Seeking Hair Transplant Advice (Norwood 7)

[MyLuckyDay]

Hey everyone - I'm a male and just turned 23 a little over a month ago and really need some advice on the hair transplant process. I've done my fair share of research throughout the years and wanted to go through with this since I was 21.

 

I've had a norwood 7 since I was 21 and I've been balding since I was about 17 or 18 years old. I can't even begin to express how much this experience has sucked in all areas of my life. I've left some questions below and any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would normally cut all of my hair off but I let it grow out recently.

 

1. My hair is naturally very short and curly. I really do not want to do the FUT method and much rather go with FUE since I would buzz cut my hair pretty short regardless. However, I'm not sure if that would even be possible with the amount of hair I would need transplanted.

Any thoughts on how much this procedure might cost me given my current hair loss stage?

 

2. Any great doctors that are specialized in FUE method, preferably in NY area?

 

3. Anyone that has experienced severe hair loss and has gone through the transplant with desired results?

 

4. After going though the procedure, you are normally recommend to use Rogaine or other hair growth products for several months. If you were to stop using these products about a year after the procedure, would this have an adverse effect on the hair transplant? Im basically asking if I would have to be on hair growth products for the rest of my life after the procedure or would it only be temporary?

 

Even if you don't have answers, feel free to comment or share any suggestions. Thanks for the help!

 

EDIT: I've looked at the scale again and think I'm probably closer to a Norwood 5A or 6.

Edited October 17, 2015 by MyLuckyDay

[Sean]

The texture of your donor hair may be in your favor. However, i dont think there are confident surgeons in the east coast that may be able to take you with the history you mentioned. BUT, you still have beard, body, scalp hair experts that successfully attain results with cases like yours. You got one in California, another in Belgium, another in Turkey. that is if you prefer docs that are confident in their FUE. Based on the current situation, strip should me avoided imo. Take a look at williams dr de reys post, or couple of dr unar cases, or Bisanga, Lupanzula, erdogan, ali, etc etc for free consults. Id urge you to research carefully. Wish you the best.

[MyLuckyDay]

The texture of your donor hair may be in your favor. However, i dont think there are confident surgeons in the east coast that may be able to take you with the history you mentioned. BUT, you still have beard, body, scalp hair experts that successfully attain results with cases like yours. You got one in California, another in Belgium, another in Turkey. that is if you prefer docs that are confident in their FUE. Based on the current situation, strip should me avoided imo. Take a look at williams dr de reys post, or couple of dr unar cases, or Bisanga, Lupanzula, erdogan, ali, etc etc for free consults. Id urge you to research carefully. Wish you the best.

 

Thanks a lot for the help. I will certainly look into doctors in those areas. Why is it that you think that surgeons on the east coast would not be able to help me given the history mentioned? Is it because I've been like this for 2 years and there is some sort of cut off point?

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Lucky,

 

Based on your very aggressive hair loss, which may be creeping (or will eventually creep) into 'safe donor region' on the sides, I would proceed with the utmost caution.

 

Frankly, I would be surprised if you were a good candidate for hair transplant surgery. And the first step to determining whether or not you are a candidate is by undergoing evaluations in person. Your case is too complex for online consultations. Your donor needs to be evaluated by a hair loss specialist in the flesh.

 

And I highly, highly doubt body hair transplantation (BHT) will be a viable option for you either. This is normally a last ditch effort for complicated repair cases, and you still need a very large amount of regular scalp hair to essentially camouflage the body hair grafts. I'm not sure you have the scalp hairs to fill around the body hairs to create a natural look. For most patients, BHT isn't a viable option.

 

Sorry to be a bit grim, but I would hate to see you rush into any surgery in your situation. Like I said before, this is something that MUST be approached very cautiously. And don't do anything with anybody unless they have evaluated your donor in person.

 

Best of luck. Feel free to contact with any questions.

[Melvin- Admin]

The level of baldness you posses at 23 does mean there is a very high possibility you'll be Norwood 7, at this point I'd hold off on surgery, I'd try and stabilize the hairloss by minoxidil, once you're in your late 20's if your destined for Norwood 7 you'll more than likely be at that stage by then. However, all is not lost, you can still get surgery, to frame a hairline and connect the lateral humps, the crown will have to stay bald, but check out Dr. Umar, he's literally the only physician I've seen operate on Norwood 7's with success through a combo of FUE+BHT and you can even add smp if you wish to wear your hair short, I never believe that you have to just live with it, that's heart breaking to hear and frankly it's not true, you may never have a full head of hair, but you can most certainly improve your situation;)

 

Check this thread out

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/159098-dr-umar-7500-grafts-fue-norwood-7-a.html

[MyLuckyDay]

Lucky,

 

Based on your very aggressive hair loss, which may be creeping (or will eventually creep) into 'safe donor region' on the sides, I would proceed with the utmost caution.

