mattj

Oh, I would put you at a Norwood 2. Not a 3 yet. You will lose hairs every day even without permanent hairloss, but Propecia should slow it down or stop it if the shedding you are experiencing is more than the normal hair cycle.

Hi Rowdey, Your hairline doesn't look too bad at all. The recession is minor and you look like you can probably still cover the hairline and temples when the hair is long enough. Dr Rahal would advise you to give the meds a try, especially as you are very young. If you were to have a transplant, then considering your plan to shave your head in the future, presumably you're looking at FUE, correct? Are you British? (Just got that feeling.)

Thanos60, This is FUT.

MusoInOz, Those 'conspiracy theories' have occured to me too, but it seems reasonable that a drug company that doesn't already have a stake in the hairloss market would not hesitate to release a revolutionary treatment if one were developed.

Inevitably the skin will be stretched after a donor strip is removed and the wound closed, but this will have no effect on the hairline, which is much too far away. When doing your exercises place some fingers at the hairline and you'll feel no movement there.

Although Tsakalos brought up a valid point, it's unfortunate that Lorenzo's thread has turned into an argument. The lighting is different but I think the trained eye can factor these things in when judging the pre/post op transformation and the overall quality of the hair transplant. The photos are all clear enough. Lorenzo, I think the result looks great. The blonde dye wasn't exactly flattering even if it did reduce the hair/scalp contrast. I understand why you did it though. So often hairloss sufferers feel that minimizing the appearance of bare scalp is a priority and that living with, say, a hairstyle that we dislike, is a price worth paying. So part of the success of a transplant would be that feeling that we are able to ditch those annoying routines and treatments that we put ourselves through to try and disguise our thinning hair.

1531FUT, Dr Rahal has high expectations for every hair transplant that he carries out and he knows that you chose him as your surgeon for that very reason, therefore we consider your disappointment to be a valid concern. It's important that you come in and see Dr Rahal in person. Dr Rahal has previously requested to see you for a follow-up to assess your case and has already offered to rectify the situation and make you happy, including with a touch up session if needed once he has examined you. You have chosen to wait for the 12 month mark to pass before coming in, but you can go ahead and phone the office to make your appointment any time now. You know we are more than happy to help.

Congrats, WildForest, and congrats to you too Sean.

I have a condition called Raynaud's syndrome which causes excessive constriction of the blood vessels in the hands upon exposure to cold temperatures, which causes discolouration along with pain and tingling. I find that the symptoms are visibly worsened by smoking. Obviously not everyone has this condition and the effects of smoking won't be as noticeable in most people, but I feel like in having a sensitive vascular disorder like this I can see the effects, in extreme, of what smoking can do. I've read that some people with more severe cases of this disorder (and other related disorders) actually lose hair in the effected areas - be it the hands, feet, or arms and legs.

It does sound like the perfectly normal but understandably terrifying shed that most Propecia users experience. It can scare some users into quitting the medication but in the vast majority of cases the shedding stops within a month or so and the hairs grow back. Does your hair feel very dry? That could possibly be the nizoral. Not everyone can tolerate nizoral, which is quite a harsh shampoo. It's meant to combat dandruff but when I used it my scalp and hair became very dry.

The Hospital Group is not exactly well respected in the online transplant community, and the doctor you named would be considered an unknown with no reputation good or bad. I think this clinic probably does produce some fairly good results but a lot of people who have passed through the forums over the years have had bad things to say about them. You might be happy or you might not. I think most experienced members of this forum would consider it a bit of a gamble. The main thing I want to say is what are your goals for this transplant? Obviously I haven't seen what your hair looks like but based on your own assessment of your Norwood level even the upper number of 2500 grafts might not be enough. I would advise you to look around at other results where the patient began with a hairloss pattern like yours and see what can be done with X number of grafts.

As I understand it, you're unhappy with the hairline position on your left side. From the photo it looks like you've cut or shaved a row of hairs to raise the hairline a little. It seems that a second procedure to add density would be the simplest option, as it would disguise most of the cobblestoning. Grafts could be removed from where you feel you don't want them at the front/left. If they were extracted via FUE then you might be replacing cobblestones for small scars. You'd have to decide which is worse. The area could be improved with lasers or peels as you mentioned. All of this should probably wait until you've determined if you've stopped losing grafts.

Looks great. Were grafts planted all the way across the front? It's hard to tell if he needed any at the center portion of the hairline or not.

This is something that I've heard reported and which I've experienced myself. I notice the sensation if I miss my Finasteride dose for a number of days in a row. If you've had excellent results on the drug and only a year has passed then it's likely that you'll continue to do well. What dose are you taking?

