My Diffusion Confusion and what to do about it ?

[Markee]

Just looking for some feedback here on what might be the best options for me going forward to deal with my particular diffused hair loss issue at my age ?

 

I'm 59 now been slowly loosing for decades but in the past few years specifically the past year my hair loss just seems to be really accelerating now alot faster to the point where its become just to noticable and I feel I'm ready to have a HT

 

I've been on minoxidil for over 10yrs and out of shear desperation

1mg a day of Fin for about 9 months now the Fin don't seem to be helping my hair loss has become more noticeable with in the time I been on it ?

 

After years and years of daunting research on this and other hair loss forums I finally nailed down which doctor i wanted to use Erdogan what a relief and emailed him my below pictures for evaluation

 

After getting this below reply back from him with my picture sent back circled I'm not sure how to proceed looking here for some advice I do plan to stay on fin at point

 

"After analyzing your photos Dr. Koray Erdoğan found that you have high percentile of miniaturized hair. The surgery at this stage can cause shock loss.

Therefore Dr. Koray Erdogan recommends Finasteride to give strength to your hair and increase density.

It might help you increase thickness and density of the existing hair. The hair is going to grow stronger and thicker.

 

If you have any further questions I would be happy to answer.

Best Regards,"

Edited February 27, 2018 by Markee

[ThickGreenLawn]

They said almost exactly the same thing to me for my online consultation although I've been on fin for 15 years! I had 4700 grafts in the end and after nearly 6 months I appear to have a totally full head of hair so I'm well happy. If he gave you a graft quote and agreed to treat you my advice would be to stay on fin, book a date and get over to Istanbul ASAP!

[Markee]

I'm actually a bit afraid he might shoot me down and not agree to treat me considering I still have some hair up there but also have a fairly large area of diffusion which may translate to alot of shock loss to my existing hair which might not make me an ideal candidate ?

Am i wrong ?

 

It was such a relief to finally settle on a doctor after years of research I really don't have a second choice lined up and not looking forward to going through that struugle again.

Thinking I might be completely bald by the time I can settle on a second choice

Almost 60yrs old want to have some time to enjoy life with hair again

[mikeyhwk]

You should have been consulting with multiple doctors regardless of your choice of Erdogan. You want multiple opinions and consensus on what is happening to your hair and ideally you want your scalp in front of a doctors eyes directly, not just thru pictures. If your hair is still heavily minaturized and past the threshold of acceptable risk, then it is only in your best interest to wait, not what you want to hear but a potential reality, hence why you want to get seen in person and properly assessed. . Are you currently on trt? I remember you saying in another thread that you used to lift regularly so I don't know if you used aas or not but if you are on trt today, that could be a reason for continued shedding

[Markee]

You should have been consulting with multiple doctors regardless of your choice of Erdogan. You want multiple opinions and consensus on what is happening to your hair and ideally you want your scalp in front of a doctors eyes directly, not just thru pictures. If your hair is still heavily minaturized and past the threshold of acceptable risk, then it is only in your best interest to wait, not what you want to hear but a potential reality, hence why you want to get seen in person and properly assessed. . Are you currently on trt? I remember you saying in another thread that you used to lift regularly so I don't know if you used aas or not but if you are on trt today, that could be a reason for continued shedding

 

Thanks for taking the time to reply

 

Yes I've been on Hormone replacement for close to 15yrs already twice weekly Testosterone and HCG. I was a competitive bodybuilder and used and abused anabolics big time in my younger days but I really didn't seem to loose much hair from it as u can see in the below pic that was taken after my crazy usage years.

 

Anyways now I'm working with a super knowledge doctor that specializes in HRT and have regular blood work done.

Interesting before I starting Fin my DHT levels were quite high at 120 and then quickly dropped to a low of just 13 after 1mg a day but I'm still having accelerated hair loss so who knows must be my genetics and age catching up on me ?

Your guess is as good as mine ?

 

So on to getting multiple consults that's really great advice for sure and your 1000% right. It would be extremely helpful if you or anyone could be nice enough to just post a few of the best alternative to Erdogan doctors you would send your pictures to to hit up for a consult if you had my particular hair loss age scenario

Edited February 27, 2018 by Markee

[Bald36]

Have you considered using body hair? You look like donor supply wouldn't be a problem.

