Goals for the Future

[tluser]

Hello fellow hair loss fighters,

 

I've been going around hair loss forums on the internet, looking through all the threads for the past 6 months now. I've posted here and there, but I've finally decided to step my game up and dedicate myself to posting to a forum regularly.

 

You can see my hair loss story in my profile but here it is as well:

 

"The only signs of hair loss come from my father's side of the family. He himself is probably between a Norwood 3 and a 3 with a vertex. My brother on the other hand is practically bald. He however was a pretty heavy drug abuser earlier in his life, which I suspect only contributed to his hair loss. To put this into perspective, my father is 75 and has better hair than my 35 year old brother.

 

My mother's side of the family has the thickest hair imaginable, and it's extremely abundant too. There are no signs of hair loss at all on her side.

 

I had a memorable hair shed when I was 16 or so. I shed an insane amount of hair, but I didn't give much thought to it because I was wearing my hair very long at the time. By the time the shedding subsided, I still had great thickness and coverage because I was born with hair more like my mothers. Slowly since then, my temples have been receding but they went unnoticed. It wasn't until my hairline (particularly the upper corners where the temples meet the hairline) started to recede, that I noticed my hair was getting thinner and thinner."

 

I'm 22 years old and right now, I'd identify myself as a Norwood 2, or maybe a 1.5. I'm still early on in the hair loss stages, but it's definitely getting more and more apparent. My goal is to maintain and try to stabilize my hair until I can get a transplant - which I am hoping I could get as soon as I can given the age limitations. If I am able to stabilize and maintain by say the age of 26 or 27, would it be reasonable to get a hair transplant and plan for the future after that, or is it still too young?

 

The only issue is that I'm extremely worried about the side effects with Propecia and Minoxidil - what with all these recent reports of more men having longer lasting/permanent side effects. I've read about getting on Regenepure or Nizoral. Besides that though, there generally isn't much else that is suggested in fighting hair loss other than the "Big 2." But is there anything else? I do massage my scalp nightly, in hopes that that will help.

 

Laser is widely regarded as snake oil, although there have been pictures with fairly considerable results by some posters on this forum (Carly being one). But I also hear that there is a study being done by Dr. Wasserbauer, who I know most of you are familiar with after a debacle on the forums and with an angry e-mailer. So in a year we should hear how that goes, and maybe that will put the final nail in the coffin.

 

Other than that, what else is there for me that can be done? And how many of you have personally felt the side effects of Propecia and Minoxidil? Is the "2% of those tested" a realistic number representing those who have been effected by the medications? And would a hair restoration surgeon even operate (FUE) on a Norwood 2 - again assuming if I could manage to keep it a Norwood 2?

 

Also, on a slight side note - I'd consider Dr. Nakatsui, H&W, SMG for a future transplant. Dr. Nakatsui's results in terms of naturalness are superb, and H&W and SMG's work are consistently excellent.

 

EDIT: Oh, I probably posted this in the wrong thread. I only posted here because I'm considering an FUE for my future transplant, as I've been reading that FUE is recommended for young patients who only wish to do minor work at one time, then future work if it needs to be done.

Edited November 21, 2012 by tluser