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tommo, A lot of it depends on how much native hair you have; if you are a NW 4 for example and having a smaller session, than hiding it with your existing hair may not be a problem; however, if you have extensive hair loss, and getting a large session, it may be more difficult to hide; mainly make sure your donor area hair is left longer to hide the scar; the scar is probably the hardest part to explain to people; the redness in the recipent area you can blame on sunburn, etc...

The pic of the look you want is why at 19 you are not a HT candidate--unrealistic expectations. A HT will not be as dense as the hairline in that pic; also, an ethical surgeon would not place a hairline that low; as you get older, that hairline is not going to look right on you; for example, it is not normal for a 50 year old to have a hairline that low; also, a hairline that low could cause problems down the road if your native hair behind the transplanted hair recedes; it will force you to get additional surgeries to keep looking natural and you may not have the donor to do that or simply run out of donor hair;

minoxidil is applied topically; dutas and finasteride are ingested orally; entering them into the body via other medians does not allow the medication to provide efficacy and can be harmful.

So you mean you ran out? If that is the case, you could probably call your doc's office and they would call in a script to the pharmacy; than all you would have to do is pick it up at the pharmacy; no doc. appt needed; I'm assuming there is a pharmacy close to where you live or work so it should only take all of 10-15 minutes of your time; If you have it and haven't taken it; well I don't understand; it takes no time to swallow a pill each morning; As long as you get back on it ASAP and STAY on it long term the damage will be miniscule;

needforhair, The meds for the most part will maintain your existing hair; you may get some growth in the crown; if you are one of the lucky few, you may get slight improvement in the frontal hairline area; for me, they have at least maintained my native hair, even in the front; not trying to let you down, but you have to be realistic with the meds--they basically help slow/stop your hairloss; at your age (37) and the fact that you have a lot of hair left, you appear to be a perfect candidate for a HT;

anajj, there is no hard and fast rule when it comes to growh timelines; there are some general guidelines: 3-5 months growth starts; 6 months= 40-50% of final cosmetic result 12 months= you can evaluate the results; probably 90% of final cosmetic result; 12-18 months=continued thickening/maturation of new hair which adds to the cosmetic result; early start doesn't necessarily mean early finish and vice-versa; hope it doesn't sound vague; it is just that the growth time is not an exact science;

Matt, The work appears to look clean; that is a small session (400 grafts); I don't understand why the doctor gave you a strip scar for 400 grafts; if you are going to go through the process, he should of done a larger session; you do have a lot of native hair, but IMO, it is not worth the small cosmetic differance for under 1000 grafts; did the doctor discuss the session size with you; what is his philosophy on this?

charlie, By looking at your pic; I would say 3000 if you have the donor and laxity for it; 1500 would not make a significant cosmetic differance;

Marko, Just because he gave you an interest free loan shouldn't make him the doc you "look to first for another procedure." You only have so much donor hair, laxity etc., so you will want to get it right the second time around; I would go to a coalition doc for HT #2; I'm not trying to sound harsh; it is just that a HT is a big decision and the decision to go with a doc shouldn't be based on if they are nice and gave you and interest free loan.

charlie, Could you post some more pics with the hairline exposed? That would give a better indication of how many grafts; Also are you taking any meds to slow down/halt further loss? At 32, and it appears you have a decent amount of hair, I think you would be a good candidate for a HT; first I would get on propecia, if you aren't already to stabalize your hair loss; it may help fill in the crown area; it is hard to give you an estimate based on those pics, but I would say 2500 grafts focused in the front would give a good cosmetic differance.

I think most clinics won't mess with under 1000 grafts--I think that is usually the minimum today; why only 200 grafts?--that will make a miniscule cosmetic differance anyway; 1000 grafts is considered small and usually only for touch-ups/to add density.

thinman, as far as online pharmacies, I use Inhousedrugstore.com; they are legit and the best prices;

dwinn, Do a search on "Bosley" and you will find a ton of information on them; basically, their results are inconsistant; you said cost is a factor; most of the coaltion or recommended docs on this site are cheaper than Bosley; so why take the chance of subpar results; especially after you have had 2 HT's, you may be close to taping your donor capacity so you can't afford to waste any donor with a bad result; as far as the donor scar, I recommend you go to a consultation with a coalition or recommended doc and have them evaluate it; they may be able to excise it and perform a tri... closure resulting in a less visible scar; that will depend on your laxity and also the location; if the scar it too low they may be unable to improve it due to the risk of stretching. I do not know of the doc you mentioned, but if they are recommended or coalition docs you will be in good hands. Most importantly if you made an appointment with Bosley cancel immedialtely even if it results in losing your deposit! The deposity will be miniscule in the long run.

