SD1984

Thanks for your reply. I have other threads with photos. I am 37 years old and am seriously considering a minor transplant at this point. I have tried finasteride and unfortunately the medication did not agree with my body. I am now looking into oral minoxidil as a last resort. I currently use topical minox which may have helped slow down loss a tad over the years, not sure though. The bad news is that hair loss is strong on my fathers side with multiple NW6's and even one NW7. Mothers side all great hair. The good news however is that my pattern is pretty obvious by now. I am likely a future Norwood 5a, possibly even 6. But at the same time, a 7 technically is possible way down the road if my forelock goes and the crown drops. But i'm really trying to think about the norwood scale here as it's presented, bc only at NW7 does the crown drop, and of course there is zero frontal hair left on norwood 7's as well. Given how "decent" my forelock still is, it would be hard to imagine me completely losing all of that, which in turn means the crowd would drop, too. I think my point and overall question is- Is it possible for someone to have a completely dropped crown AND still have some sort of forelock left? I can't say I've seen that much if at all. Point is, I'm hoping to eventually end up with a decent frontal third and mid scalp over the course of what would be two surgeries, would the hope that I only have true baldness in my upper crown and the back of it never drops creating that dreaded bald curve down in the back..

Just a few general questions I'm curious about if anyone can help as I begin to plan for my future with a HT and what not. I am referring here of course to the back part of the crown that drops and thins out. This is typically only seen in Norwood 7's if I'm not mistaken. -Does this only happen with NW7's? -At what age would you think one can be considered "safe" from the crown not dropping and not going NW7? Thanks

The "good" news is you don't have much native hair left to lose anyway. I think as long as you are conservative with your approach and have realistic expectations, you can absolutely go forward with 3500 grafts. I would go with a very conservative hairline. Just understand that over time (likely a long time) even the trasplanted hair will thin slightly if not worse. (See Joe Biden)

Good luck! How many grafts needed?

Great result. Though I wouldn't really call it "mind blowing" all things considering. 2500 grafts is quite a good amount of grafts for what in reality is a rather small area. Add on the fact that he has a great skin to hair contrast as well as great looking hair characteristics (thick and wavy) and it makes sense. That hairline is on point though, wow.

Not a wig. He admitted he had two transplants on Justin Long's podcast. He also hinted that he takes Propecia on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. His loss also wasn't too drastic to begin with.

Would really like to see pics of the implantations

Yes he is an extremely busy doctor, from all I can gather. When I emailed him he took a bit to respond as well but he always did. I think you were in very good hands and I'm optimistic about your results. Keep us posted.

I don't understand... what are your concerns exactly? Growth? Everyone wants early growth but 2.5 months is still super early. In the meantime, how was the experience with Dr. Ferreira overall? He is on my short list. Where did you fly in from? What time did you have to be at the clinic in the morning?

Maybe Bc the area is still looking very red/a bit rough? For 2.5 months that should be fading away by now I feel.

This is an outrageous response. This is a message board/forum, where people should be allowed to give their opinions whether positive or negative. To be reported and called a JERK over what I wrote?? You should be ashamed. First, never once did I say there was zero growth. Re-read what I wrote. I wrote there was zero density, which is mostly true for anyone with knowledge of hair restoration surgery and results. Second, what "ridicuous claim" are you referring to about number of grafts(?), I must ask politely. But assuming you were talking about this post and the OP's grafts, even if I am wrong, it is simply an opinion that ultimately was me trying to help the man, especially since there have been many cases in the history of this industry where paid number of grafts not all ending up in the recipient area. I told him it's "just something to think about". If this is a board where people are simply allowed to only write "great" and "amazing" for every single case never trying to dig deeper and figure out what could have went wrong or how things could have been better, then that's a problem. This industry already has too many issues. Not allowing someone to speak out in (what I felt was) a perfectly justifiable way will only lead to more. If I offended anyone I do apologize but I still feel strongly about what I have wrote.

