Fox243

Just now, deeznuts said:

Yeah it's more my point that if you're buying a car, you'd rather get 15 years out of it instead of 10 right?

Same with a hair transplant but since they last until you die in theory (ignoring age related thinning/questionable donor hair quality), you can't tack 5 years on the backend... You tack 5 years on the front end by getting it earlier.

But the issue with getting it too early is you're trying to buy a car when maybe you don't know what kinda car you can afford

That’s why I’m suggesting we plan for being a NW7 when getting a HT. I still think NW7 can get a very conservative hairline with light full coverage if using FUT + BHT based on my research.

I don’t think it’s foolish – I guess this really comes down to culture here. In my culture (Indian), arranged marriages are very common. Girls definitely don’t want you wearing a hair system.
 

Personally, the only reason I care about my hair is so that I can get an arranged marriage. I personally don’t mind being bald – I’ve never been one to care about how I look otherwise. 

3 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

This is just foolish, if that’s your goal, just wear a hair system until your 40 and take it off after. I’ll be 37 this year, and believe me, hair matters past 30,40, and 50. The thought that you won’t care, is plain foolishness. 

I don’t really see the point of having a transplant when I’m 40. I’m just trying to have hair until I’m married – in my culture, it’s seen as totally normal to lose all your hair after marriage but it’s taboo to be bald before then. 

Several doctors have suggested this. Eugenix, Bloxham, and H&W said I’m a candidate right now. Konior suggested I wait a few years but said if I really wanted to, I could have one right now just focusing on the frontal third. 

I’ve heard a lot of contradictory views from doctors about HTs on young patients. In general, the three camps of thought from ethical doctors are 1) don’t have a transplant, 2) have a transplant but only focus on the frontal third, and 3) have a transplant but expect to use body hair grafts and expect light coverage outside of frontal third.  
 

It seems like most forum members prefer option 1, but curious why options 2 and 3 aren’t viable. Why would it not be possible to do a transplant on them assuming that they become a NW7, especially with the advances in transplant techniques these days?

Is this patient on fin? 

If anyone wants to be added to our group who has experience with drug solubility, please DM me. 

1 minute ago, Mike10 said:

that would be illegal

No it’s not. Verteporfin has been FDA approved for 20 years. Anyways, doctors prescribe dutasteride and oral minoxidil off label as well and many of you are happy taking it, despite them not even being fda approved and the latter strongly discouraged by cardiologists. 

Doctors can use Verteporfin off label once the pig study comes out. Other advances such as hairclone may come out too, right? Or am I being too optimistic?

I was wondering if there’s any point to waiting a few years for a HT just generally. For example, there was talk about Verteporfin being able to lead to scarless hair transplants. Techniques such as FUE might continue to improve. Do you all see legitimacy in waiting for medical advances, and if so, how long?

@PsSAUDid you consider trying finasteride again? Sometimes side effects don’t show at a lower dose, and I know Eugenix is usually pretty adamant on finasteride. 

@MZiyad98I’d recommend you reach out to really conservative docs like Dr. Bisanga and see what he says. If he says yes, I think that gives you the green light. If no, then it’s a harder decision, as some clinics will say yes and others no. 

And just as an update, Dr. Couto also recommended I wait till 25 – so it really seems every surgeon has a different view towards young patients. 

17 minutes ago, ciaus said:

That's not correct, ALL types of FUE and FUT hair transplants leave scarring. And since scar tissue has less pigmentation than normal skin, making it whiter/lighter in appearance, they are more visible on people with darker skin shades.

Can’t we just SMP over FUE scars?

6 minutes ago, ciaus said:

 

Time is an even more critical factor when the hair loss is aggressive at a very young age. There's a big difference between a middle-aged NW7 man that has been losing hair for a few decades with a stable donor area, and a young guy that's finished puberty not even a decade ago with an already aggressive hair loss pattern that might end up even worse than a NW7, where he ends up with significant thinning even in the donor area as well.

