Curious25

Hairline exposed front on, profile from either side, overhead, and donor?

You make some good points here Gatsby, in relation to the risks that surgery can bring, in particular poor surgery - however your particular unfortunate story, fortunately, can quite easily be avoided today in 2022. There are plenty of competent surgeons, who will not destroy a donor area with horrendous strip scars, and will yield close to 95% growth, with ethically, and aesthetically designed hairline placement. The point is, not every under 25 patient is going to end up a horror story. They need to be fully read up and understanding of all pro's, con's, limitations, sacrifices to surgery, as does any aged patient . . and they need to have a surgeon who they can maintain a close professional relationship with, in line with their progression and strategy over the years to come.

This is important - and if you can tolerate each modality without any adverse effects, then it will be important to continue with these treatments, for as long as hair loss is a concern. Dutasteride, micro needling, and topical AA's such as RU (not FDA approved, nor human studies available) are other such options you may consider, given your risk adversity. With respect, I think you are underestimating your audience here. It's a hair loss forum, where a large number have faced hair loss in their 20's, some of which, much worse than your apparent situation. I agree, the general population outside of hair loss sufferers may underestimate the negative effects - but not this community, I can assure you - which is why, when you receive advice to hold off, and not pursue an aggressive restoration immediately, it should be taken on board, and at least considered. I agree with this, to an extent. I do believe that having hair helps to aid/improve a self confidence and obviously improves aesthetic, therefore the life experiences one is involved with, between the ages of 18-40 are arguably a lot more reliant on such variables - career progression, mating, socialising, pop culture, social media, etc. not to mention the fact that peer groups within this age range are less likely to have hair loss than peer groups of 40+. I'm not discrediting that people aged 40+ don't care about their hair, because I know for a fact, that isn't true - however my point is, I don't see the point in living your life noticeably balding from aged 20 until your 40's, where you're a NW6, and then getting multiple restorations because you are 'better placed age wise' or 'your hair loss has reached its peak'. If you are at peace with this option, then I would genuinely recommend this - it will create a denser looking head of hair than any successful HT will do. However it, theres psychologically a lot more to it, than just glueing a bit of hair on, and going about your life day to day. Otherwise - I would consult with some top surgeons, but in person. Analyse your donor, look at how many lifetime grafts you have available - discuss your goals, what your limitations are, what your predicted hair loss pattern is potentially going to be, and armour yourself with as much information as possible. With this - you can together, come up with a strategy, and plan - and . . perhaps, getting a restoration in the next year or so, isn't a completely unreasonable option. A former poster on here, I can't remember his name, Jay something, was in your boat - and he successfully turned his life around, and made very rationalised decisions personal to him, which no one could fault.

This is a really great result, big congrats from me. The gifs are great - but would you be able to provide some photos when you get time?

We were the first on here to spot it - YouTubers like dominance and hairliously use these forums online to get their content. I started a Justin Bieber one also, and have observed that he’s only posted pics recently in a hat, which is interesting - however I wasn’t as sure as I was with the McGregor one.

From my own experience , alongside from what I have seen from others who have documented their experiences, and what recommending doctors such as Bisanga say - 5mg is where you need to be, to get results - however I think there is a correlation to the dose with your body weight - and I really do think easing your way up to that dosage is both sensible and effective in avoiding adverse effects. I am fortunate enough to have experienced no negative side effects this far, however I think the starting low strategy, and splitting 5mg into 2x 2.5mg dosages, over a 12hr period may have contributed towards this.

Started on 2.5mg daily for the first 6 weeks, then upped it to 5mg daily (2.5mg morning and noon) . . . I’m coming up to my 4 month mark this week, and can see noticeable improvement.

*** create the illusion of thick hairlines/temple peaks. Hair characteristics aside - the ability to create a good illusion of full density with less than the ‘market average graft quote’ for the area in question, is largely down to high graft survival and the angular placing of grafts. For me, the two doctors who I see consistently seemingly able to achieve more with less, are Dr Konior in the US, and Dr Reddy in the UK.

Come on Melvin, you’re the moderator, you can’t come out with statements like that with absolutely zero clinical data or studies to back that up.

It’s not - whilst I understand what you are getting at, the shape isn’t the same in this case. The above posted photo is more reminiscent of the hairline designs from a hair mill in the UK called KSL, see below

Use 2% Nizoral as frequently as your scalp can handle , and then on the days you don’t use it, look for a nice quality paraben free shampoo - you’re wasting your money with the ‘dht blocking’ shampoos.

Looks great for 5 months - let it grow longer on top, because you will need a slightly longer length than where it’s at just now for a better illusion of density, even when it’s fully matured … you’d be surprised at the difference a longer length makes. Are you able to post more pictures , but of your hair combed backwards , so we can see the hairline exposed ? It’s quite hard to make out your highlighted points, with the photos provided. Your donor looks incredibly strong, so I’d expect this to be a fantastic result in the months to come.

