thanatopsis_awry

Thx, I mean, the one plus to the social stigma that still exists about HTs, is that the public's ignorance as to the true nature of things, and the quality a HT can have makes it difficult for people to really detect a HT for being a HT as they suspect a HT must look like some monstrosity, let alone something natural and pleasing.

Julius, just to clarify that statement some....it only appeared that way when I styled it. Of course, styling it is something I would do HT or no HT, so it's not a detriment to *have* to style your hair, or your HT, in my opinion. But even when my hair appeared fully dense under harsh lighting, I was still operating within an illusion. I think what kills HTs, or conversely makes them, are how you style them, which again, I don't consider to even be a negative, per say, as styling your hair is something that is a benefit whether you have MPB or not. It simply becomes more essential when you do. Lighting conditions are certainly very important, too, but while I do feel that some HTs can indeed stand up to harsh/brutal lighting, I think it is truly a *very* rare HT that can actually stand up to harsh/brutal "styling". It's all a bit subjective, too, when you get really particular about what constitutes "thin", and the debate goes on amongst even esteemed doctors when deciding what they feel gives off the full illusion of density.

I would have to agree that while this looks like a good result, I wouldn't be comfortable in good faith vouching for it simply because of the inadequate pics. The top down shot looks really good to me, but more pics are needed to due justice to your work. The bright light from the pre-ops wrecked havoc on my retina, but the after set, particularly that of the crown, look very dim. I'd also echo the sentiment that it seems from the angle/lighting his crown was radically transformed in its very boundaries -- were grafts actually allocated to bring up that barren, bottom portion of his crown that appears perfectly dense in the afters?

Ya, I mean, the rule of thumb is to *not* set a major limitation on yourself by bringing geography too deep into the mix too soon. It's certainly a factor, and the fact that NHI is both nearby and in the Coalition makes it an obvious choice to consider. Between travel discounts and the truly life-altering, life-lasting procedure you're considering, it's best to leave geography on the back burner for now, at least as much as you can, IMHO. You can certainly do an online consultation with a Coalition doc in a different region, in addition to your in-person consult with NHI. This is what many members do if I had to surmise -- do several consults with Coalition/reccomended doctors, typically at least one nearby and one far-off to get a range of opinions, and after weighing things they bring geography into the mix if they need a "tiebreaker".

If you can avoid the black hole -- aka crown -- it definitely behooves you. This is one reason why fin is such a potent weapon, especially for a younger guy; even if you need to attack your crown with grafts, it is essential to maintain your boundaries and sides and not worry about venturing off into truly recessed and sunken NW'dom.

Rahal did you well, for sure; really first-rate result. It is what I'd expect from Dr. Rahal, and that's a good thing. Unless your photos are using flash, or are somehow *extremely* deceptive, I think your hairline is *mint*, and I would just style that bad boy and live it up. Like Bill mentioned, even with a high-density restoration like yours, you aren't going to have perfect-density. But, unless my vision really deceives me here, I think any halfway decent cut and a cool style your hair will look movie star good. Only you know your hair at the end of the day, but I really think you have everything you need to style your hair with ease and aplomb, and enjoy it.

No active member springs to my mind as having had surgery w/ Dr. Pak and sharing their results; however, you can research his personal file on this site, profile, etc., and search for his results and that of the NHI clinic in general, who I know regularly post results. Regardless, your best bet after doing this is to probably set up a consultation w/ him personally. It'd also be a benefit to consult with at least one other Coalition clinic, IMHO; thorough research is really key, and different clinics share different philosophies and can gameplan a patient differently.

I feel the same way, Aaron. In the span of 6months I went from a mildly diffuse NW1.5 to a NW4, in a period of time that was extremely high-stress. Incidentally, since that "traumatic" environment subsided, my MPB became far less aggressive. Of course, I also got on fin. Not that I actually think my pattern or destination has been changed, but I do feel that high-stress/trauma can induce an acceleration of your MPB revealing itself.

Just as an update: I now style my hair forward and texturized to kingdom come; it's a lot simpler to do, soothes the hair greed in me. Pre-HT being able to "spike" my hair up was the Holy Grail that I thought I would never again be able to do, so I had an emotional attachment to that style. I can say now, though, that I actually prefer the way this new style looks, and it's been a very positive adaptation to my HT and the continued loss I've incurred. I'm going through a lot of life-changes right now, making a HT undoable, and making the need to feel confident in my hair all the more important at the same time. It's been a positive experience to finally adapt to things, follicularly speaking at least.

