Am I a good candidate for hair transplant surgery? (pics)

[SogeKing100]

Greetings friends,

 

I just joined the forum (after lurking for a week or so) and this is my first post.

 

I am 28 years old, and I recently came to the realization that I am losing my hair (still hard to say...).

 

I was pleasantly surprised to see how fair surgical methods have come regarding hair loss, though, and I was wondering if hair transplant surgery would be right for me.

 

I classified myself as a Norwood IV, but I don't know if that's accurate. I took some pictures to show how far my hair loss has progressed. If some of the knowledgeable members of this board could give me their thoughts I would really appreciate it.

 

I feel that when my hair is dry, my hair loss isn't so noticeable (which is why I probably didn't notice until recently). So, I included pictures of both wet and dry hair. My crown seems to be thinning, and I'm also experiencing loss on both the right and left sides of my forehead area.

 

I don't know if my hair loss has progressed far enough to warrant surgery. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Also, I live in Japan, and was wondering if anyone knows of any doctors who do hair transplant surgery here.

 

Thank you for your time and help,

 

SogeKing

[Blake Bloxham]

Hi King,

 

Frankly, I'm having some difficultly classifying your Norwood level from those images. I don't think I would immediately classify you as a NW IV, but it does appear like you suffer from some level of androgenic alopecia. Do you use any preventive treatments like minoxidil (Rogaine) or finasteride (Propecia)? While we don't currently recommend any physicians in Japan, I do invite you to review all of our recommended hair transplant physicians. Most patients agree that traveling for a quality hair transplant procedure is highly advantageous in the end.

 

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask any additional questions.

[SogeKing100]

Hi King,

 

Frankly, I'm having some difficultly classifying your Norwood level from those images. I don't think I would immediately classify you as a NW IV, but it does appear like you suffer from some level of androgenic alopecia. Do you use any preventive treatments like minoxidil (Rogaine) or finasteride (Propecia)? While we don't currently recommend any physicians in Japan, I do invite you to review all of our recommended hair transplant physicians. Most patients agree that traveling for a quality hair transplant procedure is highly advantageous in the end.

 

I hope this helps! Feel free to ask any additional questions.

 

Thank you for the prompt reply.

 

No, I'm not using any preventative treatments. I would like to avoid them (if possible). Would you be able to tell me if I could pick up Rogaine or Propecia in Japan, by any chance?

 

I certainly would not be opposed to traveling somewhere for surgery. I'll do some research and try to find a suitable doctor.

 

Given what you have seen from my pictures, do you think surgery would be right for me?

 

Thanks again,

 

Jeremy

[Aftermath]

Thank you for the prompt reply.

 

No, I'm not using any preventative treatments. I would like to avoid them (if possible). Would you be able to tell me if I could pick up Rogaine or Propecia in Japan, by any chance?

 

I certainly would not be opposed to traveling somewhere for surgery. I'll do some research and try to find a suitable doctor.

 

Given what you have seen from my pictures, do you think surgery would be right for me?

 

Thanks again,

 

Jeremy

 

I think you need to get on propecia, give it a year, see if your hair loss stabilises and reassess, if you don't stop your hair loss further progessing it's absolutely pointless getting a HT, because by the time it grows in you will have lost more hair, if you can stabilise the hair loss you'll see good results from a ht because you still have a lot of native hair, if you don't stabilise your hair loss it will most likely progress moving you up the NW scale meaning more grafts and less chance of a successful outcome!

[Blake Bloxham]

Hi Jeremy,

 

I'm not certain what the availability of minoxidil is like in Japan. We offer the product at our online hair loss shop, but you would need to look into the shipping and make sure it is okay to send the product to Japan.

 

It is difficult to tell whether or not you are a candidate based upon those pictures alone. It looks like you may be a bit of a diffuse thinner, and it is uncertain whether surgery would help you or create shock loss in the surrounding weakened follicles. This is another reason why stabilizing with preventive medications before undergoing surgery is important. I do recommend trying to schedule a few online consultations with some of our physicians and seeing what the doctors say.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck!

[SogeKing100]

I think you need to get on propecia, give it a year, see if your hair loss stabilises and reassess, if you don't stop your hair loss further progessing it's absolutely pointless getting a HT, because by the time it grows in you will have lost more hair, if you can stabilise the hair loss you'll see good results from a ht because you still have a lot of native hair, if you don't stabilise your hair loss it will most likely progress moving you up the NW scale meaning more grafts and less chance of a successful outcome!

 

I see your point. I just wanted to avoid taking any medication/drugs. It's not like I have any particular problem with Propecia. I don't even take aspirin! If it would maximize the results of a hair transplant, I would definitely be keen on getting on it, though.

 

Hi Jeremy,

 

I'm not certain what the availability of minoxidil is like in Japan. We offer the product at our online hair loss shop, but you would need to look into the shipping and make sure it is okay to send the product to Japan.

 

It is difficult to tell whether or not you are a candidate based upon those pictures alone. It looks like you may be a bit of a diffuse thinner, and it is uncertain whether surgery would help you or create shock loss in the surrounding weakened follicles. This is another reason why stabilizing with preventive medications before undergoing surgery is important. I do recommend trying to schedule a few online consultations with some of our physicians and seeing what the doctors say.

 

I hope this helps. Good luck!

 

Thanks again Future. I sent a survey/request to one of the listed doctors, and will wait to hear back from them. Also, could you explain what a 'diffuse thinner' is?

 

I'll look into getting some Minoxidil. I can order some and have it sent here, but I actually have a friend who is a pharmacist (in Japan), so I'll see if he can hook me up. Surely they must have it here.

[Aftermath]

I see your point. I just wanted to avoid taking any medication/drugs. It's not like I have any particular problem with Propecia. I don't even take aspirin! If it would maximize the results of a hair transplant, I would definitely be keen on getting on it, though.

 

 

 

Thanks again Future. I sent a survey/request to one of the listed doctors, and will wait to hear back from them. Also, could you explain what a 'diffuse thinner' is?

 

I'll look into getting some Minoxidil. I can order some and have it sent here, but I actually have a friend who is a pharmacist (in Japan), so I'll see if he can hook me up. Surely they must have it here.

 

A diffuse thinner is someone who isn't just receding but thinning out all over the top of the head which is why propecia would be so important for you, I'd send emails of pics to the top guys for advice tbh people like Hasson & Wong, Rahal, Konior, Lorenzo etc.

[Aftermath]

I honestly think you're in a good position if you can stabilise your hair loss... but i can't stress how important that actually is! i was a diffuse thinner but i didn't discover propecia until 2007 (i was 27) at which point id lost a lot of hair! at 23 my hair loss was pretty much identical to yours! propecia helped my no end and i have had a few procedures to get me back to pretty much a full head of hair! check my story on this link if u like http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/174502-my-hair-transplant-story-2000grafts-dr-farjo-6000-dr-hasson-4-years-post-op.html although I've had some crown work done since then in 2012 because as u can see from the pics i had a slight thinning of the crown also which wasn't addressed in the previous surgeries

 

PM me if you wanna know anything about medication/surgeries/good surgeons etc. I'm not an expert but i have a lot of experience having had multiple surgeries and using minos/propecia since 2007