25 year old advice

[eped87]

Hey everyone, ive been lurking the forums for quite some time now and feel like im getting close to ready for a transplant. Wanted to get your opinions and thoughts on my current situation.

 

Started losing hair at 16/17, have quite extensive loss for my age. I seem to have the same hair characteristics (and all others come to think of it) as my father. His hair has been about where my current hair is, maybe a tiny bit less, for the past 20 years. Im hoping its stabilized where its at.

 

I tried propecia acouple years ago and got sides. Im thinking of trying again, but it didnt go well last time.

 

How many grafts do you think I'd need? I was thinking probably as many as possible in the first pass, maybe in the 3500-4000 range. I'm mainly considering FUE so i can cut it short if needed in the future, and wouldnt have an issue using beard hair for a few grafts if needed. I feel like I have a good donor but I suppose its hard to really tell.

 

My main goal is to get decent coverage (and a hairline!) for the next few years, until hopefully some new treatments come out such as Aderans and Histogen.

 

Sorry for the weak pictures, my phone sucks and I was having a hard time pointing it where i was intending to.

[tacolinowest]

i am also 25 yrs old and undergoing my first ht in april,, your hair is slightly worse than mine, i will prob look like you in 3-4 years, it really sucks dosent it, to be 25 and have to deal with this, in my opinion i think you are a great candidate for ht,, you will need a few sergeries threwout your life time, the first sergery shout be about 3500- 4000 grafts, but if your gonna do fue than it would prob be less as that is a big session,, make sure you use a top doc or you will be sorry

[1978matt]

I think if I were you I'd be inclined to have a strip session. 4000 grafts with a conservative hairline would really work wonders.

 

I would go see someone like Dr Rahal who does FUE and FUT. Ask him what he thinks would be best based on scalp characteristics. The pros and cons.

 

H&W also experienced in big sessions although I'm not sure they offer FUE.

 

I understand the whole option of being able to shave down. But if you have an amazing result with strip are you ever likely to want to shave it(?)

 

Also, it might be an idea to try Regain/Rogaine on the crown. You never know your luck and could get an amazing reaction to it.

[RopainNogain]

I have the same pattern loss as you do. I thought I was looking at the top of my head for a second. (pre surgery) I have the small forelock patch remaining and the very thin middle with the same pattern in the crown. I am 25 and have had two strip procedures. First was 2,500 grafts and the most recent was 2,400 grafts. I am about 4.5 months post op from the second. If you have any questions about advice or what to expect I can answer those for you.

It really comes down to your goals. Decent coverage will mean you need at least 5,000 grafts if not more. (If you are serious about adressing the crown) You won't have a full head thick of hair, but if you want a hairline and something to make ya look 25 again your on the right track with your expectations. I don't want to scare you with the 5,000 graft number. 4,000 grafts will improve your situation greatly, but you'll be left wanting more.

I jumped in at age 23 and said it can't be any worse, so I just went for the strip method. Was it the right choice? Idk yet. I'm trying to recover from donor area shock loss. Research will tell you it's a rare occurrence, but don't believe it. Surgery number one was perfectly fine, but surgery number two left a good amount of shock loss. I'm waiting for it to return. I'm crossing my fingers!

If you can get the amount of grafts needed for sufficient coverage, go FUE. Plus if you are considering one procedure until they come out with another approved treatment (hopefully soon), then it sounds to me that you have a good plan.

Get the opinions of several Dr.s before you commit to a "plan" Have you consulted with any doctors yet?

Let me know if you have any questions and good luck!

[eped87]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have consulted with Dr Bhatti, he thinks somewhere in the 4000 graft range should provide sufficient coverage. Originally I planned on going with Dr. Gho, I e-mailed them but their sessions are too small (under 2000 grafts typically) and I find the before/afters on their site pretty weak.

 

Does propecia help with shockloss? The transplant definitely will be going in areas with native hair, and I was thinking of temporarily using propecia leading up to and after the transplant for a bit to help with shockloss if it does indeed help.

[jk22]

PLEASE READ. I am close to your age and recently underwent a ht with bad results. I am not going to tell you to do it one way or another. But know that once you have one your scalp will be scarred PERMANENTLY, and not just in the back either. I was left with scarring in the recipient area as well. Prior to going through with this I would recommend shaving your head completely for 1 month and see if you can live with it. I would give almost anything to be able to have a plain bald head with no scarring at this point.