That’s what I said. And even from the more ‘conservative’ hairlines I’ve seen from him - they still tend to be more straighter and flatter than a BHR ‘conservative’ hairline - which I don’t think is a bad thing, it’s just an observation of tendency in designs between the two. I do think you should post more current work or encourage patients to post on here (something I know for a fact that BHR does, they encourage patients to post reviews online before results have even grown in, which accounts for why there is such a wide body of patient posted BHR work on here). Yea you’ve pretty much interpreted all of what I meant very well. Both a good docs, but this industry tends to go through waves and phases of ‘trending doctors’, and over the last 3-4 years, Bisanga has certainly been ‘trending’ more than Rahal. I would personally favour BHR, solely because I have seen a lot more recent patient posted work, and know a lot more about BHR’s practice and services, due to the high level of interaction Bisanga has with Melvin on IG lives and from the patients and reps he has that are very active on this forum. In terms of who’s ‘better’ - I wouldn’t have a clue. Your choice of surgeon is more about narrowing it down to who makes you feel the most confident in your decision.

Ever seen the wizard of oz? Pretty much that.

If the focus is on educating prospective patients about what to look for in patient posted reviews, in order to ascertain the reliability etc. - I think it would be beneficial to offer an alternative perspective and perhaps analyse some well documented reviews of results that haven’t turned out to be so favourable, and look at diagnosing why this can happen, and how to avoid. On an additional note, I’m sorry if offence was caused - but if you knew the content of the video in question, you would understand why peoples first reaction was as such.

Yes, it takes away any form of prestige or merit that association aspires to have. He’s a dinosaur in a new era of the game. If your social media skills aren’t up to scratch, and you still think spending hours with an obnoxious charlatan on a radio show is a good way to reach out to people, you will be left well behind in the starting blocks, no matter how much knowledge you may have to offer. Are you a rep for Konior? I know you’ve had all your surgeries there, but you seem to know an awful lot about him, and I’ve noticed you seem to pop up on pretty much every thread whenever his name is mentioned - which suggests you may actively search for his name on the site?

My observations; Bisanga Favours more a-symmetry, I haven't seen a great deal of patient posted temple point work Has a unique style of temple closure, (which is subjective) Has had many patient posted hairline cases on here over the last 4 years Seems to achieve pretty consistently high growth yields Transplants into native hair areas, not just bald areas - which produces more fluid zonal transition Rahal 4-5 years ago had the online reputation of being 'hairline king' Favours more straighter, youthful and aggressive hairline and temple point design (when candidates permit for this) Dense packs well On this particular site, I can only think of Toronto Man from recent times, as a patient posted thread - very good result Edit - I should add, Bisanga seems to achieve early growth in a very high number of his patients, which despite what people will lead you to believe, anecdotally I do think there is a correlation between early growth and knock out results - despite it not being a categorical 'make it or break it' factor in terms of achieving a good result, as we all know, people grow at different rates etc etc. But people with early growth from months 2.5-month 4 . . typically always have very good overall results, and this happens frequently on BHR patients on here.

Very much so. I felt like it was most likely to be a low key attack on CHI's pricing structure, and the fact that they aren't bothered by being a part of the 'IAHRS' - which for anyone who doesn't know what that is, it is a bullshit attempt of creating a supposedly 'elite hair transplant doctor' association, founded by a man with no medical background, and hasn't even underwent hair restoration surgery himself . . just spouts a load of drivel on a weekly radio show because he evidently enjoys having a platform to listen to the sound of his own nauseating voice. I also feel it's very coincidental this video has been put up in such close proximity to the JT video, particularly when both CHI doctors have been included in it. Oh well, another day in the hair loss school yard.

Where are you located ?

You really need to go and see a doctor specialising in hair loss, and by that, I mean, not just a generic dermatologist, but someone who only deals with hair, specifically. Your CV certainly sounds a complicated one, so the best advice you will receive on an online forum such as this one, would be help with shortlisting doctors you could go and see, rather than any actual input as to what ‘could’ be the reason . . It will just lead to uneducated speculation and most likely lead you down a rabbit hole of possibilities and what if’s, which will in my mind probably cause more stress than aid.

Yes, minoxidil is minoxidil, regardless of its form.

This

Great result, even more so impressive given the modest graft count for size of area. Hows your regime holding up?

Given your age, level of loss, and quality of donor (from the photos provided) . . . I would be steering clear of a hair transplant at the moment, and certainly of any doctors who would agree to perform a surgery on you. Read around this forum for a few weeks, gather an idea of the top surgeons in areas that you are able to travel to, and I would advise you to go for an in person consultation to have a thorough trichoscopic analysis.

Does anyone do this , eg a MWF protocol, weekly protocol, or just a more regular very low dosage, eg daily 0.025%. Any success ?