BeardHopeful

Thanks all for your thoughts. Mwamba's reputation is so strong in this community. A good reminder for me. In terms of medication, I have been on 1mg finasteride for a few years. In the past 2 months, I started oral minoxidil at 1.25mg a day. That has caused a bit of shedding. Before that, I tried topical minoxidil but it gave me awful flakes, even the foam. So I've decided to give oral minoxidil a shot. That may explain some of those miniaturized hairs at my hairline. They seem stable, but I guess we'll see... I'll take a look at the post that NegativeNorwood linked. Good to see some more discussion of beard-to-beard transplants.

Hi All, Would love your advice on making a big decision! I’m in my late 20s, and I would like to increase the density of my beard on my cheeks. I have tried minoxidil for a year with very few results (see my previous post at the bottom). I also have NW2 recession on my scalp, and I would like to fill in my corners to improve my hairline. To increase beard density, I plan to have a beard-to-beard transplant performed, taking beard hair from my neck and moving it to my cheeks. To fill in my scalp corners, I plan to have FUE to my hairline from the back of my head. To clarify, no beard-to-scalp or scalp-to-beard is needed here. I’m looking for a doc who can do both the beard and hairline during the same visit. I’ve considered the following docs: Eugenix (Dr. Das or Dr. Bansal), Dr. Mwamba, Drs. True and Dorin, Dr. Sanusi Umar, Dr Barghouthi, Dr. Konior, Dr. Devroye, and Dr. Bruno Ferreira. It’s not too common to see beard-to-beard work from most docs, so that was a major limiting factor in my search. I’ve narrowed it down to Eugenix (Dr. Das or Dr. Bansal), Dr. Jean Devroye, and Dr. Mwamba based on expertise and cost. For my beard, the docs have recommended between 700 to 1500 grafts. For my hairline, the docs have recommended between 1500 and 2500 FUE grafts. This strikes me as a relatively large amount of variation, but maybe that’s normal? You all are welcome to provide your own opinions on how many grafts seem reasonable. I generally lean toward more is better. So far I’ve met with Dr. Arika Bansal and Dr. Jean Devroye. My impressions: Devroye: The only HT doc I’ve talked to who was actually on time for the appointment. He struck me as easy to talk to, patient, and transparent. Bansal: We had to reschedule our initial appointment, but no big deal. She seemed very busy, knowledgeable, and focused. Was happy to go into details. I’ve put together the below price per graft from each of them (this includes taxes) Devroye beard: $6.60 Devroye FUE scalp: $6.10 Eugenix beard: $4.50 Eugenix FUE scalp with Dr. Das: $2.70 Eugenix FUE scalp with Dr. Bansal: $4.00 Dr. Mwamba beard: $8.00 Dr. Mwamba FUE scalp: $4.00 Do you think there’s a clear benefit to picking one of these docs for this work? I believe they all get similarly great results. If price is the only remaining factor, then Eugenix is the best deal. Do any of you think I’ll regret not picking Devroye or Mwamba? If you think I can’t go wrong with any of them, I’m also happy to hear that. Thank you for reading Previous post:

Hey everyone, my update: I tried minoxidil and dermarolling for a year. I was super consistent, religiously applying twice a day. And in the end, I just didn't see much new hair growth in the cheeks, where I wanted it the most. My chin and mustache did get a bit thicker though, so that's nice. So I'm basically back where I was before. I agree with you all that scalp-to-beard is probably not the smartest use of hair, and that I should instead find someone who transplants neck beard hair to the cheeks. I've reached out to Eugenix, where Dr. Bensal does beard transplants, for a cost estimate. Earlier in this post, Melvin also recommended Dr. Mwamba in Atlanta, True and Dorin in New York, and Umar as well in California. Let me know if you all have any other recommendations for drs who have performed beard-to-beard transplants. I'm open to looking outside the US as well. If the price is decent, I might even get some FUE on my temples from the back of my scalp. This was something I had in mind reaching out to Eugenix. Thanks again!

