JohnJohnB

My temples have serious thinning and my hairline goes back a bit. But there are areas which still have some miniaturized hairs which have not totally fallen out for good. If I get a HT into these areas, will I "kill" these hairs? Is that something I should even worry about if the transplanted hairs will be much better anyway?

Here are some wet hair pictures that show the full extent of my recession.

Based on these, does anybody have an assessment on what I would need in terms of number of grafts?

I have send these to some surgeons too.

thanks

Are you putting any at all in the front where your marked it? If so I would say you could get 1500 or so in there, and possibly 2K. Looks like you want a little less corner work than I had, plus I beefed up the front. You are pretty young to get too aggressive and you can always add more if you want.

I would like to take it down to this mark as the Dr. drew it. I was pleased with the line he drew. I was just worried about how he estimated 2200 grafts and another Dr. recommended 1000 for pretty much the same area.

I'm with Tommy. Had just over 2000 grafts and was WAY farther along than you are. But who knows? Maybe the other doc is predicting your future balding pattern and wants to do some preventative work.

This is a response the doctor who estimated the 2000 grafts sent to me:

In this instance, however, I would have to disagree with isolating grafts in each temple rather than more thoroughly addressing the entire frontal third of your scalp (including areas of future hair loss) with 2000+ grafts. I'll also explain why I think the 10-15% chance of temporary post-operative "shock loss" (which our office takes measures to minimize) does not merit avoiding the areas of future hair loss.

To the first point, I am sure that you can understand that there is a natural progression to male pattern baldness (MPB) that involves the gradual progression of a receding hairline and thinning throughout the top portion of your scalp. This broad thinning does not occur in patches. Therefore, I do not feel that it is in your best interest (as a young male) to transplant your scalp in patches (each temple), leaving the remainder of your scalp to continue its progression of thinning - which would leave you with an unnatural pattern of hair loss that would obligate you to return for a follow-up session to simply look natural.

Regarding "irreversible shock loss": the vast majority of my patients have a considerable amount of pre-existing hair (as you do). Young men and women of all ages come in to simply add density to what they already have. In my experience, and as I explained in the consultation, there may be some temporary thinning that takes place 2-3 weeks after a session. This comes back 2-3 months after the session. It is not irreversible.

Mike,

Thanks a lot for the advice. I have been on Propecia, generic finasteride and now Proscar for 9 years. I started when I was almost 18. It definitely saved me from going totally bald. The Dr. who proscribed it for me said it even gave me a slight regrowth. However I have never been happy with my hair. I am always trying to style it to cover up my M shaped hairline. I think in the past 3 years the recession has gotten worse and finasteride is starting to wear off just a bit. Comments/jokes that I am balding still get to me and they seem to have been increasing in recent months. I also dabbled in Rogaine which gave me serious dandruff and irritation, an at home laser apparatus and even started doing these ridiculous scalp exercises I read about online. Nothing is growing hair back.

I recently looked at Pathspatient and his hairloss story and transplant experience. He got 2500 grafts and had a similar hair loss pattern as I did. The doctor said I had an ample supply of donor material and could do over 4000 grafts in my lifetime.

Do you think I should avoid the HT all together? Any more advice is certainly welcome.

Hey everybody,

Longtime reader and first time poster. I am 26 year old guy living in California, but originally from Memphis, TN. I have been losing hair on my temples since I was 16. I would probably say I am a Norwood II now. Propecia stopped most of it but I have never been happy and want to restore as much as reasonable.

So last year I went to 2 surgeons on the East Coast of the US. (PM me if you want to know who). The first surgeon recommended about 2200 grafts for me. The second surgeon I saw was shocked when I told him this number. He said that so many grafts on my head would cause irreversible shock loss. He said I only can get 1000 right now, 500 on each temple. Then maybe add another 500-1000 in a year or so to increase density. These conflicting statements left me demoralized and I decided to put off the operation. Now I am getting more determined to get the procedure.

Take a look at the pictures and let me know what you guys think. They were taken by the Dr. from my first consultation who recommended 2200 grafts. I don't want a hairline that is any lower. I just want to fill in my temples.

Thanks so much.

-JohnJohnB