Proscar and Propecia contain the same active ingrediant--finasteride; thus, they are identical; the only differance is proscar= 5mg of finasteride; propecia=1mg; split the proscar into 1/4's and you will essentially be getting the same dosage that you had with propecia; it is not critical that it be exact when you split the pill; by taking a 1/4 piece per day you will average 1.25 and will not result in any "bad reactions or hair loss."

2bornot2b, some pics would help evaluate your situation; however at 35 and a NW6, if you are a candidate for a HT, you have to have very realistic expectations; realistic expectations being a mature hairline and less overall density; there are some NW6's on this site who had good results with HT's; Bobman being one that stands out; it sounds like you have good donor area, so you may be a candidate; if you do go the HT route, it is recommended that you get on finasteride to maintain the hair below the crown area--thus you will keep your donor area strong; if you are a NW 6 rogaine may not be worth the hassle IMO; you will want to consult with coaltiion docs to evalutate your situation; especially docs that do megasessions; you will want to go for the most grafts possible in your first session.

by looking at your pics, I would wait on getting a HT right now; I would get on propecia and wait a few years; you still have a lot of hair; the combination of propecia and rogaine foam may work in regrowing some hair since you have diffuse lose--I think you are a perfect candidate for the propecia/rogaine combo;

If you have never worn a hair piece before and start to wear one after your ht, IMO, people will notice something is differant; IMO it will draw more attention; Not to scare you, but after two weeks, chances are you will have some decent amount of redness; if you don't have a lot of native hair that will be noticable; also, make sure your hair is long enough in the back; I would say at least an inch to cover the donor scar;

your body would reject your mother's donor hair; I think the only person that could be a donor would be an identical twin; taking anti-rejection medication for a HT would cause major issues as far as ethics--that will never happen.

most people on this site would kill for your hair; IMO you do not have any hair loss;

Some individuals go through a shed when they start rogaine; don't worry about it; it is normal. The drug itself is not going to cause you to "lose hair."

crimson, You are a legal adult, so I don't see why a doc wouldn't prescribe it to you as long as you are a healthy individual. Also, get proscar and cut it into 1/4's--it is MUCH cheaper than propecia.

rogaine alone will not stop the baldness process; ie, it does not lower DHT levels; so any hair that was maintained or grown due to proscar will probably begin to regress; I would advise you to get back on proscar; if you lose ground now, you most likely won't be able to get back to where you were before you stopped it;

tunaman, by looking at your pics, it appears that you are a NW 1; when your hair is as short as it is, you are going to see some scalp; IMO you have no hairloss and have more hair than 99% of the people who post on this forum; I wouldn't mess with Rogaine for your situation; maybe just proscar as a preventative if it gives you piece of mind;

george, I would wait and give it some time; you may be having a "placebo" effect; IMO sexual side effects are quite rare from finasteride; I'm not sure what your age and level of hair loss is, but Rogaine Foam will not slow down/stop the progression of Male Pattern Baldness like finasteride;

mickeyboxer, It is quite common to have one side lag behind the other; left side lagging semms to be the most common amongst other posters and myself included; it is hard to evaluate by your pic; can you post pics of better quality?; at 5.5 months post-op you will have some new sprouters plus thickening/maturing of the new hairs; you have to remember that you are probably only 40-50% of your final result right now; you have a long ways before you reach the final results; I would wait another 6 months before evaluating; also 1300 grafts is not a lot; I had 1300 grafts for HT 1 just along the hairline; I thought that was going to be plenty but I was not happy with the density and went back for 1000 grafts to add density; you always have that option, but like I said wait 6 more months before evaluation.