Recession1

I 100% do. Dr Rassman who came up with DUPA did a microscopic evaluation and densiometer on me and I do have it. 

It really has nothing to do with how thick the hair looks in the donor. You can have 20% miniturization and that classifies as Dupa and is hard to detect with the naked eye. I have Dupa and mine looks somewhat thick. I’m not saying OP has it im just saying you can’t go off of how it looks only. 

13 minutes ago, Eli_Avdikian said:

Indeed very lazy and reckless on the part of the surgeons who accepted you. But I also wonder whether you saw them for a consultation in their clinic, where they could potentially examine your donor area under a microscope, or you just corresponded via email. 

I went to the surgeon twice…. After the first time I was apprehensive because I felt that my hair was thinning so had him look again to make sure and he still thought things were fine. So yes, 2 in person visits! He was annoyed that I questioned him and said if he didn’t like me he would drop me as a patient because he thought I was hard to please…. In reality I was the one who had the right to question him because I ended up being right and he either didn’t care that my donor was thinning or doesn’t know how to diagnose Dupa.  Both times he would throw his high mag glasses on and comb my hair around for about 10 seconds and say it’s fine. Again, my post isn’t to degrade surgeons… I think there are wonderful ones it’s mainly to caution people to get multiple opinions from doctors that know what they are looking at and make sure they don’t have Dupa or thinning donors.  

Hard telling… I think sometimes we put surgeons on a pedestal and give them all the credit and talk about how “ethical” they are. At the end of the day they perform surgery to make money… I think we hear about surgeons who turn people down and then we think how “ethical” they are but in reality they know they can’t achieve short term cosmetic improvements with certain patients which would tarnish their reputations. In a case like mine with the current state of my donor they know they can get great results in the short term to promote business but would be a nightmare in 5 years and beyond and claim that I have just further thinned. The doctors even told me that my donor was so great that they would almost allow me to go as low as I want with a hairline. Then I hear from Dr Rassman that I have Dupa which is the worst donor you can have. Makes no sense 

I wanted to share my experience not to throw any surgeon under the bus, but to help others before getting a hair transplant. I am 35 years old and am on dutasteride 2.5 mg and oral minoxidil 5 mg daily… yes I know very aggressive. I started to recede at 23 years old and would say i am NW 3 now. I visited 2 renown surgeons that members of this forum speak very highly of. Both of them said I have awesome donor hair and no miniaturization and I would be an awesome candidate for surgery. I was excited but in the back of my mind I was skeptical because I felt like my donor when short looked very thin and I felt that the top of my head changed texture and thickness in the last 2 years. I decided to book surgery for the end of this year due to “experts” saying I was a great candidate with no miniaturization. With doubts in my mind and feeling that my donor has been thinning for many years I started to research DUPA. I came across Dr. William Rassman who coined the term DUPA along with Dr. Bernstein. I reached out to Dr Rassman who had me order a densometer and microscope and we set up a zoom call. He had me clip 20 hairs in a small circle in my donor and the hairs measured in density from 30-90 which reflected that I have a high percentage of hairs in the donor that are miniaturizing. I also shaved a small circle and took pictures with microscope that showed over 20% miniturization which classifies DUPA. Also I have miniturization on top of my head that wasn’t initially  spotted. Dr. Rassman stated it is Dupa and would have been a disaster to move forward with surgery as my transplanted hair would thin and my donor would also look thinned out. I would have been in a bad spot because I would then have to shave my head and would have scars in donor and recipient areas. What I am getting at is I think a lot of surgeons are great artists and surgeons but at the end of the day they either don’t know how to spot miniaturization in the donor or just turn a blind eye to it to turn you into a patient. When hair is long in the donor it may look great as you can see in my pictures but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Attached are pictures of my donor long which appears to be fine but under a microscope is not fine. Very disappointed but thankful I didn’t move forward with procedure. 

Does anybody have any pictures of what their head looks like shaved or buzzed really short that has DUPA? Like taken down to a no guard or 1?

Thanks for the reply did you take any medication prior to age 36? 

Looks impressive… like the hairline and density. How old were you when you had first procedure done? 

Any update? Thanks

This is going to be a great result! Really clean and love the hairline design. Also looks dense 

11 hours ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

id wait until verteporfin is available

What would be the point of this? Not being smart…. Just curious? Are you saying everyone should delay until it comes out? Chances are it won’t come to fruition like every other hopeful treatment. Am I wrong? 

