MAIZE1694

How many can be extracted ethically or in total?

Avg guy probably has 10-12k usable grafts? It varies.

After about 7-8k grafts the average guy would start to look ridiculous from the back with hair length < 1 inch. 

6 hours ago, wprevil said:

No surgeon in the world CANNOT prevent shock loss.

 

Here are my pics:

 

Honestly you are pretty far gone. I think you'll need a 2nd pass regardless of the 1st surgery outcome. I wouldn't be worried about shock loss in your situation.

Again, you're going to need 2 surgeries anyway.

Haven't seen your pics so can't make a real judgement yet. You could be a nw3 with good density and exaggerating your situation, I don't know.

But you're booked with Couto? Thats one of the best surgeons on the planet. I'm sure he's had a few unsuccessful cases but they're few and far between.

I say go for it. 

Sometimes I see these nw1 guys asking if they should just "touch up the temples" and I fear for them. I fear the possibility things turn upside down and meds lose efficacy for them and they shed more and more. Like if these guys dropped to like a NW4V, things will get very, very dark for them.

IMO you don't need surgery. You shouldn't. It will likely cause more problems than you currently have.

But if you're dead set on it, save up and go with the absolute best. Don't leave nothing to chance since you're already a NW1. Konior maybe? Couto?

Good luck.

Not sure what your question is? Are you asking if you should opt for a mega session?

Most would advise against it unless you can book with someone like Zarev or Pittella.

Better to break it up in to 2-3 sessions.

This was me around 25 or so. One thing I wish I knew about was finasteride.

You're on a hairloss forum so Im sure you know about fin. Get on it.

You have some diffuse loss going on and you can slow it down.

The bump has nothing to do with the shedding.

It should be a forum rule if you ask for post-op advice you must name the clinic who operated on you. As a service to others in your shoes.

"by and for patients"

The fin seems to have helped with the diffuse thinning in the mid scalp even though hair length differs in the photos.

You're a NW3 at 21 which is fairly aggressive MPB. I would continue fin and reevaluate in 5 years.

I don't see much loss in 4 years..

You're going to create more problems than you have if you go the HT route.

13 hours ago, Cory said:

Question
This might be a subjective question, but do you all think I'm willing to give too much, and/or should seek help elsewhere?

Context
My self-confidence (like many others here) is heavily dependent on my hair. You could say that not being bald is a minimum requirement for me to live a normal social and corporate life.

I've had a hair transplant that wasn't well-executed, so I'm in need of a repair. My first HT cost quite a lot of my savings. However, I earn an average wage (or slightly above) and I cannot settle for anything less than the absolute best in terms of a new procedure, since there's no more room for mistakes.

Would it be excessive to take out a long-term loan (>10 years) for something like a hair transplant?

You borrow from the bank and banks borrow from the fed.

The world runs on loans.

If that's your situation and you know you can make the payments, absolutely play the game and go for it.

Everybody does it.

1 hour ago, bald007 said:

I also have a family function to attend in 12 days after HT, so is that a good amount of time for all the redness on the scalp/beard to be gone and look normal? 

Maybe. But most likely no. 

There are fair skinned people who after a week show very little redness/swelling. And there are people with darker skin who are red for months.

It's entirely a case by case basis when it comes to recovery.

Donor should improve but if you expect a full recovery two weeks from now, prepare to be disappointed. 

It will recover somewhat, how much is not known. Everyone's case is unique.

I do have to say though, the extraction philosophy here is just bad. 

It looks like you have mange. This is why I haven't pulled the trigger on my own HT yet.

You have to be prepared to look f*cked up from behind, or grow your hair out 2+inches.

Even then its a toss up if you can hide it. Then you start looking in to repair work etc. 🥴

26 minutes ago, Sunset Dune said:

He’s probably still bald, Finasteride is used as a preventative medication it’s utterly useless and pointless to use once your past stage 4

He's 22.

When you're that young regrowth is commonplace. 

After nearly a year whats the result?

Turkey shares a border with multiple failed states, as well as Iran. Westerners still flock there by the thousands.

With 5 months left to go I'm gonna' say mission accomplished on this one.

Congrats man.

Sometimes its hard to tell retro alopecia, not everyone has the same density. Average - below average density + greasy hair + grown out with different lengths = its going to look thin. Go see a dermatologist if you're concerned.

Need an overhead view of the frontal 3rd but the work looks clean IMHO. Pretty conservative hairline too, which is good. Where did you go?

Good luck with growth.

1 hour ago, MisterBreakfast said:

Hard to say.  The top went kind of twice, once at 22, probably lost about 1/3rd and then again sometime in my mid 20's, lost another third, shaved it short, never looked back.  

For the donor, I was planning on getting a transplant, took meds, had a good response, then once I grew my sides out only then did I notice that they too had started to thin.  It's more exaggerated / noticeable in photos.  In the mirror, or in person, you can hardly tell the donor thinned.

I'm in a similar situation to you. I've never seen my hair under magnification but I can tell with my trained eye it looks thin. I had a pretty bad seb derm/ scalp infection and postponed my surgery but at this point it probably won't happen any time soon. Don't want to mess up the back of my head and have it look ridiculous for some thin hair that may or not take. I have a little more on top than you so I'm just taking fin for now and riding it out.

For good density on that bare patch of skin i'd say 2.5k grafts minimum. Your donor doesn't have that much, looks depleted. Using beard?

I didn't use this company for my wire. Before I canceled my surgery I went through my bank to wire the booking fee. I remember the teller asking me about 5 times if I was sure about the transfer ($270-ish?) while looking at me like I was psycho, while on the phone with the manager. I assume a lot of wire fraud/scams are based out of India.

Thats a hack job and a half if there ever were one.

The good news is your donor is still fairly thick.

What dose of fin did you start at when you had sides?

Since it's been 8 years since, maybe try again at the lowest .25mg dose?

Honestly, the side effects of oral minoxidil scare me a LOT more than those of finasteride.

John Cross, Patron-Saint of Hairloss. Waging battle against the norwood reaper.

Looking good John, congrats!

Just to state the obvious, we really need pre-op pics of the donor. This should be either from the evaluation pics we send to clinics or the actual day of procedure photos from the clinic. 

From what i've seen, patients donor that looks like crap post-op already had thinning/weak donor. I try to warn people whenever I can about creating more problems for themselves. A combination of rose colored glasses and clinics not giving proper feedback on potential customers donor leads to clown-fiesta outcomes. It's sad.