singlefollicle

On 5/7/2024 at 10:38 PM, TakeAction said:

It's a legit option IMO. 

Yeah, I mean, it seems like a great option, yet it so rare? Wonder why that is?

Just wandering if there are examples of high Norwoods who used a hair transplant and SMP to have a buzzcut?

Mirko from Mens Ink in Italy seems to have positive results, at least according to r/SMPchat/ on reddit.

 

Is this the stuff we are talking about?

https://m.indiamart.com/proddetail/visudyne-verteporfin-15mg-injection-2853699924955.html?pos=3&kwd=visudyn verteporfin&tags=BB||||7584.552|Price|product|||IVESI|type=attr=1|attrS|br

22 hours ago, BeHappy said:

It works best if you have real hair in the front. I had a hair system before I had the hair transplant. When I went for the hair transplant my minimum goal was to get the front half transplanted and only need a hair piece for the crown. I felt I wouldn't be worried about anyone noticing it if the front was real. Unfortunately the HT clinic insisted that they could give me a full head of hair with the HT which would look just as full as the hair piece. Then to make sure they could get as much money as possible from me, they started working in the midscalp and told me they would work in both directions, towards the front and towards the back, in the next several procedures. That made sure I never had a front hairline of real hair to be able to put a hair system behind it.

 

 

 

So you wanted basically what I suggested? The great thing about doing that, is that it always gives you the second option I suggested if you get fed up wearing a system. Its a shame you were talked out of it.

On 1/23/2024 at 7:14 AM, HairOnMyHead said:

all good man. no surprises been a year since my HT with Dr Kongkiat Laorwong. I haven't been using minoxidil diligently as per the instructions so i've gone back to that. 

I don't think anybody on this forum including patients of Dr Kongkiat Laorwong can give you a definitive answer. What you should be doing is taking pics of your head from all angles and sending it to him with a complete set of numbered questions. That's what I did and he appreciated the fact that I did that. You need to understand this is not akin to chatting up a girl online where you pose a question to her and then wait for her to reply and this cycle repeats till goodness knows when. Dr Laorwong is a busy man. 

I previously had the frankenstein scar around the back of my scalp. My scar has since faded. I only found out after I went for a haircut and the barber did a high slope for me. 

There are many good surgeons in Thailand. Most of them have been trained by Dr Path. When I started my research in 2012/2013, Dr Path was my first choice but his rates were too high. I then chanced upon Dr Suradej Pong and he was my firm choice for many years. But I always had difficulty accepting the hairline and results of the bulk of his patients. It simply wasn't the look that I was looking for. I then looked at Europe, Pakistan, Korea, Malaysia, India (the usual clinics mentioned here), US (Dr D****) but nothing really caught my eye in terms of the final results of the work done on the patients.

Finally I came across Dr Kongkiat Laowrong's work online and then started reading up more on his patient testimonials. Several factors came into play such as the layout of his website, pics of his works, patient testimonials on his site and other information elsewhere online and of course the cost. What cemented Dr Laorwong as my firm choice was a combination of the manner in which he replied to all my queries in great detail + he didn't rush me to make a decision + he said i was a good candidate. 

I notice on all your pics your hair is brushed back. Is this purely for style? Or are you hiding a thinner mid scalp/crown?

On 1/18/2024 at 8:27 PM, jjalay said:

I am talking about a patinet with virgin scalp and good donor like in this case where the patient is open to fue or fut. In such cases you can maximize the scalp donor via fut or combining fut and fue and you wont need to use body hair. The growth rate of body hair is preety lower than scalp hair which is always the king when it comes to hairtransplants, 70% in the most clinics that are using body hair, in some cases even lower. I agree that body hair is a great source for repair patients or for patient with limited donor area. But not for cases like NW 5 with great donor, in such cases primarly should be used scalp hair, via fut and fue.

My only issue with fut, is that I can't buzz it off if it looks bad. I was looking at this guy who had 8300 grafts with similar balding to me, but he still has a horse shoe at the back. 

