TG92

Looks good! Interesting you’re not even half way to the end result after 8 months. 

On 3/29/2022 at 4:16 PM, Rahal Hair Transplant said:

Tg92,

At the angle you’ve presented the photos, your progress looks quite impressive for only using finasteride. Typically, nonsurgical solutions are way better at helping individuals keep their existing hair than regrowing new hair. But it kind a looks like you may have regrown some hair as , which is great.  Is that true?

I think posting some photos showing other angles of your hairline would be helpful as well. But for only six months using finasteride, I’d say you’ve made some very impressive progress.

I’d give it another six months to see what it will do for you and then at that point, you can move forward with surgical hair restoration.  as for the number of graphs you will need, some of it will depend on how much more progress you make with finasteride.  Then, I would consult with a few leading hair surgeons and discuss your hair restoration goals.

Best wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

Thanks for taking the time to reply. I am on finasteride and minoxidil (once a day before bed) and also dermaroll 1.5mm once a week. So I’m not sure what to thank for the growth but your words are very encouraging. I plan to wait until after one year before seriously discussing transplants. 

3 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

Yeh looks around Norwood 3 at present. Hope the med regime will help you retain what you have at present. Have you noticed any loss in the vertex/crown area? With your hair style and pic it’s difficult to tell. 

In certain light it looks thin on the crown but thankfully I think finasteride has worked well there. I always have my hair long too. I wouldn’t be spending money on grafts going there at this point. 

6 hours ago, ItHasToLookNatural said:

No that guy doesn't know what he's talking about. You're a nw 2.5/3

That’s a relief! 

6 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

true he is not a NW5. But even if he is a NW 2.5 I wouldn't recommend microneedling over a transplant with his level of hairloss. 

The only guys who I see with success with microneedling on r/tressless are like 21 yr old NW 1.5s. 

OPs hairloss is not minimal enough for microneedling to regrow all the lost hair. 

Thanks again, I am not thinking I’ll regrow much thanks dermarolling/microneedling but it’s just an addition to my ‘stack’. Every little helps. I know I’ll need a HT to see significant improvement. 

1 hour ago, rob7331 said:

First of all, welcome to the forum you'll find the quality of experience and advice here vastly superior to r/tressless. I was a member there for a while before eventually migrating to HairLossTalk, and finally HairRestorationNetwork.

You've got a lot of research ahead but the good news is everything looks pretty good- by that I mean you've got a lot of hair left, so if you were to get a transplant it's a high chance of being a one-and-done. Stay on the routine and give it at least a year (if not two) and then take a look at your comparison photos. If it looks like your hair loss has stabilized, then (and only then) would I recommend to start considering a HT.

Once you've decided a HT is what you want, make liberal use of the search bar in the top right (I recommend setting to "in content titles only" after searching). Search up doctors from all over- a patient who is willing to travel international has vastly more options and in many cases, can save money and get better quality. Read as many patient journeys as you can, especially of people who have similar hair characteristics to you. That will give you the best (and truest) impression of what any clinic could do for you.

I'm 29 as well and just had my second HT. I'm chuffed now, but at the time of my first HT I wasn't that educated and almost became a repair case (I got lucky). Make sure that doesn't happen to you and abuse that search bar as much as you can.

To help with your research, here's an initial recommendation of some clinics, roughly priced from low to high. There are many, many more on this forum.

Demirsoy
Bicer
Eugenix
HLC
Pekiner
Mader
Rahal
Hasson & Wong
Konior

Hope that helps!

Thanks a lot! I’m guessing from ‘chuffed’ you’re British too, did you go to a surgeon locally? 

1 hour ago, alopeciaphobia said:

This is extremely strong progress. Obvious from the huge amount of very short (but strong looking) hairs sprouting out everywhere.

Congratulations.

Once you are at the 12-18 month mark and most of the regrowth has settled in, I agree that a 2000-3000 graft transplant for the temples will look amazing with the right surgeon. Your suggested hairline looks spot on. Not too juvenile, and also not overly receded looking. Will look great for a 30 year old.

Thanks for the reply! Appreciate the input. 

1 hour ago, Curious25 said:

Anywhere between 2000-3000 depending on the surgeon you inquire with. 
 

Look at Dr Hasson hairline cases - he would likely dense pack upto 3000 here, given your donor has a sufficient amount of grafts for later on in life. 
 

However look at @JDEE0’s thread - similar hair loss , and his surgeon has seemingly cracked it with 2000. 
 

Your hair characteristics ultimately play a huge role in determining your graft estimations, as you probably already know . . However there is some variance between doctors. 
 

Personally, I’d prefer to choose dr’s who aim for lower graft counts, yet higher survival rates. Even if they’re more expensive per graft, you usually make that back up with the lesser grafts used. 
 

Where are you based. ?

I’d hope to get it down to 2,000. I’ve seen examples of amazing restoration with 2,000 grafts. I’m in England, Dr Arshad is probably my most likely option right now but it’s early days in my research.

9 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Looks like solid progress, welcome to the forum. 
 

As for grafts, depends on how low you wanna go? What are your plans? Can you draw where you’d like the hairline?

Thanks for the reply! I’m only 29 so I don’t wanna go too hard on my donor (or bank account) so I’m not looking for an aggressive hairline, just one that doesn’t scream receded. Any ideas? 

7 hours ago, HappyMan2021 said:

it's not working for your end-goal....maybe these methods are technically working, but all your hard work and focus is taking you from a NW5 to a "improved" NW4. 

I recommend a hair transplant if you wish to see tangible improvement in your hair restoration journey. 

Thanks for the reply. Wow, that high on the NW scale? Maybe I’m in denial but going by the attached graphic I didn’t think it was a 5. 

I’ve reached the 6 month stage on treatment (fin, min and dermarolling), I’d like your thoughts on my progress so far, if I’m likely to see more and how many grafts I’d need for the hairline. Thanks! 

I’ve reached the 6 month stage on treatment (fin, min and dermarolling), I’d like your thoughts on my progress so far, if I’m likely to see more and how many grafts I’d need for the hairline. Thanks!