Rubbing the scabs at 7 days could potentially have led to lost grafts. That's probably not responsible for your disappointing result but the more cautious approach to dealing with the grafted area post-op is definitely the safest. I know it's hard to tolerate the scabs, but they won't hang around too long after you start breaking them down at 2 weeks post surgery, especially when they've been softened with Vitamin E oil. Do you have enough hair to comb down over the recipient zone?

You say scratch what you said, but you gave quite a detailed description of what sounds like miniaturizing hairs due to male pattern baldness.

The NW scale is open to different interpretations. Some would put you at a 3. I tend to reserve 3 for when the recession is a little deeper. I'm not sure that switching between Fin and Dut is a great idea, although it apparently hasn't done you any harm so far. Dut is a much stronger drug than Fin and switching can cause shedding. 8 months is still quite early into treatment, and presumably you changed to Dut even earlier on than that, so you never really gave Fin a chance to show you what it would do for you.

I personally leave the graft estimates to the doctors, but I'm sure someone will give you a figure. I'd say that you're a NW2. Couldn't put you any higher than that; although you do have thinning through the top of the head too (as I'm sure you know.) Presumably you are only seeking hairline work. So you're using a Fin/Dut combo to fight hairloss? When you say it has helped, do you mean that it has re-grown hair for you or that you've noticed a stabilization of your hairloss? As you won't be having surgery immediately you'll probably have a better idea of exactly how successful the treatment has been by the time you've raised the money. As you've settled on a doctor, your best bet is to ask him about graft numbers and whether he considers you a viable candidate for FUE. Until then, you won't even know how much money you need to save!

I've noticed that. It's a glaring gap in the internet, actually!

Hi MusoInOz, I'm surprised that you feel you've noticed a trend with regard to Dr Rahal's placement of grafts into areas of native hair. I don't believe he is reluctant to do so. I think most patients with hairline recession tend to have an area of reduced density along the front (especially in a central forelock) and that Dr Rahal places grafts into such places as a matter of routine. There will of course be a point where the native density is high enough that planting follicles within wouldn't be necessary and could be counter-productive. I don't think there's any set density that can be given, though. It's more of a case by case basis. Naturally, patient wishes will play a big part in how the surgery is planned. "When will we see some grown out FUE results?" must be the most frequently asked question of the past 4 months. If only transplant results were instant, right?

Unfortunately it's likely that you'll lose more of the transplanted hairs. That's the usual way things happen. Of course they'll begin growing in after a few months. That's the price that you have to pay for your new hair, and when the growth happens patients soon forget the bad times and also find that other people have short memories too. How much and what exactly can you see of the donor scar?

You'll find find that the number one piece of advice is not to choose a surgeon based on convenience of location. There's a reason why patients cross oceans to for hair transplants. You won't find many if any recommendations for Belgravia around here. In the UK the only clinic recommended is the Farjo clinic in Manchester. You can find info on this site. You can search the galleries and blogs to find the sort of results you're looking to achieve and then make a decision from there. Really it does come down to your personal goals/tastes as well as your budget and willingness to travel.

Yup, he's right I'm afraid. The treatments are a commitment. They don't cure baldness, they merely (when working well) keep it from getting any worse.

Nice and thorough. I like it. You're as well-equipped as anyone to make a decision. (In time you'll see some finished FUE results from my doc too). I wouldn't write off the higher strength Minoxidil as useless. You probably achieved all that could be achieved with that substance at the lower strength you were already using. It sounds like your treatment experience has been a success overall and that's always good to hear. You're an example of how an early balder doesn't have to fear the worst. Good luck.

I don't really like the phrase 'illusion of density' either. Never have. It's a neat phrase that seems to describe something but which really doesn't. Perhaps 'strategic coverage' is more appropriate but I doubt if it'll catch on. I might throw it into discussion from now on unless I think of something better. I've noticed that hair can sometimes look a bit see-through even on children. It depends on the lighting, hair characteristics and hair length/style. I would imagine that most transplant patients primarily want to cover empty space on their scalp. Even dropping a couple of stages on the Norwood scale will be a gratifying result for many guys. In a way there is 'good' bald and bad bald. Sometimes giving yourself a more aesthetically pleasing pattern of recession can be enough. Based on how I viewed hair before I became concerned with my own, and on how I've noticed other people view hair through their comments (or lack of them*), I don't think density is nearly as important as a good hairline shape (even if it's somewhat receded and mature) and the filling of obviously balding areas. Not that maximum density shouldn't be a person's goal when achievable as the result will of course be better. *I have noticed women cooing over how attractive a guy is and not seeming to notice when they have less than perfect density, even when they were the type of women to fixate on such flaws. I simply don't think the average person notices, and to the general public balding means bald spots. We hairloss forum regulars and hairloss sufferers are some of the most hair-critical people around! Can anyone disagree with that?