Ad1987

2 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

Why would they outweigh the good? Ive seen dozens of results with people with big foreheads getting a transplant and looking amazing if you feel that you want to get one get one just do research since I think most of the area transplanted would be bald I don’t see how it could be a huge risk 

Yes good point . Some say shock loss etc etc …

2 hours ago, Dillpickle123 said:

Looks like a cowlick to me but either way I wouldn’t touch the crown not worth the risk , the hairline would just need a small procedure consult with bisanga, de frietas, and cuoto they got great result with hairlines 

Thanks.

I was considering a procedure on the hairline but people have persuaded me that the risks at this stage could outweigh the good .

thanks again 

Hi All

Just had a haircut . During the haircut the hairdresser said ‘lots of movement at the crown so we want to keep this short . Didn’t quite know what he meant . Balding /thinning ?
Here are pics of my crown and hairline straight from the hairdressers .

does the crown look like it’s now taking a hit ?

Thanks for the responses .

 Yes I’m on finasteride and have been since that pic five years ago. I luckily don’t have sides .

When I first went on it I thought I did however I think these may have been psychosomatic.

Thanks for your responses.

Do you see deterioration in the hairline across the five years as documented in the pics ?

5 years ago ..

one year ago….

 today …

would you say there was a deterioration? Time to move forward with the hairline transplant ?

15 minutes ago, Gasthoerer said:

As someone who also had still quite some hair left, but kind of a little "unnatural" balding pattern, I certainly can relate to the TO. 

My comments are:

- You do not need a HT, but actually no one does.

- Limiting your options to a certain city or focus to much on financials is a mistake. We have holiday all over the world and should be able to fly to Belgium or Spain for such an important step in life. 

- The issue with small HT is always a poor risk to benefit ratio, therefor IMO 2 decisions have to be made:

1) Create a complete new hairline below the existing one or fill in weak areas in between (like mine). Feriduni mentioned to me that the latter is more difficult and for an optimum results it is best to stay a little ahead of the existing hairline (to make it look more natural with the stranglers/baby hair in front (if you chose to fill-in). 

2) Recreate temple points yes or no? This is the most delicate part of a HT and even with a top clinic a buzzcut in this area is often not possible afterwards. Of course the optical benefit is high.

My feeling is from the pics: You hairline is a tad higher than mine, therefore it is probably best to recreate a complete new hairline and go lower than the current one. 

The crown is a "no" in your case. The hair is still way to dense in this area and being on meds will buy you more time. 

Thanks for this - really useful .

Would  you expand on the temples point ?

I really will only move forward with a ht if I can be assured it won’t look pluggy, wiry and still thin. It would only be beneficial to me if it were to look authentic , add density etc..

8 minutes ago, Raphael84 said:

I was directed to this thread by a former patient who detailed that Dr. Bisanga was potentially being considered.

@Ad1987 Completely understand the minefield that hair restoration presents and you have received some good advice  throughout. Some if its may be conflicting and therefore adds confusion but the very fact that you have created your thread and now understand the pros and cons to any potential surgery is invaluable in itself, and being as informed as possible is key for any patient regardless of starting status.

With that being said, as alluded to above, you clearly do not NEED any restoration surgery and therefore if you were to proceed your choice in doctor will be defining so take things slow, reach out to several clinics and meet for in person consultation when possible to really get a feel for the doctor and their potential approach and if they recommend and agree to proceed with surgery.

As has been detailed previously in the thread, Dr. Bisanga is in London for consultation at the end of May (29th and 30th) and so if you may have any interest and those dates may be feasible by all means reach out and we can explore appointments for you.

My main motivation to post was based on reading you mention 500 grafts. The below video jumped to mind to really present an idea of graft numbers and soft delicate hairline work that requires mother nature singles. 

Dr. Bisanga performs surgery based on candidacy and graft requirements and is more than happy to proceed with smaller sessions when appropriate. 
The clinic commonly schedule patient of 1500 +/- grafts. In all honesty, less than this is less common as most individuals who may be motivated for surgery have more significant demands, but when less than 1000 grafts is the optimal approach and graft number, then surgery will be scheduled as normal.

Many thanks and I wish you the best in your onward research.

 

Hi 

Thank you very much for reaching out .

I note that you say Dr Bisanga will be in London doing consults end of May . Does he perform any follow up surgery in London too or is that in Belgium ?

In terms of cost , how much does Dr Bisanga charge as a flat rate per graft ? Does the clinic offer finance options etc ?

Lastly , what’s the average wait time currently after consultation before the transplant can take place if Dr Bisanga confirms a person is a candidate for a HT(I know depending on business this could change )?

Thannks in advance .

1 hour ago, NARMAK said:

That is in fact Dr Bisanga but he's primarily based in Belgium at a clinic called BHR. 

Dr Ball also is in the UK and i believe has a place in Harley Street if you definitely are not willing to go out of London although i and others would strongly urge you when going for a hair transplant to not restrict yourself geographically or your end goals and result might not be as good as it can be. 

