Kvn

Good luck! I’m considering Cinik for my first transplant as well

11 hours ago, jj51702 said:

I suggest you speak with some reputable and honest surgeons that can help you plan carefully. There’s a bit of danger getting a transplant at a young age with continuing loss as your final pattern is still not apparent. You will likely need to adjust your expectations with continuing hair loss (mature hairline, focusing on frontal 1/3, etc). 

 

Please research carefully. Wish you the best of luck 

I’ve recently shot out a couple of consultations. I don’t feel completely heard though. I’m either being told that my hair loss isn’t severe enough for a transplant (which is crap). Or the clinics aren’t understanding that I’d taken propecia for two years without a response. And because of that I’m trying to approach this with the future in mind, as an obvious to-be NW6.

Thanks for the input!

1 hour ago, jj51702 said:

You need to try and stabilize your loss before you consider a hair transplant. It looks like you have diffuse loss over the Norwood 6 area. Are you following the pattern of any close relatives such as your dad uncles or grandfathers? Are there any Norwood 7s in your family?

I tried finasteride and regardless of how much it helped it did not stabilize, so I don’t believe that’s an option. Plus I’m currently overseas and unable to receive any sort of prescriptions.

My maternal grandfather has a keeps his head buzzed but definitely still has a full head of hair. He’s had slight temple recession but that’s about it. My dad and his father I’m not entirely familiar with but I’ve heard they were both completely bald. 

8 hours ago, hairlossPA said:

what are you expectations? is your surgery scheduled yet?

top of head looks decent. i wouldn’t focus anything on the crown at such a young age. you should hop on fin again asap. you might need to go FUT to maximize the # of graphs you can harvest in your lifetime 

Well, with the pattern that’s currently visible. I’m wondering what kind of expectations I should have as far as crown density goes for guys who achieve high norwoods and get transplants. It’s thinned significantly in the last four months, so I don’t plan on waiting too long to do something about that if it progresses at this speed 

Hey guys,

I’d already planned on a hair transplant due to the severity of my hair loss for my age. However, I thought it might be beneficial to hear some objective opinions (or advice) for the way ahead as far as coverage & realistic expectations go with where I’m likely heading from guys who have been through it already. 

I’m about to be 25, and as of now I’m not taking any sort of medication. But I do plan on attempting finasteride again following the transplant and seeing how that goes. I took fin from 2017 up until 2019 and it definitely didn’t improve my hair, but it did slow the hair loss slightly. 

The pattern itself is pretty visible and my hair is basically see through when I walk outside, so general general coverage is my biggest concern. In the pictures below my hair is cut to a 2 on the sides and the hair on top is generally about an inch and a half.  

v/r

Kev

Hopping on the follow train, I'm thinking about shooting a consultation to Demirsoy. How was the overall communication with the Clinic once you were in Turkey? 

On 6/22/2019 at 1:17 AM, Melvin-Moderator said:

^this 

I shaved my head for a year, that’s when I knew I’d never do it again. Try it out, trust me. It will either stop you from having a hair transplant or push you towards one. I don’t suggest having surgery with the thought of shaving your head afterwards. Like gillenator said if you don’t like it, you’ll probably never do it.

I've been told I don't look terrible bald, but I don't want to accept it as "me" myself. I recently tried buzzing my head being as I'm in Afghanistan currently (I figured it'd be practical now, if nothing else) and I was definitely not happy with that.

My hairs thinned pretty noticeably in the last 4-6 months, and with the pattern that's showing, I'm mostly worried about the amount of coverage I will be able to get down the road. I'd actually say my progression is somewhat similar to yours Melvin, from what I remember yours being like anyway. I feel like recovering from NW6 territory (and hair transplant success in general) is sort of a shot in the dark, but that's by no means steering me away from the procedure. 

16 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

If you ever plan on shaving your head my advice is to not get a hair transplant. Instead, shave your head and see if you like it. FUE is not scarless and anyone who tells you otherwise is not being truthful.

15 hours ago, bonkling said:

This is honestly what has stopped me from pulling the trigger.

I've always worried that even if I get a HT, for one reason or another, it may fail - even if it's within a few years.

