need advice on hair transplant

[hairgreedy]

So I've started my research on hair transplants, and I've had a couple of consultations with different doctors, and I could really use everyone's opinions on what course of action I should take. I am 31, and have some recession in my hairline, mostly in my temples. I don't see any issues with my crown area, but started taking propecia as a preventative measure.

 

So to get to my point. I attached a couple of pictures here to depict my situation. Some of the pictures contain a line drawn by one of the doctors I had a consultation with which shows where he thought he would do the hairline. This doctor (i'll call him doctor A) recommended between 1300-1500 grafts. He said not only would he fill in the temples, and lower the hairline a bit, but he would also fill in some hair where I have existing hair in the front. Another doctor (doctor B) I had an in person consultation with told me basically the same thing.

 

At first I thought this was a lot of grafts, until another highly recommended doctor (doctor C), with whom I've only had a phone conversation with and who saw my pictures, told me he thought I needed 2000. His reasoning for this was that he thought 1500 grafts would not be dense enough, and would not match the rest of my hair. And actually doctor A did say that there would be a possibility that I may want more density and would want to do another HT in the future. Doctor C also mentioned he would not do the side area as far out as doctor A drew it.

 

This got me thinking, why would I want to do multiple sessions, if I can get the right density the first time?

But i'm also concerned about the limited donor area. Ideally I can do 2000 grafts to get the hairline I want, and

with the help of propecia, I wouldn't need any more. Is that wishful thinking?

But what if I did have more loss in the middle area or the crown? Do I have enough donor to cover it? How much donor grafts do I have in the back? I know this varies from person to person, but whats a realistic range? Whats worst and best case scenario? Doctor C said realistically a person has 8000 grafts back there. 10,000 at the most. And either i'm on crack or Doctor A is, because I think I remember him telling me I have 20,000 back there. Is that true or BS?

 

The other big concern I have is that I think all of these doctors wanted to fill in more hair in the front where I have existing hair, but whats the chances I have shock loss in the recipient area, and whats the chances it will be permanent?

 

As you can see, I am a confused person, who is still researching all this stuff. I tend to be indecisive but in this case I think it serves me well, or else I would have listened to my brother and went to Bosley. Or jump right in like my cousin and gone to MHR. Not that they are upset with their results, but there is just too much negative stuff on this forum for me to ever consider taking a risk and going to any of those clinics. I would rather stick with the highly recommended doctors which only have positive comments about them.

 

Sorry if this is long. And all of your opinions are greatly appreciated. I would really love to hear your thoughts on which course of action I should take, the number of grafts I should do, and your feelings about my concerns. Thank you.

[Coligion]

Personally, I feel that your drawn hairline is a tad too aggressive. In my opinion, I would straighten out the hairline some, but I would want to mainly bulk up all around the existing hairline. I'm also mentioning this because you seem very concerned about your available donor supply. Like you said, donor supply is unique to each individual, but 20,000? That seems extremely excessive. I'd feel more comfortable putting the average available donor supply between 4,000-10,000 grafts. As for shockloss, that is generally an unpredictable occurence. The best thing you can do is continue to take Propecia. Since you are relatively young, and your forelock looks to have some miniaturization, I would definitely be leery of potential shockloss.

[the B spot]

I would estimate 1400-1800 grafts, but we would not transplant that low in the temple region....we would likely have no issue with the actual hairline itself, but at 31 I think filling in the temples like you have drawn would be excessive. Additionally, I would not target the temple points as aggressively.

 

The reason for the graft range is that we would primarily use mostly 1+2 hair grafts to do this kind of work, so the graft total might be a bit higher, but with FUE we can target the 1+2 hairs.

 

Most of us have 6-8K of donor...others have more, others have less. I have only see a few 10K strip patients, I have never seen a 10K FUE patient.

 

With taking the Propecia you can certainly help prevent future loss, and at 31 your experiencing some loss, but nothing excessive. I'd say a HT done properly could be a positive for you.

 

I would prefer you look at doing FUE, but you need to weigh the options and make a decision.

 

The decision to simply buzz it down a bit or do nothing are great options as well.

 

Take Care,

Jason

[ShavedDethMonk]

Hair Greedy,

 

Hey man, Im no expert but I think the drawn line looks good. What is your family history for male pattern baldness? This may help you see what you may have in store for you.

 

I am 31 and hae similar recession, perhaps I have a bit more in the temporal region. My family history does not have aggressive hair loss and I am currently scheduled for 3000 grafts for the same area you have shown unless my surgeon decides to reduce that amount after an in person consultation as it has only been online.

 

Perhaps your surgeons can give you an idea as to how dense a 1500 graft vs 2000 graft session may give in that area. People tend to complain about a lack of density in their hair transplants rather than too much density.

 

SDM

[hairgreedy]

Thanks to everyone who have weighed in so far.

 

B, I have a couple of questions for you.

When you say filling in the temples like the line drawn is excessive, do you mean because of how it would look now, or how it would look in the future when I age? And when you say you you would not target temple points aggressively, are you talking about the same thing or something else?

 

Also would 1400-1800 provide enough density to match my existing hair? If not, wouldn't it look weird if I had less dense hair in the temples compared to the rest of my hair?

