TrialAcc

I feel like the SMP really adds to this one because of well it was done, amazing job!

2 minutes ago, jjbluejeans said:

@TrialAcc I am currently 39, about to turn 40. I forget my exact age when I did my first procedure, the one with Dr. Wasserbauer. I was maybe 27 or 28?

I'm not sure how to assess my donor supply. There's a photo of the back of my head and sides from just this week in my last update in the thread, though. I know that originally my latest surgery with Dr. Diep was planned for only 1500 grafts originally but he managed to work a lot more in. He had been honest with me prior to surgery though that he didn't want to do much more than that because he wanted to leave "Something for later." So I don't know if that means my donor is still good? 

As to my crown, my very first surgery with Dr. Wasserbauer kept my hairline very close to what it was, even though it was more or less gone. Instead I asked her to focus on keeping a nice, consistent density all throughout my scalp, so she definitely kept the distribution of graft equal between "reinforcing" my hairline and filling in the crown and rest. 

Lastly, on the topic of "hair systems," yeah, those aren't uncommon, but I knew that for me I wanted the real thing. I do a lot of action roles and I didn't want to be in a position of constantly running back to hair and makeup for touchups. 

 

Right on man, yeah I guess you still have some grafts in the donor area if he wanted to "leave some". Normally I thought you'd get a hard estimate from the doctor (I havn't had one done so I'm not sure). Thanks again! Definitely update as the new work grows in!

9 minutes ago, jjbluejeans said:

@TrialAcc Definitely, friend. I don't know if you've been back to this post now that I finished the story, but I have a lot of flexibility now letting my hair go long or keeping it shaved. No one's ever looked at my shaved head even after having two FUEs and remarked on anything about it. Sometimes I think it'll be ironic if I am now able to grow my hair but casting directors just prefer me bald, haha. 
 

I just saw it right before you replied! Thanks again for sharing the story, I always find it great to see complete comebacks from people who were already in a good spot mentally but wanted to see what they could do. Bonus points that you have very minimal scaring and can still shave it no problem. I hope you update the thread as it grows in because it looks like itl be great, and already was. 

A few more quick questions; How old are you now and when you got the first procedure? How was your donor supply in total? Lastly, was any work done into your crown? I find it very surprising to see that you were NW4~+ in your mid 20s and that the loss seems to have just stopped there. 

And lastly lastly, an ex-girlfriend of mine worked in make up in the film industry and told me that hair pieces were very common even on big actors. Was this ever a consideration of yours? Do you see a lot of it in the industry?  

It looks like you have another post coming, so I'm eager to see how it turned out. Either way, you defiantly rocked the shave head look and it's great to see that you owned it and accepted it and approached the HTs from a place of acceptance. I'm hoping that if I go down the HT route it will be from the same place. 

3 hours ago, Hair038 said:

Hey all,

So I had my first HT in 2016. It was an FUT procedure and achieved approximately 4700 grafts. This could be my own personal bias, but it seemed to me that in 2016 FUT was 'better' than FUE for the following reasons:

1. It was cheaper (half the price of an FUE procedure for the same # of grafts)

2. You could get larger graft yields (3-5000 grafts in a single procedure (mega-session) as compared to only around a max of 2000 grafts for an FUE procedure)

3.  Generally, survival rate of grafts harvested was higher for FUT than for FUE

4. Over multiple procedures, a higher graft count could be achieved with FUT because each procedure affected a smaller donor area than FUE

 

I'm currently looking to have a second procedure done. In the initial research that I've done, it seems to me that FUT is out and FUE is the main procedure currently being performed in most clinics. I've noticed that clinics that used to promote FUT procedures are not even offering them anymore. Has FUE made advances in regards to some of the 'cons' that I've listed above? I know the big knock against FUT was that it left a visible linear scar. But as I understood it FUE creates scarring as well (albeit less noticeable than FUT). If I found a clinic that offered both procedures, would FUT be worth it for the reasons mentioned above?

Seems that everything you wrote is still true. Generally cheaper (especially in North America), larger yields and life-time graft counts, slightly higher survival rate. Also one thing that you didnt mention is that the hair from FUT is taken from the safest of areas on the head, the very middle of the donor zone where almost no one loses much hair. FUE can be taken from the entire donor region and if you're destined for a higher NW some of these hairs might still miniaturize once transplanted. 