 

Frankly, I would be surprised if you were a good candidate for hair transplant surgery. And the first step to determining whether or not you are a candidate is by undergoing evaluations in person. Your case is too complex for online consultations. Your donor needs to be evaluated by a hair loss specialist in the flesh.

 

And I highly, highly doubt body hair transplantation (BHT) will be a viable option for you either. This is normally a last ditch effort for complicated repair cases, and you still need a very large amount of regular scalp hair to essentially camouflage the body hair grafts. I'm not sure you have the scalp hairs to fill around the body hairs to create a natural look. For most patients, BHT isn't a viable option.

 

Sorry to be a bit grim, but I would hate to see you rush into any surgery in your situation. Like I said before, this is something that MUST be approached very cautiously. And don't do anything with anybody unless they have evaluated your donor in person.

 

Best of luck. Feel free to contact with any questions.

 

I truly appreciate the honesty. I do have baby hairs on my scalp but it's impossible to see with my terrible quality camera.

 

Still, I've seen a lot of pictures where folks who were in a very similar stage and have had some pretty good results. I know I shouldn't base anything on some pictures on the internet, but what's so different about this guy below and my case? This is just a random picture I grabbed from google from many similar cases. I will most certainly consult someone in person before taking any further steps but from what you're saying, it sounds like there are doctors that would take me even though they know the transplant won't be successful?

 

Am I missing something here? Maybe it's the texture of the hair?

 

http://www.selstoncosmeticclinic.com/images/hair-transplant1.jpg (before)

http://www.selstoncosmeticclinic.com/images/hair-transplant2.jpg (after)

[MyLuckyDay]

The level of baldness you posses at 23 does mean there is a very high possibility you'll be Norwood 7, at this point I'd hold off on surgery, I'd try and stabilize the hairloss by minoxidil, once you're in your late 20's if your destined for Norwood 7 you'll more than likely be at that stage by then. However, all is not lost, you can still get surgery, to frame a hairline and connect the lateral humps, the crown will have to stay bald, but check out Dr. Umar, he's literally the only physician I've seen operate on Norwood 7's with success through a combo of FUE+BHT and you can even add smp if you wish to wear your hair short, I never believe that you have to just live with it, that's heart breaking to hear and frankly it's not true, you may never have a full head of hair, but you can most certainly improve your situation;)

 

Check this thread out

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/159098-dr-umar-7500-grafts-fue-norwood-7-a.html

 

Thanks a lot for the help - I'll add that doctor to the list of docs I need to check out. I always thought I was a norwood 7 but it seems like you think I'm approaching that stage. If that's the case, what would my current stage be then? Norwood 6? Would help in case I have to give some descriptions over the phone.

 

Also, the hair that's left is very strong and I don't think it'll be falling out any time soon since It pretty much looked like this for the past 2 years. If my hair would have continued to fall out at the rate that it was falling from 18-21, I should have almost nothing left by now. I think it's safe to say the hair loss pretty much came to a halt, and any hair loss on the sides or back should be very minimal. Then again, maybe i'm just being extremely optimistic since several posts have been saying pretty much what you've stated.

[Sethticles]

Hey Lucky - read between the lines at what Doc Blake wrote, he's carefully chosen those words. all the best matey

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Lucky,

 

Yeah, it's not the most fun to hear -- or to say. However, it is very important to be realistic. A lot of people will provide advice, opinions, and even offer services that are simply unrealistic. This can land you in a worse situation than where you even started to begin with. In fact, a number of these big cases that involve things like BHT are done on guys who were lured into something years down the road that they shouldn't have been. It takes things like these last ditch efforts just to get them back to an acceptable level. However, I've read too many stories online -- and seen patients in person -- where they wished they could just go back in time, obtain the cold hard truth, and make a more informed decision.

 

The difference between you and that gentleman comes down to the surface area that needs to be covered and the donor. I know it probably doesn't look like it because he's buzzed down so closely, but I think the shape of his head actually creates a smaller surface that requires covering and his donor appears more robust -- and stable.

 

Again, however, these things are very hard to gauge online. They have to be determined in person by someone who has experience doing it. Once you know where you stand and what you have in reserve, you can review your options -- attempt surgery, SMP, et cetera.

