HairGone29

I can't be the only one who's seeing them. They promise unlimited grafts for a flat rate of £2000-£3000. Has anyone enquired? Have transplant costs in the UK finally reached reasonable levels?

On 5/29/2020 at 5:03 PM, Melvin-Moderator said:

Looks like the entire scalp is thinning. Again, I can’t stress enough the importance of being evaluated in person. Looks like DUPA to me, but I’m no doctor.

I've only ever had one in person consult with the Maitland clinic (Dr Ball) who assessed the donor, he never said I had DUPA but he struggled to distinguish where the DHT resistant hair started and wherev the DHT affected, but maintained hair ended.

I have fired off a bunch of emails to several surgeons.

Dr Demirsoy - Donor area looks weak and unhealthy, asked if I have a vitamin or iron deficiency. Advises against surgery.

ASMED - NOTE: Due to the fact that your hair is a fine and light colour. The shedding is active we believe that Finasteride does not have a high impact on your hair. The reason for this is because it is obvious that you have miniaturization. It is expected that the final result will not provide intensive coverage. There would be a homogeneous natural look with coverage that is not very high.

Dr Bhatti - 

Thank you for the mail with pictures and 2 videos which I have gone through.

You shall need around 2800 scalp grafts for the hairline and temple points.

However since the scalp donor on first inspection does not look too dense, I think we should settle on 2500 scalp grafts for the purpose which should also be fine.

Here is a final video where I comb the donor hair against the grain

I guess I have no option but to accept that I can only maintain what little I have for a few more years then shave it. I started Dutasteride a couple months ago once per week to go a long with the daily Finasteride i've been taking for the past 8 or so years. 

Sad times

Taken some wet pics for a better idea,

Three pics, one with flash,  one without, at a length of about an inch. The third pic is when it was WAY overgrown, not how I'd ever normally have it, about 2-3 inches.

I planned to have a consultation in the UK (Farjo) before taking the dive and flying to Turkey, but the consultation was cancelled due to Corona Virus.

Some surgeons have said from the photos my donor looks too weak, others have said no point giving me an opinion without being seen in person first.

My biggest fear is getting the go ahead for a 3500-4000 graft transplant only to have a bald/patchy donor area forever.

Finally found it again on my newsfeed:

I can't find the ad right now but it shows up on Facebook often. It claims to offer unlimited grafts for £1995, the company is this:

http://medicalhaircentre.com/

A few people have posted under the advert claiming to have had the procedure and it went well. Is this a scam or have UK surgeons finally realised that they're not going to survive after lockdown unless they improve their prices to be more competitive?

Looks like you're a slow grower. Wouldnt be too concerned yet, give it another 3 months

Your donor looks similar to mine at that length but tbh I think everyones looks weak when its that short. What guard cut is that?

Switch to oral min then you wont need to worry

I wonder if Nizoral has contributed to the thinness. That said i've been using it once or twice a week for about 7 years lol so any damage it may have done is probably permanent.

Here's a pic with grown out hair. Hardly a strong test but if i pinch and pull hard on hairs on the back of my head i'll maybe pull one hair out per 5 attempts, it seems a lot more 'stuck' in my scalp than crown and temple hair.

Farjo clinic I dont think operates anymore, Reddy is an option down at Harley Street London.

5 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I agree, I don't think it's DUPA, but I definitely think you need to visit a surgeon for an evaluation. I don't think guys realize just how important seeing a surgeon face to face actually is, where do you live?

England. Was planning to go with Dr Demirsoy. When the hair is more grown out no scalp is visible.

I did have a consultation with Dr Ball at the Maitland clinic a year ago and he never said anything about my donor being weak. But im not sure how thorough he was, he used the microscope thing to get some readings to find how many singles, doubles, triples etc were in the area.

So ive taken some more pics plus a video, this time under natural (lightbulb) lighting and less greasy. Thoughts?

Here is the video: It seems to look worse if i rub it 'against the grain'

Does anyone have any pics of others with a number 3 cut under similar lighting to compare? As not sure if its weak donor or just because its been cut so short, but not so short that hair cant clump together making it look worse, if that makes sense. I wonder if a 1 guard would look better

so would that rule out a transplant?

Never noticed this before because when it grows longer I cant see any scalp on the back or sides, but yesterday I had the back and sides cut to a number 3 and it looks pretty bad. I know lighting plays apart, this is with mobile phone flash on but would this maybe make me a bad transplant candidate? It looks kind of greasy maybe that is part of it.