I'd rather have a fully shaved head than a receding/messy hair line, and not being able to shave it if something went wrong is my ultimate concern.

Unfortunately, all transplants will have scarring, especially at a buzz cut. 

Personally, I'm in the same boat as bonkling. I'd prefer anything but complete baldness, however, there's a point where trying to have hair looks silly. I'm a NW 3 at 25, and I foresee myself reaching NW6 territory by the time I'm 30 based on the current pattern/progression. So there's a real possibility I won't be able to cover the necessary ground to maintain a natural look. Which is probably an even harder hit to self confidence than shaving your head to begin with. 

I've only noticed one individual with FUE scars. But he kept his hair faded to the skin on the sides and had a full head of hair on top, so I doubt he cared.

This question is mostly for guys who have (or know someone who's) had a hair transplant and ultimately ended up clean shaving their head anyway. One of the things that makes me hesitant about a HT is potentially losing all of my hair anyway, exhausting my donor, and then rocking a head full of visible scars for the remainder of my life. 

How visible are the scars? Do they attract any attention in public? Other than SMP, are there any other successful options in mitigating the visibility of the scars?

Any input is appreciated

honestly, i don't think there's an excuse not to get a transplant in your 20's - unless you're financially unstable or content without hair. but that's also coming from someone who's guaranteed a HT in his 20's. realistically, i don't see any issue with starting early (especially if you intend on dealing with it progressively) since there's really no definite way of knowing how long you're going to have that hair for.

i like how potter put it, "YOLO". you're not guaranteed any amount of time, so make the most of it now. worst case, you may eventually end up bald anyway, but an early HT will hold that off to a point where it's at least more common/acceptable, which may also be comforting.

I'm pretty optimistic about it, but I also haven't been around the scene long enough to not be 😅

5 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

I think you should always prepare for the worst case scenario, showing signs of crown loss at a young age almost always means extensive baldness in the future. Now, this isn't 100% but it's highly probable. Honestly, most don't see regrowth on treatment, medication is meant to stop further progression not regrow hair. The only real way to regrow hair is through surgery.

plan for the worst, hope for the best? 

there's definitely some relevance in that, though I'm hoping for the best-of-the-worst at this point. i doubt that pattern is there by mistake. i checked out your journey as well, you did have a partially similar patterm (at least from the looks of it) as my scalp seems fairly thin compared to the sides of my head. I think my pattern may descend deeper into the rear portion of my head though. 

regardless, I've made up my mind that I would exhaust the option of a hair transplant before entirely giving up. not that any of us want to accept that as an option, but it is a risk i can accept without crippling myself financially.

thanks for the feedback!

5 hours ago, LaserCap said:

It seems that your hair is rather short and the contrast between the color of the hair and the color of the skin is not helping.  Not sure about Finasteride.  You are in a better position to answer that.  Let me explain.  Why did you decide to start the med? Were you thinning?  Who put you on it?  If you were not thinning and started the med, the question then becomes what loss would you have had - had you not started the med. If you were not supposed to lose any hair in the interim, not sure why you started in the first place.

Considering your history, I think being on Finasteride is the best thing you ever did.  I would also encourage you to consider Rogaine, Laser, PRP.  All of these modalities work in different ways and are thus synergistic.  

Let me ask you.  If you were to stay the way you are for the rest of your life, would that be OK? Deciding on meds is huge.  It is a big commitment. If you eventually stop them, not only do you lose the benefit, you lose the money you invested.  The question then becomes, what loss will I have.  Given your history, it is likely you will lose.  How much? Who knows. 

Considering limitations of donor area, particularly on those that have advanced patterns, I again, believe you should be on medical therapy.  With generics and all that is now available, it is very affordable.  And, you will never achieve the density you currently seem to be enjoying just by transplants alone.

I started fin in 2017 due to noticing initial temple recession. If I could stay the way I am now? Probably, thought the thinning of the crown being apparent bothers me nonetheless. I’ll probably attempt to maintain fin for the time being. 

