MisterBreakfast

Hey, that's what I looked like when i was in my mid 20s. FWIW I responded really well to medication. I started far far after I should have because no one in any of my social circles or my family had hair loss at that age... If you start now you probably won't even need a transplant.

To be honest, we are lucky to be able to choose. The fact that we all exist means that our genetics have been successfully reproducing for 10's of thousands of years, and if you really think about it, millions of years since we were single celled organisms. Some humans have a NW1, and some are hairless. So perfect is whatever you want it to be really... And one thing if any, that I've learned in my life is sometimes you can't reach "perfection" (whatever that is).

The biology is complex, but to greatly over simplify everything... Every one of your cells carries the information for all cells. During development and healing processes certain cells can differentiate into specific cells, and they "know" how to differentiate based on what cells are nearby, what proteins they are around ect. It's very complicated, but essentially if you can push certain types of cells to differentiate into hair cells during healing, the idea is you can encourage cells to become new hair follicles, even if the old ones are removed. The cells know to become hair based on their surroundings (hormones, inter cell signaling, protein and nutrient availability ect ect).

I'm just going to chime in. Before I knew about hair transplants, when I saw FUE scars on a bald head, I'd assumed it was people with a birth defect, or a scalp disease. For FUT scars, I knew what FUT scars were somehow (not sure why), but they were still obvious to me. When I asked my SO what she thought about transplant scars, she said she much prefers the FUT line to others. She's seen FUE scars in real life, and doesn't like their appearance. Not sure what other women might think. That being said, yes it is possible. But I imagine that if you are self-conscious today about losing hair, you are probably going to be self-conscious tomorrow when you have a bald head and obvious scarring. People often pass it off as "oh I won't care so much in the future". I'm here to tell you that you will still very likely care about looking your best in the future if you care about how to look now. Quick edit: To add a slightly more positive note, I think it's best to plan to use all the tools necessary to help you not get to the point were your scars will show. But I think we all have to accept what might one day happen if these plans fail

I'm gonna caution you, cause you look like a younger guy. Your hairline is fine. You are getting older, and things are going to look different. You can fight it, but hairloss keeps rolling your whole life. 80% of the people on this forum would kill to look as you do now. What you probably need is a stylish haircut that makes you feel better about what you have going on now. If you transplant now, they are going to have to match your native density. This is going to waste a metric ton of grafts, and give you minimal results at best. At worst, you are going to get butchered. In the middle, you are going to have a very unnatural look because you hairline is strangely low and not as dense in certain areas. At best, you get slightly better results that not many people are going to notice. In 5 years your going to actually need a transplant, and you wasted 60% of your grafts foolishly. It may sound harsh, but you probably should know what you want to get yourself into. Talk to a doctor about meds, wait a few years, and revisit it when and if things are stable later on.

Listen I'm not going to tell you what to take. But do yourself a favor and walk around an old folks home. Look at the mens hair. I teach peoople dance in their 60s+, and I don't know a single one who isn't norwood 4v or above. Finasteride was not available in their days, so you can assume that this will be your future. Also, go find yourself a person with a failed transplant, or a visible scar, or worse, FUE scars that are poking out above what's left of their hairs. Really imagine what that would look like on yourself. Don't imagine it as something that "might happen one day" to an "old you". Imagine you today, with that situation on your head. Imagine what you would do if you wanted to fix it, and you had no options. If you can do that, then sure. Even with all that in mind, you are in a very severe case, with a very bad skin to hair color differential (like me), and a very high norwood, which indicates aggressive balding genes. Throwing away the only way to fight balding... doesn't seem like a wise choice. Sure there are 1 or 2 people that have jumped out of a plane without a parachute and survived, but most of them do not.

Looks fine for your hair type / skin. (don't compare yourself to brunettes any other hair color) I hope you've considered meds to deal with that crown thinning.

I'd say you can address this, but you have to get serious about taking medication. If you can't religiously stay on it, then I would just forget about it and shave your head when the time comes. It may sound harsh, but the reason I'd put it this way is that if you can't stop the hair loss, if you get a transplant anyway, then you will be left with a strange looking island at the crown area when the rest falls out. I'm sure you probably don't want that. I'd say you have an area about the size of 60cm2 that needs to be addressed, and it looks like your existing native density is about 40 ish per cm2 (NOT MEDICAL ADVICE ofc, get these numbers checked by a professional). If these numbers were your case, you could see that you would need roughly 2600 grafts. This would bring you to your existing density, which is thin, but way better than what I got for sure : P. Keep in mind, the crown is the hardest area to transplant, so you will never go back to looking like you did in high school. That being said, a transplant should give you good aesthetic results as long as you are reasonable about what you can expect from a transplant.

Thx yall! It feels like forever already, but we still have a ways to go I hope!

