Kdegen

After some great results from oral Minoxidil and Finasteride, I have decided to hold off on a HT for a bit. I am however very interested in SMP and seeing how much of an improvement I can make on my hairline. It's holding decently but I would like to thicken it up a bit. I have red / blonde hair which I would not be shaving, so I haven't seen so many SMP case reviews with my scenario. Based on these pictures, would I be a decent candidate and get some good hairline results with SMP? As always thanks for taking the time to read this and or comment on the thread.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I appreciate you taking the time to offer your thoughts and insight. 

I think I will hold off on a HT for now and look into some hairline SMP and see if this is a good option for me to improve my hairline a bit without taking the big plunge. 

1 hour ago, TheGreatPretender said:

No, absolutely not. You have a great head and you could easily go off without looking like you never had this desease in the first place, why go through stress while taking risks for a couple more hairs?

Try to stick to it for a year or two then revaluate. 

Thanks. My main issue is my hairline looks like trash sometimes unless I do my blow dry comb over, but equally don't want to rush into anything as I have seen people get it too early and then they are SOL later in like when it progresses. 

3 hours ago, O Hare 57 said:

Its great  you responded so well to meds.  That said, Im 60 and I just had my fourth procedure.  I didnt start thinning until I was 48.  If your not happy with hairloss at 34, the same will be true at 44, 54 ad infinitum.  I would get doc to assess your total life donor amount so you know how much hair you can transplant when you get older.  I suspect your hair will slowly continue to thin the rest of your life.  You like like a norwood 5 at least.  You will need 6000-8000 grafts down the road if the meds effects start to wane.  I have been taking fin for 4 years and am still losing hair. 

Good luck..

Thanks for that. Yes I am thinking very long term and I like your approach to this. 

6 hours ago, AhmadChaudhry said:

Hi, frankly speaking, you do not need any hair transplant. Fin and Minoxidil tablets did wonderful and you got the same results as in hair transplant surgery. 

Do you have any plan to skip Fin or min and take three times per week instead of daily?

Thanks. I actually have recently started taking Fin 1mg every other day and haven't notice any changed in my hair, (haven't ever had sides from it either, luckily).

I'm 34 years old and have been dealing with gradual hair loss since my late twenties. Initially, it was falling out quite rapidly until I began using topical minoxidil back in 2018. Later on, I switched to oral minoxidil and finasteride after consulting with Dr. Pat in Bangkok around the middle of last year. I've seen some excellent results with the oral meds, and my hair has noticeably thickened up a lot. However, I still yearn for a thicker hairline, similar to what I had in the past, as well as a fuller mid-scalp.

When I visited Dr. Pat last year (before the improvement), he recommended around 1800 grafts, and at that time, I believed I was progressing toward a Norwood 5 or 6. But now, I'm uncertain about how my hair loss will ultimately progress, making it challenging to decide whether to get a HT now or wait.
I'm not necessarily seeking a definitive answer in this post, but rather, I wanted to share my progress with oral Min and Fin and see if anyone else has been in a similar situation, and what direction they took. As I am really up in the air on what to do. 


Before oral Min and Fin, (hair is wet in both photos, but slightly wetter in the first)


After 18 months


Current hairline:

On 9/11/2023 at 10:18 AM, rs525 said:

Depends on where you live, but I wouldn't do FUT if possible. Don't want to deal with a permanent scar and all that.

It's really not a big deal. Its very easy to hide and many doctors are so good that it's barely there. For the amount of grafts OP needs and the better coverage FUT gives you it's a no brainer. 

Good to see great results from someone with the same hair color as myself.  

On 5/9/2023 at 5:25 PM, A_4_Archan said:

Will go with the same one...he is doing beard cases...someone on this forum recently had grafts taken from beard by him..and he even shown me few more cases at clinic 

This might be a dumb question, but regarding the beard grafts, can you choose to have your lower beard (neck) hair extracted? What I mean is that I shave my beard to go with my jawline, can you have those lower grafts used? That would be a perfect 2 in 1 for never having to shape my beard again 😄.

Great results by the way!

2 minutes ago, Henry said:

To be fair though, some doctors can achieve the same amount of density with an FUE as they will with FUT. I've seen lots of cases where that was the case.

Good to hear. I've looked into this extensively and in my experience I always found FUE was too thin looking and if you wanted more density then you would be SOL for grafts if you needed another HT. 