He hasd fue, so he has the buzz option whenever he wants. If it was me, with the horse shoe, that's what I would do. FUT would not leave me with that option.

8 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I think that’s antiquated. It’s now proven that you can get enough grafts using FUE alone. There’s no need FUT unless you already had FUT, or you’re in the US and you want it for budgetary reasons.

Really? So FUT doesn't gain you any grafts at all? Okay FUE it is, so long as I can get 10k from my scalp. Guess I could always use beard hair but keep dyeing it.... Bloody ginger beard 😆

5 minutes ago, Melvin- Admin said:

It was similar. But more diffuse. I had 4 surgeries 30k+ investment. 

Do you think if I start with FUT, it will help me max my scalp donor? 

Surgery 1. FUT

Surgery 2. FUT + FUE combo

Sound like a good plan?

Im actually doing a lot of research right now. Going to spend the whole of this year on meds (fin + oral minox), I started in October last year, hopefully I can regrow some crown hair or something (I have tiny vellus hairs all over my scalp, you cant see in pics)

I have been wearing one for over 2 years and I'm kinda sick of it. I actually look okay bald, so think I will just go back to shaving it again until/unless I get a hair transplant. 

If the number of grafts is your issue (you can't get enough grafts for full coverage), then I have some advice that I think will work really well.

Get a HT for your hair line, 3000 grafts will do, even people with a poor donor can get 3000, you can even have a youthful hairline. Then use another 3000 grafts for the rest of your head (body hair can be used for this), basically create a diffuse pattern. Next, get smp all over your diffused area. Doing this will give you 2 options.

Option 1. Grow the front of your hair long and wear a hair system behind, this will look way better than using a standard hair system.

Option 2. Buzz your head. The smp + transplant combo will look way better than smp on its own. 

The great thing is you can switch between them. This is what I plan to do if I cant get enough grafts for full coverage.

Did you try any medications before doing a transplant? I ask because from what I understand, asians are normally very good responders to it. Looking at your original start point, I thought of this guy at the wimpole clinic (even same head shape)

https://wimpoleclinic.com/blog/norwood-stage-5-photos-treatments-results/
(scroll down to Does Finasteride work at Norwood stage 5?)

His start point was worse than yours, but his end point was much improved. If you are not already on medication, it might be worth trying.

This is where I got mine https://www.oxfordonlinepharmacy.co.uk/hair-loss/minoxidil-generic

12 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

I have a tiny head. It’s literally like a pin head. That’s why I was able to restore more with less grafts. My hair is medium. Not thin but not super thick. 

I also have a small head. Was your balding about the same as mine?

4 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

This case is similar and almost 10k grafts. Don’t listen to anyone who tells you 5k will do the job. It won’t. You can get the front and middle. But the crown will need almost the same amount. Unless you want have a bald crown. 10k is the number.

Yeah I agree. Think this basically rules out a HT for me though, because I won't be able to use beard hair. My head hair is brown but turns blonde in the summer. My beard is ginger. From what I read head doner only get around 6k grafts.

On 1/13/2024 at 12:17 PM, jjalay said:

Check out these cases for example:

These are all NW 6 cases with lower density and hair thickness on the donor area compared to your case. They all achieved full density with 6000 grafts. You really dont need 10000 grafts to achieve your goals, this is crazy. Dr pathomvanich in thailand and dr laorwong are also performin fut, yes.

The guy in the first video had less balding than me, the other 2 are interesting. But if you look at this Norwood 5a guy with thick black hair, I think his balding is less severe than mine and he had 8300 grafts but still looks thin (why he wants another transplant).

On 2/28/2023 at 4:50 PM, bear56 said:

that work looks very good and clean! 

Indeed it does. I'm thinking of doing a FUT + FUE combo myself with this doctor. I do have one question though. If you plan on having 2 surgeries anyway, would it be best to have just a FUT for your first, followed by FUT + FUE for your second? I read that FUTS get the most grafts but are best before a FUE?

