Kieran2020

Yeh he is a very ethical doctor! We will see how I get on with oral minoxidil. Like I say, I am a little disappointed but sometimes doing nothing is better

Just had my consultation with Dr Bisanga, my donor density is around 70 which is about average. He said I’m too young to have a transplant at the moment which I did expect. (25 years old) What surprised me is he told me I’m only a Norwood 2, I initially told them I thought I was a 3/4!! I have been prescribed oral minoxidil to help with any miniaturisation and I will carry on to take finasteride as I have been for many years now. I can’t lie I’m a little gutted that I can’t have one as present, but I will continue with Dr Bisangas advice and pray he doesn’t retire within 10 years haha.

Finally seeing Dr Bisanga tomorrow! Super excited. Interested to hear his thoughts on topical dutasteride and oral minox. Any questions I should be asking in particular? I know there’s a thread somewhere but I can’t seem to find it @Melvin- Moderator?

Hi guys, Just a quick question with regards to having your first transplant which includes the crown. In my case personally my crown is a little thin but not to the point where it would warrant a mega amount of grafts to be transplanted. From just general advice around the forum, it probably isn’t best to get the crown included on your first procedure - and I understand the reason because you just don’t know how low your crown will dip in 20 years or so. However having looked at clinics like De Freitas, Hasson & Wong, Eugenix which are all extremely respected clinics on the forum, I’ve seen exceptions of this on patients 25-40 years old. If you compare to clinics like Dr Bisanga, Dr Ferreira who seem to usually transplant on the crown on second procedures - who are also extremely respectable clinics. I’m just trying to get clarification if personally I should be asking for a small amount of grafts in my crown. I have a in person consultation with Dr Bisanga at the start of October (extremely excited by the way 😁) and I just don’t want to seem foolish to ask the question when I meet him.

Edit

Thank you for the reply Raphael, can I send you a DM to discuss a few things?

You’re right I haven’t really considered anyone in the US at all, I know there are some good surgeons there, other than Hasson & Wong (in Vancouver) I don’t really know the top top surgeons over that side of the Atlantic. I’ll make sure to take a browse!

Haha you’re completely right, I need to be patient with the choice rather than just jump in - thank you for the advice.

Hi John, I hadn’t really considered HDC, but there’s no harm in getting an estimation from them and see what their approach would be - thanks for the suggestion!

Hi everyone, I think I’ve made my decision with regards to which surgeon to go ahead with for a procedure however wanted a little advice before taking the plunge. The 3 surgeons/clinics that I came down to were Hasson & Wong, Dr Freitas and Dr Bisanga. Out of the 3 I eliminated Hasson & Wong as it is about a 11 hour flight and thought it maybe wasn’t necessary to travel that far with the other two great surgeons being so close. Dr Bisanga is very open and honest which made me steer towards him, he has great results and is a big advocate for oral minoxidil which I wanted to give a try anyway. The only downsides are that he won’t give me an estimation online (which in all fairness, made me more confident in his opinion and professionalism) and that I haven’t seen many diffuse thinning cases carried out by him. (which are similar to my hair loss) Dr Freitas on the other hand has many diffuse thinning cases on this forum and on his website from people that are a similar age to myself (25 if you were wondering) and his results are simply stunning, in-fact some I honestly thought were genuinely too good to be true. So out of the two surgeons I’m kind of stuck, do I wait to see Dr Bisanga before making a decision (which could be months away due to Covid restrictions still) or get booked up with Dr Freitas? (Earliest appointments being July next year!) Also a little side note, thank you to Melvin and everyone on this forum - if it wasn’t for yourselves I probably would have just gone to Turkey and booked up with a hair mill. If you’re new to this forum, this is the place to find yourselves a good surgeon and ask for advice.

Perhaps the oral minoxidil speeding up the process? Congrats my friend, I’m waiting to have an in person consultation with Bisanga as I feel he’s the most open and honest surgeon around, alongside his amazing results.

These are my direct comparisons being on Propecia 1mg for 5 years. The first couple of photos are me at 18 years old (albeit not the greatest crown photo as a lot of the hair from the back of my head was covering) to me nearly at 25 years old. I was convinced I’d fully lose my hair by the time I was 21, although I feel comparing I have lost some still, I’ve definitely slowed the process - which is what my aim was in the first place.

I did some research when I had to switch earlier this year for a couple of months, from what I found in people’s experiences was that there isn’t much of a difference at all (please correct me if I’m wrong someone who is more knowledgeable). The reason I use Propecia is because it’s a well known brand, and assuming it’s made in the correct way and conditions. Maybe I’m being too paranoid? Better to be safe than sorry anyhow.

Wow I got a lot more information on fin than I thought I would for this thread haha. Much appreciated everyone for your input. I’m using Dr Fox (an online pharmacy for the UK) for my Propecia 1mg. It is important to note that I had to switch to generic fin during the first lockdown as they ran out of stock however that was back in March/April last year so maybe it didn’t make too much of a difference. Unfortunately I don’t think UK pharmacies prescribe 5mg otherwise I would probably do the same thing you are doing @ciaus as you have clearly done your research. I’m hoping to look into oral minoxidil (2.5mg) in the near future however I will have to find a doctor familiar with this prescription who thinks it is safe to do so.

Hi all, I’ve been losing my hair for about 5 years but have maintained well on 1mg finasteride daily for the majority of those years. However I had Covid around 4 months ago and have noticed my crown density has decreased quite a lot. I’m not entirely sure if it’s Covid or whether my body has adjusted to finasteride over the past years? I seem to have long Covid as I have a fast heart rate and my smell and taste is still pretty much not there. Is there anyone in a similar position/knowledgable about this that could shed some advice?