mattj

Test. (I'm having trouble logging in and I'm not sure if I'm even logged in now).

Edit: I'm logged in and can post, but I'm asked to log in if I try and access my messages.

I think the biggest plus is being able to easily see where there are new posts.

I wasn't a fan of the old board software so I think this is a vast improvement. I'm glad that everything has ported over and I haven't had to re-register or anything. It's lagging a bit for me right now but I'm sure you'll get that sorted. Nice job!

Originally posted by Sparky:

tough call really, you might get a doc that would do this for you, as you could continue to recede and still look natural, but I wouldnt do anymore if I were you, I was a NW1.5 when I got my first ht, big mistake!

Hi Sparky.

I just took a look at your site. It doesn't look like you could have lost much hair since your initial transplants back in 98. Am I right? Although you made a mistake back then, I think you've been lucky that your hairloss hasn't progressed far (if at all) and I reckon you'll be able to put your ordeal behind you once your latest procedure grows in.

NorwoodScale,

It doesn't sound like a bad idea to me. You'll be using up grafts but not enough to really make a difference to your future options. Just make sure you go with FUE. (I'm sure you thought of that).

I think NorwoodScale is just indulging in a little thought experiment. I'm sure he wouldn't really be capable of dispatching his clone after harvesting it's hair.

Perhaps I'm out of touch, but what's a Harry Potter scar?

I can only assume that you want a transplant yourself, but don't want to take anti-androgens and you want to see examples of patients who themselves didn't take the medication, and who didn't continue losing hair after the transplant. Am I right? The problem with this is, hair is generally lost over a fairly long period of time, making the glimpse you see of a patient in their photographs too brief to really tell you anything. You'd need long term documentation to go along with the photos, and even then the information wouldn't be close to spanning the life of the patient and his transplant.

The hairloss process is highly individual and rather unpredictable. A transplant is merely filling in the areas which have already succumbed, with the process carrying on regardless. If you are destined to lose more hair then that will happen, so I caution against using other patient results as a yardstick in this context.

But perhaps I'm wrong and you have other reasons for seeking this information. Could you explain?

I have to agree with Jotronic, you're a NW2 - 3, and if a 3 then only just.

Is your buzzed look your chosen style or is it your 'I'm going bald' style? I ask because it looks like you still have enough hair to sustain a longer cut if you wanted to. (Not that there's anything wrong with the buzzed look).

You didn't mention your age. On top of Mahhong's excellent reply, I would add the age factor. If you're losing hair at a younger age, and it's progressing quite fast, then this could mean you're less than an ideal candidate.

Hairloss is unpredictable, with some men continuing to lose hair at a steady rate until they are a NW6 or 7, while others might lose a bit, be given a reprieve for a number of years, and then have the process pick up again. Of course the medications, propecia especially, can really help slow down this loss or put a halt to it (at least for a while.)

Sometimes if you suspect that you might one day progress to a higher Norwood number, it's best to not be too greedy. It's possible to use grafts sparingly to create an overall more pleasing look without dropping the hairline down too low.

Do you have any photos to share?

On the basis of the clearer photos I would say that you have the perfect male hairline.

I just checked your photos. Have you lost more hair since they were taken? It doesn't look like you really need to use a concealer and like it wouldn't be worth the stress.

To me, the guy in Jo's example there does have a young hairline. I can't see how any young man would be unhappy with that placement.

Originally posted by colyma88:

I saw a doctor post before and afters of a beard transplant last week. I don't remember the doc, but I'll try and find it.

You're thinking of Dr Rahal's work which was posted last week.

hairthere is right, compared to hair transplants it's just not something many men want or need.

Propecia works better at the crown, and is certainly more likely to re-grow hair in that region, but it can still be very effective at the hairline too.

Have you browsed through the galleries to see if any particular doctor stands out as providing the type of results you're looking for?

Both of those guys have (or had) loss going back towards the crown. If you're the same, how far back would you want to spread those 4000 grafts?

If you were keeping to the frontal third to one half of the scalp, then 4000 grafts would certainly give you a fuller look than you have now, but keeping the remaining native hair, which might involve staying on the propecia, would undoubtedly lead to better results.

Presumably you're having trouble with side effects or something.

Zlatan, it sounds like you're only just starting out so I'm not sure how much you know. To start with, do you know the difference between the FUE and strip methods? This isn't a challenge, I'm just trying to see how much you need to know and how much you've already learnt.

Also, what is your current hairloss situation?

Originally posted by Raphael84:

So, where exactly were the grafts taken from?

From the usual donor region via strip.

Why are you so dead set against propecia?

Your hair loss is minor at the moment, and with medication it might stay that way indefinitely. No need for 'systems'.

Originally posted by Sparky:

That is Clooneys natural hair, I read an article saying that he shaved his hair into that shape when he was on ER, hes done it on several films aswell, you can see the hairline shadow on The Perfect Storm, where it has been shaved off, it looks like beard stuble but on his hairline.

That info fits with a photo that I found (but can no longer locate) where I noticed stubble at his hairline. It was a hi-res portrait.

You know your own hair and if you say something is wrong, then I'm sure something is wrong, but your hair looks naturally thick and like it probably grows quite wavy when longer, and it's difficult for us to see anything terribly abnormal going on in the photo.

At 9 months post-op you probably have most of the growth you will get, but it's well known that the transplanted hair takes time to relax and mature, and 9 months is still pretty early days as far as that aspect of the post-op process goes.

If the hair at the sides has taken on a similar texture to the transplanted hair, then that's something I haven't heard of before, but it's possible that other FUE patients haven't mentioned it so I can't say it's unique. It's possible that some trauma took place during the extraction process and it seems logical that this might have caused the hairs to behave in a similar fashion to the transplanted hairs, in which case it's possible they will settle down in much the same way.

Mahhong, I think you've just described the usual FUE harvesting technique. If you take a look at FUE cases where the post-op donor area is shown, you'll see that grafts are taken evenly from the full 'safe' zone throughout the back and much of the sides of the head.

Also, strip followed by FUE is the logical route for maximizing grafts available to an individual.

It's early days yet. It's usually the next couple of months where things really start to take off.

I'd say an early NW2. It looks like you've thinned a bit across the hairline.

Thinning at the back and sides does happen, but if you look around I think you'll find that it's quite rare for these areas to really thin down to a point where a (well executed) strip scar would be glaringly obvious.

Does anyone disagree with that?