[Markee]

Have you considered using body hair? You look like donor supply wouldn't be a problem.

 

Saving that for the last resort

[Legend007]

I can see why they don’t want to work on u .. u weren’t meant to to slick bald .. ur hair loss progression is a high Norwood, from hairline to crown .. but ur hair is strong n able to still survive so it’s just diffused with patches of hairloss because of ur age .. the hair follicles are just older n lived it’s life.. with a hair transplant u get stronger hairs replacing the current hair that’s soon to diffuse n disappear.. so ur net gain of hairs won’t be dramatic ..

But u have a good donor .. so I think if u find a good doctor n be on meds , u could have a good result.. decent coverage , dudes with gray white hair with a higher Norwood than u got good results , I don’t see why u can’t .. it’s never too old to feel comfortable in ur own skin .. I probably be like u one day .. held onto my hair for most my life .. but eventually going to get old n lose hair.. if ur donor is good .. go for it ..

[mikeyhwk]

Thanks for taking the time to reply

 

Yes I've been on Hormone replacement for close to 15yrs already twice weekly Testosterone and HCG. I was a competitive bodybuilder and used and abused anabolics big time in my younger days but I really didn't seem to loose much hair from it as u can see in the below pic that was taken after my crazy usage years.

 

Anyways now I'm working with a super knowledge doctor that specializes in HRT and have regular blood work done.

Interesting before I starting Fin my DHT levels were quite high at 120 and then quickly dropped to a low of just 13 after 1mg a day but I'm still having accelerated hair loss so who knows must be my genetics and age catching up on me ?

Your guess is as good as mine ?

 

So on to getting multiple consults that's really great advice for sure and your 1000% right. It would be extremely helpful if you or anyone could be nice enough to just post a few of the best alternative to Erdogan doctors you would send your pictures to to hit up for a consult if you had my particular hair loss age scenario

 

interesting, trt did speed up my hairloss timeline...our genetics determines which level of loss we hit and aas usage may speed that timeline up but it isn't taking us anywhere we weren't going anyway. I thought trt may be increasing your shed rate like it was mine and you may need stronger meds, Dr Cooley recommends dut for trt patients and i had to make the switch to get my dht under control, fin just wasn't strong enough while being on for me. Fin does seem to be helping your dht inhibition tho. It is hard to say why your hairloss progression escalated at the time it did, but there is no set way everybody loses their hair, that you got thru most of your youth with hair is a bonus tho I realize that isn't a comfort to you now. Have you undergone other testing, thyroid for example just to make sure it's not related to hypothyroidism? i don't know if you're seeing an endo for your trt but they'd usually check for that but being diffuse loss and for it to come on later in life it might be worth at least confirming if you haven't already.

 

As for consult, my first bit of advice is don't worry necessarily about which doctor is ultimately going to do the surgery but find a top doc and get him to assess your hair in person. I didn't check your profile so I don't know what city you're in but if there is one close by just go get an in person consult you can ultimately go back to Erdogan or another doc but for the sake of information its best to get seen up close, they will tell you what level of minturization is going on and how dangerous it would be to proceed etc if it is, but it is far more in depth than an email consult. As for other doctors who would be good to consult with as a diffuse patient. Dr Lorenzo, I had him as my doc and I'm a diffuse patient he's got lots of vids on youtube showing his work with diffuse patients, he'd be a good one to reach out to but bear in mind the consult takes 3-4 weeks to hear back so he's not quick, he's got a backlog of patients. Dr Bisanga would be another, if your price point allows I would reach out to Dr Konior. That's a few anyway.

[Markee]

I'm sending out my pictures to get some consults from different doctors first one I got back was from Dr Keser

Got this back today still waiting for Lorenzo

Anyone want to recommend some other doctors I should shoot my pictures to also ?

 

Hello Mark

 

First of all we would like to thank you for your interest.

 

Dr.Keser has thoroughly analysed the photographs and considers that you need around 2000-2500 FUE grafts hair transplantation rebuilding a new hairline, filling temple points in a conservative manner blending with your existing hair.

