TorontoMan

Thank you guys for replying. Yeah I agree, I go through phases where it doesn’t bother me and then other times I’ll have episodes where the thinning in certain situations drives me nuts. The few times it’s bad seems to outweigh the many times it’s fine, Human nature innit.. When I wash my hair, and style it and use a little bit of toppik I’m fine with it, but at the same time these next couple of months are my best opportunity to get it done as I’ll transition to a new job in jan/feb and recovery won’t be a problem. & yes the main issue is the hairline. I tell myself if I go with a conservative hairline and fill it in I’ll be safeguarding myself for the future. Hopefully get a few more opinions on it but I do appreciate the feedback

Hey everyone Wanted to get your opinions on my current situation as I am getting closer to making a decision on a hair transplant. Im 28 years old in a couple of months and started experiencing hair loss around 24/25. Have been using minox 2x a day and 1mg fin since the start of the year, but have reduced the dosage right now to .25mg as I recently starting feeling slight aches down there and its too early to attribute to meds but am testing to see if the lower dosage resolves the issue. Anyway, I've posted some pics below, (prob a few too many, bare with me), and am looking for my first surgery to restore my hair line and temple points were most of the recession has happened (some thinning in the crown, but not unbearable and will likely have to treat later in the future). Also included photos of my dad and his father, thats where I believe the genes came from because my mother's side has experience no hair loss whatsoever. My surgery will be in Canada, likely with Dr. Rahal and am also in conversation with H&W. Was quoted around 2,500 grafts to touch zones 1-4, but I'd like to know if you believe its the right time. The photo with the crown was taken wet under a harsh light.

You have done a great job breaking this down for yourself and I commend you for being so mature at your age. I don't know enough about doctor's in Lebanon, but I am hoping you have chosen correctly for your needs and I hope it comes out well. This is a marathon not a sprint and it sounds like you're safeguarding for the future. Pretty large donor area as well, which is a positive for you moving forward. Best of luck and post your updates!

Amazing for 5 months man, happy for you

You certainly wouldn’t look any worse at The 6 month mark and up then maybe your current situation, although I’m just making an assumption so I could be wrong. But you wouldn’t have much to worry about. Worry about the initial first month of recovery and then she grows as she grows, out of your control anyway

This seemed to have happened to my dad, started receding at the hairline to about a norwood 3 in his late 20s/early 30s, then stabilized going into his 40s. Now at 64, he has that same hair line shape but his hair his thinned out a bit which is normal given his age now. That being said, def don't think this is true for everyone

Why did you wait for your loss to progress? I believe some combination of fue and smp is the best hope to recover that area

You should have a lifetime warranty with dr. Pen btw, so contact them

Could you share the link ?

I’ve seen of all his work, and I wonder why he isn’t talked about as much as other doctors 🧐. But these giga sessions are crazy

Yeah surprises me too. I believe Dr. Diep as an example has been operating this whole time. They’re gonna be busy rescheduling a whole lot of patients

He’s talking about not being able to cross the border. And no, I am in contact with both H&W and Rahal, and neither are open yet, Canada only just entered phase 1 of re-opening, likely clinics will be allowed to come back sometime in June

Hey what dosage do you take for fin?

Is the water retention a side of minoxidil ? May explain the recent excessive endeavours to the toilet recently loool

I believe the lighting in your photo is overexposing a natural swirl. I had it growing up and at 27 now I still do. Regardless, at 20 years of age it’s great that you’ve paid attention, you’re in a position to be proactive about your hair going forward. Monitor every so often, don’t unnecessarily fixate, and see how it progresses.

@CosmoKramer @Melvin-Moderator @HTHope What is MSM? For supps I'm on bitoin, folic acid, and vitamin D, recommend anything else? (on fin and min)

I'm experiencing the hair falling, or perhaps its shedding ,when using minoxidil too but I believe from what I'm reading online that this means the minoxidil is pushing the hair to a new growth cycle. Meaning that its likely any weak brittle hair breaking off and making way, but doesn't mean you lost the follicle. Hopefully someone with more experience than me with minoxidil could vouch for this, I've only been on it for about 4 months, but plan to continue using it at least 1x a day going forward.

