General advice on HT

[UKLad81]

Hi All, firstly I would like to say thank you to all you wonderful people for posting your results / providing opinions etc. Much appreciated.

 

This is my first post on this site so forgive me if I have not followed any protocols.

 

Little background about myself, I've in my mid 30's and have been losing my hair for almost 10 years plus. I started to notice my temples appearing back in 2005 and since then the hair has been gradually falling out. Thankfully, its been gradual and not within a short period of time. Early 30's I noticed the thinning was getting worse and started to get the usual comments "oh your hair is thinning (or falling out!)". Some people just love to state the obvious!! Anyhow, it started to make me feel real paranoid and it really affected my confidence. I'd be talking to people and would notice they would be talking to me and then slowly their eyes would be going further up and looking at my hair. As soon as they would do that I would start panicking inside and quickly diffuse the situation by either saying "I need to make a phone call" or "i'll be right back". The things I would do to avoid people looking or even starting a conversation about my hair. Some days I would even call in sick just because it affected me so much. Anyhow, I then came across Toppik which I have to say has been a life saver. I've been using it for the last 5 or so years and its really helped me with the confidence and also stop those conversations about my hair! I can honestly say since I started using the product I've probably had 2 comments about my hair thinning in the last 5 years. And those comments were because I hadn't applied it correctly. Yes I had to avoid the rain like the plague and all of the rest of it.

 

Over the last few years I've been keeping a close eye on this site as I knew the day would come where I would need to do something about my hair more long term. I'm starting to reach out to some of the doctors mentioned on this site notably H&W, Dr Rahal, Dr Bisanga, Dr Feriduni and Dr Koray. I've read and seen great results from all of these Dr's.

 

I'm probably a NW5. I have hair around my hair line. The mid scalp area is pretty thin and just a few hairs remain and the crown is almost bald. My donor area I would say is reasonable as my hair at the back when grown out is pretty thick. I have not taken any meds.

 

H&W have suggested I need a 5000 FUT procedure, Dr Rahal has suggested 4-5000 FUT procedure, Dr Bisanga also 4500 FUT procedure and am waiting for the others as they all state the level of hair loss is pretty advanced.

 

I would welcome any advice you may have.

Apologies for the long story!

Edited April 24, 2017 by UKLad81

[chevenowner1]

Pics ?

[UKLad81]

I apologise, I thought I had uploaded the pics at the time of the post. Added to the original post.

Edited April 24, 2017 by UKLad81
Missing final sentence

[Shampoo]

UKLad...so you have never had any type of transplant or hair procedure?

 

The reason I ask, is your frontal hair is not of the usual balding pattern.

[chevenowner1]

shampoo, can you recommend a good shampoo post HT .

[UKLad81]

Thanks for your reply Shampoo. No I have never had a HT. The frontal hair has been a life saver when applying the fibers.

[Shampoo]

shampoo, can you recommend a good shampoo post HT .

 

If you are talking in the days right after a transplant, it's probably best to ask your doctor. Hasson & Wong provided me with a mild take home shampoo for the week or two post op.

 

I am not a doctor, but I would assume any mild quality shampoo would be ok after about two weeks post-op once your grafts are fully rooted. I tend to like Aveda products. Something like Aveda "Shampure" is mild and what I use often.

 

shampure™ shampoo | Aveda

 

Also I am currently carrying out a personal experiment on another shampoo. This guy I work with has gone from mild balding to looking much better, and he claims it is this Mexican shampoo he is using called Tio Nacho. He really does look a lot better from pics from a year or so ago. I am skeptical of shampoo balding cures, however Tio Nacho is cheap and readily available so I thought "what the heck" what do I have to lose? It is a bit hard for me to really tell because I started using Tio Nacho shampoo as my hair was growing back in from my transplant. I will continue using Tio Nacho shampoo and report back on results.

