long, straight, hippie-hair. can a HT help?

[shagster]

Hi guys, I've been reading a bunch of these hairloss forums for many months and I finally decided to post my situation because I'm starting to seriously worry.

 

I'm a 33 year-old male, with very fine, straight shoulder-length hair, parted down the center (think of jesus' hair). The thinning started in my mid/late 20's and now at age 33 I'm a solid norwood 3 with deep temple recession. The hairline itself is a very steep V shape. Again, I wear my hair long with a part in the center but these days when any of my frontal hair falls forward it exposes big gaps in the temple region. It is very important to me to wear my hair longish as I would look absolutely terrible with short cropped hair or a bald head.

 

So I've been investigating the FUT/FUE procedures but I never see any photos of people who wear their hair like I do so I'm not sure if a HT would work for me. I actually have started looking more at female HT photos because I never see men on these site with long hair.

 

Is a HT even an option for guys like me? Can anyone directly me to a thread or patient with a similar situation?

 

Any and all help greatly appreciated. Thank you.

[Rhino3]

I think if you search for posts by Janna, at Shapiro Medical Group, you will see some pics of a long haired patient. I think he cut his hair a little shorter as time went on though.

 

You'll want to do your research, I'm no expert, but I think that the general rule is that people with thinning hair look better with shorter haircuts. It was certainly true with me, although I never had hair like yours -- but my dad had "jesus hair" years ago and ultimately trimmed it way down as he lost his healthy head of hair with age.

[RCWest]

Sure! You can have a hair transplant and wear a longer hairstyle. But, hair looks fuller when it's on the shorter side. Some people with full heads of hair look thin if their hair is long.

[shagster]

Thanks for the responses guys. Rhino3, I looked at about a dozen of Janna's posts and the longest haired guy I found was:

Forum By and for Hair Loss Patients - Janna's Album: 8 Mos. Result w/Dr. Paul Shapiro - Picture

 

It's an excellent result but not quite how I wear my hair. But actually that patient's pre-op photo is very similar to my current head of hair, although I let my remaining frontal hair fall to sides and not push it straight back like he does. But overall the results I saw from SMG were excellent.

 

Are any of the IAHRS docs known to have more experience with women's hair transplants? I feel like my case is unique and a doctor who has a good history of female HTs might be useful for me to consult with.

 

I see a lot of aging rockstars (like Tom Petty, Vince Neil, etc) who appear to have had some kind of work done to keep their long locks well into their 50's, and it's that kind of result I'm looking for: straight long hair that falls to the sides.

[Cam Simmons MD ABHRS]

Shagster

 

Based on your description, it sound like your hair is thick in the midline but that you have deep frontotemporal recessions. You would probably be a very good candidate for hair transplantation. If you have a narrow centre part through your natural hair in the midline, you could keep wearing that style.

 

If you later thinned in the midline or needed to transplant it, you would likely choose to stop wearing a centre part because transplanted hair is not as thick as a teenager's, the top of our "dome" reflects overhead lights, and that combination would make a centre part look wider.

 

You still want a mature man's hairline. Just because you prefer longer hair does not mean that you should be looking for similarities to a woman's transplant. I had to find an action shot to see Tom Petty's clearly male hairline!

 

It doesn't happen often but I am going to disagree with RCWest. Reasonably dense transplanted hair usually looks thicker when kept longer because there is more layering of hair on hair. Really thin hair looks thicker when kept short.

[Tom60]

i never really knew that we could grow our hair long and it will still look ok. This is great news.

[RCWest]

Dr. Simmons, what length do you find best for transplanted hair? To me, I consider "short" anything under 2". I wouldn't know why anyone would spend the money and time for a hair transplant just to buzz cut it.

[Cam Simmons MD ABHRS]

Dr. Simmons, what length do you find best for transplanted hair? To me, I consider "short" anything under 2". I wouldn't know why anyone would spend the money and time for a hair transplant just to buzz cut it.

 

You are right that you get more layering if the transplanted hair is kept 2 inches or longer. Some of my patients do wear their transplanted hair shorter and it still looks natural but doesn't look as dense. Some also use gel or pommade, which also make the transplanted hair look thinner than a "dry look." I can make suggestions but it is their hair so they can wear it however they like and feel comfortable.

