Plan to tackle hair loss - what are your thoughts?

[Andag2]

Hi All,

 

I am new to the forum and am writing to share with you my plan for tackling hair loss and request your advice/views. I am a 29 yo male and I have been suffering from hair loss for a few years.

 

Hair was never one of my strengths, I think that my density has always been average and my hair is quite thin. However, thinning was very minimal till a couple of years back, so it was unnoticeable in reality. In the last couple of years things changed: I have lost a substantial amount of hair on the top of my head - see pics attached. What may be important to mention is that I am losing hair from a broad area, however I am not 'bald' anywhere yet, i.e. my hairline has not moved, my crown is not worse than other parts. Looking at Norwood types, it seems to me that, when the loss gets worse, it may fit with the 5 type.

 

I have been on Minoxidil for a while, although started applying it consistently only a few months ago. I think it helps, as it has stopped shedding lately, but I know it will not be able to produce the improvement I am looking for without surgery. Also, let me point out that I am negative to taking propecia - after doing some research I recognise that it helps, however I am not willing to risk experiencing the side effects.

 

So here is the plan: looking to book a FUE for around 2000 grafts. I hope that this will cover quite well for a few years, while it will leave a good amount of extra hair in the donor area for future procedures, if required. Hopefully, in a few years hair cloning will also be available, which could be a game changer! In terms of my budget, I am looking at around 2 euro per graft that would translate to ?4,000. If I find someone exceptional, I may consider to go up to 15% more, but I don't see the point in paying more.

 

Now to the point: while I am based in London, I am originally from Greece. I reached out to my network to see whether there are any good doctors / clinics over there and a few friends, who are doctors, pointed me to DHI. Their price is very reasonable and a couple of people who tried them were pleased with the result. However, I have not been able to find a lot of feedback online on them and looking for more info before making a decision.

 

If I don't go with DHI, I am thinking to make contact with the following, who have gathered a lot of positive comments in various forums:

Erdogan, Rahal, Demirsoy, Doganay, Bhatti, Bisanga, Lorenzo, Lupanzula, Hasson & Wong

 

Could you please advise:

1/ do you have any info on DHI or other Greek clinics / doctors you would suggest?

2/ given the info I have provided above (procedure, no of grafts, budget etc.), who would you suggest from the above list?

3/ if you were in my shoes, would you do anything differently and, if yes, why?

 

Any advice will be much appreciated!

 

 

Kind regards,

Andy

[mikeyhwk]

1. You are a diffuse loss patient

2, Your hair loss is already significant, and you have a lot of minaturized hairs, if you transplant into them you're likely to shock out many which makes your surgery tricky. I would get in front of a top doc and have them assess your hair to see if surgery is safe as is. I went to Dr Bisanga for my first surgery and I was a diffuse patient, he told me if your hair is showing over a certain percentage of minaturized hairs in the area you want to operate, they will not, so have some docs look at your hair and see if it's possible at this stage and how many you stand to lose.

3. Given your reluctance for fin,your level of loss, and that you say your hair is thin, fut is your best course of action.

4. Everybody is waiting for cloning but plan like it's not coming cause you can't rely on it. Going fue severely limits your available grafts.

5. really reconsider your fin fears, the sides are way overstated and affect only the smallest percentage and then usually just short term. Diffuse loss patients have an above average response to fin in terms of regrowth so it would be to your benefit but that choice is yours to make.

[JayLDD]

You are a terrible transplant candidate right now, but a perfect candidate for medication.

 

If you get on finasteride and nizoral, there's a good chance you will get something close to a full head of hair. The chance of sides on fin is 3%.

 

If you aren't prepared to take fin despite the evidence for its efficacy and low rate of side effects, you aren't mentally mature enough to get a hair transplant, beyond the fact that it could have long term consequences and is unlikely to be successful without multiple procedures over a decade of chasing loses, and potentially running out of donor.

 

On top of that, no ethical doctor would do a transplant on you. You have two options, finasteride and possible transplants down the track but you would be unlikely to need one, or go bald, and potentially disfigure yourself if you opted for the transplant route and can't afford more surgery, which is likely as it sounds like your financial situation isn't great.

 

Think it through properly and look at the facts.

[Andag2]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts.

 

I am planning to start taking Nizoral and continue my Minoxidil treatment, my decision to not take Finasteride is final and I would appreciate if we could stay away from name-calling, which is what is definitely not mentally mature.

 

Given that I am a diffuse loss patient, which of the listed doctors / clinics would you recommend? I think that the best course of action is to get medical advice prior to deciding how to proceed.

[JayLDD]

Have fun chasing repairs then with some unethical back alley clinic. The majority of clinics you mentioned will not operate on you without finasteride, especially at your age.

 

Again, you're mentally immature in this regard but I'm sure like many when you continue to lose hair and go bald without finasteride it won't take long for you to realise you made a big mistake and I was right to begin with.

 

I wasn't name calling either, it was a statement of fact that if you don't care about statistics and medical data and act solely on emotion you're not mature enough for a hair transplant, but if you're keen on being an ignorant idiot then perhaps some name calling is warranted.

 

But I agree the next step is consultation with some of those surgeons you listed, and they'll say the same thing I said.

