asterix0

It is actually rare dut or fin will regrow hair, they are maintenance treatments. 

The only real option to get hair back is a hair transplant, or more intense treatments that raise your estrogen levels, but the side effects for most men are too much to bear. 

19 hours ago, WhamHair said:

Thank so much for the suggestion. Will spend some time looking at his work.

4 hours ago, WhamHair said:

I would rather spend more and do it properly given that the donor supply is finite. I have definitely factored in a long waiting list - which is why I am trying to lock down a strategy in the next couple of months. That way, I am not starting this process when it becomes urgent. 

Good plan. I would look into Dr. Pitella in Brazil, given your Norwood level I think he would definitely give you as close to full coverage as you can hope for. Take a look at some of his results on this forum, there are quite a few good cases. 

2 hours ago, WhamHair said:

Not sure if this counts but I did take some homeopathic meds many years ago. Not sure what that does but I honestly didn't think I would have the hairline I do at this point. Cannot confirm if there is any correlation here at all. 

I doubt it, some people lose more in the back than in the front, it started like that for me too. Eventually the front started going as well.

Your hairline will soon disappear as well without medication, I would say probably in the next 5 years if I had to guess. 

You will need to budget a lot of money to do this properly, of course you can roll the dice at a low cost clinic, but considering how many grafts you need, I would advise you not to do this.

The problem is, the clinics you need to go to will have at least a year long waiting list.

You look like a good candidate, but keep in mind with the number of grafts you need, it will be highly unlikely you can buzz your hair that short and not have the FUE scars be visible afterwards. 

1 hour ago, Fue3361 said:

I highly doubt there is a single hair transplant that can’t be seen with careful inspection 

What real world situation will you be in where a person will be inspecting your hair up close to tell if it's a transplant, and that they would even know what to look for?

The only obvious way is if they inspected your donor area, there will be scarring there no matter what you do. 

With the right doctor yes you absolutely cannot tell.

But singles in the front, the right angles, the right asymmetry, all the components have to be on point for it to look correct. Many Turkish hair mills are a dead giveaway, as they lack all of this. 

1 hour ago, JohnnySins said:

When I grew out my hair longer, the crown was awfully visible because of how thin my hair was in that area. I told Dr.Wong I wanted as much density as possible and wanted this to be a one-and-done surgery. I assume that's why he took that approach.

 

I consulted with 3 other clinics with the same photos: Dr.Bicer who suggested 1800-2200 grafts, Vera Clinic suggested 1850-2250 grafts, and Dr.Rahal suggested 1500-2500.  All the clinics suggested more or less the same amount of grafts when seeing the photos provided. I will never know if they would have suggested more if they saw me in person.

I would have told you around 1800 grafts as well, and I'm not a hair transplant doctor just a patient who has studied hundreds and hundreds of different cases. 

Just being completely objective, it is rather shocking you were recommended 5000 grafts for, from what I can tell, if you grew your hair out a little longer no one would suspect you even have any hairloss. Particularly as it is in the crown area.

Even my full head brother, with hair wet and a shorter haircut, will look like he is thinning. Wet short hair photos in bright lighting are we all know are the harshest of visual environments. 

Nevertheless, happy growing and I hope it is a good result.

How many other doctors did you consult out of curiosity, and what were their recommendations? 

Minoxidil is like the mafia dude. Once you start it, you are in for life. 

If you quit minoxidil expect a huge shed, research what happened to other people when they quit minoxidil. 

Would you mind taking some pictures outside @general-etwan?

I ask because inside cars are the most flattering of shots, there is no light coming down on the scalp.

Hair systems I think are your only option. 

The thing is, there are ways to minimize trauma, but ultimately, especially if you are prone to scarring a certain way, the FUE scars will still be visible if you shave your head.

With intelligent donor extraction and the right tools, yes it can look better, and you can buzz your head probably down to a 2 guard, but ultimately FUE, or FUT for that matter, do kind of eliminate the possibility of shaving your head.

Maybe SMP in the donor area can solve this problem. 

@FormerFutureKrillin For that number of grafts only in the front I would have expected a better result as well, and all of your points are well stated. I don't think you are being unreasonable at all.

Now, it is a dilemma whether to go back to where you were dissatisfied with your result, I personally would look to other doctors who excel in hairline work, and I would also go for FUE instead of FUT in your case. 

Take a few days in the hotel man, don't rush out there the next day. 

Interesting you say this. I thought the molecular size of dutasteride meant it could not penetrate the scalp, hence making it useless topically. 

@Rahal Hair Transplant Do you have any examples of patients 1 year+ after surgery? Scars take a long time to form, generally shortly after surgery you will not see any.

It depends on how you scar, your hair to skin contrast ratio, a lot of things.

Generally speaking i think it would look bad without SMP, so assume you won't be able to shave down to the skin, but perhaps buzz down to a 2 guard.

What about just body weight exercises such as pushups, squats, pull ups? 

Its hard to find patients after a year who shave their head and take close up donor pictures, unless they are going for another procedure.

However, with this large number of grafts i have otherwise covered the entire Norwood 6 top area, with thinner coverage in the crown. 

So for me the trade off is probably worth it, i doubt with my skin characteristics i could have done any better.

Almost certainly with FUT i would have had keloid scarring and a stretched FUT scar.

53 minutes ago, GoliGoliGoli said:

Agree, @asterix0 would be very useful for us all if you could share pictures. 

Here is a picture of my donor 4 days after my second procedure, it comes out to 5800 or so total grafts I've had so far

Yup I see them, I don't even think he had a big session so it would look even more obvious if he did. Even though that particular picture is blurry.