I would like some advice and perspective

[Louisjams]

Please be kind-this is my first post.

 

I would like some advice from the group here about my situation. I feel like I am mentally "stuck" and cannot decide which way to go r.e. HT surgery or not.

 

I am 41 and started losing my hair when I was 19. I always had very fine hair, so when I started to lose my hair it became cosmetically apparent very quickly. I am a redhead with straight hair.

 

I have been using Rogaine since I started to lose my hair at 19 and feel like it has definitely helped me slow my progression quite a bit. My brother started losing his hair at the same age as me and he rapidly progressed to total baldness on top-he never used Rogaine. I used Propecia twice: once in my twenties for about a year or two but was not sure I got results and again in my late thirties. The second time I used Propecia I definitely thought it was helping but I started to get some unwanted side effects and stopped. The decision to stop was tough as the regrowth was quite real. The side effects went away but I am now very reluctant to use Propecia again.

 

I now have quite significant hair loss: very thin on the front and on top: you can see my whole scalp on top. I have kept my hair very short (but not truly buzzed) for many years, and I go through periods where I am fine with my hair loss and other periods where it bothers me almost to the point of distraction. During these times I consider seeing a surgeon about HT, but I am kind of scarred by a bad prior experience.

 

Over a decade ago I went to a surgeon and had a consultation about a HT procedure. The surgeon, who is very famous, gave me an incredibly cursory evaluation, failed to notice that I had significant seborrheic dermatitis on my scalp, and put tremendous pressure on me to have a procedure right away. I left the office shaken and never followed up.

 

I am (fortunately) very healthy, have a good job, a loving wife and children, and can afford surgery if I went that route. I am extremely frightened of getting a bad outcome from HT surgery. I.e. I am not in love with how my hair looks but would be profoundly upset if I had a bad outcome i.e. something that looked very artificial, bad scars, etc. I am also concerned that I may need several procedures to get a really good outcome. In all fairness I am not looking for magic; I would be happy with some modest coverage in the front and at the crown: I know I will never look the way I did when I was 17 years old.

 

So, here are my questions:

 

Should I just go the last step and get a super short buzz cut or should I see another HT surgeon for another evaluation?

 

Should I get the buzz cut and then see how that feels for a few months before considering seeing at HT surgeon?

 

Is my ongoing seborrheic dermatitis a roadblock for a HT procedure?

 

Should I be trying anything else besides Rogaine?

 

Thanks!

Louis

[scar5]

Louis,

 

I am sure people have told you that you don't need any surgery, that we love you no more or less regardless etc.,

 

And I'm sure you would love to see your hair growing and your face looking normal again, even though you have spent your entire adult life living in the shadow of hair loss.

 

Of course some people 'wear it like a badge of honor' and shave it all off, but one thing I would find bothersome, even if I was not strip-scarred, would be the blue-grey shadow of hair under the surface of the skin that reveals the ugly NW 6 shadow in relief to my white/pink Gaelic-Anglo skin.

 

But you are a red-head, and I have seen a few pasty white red heads pull off this look really well. And I have also seen them pull off a very close buzz well too.

 

I would suggest an FUE procedure, a modest one, at least a consultation.

 

I can empathize with you and your response to the cursory nature of the evaluation procedure and I have already been through it countless times, not to mention follow-up consultations where the doc talks as if he completely forgot the situation you were in, what you wanted etc.,and when upon acknowledging your distress as your face reacts, there can be an equally disturbing feeling that the doc can reinforce in you- that are being overly sensitive and worrying too much. It is insulting and demeaning, and yet it is just the way it is. And on the other hand, quipping in with a remark that shows he has remembered something better than you did. (We have selective memory too IMO) but It is not a good sign, but the reality is, had you come 30 minutes earlier or later, it might have been different. That said, I'd move on.

 

I would not suggest creating a strip scar and I would not rely on SMP as a solid ancillary to the plan, not yet, anyway.

 

But say 2000 - 30000 FUE placed in a way that would not change the way you would have to cut your hair might be worth investigating. Given your response to meds, I would say that it is essential you have a line of retreat open to you. With strip, there is no turning back.

 

And I might add, telling everyone that you, 'took it like a man' or that you are trying to 'accept it gracefully' seems to me, to be far more powerful and self-edifying than telling them, 'I had the courage to do surgery' , so social acceptance wise, just shaving it off would be fine.

 

Hollywood know better!

 

Good Luck.

Edited August 20, 2013 by scar5

[cloudy]

It would be nice if you send at least one photo to see your current hair status.

Anyway, I totally understand you. My short advice would be to talk to your wife and try FUE procedure. I ALSO have seborrheic dermatitis which I control much better from when it started many years ago. SD itself probably came because of re-balance of DHT in early 20's so hair-loss was eminent. Try to control SD as much as you can with home remedies. Did you try Selsun blue shampoo with 1% selenium sulfide? Use it every other day in two weeks and then every other 3th, 4th, when you remember. When having SD, some people have to wash their hair by needing, which means sometimes twice a day! In the morning and in the evening. Don't let it to be too greasy. Try with Alpecine shampoo with caffeine every other day when not using Selsun blue (for instance..). Active oxygen (or Hydrogen peroxide) is a great anti-fungal and anti-inflammatory substance and cheap also.

 

I am planning FUE also and got your concerns about new transplanted hair is it going to fall of 'cause of SD? Well, it ain't gonna help me either to stay like this, right? If new hair does fall off, some slight scarring will be left in donor area which can be greatly filled with Skin Micro Pigmentation, no one will notice. That's the worst scenario.

Try it, there's only one life, money is just money and you are most important

[Louisjams]

Thanks to the two of you for responding.

 

I am using Nizoral 1% as well as rogaine. Only the Nizoral seems to help the SD.

 

Scar5, I think if I did anything I would go for FUE, but why did you say to avoid a strip harvest?

[Levrais]

Hi Louis,

I'm wondering where you're getting your Nizoral. It was off the shelves in the US for a while. Not sure why.

[1978matt]

Hi Louis,

I'm wondering where you're getting your Nizoral. It was off the shelves in the US for a while. Not sure why.

 

I saw the 1% version in Walmart if that helps.

[MAGNUMpi]

I am not in love with how my hair looks but would be profoundly upset if I had a bad outcome i.e. something that looked very artificial, bad scars, etc.

I feel the same way.

It's good you made it to this forum. You will find lots of answers if you take some time and sift through it all. There are good people here.

[Louisjams]

To the poster who asked where I get the nizoral:

 

I get it here and there. I always look for it in supermarkets and pharmacies when I am there for regular shopping. Usually they do not have it but if they do I basically buy all of it (usually 2 bottles at most at a time is all they stock). I have found it at lots of stores, but for unclear reasons most seem to have it only intermittently. Sometimes I go for long periods and cannot find any.

[Louisjams]

Just r.e. nizoral again, I went to a drugstore near my home this weekend and they had 4 bottles of Nizoral, so I grabbed all of them. Goes with my "looking for it all of the time" theme.