Just looking up dr bisanga and the work he has carried out on similar hairlines to mine , and he doesn’t appear to do anything less than 2500 grafts 

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

This is Bisangas website 

https://bhrclinic.com

Thanks 

22 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

Apologies for the awful drawing, and it probably comes across more aggressive than you want or than I intended , however using this as a baseline . . . as a very rough guess , you would be looking at between 1500-2000 depending on your choice of surgeon.
 

Someone like Dr Hasson would be potentially willing and able to dense pack this highly, which would subsequently increase your grafts required. 

Thanks  .

I’d worry bringing the hairline down that far where hair isn’t growing it would create a wispy appearance , no? 
 

from what I’ve read, to create a dense  natural looking hairline you have to have a ht very close to your existing hairline ?

thanks for your advice so far 

43 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

I still think you need to potentially look outside of the UK and Dr Bisanga is probably a good bet for you. 

He's gonna do consults in May in London and is a quick flight away on Belgium. 

In the UK, Dr Ball from the Maitland Clinic is reputable but he's not based in London always and he's usually very picky about what he is willing to do, so might be worth getting a consultation but also an idea of whether they'd take you on. 

Is that this dr on their website ? Dr Bisanga . Does he come highly recommended then ? Also how much would he charge roughly in British pounds for the job I’d need .

Thanks again .

Thanks everyone . Some food for thought … 
 

500 grafts would allow me to afford a highly rated surgeon in the UK… however I wonder how many surgeons would go with this amount as they could earn alot more by going for 1000.

My weakest temple 

5 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

It's moreso about making an informed decision imo than scaring you away lol. 

As a person who looks Norwood 1 aka a normal mature hairline broaching maybe signs of a Norwood 2 around the temples, you can afford to try be more aggressive in your hairline goals than say somebody that's a Norwood 4 and beyond. 

I would argue the real stop point is anybody who is maybe Norwood 2.5ish when you think of front loading a hairline and you should be in your 30s and beyond with very slow hair loss progression and/or been stable on medication for a good while. 

I don't personally like the idea of guys having to wait till like their late 40s etc. to go for a hair transplant and be more aggressive with it. You then look like a man fully in "Midlife Crisis" mode lmao. 

I think Mid 20s to Mid 30s are probably the prime years for a guy and your individual situation of hair loss needs to be very stable. Particularly if younger than 30. Ideally in your early 20s being on medication and losing little to bo ground. By the time you hit 25 you could hopefully prove you're a good candidate. 

I’m 35 

44 minutes ago, Surfarosa said:

And here is what that looks like in 12 years. Exciting huh?

 

This doesn’t look too worrying as I had imagined …  Looks like a dense head of hair but just finer hair on front …I wouldn’t know there was transplant involved there .

can I ask , did you take the plunge initially at 35 and then this pic is 12 years down the line ? 

48 minutes ago, John1991 said:

For people with significant hair loss who are looking to get coverage over much of or their entire scalp, density will never be restored to what it was prior to their loss - hence the "illusion of density" phrase you hear.  For someone like yourself with minimal loss who really just wants a denser hairline that's minimally lower, you can achieve comparable density to what you have, but you do have a very good head of hair as is. If you don't go somewhere where the hairline is packed very densely, you'll likely end up looking worse.  If you get it packed densely at like 55-60 grafts/cm2, you'll probably end up with a hairline that's slightly denser or as dense as it currently is - except slightly crisper/lower.  My guess would be roughly 2000 grafts could get the job done.  Your crown is fine.

This is really useful , thanks .

What posters have noted about the shock loss and things looking potentially worse does concern me somewhat I can’t lie . Also the mention of the hairline containing to recede with age and a gap between the further recession and superficial hairline - all scary stuff ! Ha

The same lighting and pictures taken straight after the ones above but I’d quickly put my hand through and style the hair in direction of the whorl …

surely if I wasn’t balding though , even  when not washed , styled and after a work out the crown wouldn’t be that revealed like in the pics above ?

Hi All

so this is my crown in daylight today with after I’ve worked out, not washed and styled it today … does this look like crown balding and thinning ?

in the next post I will post pics of the crown in the same lighting at the same time today after I styled it to go in the direction of my perceived whorl .
 

Any thoughts and suggestions appreciated 

Gosh , thanks everyone . I feel stupidly naive - I didn’t realise there were such risks attached to a ht!

Thanks for the response @Surfarosa. Can I ask why you would not dream of surgery if you were me ? Is it because you don’t belive in transplants longevity per se or that you don’t think I’d be a good candidate .

I’m  35 so I hope my hair loss would be considered slow and from here on in will be gradual but very slow due to age being on my side and the state of the current hair on my head (or so I have been advised !) … 

interested to know your thoughts .

thanks 

Anyone else ?

22 minutes ago, J.A.C said:

Definitely looks fine, have you got any earlier pics of your hair ? Just so we can compare 🙏

These were taken before I hopped on finasteride about 4 years ago when I was 30.

 They were taken under bathroom lighting so different lighting than the pics in my first post  which were taken outdoors .

Thanks 

so people think the crown is fine ?

I think for convenience I will need to stick with London.

I understand from research that surgeons like Reddy in London stand against those great surgeons abroad , just pricier .