Curious25

Impressive

I wouldn’t have thought Bisanga’s prices to be double of Mwamba’s? All the top FUE surgeons in Europe outside of the UK, have a very similar price structure as far as I am aware, however I stand to be corrected. I also echo the above comments . . trying to haggle for a discount with an acclaimed surgeon, whilst not being unreasonable to initially ask whilst going through the consultation stages with the rep, shouldn’t really be a make it or break it IMO when selecting a surgeon. You are paying to undergo a surgical procedure with a medically trained professional, not buy a carpet from a market stall in Morocco.

The daily application is also a somewhat unappealing prospect for topical AA’s - however with topical dutasteride , I would plan to apply it once every 12-15 days, and leave it on for only 4 hours. That is somewhat manageable, IMO, in terms of adding in a topical. Your plan is most likely what I will go for . . And then down the line, look at adding in something new if needs be, and we have days to assess. Would part of you question, if topical DUT doesn’t have an impact systemically, whether or not it is doing anything at all up top?

Low dht relative to high dht is a good thing in terms of hair loss, however as J previously pointed out, the larger factor at play is one’s follicular sensitivity to DHT. With regards to even lower DHT, yes for hair loss, a good thing - for my body, potentially not , potentially not a problem . . However ideally, I’d like to try and at least keep within ‘range’.

Hi mate, Yea totally agree with you, it most certainly boils down to follicular sensitivity, hence the reason I annoyingly have a plethora of NW 1 mates, who regularly run quite a lot of gear. I guess what I was looking for, were consensus’s of what approach most people would take in my shoes. There’s obviously nothing concrete to say by dropping my levels further, it will negatively impact me side effect wise, however, sitting already at the lower end of the generic reference range, I am understandably a little more cautious than perhaps someone who had more room to reduce, for lack of a better phrase. The mechanisms of topical AA’s really appeal to me, as they probably do to most. Whether or not, alone, they are strong enough to contend with the hormone side of the battle, again, likely to be on a case by case basis - however with low end serum DHT, I would fancy my chances of fending off enough DHT with some of the stronger binding affinity topicals available - hence my great interest in Kintor right now.

My father is NW 5 diffuse , however with long hair, so it looks ok for his age. My mums father NW 6, to probably a NW 7 now at the age of 80+

I should also add - topical dutasteride could be a consideration, if claims it reduces serum DHT on average by only 10% are true, however, lack of available data, places it effectively on the same league as the topical AA’s such as RU, from an efficacy standpoint. Obviously from a safety standpoint, you could argue the drug itself is a proven safe alternative.

Hi Everyone, So I got results back from blood work recently, however only today got my DHT result. For those familiar with reading bloods, I am only just within reference range by a scrape of a toothpick at 0.44 ng/ml (ref range 0.33 - 1.2), or 1.51 nmol.l (ref range 1.14 - 4.13). Simple maths would show that if I was to inhibit this by even 30%, which is what Dr Hassons new topical formula of Finasteride claims, it will take me out of range, which is not what I particularly fancy doing - on top of this, many blood work results I have seen from finasteride or dutasteride users, actually show their DHT levels higher than my own despite the suppression, which, whilst I appreciate these things are always on a case by case basis, suggests to me, that I may just have particularly sensitive follicles, as opposed to an obliteration of free DHT roaming around inside. So . . the obvious option to me, when considering how to tackle this from the hormonal side of things, would be to look into topical AA's, again, hardly ideal, considering the lack of safety data and sourcing of the products, however the mechanism of how they work is probably just what I need, given that we can see I have comparable levels of DHT to patients using 5AR inhibitor medication - the 'community' gold standard, suggests bringing your DHT down, and then mopping away the elevation of testosterone with a topical AA. I am just over 2 months in on oral minoxidil, first 6 weeks at 2.5mg daily, then upped it to 5mg daily, via 2x 2.5mg administrations. Nizoral 2x per week, Diffusing in a NW5 pattern, hairline transplant in 2016. What do I do?

