asterix0

He probably could have gone a long time without being on meds, but nevertheless, to him $10k vs $50k is pocket change, especially for getting the procedure right and preserving his donor for future work.

It is crazy a guy with Nadal's resources and importance to keep his appearance did not go to a top clinic. He could have easily skipped the waiting list by paying more $ at any of the top doctors.

Well, probably even you and I could do it a few times. The key is to have the stamina and focus to do it thousands and thousands of times in consecutive time intervals. This seems very hard to do.

There is a transition zone, let's say from norwood 4 until becoming slick bald, where there is a perception that you are essentially holding on to something that is not worth salvaging. Meaning, those who shave it off at that point are perceived as confident because they are not living in a delusion that their norwood 4, unstylable hair with bald spots looks good enough to display in public. Now, I disagree with this notion, and I never judged anyone by their hair or lack-thereof, and that was before I even started losing my hair very quickly. It just seemed like a very superficial and unfair way to characterize people. However, our society collectively is very much judgmental and cruel, and I quickly realized that my idealized notions were far from the pragmatic reality I saw.

The thing is, the device is only as good as the person using it. You cannot automate its usage like an ARTAS robot for example. How I understand it, it is gentle enough to dislodge the graft where a precise hand movement is then required to pluck it out without causing too much damage. Imagine pulling a carrot out of the ground for example. The tool will make the surrounding soil more loose, but you still have to pull out the carrot in the right manner without damaging the other nearby carrots.

This forum is "pro" finasteride because of the nature of the forum. We are dissatisfied with being bald and took drastic action of very expensive surgeries with a large time commitment to try to restore our hair. Popping a pill with a relatively good track record of safety is additional insurance that this investment pays off. Many surgeons don't even recommend oral finasteride, you can always try topical if oral is not for you. I also wish I didn't have to take this drug. I just value my hair more than the potential side effects, which I have not had for over 8 years of taking it.

Sometimes finasteride can strengthen a weakened donor in high norwood patients, which gives more healthy grafts for a surgeon to use. Also, there is evidence that hair transplants, in some patients who are particularly sensitive to DHT in their recipient areas, may thin over time. Finasteride is extra insurance policy of helping the DHT resistant, not DHT proof, standing the test of time and growing healthy.

Lol, saying a doctor is "better" than another because he would take you as a candidate sight unseen, vs one that said they need to see you in person first is absolutely absurd logic.

To get an idea how much approximately 8000 grafts "should" look like, although you have finer hair caliber, do a search through here for high quality high Norwood cases and try to best approximate the yield. However, the hair length will be different, combovers and all that will make the illusion stronger, but that is what we have to do as high Norwoods to make the illusion of density as best as possible. I do it myself. Buzz cut + light SMP is also a good option in case things don't go as planned.

So Dr. Yaman didn't do the full procedure himself? Also, have you looked through recent results of his on this website, I think he has had some poor ones? You still have time for improvement so don't worry just yet, months 6-7 you will notice the biggest changes.

Scarring seems too much for only 1000 grafts. If you don't wish to name the clinic, can you share how much you paid?

Yeah, I think that looks better personally than what you have now. Just trying to be honest and helpful. If you like your current style better then disregard my opinion 🙂

Bro I would grow it out to this length and despite having a bald midscalp, throw some fibers on there in the meantime and do the best you can until your next procedure.

My only question is, eventually let's say you straight greying/going white, how will the smp contrast look with white hair?

This is my backup plan if finasteride fails and I go full on to Norwood 6/7 and run out of donor.

Man I hope you can get your situation resolved, hoping for the best that you can get a good outcome and fix this mess. Melvin is right, probably you will need 2 surgeries. I wouldn't risk using all of your donor in one home run shot mega session.

https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5243dccde4b08fd9e4fc92ef/t/59e4edc7aeb625b59357ee10/1508175305807/sa+Oct+16+2017.pdf Conclusion The concept of senescent alopecia is still open to some debate amongst experts. The studies by Karnik give credence to the unique position of these two conditions. But studies by Whiting suggested that it is not so simple as to say anyone with new thinning after age 60 has SA - many of these are also more in keeping with androgenetic alopecia. As one ages into the 70's, 80's and 90's - hair loss in the form of true senescent alopecia becomes more likely.

I think senile alopecia is what you are referring to? Yes, that is probably a 10% or so natural reduction in density. But I think if you get to that age, still it is better to have some more hair on top, I don't know what age it really starts to thin like that, probably a man's 70s if he makes it that far in life.

What side effects did you get from topical fin? Are you sure it wasn't placebo effect?

Growth should pick up significantly now through month 6, you've made it through the toughest part 👍

would you mind sharing a top down view? From your angles it is impossible to get some notion of the yield.

Considering you were slick bald and a norwood 6 or so, this is an amazing recovery so far!

Harsh light will always be tough on transplants, especially in bathrooms where it's directly on top of your head.

I would like to hear Dr. Pinto's opinion on the true growth timeline, is there such a concept as slow growers and how rare are they in his estimation, some say that by 6 months your transplant (especially the hairline and midscalp) will pretty much be what you get.

You will get scars if you shave your head, everyone scars differently but the good thing is that with the homogenous extraction and smaller punch size, it is much, much less noticeable than one would think if the donor is grown out to like a 1-2 guard. However, some donor scars are still much, much better as a trade off with having hair on top 😀