How long have you been using minox? My understanding is that you’ll notice closer to 4-6 months the rebounding of minox, from the hairs that are shedding being replaced by new hairs in the growth phase. If you’ve only just started, you may have to be patient with it

http://www.minoxidilmax.com/?aff=132 minoxmax website has different products, could get topical fin or topical fin with minoxidil. Just a heads up this is an affiliation link they gave me, i got it so me and my friends could all get 15% discounts. Not some scam or something, if you care to use it, it also just give me 15 percent. Anyway look through their catalogue and blog there’s a lot of good info there

On the bright side, they didn’t use more grafts for an area that definitely required more. Good surgeon could work between these hairs I’m sure. You could do some online consultations right now, get in touch with Dr. Rahal like you mentioned. I believe it’s def fixable. Goodluck

I had a similar experience to @John Doe. I had two consultations with Rahal's reps (one was with Aron while he was still with the clinic), and after the second consultation I e-mailed the rep to request to meet with Dr. Rahal. He set that up for me with no problem, and the next time Dr. Rahal was in Toronto I got to meet with him while another rep took notes of our conversation. Many clinics as busy as theirs use reps to coordinate because imagine how much time would be taken from the Doctor. Again when I asked to see him they accommodated me. My experience with HW rep was also less impressive. He seemed to drive the conversation with his ego for no reason and it felt like a negotiation. Another thing i was disappointed with was that unlike Rahal's reps, he did not take any measurements of my donor area or measured for density. On all three of my visits that was standard at Rahal's clinics, they gave me numbers to work with in my head which I think is absolutely important. After eyeballing my head, the HW rep gave me an estimate and told me my donor looked to "in good shape". I shouldnt make it out like it was entirely bad, I just had different expectations coming into it. Regardless, I understand that the reps are obviously not direct representation of the doctor's work... and both are still top clinics and atm I'm having trouble deciding between them.

Yeah 2 or 2.5. Not too important, still early, start some preventative measures.

You compound it yourself? I use a topical finasteride I got from Minoxidil Max, got it with just finasteride because I have a fat supply or rogaine that I got at Costco so want to burn through that. I take oral fin 4x a week, and apply a bit of the topical on the days in between oral fin, any thoughts on that?

I didn't mean to take away from your post with my photos, just meant to show you that in that area lighting could be a factor. My loss is mainly some recession in my temples and hairline, about a Norwood 2. My mother's side has the perfect hair gene, her father passed at 80 something with a complete head of hair, and her brother whos 65 now still has it. On my father's side, loss seems to extend to as far as norwood 3 maybe 4. So unlucky I didn't inherit from my mom. That being said I'm still grateful for catching it early enough to start treatment and prevent as much as I can, and thankfully we live in times of hair restoration. So my point to you is that I don't see much loss at all, your hairline is in tact and you've noticed something much earlier than most guys do (if its even anything). Took me close to three years to admit to myself that my hair was thinning. Go see a dermatologist or even consult with a good hair surgeon and get an assessment done when all this shit is over. Continue to research and learn about what you could do for it, but stressing just puts you back. For the time being if its a bother, use some fibers to cover it up the little whirl you have going, and take some photos every month to monitor it.

Have to agree with Melvin & Gastheorer, your loss is too far gone, and your donor isn’t great either. Finasteride could only really save hair that’s no more than 50% miniaturized, so I don’t know if there would be any point. That said, You have a full thick beard and should use that to your advantage. Imo, keep the beard groomed and maintained and clean shave your head and move on. You probably look great like that judging by your head shape, and your comment about having been comfortable with that for a long time. You’re gonna start giving yourself a headache chasing something that isn’t in your favour.