Help With a Lifetime Hair Transplant Plan of Action! 33yr Old, NW5A Currently

[guyjoe]

Hey all,

 

Your input on a good lifetime plan for a hair transplant gameplan would be very much appreciated. I'm 33 with a Norwood 5A diffusing patten (pretty slowly). I use Nizoral shampoo every other day and minoxidil every night. I have decided not to use, and will not use, propecia/finasteride due to the side effects and general effect on the body. That is a personal decision and understand that the two things I use currently are not enough to prevent stopping hair loss long term.

 

I have been researching all this for over a year and have visited a few HT doctors, with the most well known on here being Dr. Bisanga in Belgium for a full exam in person. Due to some family history and other things it looks like I'll be a NW6-7 eventually so I need to plan any HT procedures for that.

 

Here are some of the stats from the exam with Dr. Bisanga:

 

78/cm2 average hair density (68/80/85 density in three measured areas)

No/Insignificant miniaturisation in donor area

FUE only: estimated 5,000 (conservative) to 6,000 (pushing it) grafts available (two procedures, no strip)

FUE + FUT: 7,500 - 8,000 grafts available (three procedures 2 FUE 1 strip)

 

He said I'm a good candidate and the transplant would be 40-45/cm2 towards the front with a bit thinner towards the back for coverage with an overall conservative/mature looking hairline approach. At least two, most likely three procedures over my lifetime will be needed.

 

So the big question is: How would you go about this transplant knowing the above in this situation? By pure numbers it would seem to make sense to do a strip procedure at some point for a lot more grafts. But do you do this first? Or can you do FUE with leaving the "strip line area" alone for the future? What else am I missing or what other considerations are not on the radar here yet?

 

Thanks very much!

[Melvin- Admin]

If you're thinking of doing FUT+FUE always do strip first, this way the doctor can take a larger strip without the need of following a predetermined strip. Once the strip heals and the doctor knows the size of the scar he can FUE around the scar accordingly as to prevent to much thinning that would make the scar visible.

 

The other consideration is donor thinning, you mentioned you have Norwood 6/7's in your family, do you notice a weak sparse donor in those family members? If you get a strip surgery and your donor thins in the future you'd be left with a visible strip scar. Although there is usually some one in the family that your pattern must be emulating, most Norwood 6/7's reach that by your age, it's a possibility you will follow a different pattern is there any Norwood 5A's in your family?