties and have a lot of baldies in your family....if you go anywhere, i would suggest hanson and wong. they have worked on several nw7's and might be able to give u a cosmeticly acceptable result. heck look at bobman for no further evidence.

rate of loss probably matters but not sure what that correlation is to your final pattern. anyone got anything on this? Dr's?

what sides did you experience and did they go away? Any regrowth you notice? Did you experience an initial shed? Has your existing hair gotten any stronger and or healthier? Thanks 3v

I should also add that my itch is only in the areas where I am losing hair...anyone else have this problem or have any solutions?

Is it better to have a small head or a large head? When I say head size I'm guessing that your hat size would describe this.