This is what it’s all about 👌🏻

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/topic/58212-raymond-konior-md-chicago-hair-institute-2092-graft-hairline-restoration/?tab=comments#comment-560905 Near identical case to you, albeit further advanced.

Here’s your answer. Look for stick and place method surgeons. Nice hair calibre by the way, it will help massively achieve some nice coverage.

Very unlikely a final result occurs at 5 months - even for the fastest of growers. It’s totally normal for post transplant hair growth to come in waves, usually people notice a big difference when the sprouts start coming in . . And then a month or so passes and the sprouts are longer in length and thicker in diameter, resulting in another ‘wave’ of change . . . Then a month or two afterwards, further maturation often creates the final wave of noticeable change. As you are seeing yourself day in day out, it goes without saying, it will also be harder for you to detect change. But one day you’ll be doing your hair after showering , and it will just hit you, that your hair has totally transformed. Have a look at Bisangas early growing cases on here from the last 2-3 years (he often has patients on here posting quicker than usual growth) . . Some look great at 4,5,6 months . . However even by months 10,11,12 they have notably improved.

This has the most promise and potential in my mind. Hopefully we will have access to the phase 2 safety data v soon. I think when one understands the mechanisms of how topical AA's work - if proven to be safe, and efficacious, there wouldn't really be a market for 5AR inhibiters ever again.

To me - that hairline to temple closure, is indicative of a transplant. Bisanga's hairlines are similar to this - I'm not speculating he went there, but I'm using it as an example of what to look for.

I agree, he has almost certainly use concealer in the past - however if you look at my previous post on this topic within this thread, I think there is sufficient evidence to claim he's had a hairline transplant. Look at some of his recent photos on his Instagram, to me its clear there has been a surgical intervention on his hairline.

Haha - I quite like this transofmation, makes a huge difference for sure. Give him a second pass of a few more grafts into his frontal mid section, and he will be looking stellar!

Donor looks untouched - scarring barely visible even zoomed in at that length, very impressive. Growth well and truly under way now as well - by month 6 you will be rocking a Mane 😎

I’d still love to know where Beckham went. McGregors approaching the initial growth period I noticed from one of his insta posts the other day, he has fully shed all implanted grafts it seems.

Congrats on the surgery Gatsby, after such a long and patient wait . . and now I will look forward to following your case. All the best for the recovery.

Unfortunately this is precisely why bloodwork should be carried out, pre, during, and post (if applicable) starting on any kind of medication that alters hormonal profiles - otherwise it is just a guesswork exercise of trial and error up until feeling yourself again. If you don't know whats at play under the bonnet, then how are you to realistically diagnose whats going on? I'm sorry you have been let down in this case - any doctor that prescribes this sort of medication without the recommendation or even insistence of carrying out blood work beforehand, is negligible.

Considering we are now 7 years on from you being 35, it could well be your natural decline in hormone levels - did you get blood tested before commencing in 2015? And have you ran bloods now ? Best way to diagnose , and pin point what’s going on,

It’s a no from me. An absolutely no way, no. Zero patient posted results or testimonials, and he’s only been active on the forum for a couple of months at most. No difference to admiring his (admittedly impressive) self published results, to being wowed by Hair of Istanbuls flashy Instagram page. If the forum doesn’t maintain the standards it once prided itself upon, RE. The Recommended Surgeon List, then what credibility can it realistically hold within the industry? Tbh - the recommended surgeon list should be reviewed on a frequent basis as there are doctors on here who haven’t themselves posted, or had patients of theirs post results in years. Nothing personal against this particular Dr, just providing the rationality that this place needs from time to time.

Looking great hermano - just as impressive as all the YouTube vids we have infamously all seen! Very pleased for you, and thank you for coming back to update us.

Looking great Hugo!

Well this is going to turn out amazing - your hair calibre and pattern of loss is perfect for a great transplant result. Fun starts now !