Evaluating where I am on NW scale

[Carlinho]

Hi Everyone,

 

After much reading on the forum I have finally decided to get a HT. I wanted to upload some pre op pictures and get the community's opinion about where am I on the Norwood scale and also how many grafts I should get for good results and whether my donor area can support that. I know that I will get that information from whichever surgeon I will end up choosing but want to get a rough idea before I start the procedure.

 

I saw on the forum that keeping a longer hair gives an illusion of a fuller hair, what do you think is the ideal hair length to best see the baldness pattern? Is the shorter the better?

 

Thanks!

[Melvin- Admin]

Can you post some pictures?

[Carlinho]

I tried to get the best pics I could, if they arent good enough let me know and I'll take new ones.

 

Also, I wasn't even aware until now how thin my hair is at the crown and midscalp :eek:

[Melvin- Admin]

Your hair loss isn’t specifically listed on the Norwood scale, but you are a Norwood 6. You still have a lot of miniaturized hair, but the pattern is there. I would suggest treating your hair loss through medication first finasteride and minoxidil, than re-evaluating after a year.

[Carlinho]

Really? Norwood 6? Wow, I wasn't expecting that.

 

What about my donor area? Doesn't seem to good either, right?

 

Can you give your opinion as to how many grafts I would need to get good results and how much do you think my donor area can support?

 

I'm not taking medicine because I took finasteride for 2 years and had strong side-effects.

[Melvin- Admin]

It’s a hard thing to hear I know, but if you look at the thinning pattern you see that everything on top is thinning. This means eventually all of those hairs will be gone, leaving you with a Norwood 5A to 6 level of hair loss. Your donor area appears sparse, typically individuals with African ancestry have less density overall. However, the follicles are generally a lot thicker, so you’ll need less grafts to achieve the same result as someone with fine hair would, but there’s a fine line where you don’t want to deplete your donor area. Honestly I wouldn’t touch the midscalp or crown, I would focus on rebuilding the hairline 2,500 grafts should suffice, then you should try and maintain the rest of the hair with minoxidil, PRP, laser therapy, ketoconazle shampoo etc.