TrialAcc

Is this based on my post in the identity thread? I've shaved my head recently to try it out, but I'm still a NW2.5 and it's not a true representation of what it will be like being NW4+ bald. No one has treated me any different. My good friend went full on shave bald NW5 before we finished university (around 22), and I've based a lot of my experiences with how to approach becoming bald by watching the absolute masterclass in confidence this guy has put on over the last 5 years. He's not even an overly good looking guy, yet I've watched him pick up girls in bars, date girls well above his league and recently get engaged to one of them, all while crushing it career wise. It made me realize how much of this is mental vs actually reality. In today's age, no one really gives a shit that you're bald. Sure, some (most?) girls you try and approach might not find it as attractive as a perfect head of hair, but the vast majority of the pressure comes from within. People might even make comments or small jokes, but similarly to what I said in the identity thread, they only will feel like daggers/harmful because in the end you hadn't accepted that you are bald and that there is nothing wrong with that. Once you get past that hill, it's smooth sailing.

These are the threads where the community loses me. I do agree that hairloss is a debilitating thing to go through, and I've also been a big "hair guy" in the sense that I've loved to style it my whole life. Never once since I realized I was losing my hair have I felt for a second that I'm losing my "identity" though. While I don't begrudge others for feeling different, I think the healthy thing to do is accept it and move on (even if moving on is to a HT). People love to bring up the idea of being referred to as "the bald guy" as if that some how becomes your identity. The only reason you think this consumes your identity is because you simply have a negative connotation or image of yourself as "the bald guy". Let me ask you a question, before you lost your hair and people would describe you as "the black/white/brown/etc guy", "the guy with brown/black/blonde hair", "the skinny/fat/tall/short guy", were those things ever your full identity? Were you at a loss of identity at being called by one of your descriptive features that couldn't be changed? Or does that only occur when it's something you've lost? It's cliche as fuck, but being confident in yourself and defining your own identity by who you are rather then an aspect of your appearance that's in the larger scheme of things, out of your control, is the healthy thing to do. Hairloss has given me a greater appreciation of that, and while I do love having hair, if I have to come to the realization that I'm a poor HT candidate and shave my head for good in the next few years I'll do so without feeling any negative way towards my sense of identity.

Like others have said, I don't think you should do anything major. If you really want to do something maybe you could look into a minor procedure to add a tiny bit of density to the hairline, but otherwise you have a pretty normal looking head of hair for a guy in their 20s. Also, your transplanted hair has not miniaturized/thinned. You've just lost the native hair in that area and you're left with the transplant hair. What you really need to do is get on finasteride if you aren't and are comfortable doing so, as this is going to be the biggest impact on keeping hair on your head.

Johnny Depp has one of the most obvious (better) hair transplants in hollywood. Some people have better ones, like Cooper, but anyone who can tell what HTs look like knows Depp has had his front redone. It was going 25 years ago. All you have to do is look and you'll see them all over the place. Here's Tom Hardy, notice anything besides the off density on top? I'll give you a hint, there's a well faded strip scar visible on both sides. Chris Evans with some very obvious density differences with a shaven head;

I did see someone on another forum from Calgary who got it prescribed. The compounding pharmacy didn't have any yet to mix, though. I'll shoot you a PM.

Yeah I'd be open to that. Another option could be finding a dermatologist/hair doctor & compounding pharmacy that would just custom mix a higher dose then the 1% that's prescribed for acne. Might be more expensive but it would be 100% pure/safe and in the intended vehicle.

I wish I had taken the same lead as you and gone for a consult last summer, but I wasn't as actively thinking about getting something done as I am now. It's not going to be a popular view on here but I've come to view a frontal FUE as paying for an additional 10~ years of good looking hair. Even if no further treatments, cloning, etc came out and I ran out of grafts and had to shave my head as I approached 40~, I think I'd be okay with that trade off for the price and possibility of visible scaring on the donor zone. As for CB, I have similar thoughts as you do. I know it might not be as fully efficacious as RU or some other topical AAs, but seeing that it has safety data available I would much rather attempt to use CB then RU, even if it wont be an effective long term treatment. The 99$ a gram and purity question has been another hold up for me, because I also saw someone post the test results for Anagen and it was under 50% purity.

Thanks again for the reply. I agree 100%. The amount of people who are willing to cut costs on things like this blows my mind. That being said, there are a lot of doctors in Canada/US that charge ridiculous prices and don't have the results to back it up. For guys like H&W and Rahal though, it's well worth it. I also saw you were contemplating CB. Where were you looking to source it from?