The closest I could come to answering this question would be something that happened to me ~1year post-op: I had just moved, and ended up dating a girl from a new circle of friends. She was (and unfortunately still is ) the most gorgeous girl I had ever actually known, let alone dated. We were out one night going to a club and I was ID'd; both a bit tipsy, I dropped my wallet, the contents scattered onto the ground. The girl goes to pick everything up, stumbling through the contents, haphazardly ending up with my driver's liscense at the top of the heap (I wear my wallet extra-bulky, a'la George Costanza). She holds my drivers liscense up in the air, and of course I simply ask for my liscense so as to go in. In an absolute tone of absolute incredulity and disbelief, she asks me where my "real liscense" is, and after a minute of unraveling the confusion in the air she said she honestly didn't recognize me and thought it was a fake/joke card. I told her it was darker than it really was and that I actually don't look that different in the picture. I made sure to never have my wallet within a mile radius of her eyesight again.

Ya, I'd agree that most will not have true-density in which hair will be non-see-through in almost any condition. With a world-class HT, however, many can reach enough density to where they can style their hair in a pleasing way and achieve a good density-illusion. It's really a numbers game, over the backdrop of your hair charachteristics and scalp-contrast (both of which can be improved to some degree through styling, IMHO). For a while, even under the most brutal conditions, my density appeared "flawless" without having to do much beside put in some wax and spike it. With continued loss, this is not the case anymore, and I have stumbled backwards a bit on the illusion's scale. It's important to note that the HT truly is for most a journey, and you have to be willing to accept that you may very well have to adapt to dynamic conditions such as continued loss. Re: myself, currently....I'm styling my hair forward with a ton of texturizing done to it, and my hair looks non-see-through. Ironically, I actually prefer how I look with this style these days, so sometimes a changing of the tide and adapting to the HT isn't a total downer anyways.

Something not often discussed, but which I have heard speculated, is that of "hyper inflation"; where due to the vagaries of the maturation process as well as hair cycles, your HT can appear thicker before it actually reaches its ultimate end, which can end up being reached around the 18-24month mark. It's just a theory, and it doesn't seem to happen to many, at least not to an appreciable degree, however. Shedding, continued loss, and our ever hyper-critical eyes are often the most likely culprits, though. As already mentioned, that medication can cause hairloss; hopefully in a bit of time you can determine whether or not it was the cause.

Hey Azza, Above all else, it is important to note that the combination of your positive yet realistic attitude, and continued commitment to your studies is what is going to have the biggest impact on your life -- regardless of any HT you've had or will have in the future. As you well know, you were a very difficult case to begin with given your aggressive loss and pattern, and your first HT did not yield prime results. You have made a clear improvement nonetheless. In cases of young guys with aggressive loss, the ability and will to *continue* having multiple procedures to combat your loss is what is truly required to get a "full", lasting look. If I were you I'd style my hair forward, texturize it some with a good paste/wax, and if you want you're probably set for a light dashing of nanogen to get a pretty complete look, which you may or may not even want. Set it and forget it -- gl w/ your studies.

Different docs approach HTs in different ways; this can yield differing types of results with respect to both the look of the hairline, as well as the number of grafts harvested in a given session. IMO, I would inquire into the docs you are considering as to their specfic philosophy on hairline work....what kind of density they will be shooting for, how they exactly go about placing the singles and doubles throughout different zones. Some docs might use DFU's on you, given your loss.

Ask a doctor, ideally your doctor to be sure. I agree w/ Stimpson that I don't think it would actually cause a "problem", but also agree w/ mmhce that it is a problem nonetheless. Whether the effect is such that it actually negatively impacts you in an impactful is a risk you have to take -- and it's one I'd recco taking only after asking your doctor. Moderate-heavy, if not addictive use is pretty bad for you, HT or no HT, tho...

Looks amazingly dense -- truly don't see how you couldn't be impressed, if not outright marveled by this result. Raj, I agree that it would be nice to see a patient with "straight" hair; but straight hair or no straight hare, a result can and must be judged for all that it is. Even given this patient's good hair charachteristics, do you think his end-result of density and coverage is not at the very least "good"?

Honestly, I was surprised there isn't more clamor about this result -- it kind of reminds me of a case Dr. Keller posted not too long ago. From the pics, it's one of the finest cases I've seen in terms of coverage+density/#grafts. Immediate post-ops would be very nice, though.