This is with no offense to the OP. I appreciate him documenting his journey and wish him nothing but the best, but am I the only one who views this as a failed transplant? At 9 months I see zero density and I see multi grafts in the hairline, yet we have people calling it "really good" and "amazing". What? This was a decent amount of grafts in a relatively small area that should have absolutely produced a better finish, but clearly something went wrong. I'm very curious to know what the doctor says to you next week. In addition I must also add, that in your original post-op photos, if I'm being honest, it does not seem like 1500 grafts. Did you ever do a count? Just something to think about.

Donor hair can absolutely thin, even if just slightly, without Finasteride. But usually it will not be lost compeltely. You ever see guys in their 70s and 80s with thinned to hel horseshoes? Now imagine if they got a transplant. But these types of guys likely had suspect donor regions as early as their 30's so any ethical surgeon today would advise against a transplant for someone like that, without Finasteride. If you have a super strong looking donor region and are not on Fin, then that's another story, and you should be fine, though very slight thinning is still likely anyway.

Wow donor area looks amazing and well harvested. Any idea what size punch was used?

2300?? Did you mean 300? Looks like about 150 in each temple 😂

Mind if I ask what the price was for the 1500 FUT?

I would hold off on anymore surgeries. Though thin, you still have a lot of hair on your head so really having a HT would probably create a good amount of shock loss unless you went to one of the most skilled surgeons out there. Have you ever thought about the possibility of a hair system behind that natural hairline? Also, you'd be a great candidate for hair fibers. Just curious you had around 3100 grafts transplanted.... where were they all used exactly

Call me crazy but in that one post-op photo it doesn't even look like 1300. That being said it definitely doesn't look bad right now. Still plenty of time to go. I'm also curious about why the recipient area looks kind of red/off colored (4th pic)

He's saying retrograde because it's there. Slight thinning at the neck area. What's the hair like above your ears? Can you take some photos of the sides? But if you want to feel better, I have retrograde at my neck area and on my sides, AND I have hair loss just as bad as you, AND I cannot take Fin due to sides, AND I have bad family hair loss history So, I feel your pain. Retrograde is common. It's not the end of the world by any means. It just cuts down on donor. So, in cases like ours, going the surgical route with NO meds, big future loss in store AND limited donor, is going to be an uphill battle to say the least. That doesn't mean people like you or I can't win the war. Like I said, it can be done, but it's definitely not the most preferred route and any ethical surgeons will advise you of all the negatives associated with this route. I've had several top Hair transplant doctors tell me that they would in fact be fine with performing surgery on me with no meds so long as I understood that I'd be back for a future surgery, or two. Me personally, I'll probably consider a hair system behind a transplanted hairline first. I'm open to many options. How old are you btw? I'd say your donor has a capacity of around 5500 just based off of photos and I agree it looks like you're destined for Norwood 5 or 6, more than likely 5.

The post you shared appears to be a guy who went to a surgeon who made a poor decision as far as planning goes. 2500 grafts for the entire scalp. Of course it was going to come out thin and sparse. With regards to not taking medication, it all depends how bad your hair loss actually is, your family's history of loss, etc. If you are someone who knows more loss is in your future you basically have to go into a first surgery knowing full well you will be back for another, and likely another after that. Unless you want to get creative and do something like wearing a system for just the crown, or behind the hairline, etc. There are options.

Poor guy probably needs a half hour just to doll up his sides to get ready for the system.

100% hair system. The hairline isn't even that great in the pic with the girl.

Any photos to share? Having surgery without Fin depends on several factors.

Do you honestly think this help with legit eye bags though? I can see some of these creams helping with dark circles over time, but eye bags are basically fat deposits.

That's the surgery for dark circles/bags, yeah. I have genetic bags that started to form about 6-7 years ago and are now way worse to the point where I want to take action against them. I'm 36 but can look 36 in some photos. It's bad. Though based on everything I've read I really don't think there's too much you can do short of a surgery. Then again I came across this article the other day(below). It's left me wondering if derma rolling eye bags would actually work. I'd still consult with a dermatologist first to see if there's anything that could possibly be done before going a surgical route. https://www.byrdie.com/how-to-get-rid-of-bags-under-eyes