How many grafts?

[slycooper]

Thanks everyone, I'll wait longer

Edited December 5, 2016 by slycooper

[hsrp10]

1,700-2,000 sounds good to me.

Do you have a shortlist of researched FUE doctors you like?

[Sean]

Probably, anywhere between 1500-2000 grafts depending on the doctor and there surgical protocol. If you think your hair loss has stabilized, then pick the most meticulous FUE surgeon. In the right hands, you may have better chances at higher yield rate. Best of luck

[hsrp10]

Not sure yet, the turkish guys seem cool. I'm 22 so I'm still figuring this all out.

 

There's a lot of hype surrounding Turkish FUE because of the price 1 euro/graft etc at some clinics, but as Sean mentioned choose only the best FUE surgeon and only after doing months or even years of research.

[1978matt]

A straight hairline like that is too aggressive for a 22 year old. You will be chasing that with multiple HTs if you're not careful. There was a 19 yr old kid on here who did something like that (bad surgeon) and regretted it soon after.

 

I'd suggest something halfway between existing and proposed. 1200-1500 and only after you've tried 6 months on finasteride.

[Harbal]

Just wait a couple of years mate. Try meds and if it doesn't get worse you won't need an HT. Otherwise you can do a HT in 8-10 years to keep your current hairline. 22 is too young IMO and you still have a lot of hair.

[Spanker]

Way too agressive for a 22 y/o. Too low and flat without recession. I dont see any good ideas in this post. You are too young imo, especially if you arent on fin, but even it you are, its a little too low and too flat. Just make your life.easier and scrap that plan.

[hsrp10]

Spanker is not wrong and knows his stuff well, OP should try to listen to him.

 

Problem is I've said nearly the same thing to 3-4 younger 20 somethings recently, in the end they all ended up having it done or continued to plan anyway.

Second best thing we can do is try to mention lower graft counts so they don't use up all their donor in one procedure and try to make sure they don't go with a butcher doc.

[Triple7]

I'm going to be honest with you and give you my opinion. You can take it or leave it. If you are concerned about hairloss, get on Finasteride and stay on it. I would not lower your current hairline at all and I would not get surgery until you are older if you need it then. Right now, you do not. Your hairline looks great in its current location now and it also will when you are 40. If you lower it to what you have drawn in your picture, it will look bad and very unnatural at 40 and beyond and you will be fighting a battle you wish you never started. Please think about the long term and not just about your 20s.

[KO]

I recommend 0 grafts. Don't get an HT.

[home1212]

if you want to learn from my bad mistake, don't get a HT in your early 20's, which is what I did. Not only was this in the early 90's, so the grafts were pluggy, I knew nothing about hair loss and my eventual progressive pattern of baldness or how to at least try to stabilize with meds, rogaine, good diet, good supplements, shampoos, etc. There are alot of other things to consider before jumping into a HT at your age. Others have mentioned that your hairline design is way too aggressive .. think about loosing more hair down the road and how you will look in your 40's, 50's or 60's with that un-natural hairline?? I say continue to research, look into meds and stabilizing your hair loss before even considering a HT. There is alot more credible information available to you today and of course the surgeries have come very far in terms of mega-sessions and the natural appearance, but it should be a last resort, not the first.

[JON86]

I agree with the others I would do nothing for now. That hair line is way to low and unrealistic for when you age. You could get it done and continue to lose hair behind it and stuck with an island of hair and look really bad. You will constantly need to have surgeries and will run out of donor. Believe me many of us were where you are when we started thinking about having something done but learned what is realistic through research. Before you decide to do anything you need to have a long term plan for the future as hair loss is progressive. You are so young it may at this time be difficult to establish what your eventual hair loss pattern will be. It doesn't mean you can't eventually do something about your hair loss but take your time and don't rush into anything. If I had gotten a transplant done five years ago and put my hairline where I wanted I would be screwed now.

[hsrp10]

Read this guy's entire story, all 36 pages of it, before proceeding...

Who can forget the TheMirrorOfDreams.

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/172143-19-years-age-norwood-2-3-there-anybody-out-there.html

[JON86]

Wow thanks for posting that hsrp10. I read that entire thread cannot believe what I read there. That thread was really quite disturbing. Feel horrible that kid screwed up his life like that and ignored some great advice. Very important reading for anyone young considering a procedure.

[richter101]

Got mine done with FUE at 25. With 2200 grafts in 12 hours. (With help of ARTAS the friendly robot! ha)

 

Was the best decision I ever made in my life going with my surgeon. If you have decently noticable receding- I'd say the higher the better!

[Melvin- Admin]

Just because your father isn't advanced doesn't mean you won't, just because your grandfathers aren't advanced doesn't mean you won't. When I looked at my family tree I found that I didn't follow my fathers, brothers, grandfathers balding pattern, my grandfather on moms side died Norwood 1 at 90, my grandfather on dads side died Norwood 4. When I looked closer I realized my grandfathers brother was a Norwood 6 I followed his balding pattern, remember you may not follow your immediate family's pattern. The balding gene can even skip generations which means you may have inherited the gene from a relative that you may not even know.