It's an interesting question, for sure, and I agree with what has been said -- there's a certain interplay between having a nice hairline and the instantaneous attraction it will garner from some, and then the very hypothetical possibility of this very thing occuring being a boon to your confidence, which is will instantaneously attract some, as well. I would say this, though, generally speaking: no matter how bad your hair is, you can still have success with women, and no matter how good your hair is you can still have abject failure. I can personally attest to the latter, unfortunately (speaking about my earlier youth, but, to be candid, my present to an extent, as well). Like Bill said, hair restoration is not just a process that improves our looks; it is fundamentally tied to our very virility and the psycho-emotional confidence to not just function but *thrive* with the blessings we all have, and make the most of them, and, of course, life itself. The key with hair restoration is to have a fully informed view of your hair and the surgery so once you attain the excellent result you deserve you can truly make the most of it. I also agree w/ Ronald that there's likely a good deal of sub-conscious (positive) signals you are emiting to the world -- on top of your obviously blooming new hairline.

Looks good, and should look great grown out! This is the type of case I often think about, particularly for a younger guy -- this patient looks to me have thinning over his top and crown, but once this grows in and he keeps his head buzzed he will have the appearance of a robust hairline and head of hair simply buzzed down (a' la the look Collin Farrel and countless other celebs rock).

Hey man, You've come to the right place, above all else, and it is good that you are going about things cautiously. You indeed do seem to have MPB, and I would do a consultation with a local doctor/dermatologist ASAP to inquire into getting on finasteride (aka propecia/proscar). It is based off but one picture, but in my estimation you could be an excellent candidate for fin and it could be a huge positive, particularly if you decide at some point to get a HT. I would do the following: -- see a derm/get on finasteride -- do a consultation live with Dr's Farjo who are in England -- do an online consultation with a Coalition doctor

I wish you the best of luck, and the best results, though I truly do fear for the potential ramifications of your decision. Re: fin, you should be on it for a *minimum* of 6months before you begin to assess it's full efficacy on you. Realistically, it can often take a good year before its potency is fully revealed. Shedding that does occur as a result of fin *is* generally a positive thing, as far as I know, so I'm not sure where your derm is coming from. It is true that "shockloss" exists in certain forms, notably from a HT, but it will not be permnanent loss unless the hairs were already so weak that they stood no chance to the swift hands of time. Again, if a sex change is something you desire irrespective of hairloss that is an *entirely* different thing. I do feel a true concern for you that undergoing such a process simply won't give you what you are after, and that the consequences will bring into play a gravitas more grave and entirely seperate from the hairloss itself. I wish you the best of luck, but if it is truly hair that you desire and aspire to have above all else, you have *far* better options, from a risk/reward analysis, IMHO.

Mmmm, righteous! Congrats hairshare, you're a model for the power of a HT.

Dr. Lindsey looks to have a pretty striking blonde, likewise Dr. Feller. I shouldn't be saying these things, though, lest Janna my wife get angry and shun me to the couch.... Aesthetics aside, I've always found techs to be pretty attractive if not just for their noble/hard work.

I would strongly advise FUT, Ketan, though I would also strongly advise you to personally counsel with Coalition doctors, ideally including at least one who is pro-active with FUE. But my personal inclination is that you are firmly suited for FUT/strip. I believe FUE to be a *very* excellent weapon in our armory against MPB, but it is just that -- a weapon -- and it needs to be treated for all it is, both good and bad, and not allow the hype of the past to intrude upon it's actual place. I would also agree that getting on finasteride (aka propecia/proscar) is a wise move. You may not get great regrowth at this stage in the game, but it can help preserve the boundaries of your current pattern of loss. Assuming you have the ability from a physiological perspective, I would also reccommend *shooting* for more than 3000 grafts. 3000 grafts in the hands of a honed physician will indeed do a great service to you; but, if you yourself want, and you yourself even can, attempting to get more is something to consider. Ideally, IMHO, I would attempt to get 3000+, bolster and create your hairline and frontal 1/3rd, and then use some grafts to taper backwards over the top and leading up to your vertex and crown. A strategy like this is likely what I would pursue in your shoes.

Finally returned to my man-cave (maybe that date I went on went a bit too well )...it's great to see that HTN is expanding as it naturally should just as its continued excellence remains solid as a rock. It's always nice to see "good" expand and get fruition, whether it's a good thought, community, or person. Either way, wanted to say true thx to everyone who brought me up -- I try to be as genuine as possible, and with as much posting as I've done I know that the ensuing honesty I type out through the filter of my head isn't always going to be agreed upon by every person every single time in every way. But, just as I appreciate the fundamental nature in pretty much every poster on the site, that really transcends particular disagreements, it's likewise appreciated that the same can be said for so many others.