[Eman]

eped,

 

1978matt gave some good advice.

 

I would of liked to have gone the FUE route, but I felt my Norwood level was too high NW4+. Typically, the line of thinking is one needs 1000 grafts per Norwood level.

 

From your pics it looks like you are a NW5-6. Thus you would need a larger session or two--in other words more than 4000 as you have crown thinning--to get results that you would be happy with. The doc would rebuild your hairline plus add density to the whole top and some in the crown (the black hole for grafts). Remember, you might even be talking about two sessions.

 

Do research here, have a couple of consults to get a better understanding of your needs and creating a plan. You have come to the right place to ask questions and find a doctor that will be able to help you. But only pick from the docs recommended here and stay away from the big hair mills!

[TommyLucchese]

PLEASE READ. I am close to your age and recently underwent a ht with bad results. I am not going to tell you to do it one way or another. But know that once you have one your scalp will be scarred PERMANENTLY, and not just in the back either. I was left with scarring in the recipient area as well. Prior to going through with this I would recommend shaving your head completely for 1 month and see if you can live with it. I would give almost anything to be able to have a plain bald head with no scarring at this point.

 

I'm almost 24 and currently 7 months post op, I have what is looking to be a very good result...

 

It's all just a risk at the end of the day. You can't say for sure he'll get a bad result because you did, nor can I say he'll get a good one because I have so far.

 

You just have to research and make a decision. I'm sure the FUE brigade will be here saying don't do strip because they may have had a bad strip scar/result, then you'll have people like me who have been absolutely fine with FUT - but that doesn't mean you'd be fine either. It's a roll of the dice I think. There are so many opinions are around that it can drown you...........you just have to go with what you feel is right for you.

[RopainNogain]

Propecia seems to be a longer term commitment as far as I’m concerned. Once you start to take it, you can begin to shed. With some luck these shed hairs will return, but if you shed these healthy hairs, then go for a transplant, you risk damaging a good follicle with the implant of a graft. This makes that implanted graft almost pointless if it replaces a perfectly good follicle. I was on propecia about 1 or 2 weeks before my first transplant, everything went fine, yet I continued the use of it and still am today.

Guess this is why I hear about beginning propecia 6-12 months before a transplant. If you can't continue I wouldn't consider starting for a minimal amount of time. But the best advice is ask your doctor.

1st FUT surgery (being on propecia about 2 weeks) No donor area shockloss

2nd FUT surgery (being on propecia about 15 months) donor area shockloss

My experience is that it doesn’t cut down on shockloss (donor area wise), but we are all different. My conclusion: who knows? You seemed more concerned about the recipient area, but I figured this example will give you an understanding that donor area shockloss is also a possibility and propecia didn’t prohibit it.

Also, I would revisit that 4,000 graft number and get a clear cut understanding of what you should expect from that. And he told you one procedure to reach the 4,000 number or he didn’t say? I would be surprised if he could do it in one go around.

[eped87]

@jk22: Thanks for the concern man. Unfortunately I've been bic'ing my head for the past 5 years and I hate it (this is the 1st time I've grown it out), I wear a hat absolutely everywhere I go. Making it worse is the fact that I got otoplasty (pinning ears back) when I was like 18, and the top of them has this weird little fold thing now. It's not noticeable when my hair is grown out, but when my head is shaved it annoys me. Just more incentive I guess.

 

@eman: I've been reading this forum everyday for the past few months (just not logging in) and have read almost every thread and I agree its been a great help. I know strip is usually recommended for higher NW cases, but the scar just scares me, which is annoying because seeing the results H&W, Rahal, etc post are very inspiring. I don't care if I need a 2nd procedure, and also have no issue with using beard hair in the crown (actually Dr. Bhatti said the preliminary plan would be 3500 scalp and 500 beard in the first procedure). I will continue reading though.

 

@Tommy: I totally agree, roll of the dice... which at this point I'm fine with, even if it sucks it doesn't really change my position as I wear a hat everywhere and hate bic'ing my head.

 

@RopainNogain: Yes he did say we could get 4000 done in 1 session (1 1/2 days approx) which from my understanding is probably close to the max for FUE, so not much I could do from there in the 1st pass. If I need a 2nd procedure I'm fine with it.

 

I want to thank you all for taking time to respond, I talk to some of my friends about it which is fine but they're less keen on the technical aspects lol