[mattj]

I think it's going to depend on how much of the hair is transplanted, because more extensive transplants covering the whole top of the head generally graduate to less density as you go back from the hairline. Overall if the density is quite low (as Dr Simmons said) the parting can look a bit wide. Also, while there's probably a sweet spot where density will look at its greatest and this is somewhere between very short and longish (due again to what Dr Simmons said - layering), once it has grown to the point where it's long it could look a bit limp and lifeless.

 

But it sounds like the area you part still has enough density and your hair is only causing you problems when the receded temples are exposed. If this is true then you already have all the hair you need to continue with your longer style, and the addition of hair to the temples can only improve your look.

[RCWest]

You are right that you get more layering if the transplanted hair is kept 2 inches or longer. Some of my patients do wear their transplanted hair shorter and it still looks natural but doesn't look as dense. Some also use gel or pommade, which also make the transplanted hair look thinner than a "dry look." I can make suggestions but it is their hair so they can wear it however they like and feel comfortable.

 

Thanks Dr. Simmons!

[shagster]

Dr. Simmons thanks so much for sharing your thoughts about my case (and thanks to all others who have posted).

 

You still want a mature man's hairline. Just because you prefer longer hair does not mean that you should be looking for similarities to a woman's transplant. I had to find an action shot to see Tom Petty's clearly male hairline!

 

That's exactly right. I do indeed want a mature man's hairline. But because I never see men wearing their hair long (and down) in post-op HT pics, I guess I was resorting to looking at female results just to reassure myself that transplanted hair can grow straight and long if desired. It concerns me that I can't find a male result that is similar to my hair style. But again, Tom Petty wears his hair precisely as I do, and I believe he has gone the HT route, so I'm glad I mentioned him in the previous post.

 

Dr. S, I'd be happy to send you pics for evaluation if there's a way to do that privately.

 

But it sounds like the area you part still has enough density and your hair is only causing you problems when the receded temples are exposed. If this is true then you already have all the hair you need to continue with your longer style, and the addition of hair to the temples can only improve your look.

 

That's also exactly right. I do (barely) still have the hair I need to pull off this look, but when the frontal hair either falls forward too much or if I sweat and the strands begin sticking together, the style looks very silly due to those big exposed temple regions. And again I can't find HT patients/photos with similar styles so I'm still not sure if a HT would look natural on me.

 

Thanks to all who have responded.

[Tom60]

how do you plan to keep your hair if you have to go through ht? or if you cant pull off the look you are going for? are you going to shave your locks?

[RCWest]

I imagine that if you had a nice hairline done you could even grow it long and pull it back to cover up anything.

[j1j9j85]

paths patient i think is a good example of a guy with long hair take alook dr pathomavich

[shagster]

paths patient i think is a good example of a guy with long hair take alook dr pathomavich

 

Thank you for that! I searched for Dr. Pathomvanich and I found this patient's blog:

 

Hair Restoration Journal -Pre Opt

 

Compared to my hair loss & style he is definitely the most similar patient I have ever seen of these forums.

He is still at the 6 month mark so I can't really judge how his final result will look but thank you for leading me to his blog.

One thing I noticed is that Dr. Path lowered his hairline quite substantially. Too much I think. But I'll certainly keep my eye on his progress. Thanks!

[j1j9j85]

i agree!!!

 

if your after less of a lowering or just temporal peaks imagine what difference you could make with the same number of grafts as paths patient.

 

But in a more focused smaller area.... it would be ideal if the HT was a success!!!!

 

As paths patient for 5/6 months and the large area he had covered combined with the number of grafts i can clearly see good growth already and he has alot more to come not mention he has fair thin hair!!!!!

 

good luck man

Edited October 8, 2010 by j1j9j85

[VickTayback]

Obviously most HT are designed to be combed somewhat back or sideways to maximize coverage.

 

But in your case, its like you'd be combing it forward from the back.

 

But if youre 33, soon enough youre going to switch to a shorter style

anyway.