Hoping the gains keep on coming. Before ^ After v

Do not trust what "some guy" on the internet said. Including me. That being said, read the peer reviewed, high impact factor, scientific literature on the subject, or find a doctor you can trust on the subject. Anecdotally, dut doubled my hair.

2 more pics alternate lighting.

2 more pics original lighting.

I am located in the US, in Colorado.

edited

No surgeries.

Here I was planning on getting a transplant, and this is the first time I've grown out my donor in some time. (I haven't had a transplant before). I've also been on dutasteride for 8 months so far. It worked pretty good in my crown, but I'm not sure if it did anything at all on the sides. In this picture my hair is 2cm. It's looking like DUPA to me. I have a consult with my surgeon in a week or two, but I figured I'd ask what yall think.

Transplanting between native hairs of your density should not be a problem for a skilled surgeon using the correct equipment and magnification. You may get shock loss, and most will recommend you take medical therapy before transplant but talk to your surgeon to see what they would recommend.

Let's imagine you need multiple surgeries... you are likely norwood 4+, because lesser norwoods can get away with smaller proceedures. Let's say you get a first surgery of 2000 grafts and it works. Now you need to do the midscalp or crown. Let's say that fails. Now you have not completed your plan and you have used a large portion of your donor. The question is do you blow the rest of your donor, or are you happy with an incomplete result. Now let's say your doing your first surgery of 2000 and it fails. You are still norwood 4+. You don't have incomplete results. Now you have the choice to do nothing or try again with a modified plan. In my mind, this is leaves you with more options.

If you are going FUT, there are a few variables involved. A lot of surgeons tend to agree that reopening the first scar can increase risk of a wider scar later on. FUE, if you make too many holes in a square CM, you can over harvest and kill other donor grafts. Plus side is, if you are like me and have a large area to cover, you can minimize your downtime due to less surgeries. My thought also is to go bigger on my first, and if it fails, I can give up, cover the scars with SMP or another FUE, and forget about it. In my mind its better than having your 2nd or 3rd fail randomly and being stuck with a big patch somewhere you weren't planning on.

Dude... even in that unflattering light... your hair looks great. You are more likely than not to kill more native hairs than you can transplant into that area.

Well rest assured, if you are getting married in August, getting a hair transplant in January is a very bad idea. Maybe see a dermatologist and talk about medical intervention. At least you can see results if you are lucky, within that time frame.

Sorry to say that you are too young. I'd look into rocking some hair styles that own the fact that you have a mature hairline. As to why... well, you are going to keep losing hair for the rest of your life. It could be a lot, or it could be a little. You look like you are Norwood 3, heading to Norwood 4. I don't think you'd find a high quality surgeon that would operate on you at all, so chances are, if you did find someone willing to operate, you'll end up botched. Forget about it, revisit the idea again in 10-15 years. And as for the whole confidence thing. Own your hairstyle. For what it's worth, when I first shaved my head at Norwood 5, girls used to come up and rub it, which was a great way of meeting them. You don't even have to shave it because you are way better off than I was. Girls will sleep with you because you look older sometimes. Not everyone likes the same thing. You never know. Don't let your hair hold you back.

Don't get me wrong. I don't want to debate this issue since it's been debated ad-nauseum. I do however support him getting the advice from someone who knows what they are talking about, like a doctor. Seeing someone reference PFS, is a sign that they may have been doing internet research, instead of consulting with well supported scientific literature, or someone who can relate the literature to him.

A few items I'd like to bring up. 1) Talk to an actual dermatologist about Finasteride. I see you mention PFS, which is largely an internet supported idea. The actual scientific literature, as you should ask your doctor about, does not support this being a widespread issue. There are also topical solutions that an actual doctor might recommend. 2) Before you start rubbing random research chemicals on your head, keep in mind that these are not widely researched. There are 25+ year studies on finasteride. RU on the other hand has weak to no scientific data behind it. 3) You mention "solving the problem" of hairloss. This is a warning flag to me. Hairloss is a progressive issue. You will be dealing with it your whole life. Even with medical treatment. Even with a transplant. Hairloss will continue to progress. Keep this in mind and plan for the future. At 25 I had diffuse thinning and was capable of a decent haircut. At age 30 I was norwood 6. I would personally never do a transplant without medical therapy that addresses DHT. Other people are free to make their minds up. Just do yourself a favor and look at repair work from plugs. Then look at repair work from FUT, then look at FUE repair work. These represent people that were like you, in their 20s who are now in their 50s and 60s. Most FUT and plug repairs come from a time when finasteride was not available. A lot of FUE repairs are more recent, people now in their 30s, who didn't take therapy, (or sometimes even those who did) and their baldness progressed anyway, leaving them islands of hair in the front, and no option to shave their head.