Newbie Looking for a little guidance

[TheWalkingBald]

Hi Guys,

 

 

This is my first post here on the forums, having been a silent reader for many months now. So I guess I should kind of class this as my introduction, so I do apologise for this wall of text your about to see. I do promise there will be a question in here somewhere, as it is ultimately the purpose of my posting!

 

 

I’ve been looking into getting a hair transplant for the past 3 years now, pretty much since my baldness started becoming more and more apparent.

 

 

I’m a pretty much your typical hair loss sufferer from my research, i.e. it all pretty much started once I hit 30. Huge history of baldness on my father’s side, my father’s father, and all 3 of his brothers all went bald within their late 20’s etc.

 

 

 

I’ve finally managed to get the necessary finances’ together, to seriously consider having a surgical procedure. And I have, over the past 6 months been really hitting up my research on the various techniques employed, pro’s and con’s, FUT vs. FUE etc etc.

 

 

During this time I have also been to various surgeries for consultations here in the North West of the UK, which include most of the well renowned names i.e. Farjo’s, Ziering etc. And of course a few consultations with some lesser known companies, or should I say lesser advertised, just for comparison sake.

 

 

I’d say throughout my consultations the feedback received has been pretty consistent from surgery to surgery. I’ve been classed somewhere between a Norwood 5 and 5A, with consultations yielding graft numbers ranging from 2200 – 3000 which I think is the highest I’ve been quoted so far. I’m said to have fairly fine hair round the donor area, which isn’t said to be ideal, but still certainly a viable candidate for a surgical procedure. I’ve pretty much been told in each consultation that I would be better suited for the strip FUT procedure as it would give better graft yield and results.

 

 

This is fine with me, as from my own research it would have been my preferred procedure to have, in order to get the best results.

 

 

I guess my main questions are, and I hope you guys can help me here?

 

From my own research reading these forums and watching the Bald Truth videos on YouTube etc. It seems, and I certainly feel, that one procedure isn’t going to cut it. Most of the consultants have stated it would be best to concentrate on the frontal hairline area, for obvious appearance sake. And yet I’ve found in most of my consultations, that I’ve had so far anyways, I’ve been told to manage my expectations and such, and I’m not going to get a David Hasselhoff mullet anytime soon etc.

 

 

Which is fine with me, as I expect I’m going to need a minimum of two procedures to achieve the look I really want? And when I ask during consultations, can I have multiple procedures the answer is always a yes. And yet nobody has wanted to actually say, you’re going to need more than one! I find this really strange and slightly off putting; it seems they don’t even want you to consider it when speaking to them about it! Why is this? I mean surely you’re going to be ten times more disappointed with the results 12 months later. When you can clearly see that you’re going to need another procedure, it just seems to me like there is a lack of true upfront honesty across the board here.

 

 

My other main concern and biggest concern I suppose! Is with regards to the number of grafts quoted vs. the number of grafts harvested at the time of procedure. I mean I have all my quotations and all, but again, when I ask what happens if say for example I was quoted 2000 grafts. And at the day of surgery they can only transplant 1500! Nobody seems to want to address this with me, when asked, just skirting around the issue. How would I even know how many grafts they have done? What does it mean to my quoted cost? Am I entitled to a reduction in cost, likewise if they gain more grafts will I have to pay more!

 

 

Or am I looking at this the wrong way? I have read other posts about number of grafts vs. Number of hairs etc. To be honest that all seems to get a bit complex when trying to discern which is better to have?

 

 

Well I guess that’s me for this long introduction, hopefully you guys can give me a little guidance here. It would sure be appreciated; I’d really like to have as much information as possible before I take this giant leap into the abyss.

 

 

Many thanks for reading, and I do apologise for the extra long post.

[Garageland]

Welcome walkingbald nice name bth.

 

If you are a Norwood 5- 5a then 2200-3000 is not going to deal with your loss in one session unless you have a lot of pre-exisiting native hair currently? If you are slick bald or near enough then yes you are going to need at least two procedures if you want to get as much coverage as possible.

 

You were told that you have fine donor hair and I assume that your density is below average hence the low numbers? With FUT it is a combination of density, laxity, size of area and hair caliber that are the key factors.

 

Your donor density must be low to have only been able to get that number of grafts in the first session for a virgin patient. Even if you got 3000 grafts it would only be suggested to design you a hairline and frontal area of the scalp spreading it over the entire balding area would not be a cosmetically pleasing result.

 

So one procedure won't cut it unless you have expectations only of a frontal transplant and a bald crown? Perhaps this is all you have in terms of donor I would have to see photos or you in person to confirm. You are right these points should be made clear before surgery so you have a firm grip of what to expect a well informed patient is generally a more happy one.

 

There is no magic way of knowing the exact amount of grafts that can be harvested via FUT on the day of surgery and will only be known once the surgeon has started and finished the operation a number of surgical factors can determine this. There are occasions when the numbers fall short and when more grafts can be harvested this will be able to be communicated with you. In your case you need as many as possible to reach what sounds like your goal.

You should loosen your scalp with scalp exercises and after a couple of months doing this daily the surgeon will be able to harvest more grafts. Good clinics will charge you for the number of grafts transplanted and there may be less or more to pay on the day once the graft count is known. I can't speak for other clinics but the Doctor at our clinic counts the incisions made as he is making them. You can have a clicker to press every 100 that are made.

 

You should be quoted a estimated number of grafts with in your case a possibility to get more on the day is it is possible. You should go to a clinic who charges per graft rather than hair. Each graft contains 1-4 hairs so it makes financial sense to do so. It depends on the hair groupings on your scalp as to whether you have a high number of single, doubles and multi hair ones.

 

I hope that answers some of your questions.