I think FUE is a great option if you have less severe balding patterns (or at least have a good idea where you'll end up from family history) or if you're assessed to have a high quality donor region. Also for some, the large scar and a bit more intensive surgery is a deal breaker and there isn't anything wrong with that. The FUT scar is basically the only thing preventing me from taking the plunge myself. Worried to get FUE because I'm unsure of my final pattern and rather just shave my head then not be able to get complete results from HTs. 

On 3/23/2021 at 12:55 PM, hybonix said:

Good advice. Rogaine is for people who have noticeable loss and want to regain some ground. However, new studies and anecdotal evidence is showing that oral minoxidil may be more effective than finasteride... People are growing more hair than oral Fin, and Australia is running with it.

Oral min is the best treatment you can actually be on for getting regrowth that can be obtained from a prescription without serious hormonal intervention, the key word being regrowth. Nothing (yet) will replace fin for stopping loss though, at least not until a solid topical AA hits the market. The issue is that oral min is also no walk in the park as an oral medication. The list of potential (even serious) sides is huge. 

On 3/25/2021 at 8:35 AM, BeHappy said:

 

I went through this. I was losing my hair at a very young age in the 1980s. I was doing the massive combover and it was getting to the point where I couldn't even do that anymore because I would have to make my part so far down the side of my head and let it grow so long to get it to cover the entire top that it was getting to be ridiculous. I couldn't shave my head because that was only for skin head neo nazis. I definitely did not want to look like that. What option was there? It's easy now for someone to say "you should have just shaved your head", but you can't compare todays time to 35 years ago.

Even now while most people say it's OK to shave your head, if you're 20 years old with a shaved head you are still not going to get many dates with anyone under 30, so it still matters a LOT to younger men. Joe Rogan is 50 something. It's easy for him now to say "Just shave your head" now that he is past the point of trying to be young and get noticed.

 

Have to disagree man. One of my best friends went full shave bald before we were out of university (22). The guy has had nothing but success with girls since then, dating/hooking up with his fair share and now at 28 is engaged to a gorgeous girl. He's maybe a 7/10~ at best as a bald guy, but also insanely confident. 

I'm not saying it's irrelevant whether you have hair or not. Many girls, especially those under 30 are pretty picky about that type of thing at first glance, so sure, dating apps are probably not your friend, but in the end you can be just as successful with girls/life as a young bald guy as you would with hair these days. Joe is basically saying just that. If hair is going to be the deciding factor on whether or not you had a happy/successful life (youth), then you were probably not going to have a happy/successful life anyways because there will always be something to point out as the cause of your misery. 

That being said, I think hair transplants are a great option for some people. I'm on here myself because I want to know if it's the right choice for me, BUT, if it's not, I'm not going to live out my days as a miserable person who thinks that hair would solve all my problems. 

Yeah pretty normal to have a few months of shedding on finasteride. There is some natural things you could sort of look into instead of minoxidil, but their efficacy is going to be a crap shoot. Things like topical melatonin, castor oil (topical or oral) or peppermint oil(?) are sometimes mentioned. 

From self experience, castor oil seems to work decently at speeding up hair growth and pulling more hairs out of the resting phase. 

2 minutes ago, hairhairhair2541 said:

And what was the source of your topical fin?

Minoxidilmax fin + min. 

1 hour ago, hairhairhair2541 said:

That's literally the claim made in the video I linked of Dr. Wesley though. Are you saying you've tried his before and you have blood tests to prove it wrong?

Yes I got my serum DHT tested before/3 months after switching from Oral fin to topical and it was only slightly higher. This means topical fin was having almost just as strong of a systematic effect as taking the pill. 

On 2/8/2021 at 7:28 PM, DenverBuff1989 said:

I'm not sure of any red-handed evidence Tom Brady has had work done. But IMO he has. Is it all just a big giant coincidence that 90% of celebrities, athletes, other 1%'ers have flawless hair? When by age 50 85% of normal men have some degree of hairloss? 

Obviously there are the Jeff Bezos of the world who just dont give af, so perhaps there is that. 

