NW 6-7

[NervousNelly]

I saw a NW 7 guy yesterday while we were shopping and my eyes instantly were glued to his head like a magnet. He had a HT and even though it was very refined and clean work it stood out immediately to me. It just looked odd to see no hair everywhere but the hairline and sides and back. It is possible that the average person might not think much about it but any of us would spot it a mile a way.

 

It makes me wonder if a NW 7 person should ever do a HT that is under a certain number of grafts because no matter what they do it might be obvious? I understand that there are the odd cases that look OK but still certainly more risky. I also really fear for these young guys getting work done and then not knowing their future situation. Just a couple of thoughts.

[Bill - Seemiller]

NN,

 

I think as veteraned hair transplant patients, things will stand out more to us than anyone else however, you certainly have a valid point.

 

I have seen pictures of NW6s and NW7s with natural looking hair transplants but it is certainly true that the greater the norwood scale, the less the coverage or hair density leaving some of us wondering.

 

Hair transplant photos by norwood scale can be viewed by clicking here.

 

Thanks for starting this discussion.

 

Bill

[wylie]

When I first got a HT over 10 years ago, all I had was a receding hairline. No one in my family was bald. The only one with a receding hairline was me. Thankfully I stayed with the receding look, only attempting to fill in the forelock and surrounding area with a small procedure.

 

Shortly thereafter, the rest of my hair disappeared, exposing my work, which, using outdated technology, I attempted to repair with repeated sessions. For years it has been well below acceptable. Now I'm serious about fixing it, if I have enough donor remaining. For those dense packing a frontal hairline nice and low when you are young, it could lead to a future where you never expected to lose all your remaining hair, like I did. So always remember to have a picture of yourself at 45 or 55 in mind, not 25.

 

Young guys often dont think that far ahead (I surely didnt when I was in my 20's)

[balody]

there is a topic similar to this on another forum headlined"im seeing a lot of stupid ht,s on here".

its basically saying a lot of guys are choosing to aggressivally fill in receeding temples and lower hairlines without touching the existing forlock of native hair,then relying to much on meds to keep hold of said forlock.a good example of this is a guy called tsakalos who is becoming depressed because 3-4 years after having a quite aggressive ht"up front" is now seeing the native hair in the middle behind his ht begin to thin.

i think younger newbies should be aware of this when choosing hairlines

[NervousNelly]

Bill,

 

I don't know if you checked out the examples that you provided with the links. There is only 1 example of a NW 7 which might strengthen my arguement. Ofcourse I am not stating that a NW 7 should never consider a HT, but it does concern me, especially the young guys that might become one in the future.

[Bill - Seemiller]

NN,

 

Of course I've seen the photos I had you check out.

 

Unfortunately however, there is only so much that can be done with a NW7. One has to make due with what is there.

 

So there are two choices:

 

1. Don't get a hair transplant at that level of hair loss

2. Recover as much hair as possible keeping an extremely conservative hairline and as close to minicking natural hair loss as possible.

 

But due to the unpredictability of and progressive nature of hair loss, it is certainly a valid point for young people to make sure they meet with a quality and ethical physician who will help them plan for the long term rather than immediate gratification.

 

Bill

[kg007]

Wylie -

 

Were you on the Propecia/Proscar the whole time???

[wylie]

Originally posted by kg007:

Wylie -

 

Were you on the Propecia/Proscar the whole time???

 

Oh no, never gave the stuff a second thought, and in the mid 90's I dont remember alot of hype about Propecia and wish I had of. I only recently got on Propecia, in large part because Finasteride can be had for so cheap. As opposed to purchasing Propecia brand name. Either way, I wish had of taken this long ago and it *might* have helped.

 

And, of course, back then Minoxidil was by prescription and cost $50.00 a bottle. I was not a regular user back then of this either

[kg007]

That's exactly what it is... Now lot of doctors/patients have a weapon called 'finasteride'... that's the reason lot of patients get extremely dense hairlines at very young age... Hopefully for them, finesteride will work for next 20-30-40 years...

[WeAreCured]

When I went to see Dr. Cooley in the late summer of 2006, he warned me about all of this (I'm 25 and just have some recession in the front, no thinning in the crown or middle front). He said he wouldn't touch me or even talk to me again if I hadn't been using Propecia fro at least a year to see what my eventual loss may be like. Fortunately for me, the Propecia stopped my hair loss and I was able to confidently refine my hairline. I'm not too sure what dense packing is, but I had 1500 grafts filled in conservatively about 1/2 inch into my current hairline down to 3/4 of an inch into my "balded" areas at the hairline, but it wasn't to the extent of my teenage hairline.

 

I too worry about future hairloss, but I've been on Propecia long enough to know that for me, there will be no sudden hairloss, and even if I do experience further loss it will be so gradual, thanks to the Propecia, that I will be able to have smaller touch ups in the thinning areas, since I have a large and dense donor area.

 

As usual, I think that research and personal honesty is the best approach when tackling hairloss, but I think for us young guys, even in my case where Propecia works, I think it's important to have the attitude that fighting hairloss is going to be a lifelong quest. You should never think that 1 HT is going to be some magic cure, although my fingers are crossed. I'm only a NW 2 by the way.