 

Dr Keser is performing FUE technique with manual punch method since 2003, using instrumentation that is invented and developed by himself. Each Follicle we remove from the donor area at the back of the head is accounted for, healthy and intact and every follicle is placed by Dr Keser manually. We do not use nurses, assistants or technicians during the procedure. Dr Keser carries out the entire procedure using his many years of surgical expertise. Our technique uses no scalpel, no stitches and no Strip Excision scarring.

 

Our price is €3.50 per graft. We offer complementary airport transfer, a translator during your procedure and the necessary medication during and after the surgery. Appointments can be confirmed with a copy of flight details or €500 deposit downpayment. We generally make appointments 2-3 months in advance however there are earlier availabilities. Please let me know if you are interested.

 

Looking forward to hearing from you.

Edited March 16, 2018 by Markee

[Legend007]

U r going to need more grafts than that .. I’m getting 2000 grafts just to my hairline ..

U probably need 3000-3500 for hairline n midscalp..

it will make a nice difference for u ..

[Legend007]

Get a consultation with dr diep .. he performs miracles .. I already booked my surgery date with him for November .. he doesn’t mind transplanting Into ur existing hair .. he’s doing that for me ..

it’s probably $8 a graft for u . Since it’s a big transplant it’s cheaper , but still expensive however . He will dense pack ur hairline for u so u don’t have to go back for more surgeries to the same area.

[Markee]

My first choice is Erdogan I'm thinking he would want to do about 5k grafts on me

at approximately $3 US a graft I'm looking at including travel maybe 16k

With a larger transplant discount what do you think Diep would cost me for around 3500 grafts ?

[Legend007]

A large session around 3k grafts .. it’s either $7.50 -$8 a graft.. .. I’m sure u have seen him cover a large area with excellent density with that amount of graft :. He took a Norwood 6 with 5k grafts to a full head of thick hair .. dude had like 20 hairs on the top of his head n he got full coverage .. that’s why i was like if he can make that bald dude lookin like that . He should be able to do wonders with 2k grafts just to my hairline .. that’s why I’m willing to shell out $16k for it .. hit him up with some pictures , it’s best if u get multiple consultations anyways n u won’t have to travel so far.. he does give discounts like $500 for out of state clients .. I think with u .. he probably do 3000 grafts to ur hairline n midscalp first .. then u can go in for a 2nd procedure down the line to do ur crown.. in his videos he claims he specializes in curly hair .. with curly hair u get more coverage with less grafts than straight hair.. n ur donor looks good .. I think u should get excellent results .. his wait time is long however , so it’s best if u get ur consultation ASAP or there be no openings until 2019 if u wait too long .. also The bad thing to know is their clinic won’t give u refunds or repairs .. they told me they stand by their work .. n the results should be good .. so if ur hair don’t grow it’s not their fault .. but then again .. I rather have a clinic that’s confident in what they doing n get it done right the first time .. we don’t have spare grafts to spare for a repair ..’

[Markee]

Yeah I already sent diep an email but I don't see an option there to attach pictures ?

At $8 3000 grafts alone would cost $24,000.00 that's a bit out there even at $7.50 its $22,500.00 and I don't really think i want to have to go through it over again to get the crown done and also then spend what another 10 -15k thats crazy

Think I'd rather go with Erdogan get the whole 5000 grafts done at once for the $16k and be done

Don't think I've read about anyone needed a second procedure done with Erdogan?

Edited March 16, 2018 by Markee

[Legend007]

Yeah I feel u .. it’s a lot of money .. if u want to do the fut route it’s $4-$4.50 a graft if u don’t mind the scar . I myself wouldn’t want to spend so much money on hair. .. erdogan does do great work from what I’ve read .. that could work best for u .. just get it all done at once at a mega session.. I’m only going to diep for my hairline .. cuz he specializes in that .. so I want it done right the first time. If I needed another procedure later in life I probably go overseas .. best of luck to ya .. keep us updated on ur hair transplant journey.

[aWidowsPeek]

Hey Markee I'm not sure you're a good candidate for a transplant either by fue or strip. You should post some better pics of your donor region. It looks pretty thin in that 1 pic.

