AnthonySC

You can start on medications if you want as I'm sure you'll find a doctor that will write a script for you. The problem or lack of a problem is that you have no visible hair loss. Hair loss truly is unpredictable....I started noticing some loss around when I turned 19 and have only advanced slightly now at the age of 38 (NW2). Obviously I wouldn't be on this site if I wasn't concerned about my own loss, but I'm kind of a perfectionist, and would never pull the trigger on a transplant until it was the only option. You are not REMOTELY CLOSE to a transplant. In fact I wouldn't even think of one if I were you. Two very well respected clinics told me that my hairline is quite low and that most guys my age would love to be in my situation hairwise, yet my hair is not nearly as good as yours. In my opinion keep an eye on the situation and enjoy your life. Don't listen to those that say you'll be bald in 5-10 years. Again, your hair looks completely NORMAL and the recession you are noticing may simply be a maturing of the hairline. If it starts thinning behind and in the hairline you may want to take action in terms of medication or other treatments.

SugarHighs, how many days did it take for the whole procedure? Or were all the grafts implanted at once?

Your hair looks the same in all pictures. I don't know if the miniaturized hairs in the temples are necessarily indicative of anything. Look at females, many of them which do not exhibit hair loss have those kinds of hairs up front. If you have large zones of miniaturization at and extending well into the hairline then that might be a cause for more concern. Also it could be some regrowth coming in from the minoxidil. The only part to me that looks like it could be hair loss is the thin spot at the front central hairline. If that is causing worry you could apply some eyeliner to the scalp there that color matches your hair. I have a similar thin spot and it drives me crazy lol Is it just me or is it people with the most minor hairloss that have the worst side effects from Propecia? I have the same problem as you no matter what dose of finasterirde. I'm extremely skeptical of the <2% sexual side effects (FDA study). Many other studies have shown a much higher rate. Having said that I would take it if I could lol

I think its OK as long as you don't expect full coverage. I have had bad side effects with Propecia too and it's quite frustrating. If you focus the surger on your frontal 1/2 it should look relatively natural even if you lose the rest of the hair. There are some good treatments that look to be approved soon like Bimatoprost, but I wouldn't bank on anything.

The other side looks more full. Male pattern baldness should occur symmetrically, but does not always do so at the same rate. For example, the left side might thin faster than the right, but the end point should be the same. I believe Dr. Arocha is in that area and he seems well respected in that area. I would definetely consult with some of the doctors on this site. There are probably some more aggressive doctors that may give you the hairline you desire. Dr. Rahal comes to mind. Try consulting with him, but also with someone more conservative and respected like Dr. Ron Shapiro. Matt Zupan, a patient advisor from Shapiro's clinic, gave me some of the best advice of all. You could also try Dr. Konior as he answers patient questions directly via email.

Rahal is in Canada not US. Just giving the homeland some credit lol

I would do nothing surgery-wise. Your hair up front looks solid and I can't see any thinning there at the hairline. The sides just above your side burns seem to have some patchy thinning. Some thinning in temples. It looks a bit strange sort of like alopecia areata. Maybe it is just your haircut. Does the other side look the same? The "bald" spot on your vertex does not look significant so concealers should work well there. Also you should stay on the minoxidil for at least a year. Even if it doesn't regrow it might help to maintain.

I've been on finasteride on and off for the last 2 years. Had bad sexual side effects with it. I even got them taking a 1 mg pill once a week. (I did this for 6 months and side effects persisted.) Can anyone recommend alternatives or something to allow me to adapt to the finasteride better? I've heard an aromatase inhibitor might help. BTW I plan on starting Rogaine Foam next week. And I shower using Nizoral twice a week, but I don't believe the shampoo helps much nor would I expect it to help. Thanks

Dude, I'm 37 with a similar hairline (albeit thinner) and I was told by a very reputable clinic to wait till I'm well into my forties just to strengthen it. It seems you want to be even more aggressive than that and that would be outright foolish. Even if you didn't lose anymore hair that hairline you want to achieve would likely look pretty unnatural as you age. Your hair is solid and there is zero evidence of male patterned baldness. To re-iterate what others are saying: don't touch it. Some doctors (even on this site) are too aggressive IMO. Some of the post-operative photos they show can make someone who is not losing their hair think they are balding. Having a permanent straight hairline past your 20's for a caucasian is quite unnatural.

Wow nice dude! Congrats! Did you get a discount with that many FUE grafts?

I think watery semen is definitely a physical symptom. It may or may or not go away with continued use of the drug. You could psyche yourself about weakened erections or whatever so that could possibly be psychological. I'm not against the drug at all and I agree with most of what the posters have said being that it's pretty much the most effective drug out there for MPB. The only reason I'm not taking it is because of the side effects I had. And those side effects can be very real. If you don't have side effects I see no reason not to take it. I have minor loss and went to Dr. Hasson and asked for a prescription for finasteride. I asked him from his experience what he thought the chances of maintaining the hairline was and he said 50/50. That's 50/50 to maintain not regrow. That does not mean that it won't work effectively for other areas such as crown or mid-scalp...it probably will do much better there. Like others have said it does have limitations.