[MyLuckyDay]

Hey Lucky - read between the lines at what Doc Blake wrote, he's carefully chosen those words. all the best matey

 

Thanks, although I'm not sure what you mean. Although, your post has made me realize that there are actual doctors on this site, which is pretty cool, and that I shouldn't take anyones post lightly (not that I was planing to ).

[MyLuckyDay]

Lucky,

 

Yeah, it's not the most fun to hear -- or to say. However, it is very important to be realistic. A lot of people will provide advice, opinions, and even offer services that are simply unrealistic. This can land you in a worse situation than where you even started to begin with. In fact, a number of these big cases that involve things like BHT are done on guys who were lured into something years down the road that they shouldn't have been. It takes things like these last ditch efforts just to get them back to an acceptable level. However, I've read too many stories online -- and seen patients in person -- where they wished they could just go back in time, obtain the cold hard truth, and make a more informed decision.

 

The difference between you and that gentleman comes down to the surface area that needs to be covered and the donor. I know it probably doesn't look like it because he's buzzed down so closely, but I think the shape of his head actually creates a smaller surface that requires covering and his donor appears more robust -- and stable.

 

Again, however, these things are very hard to gauge online. They have to be determined in person by someone who has experience doing it. Once you know where you stand and what you have in reserve, you can review your options -- attempt surgery, SMP, et cetera.

 

I'm going to be consulting someone soon so I can get a better frame of reference and maybe ask better questions. I know for sure this is not something I want to jump into without knowing as much as possible and knowing all of my options, as you mentioned. I've seen someone who was a staff member at a college who I'm pretty sure underwent hair transplant surgery with very bad results (scarring, patchy hair, etc.). Seeing that in person was enough for me know that I need to be heavily informed before proceeding. However, I know for certain that I'm going to do something about it, even if it's just SMP.

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Lucky,

 

Excellent outlook! Obtain as much knowledge as you can and go into your consultations well informed. For you, I really think the biggest 'question mark' is the stability of the donor region. I truly hope it does look solid in person and you are a better candidate for surgery than it may appear online.

 

Best of luck! Keep us updated and do feel free to ask any additional questions!

[Kiran0078]

Hi, We all know many people think about preventing hair loss only after they have lost many of it. But if you start early taking care of your hair like if you are aware for hair loss then it can be prevent up to the great extent. Like there are many easy and reliable steps mentioned below

Follow a healthy lifestyle: Eating fruits & Vegetables which certainly contain vitamin B, Iron, Calcium and zinc have especially been linked to healthy hair. Always consume a protein rich diet where we all know hair is made by protein fibre & Drink adequate water.

Hair transplantation: The Instantaneous change!

Avoid things bad for your hair : If you wanted to have the instantaneous prevention of hair loss then go for Hair transplantation with a proper online medical counselling at metro cities which can provide you the significant services regarding your hair baldness issues.

Adopt simple home treatment : You can adopt the home hair treatments which contains the procedures like Making the a paste of henna, curd, soaked and ground fenugreek, ground hibiscus flowers, ground gooseberries, and egg (all of them or any one) and apply it onto the hair and scalp for about an hour before shampooing. Done regularly, this will make your hair stronger and better-looking. But remember that henna is suitable only for dark colour hair because it tints hair red

I hope this advice would be useful for you. Thank you!

[custar]

Hey everyone -

 

4. After going though the procedure, you are normally recommend to use Rogaine or other hair growth products for several months. If you were to stop using these products about a year after the procedure, would this have an adverse effect on the hair transplant? Im basically asking if I would have to be on hair growth products for the rest of my life after the procedure or would it only be temporary?

Can someone answer this one?

[Dr Blake Bloxham]

Custar,

 

Stopping the preventive medications will only have an effect on the follicles that needed the drug in the first place. What does this mean? The only hair follicles really affected by medications like minoxidil (Rogaine) and finasteride (Propecia) are ones already miniaturizing from the androgenic alopecia (genetic pattern baldness) process. Once the medications are stopped, these follicles will continue progressively miniaturizing -- which essentially means thinning out -- as they were before.

 

The transplanted hairs, on the other hand, aren't prone to androgenic alopecia and, therefore, don't require the medications. You could start, stop, or vary the preventive drugs and it wouldn't affect the transplants. It may thin out regions surrounding the transplants -- which can then make the transplants appear thinner as well -- but not the transplanted follicles themselves.

 

Hopefully this makes sense! Haven't had my coffee yet!