Different quotes from different surgeons

[ali1564]

Dear friends,

 

Recently I've decided to do the HT and I started seeing different surgeons in Australia and sending my hair photos to different surgeons overseas now when I look at these quotes I am getting a bit confused that which way is the best option for me, so I want to share a summary of some of those quotes and my hair pictures with you guys and know your opinions about that as well:

 

I don't want to leave name of the surgeons so you guys could say your opinions regardless of reputation of each doctor:

 

quote 1:

Your hair loss look like the Ludwig 2 pattern ( retain frontal hair line with diffuse thinning from front to back ) . This pattern presents also thinning in donor area . For surgery , FUE technique by FIT shaven will be the best option. Because you need a lot of grafts to cover up from front to back . Front and top : 2000 to 2500 grafts .Vertex : 2000 grafts .

 

quote 2:

Your balding area will require a large number of grafts maybe at least 7000 grafts in multiple sessions, more or less depending on the donor hair available. If you do FUE for this amount of graft, you will have diffuse thinning hair at the donor site and you might not be happy. Alternative way to do is a combo of FUT and FUE to gain more grafts in one go with less grafts. Example, you can do FUT for 2500 grafts + FUE for 1500 grafts with a total of 4000 in one session.

 

quote 3:

As discussed with Dr. ???, you can go for approx. 4000 grafts using combination of scalp (2000), beard(1000) and body hairs (1000).

 

quote 4:

You do not have a clearly defined balding area and there is more thinning of hair than balding.Due to this reason you should postpone your procedure to a bit longer.

I would request you to send me pictures after 6 months.

 

quote 5:

I recommend the FUSS option. We could only treat your F/M with surgery (PRP + medication is for crown). In order to transplant your F/M I estimate that you would require 2000+ follicular unit grafts (approximately 4400+ total hairs). For your awareness, “2000 +” grafts means that we are aiming to obtain more than this figure. Therefore a number between 2000 and 2500 grafts is highly likely.

 

The most strange quote for me was quote number 4, which recommends to wait longer but my hair loss almost stopped since 2 years ago.

 

I also want you know guys that I don't really tend to use any medications nor Minoxidil, I used Propecia for about 1 year 3 years ago but after I found out about its side effects and having frequent urination I stopped using it.

 

Any help or your opinions would be greatly appreciated.

Edited April 10, 2015 by ali1564

[KO]

I think that you are not a candidate for surgery as you are not taking propecia.

[ali1564]

Thanks for your reply,

So are you saying that everyone who wants to do the Hair Transplant surgery MUST use Propecia ? and this is compulsory, otherwise they are NOT a candidate for surgery ?

[KO]

Not everybody, but young guys are advised to, and especially if they have aggressive, diffused loss. A surgery could shock your native hairs.

[Dolph1969]

How many get side effects with propecia? is there an age category that tends to be more effected? i.e younger men?

[chrisdav]

I would have thought you are not really a candidate.

 

You are going to progress to a Norwood 7 and realistically there is too much surface to cover.

[splitting hairs]

First we need to establish the following:

 

1. How old are you?

 

2. What is the likely hair loss pattern you will end up based on your family history ie dad and grandad?

 

3. The frequent urination you experienced with propecia, how many times a day was that? Would you consider going on it again at a lower dose at 0.5mg a day. A lot of guys have reduced their dose and obtained benefits without side effects.

 

These are important questions and will affect our answers.

[BUSA]

How many get side effects with propecia? is there an age category that tends to be more effected? i.e younger men?

a LOT of men hav side effects. its totally toxic to some at any age. others it seems to work great.

 

totally disagree that u need to be on propecia to have a HT tho. I tried it and it shut down my libido in under a week. never again.

 

a lower dose can be beneficial tho for some.

 

seems like ur donor is strong tho. need an age?

[Rawkerboi]

3 years now on Fin no side effects!

Side effects of Fin is blown out of proportion on Internet!

You never. Know till you try!!

[chrisdav]

8 years for me

[jonnyalex]

3 years now on Fin no side effects!

Side effects of Fin is blown out of proportion on Internet!

You never. Know till you try!!

 

That is not something you can state as a fact my friend. You say you have had no side effects but you surely acknowledge that they exist? So because you had no problems everyone who has is blowing it all out of proportion? No offense but as someone who is starting to feel the side effects quite badly, I am sick of these stupid statements. I honestly believe the trials where they mention 2% had side effects were faked.

[ali1564]

First we need to establish the following:

 

1. How old are you?

 

2. What is the likely hair loss pattern you will end up based on your family history ie dad and grandad?

 

3. The frequent urination you experienced with propecia, how many times a day was that? Would you consider going on it again at a lower dose at 0.5mg a day. A lot of guys have reduced their dose and obtained benefits without side effects.

 

These are important questions and will affect our answers.

 

Thanks for your reply, here is the answers to your questions:

 

1. I'm 30 years old

 

2. My hair loss almost stopped 2 or 3 years ago, so my hair looks pretty much the same as 2 years ago.

 

3. I had once a day, but I strongly tend to not using any medications at all.

[ali1564]

I would have thought you are not really a candidate.

 

You are going to progress to a Norwood 7 and realistically there is too much surface to cover.

 

Thanks Chris, but my hair loss stopped 2 to 3 years ago. basically I haven't noticed any differences since then.

 

Do you have any recommendations to find a good surgeon ?

[Hairtechnician]

In my opinion as a hair transplant technician, not meant as medical advice because I'm not a doctor, I believe that the varying recommendations you received have to do largely with your risk of future hair loss and the doctor's approach to that consideration. You may feel that your pattern has stabilized, i.e. you're not losing more hair, but that is not definite as hair loss can occur gradually, to the point of being unnoticed, until its over 50% gone. In addition there are many people who don't lose their hair until they are in there 40s and 50s (or older) so it can be stable now, and then not stable when genetics for hair loss are triggered, which is unpredictable. So the risk here is that if a doctor transplants an area where you have diffuse thinning, the native hair present in the area may experience shock loss due to the trauma of having incisions made near it, and shed. It would regrow with your grafts if it is permanent hair, but if it's not, your hair loss could be sped up, so that instead of losing the native hair, for example, 5 years from now, when the hair growth cycle ends, you could lose it now. Avoiding shock loss is the reason for avoiding transplants to areas of diffuse thinning as a conservative approach because you still have sufficient density for cosmetic benefit, and are not taking finasteride to combat your genetics. Another approach is to assume your hair will eventually shed in the areas of diffuse thinning and treat is as though it's not there, which is likely where the recommendations for 4000 grafts came from. The recommendation for 2000 grafts is likely based on assuming you're right and you are not shedding, you patter is stable, and possibly that that won't change, or if it does, you know the risk and can get more grafts later. So it does depend on the doctor's approach.

 

If you choose to go forward with a transplant in an area that is experiencing thinning rather than baldness, when male pattern hair loss is present, you may be increasing the risk of losing native hair sooner. Medication can help diminish that risk of permanent shock loss due to surgery, but if you don't want to use them you can make a more informed decision keeping that risk in mind.

[ontop]

IMHO

 

Its a Risky move to undertake any HT but in your case with Defuse thinning, young age & not want to take Meds to control DHT. The most certain to happen is more hair loss stable or not but in the future you will find you will be on a up hill battle for Many ,many yrs.

 

You defo need to control that DHT because its pregressive with HT or Meds.

 

Maybe look into the natural supplements something is better than nothing.