Hey guys I have a hair transplant surgery scheduled in 3 months. I am 35 years old and am on 2.5mg dutasteride daily and 5mg oral minoxidil daily. I have been on this regimen for a long time.  I have noticed the last 2 months I have been shedding a lot of hair. Way more than normal…. I know it’s common to shed 100-150 hairs per day but I have noticed at least half of that in the shower and a lot when I apply minoxidil.  The look of my hair hasn’t really changed much. Below is the current state of my hair. Do you think this is alarming and I should postpone surgery? Or could it just be a seasonal heavy shed? Do some people just shed a lot of hair at certain times? 

I think when you feel you have a taller forehead and you go to Nw 2 or 3 it becomes bothersome because your face isn’t framed. When you already feel you have a big or tall forehead the little bit of recession becomes a big deal in appearance. 

5 hours ago, MAIZE1694 said:

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.

 

What do you mean fear for them? I’m not being smart… I’m just curious what you mean? If they were to lose more hair in the future and went to a NW 4 they could do another hair transplant or two if they wanted to. 

51 minutes ago, Proportions said:

If someone with a NW3 could have a successful HT with a nice result, why couldn't OP have one?

It just seems counter intuitive that people with a NW3 are encouraged to get a HT, but people with NW1-2 are discouraged. 

Agreed… it makes no sense. I see a lot of nw 3s that are getting transplants and skilled surgeons bringing their hairline back to original hairline before loss… so why would somebody 30 wait to lose a bunch of hair before they do anything. Everybody talks about the importance of meds, but it seems counterintuitive because it’s only okay to do if you lose a bunch of hair first? I thought meds were used to prevent losing more hair. I think the point of a hair transplant is to make you look great for many years to come so why wait until your bald… why not look good now and then have more surgeries if you need them… and who knows you might not ever need another  one… and if that’s the case you just waited a a bunch of years of not liking your hair. I don’t get it. 

1 hour ago, Gatsby said:

If you have surgery (and there will always be someone who will take you) you will destroy your natural hairline. You do not need surgery. You look good. 

Why would he destroy his hairline? If he goes to one of the best surgeons he would be fine. I have seen guys who don’t even have hairloss but are born with high  hairlines and lower their hairline and they look great. Look at some of the examples Konior has done. He lowers hairlines a substantial amount and they blend great. I think where you run into issues is when you go to cheap places. 

How many inches would you say he brought down your frontal forelock from where the bulk of your existing hair is? 

Looks really clean. How old are you? 

Yeah I’m not talking about guys that shave their heads and are in action movies lol I’m talking guys that are rocking hair that don’t have good hair. Do you think they don’t get transplants because they think they won’t look natural and aren’t educated on hair transplants or just don’t care? I don’t buy the successful part because of anything I think that adds more pressure to look good. Me for example… I’m no movie star but am a director for a big business and money isn’t a concern but I’m in the public eye so I feel even more pressure personally to have good hair and care about my appearance. Those guys are on camera and have attention to a whole new level. I don’t know I just find it odd that more of them don’t… it’s hard to believe it doesn’t bother them. I don’t know many guys it doesn’t bother and they aren’t even in the public eye. I guess given the option almost all guys would elect to have hair. 

I agree some guys look great bald. I’m talking guys who have deep receding hairlines of who are NW 3s and 4s that still grow their hair. Like an example would be Jude law.

Nothing deeply unhealthy about it… not many guys just say I’m losing my hair it doesn’t bother me at all. You wouldn’t be commenting on my post if it didn’t bother you. Hair loss for men is one of the most bothersome things they will encounter… I’m just simply stating it surprises me that you don’t see more of them getting hair transplants. As far as recovery and money that’s not an issue for them. 

I know there are celebrities and professional athletes that have had hair transplants… but what is surprising to me is the number of athletes and celebrities that are losing their hair that haven’t gotten transplants. These people are obviously in the spotlight and care about their appearance. Sometimes I find it alarming that they don’t do something about it especially if they are NW 3 or 4… it’s almost like they know something we don’t or maybe afraid that they will look worse? Does anybody else wonder this? We obviously care about our appearance since we are all on this forum… but imagine a camera being on you all the time! Why don’t more get it done? Think their hair just doesn’t bother them? 

Lol really classy Doc! I question a result and then you are coming at me… I don’t see any other surgeon on this site coming after somebody who posts saying it’s a conservative hairline… nor do they have time to attack somebody on this forum…  I said you were a good surgeon… I said it was conservative…. Chill out…. 

Looks solid. What made you confident to go aggressive with this patient…. Obviously great head of hair behind recession. How old is this patient? 

Melvin, you aren’t wrong about my irrational fear of going bald lol I know you don’t always follow your dad and brother… but man they are as bald as it gets. Sometimes I think the only reason I’m not is because I’m on medication and it is always the fear of one day they just stop working and my genetics overpower the meds and I go bald.  … or hopefully I just didn’t inherit their pattern… who knows!