 

I would love to do FUE, and eliminate any scarring in the donor area, but as I understand, most doctors offer it at $9-$10 a graft, which is a little much, especially if i'm doing 1500-2000 grafts.

 

Thank you.

[shanti]

The 'temple points' are the triangles of hair on the side of the head. The 'temples' are the corners of the hairline which are typically the first section of the hairline to recede with MPB. Confusing I know.

 

Anyway, in my opinion, far too aggressive for now and especially for the future.

 

I think Sparky on here does a good job with photoshop, maybe he'll be kind enough to fill the lines in with hair.

 

Personally I wouldn't drop below your remaining native front section of hairline. I'd plant carefully just within this and use the native hairs to soften the transplanted hairline.

 

I also think the temples needs to be more recessed and while lower remain a mature hairline. They are very closed off here.

 

The temple points are very, very aggressive too.

 

In a nutshell.... each to their own but I'm a fan of strong but mature hairlines, especially in your case. It's dangerous (donor) and cosmetically unnecessary creating a teenage hairline for someone in their 30's with MPB.

 

Johnny Depp in the picture is a decent example of a strong but mature hairline. It'll be more flattering long term than your pencilled in hairline, which is straight across and then down and closed right off at the temples.

[Sparky]

i dont think that hairline is aggressive at all for a 31 year old, its looks quite conservative.

[shanti]

In fact referring to the Johnny Depp photo, you could even have it like his right side temple and not the left which in the photo looks more receded.

 

Even so it would still be a slight natural recession which would be better than totally rounded and closed off temples.

[Sparky]

There you go, lines all filled in, if you want front shots, post some with lines on, and I'll do those too.

[Sparky]

Its quite cool to load up both the links and click on them to see the hair suddenly fill in.

[hairgreedy]

sparky thats freakin amazing! lol, a little funny looking, but still awesome, they should hire you at an HT office to show ppl their potential look!

 

i don't have another front shot with a line, but i'm adding another front shot without a line. If its not too hard, maybe you could photoshop this one and just kinda guess where the line would be (bout half an inch below the current hairline in the front and then pretty much straight across the temples) it would be interesting for me to see how it would look. if its too much work don't worry about it. thank you.

 

oh and i think you guys are right about the temple points, they might be a bit too aggressive, and maybe i should have the temples a bit more recessed than the line drawn. i'm not sure if my hairline ever looked like that!

[Sparky]

I think the front shot that I already photoshopped looks a bit like a wig but i thought the side one came out quite well, I can photoshop the new one you gave me easy, I'll post it later on tonight.

[Sparky]

Try not to drool too much over this hairline, temple points are untouched in it and it still looks great!

[Sparky]

I like doing this by the way, anyone who wants it done let me know

[hairgreedy]

holy crap, I AM drooling!! wow, I can't wait till I get this HT done! thanks sparky!

[Sparky]

No Problem Mate, just make sure you choose a good Dr like Shapiro or Feller and this would be a very acheivable result IMHO.

[the B spot]

Sparky, I think you have missed your calling mate

 

[Sparky]

Thanks buddy!

[Bill - Seemiller]

Nice work Sparky...start putting out your resume to hair restoration clinics :-)

[Sparky]

Thanks m8, I appreciate that, especially from you.

[hairgreedy]

i'm based out of Los Angeles, do you think any doctors our here could achieve a good hairline with good density? Maybe Siporin? Or Alexander in Phoenix? Or is it best to try Feller or Shapiro like you said? By the way, which Shapiro are you talking about?

[John Malloy]

Hair greedy,

I think your jumping into a HT entirely too early. I had a very similiar hairline to yours at 35, and I totally regret my Ht. I actually had 2. One by a very unscrupulous doc and my second by Dr. Feller. Trust me, your risking too much--shock loss, an artificial hairline, a scar in your donar area. Keep in mind your best case scenario will look thin in certain lights. And at 31, you will be living under a hat for atleast 6 months minimum. My repair from Feller was over 6 months ago and my hair still looks wild. I'm just praying in a couple of months that I can go outside without a hat and feel comfortable. For you to give up a minimum of 6 months of your life, to me is insane. I would pay 20,000 for my old natural receding hair. My life has been a living hell since my first Ht, and even a doctor with a rep as good as Fellers did very little to help resolve my situation--It still looks fake and had very minimal growth if any at 6 months. Really Really think this one over. If you have any questions, do not hesitate to contact me. I do not want anyone to go through what I've been going through since I had a Ht. Best of luck with whatever you do. I just wanted you to hear the story from both sides. I'm sure there are people happy with their Ht's. But I sincerely believe that because of the fact that your hair looks fine at this point that you are going to have high expectations that cannont be met. If you do go through with the Ht. MAKE SURE YOU SEE THE DOCS WORK IN PERSON--PICTURES ARE B.S. My hair looks great in pics, but horrible in person.

[Sparky]

I've been through all that too but 4 times, I'm only just getting around to repair now, although my hair does pass inspection, my scar isnt great, I regret not waiting longer then I could of used fue instead of strip.

[Sparky]

I'd go for Shapiro if I were you hairgreedy, I've only heard the best things about him, and from what I can tell and have been told, he is the king of hairlines.

[Sparky]

Do fue aswell, your hairloss isnt that bad.