5 minutes ago, Gramatik said:

no fut is old fashioned method and most clinic have stopped doing FUT. There are plenty of good clinics nowdays which can give good coverage to higher norwood patients 6 or 7 with just FUE+BHT..so there is not any reason to select FUT and get a nasty big scar

Sorry you're incorrect and quite misinformed. For amount of grafts FUT can't be beaten. FUE does not give the density that FUT does and anyone arguing that is just putting their head in the sand. There is no big nasty scar with FUT this isn't the 1990s anymore, especially with a doctor like Dr Path. Please do more research on the subject Gramatik. 

On 4/15/2023 at 5:24 PM, Gramatik said:

There was no reason actually to do FUT...You were small norwood with good donor...

FUT is the best option for anyone who is going to lose a decent amount of hair. FUE looks thin and if a person does not plan correctly they will have no donors when they need a second HT. FUE is good for people with minimum hair loss, thats all. 

28 minutes ago, Smacias15 said:

5mg daily is a lot no? I got prescribed by Dr Pan(same doctor as Melvin) for 2.5mg and instructed to take 1 tablet of 2.5mg per day. Do you know if that’s the norm?

The norm is 5mg a day at least from the 7-8 people I know who take oral. I was prescribed this by Dr. Path in Thailand.

1 hour ago, Smacias15 said:

5mg a day is a lot. You think 2.5 mg a day will be effective?

5mg is a lot in what regard? I am not sure if 2.5mg is effective since I have only been on 5mg. They also sell 10mg tablets, but not 2.5mg..

26 minutes ago, Spiritmale said:

@Kdegenmay I ask what dose you are taking? Did you start low and move up?

thanks.

1 5mg tablet per day. 

1 minute ago, Corbyn said:

but you said I was seeing things. I then showed you what I saw which guided me in arriving at my conclusion. So are you going to apologise, detract further or disappear altogether?

No, because I still do not see what you are seeing. You must not live in Thailand. 90% of Thai males have this haircut if they are over 25. I do not see any "wavy" results. You must be a regular on the Thai Visa Forum. 

38 minutes ago, Corbyn said:

Don't you go off wandering now.. 

https://www.thaihairclinic.com/hair-transplant-before-after-photos/Asian/severe-male-pattern-baldness-Norwood-6-and-7

 

Check the Facebook page and website. Lots of non Asian hairstyles showing great results. 

On 9/24/2022 at 2:24 PM, Corbyn said:

I'm looking at Asian doctors especially in Thailand. I've mentioned elsewhere why Eunegix is a no-go for me and Dr Zarev from Bulgaria is too pricey for me. Fingers crossed and no offence but I really honestly don't want to be like some guys here who have hundreds of post counts and have a wealth of information about hair transplants and the accompanying nitty gritty but are still undecided even after spending years on this forum. 

So it's Thailand for me. Dr Path is too ex and Dr Pong's patients all have weave looking hair so either Hairtain Dr Laowong Kongkiat, BEQ clinic or another Thailand clinic. I did look at Turkey briefly but there's just so many clinics and youtube channels that I honestly don't know which one I can entrust my scalp with to grow back my hair.

I don't see the weave you are mentioning from Dr. Pong. I think you might be seeing things. He does very good work.

Oral minoxidil is MUCH more effective. I was using topical for 3 years and I had minimal results. I have used oral for the last 6 months and it's insane the progress. Thicker fuller hair on my mid scalp, and even some gain on my hairline. 

I have been on oral Minoxidil since April 2022. Previously I started taking Finasteride (1mg every day or every other day) since mid 2021. No side effects from either. Massive growth and thickening since adding oral Minoxidil. 

Here is also a straight on shot of my hairline.

Hi guys. So I was debating a HT earlier in my hair loss journey, but through 2021-2022 I have found great success with oral minoxidil and finasteride. Even though things are looking a lot better I was also looking into SMP to maybe thicken my hairline even more as well as mid scalp area. I also have red / auburn hair. Has anyone done this with decent success? If I can pull it off, I can postpone a HT for quite a while. Please let me know what you think, I will attach some photos with wet and dry hair. Thanks! 

On 7/15/2022 at 10:41 PM, Etownone said:

Amazing work.    Congrats. 

I had my strip scar filled with beard grafts.    And the scar is now completely gone.    

 

How does your beard area look after extracting grafts from that area? Is there quite a visible mark?