jjsrader

I say let him rant and obsess. It makes for great reading and obviously he can't stop himself from posting. The replies are great as well - informative too. It's his process - great theatre!

But nobody cares about FUE being advisable for 'limited balding' anymore - guys are having 5-7K FUE early in life and then say they'll do FUT down the road if they are still bothered by progressive hair loss. FUE is rapidly gaining acceptance as the norm - not the exception. But whatever - people can do what they want - it's their money, their head/scalp.

Haha! All surgeons weigh their currency vs USD and/or EURUSD. What will they do if the EURUSD drops below par again? Oh, they'll say no, we don't take the Euro anymore for payment, we want your U.S. dollars. It's somewhat deceptive if they bait/switch payment currencies over time. And they will.

We all know what a pain in the ass transplants are to schedule/undergo/endure/wait out results/2nd & perhaps later surgeries - wash/repeat (I don't even recommend them to regular people in my day to day dealings). That's a fact I think we are all acutely aware of. Um, hairloss surgery is a unique decision for every person; reasons for doing so are as varied as the person who gets one done. And yes, there is evidence that pretty much 99%+ of men in society do just fine w/hair as-is, balding or otherwise. In 2012 about 310,000 procedures worldwide would suggest that nearly 100% of men don't resort to cosmetic hair-restoration surgery. However, that written - when done on suitable candidates w/good hair characteristics and moderate balding, well, you've seen alot of results here in the forum that are frankly quite extraordinary for those of us w/hair fetishes. ; ) ; )

JeanLDD 'breaking it down' point by point to Payam - oh yes! But seriously, yea - 3.2K is not like 5.5K grafts and he's lagging some but has a good base. Erdogan should work with him and I would not be surprised to see total satisfaction from this patient down the road when he does a 2nd session. He's being honest, patient, showing very clear consistent pictures and communicating with his doctor (and us forum posters). This is the reality of hair-restoration surgery. Each surgery is unique and for many, time & repeated procedures w/a clear focus on the overall plan for now and the future serves them best.

Looks great and very good pics. Looks like you have good hair characteristics and that frontal BIG tuft probably saved you at least 500+ grafts - always good to have some frontal hair that is terminal right in the middle if you are losing - I think it helps in the overall transition of the frontal hairline from side to side and straight on. Good luck and enjoy your journey back to more hair!

Yea, this forum is pro-transplants for sure. Anything beyond NW5 is mostly about 'reasonable expectations' after all there is only so much hair you can replace that is lost - however, those w/very favorable hair characteristics who are NW5 or NW6 'skew' the results in my opinion. For example, on hair forums the vast amount of photograph evidence is from doctors or patients that get very good cosmetic results (even w/advanced baldness) vs the amount of pics we see that are not so good. That's a fact. For example, take a look at Dr. Bernstein and a few other doctor's websites (Shapiro/H&W) that feature ALOT of NW5/NW6 results and take a good hard look and think to yourself w/your own hair characteristics and long-term hairloss pattern if those are results that would seem good to you if you did 3 FUE surgeries? I don't recommend hair transplants to anyone - but that doesn't mean my opinion is any more valid than the many people who have had hair-restoration surgery and been completely satisfied with it. My entire family male history on both sides are all NW5's/6's and 7's - someone like me who began losing his hair at age 21 should probably not ever start going down the hair transplant road. I waited until I was 23 years old to begin. Even w/the arsenal of meds & stuff I am on (in my profile) I have only managed to slow down my long-term hairloss slightly (and I have been on alot of stuff for 20+ years). 8.6K+ hair transplants w/fine straight hair doesn't look NEARLY as full as someone like Bill (managing publisher) who has wavy thick hair. That's just a fact. My expectations have diminished as I have gotten older, yet I will be having another surgery in Feb '19 because I want enough hair in my frontal hairband and 1/3rd of my head to have enough hair to create the illusion of a near-normal head of hair. After that final FUT I'll finish off w/FUE - but this is my personal journey and the FUE will be for my midscalp to the back of my mid-vertex. I'll have to let my crown slowly lose but have a 'base' of grafts to keep the natural crown whirl. Even w/13K of grafts w/my type of hair (fine/straight on very white skin) the contrast created doesn't create the illusion of a full head of hair throughout my entire head of hair. Of course w/a bit of dermmatch and/or hair volumizing fibers and such it looks pretty near normal - but that can be a pain in the ass everyday as well (which I don't do on a regular basis). Even w/temporary SMP or even permanent ink via Mark Weston that is NOT exactly like natural regular density hair - there is no magic bullet. PRP and laser helmets are still not well documented. So, it never really ends, in a manner of speaking. It is all about personal perspective and realistic expectations under all lighting conditions etc... All I know is that if you are commited to the long haul and are not taking any systemic meds/topicals/hair laser/prp or whatever to slow down hairloss - is that hairloss is progressive (the severity depending on your genetics and family history) and anything can happen when you are much older.