 

My doctor Dr. Nader could do 3000 grafts for a 3rd of the cost of Diep. You do need 3000+.

[Markee]

Hey Markee I'm not sure you're a good candidate for a transplant either by fue or strip. You should post some better pics of your donor region. It looks pretty thin in that 1 pic.

 

My doctor Dr. Nader could do 3000 grafts for a 3rd of the cost of Diep. You do need 3000+.

 

Freaking me out there

My donor area is maybe not that great but I've seen reviews where Erdogan worked magic with alot worse so I don't think I'm hopeless

 

I'll have to take and post some better pictures

I suck at taking pictures

[Justin77]

If I were you I would try to visit with a top doc not too far from you so you can get a consultation in person. That way you will know 100% if you are a good candidate for a transplant.

 

I can't see a problem with your donor area in the pic but it's hard to tell from pics alone. Several posters here and a few docs were concerned about my donor because of the way I had photographed it, as I was wearing it very short on the sides and under bright lighting. It made it look very thin. When I saw a couple doctors in person, they verified that my donor area was actually quite good and I was a good candidate overall.

[Markee]

Yeah I think seeing someone local is good advice

I live in South Florida anyone want to suggest who would be best to go see around here ?

[Steeeve]

I don’t think you’re hopeless from the pics you posted but I agree with aWidowsPeek about pics with better clarity. I would like to see some better pics if you could get a smart phone that takes pics in high definition. You’re sides do seem a little thin but I don’t think that’s something that would completely deter you from getting a transplant. There, most definitely, have been some pretty shady looking donor regions that have had hair pulled from them that amounted to decent coverage on their recipient areas.

 

You should have a realistic expectation of what your donor could potentially look like after an FUE procedure. If you keep your hair the length it is in the pics you’ve already provided it should be fine but if you plan on cutting it shorter you may end up dealing with a thinner looking donor region.

 

I also think that Dr. Nader, aWidowsPeek’s Doctor, while not recommended by this forum yet, is definitely a top doc AND his prices are much cheaper than Erdogan’s. I almost had a procedure done with him but he wouldn’t commit to doing a strip on me as he doesn’t do those anymore.

 

The thing with Erdogan though is that if you do end up going with him you know you are 100% going to get what you desire. I’ve seen a few unfinished Nader threads on this forum but I’ve yet to see anyone come out and say that they are unhappy with their year end results. They are quite vocal in their happiness, actually.

 

I couldn’t really recommend a doc in Florida.

[Legend007]

Don’t worry markie .. just educate urself on what to expect n find the surgeon u trust with ur hair n wallet .. n u most feel comfortable with .. everyone has their surgeons they like .. but it’s who u feel u can trust with ur hair is most important .... I like all the doctors given to u ... but erdogan is obviously ur best choice because u are most comfortable with him .. get a nice communication relationship with him going n if u feel comfortable that’s who u r willing to go under the surgery chair with .. then go for it .. we are the patients making the time n effort n money to get the results .. choose someone u can trust that cares about ur results n u be just fine .

[Markee]

Hey Markee I'm not sure you're a good candidate for a transplant either by fue or strip. You should post some better pics of your donor region. It looks pretty thin in that 1 pic.

 

My doctor Dr. Nader could do 3000 grafts for a 3rd of the cost of Diep. You do need 3000+.

 

I'm pretty sure that if Erdogan can pull 5200 graphs from this guy hes not going to have a problem finding them on me

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/189626-5213-grafts-fue-dr-erdogan.html

[Markee]

Did a local in office consult today with Dr. Glenn Charles Boca Raton Florida

Nice guy total no pressure extra friendly and relaxed experience

Doctor says my donor area is good to go no worries there

Recommended 2000 to 2500 graphs

FUT- $4.00 a Graph

FUE- $6.00 a Graph

[gettingfue]

From photos you can tell the pattern of baldness (diffusion, temporal, crown etc), but they can't tell the extent of miniaturisation. Like a previous poster suggested - just get back in touch with Erdogan and ask if you can book an appointment. The worst that can happen is he says no.