 

https://www.walmart.com/ip/38102944?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=0&adid=22222222227026053888&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=42977820872&wl4=pla-81469649312&wl5=9026929&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla_multichannel&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=38102944&wl13=&veh=sem

[Bill - Seemiller]

UKLad,

 

Welcome to our hair restoration discussion forum. You are doing the right thing by posting and asking others for advice. You've already consulted with 3 outstanding surgeons and I see they've all given you very similar advice. Given your advanced level of balding, I agree that you'll need a large hair transplant gigasession of FUT in an attempt to restore as much hair to the top as possible.

 

Hair transplant surgery is about supply and demand. If your supply is abundant, you can have more hair transplanted in the balding areas. But given that the demand for hair on top is great, you'll need to understand upfront that you won't ever obtain all your hair back and will likely have areas that are still thin even after a couple procedures.

 

My hair loss pattern was actually a lot like yours and I was able to restore a large portion of my hair, making it barely noticeable that I've ever had hair loss. Now if you look at my hair in the back, it is obviously still quite thin. But considering I'd be completely bald without any surgery.

 

Feel free to click the link to my hair loss website in my signature which will show you what my hair looked like before any surgery and looks like today. Now keep in mind that the before pictures show that I still had some natural hair on top before I had my first hair transplant, but all of my natural hair on top is gone so without any hair transplant surgery, I'd be completely bald on top.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[UKLad81]

UKLad,

 

Welcome to our hair restoration discussion forum. You are doing the right thing by posting and asking others for advice. You've already consulted with 3 outstanding surgeons and I see they've all given you very similar advice. Given your advanced level of balding, I agree that you'll need a large hair transplant gigasession of FUT in an attempt to restore as much hair to the top as possible.

 

Hair transplant surgery is about supply and demand. If your supply is abundant, you can have more hair transplanted in the balding areas. But given that the demand for hair on top is great, you'll need to understand upfront that you won't ever obtain all your hair back and will likely have areas that are still thin even after a couple procedures.

 

My hair loss pattern was actually a lot like yours and I was able to restore a large portion of my hair, making it barely noticeable that I've ever had hair loss. Now if you look at my hair in the back, it is obviously still quite thin. But considering I'd be completely bald without any surgery.

 

Feel free to click the link to my hair loss website in my signature which will show you what my hair looked like before any surgery and looks like today. Now keep in mind that the before pictures show that I still had some natural hair on top before I had my first hair transplant, but all of my natural hair on top is gone so without any hair transplant surgery, I'd be completely bald on top.

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

Thank you Bill for taking the time out and replying. Appreciate it. I've looked at your story and I'm amazed at your result. You must be impressed with your final result!

 

I see you had your final 2 HT's at H&W. To be fair, I think I'm leaning towards them. They seem to be the masters of the FUT procedure and there results look good. How were your experiences with them? And would you recommend them now that you have seen my pictures? Also, I may have missed this but are you on any meds?

 

In terms of expectations I would like to keep the existing hair at the frontal hair line and fill it up as much as possible and go back to mid scalp with may be some light coverage of the crown if any. But I really want the front and mid scalp covered. I've used toppik for 6 years and happy to use going forward. Is this a reasonable expectation?

[Shera]

Hi UKlad, reading your post brought back many memories. The fibres do seem to have served you well and now is probably the right time to make that next step as the fibres desperately search for native hairs to cling to.

 

If you consider going a bit further afield then you could check out my own story in my signature below, I am coming up to 2.5 years now and still going strong. If you need any help or advice then give me a call or email/PM me, even if you have decided on where to go. It's always good to share the experience and maybe offer you some tips.

[Mick50]

Hi UKlad, reading your post brought back many memories. The fibres do seem to have served you well and now is probably the right time to make that next step as the fibres desperately search for native hairs to cling to.

 

If you consider going a bit further afield then you could check out my own story in my signature below, I am coming up to 2.5 years now and still going strong. If you need any help or advice then give me a call or email/PM me, even if you have decided on where to go. It's always good to share the experience and maybe offer you some tips.