4 minutes ago, jjalay said:

You are a NW 5 to 6 with good density on the donor area and thick hair. Also your lateral humps seem to be intact and with good density. You will need around 6000 grafts maximum to get a great result. You definitely dont need 10000 grafts, thats insane. In you case i would look at doctors like Hasson and Wong and Hattingen hair for an fut megasession if you dont mind about the scar. Other option for fue are doctors like couto, pinto, bisanga, zarev. Beard grafts in your cae i believe should not be at the table for your surgery.

Really? Just about everyone else has said I will need 10k, even @Melvin- Admin . I agree about the beard hair though, it's so incredibly different to my scalp hair, however without it I doubt I will get to 10k, so 6k would probably be the max. I would prefer FUE OFC, but if FUT is the only way to get the grafts needed, I would go that route. If I did go the FUT route I would probably choose Dr Laorwang.

10 hours ago, Digs49 said:

Even at a NW6, I agree that your donor seems strong plus you appear to have decent beard hair (on the neck). I had advanced loss & also on fin and minox. We have similar start points so, for reference, I needed over 10k grafts as Melvin said. With the combination of beard neck hair, I had one procedure done by Dr Pittella. Feel free to check out my experience for comparison.

Sounds promising. My main concern about using beard hair is the colour. My head hair is brown (and turns blonde in the summer) but my beard hair is ginger! Also my head hair is very soft but my beard is coarse. I'm not sure how much of a problem this would be, I guess I could always just dye it? BTW did you go for the most expensive package with Dr Pittella?  Don't think I could afford that. Was thinking about Dr @Kongkiat Laorwang. Although the only NW6 I could find from him was a 5k graft using FUT, so I'm not sure he normally does high NW like Pittella.

Anyway, I have a lot more research to do, my plan is to spend a year on meds anyway (been on for 3 months now) just to get back whatever I can (probably not much). Looking forward to the day I don't wear a hair system though.

On 12/13/2023 at 7:46 AM, Doron Harati said:

Norwood 5 that will be 6, but we don't see your donor

You can see the side of my head in my previous comment.

As for the back of my head, here is a picture of me watching a video of a man with similar balding  . You can see my donor area is pretty terrible (my nape looks thin). This is what makes me think I am not a good candidate for a hair transplant. From what I have researched on the internet, I believe  am going to need 10k+ grafts for a good result, and I doubt I have that. I'm currently taking fin + oral minox to try and improve my donor, but I don't have high hopes.

28 minutes ago, Hair Tomorrow said:

It's going to be legit, but they will only sell to research companies or institutions - does anyone know a way round this? 

True. I heard that sellers on indiaMart will sell to just about anyone, but I also hear there are a lot of scammers as well. Some research needed maybe.
https://dir.indiamart.com/search.mp?ss=verteporfin&src=as-rcnt|pos%3D1|cat%3D-2|mcat%3D-2|kwd_len%3D0|kwd_cnt%3D0&prdsrc=1&res=RC2&Mspl=0&qry_typ=P

Is this legit? 
https://www.bioscience.co.uk/product~723811

EDIT:

NVM The cheapest they do is £494 for 25mg https://www.bioscience.co.uk/product~723813

So would I be in need of 10k+ grafts to get a decent result?

On 12/12/2023 at 10:06 PM, Stewie said:

you got any photos from back or side on?

I have since put my hair system back on. I do have this picture I took from before though.

2 hours ago, BackFromTheBrink said:

I'd say 6 - the bridge is all but gone but the sides and back are still relatively high.

Yeah, I suspected as much. Although I don't think I really developed a "bridge" as I believe I had anterior pattern hair loss. One thing that confuses me though is my crown, the balding does not seem as bad as most NW6 pictures I see? Or am I imagining it?

 

I'm 38 and have advanced hair loss. I think I might have followed the anterior pattern of hair loss rather than the standard MPB pattern. I can't figure our what Norwood I am though. My crown does not seem as bad as some of the later stage Norwood pictures I see. I'm currently wearing a hair system so my hair is long around the sides but shaved off on top, this picture is of 2 weeks growth just before I have it trimmed. I would just like to know if I'm a Norwood 6 or a Norwood 7. Thanks for any help.