I think if you do several more consults you'll get a 'baseline' for what is reasonable vs what some surgeons say that want to do possibly (in your opinion) an excessive amount of grafts. Cosmetic hair-loss surgery is NOT for everyone - it takes so long for results and even then you are not guaranteed good results. Most people do well but there are probably way over 50% of patients that regret their decision longer term. This is a fact and keep in mind on a hair forum we are seeing the VAST amount of posters either shortly after their surgeries or within a year or two - never to be heard from again. Hairloss in nearly 100% of patients is progressive and often it can accelerate greatly after age 40 or 45 years old. One never knows. These are all valid reasons NOT to have surgery. There are also many many reasons to have surgery and it can be very satisfying in the short-medium AND long term as well. In the end it is completely personal and win/lose/draw your hair should not be the most important thing in your life as you age. Seriously. It can be something you do the best you can with but like all things in life as we age perspective should be the great equalizer. peace...

Well, we are seeing things OBJECTIVELY - so would a hair-loss restoration surgeon. As well as Bill (managing publisher). You've had consults and don't know what/who to trust? That means you are not in a position to have hair surgery yet (imho). Maybe I'm completely wrong. I know it can be very difficult - I've had alot of grafts (8.7K) and will be doing more again this winter - I have a certain 'base' of hair. But when you consider how many original hairs are in the frontal zone to the back of the mid-vertex, it's easy to lose perspective on how much real estate we are trying to cover w/the 'illusion' of hair at less than 50% of total density. Especially if one has straight and/or fine hair. Losing one's hair is not easy. It's why we come to this forum and look for objectivity; it is easy to lose that when it's personal. I'm not satisfied w/my hair but others see coverage and don't really think of me as balding. Finally, it is sometimes difficult if we don't accept the aging process that EVERYTHING in/on our body is moving steadily (although slowly) towards entropy. Give yourself a break and get all the facts and then make an objective decision on how and if you want to move forward. Good luck.

Yea, now you have a good 'base' - finish off w/another surgery and with your hair characteristics I think you'll be mostly pleased.

I don't know - for the type of hair you have (straight and looks like fine hair) it looks just fine to me. Some recession - but it doesn't look bad at all. I suppose if you threw 5-7K grafts in there it would look alot more full, but frankly as is - seems normal. Maybe I'm missing something. You are 39 so, you've kept most of your hair which is way better off than 90% of balding men. Good luck on whatever you decide.

Dr. Suneet Soni - check out his results here and online. FUT & FUE - but he will prefer you do strip. Dr. Soni can probably dense-pack an irregular single-haired follicular unit hairline very well. His 1st pass density can also be fairly high.

I like your attitude - long-term approach and overall plan. Too bad you can't do hard-core systemic meds, 'cause you have good hair as donor. Good high-quality photos too. Good growing!

Ha Ha! Yea, don't bother w/science - just opinions. You are too funny. Clear information is provided (facts), but that bothers you? Grow up.

I agree - oral spiro is quite aggressive. I think I wrote several times about doing one's own research on it before trying.

If you take oral minox - yes, start w/5mg in the a.m. You REALLY should check your blood pressure 30 minutes after for the 1st month - see if everything continues to be normal. If you start off w/10mg right away, check your blood pressure regularly, it's important. You can use a blood pressure cuff from the drugstore for like $20 or $40 USD If you decide to take a 2nd dose of oral minox (another 5mg) daily - perhaps take your 2nd dose around dinner time or at least 2 hours before bed. Continue to check your blood pressure if you up your dosage on a regular basis. Finally, you can take the 5mg in the a.m. for 1 or 2 or 3 months and then begin taking your 2nd dose if you have no health issues. Good luck. I began taking oral spiro about 3 weeks after I began taking oral minox. I did NOT notice any water retention when taking oral minox - but decided to begin taking oral spiro as an adjunct to the oral minox. After a month I upped my dose to 10mg daily oral minox (split into two doses per day for a total of 10mg) but you can probably take the whole pill in the a.m.) and 100mg oral spiro (split into two doses per day - total of 100mg). If you do have side effects, don't ignore them. I haven't had any issues whatsoever - but I never really have any issues w/any meds and I tolerate alot of drugs well. Finally, some days I just take 10mg oral minox and 100mg oral spiro in the a.m. (both together) and don't bother splitting them up 12 hours apart - but usually I split the dose so both stay in my bloodstream at higher concentrations for each dose.