 

Yes I think that was the final straw for me when the fibers no longer worked

bet of luck sure if you go with one of those Docs you have a great transformation .

 

Nice to hear your hair is still going well Shera .

[Shera]

Yes I think that was the final straw for me when the fibers no longer worked

bet of luck sure if you go with one of those Docs you have a great transformation .

 

Nice to hear your hair is still going well Shera .

 

 

Thanks Mick, I did notice your pics too, you've finally caught up with me, looking good my friend.

 

A two and half year update to my thread beckons......here's a taster

[Mick50]

Ha dont think I'll ever catch up with your result Shera maybe after a second one , but I'm more than happy given my starting point , yes be great to see a 2.5 year update from you . hair looks fantastic

[Bill - Seemiller]

UKLad,

 

Yes, I am very happy with my results. I honestly sometimes forget that I would be a bald man if it wasn't for my hair transplant procedures and results. I feel confident in all the doctors you mentioned. Where are you thinking of going as of now? Or are you still deciding to undergo surgery?

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

[Speegs]

That's a truly unique hair loss pattern, I don't think I've ever seen such a stubbornly resilient and full frontal tuft that held firm while the rest of the scalp went near bald.

 

If you can keep that front it will make transplanting easier, if you can't, it will be a challenge.

 

Have you considered partial hair systems for the top of your scalp?

[UKLad81]

UKLad,

 

Yes, I am very happy with my results. I honestly sometimes forget that I would be a bald man if it wasn't for my hair transplant procedures and results. I feel confident in all the doctors you mentioned. Where are you thinking of going as of now? Or are you still deciding to undergo surgery?

 

Best wishes,

 

Bill

 

Great to hear Bill. I guess a deciding factor is if the docs could do the surgery without shaving the hair in my hair line. If they could manage that no one would know that I would have had the surgery as the front would remain the same. And after the healing (a month or so after the surgery) I could continue with the fibres. Not sure this is feasible?

 

I'm still none the wiser though however, my gut is telling me H&W.

[UKLad81]

That's a truly unique hair loss pattern, I don't think I've ever seen such a stubbornly resilient and full frontal tuft that held firm while the rest of the scalp went near bald.

 

If you can keep that front it will make transplanting easier, if you can't, it will be a challenge.

 

Have you considered partial hair systems for the top of your scalp?

 

Thanks for your reply Speegs. Well if I can take anything out of my hair loss its the fact that its a unique hair loss pattern!!

 

When you say if I can keep the front, what do you mean?

 

I'll be honest, there was a time where I was thinking of systems. But never really researched in to it. Any suggestions?

[UKLad81]

Hi UKlad, reading your post brought back many memories. The fibres do seem to have served you well and now is probably the right time to make that next step as the fibres desperately search for native hairs to cling to.

 

If you consider going a bit further afield then you could check out my own story in my signature below, I am coming up to 2.5 years now and still going strong. If you need any help or advice then give me a call or email/PM me, even if you have decided on where to go. It's always good to share the experience and maybe offer you some tips.

 

Thanks for your reply Shera. Your result is very good, I am impressed. I'll be honest being an indian you hear of all sorts of horror stories (not just HTs) with India which kind of puts me off. However, seeing your result has made me think Dr Bhatti could be an option as well.

[Tj287]

+1 for H&W. Dr Hasson did an FUT on me and it turned out great.

 

I would go to Rahal - from what I've seen he's very good.

 

I would also go to Erdogan. Also very good and the hair always grows, but imo some of his hairlines can look a tad drawn on. You already have one, so less of an issue for you.

 

I would also go to Konior - he's basically the unicorn of the hair restoration doctors in most people's eyes, and his work is evidence of that

[MrGio-WHTCClinic]

Hi All, firstly I would like to say thank you to all you wonderful people for posting your results / providing opinions etc. Much appreciated.

 

This is my first post on this site so forgive me if I have not followed any protocols.

