Help Required by Young Patient

[Youngun]

I'm a 25 year old losing hair in two regions: mainly at the crown, with minor hairloss starting at the front. Furthermore, I have a very assymetrical hairline due to wearing a turban while I was younger. Due to my upcoming wedding, it is essential for me to obtain a symmetrical hairline. I am wondering whether FUE for the hairline with minor densification at the crown is possible if supplementing with finasteride/minoxidil combo to stave of hairloss for a few years? I understand I will require additional procedures further down the road, but is it possible for me to have good hair for a few years before I require further procedures.

 

Thanks for your input!

[California]

Hi Youngun,

 

You have found the right forum to ask your questions. The members here are extremely helpful.

 

I suggest that you post some pictures so that the Forum members can give you a better advise. However, given your young age, a conservative approach would make more sense. Seems like your expectations are realistic and you are thinking of getting on fin and minoxidil and also conserving your precious donor grafts for the future.

 

Best regards,

[Youngun]

Thanks for your reply California. I have attached photos to help in your assessment. Just to clarify, I am thinking of getting a transplant now to fix my hairline and supplementing with fin/minoxidil to mitigate any additional loss. Unfortunately, I cannot wait till complete balding to get a transplant due to the upcoming wedding. I appreciate all input!

[Garageland]

Sorry to hear of the issues you have been facing. When is your wedding can I firstly ask?

 

You may not wish to hear it but I would start the fin/minox combo that you suggested before undergoing any procedure. Your crown is really opening up and creeping forward into the mid scalp. At 25 I hope you might have caught it early enough to see some improvements from this regime itself. Could save you some grafts and I doubt many surgeons would be happy placing grafts into this area at your age and not being stable on meds for a while.

 

The hairline I understand why you would wish to fix this but it will take a lot of grafts to provide symmetry and you would have to bring the hairline down in the centre area to do this. You have thinning into that hairline and it probably extends into the mid scalp too. I personally feel it would be a bad idea to do this currently unless you have been able to stabilize your loss and seen some improvement in the crown.

 

Of course you can do it and have a quick fix to restore the hairline and thicken things up but in my view it is not the right thing to do. Donor management and supply is a huge thing to consider when you are heading currently for an advanced Norwood. My first wedding I had to content with mini and micro grafts growing straight out of my hairline and a bald crown so I can appreciate you want to look your best. Some toppik or nanogen would help with deal with the crown.

[Youngun]

The wedding is in 1.5-2 years. I will start the propecia and monitor whether or not the hairloss is stopped. As for the crown, I luckily have large amounts of body hair the very closely resembles the thickness and curliness of the hair on my scalp. My hope is that this can one day be used for the crown, allowing for greater density of hair at the hairline.

[California]

The wedding is in 1.5-2 years. I will start the propecia and monitor whether or not the hairloss is stopped. As for the crown, I luckily have large amounts of body hair the very closely resembles the thickness and curliness of the hair on my scalp. My hope is that this can one day be used for the crown, allowing for greater density of hair at the hairline.

 

Hi Youngun,

 

You seem to be on the right track. Getting started on Propecia should help.

In regards to your thoughts about using BHT for the crown and your hairline, if you are referring to beard hair/grafts, please note that beard grafts being too coarse are generally not suited for the crown area.

 

In regards to using the beard grafts for rebuilding the hairline, the beard grafts are not placed in the first few rows of the hairline and even where it is put; it is admixed in the right proportion to dull its seeming coarseness. It is surmised that after 2-4 years of plantation due to “donor co-dominance” the hairs take on the textural and linear characteristics of the scalp hair.

 

I wish you all the best.

 

Best regards,

[Sean]

Youngun, whatever you decide, make sure you go to a doc with high yield results and one that extracts fue grafts versus variety of techs (techs with varying years of experiences).. Not every doc can achieve high density FUE (FUT maybe, but not for FUE). There are few docs that can.. Such results come from docs who break up procedures and work on one patient at a time using the right surgical protocol, ensuring great care for a patient's safety. Also, avoid docs that use really thick lines to show what your design will look like. It could be they plant behind the marked area making you thing they will start planting hairs in front of the markings. This is important since you want an asymmetrical hairline with density. You need to make sure doctors frame your face properly. Some docs may have a habit of raising the right side of your hairline at a higher elevation versus the left. Perfection and quality work is important as well as your safety so you dont keep going back for touchups trying to fight time lost and folks pointing things out for you.