Gotcha so the risk comes down to whether your donor thins too much. I’ll ask the doctors I consulted about this and see what they think. 

@Melvin- ModeratorI would appreciate it if you can set up some sort of interview at some point with an above doctor and ask them what their perspective is on young, aggressive bald era. Perhaps their views have changed over the recent years.

23 minutes ago, SadMan2021 said:

if you think its ok for a young 22 yr old such as yourself to get a HT, and you've already been quoted by multiple doctors, why haven't you pulled the trigger yet?

I don’t think it’s okay – I’m unsure. On one hand, many veterans on the forum tell me to either shave, wear a hair system, or stick it out with propecia for several more years. On the other hand, many clinics gave me the green light as long as I have realistic expectations.

I’m trying to figure out why this discrepancy exists. I’m also hoping things such as Verteporfin come out soon so I can have a scarless surgery. 

I’m really confused why people are so wary of having young people have transplants. If NW7s can get transplants, why can’t young people?
 

Not to hijack the thread, but many doctors, such as Eugenix, Dr. Bloxham, and Hasson and Wong were more than willing to do transplants on me despite me being a NW4-5 at 22. Some were more wary Ie Dr. Konior, but he was still willing to do the front half and leave the crown alone for now.

To answer your questions, I’d look into FUT since you’re a young balder. You’d probably go back to between 2018 and 2019 with a conservative surgeon. You can also try Dut tho I’m personally wary since it blocks way too much DHT (and also type 1, which is expressed in the brain).

Hey man, I’m in the same exact scenario but at 22. I have a worse hairline/frontal density but my crown isn’t receded as far back as yours. Would love to chat offline, but for now my plan is to hold onto my thin hair for as many years as possible with fin and hope something like Verteporfin or hairclone comes out. If they don’t within 3 years or so, I’ll start looking into a transplant despite not having stabilized on fin. If they can make a NW7 a NW2.5-3, not sure why they can’t do that for us.
 

I do think people tend to be pessimistic given that they’ve been burned decades ago but yield and usability of other types of grafts (Ie beard) has allowed it such that everyone can at least have a natural balding pattern at the very worst IMO.

@DrTBarghouthiWondering if you have any updates. 

56 minutes ago, DrTBarghouthi said:

 

Apologies for not getting back earlier. So yes this medication is FDA approved for some types of wet macular degeneration which is an age related retinal disease. This was the drug of choice to that condition years ago but has been abandoned with newer agents like Avastin etc. 

I spoke to some colleagues and it seems there is or has been recent delay or even shortage in production (possibly due to reduced demand?) 

I know it is hard to source here where I practice because ophthalmologist are no longer using it. It is around 1800 usd per vial but I’m not sure how much donor will this cover. 
I will try to source it and maybe get help from some of my ophthalmologist colleagues in preparing it and possibly testing it on some FUT scars as well as FUE scars hopefully. I just need to see what the requirements might be along with doing more reading about it (has been quite a busy period lately to do an extra reading unfortunately). 
Will keep you posted with how things go hopefully.

More generally, I don’t see cost being an issue. A NW6 may need 8k grafts each costing $6-$7, leading to a grand total of $50k. If it even takes under 20k to get rid of the scars to allow for a shaved head, many who could afford transplants will pay for this.

Furthermore, it’ll encourage a lot more people to get HTs when they know that worst case scenario, they can minimize their scars. 

Tagging @BeHappy@Gatsbyand some others who are unhappy with their scars. Maybe you or you can tag others who would be happy to allow the Dr to try on your FUT scars if he determines that it’s safe? Since it’s been FDA approved, I don’t imagine any problem though. 

@DrTBarghouthiHi dr., just following up again. This would really be great for people who’s hair transplants don’t end up working out, and the clinic could simply advise them to shave. Would also help people who don’t want to take finasteride, as they could shave if too much loss of native hair occurs.

I’m not referring to a miracle NW7 story but even a NW7 -> NW2.5 with low density and SMP to add density.