Here's the deal. We see so many patients with the very best hair characteristics (wavy hair/thicker hair in microns/higher donor density) and they have very good early results. Our minds tend to remember these more than normal progress or even lagging progress in 4 months. They say the 'normal' progress at 4 months is what, 25-30% growth? If you're a guy that has thinnner hair (microns) and lower donor density and straighter hair and you're a bit behind schedule in growth you might be showing only 15-20% growth at 4 months. I think EVERYONE must remember, if you go to a competent surgeon and the graft survival was very high it is completely individualized. Remember the 12-18 month rule for final results. Cosmetic hair surgery is very difficult psychologically - you look weird, it takes MONTHS for anything to start happening and most importantly, for the majority of normal hairloss sufferers at Norwood 4 or higher - you will probably want 2 surgeries and sometimes 3 if you really want the final results to be as refined and dense as possible. Even then it is the illusion of a full head of hair w/way less than 50% of original density. It sucks, I know from experience. Hang in there and if you take very good pictures you might be able to have an ongoing discussion w/Dr. Soni about your progress (slow or otherwise).

It looks like you have good coverage - I'll be interested to see final results 12-15 months out (if you post them). Guessing your hair might mature well. You might need a final 'dense-pack' in frontal hairline to get the exact refinement you are looking for. Very particular patients opt for this in order to get the full cosmetic effect - in fact I think hair transplant surgeons should be a bit more upfront about this. It is very difficult to get full coverage/dense-pack and total refinement in the frontal hairband w/a 1 & done surgery. I'm considering Nader for my 1st FUE after my FUT is maxed out.

Hi, I don't provide pictures, sorry. It's a personal choice.

I suggest searching this forum and a few others to get other people's opinions & experiences w/both. Really, do some searches and see if it seems okay for you - I know there are real side effects in people and I urge you to weigh those risks against 'potential' benefits. I get oral minox cheap from https://www.thailandpharmacy.net/product-category/hair-loss/ And oral spiro from https://www.inhousepharmacy.vu/p-1140-spiractin-100-spironolactone.aspx

Hi, I did 4500 FUT & 500 FUE w/Dr. Soni in March '17 - same day (LONG day). India for me was delightful - did 3 weeks mostly in the north and coast. Dr. Soni and his staff are attentive to your pain needs - just communicate and you'll be fine. I suppose I could have taken a flight back to U.S. the day after surgery, but I stayed in town an additional night, ate some good food, relaxed and then was on my way the next day. Good luck!

Try here: https://www.inhousepharmacy.vu/p-1906-avodart-dutasteride-05mg-sourced-from-turkey.aspx I buy my 2nd dose per day from them. If you are aggressive - you can go on 5-10-20 mg oral minox (loniten) and oral spiro (100mg) per day. There are posts on these systemic drugs here and on other forums. You can start w/ 1/2 doses and monitor for any symptoms and titrate up.

Spanker has commented on this fairly succinctly. I believe after 8-10 years of Avodart usage those that are destined for NW5 or more start to lose their gains. Consistently, slowly - but consistently. Sometimes it is probably a bit faster and hairloss accelerates closer to your genetic pre-destiny. I think (think) this happens if you are an early hairloss sufferer w/family history of aggressive hairloss. Your hair simply taps out and starts going away like nature intended. NW3 & NW4's probably lose moderately slower. Only solace is your existing hair that is not prone to balding stays thicker and denser than if dut was never used - so you max out your hair transplants with those if you are going down that road. And live w/it the best you can. NOTHING is perfect when genetic balding is involved. It's relentless over time. If you don't want to leave anything to chance you take the prescription brand Avodart and discontinue the generic (or never start on the generic).

My younger brother had beautiful long blonde hair and his hairloss began the same way (w/lots of hair in the very front getting smaller and smaller). It began when he was about 21 - please do everything you can w/medications to keep most of it as long as you can. Good luck.