[Youngun]

I agree that beard hair is too thick, I was referring to the fortunate (or unfortunate?) supply of hair in my upper back, which is just as thin and curly as my scalp hair. As of now, I am thinking of heading to India and completing the first procedure with Dr. Bhatti, due to his wealth of experience in BHT as well as the many positive results i've seen on this forum. Is that the right fit in my case or do you have any other recommendations?

[HairJo]

I feel that you might consider doing a strip method this way they may have enough grafts to do both areas .You will have enough to fix the hairline and possibly some for the crown depending on your donor yield

[seeker2014]

Proceed with caution. I had a HT right around your age (I am currently 27 years old) and also was experiencing diffuse hair loss. 2 1/2 years post-op, I am basically back to square one (albeit with slightly more hair, but now have to conceal my scar with some creative blending which I can just luckily pull off). There are several factors working against you: (1) you have not stabilized your hair loss with preventative medications so it is nearly impossible to predict how and in exactly what pattern your hairloss is going to proceed, (2) you are a diffuse thinner, thereby making you more vulnerable to potential permanent shockloss, exacerbated by the fact you have not reinforced your potentially weak hair follicles (within the diffuse area) through any sort of preventative medication, (3) even with preventative medications, it is not a sure deal they will last forever as hairloss is progressive, (4) the crown can be a daunting area to fill (it has been referred to as the "black hole" since it can consume many grafts). IMO, I think your hair situation up front looks pretty solid and depending on how far away the wedding is (congratulations, by the way) you may just want to use a concealer for the mid-scalp which could make a significant cosmetic appearance. Then, in the meantime, you can conduct further research to determine if preventative medications and/or a HT are the right choices for you. My parting words--don't allow short-term goals dictate decisions with long-term implications. Best of luck!

[Raiden76]

Proceed with caution. I had a HT right around your age (I am currently 27 years old) and also was experiencing diffuse hair loss. 2 1/2 years post-op, I am basically back to square one (albeit with slightly more hair, but now have to conceal my scar with some creative blending which I can just luckily pull off). There are several factors working against you: (1) you have not stabilized your hair loss with preventative medications so it is nearly impossible to predict how and in exactly what pattern your hairloss is going to proceed, (2) you are a diffuse thinner, thereby making you more vulnerable to potential permanent shockloss, exacerbated by the fact you have not reinforced your potentially weak hair follicles (within the diffuse area) through any sort of preventative medication, (3) even with preventative medications, it is not a sure deal they will last forever as hairloss is progressive, (4) the crown can be a daunting area to fill (it has been referred to as the "black hole" since it can consume many grafts). IMO, I think your hair situation up front looks pretty solid and depending on how far away the wedding is (congratulations, by the way) you may just want to use a concealer for the mid-scalp which could make a significant cosmetic appearance. Then, in the meantime, you can conduct further research to determine if preventative medications and/or a HT are the right choices for you. My parting words--don't allow short-term goals dictate decisions with long-term implications. Best of luck!

 

great advice here.

[KO]

I'm a 25 year old losing hair in two regions: mainly at the crown, with minor hairloss starting at the front. Furthermore, I have a very assymetrical hairline due to wearing a turban while I was younger. Due to my upcoming wedding, it is essential for me to obtain a symmetrical hairline. I am wondering whether FUE for the hairline with minor densification at the crown is possible if supplementing with finasteride/minoxidil combo to stave of hairloss for a few years? I understand I will require additional procedures further down the road, but is it possible for me to have good hair for a few years before I require further procedures.

 

Thanks for your input!

 

traction alopecia is common among turban-wearing Sikhs, I would hold off on the surgery. Your life will extend beyond your wedding day.

[Youngun]

Thank you for your input. I have been on propecia and will be monitoring my hairloss over the next few months prior to making any decisions. I'm fairly certain my hair will end up the same as my uncle and grandpa, the similarities in loss and age are uncanny (both are about 4a). I agree that I should not be getting any procedures in the crown. I am however still planning on getting a procedure for the hairline with a realistic expecations based on donor density and estimated future hair loss, contingent on the propecia stabilizing my hairloss. Although i believe I will have a fairly decent donor density, i'm curious as to the effectiveness of body hair to increase density? Is it possible to have a transplant using a mixture of both scalp and body hairs? If so, in what region of the head are they typically placed?