Gatsby

On 12/5/2023 at 4:38 AM, David____ said:

New to a hair system so have never tried any of the shampoo / conditioner. Which ones would you recommend? Ideally with some thought towards value for money. Also how often do you shampoo / condition?

I wore a hair system/patch/wig, etc for 25 years. Just use a normal hair shampoo and conditioner that ensures your hair and scalp is healthy. Don’t wear a hair piece at night. Have days where you give your scalp a rest by wearing a cap or nothing. All the best. 

On 12/5/2023 at 5:45 AM, David____ said:

No I mean a hair system...

A hair patch is a hair system. 

Another surgeon for Norwood 7 patients that I would throw in the ring is Dr Sethi. 

11 hours ago, Yabala said:

When you wrote a good three months before hand you mean stopping finasteride for the first three months of pregnancy ?

Three months prior to attempting to conceive 

Minoxidil. And (I'm not a doctor) I would see a dermatologist and opt for oral minoxidil starting at a low dose. I would cease the finasteride if you are planning on having a baby a good three months before hand. To date their is actually no known teratogen as a result of being on finasteride. But could you imagine how you would feel if your baby was born with a deformity or disability regardless? All the best.

@Tommy1991 you can already see the contracture of the punches closing. In ten days to two weeks the comparison of the extraction area compared to today will be a major improvement. Imagine 12 months from now! Wishing you all the best! 👌

@keith c I would be very careful about jumping out of the pan and into the fire right now. Even though you are on finasteride and minoxidil, at 27, you don't know how your MPB over the lifespan will move. If you know your history in your family of MPB this will be a helpful guide but not a rule. Do you feel that medication has stabilized your hair loss? If so for how long? You have do have options but I would be looking at least invasive first. SMP is something that you could research into giving your donor more of an illusion of density as a possibility. You could look at having some of the hairline grafts punched out and re-implanted in areas that would benefit you most by them like @Tommy1991 has done. The other thing is that I would be having consultations with a lot of other surgeons to get their input on what the best options moving forward would be. Finally, have you only had the one previous hair transplant? All the best and remember you can always have surgery 'tomorrow.' The last thing you want is to be in a rush.

Going by the pictures you have put up @LDya4EydFkuc I can't see why surgery is necessary? Are you on medication first of all?

On 4/22/2024 at 12:35 PM, Stanley N. said:

@Gatsby Thank you so much. I am really freaking out. So far this is the biggest regret of my life if it doesn’t come back close to normal, because my beard is my whole look.

 

They didn’t take up 8k grafts, not even close to that. They took 500 the first time and about 300 the 2nd time but I’m scared that they took it from the same area smh. 

If it's 800 grafts then I would still put it into context. I think this is shock loss. Just like any other hair transplant it requires patience though I get your anxiety for sure. If worst case scenario it needs to be farmed then 800 beard grafts can be repaired. But if it does, ensure you do your research on not just surgeons but elite repair surgeons. Going to Asli Tarcan TWICE is just  a recipe for not only disaster but also in the long run the cost of having gone to an elite surgeon in the first place. Stay cool and remember just give this time. All the best!

58 minutes ago, DWADE said:

thank you all
i'm close to 40 years old so i'm kind of finalised with my hair loss - i guess..
 

Hi, how do i know if i have retrograde alopecia?

i alredy consulted with 3 clinic - and one of them told me i have a bad doner area and they can use only 1400 grafe.
the other 2 clinics told me the can use 3500-4000 grafs.

i don't want to have a bad hair-transplant obviously.
 

The hair from around the nape of your neck continuing around the area above your ears is thinning which is common in MPB and is called retrograde alopecia. The thinning rises up around this area. The reason you want to be on Finasteride, Minoxidil, etc (I’m not a doctor) prescribed by your doctor, dermatologist to address this is to keep to keep your donor strong. Your donor area is DHT susceptible. It’s not DHT proof. There is no true ‘safe zone’ as such. You should be looking for a surgeon who will be planning surgery/ies for the life span (even at 40. I’m 57). Rarely is surgery a one and done deal. It’s like attempting to hit a moving target. Spend at least a year on medication (again I’m not a doctor) and during this time to see how your hair responds, put in as much research as you can. There is no such thing as a silly question. All the best. 

Congratulations @DomTransplant. Still a couple of months left for maturing. 💯👌

Super happy for you @Tommy1991 already just by looking at Feriduni's work. 👌Very neat punches and with pale skin I don't believe that these will scar. Also you got to reuse the bulk of the grafts (unlike myself years ago).

There is no best clinic in Turkey. There is only a best clinic for you. Have a look at patient posted results on this site. Look for patients with a similar loss to yours and with results that you are aspiring to. Then look to see which doctors are performing these results. If you are researching by geography and cheapest prices you will end up paying more in the long run. All the best.

Yes I’ve been offered this. I chose oral minoxidil (Loniten) because it’s so cheap. @Viney on the forum takes sublingual minoxidil and has had great results. 

How many grafts were used from your beard? This needs lots of patience and as has been said before could just be shock loss.

@DWADE are you on any medication for MPB? You have some retrograde alopecia that may respond to finasteride, minoxidil, etc (I'm not a doctor). All the best!

There's really no hard and fast rule on this. However if you are taking 5ari's and you are sensitive to minoxidil then I don't see the point in taking it. You sound like you are responding really well with finasteride and dutasteride. All the best!

1 minute ago, Stanley N. said:

@Berba11 No they didn’t take any pictures. But I’ve seen minor improvements in the last couple of days but MINOR improvements 

You need to give this at least 6 months and closer to twelve really.

Asli Tarcan has a terrible reputation. That said you really need to give this six months to see what's going on. I've had over 8k beard grafts extracted to use with scalp hair. I don't know how many beard grafts you had extracted but it needs to be taken in a homogeneous manner and not in one central area. The good news is that you appear to have a very dense and curly beard and in the right hands I am sure in the future it could be utilized (perhaps along with body hair) to correct this IF required. Cheap surgery with problems in Turkey nearly always ends up costing you so much more in the long run.

I would add Caitlin James into the mix. 

@Laurie H this is one of the most natural results to smash MPB! 💯👊🏻

5 hours ago, Jamos1982 said:

What would be a low maintenance oral finsteride that I could take, would 0.4mg 3 times a week be enough? I’ve already lost most of my hair on top so I don’t think there is a need for 1mg a day? I also had side affects on that dose and switched to topical however I’m sick of applying it and want to try oral again. 
pic is 14months post HT 

Great result @Jamos1982 by the way. 👌

12 minutes ago, WhiteyUK said:

It’s generally just trial and error. I tried 1mg/day and got minor sides, stopped for a few weeks and tried 0.5mg/day still the same, then 0.5mg/eod with sides again. I again stopped for a few weeks then tried 0.25mg/eod about 3 months ago with No sides, I have just increased it to 0.25mg 5 days a week and as long as I stay free from sides I will remain on this dose. Everybody’s different and it’s sometimes just finding the right dose for you, but some is better than none.

If dose is not giving you side effects then I would not risk increasing it. It’s still a very effective dose to block DHT. Well done. 👌

If you can see an excellent dermatologist that would be my advice in guiding you on this. Personally you could start with 0.25mg once a week. Then say after a few weeks add another day of 0.25mg and stay on this for a few more weeks. Then I would add a third dose a few weeks later so you are taking 0.25mg three times a week. Also if you get sides they may be transitory. Ultimately it’s up to you when it comes to medication. All the best. 

I hear your anxiety but at only three weeks it’s really to soon to know for sure. Even two months is a low point in the ugly duckling phase.