 

Getting a transplant at this point with out first trying to stabilize your hair loss is pointless, let's assume your plan works, how long until the recession goes further back? you're only 22 when I was your age I had the same pattern, by 29 it was all gone. If you don't want to try finasteride or minoxidil first fair enough I can't blame you, but you have no business having an HT at your age, you should wait till at least 26 to see how you progress. If by 26 you stay the same then you may not have aggressive hair loss, but typically most guys who recede early 20's generally have aggressive hair loss, proceed with caution. I wanted to get an HT when I was 23, I wanted to dense pack my hairline and lower it, had I done that I'd be disfigured with a juvenile hairline being a Norwood 6. When I look back I'm so lucky I didn't make that mistake think about it.

 

Me at 23

 

By age 29

[Sean]

First of all I want to say that I am grateful for these responses. I recognize a lot of these usernames and I value your opinions.

 

I admit that my previously drawn hairline was too low. In fact, I don't really want to lower it. I just want a smooth hairline, that doesn't recede upwards. Rather, I'd like for it to recede backwards.

 

My plans, after reflecting on these insightful posts, are as such.

 

I'd like to smooth the hairline with no more than a centimeter lowered. I would not touch the vertical aspect to the temple peaks. I feel as though redefining temple points are the biggest red flag for any young guy. Besides, David Beckham’s recession looks good to me.

 

I do not want the juvenile hairline that I had as a seven year old. Any hairline work is a commitment, the lower it is the less donor you have left in relation. I get that and I'm grateful that you all drove that point home. With BHT and me being Lucy's boyfriend, I guess my judgement was clouded.

 

I look at my 3 fathers. My dad is only 1-2 cm above my hairline. Sure he has vertex thinning, but his temporal peaks look decent for 60. He's not on meds either. As for the geezers, they haven't hit NW67 till 80+.

 

Also, I don't think I need meds. Everyone is suggesting that and its throwing me off. I am not thinning, hopefully won’t for a good minute. This is my matured /receding hairline. Drugs will not shape it up. Drugs won't fix whats not broken.

 

These are my thoughts guys. And attached is the new idea for a hairline. I buzz the center to keep the caesar cut tidy. The only lowering is at the peaks and then closer to the center. I believe the benefit of such a thin lowering means the native hair makes the hairline look natural, but I can't be sure. Anyway, think of the additions as:

 

(left temple)1cm-> .75 cm-> .25 cm-> Existing center hairline <-.25cm <-.75cm <-1cm (right temple)

 

I hope I can do this under 1500. I hope you guys think this is a better idea, otherwise I should just pull my head out my ass now. I find with HTs you are definitely not your own worst critic.

 

Thanks again.

 

 

I can understand what you are feeling, but trust me, approach this very very carefully. By even having 1500 grafts done near hairline, a lot can go wrong and set you back. I know lots of guys that were in similar shoes like you that regret this big time. I know tons of folks offline that reach out to me continuously. A couple even went to docs heavily marketed and known. What happened was they had shock loss and their native hair died as a result of a poorly protocoled hairline procedure. So they looked worse then where they started. Aside from that there were angulation issues and disproportionate grafts used in the hairline. The way it was extracted also impacted the yield and created shock loss issues in donor too. This is very risky step and I know you'd like a Beckham look, but please reconsider for your safety at this age. Worst thing to happen is you pay tons of money, you end up having issues, then you try to think how you can correct issue when no refund is given or you are bound to the surgeon some way. Then you lose more time with work and your career trying to troubleshoot and continusly read for cures online. If you do proceed, please please go to a very experienced, ethical doc, that is focused on only you for the day, has a safe surgical protocol, and can deliver and assist in case if something goes awry.

 

This is an extremely delicate procedure. I would read tgrough all consent forms before even paying a deposit. The medical consents eventually tell you more than what you now know about a procedure. Not many docs cough them up until they have your non refundable deposit.

 

If you do proceed, save all email and any correspondence with a clinic and make sure they are confident. I'd highly suggest you see real patients of the clinic in person if you can that have similar physiology and goals as you. Do not rush into it. Do not think every doc recommended or mentioned across forums will be the right doc for you. Be extremely selective and research if you tasked this step. With the way your hair is right now, it isn't bad at all, and doing this is like you are playing Russian roulette at this stage. Some folks wish they could turn back time.

 

At the minimum, Id only recommend one if you had extensive loss and had no native hairs in your frontal zones 1-2. But you having solid native hairs in front can cause permanent shock loss issues.

 

 

Be very thoughtful about this and research more. The very best of luck to you and I hope whatever you do, it works out for you 100%.

[Sean]

David/Mod - can you approve my post , it said it went for approval. Thank You.

 

 

Update 12/3/16: thanks for approving my post david

Edited December 4, 2016 by Sean
Previous post was approved by moderator