When you see watery semen it's more than psychological. I had the same side effects and probably would take the drug if I could. If Propecia truly addressed the root of the problem it would block all of the DHT and stop frontal loss 100%. I believe it is usefull, but certainly not a cure all. If Rogaine is working for you then stay with it.

Jotronic out of curiousity I went on the HairClub website just to see what doctors are available. There is only one- Dr. Bruce Allan located in Calgary. Apparently is a gynecologist too. This wouldn't be my first choice for a surgeon to be sure.

That's because you are already in a thread. You have to go into the appropriate forum where you can see a number of thread titles and then click on the new thread button.

When you go into any sub-forum click new thread box on top left hand of screen.

If you want doctors in Canada you can go with Rahal as he is in Ottawa, Ontario. He does both FUE and strip. Hasson and Wong are in western Canada (Vancouver). They only do strip (FUE for special circumstances), but by all accounts they are very good. They are very experienced in extensive hairloss cases. They can do very large sessions of several grafts if have good characteristics in your donor region. I have not heard too many things about Dr. Jones. I suggest you go with the ones most highly reviewed. Good Luck

You know much about doctors in California as I do. Maybe create a separate post and ask about good docs in California. Alternatively do a search on this site as I am sure there are a number of good ones. I would still consult with the doctors I mentioned as the consult is free and they may offer you some very good advice. I know too that Dr. Hasson takes the hair in the donor a bit higher than some other ones might to account for retrograde allopecia. Also note that a lot of doctors will give discounts to account for travel expenses so you don't have to limit yourself to your own locale.

I hear you about the Propecia as I unfortunately did have very bad side effects from it. However, most people do not and the side effects that I had went away in about 10 days after stopping. It is worth a shot though as its probably the best medical option. It's highly unlikely you'll get permanent side effects. Yeah its looks like its going NW 6. It also looks like it might be thinning where your neck is, possibly retrograde allopecia. Definetley get a consultation with some good doctors. You should get your donor area checked for miniaturization with the selected doctor. Hopefully others here will be able to help you too.

Looks like you are heading towards a Norwood 6 classification so you need to plan for that. It appears to be diffusive thinning all thru the top. Are the sides and back thinning or are they rather solid? If your permanent zone is good then you may be a candidate for a hair transplant. Also are you on any medication like Rogaine or Propecia to help slow the loss? For doctors right now I like: Konior Rahal I find Dr. Konior is one of the most helpful as he answers your questions directly without any salespeople.

Personally I think the medications are important, but ultimately will fail at some point in time (finasteride, dutasteride do not block DHT 100%). I'm certainly don't recommend against them, especially if you do not have any side effects, but realize that there is no cure and the hair may fall out anyway albeit at a reduced rate. So plan for the worst case scenario and allocate where you want to put the hair based on that.

I think the most that can be safely done with FUE in one setting is around a 1000 or so. It varies from clinic to clinic. But you can usually do an additional procedure the day after. And after a year or so you can go back and have another FUE if the previous one worked out for you. That way the changes will be subtle over time. But if you want a large chunk of it done in one pass the strip is better. Keep in mind again that the result of the FUE will depend on whether or not you are a good candidate for it and the skill and experience of the FUE surgeon. That is why it is of utmost importance to research and find the highest quality surgeon. There are several good doctors on this site that conduct FUE as part of their practice. Try consulting with some and compare.

Spanker, You bring up a very valid point about asking whether any new techs will be there for the procedure. If/when I have a transplant I will make sure that the most experienced ones are there for my procedure. Clearly both doctors and the techs are critical to the overall procedure. Although theoretically if look at something like the ARTAS FUE procedure it could almost entirely be done be techs. It just seems like the techs in a lot of instances are overlooked and should also be a major factor in which clinic one may choose.

1) How much of the overall result depends on the skill of hair transplant technicians? It seems like the techs do the majority of insertions for the grafts as well processing them. I suppose the answer would be both the doctor and the techs are critical to the result, but I think the role of the techs may be underestimated. Perhaps the results are more reflective of the clinic itself as opposed to just the doctor. 2) Also which surgeons do a lot of the graft planting themselves? (I know Dr Konior is one and I think Dr. Cooley as well.)

If you go for a transplant I would personally put the bulk of the grafts in the front half for the most impact. As others have stated 1500 grafts would do next to nothing spread over the real estate you have to cover. I'm a NW 2 and I've been getting consult estimates in the range of 1200-2100 grafts just to lower my hairline about 1 cm and filling some thinning areas in hairline. I think you would need in the neighborhood of 3500-4000 grafts to get make a big difference up front. Strip can do this in one session. Personally I'd rather split that into two procedures just to maximize graft survival. About FUE you might want to wait a year or two. Seems like there are improvements every year. I think eventually the yield will be comparable to strip, but right now the results are quite doctor dependant. If it was me I would stay away from Hair Club. The surgeon you get is likely hit-or-miss and its better to select your own.

sounds South African to me.