4 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

It's hard to say, what is your family history? I can see miniaturization although not that much. I think if you look at my journey, I had similar hair loss level in the crown at your age. It may be possible that you are destined for Norwood 6 only time will tell.

No signs of hair loss on the maternal side, probable nw6+ on the fathers side based on what I’ve heard. The early crown loss is what worries me the most, but I’m wondering if the fact that I haven’t seen any improvement with fin means the loss is going to continue while on the drug. And if upping meds isn’t out of the question. 

3 minutes ago, gillenator said:

Kvn,

While you may not notice an increase in hair density in your crown, as long as it is not getting thinner, then you are stabilizing which is a good thing...one thing is for certain, if you get off of finasteride, your crown loss will get worse.

Yes, I can see a Norwood 6-7 pattern within the areas of demarcation of hair diffusion in the crown...one of the best barometers is family history....are there class 6s or 7s in the older men on either side, maternal or paternal?

 

Gill,

To my knowledge both my father and grandfather were mostly bald, so I’d assume they were at least class 5/6. And there aren’t any indications of significant hair loss on the maternal side

Great results man 🙂

5 hours ago, dan26 said:

Yes he had a poor result, got refunded, and moved on with his life...This is a lot more common than we would like to admit. There are no guarantee's in life

is he responsive over messages? a direct answer from him would help, being someone who's "apprehensive about doing a larger FUE procedure with this doctor" myself.

Well, my hairline's slowly heading towards 3 territory, so I'm considering it for that. However, I've posted one other time (on hairlosstalk) and the unanimous opinion was that I had a nw7 pattern. Definitely appreciate the feedback so far though.

I'm 24, and I'm currently a NW2-2.5 as far as my hairline goes, however, I seem to have a thinning pattern of NW6+ in my crown if I throw a light overhead. 

I've taken Finasteride for ~2 years now (initial signs of hair loss appeared 3-3.5 years ago), though I have yet to notice any difference. And until recently, I hadn't paid too much attention to my crown, but according to photographs it's also appeared thin over the last few years in adequate lighting. (Pictures attached)

I haven't gotten a whole lot of feedback in regards to hair loss, so I'm curious to what you guys think.

-Being 24 with this pattern(and we'll say a NW2.5 in the front) is a hair transplant a viable idea? What do you think the chances are of my nw being 6+?

-Should I maintain Fin regardless of two years showed no improvement?

I hit up a clinic in Tampa for PRP about a year and a half ago, though I probably can't provide any great insight though as I stopped after 4-5 sessions. I couldn't see any sort of discernible improvement as far as regrowth goes so the money just wasn't worth it in my book. 

The physiology of hair and hair loss is pretty new to me, but I'm also potentially a poor responder to finasteride, so maybe there's a connection there? I was a nw2 around the time I'd done PRP and I'd already been on finasteride for about a year, but through both treatments I've continued to thin out at the same speed and progressed to a nw2.5 or so now and heading into 3 territory. 🤔

11 minutes ago, Kiwi Guy said:

From what I've seen Konior is the leader in hair restoration. The recent results he has posted of his FUE work looks so clean and meticulously done that you cannot argue against it. The only two negatives with him are the long waiting list, it's something like a year + at the moment and also the cost, he charges a lot. Rahal seems to be really good with hairlines and FUT especially but I have seen mixed results with his FUE's recently.  Erdogan has some good results but also the most mixed results of the ones you've listed that I know of though he has the most results also posted on this site so that means there is a larger sample size as well. Dogonay I can't speak on as I haven't paid much attention to him. Good luck with your search mate, I've been doing mine for 6 months and it's still ongoing, it's such a big decision.

I'm pretty new here myself, but I've definitely seen a number of opinions corroborating this one.

Also thinking about going the Rahal/Erdogan route for FUE

bump

Anyone ever hear from him?

I'm curious too

I'd recently begun exploring HT options myself and considered Rahal one of my top choices. However, since hopping on this forum a few days ago I've seen mostly negative feedback in regards to his results. That, and a lot of caution towards getting a FUE through his clinic. What gives? And can anyone shoot me some context in regards to those claims? 

I'm about a NW2.5-3, and I'd my first HT to really count.