Damn, a bit pricey but the work speaks for itself. Did Dr. Rahal preform a miniaturization test on you to see what your future donor supply would be? I saw you said it was around 8000~ total but I was just curious if they were just estimating or if they checked.

Oh just because they said you could do another 2 FUE. So I was just assuming it was 2 equal or slightly smaller FUEs

Awesome, make sure you keep us updated to see how it turns out. You must have a great donor zone because it sounds like you have another 6k~ grafts available or so and should be able to fill in the rest.

Damn man unreal work. I'm a Toronto man myself, a year younger then you with somewhat similar loss that's just gone a bit closer to NW3. I'm really thinking about booking a consultation with Rahal myself. How much roughly did you pay per graft?

Work looks really good to me, I think you're going to be very happy with the end result. The decision to only rebuild the front is 100% the right one, as that will make by and large the most difference in the long-term outlook of your hair. Did they mention how many more grafts you might have for crown work?

You can defiantly get a HT earlier then 35, anywhere into your upper 20s is where it starts to become a realistic option. The problem is the more hair you lose and the more you will lose (future pattern) will determine what a realistic outcome of the procedure will be. For example if you have stabilized your hairloss and are approaching 30 you can get a minor FUE HT to build any loss in the hairline. On the other hand, if you're approaching 30 and are also approaching a full NW5 you're looking at 2-3 major procedures with much more conservative possible outcomes and probably the suggestion of a FUT depending on your donor capacity. I would 100% be trying to go for maintenance/prevention if I were you. You never know how the technology will improve or if other treatments will come out down the line that youl be able to add as well. Your hairloss isn't that bad (yet) and can probably easily be salvaged.

I added to my post after you replied, check out the edit.

Looks like NW4-5 based on your shaved head pictures. If you're planning to get consults from HT doctors they can probably do a miniaturization test in the NW6 zone to see if there's any indication that you'd go further. Are you on medication? If you started fin+min you might be able to improve a bit and hold for years. I started fin when I was in about the exact same spot as you at around 21, and now I'm 28 and only lost ground because I ran out of fin for 3-4 months and couldn't get a new script cause of covid lockdowns, otherwise at 27 I was almost 100% maintained 5-6 years later on just finasteride. At 22 you should be looking for the prevention route far more then the HT route because no ethical doctor is going to work on you with the hair you currently have. You're hairline is like a lightly thinned out NW1.5 and your crown looks untouched when your hair is longer. Not in the realm of surgery for a 22-25 year old.

Will do. Are you doing anything to treat?

Hmm I wonder if I should get checked for this, I have insane itch and red spots where I'm losing it.

You've had 4 procedures and haven't learned that hair transplants 99% revolve around planning for the worst case scenario? Otherwise every single HT patient would be getting 5k+ grafts into their front section. I'm not saying my opinion is free of bias, but there is a reason the number 1 thing quoted around here is that hair transplants are about setting realistic expectations. You called it mediocrity, but the different between filling in that hairline to near perfect density and having a bald crown for the rest of your life could be the difference in that 1k~ grafts. That's why it makes sense to develop plans with surgeons to address possible worse case scenarios.

Does yours also mirror MPB/AGA? Combination of both?

Amazing results. I didn't know cicatrical alopecia had a measurable scale. Why does it mirror the norwood scale? Or is it just AGA sped up by cicatricial?

It's highly selfish and biased of you to view this from a personal experience. Obviously this next procedure isn't going to consume 6k grafts, but if/when the forelock/middle goes its going to take ~3k+ to fill it and the middle front density will have to match the temples. Then he's at 6k+. What if his donor supply is 7k? 1k left to fill in the entire crown and possibly sides if hes an advanced NW? If you had the grafts to get aggressive and design a dream hairline then that's awesome that you were a perfect candidate. Most people are not NW1 hairline HT candidates. It's not that people accept mediocrity either, it's that people with advanced hairloss have no choice but to accept it because there is literally no other option.

Probably because if he's losing his hair and using grafts on things like this he's doomed long term? What's he going to do down the line when he can't fill in the crown because he's got 6k grafts in his front/mid section? The vast majority of people on here would consider that surgery a home run.

I honestly just don't understand this result, it's incredible. Was your final balding pattern around a NW4.5? H&W is in my backyard, maybe I should just get a consult lol

Based on the last 2 pictures I would say this is easily going to look amazing. I would not be concerned at what the density will look like at all.