[Andag2]

lol won't even get into a conversation with you mate, you know nothing about me and quite honestly don't deserve my time. Anyways, thanks for your contribution, I am sure that the fact that 'I am an idiot' will help me solve my problem. Why do people spend time posting responses like these anyways? Maybe nothing better to do or maybe paid by some pharma company...

 

Anyways, for people who really want to help, I am really open to hearing your thoughts in line with my situation and decisions. Please don't try to change my mind, try to help instead, if you want.

[JayLDD]

"Please don't try to change my mind, try to help instead, if you want."

 

If already knew what you wanted to hear and would accept, why bother asking the forum?

 

Like I mentioned, ask any reputable doctor and they'll say what I said.

[Shera]

Hi Andag,

 

A transplant at this time will more than likely end up with you looking the same as you do now over the course of a year. The transplanted grafts will simply replace the grafts that are currently in the miniaturization phase and are likely not to recover after the trauma of surgery. However the transplanted grafts will theoretically be lifelong grafts and they will not be prone to the affects of DHT.

 

Therefore there is the possibility that you can do further passes over the whole area to increase the density over time, the plan being to eventually get to the stage where you will have a result that resembles a full head of hair that is permanent.

 

Unfortunately you do not seem to be blessed with the best donor area either so it will be necessary to utilise body grafts too, beard and chest.

 

Every reputable doctor will advise you to go down the medical route first. I totally understand your fears over Finasteride use, but if there is a remote possibility for you to give it a trial then I would at least give it a bash.

 

As for hair cloning, its probably a long time coming yet and I suspect the expense will be astronomical in the early years of its introduction, way out of the price range of many of us mere mortals.

 

Another option is for you to use hair fibres, a relatively cheap solution that if applied correctly will have you looking like you a have a full head of hair for a number of years until the time comes when the fibres have little native hair to attach too. I myself used this approach to great affect. If you are not willing to go down the Fin route then this may be the best solution for you to carry on with your life without worrying about your hair for now.

 

Feel free to call me if you wish to discuss your options in person.

[ArochaAngel4247]

Howdy Anddag2,

 

Yes sir I'm in Texas. Hair loss just sucks, doesn't it? We understand your pain and I am glad you have found this forum. All of us think Hair loss sucks too.

 

Think about this, in the thinning areas you have lost a lot of hair, but what you still have is worth tens of thousands of dollars in hair restoration. BTW, they look really natural too. ;-) Your donor area has a finite number of follicles. It can be depleted or worse cause thinning in an area that isn't normally thin if over harvested. I feel you understood these points, but if it has not crystallized for you yet, then hopefully it will now.

 

Who are the happiest and most satisfied patients? I feel it is those who research, who find the limitations of every option. Those who understand it is not necessarily more money = more satisfaction. (although I could always use more money) Therefore, you must have a strong defense (prevention) to go with your offense (buying grafts).

 

Your defense so far has been Rogaine. It worked for me for a while then even though I was doing it BID (twice a day in layman) I started to loose hair again. Life is not fair!

So, what will you do if you continue to loose more hair? 2,000 grafts will probably not be fully satisfying for most young men. With the loss you have you will probably desire 6,000+ grafts- especially if you continue to loose more hair.

 

So, what is the best stand alone therapy to slow/stop and hopefully reverse hair loss?

I hope you get real facts.

 

I do not work for Merck, nor am I a shareholder. However, I have been fighting hair loss since 1997 and began to work for hair restoration physicians since 1999. Why are you so afraid of changing your mind? Taking finasteride increases T (testosterone) since it is inhibiting DHT conversion. I have seen guys in our practice who are more frisky. They are just as uncommon as those who have the negative side effects all men are concerned with. Who posts about side effects? Not the frisky ones. Not the guys who take it without seeing any problems who are in the vast majority.

 

Your last post said to not change your mind but to try to help instead. I AM TRYING TO HELP. Although you may not be open to my message.

 

ArochaAngel4247

[Andag2]

Thank you all for your contribution. I have decided to start using Nizoral, continue using Minoxidil more consistently and contact a few good surgeons to enquire about a 2000 - 3000 FUE. Let's see!

[mikeyhwk]

lol so thank you for your advice everybody but im going to do what I want anyway.

 

Good luck to ya but I hope you trust the advice of the ethical docs who tell you, you won't be a good candidate right now and not opt to run for the one doc who says lets do it. You can always find a clinic who is willing to take your money but the great docs look after your long term best interest even when we ourselves aren't always willing to. Shera already gave you im sure what would be Dr Bhattis recommendation, so that's 1 against doing any surgery yet.

[Gasthoerer]

Your pictures are misleading as it appears you sport a heavy comover (combforward).

 

Anyway, I am a diffuse thinner just like you, but older and loss is much less. Plus, I am on FIN, MINOX, etc. since two years, which basically has stopped the loss. After visiting three clinics, the recommendations are 2500 - 3000 FU.

 

Summary:

- 2000 is not enough for your loss

- A transplant is a long process and most likely you will have less hair than before when your results grow out (by permanent shock loss and further loss without FIN)

- You should give FIN a try (just stop if you think there are side effects)

- You should have a consult with a top clinic but most likely it will cost you some money