 

Little background about myself, I've in my mid 30's and have been losing my hair for almost 10 years plus. I started to notice my temples appearing back in 2005 and since then the hair has been gradually falling out. Thankfully, its been gradual and not within a short period of time. Early 30's I noticed the thinning was getting worse and started to get the usual comments "oh your hair is thinning (or falling out!)". Some people just love to state the obvious!! Anyhow, it started to make me feel real paranoid and it really affected my confidence. I'd be talking to people and would notice they would be talking to me and then slowly their eyes would be going further up and looking at my hair. As soon as they would do that I would start panicking inside and quickly diffuse the situation by either saying "I need to make a phone call" or "i'll be right back". The things I would do to avoid people looking or even starting a conversation about my hair. Some days I would even call in sick just because it affected me so much. Anyhow, I then came across Toppik which I have to say has been a life saver. I've been using it for the last 5 or so years and its really helped me with the confidence and also stop those conversations about my hair! I can honestly say since I started using the product I've probably had 2 comments about my hair thinning in the last 5 years. And those comments were because I hadn't applied it correctly. Yes I had to avoid the rain like the plague and all of the rest of it.

 

Over the last few years I've been keeping a close eye on this site as I knew the day would come where I would need to do something about my hair more long term. I'm starting to reach out to some of the doctors mentioned on this site notably H&W, Dr Rahal, Dr Bisanga, Dr Feriduni and Dr Koray. I've read and seen great results from all of these Dr's.

 

I'm probably a NW5. I have hair around my hair line. The mid scalp area is pretty thin and just a few hairs remain and the crown is almost bald. My donor area I would say is reasonable as my hair at the back when grown out is pretty thick. I have not taken any meds.

 

H&W have suggested I need a 5000 FUT procedure, Dr Rahal has suggested 4-5000 FUT procedure, Dr Bisanga also 4500 FUT procedure and am waiting for the others as they all state the level of hair loss is pretty advanced.

 

I would welcome any advice you may have.

Apologies for the long story!

 

5000 sounds good, but also look at the possibility of the crown worsening. Maybe test your beard hair in the crown at some point too. The coverage could yield a great effect but be realistic in expecting to restore everything you had; surgery is meant to create the illusion of coverage. Inquire about the benefits of including hyaluronic acid and platelet-rich plasma during the surgery.

[UKLad81]

5000 sounds good, but also look at the possibility of the crown worsening. Maybe test your beard hair in the crown at some point too. The coverage could yield a great effect but be realistic in expecting to restore everything you had; surgery is meant to create the illusion of coverage. Inquire about the benefits of including hyaluronic acid and platelet-rich plasma during the surgery.

 

Thank you for your reply. I completely understand that I will never have the hair that I once had however, I expect that I will have more than what I currently have. My expectations are to fill the front hair line and to have good coverage in the mid scalp region. The crown I understand may or may not get any coverage, if it does it will have light coverage which again will be more than what I currently have. The crown might require a further procedure in the future.

 

On a side note does anyone else have HRNO (Hair Restoration Network Obsession? It's taken over my life at the moment!!

[UKLad81]

Ok I've spent a lot of time on this forum (believe me its taken over my life right now, forget facebook, instagram etc its all about Hair Restoration Network!). I've narrowed the surgeons down to H&W (FUT), Dr Rahal (FUT) and possibly Dr Koray (FUE).

 

I've been liaising with the patient advisor at Rahal quite a lot (shes been superb) and she has managed to answer a whole load of questions (mainly coming from a thread that Spex inputted in to). I've spoken to a few previous/current patients (and will continue to talking until I feel comfortable) and all had great things to say about their experience with Rahal. The only concern I have with Rahal is that I have not seen many results on this forum (or anywhere else) from patients with a similar loss (NW5) as mine. Maybe I'm not searching correctly. If anyone can help with searching that would be great.