It's not a coincidence, most of them are using world class hair-pieces and extensions lol. Coming from friends of mine in the make up/film/production industry, the amount of big names using hair pieces is shockingly high. 

On 2/8/2021 at 8:53 PM, Harry Bosch said:

He is a curious case. Deceptive photography over the years.

If you look at pictures from his senior year at Michigan and his first few years with the Pats, he was experiencing noticeable loss.

I think he wisely hopped on meds and had a good response. He grew his hair out in 2009 and 2010; I suspect somewhere in that window he had work done on his frontal third + a conservative hairline. Probably FUE bc there are many photos of him with a fade cut but no FUT scar.

He has always had those concave temples, but in 2019 (his last year in NE) and 2020 with Tampa, his temples look reframed. I’m guessing another minor procedure.

We certainly know he has the resources.  His teammate Wes Welker got a transplant ~2015 with Robert Leonard, who has done a number of Boston-area athletes and celebrities.

The way this guy looked when he was younger, I honestly think he had thyroid issues that he got sorted out that were affecting his hair, among other things. His facial structure and the water weight he was holding in cheeks/jaw looked exactly like my brother who had the same issues. Once he started treatment his hair vastly improved and he dropped the water retention, just like Brady did on both fronts. 

Probably also got on fin in his early 20s and responded well, his dads bald so I'm sure he saw the warning signs. 

5 minutes ago, hairhairhair2541 said:

That's what any topical formula is promising though. You didn't really answer my other questions.

Yeah except it doesn't work like that for other topicals. Topical fin goes fully systematic, I have my own blood tests to prove it. 

I didn't answer the other questions because I have no idea about how the Dr sells it, I don't use it myself, just heard the buzz. 

Am I missing something? Why are people advising this guy to take fin? A front angle with the brow up might say otherwise but this is not a receding hairline based on these pictures. His velus hairs along the hairline just look like a standard transition to a mature hairline.

Finasteride is probably fine but seriously dude, DO NOT start minoxidil. Save it for when you actually need it if you notice significant thinning and need to get back some ground. All you need to do now (if you're receding at all) is maintain. Minoxidil will trigger large sheds as it syncs the hair cycles of your follicles, and you might get your hair hooked on a topical you never even needed. 

On 2/27/2021 at 8:44 PM, EvoXOhio said:

Not everyone needs fin or dut to stabilize, or they have side effects from it and can’t take it. So for some minoxidil may stabilize their loss. 

It's impossible to stabilize your hair loss using minoxidil. You're hair will be getting damaged even if it appears more dense/thick for a period of time. 

You need fin/dut or a topical AA. 

10 hours ago, hairhairhair2541 said:

Could you reiterate this? I don't fully understand you.

It means that the DHT in the hair dropped significantly but body (blood) DHT did not to the same degree as if you had taken an oral dosage of the drug. Most of the side effects (if you were prone to them) come from the systematic suppression of DHT, so theoretically topical dut would be a more safe treatment. 

On 3/6/2021 at 11:55 PM, hairhairhair2541 said:

He doesn't seem to have the same mixture, just fin as a liquid.

Mwambas is better, it's liposomal. Supposed to be more difficult to go systematic yet still great results at scalp DHT reduction. Highly recommended by people who are using it and have blood tests to show that serum DHT is effected even less then on just oral finasteride. 

17 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Depends on the individual, there shouldn’t be blanket statements. Everyone is different, I had my first HT at 29 same age as Joe, except I had 4x the number of grafts, which has resulted in me having way more hair.

At the time he had an HT the maximum surgeons would transplant was a few hundred grafts at a time. To compare his experience in the late 80s early 90s to a 29 year old in 2021 is ludicrous.

When this website was started by Pat in 1999 he had 1,800 grafts, which at the time was equivalent to 10,000 grafts today. It was unheard of, but now that number is considered a small number. That was my original point, had Joe been 29 now, he probably could have had a long-lasting result.

The technology has improved immensely. Techniques, holding solutions, tools, all of these things combined has allowed surgeons the ability to consistently transplant 5,000-6,000 grafts, which is 10x the number possible 30 years ago.

Like I said, the industry has grown leaps and bounds and Joe is biased because his own procedures failed. I still don't think it's where it needs to be for it to be a procedure that should be normalized for average people. We can agree to disagree on that. 