To see how it looks longer i've timestamped this video and it looks a lot thicker:

what would cause someone to have a weak donor? I thought in even the baldest of men the back and sides tend to remain.

Why not just get a transplant on the crown? Have you ever tried:

Big 3 plus

Microneedling

Saw Palmetto

Regular scalp massages

PRP?

The doc will have to implant hairs among some existing hairs, there has to be some overlap or within a year of MPB there will be a gap between old hair and transplanted hair as the hairline moves backwards. Shockloss is just the risk you have to take.

3500 is overkill imo, 2000-2500 in the temples, front and a few mixed with the existing hair should be fine. Leave the crown

Dem is the GOAT for budget hair transplants 

AFAIK the evidence that PRP does anything at all is close to zero

if you dont use finasteride you will lose most of your native hair and possibly some of the transplanted hair also. If the hairloss is stable on meds before surgery you should be fine for at least a decade 

Any other opinions?

2 hours ago, LaserCap said:

There are truly no rules when it comes to where to add grafts.  It all depends on you, your pattern, family history and just simply common sense. Can you do it? Of course. Is it prudent?

The basis of it all is the donor area.  It is a limited area with a finite number which we all share.  Once gone, you'll never get it back.  With current techniques, fortunately, we can now accomplish more than ever and really maximize yield. But yet, many still believe there is not enough donor available to allow for a full set of hair, particularly when dealing with an advanced pattern.  Unfortunately your photo was not very good and I was unable to tell what exactly we are dealing with.

So, let's answer your question......

You speak specifically of certain areas, but not the rest of your head. So, you go ahead and work the temporal areas and eventually you continue to recede.  This would leave you with a couple of horns worth of hair.  Typically you'll want the doctor to blend grafts to areas adjacent to where the grafts are placed to avoid this issue and guarantee a more natural result.  Leaving you hanging will only result in you having to return for more grafts.

The front is the most prominent area.  It's what others see when they interact with you.  Can they see the crown? No.  Is it weak? Sure.  But, depending on the pattern, we all share this issue. Why? Because of the whirl.  Unlike the front and top where the hair grows forward at an angle, hair in the whirl grows away from the point.  There is no shingling at all.  It takes tons of grafts and multiple procedures to achieve density. (All those grafts could have been placed in a more prominent area). Hope you get the point.

Once you're happy with the front and top, you can then consider grafts to the crown.  That should be the last goal.  And, honestly, 500 grafts into the black hole is going to do nothing.

You seem to have a good amount of native hair.  Are you doing any medical therapy to help you with retention?

Hi, its not a photo its a video, you need to click it to get a good idea.

I understand what you are saying. Medical therapy:

Minox and fin since age 21

All the usual suspects in terms of vitamins

Microneedling once a fortnight 1.5mm started 1 year ago. This did nothing IMO, still use it once a fortnight at 1mm just to aid in minox absorption.

Current age 28 1/2

Changes in that time frame: None really. My crown used to be a bit worse actually, temples may have receeded a bit since age 21 though, but looking at old photos im not sure. Very slow hair loss progression though (fingers crossed it stays that way). 

So if 500 would do nothing to the crown, i'd at least like to thicken it to the point where I need LESS fibers to cover up the obvious loss of hair. Perhaps 4000 grafts predominantly in the temples and hairline with 1000-1500 spread cross the midscalp working toward the back of the midscalp (crown edge). Perhaps allowing a comb backwards hairstyle to cover the crown a little?

On 11/4/2019 at 4:42 PM, briharvey78 said:

@superflash it's been almost 22 months since my hair procedure. Dr. Cinik told me that I should expect very good results, if I had good results I was gonna go back to Dr. Cinik. 

I think your dissatisfaction is completely fair and just. Cinik has too many poor reviews for me to consider him, i've also heard the clinic is like a meat market with little to no individual care. Since his offer of a second procedure is as you said, pointless and not free, you have every right to share your bad experience and you may save others by doing so. It is no secret that people get big reductions in return for writing good reviews for Cinik. Its quite obvious really, ever noticed how overly enthusiastic Cinik patients are compared to everyone else? 

On 10/25/2019 at 8:38 PM, gillenator said:

Can you share some pics?...that would definitely enable us to give you better feedback.

Hello sir.

Instead of pics i've made a lengthy video trying to highlight my hair in various lighting, from very bright LED to more natural light as well as a view of the donor. please view: