Would a transplant work for me?

[youngandbald]

Hello all. I am 25 years old, almost 26, and began losing my beautiful hair at 17. It progressed rapidly and by 19 I was very thin on the crown and the front had receded enough that I felt forced to shave my head, and have ever since.

 

I get by all right, I suppose. But I once liked how I look and now I feel as though I must avoid pictures and mirrors. Lightning never favors me, and every camera flash makes me disappear like a ghost. I have very pale skin. I'm tired of all the teasing and joking--even though it's usually good-natured it gets old. And I'm especially tired of seeing that look of disappointment that lights up a chick's eyes when I take off a hat. Women claim that baldness is a non-issue but actions speak much louder than words, and I have noticed my game worsen considerably even though I am better off financially than I was, and dress much nicer.

 

I just can't compete with the 90% of men my age who have hair like greek gods. It's really draining and has totally sapped my confidence. I've fought this fight for a long time now and... I just feel like giving up.

 

Sorry for the sob story, anyway here's my question:

 

Would a transplant be possible/recommended for me, and if not does anyone have any suggestions that would help me out?

 

I know that transplant candidates need to be decided in person by a qualified consultant but here are my basics. I am young, which counts against me. And my baldness is pretty bad. On crown and on the top of the head. However, my remaining donor area, though not immensely large, I believe is pretty thick and dense. My natural hair is also blond and wavy in texture which might be good or bad, I'm not sure. Lastly, I'm not looking to achieve full coverage, even I know that's probably impossible. But could I achieve a surgery that gave me the look of "balding gracefully" with an okay "widow's peaked" type hairline and not quite as bald of a crown? Do people get surgeries like that? I think that even if I had the balding look, but wasn't totally bald (which I basically am) I would be a lot more confident than I am now.

 

Thoughts?

 

Sorry for the novel. I'm new here. And in pretty dire straits.

[Icecreamman]

Hey man, first I'd say that a lot of us know what your going thru but i would not stop living your life or talking to women just cause your hair is thin or bald! We all tend to be way more hyper critical of ourselves. If I can give you some hope is that yes you're young, but that's a good thing in some regards simply due to the fact that there are many viable options in attaining hair than there were even just 10-15 years ago. Research, research, research!

 

I guess if you post some pics there are a ton of guys on here who will give you good advice as to how you should proceed. Are you on any sort of medical therapy I.e. propecia?

[Levrais]

There are people who go for the look you are describing and/or a better shaved look. Blond hair is a plus for ht's as there is less contrast with the scalp. You may also want to look bht options. Check out bisanga and umar for example

[youngandbald]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm not very good at researching this sort of thing and have so far found basically three different options. If anyone knows of any more, please share.

 

1. Hair transplant.

2. Something called a gas-permeable skin layer with artificial hairs that is adhesed to the head, I guess? Something called Apollo?

3. Just keep shaving and live with being shiny.

 

I don't like option 3. Am unsure whether I'm a candidate for option 1. And don't know much about option 2. What do you guys think?

[Levrais]

Personally I would only consider option 1 and 3. If I were you, I would take some pics and submit them for online consults. You can do that with several docs at once by clicking "consult a physician" the button at the top of this page. They second thing I would to is make an appointment for an in person consult with a doc or two to see if option one is possible for you.

[youngandbald]

How long does my hair have to be for a good consult?

[Levrais]

That Im not 100% sure about, perhaps 5 days growth. You can also call the clinics and ask that question or email the clinic rep. There are some reps regularly on this site and hopefully one could chime in here. Jotronic comes to mind

[youngandbald]

Here it is at a little less than two days growth: Hair Restoration Social Network - Hair Loss and Transplant Photos

 

It gives an idea of how severe the loss is. Which is why I'm not crazy enough to think that full coverage would ever be possible. But I'd like to do something, if I can. Really almost anything at this point.

[youngandbald]

All I'm really hoping for is to achieve around a Norwood 3/Norwood 3 vertex type of result. I don't mind the balding look but I don't want to be fully bald, y'know. Especially at my age. It's extremely depressing.

[Levrais]

Its hard to see much hair you have from these pics. The pics are good but with that close a shave its hard to tell. What NW level would you say you are now?

[Levrais]

I looked again at the pics. In the first one its looks like you're completely bald on the top. I have seen a few cases on here where people with that level of loss had a ht. Search vanman and hairtoday72

[youngandbald]

yeah it's hard to figure out exactly what NW I am but I am pretty bald on the top. It's not completely, completely bald. But it's not too far off. I'll search those users now, thanks for the suggestion.

[youngandbald]

Thanks again for those suggestions, especially hairtoday72. His situation is similar to my own and seeing his results makes me think something can be done. Especially since I have the added (apparent) advantage of having light colored hair. Makes me want to go see Umar.

[KO]

If your pattern is really aggressive, say NW7 ish. Perhaps one way to go would be to get FUE to create a "shadow" over the front and top of your head. With the goal of looking like someone who was "bald by choice". Look at photos of Brian Urlacher to see what I mean.

 

In my opinion it is a very subtle but important distinction. I would also look into tanning options.

[Dutch]

I would also contact the Shapiro brothers and Hasson & Wong. They may be able to help with a couple of mega sessions. If you have good laxity, then 7-9k grafts might be possible in 2-3 operations. Its a long slow path but it's an option to consider. Send them an email with your photos

[mattj]

You will really need to let your hair grow a lot longer for consultation photos. The surgeon will need to see how much hair you have left (including at the donor area) and to see what the quality of that hair is like. i.e. is it strong hair or very fine and miniaturised. Also, the photos you've uploaded would be considered too close-up. The surgeon needs to be able to judge area and proportions.

[youngandbald]

thanks for that, I will have a chance to let it grow out some in a few weeks and will then post new photos, thanks everyone for your support and comments