writehairline

Thanks so much. Wasn't trying to doubt Konior I'm just nervous as hell as this is a ton of money (like, I barely have 1/3 of that cost in my savings) and I'd be permanently scarring up my head. There's a reason I went into Bosely 10 years ago and still never pulled the trigger on HT haha. So from what I read Lupunzula, Feriduni, Bisanga, Lorenzo, Cuoto, Dorin, Erdogan were all mentioned. Is there any consensus about who the top guys are for my situation, or all they all highly respected? Also does anyone have information on price? If I'm only saving $1,000 the cost to get over to Europe alone might negate any savings.

Also, this was his response to my question about people saying I was suffering diffuse loss. This seems extraordinarily expensive, is this normal? Is 1500 grafts enough to do anything? "Did someone from the forum examine you under magnification to make that diagnosis? You need an in-person exam to determine the status of donor and recipient area miniaturization. My fee for 1500 grafts using FUE harvesting is $13,600 with additional grafts charged at $8 each. Financing is available via Lending Club."

Hey hey, so I inquired with doctor Konior and sent him all the pics from here plus more specific ones he wanted of my hair. This was his response, which oddly (on a positive note?) contradicts what some people here have been saying with respect to my hair loss being isolated vs. diffuse. Wanted to get people's thoughts. Is he the type of doctor who would mislead that's just out for a sale? "The photos you sent show isolated frontal hairline recession with what appears to be a relatively stable frontal tuft. You appear to be a good candidate based on the isolated nature of your hair loss. I believe you will need 1500-2000 grafts for a frontal restoration. The exact number of grafts needed will depend on the precise size of the zone you want filled and on your overall density expectations. High density grafting requires a "dense-pack" approach in which approximately 40-50 follicular units per square centimeter are placed to achieve maximum filling of the zone. The great majority of patients are very satisfied with this density. I do not appreciate any significant thinning in the remainder of the scalp that would benefit from grafting. Your current hair style may allow the use of strip harvesting, but FUE harvesting would be recommended if you opt for shorter hair styles. "

Well I was thinking I had normal male pattern baldness (starting with receding hairline, and eventually the crown, then the two meet) but I guess that's diffuse, which everyone is saying is harder to treat. From some other pics and the guys state of hair, I figured I had a lot to work with/could fill, but now it seems most people are saying to hold off, as there's no telling where my balding will go, but will likely go to a Norwood6. It's just funny because I went to Bosely when I was 20, and of course they tried to sell me then (promising me that in 10 years we'd have stem cell research to regrow hair in a petri dish), and now here I am 11 years later ready to take the plunge, and now it sounds like shaving my head might be the best course of action. Has anyone worked with Dr. Yates? That's the Artas consultation i inquired about before I checked out this thread and found out about Konior. His results don't look overly impressive, but I did like that he has lots of youtube videos and seems to be somewhat transparent or engaging with his clients. For whatever work people might recommend I can get with Konior, any idea what that might run me? Also are there payment plans? Their website doesn't mention any.

On one hand I have people telling me my hair looks good, on the other I have people telling me I'm doomed to be a norwood 6 and not to touch anything I'm going to try to set up an appointment with a doctor, but this thread has made me equal parts encouraged and discouraged haha.

Man, I had no idea the wealth of information (and quick replies) I'd get on here. Thanks everyone!. @David, my regimen is post-shower apply Rogaine foam throughout the entire top scalp (I was told that they only approved it for the crown because that's what the trials focused on), and once it's through my hair, I blow dry it (I know that probably makes it lose its effect since most of it is dried into the hair and not the scalp, but the heating of the alcohol in there seems to be what helps volumize), then I style with a thick paste from Floyd's or Axe. All the pictures below are from the last year. I also like to mess with my hair a lot, including this pink/bleached dye job from the past summer, which seemed to give it a visual layer of volume. So I've never used fibres, what do those do exactly? Also, why would the crown not help if the transplanted hair is just replacing miniaturized? Wouldn't it be placed along with the miniaturized?

@David, I'd really love to strengthen the hairline (when sunlight is shining on it, you can see straight through the the scalp all over the top of my head, and you can easily shove a pinky finger through parts of my hairline without even touching another hair), fill in the crown, and not "lower" the hairline but not have the pizza-slice shape I have right now, have something a little straighter/with temples filled in. See attached for a photo from today. But as I mentioned, this is with product, blowdryed, lots of magic I put into looking that full. If my hair was buzzed you'd be able to see much more clearly how thin it is. @HT thanks for the info! How do you determine if someone's going to be a Norwood 6? What's your opinion on where I'm at now?

Hi there, New member, first-time poster, longtime lurker on forums like this. I'm 31 y/o, been slowly losing my hair since I was 19. I had shaven my head when I was 18, and as it grew back, I noticed something was off. Of course family and friends all assured me nothing was wrong, but no one knows the hair on someone's head like the person under it. I went to a dermatologist, and sure enough, she said "don't listen to your family, you absolutely have male-pattern baldness." I was devastated, but thankfully was able to get on Propecia from an early age. Fast-forward 12 years. I never regrew hair with Propecia, but I'm sure it slowed it down my hair loss. I had very slow loss for about 5-6 years, at which point I started incorporating Rogaine foam into my daily regimen. The last 3 years though have seen even more accelerated loss, so I switched to Dutasteride. It's hard to say at this point if loss has stopped entirely, but even if I maintained what I have, my hair line is very weak and going out everyday is an entire process of Rogaine + blowdrying + hair product to create the illusion that I'm treading on very thin hair. I don't know if it's my genetics or a result of the decade of Propecia, but I have both a receding hairline and very diffuse loss. On one hand the hairline makes it look like I might have more hair than I do, but I'm worried it also poses a challenge as surgery would mean not just strengthening/filling in my hairline, but also filling in the back and crown. So here's where I'm at: I looked at doctors in Chicago, and have felt very "eh" about most of what I've seen, but kinda figured that's how it goes with transplants these days. But as I read through forums, three doctors caught my attention (if their photos are accurate and testimonials aren't sponsored): Dr. Konior in Chicagoland Dr. Rahal in Toronto Dr. Shapiro in Minneapolis In an ideal world, here's what I'd get out of transplants: * Stronger, lower hairline and temples * Crown and vertex filled in Here are my questions: * What are people's opinions on results I could achieve if I'm looking at FUE? (I don't want a big scar strip in the back of my head) * Given my age (31), where I'm at with thinning, and that I've been on Propecia all these years, would transplant be fighting a losing battle? * Lots of doctors (whose photos I wasn't as impressed with) seem to advocate using Artas. What's the latest thinking on this, and is there any reason doctors still believe "feel of the hand" can out perform the benefits of a machine analysis? * Outside of Konior, I'll have to travel for a consultation, follow up, etc. I make a decent living for a 31 year old, but I'm not rolling in money. How do people travel for these surgeries? Do they have to make multiple trips across the country (or world in some cases) to get FUE? Anyway, sorry for the long post, but this is the closest I've ever come to making the plunge, and any and as much info as possible would be very appreciated. You can see the progression of my hair below (shaved head at 20, hair at 24, unblowdryed at 30, blowdryed with product at 31) (un-blowdryed), and the kind of illusion I can create with it when blowdryed and with product. Thanks so much!