 

H&W, I have had a Skype consult with Dr Wong and he seems like a great guy. Came across very professional and very confident. He stated that I had better scalp laxity then he expected and through regular exercise this could get even better. He also mentioned that he would be confident in doing the procedure without shaving the front hairs and he could work around it and that he didn't expect any further loss in the front hair line. I've not managed to speak to any patients yet however, H&W are arranging this for me. The question I do have is that there seems to be a lot of patients who have had a procedure with Dr Hasson with impressive results, is Dr Wong's work also on the same par? I ask this without meaning any disrespect to Dr Wong but just wanted to check would you get the same result with Dr Wong as I may have done with Dr Hasson? Are their methods exactly the same?

 

Dr Koray's results seem to be popping up everywhere and he seems to be producing great results. I've not seen a bad result yet. However, is it wise for me to think about FUE at this stage or would it be better going through the FUT method first and then maybe FUE in the future?

 

What do other patients do as part of their research?

[UKLad81]

Guys, whilst I'm still researching about surgeons, I'm also considering taking Propecia just to stabilise the loss and maintain what remains. I've seen my GP and talked about my hair loss and any possible treatments (including propecia), lets just say he wasn't very helpful. In fact he stated that I should just "deal with it and get over it". It seems like some GP's just don't give this enough importance.

 

Does taking Propecia sound sensible? If so, what dosage should I be looking at? I've heard some of you folks cut the tablet in half. I was thinking of doing the same and just monitoring any sides as I go on? Again is this sensible?

[mattj]

Hi UKLad81,

 

I'm in the UK too, and that's exactly the kind of response I had from my GP. That was way back in 2005 but I doubt if anything has changed. The GP who told me to "live with it" has one of the lowest natural hairlines I've ever seen!

 

The graft recommendations of around 5000 is what I would expect. It's possible to get more if your donor density and scalp laxity are favourable.

 

To get the best result, most surgeons would want to shave the frontal zone. That's assuming that you'd want to address this area with your procedure. To be honest I wouldn't worry about that, as although it's great that you've retained that area, it does look like it's quite thin and not offering much cosmetic advantage.

 

You're from the UK but is your background on the Indian sub-continent? I only ask because people have wondered about your hair loss pattern and that frontal area, but I'm familiar with that pattern and normally I've seen it in men from India or that vicinity.

[UKLad81]

Hi UKLad81,

 

I'm in the UK too, and that's exactly the kind of response I had from my GP. That was way back in 2005 but I doubt if anything has changed. The GP who told me to "live with it" has one of the lowest natural hairlines I've ever seen!

 

The graft recommendations of around 5000 is what I would expect. It's possible to get more if your donor density and scalp laxity are favourable.

 

To get the best result, most surgeons would want to shave the frontal zone. That's assuming that you'd want to address this area with your procedure. To be honest I wouldn't worry about that, as although it's great that you've retained that area, it does look like it's quite thin and not offering much cosmetic advantage.

 

You're from the UK but is your background on the Indian sub-continent? I only ask because people have wondered about your hair loss pattern and that frontal area, but I'm familiar with that pattern and normally I've seen it in men from India or that vicinity.

 

Hi Mattj, its still the same bud! A friend of mine who is thinning in the crown area also consulted with his GP and surprisingly offered no help whatsoever. Its a shame as the GPs just don't realise what hair loss actually does to someone's confidence!!

 

Yeah, I'm happy that all the docs have suggested the same amount of grafts via FUT. I'm still toying with the idea of FUE as I wear my hair quite short on the sides (#1)!! Any advice to help with the decision?

 

I'm slowly getting used to the idea that to achieve a good result I would need to shave the entire head first. Spend all that money, its better to do the job properly!

 

So I'm born an bred in the UK however, my father is from India and although some balding in the crown still has more hair then me!

 

Would you recommend Propecia or Minox? Or just bite the bullet and get to Rahal (or H&W) and get the job done?

 

Thanks for your reply Mattj!