Wow I'm really overwhelmed by the amount of advice here. Thanks for providing a space where I can quickly get so much info. You've convinced me to try Minoxidil and microneedling on my beard first to see what results I get. I'll plan to push back the HT to give that a good 6 months or more. If I'm happy with the results, I'll just cancel the HT altogether (I'd be out $1000 for the deposit though 😢). Thanks to BeHappy for suggesting coloring my beard. I honestly never considered that option! Big thanks to Melvin for multiple recommendations of doctors who specialize in BHT. I will definitely check them out if I'm not happy with my results from Minoxidil and dermarolling. Regardless, I'll check back in 6 months and post some post Minoxidil/dermarolling photos! Thank you all again so much, it's really an amazing community. Keep up the good work

Thanks everyone for these reality checks. I really appreciate the points you all have made, although more opinions are welcome! Just some thoughts in response to current comments: I probably sound crazy saying it on this forum, but I really don't mind my receding hairline. I've had the same hairline since high school and it just kind of works. But I do appreciate the reminder that it will continue to recede, even on Finasteride, and I might want to save hairs for the scalp. I have always worn my hair long enough that I believe it would hide even a not-so-great FUT scar. But it's definitely on my mind. Does anyone have trouble hiding the scar with 1 inch long hair in the back? I am set on wearing a beard. I don't really like how my face looks without a beard, and I've had it consistently since early college. I would wear it even if it weren't in style. I appreciate SadMan's 1-week stubble recommendation, which is what I usually wear. I took these photos right before I trimmed. I appreciate BDK's recommendation of Dr. Konior. I'll look into his work. BDK, do you have any post photos that you can share? Alex, I agree that 2250 seems like a lot, maybe I can bring this up with Dr. Diep. We've only had a zoom appointment so far. Narmak and DillPickle, I appreciate your Minoxidil recommendation. I actually just started using it on my beard and hairline. We'll see how it goes. I haven't been that impressed by what I've seen online, because users often post after-Minoxidil photos with way longer beard hair, so it's tough to really compare density. I'm looking into the dermaroller as well! Narmak, I appreciate the Tony Stark recommendation! I've tried this, but my jaw line is really weak (one reason I grow the beard) so it doesn't work for me. Thanks everyone! I am definitely less certain about this decision now. Still would love to hear from others, especially if you've gone through this procedure.

I’m a 27-year-old man and I have always had somewhat thin, blond/light brown hair. I hoped that I would be able to grow a thick beard, but as I approach my 30s my beard is thin, especially in the cheeks. I'm not trying to grow a big bushy beard, I just want to be able to keep it trim (see photos) but still have good density. I’ve scheduled 2,250 grafts FUT with Dr. Diep in Los Gatos, California to fill in my beard. I take finasteride to prevent my head hair from falling out, and although I’ve always had something of a mature hairline, my hairline hasn’t changed since high school. I know finasteride can suppress beard growth, but I didn’t start taking finasteride until I was 26, and my beard has not noticeably changed since then. I don’t think a naturally thick beard was ever in the cards for me. My surgery is scheduled for late May 2022, but now I'm having second thoughts. Dr. Diep said he only uses scalp hair for beard transplants as he feels it's the most successful and natural looking. I know Dr. Diep is pretty well regarded, but I have seen some beard-to-beard transplants online. My head hair and beard hair is not quite the same texture and color, but it's probably close enough (see photos). I couldn't find a ton of posts on here that show scalp-to-beard transplants, but I'm wondering if anyone can direct me to some scalp-to-beard posts from folks with similar hair color as mine. An additional factor that I'm considering is whether I should instead go with FUE instead of FUT. Although I’m not crazy about spending $5k more, I do have the money to switch to FUE. Sometimes I see folks on the internet (not necessarily this forum) implying that you’d have to be mad to get FUT instead of FUE in 2022. It feels a little like FUE is the future and FUT is fading away. I also wonder if I will I regret having this big scar across the back of my head, just to have a fuller beard. But I’ve seen many posts from guys who get FUT and have minimal scarring. It also seems to be the case that getting FUT now might maximize my donor area, so I could do FUE in the future if my scalp hair starts falling out. I know this decision is ultimately mine to make, but I don’t really have anyone knowledgeable in my personal life to hash this out with. Does the transplant that I've described (2250 FUT, scalp-to-beard) make sense as something to do for someone in my situation? Any thoughts you may have are sincerely appreciated 😊