You're HT is unreal by the way, your video on youtube is why I ended up even being on this site and researching them myself. It still doesn't change that it's a major commitment to take the plunge, hope for good results and then still use concealer for life. Hair multiplication/cloning will bridge the gap in the future and fully normalize the procedure. 

Just now, Melvin-Moderator said:

My response was to your response about viability. In fact, I always tell people not to get an HT if they can’t or don’t want to accept the realities. There are other options, hair systems, shaving,  smp. Just because something takes money and research does not mean it’s not viable to the public, and just because the “general” population don’t do something doesn’t mean it’s not viable. Flawed thinking in my opinion. Regardless, we can agree to disagree. 

It's not just about the money, it's about the overall barriers to having a successful procedure as a average young balding male. Joe is doing the correct thing by saying that most guys shouldn't have hair transplants because he's speaking to guys who were like him. Young (20s), probably semi broke and desperate to get back their youthful looks. That is not the ideal hair transplant candidate, I'm sure you will agree. 

1 minute ago, RandoBrando517 said:

Who gives a damn? People are stupid. If you wanna follow what everyone else does you’ll be lost in life peace 

Yes, people who don't focus all their time on their extremities, take synthetic hormone altering drugs and get cosmetic surgery to preserve their vanity are stupid. 

See what I mean? Have some perspective. You're equally guilty of the exact thing you are calling people stupid for right now because by your own words above, you think that everyone who can do something, should. As much as I want to keep/improve my hair, when compared to your attitude, the healthier option is to let it go. 

Just now, Melvin-Moderator said:

Hundreds of millions of people are also obese and don’t exercise. That’s not a good reason. I can bet that almost every bald man has at one point tried a treatment, whether it be vitamins, shampoo, old wives tales’, etc. The extent that people go too depends on how much the condition affects you. I don’t believe your points make any difference on the viability of getting a hair transplant.

So basically the majority of people don’t get one, so it’s not viable. You need to research and spend money, so it’s not viable. There’s no guarantee so it’s not viable. None of these things affect its viability to the general public, only to you as an individual.

Because the poster I was replying to said "if you can take fin and get a HT, why wouldn't you"? There are a million reasons why people would choose not to take hormone altering medication and have a cosmetic procedure done, and that's why it's not the norm. 

7 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

That’s true for any cosmetic procedure, if you don’t do research you can get botched. You don’t have to travel the globe for a doctor. There’s enough quality doctors all over the world. Cost is relative to hair loss, if you’re a Norwood 6 yes, 5 figures sounds right. If you have minimal amount of hair loss, then a few grand is reasonable id you go to a affordable surgeon. Quality and affordability are not mutually exclusive. 

You can never guarantee any surgery period. That doesn’t make it not viable. Maybe not for you, but not the general population. If you’re not willing to accept the limitations and costs associated, then don’t bother. Shaving is always an option, but not the best option in my opinion.

But again, should the average NW5-6-7 even be looking down this path? I would argue that the industry and technology is no where close to where it needs to be for them to be. That's where I agree with Joe Rogan. 

If you're NW5 or less, not in your 20s and can stabilize your hairloss? HTs are a great option that should be explored. 

3 minutes ago, RandoBrando517 said:

Why are you here? If that’s how you feel. Sounds like cope to me. Mad cause you’re broke and can’t take fin, the rest of us can

Wow what a pathetically insecure answer. 

If you must know, I'm on fin, and have been for over 6 years successfully. I also have more then enough money in my 20s to afford basically any doctor on this site and not have to worry about it in the slightest. That's why I'm here. 

Guess what? Me and you aren't representative of the entire population of balding men. We're outliers. 

Just now, RandoBrando517 said:

Why the hell are you here then? Shave your head and go

I clearly like having hair, that's why I'm here. I'm telling you that we tend to forget that our experience here is not the norm. Hundreds of millions of men around the globe are losing their hair and not on preventative measures or contemplating hair transplants. 

5 minutes ago, RandoBrando517 said:

I don’t think anyone is pushing HTs here, but if you want to be delusional about the fact that balding and shaving makes you less attractive, then more power to you

It's not delusional not to care lol. Different people prioritize different things in life, it's that simple.