Hair Transplant for Only Moderate Hair Loss

[Tressless22]

Hi,

I am age 29, and I have been considering getting a hair transplant for a few years despite having moderate hair loss at my temples. I started taking finasteride a year ago, and though my hair seems to have thickened up and added a few hairs along my hairline, I have also experienced continued recession at the temples. I contacted Dr. Erdogan in Turkey who estimated I would need 1800-2000 grafts. The placement of theses grafts is in a manner I have never seen before on any forum. The majority of the grafts are being placed where I already have hair so that as I experience continued hair loss, the grafted hair will remain and effectively hair loss will be hard to notice when looking in the mirror. I am mostly interested in having my temples filled and not necessarily having density added to other areas, and I indicated this in the questionnaire I filled out for Dr. Erdogan. Maybe the conservative approach for my situation is to add many grafts in the areas adjacent to the temples, but as I mentioned I have not seen this design before.

Can anyone comment on this strategy/design and if they have seen it before from other posters?

Also, I am mostly looking for hairline restoration. Almost everything I see from Dr. Erdogan looks great, but much of it is with grafts planted in the crown and midscalp with usually the same widely curving hairline design. Is Dr. Erdogan a good choice for hairline design, or should I be looking at other surgeons in Turkey? Your feedback is appreciated.

Here are some photos of my hairline:

Here is Dr. Erdogan's design:

 

[Melvin- Admin]

You do not need a hair transplant in my opinion. There are far too many risks associated with surgery. The risks outweigh the reward. Even if you had a successful surgery, no one would even notice a difference except you. 

Right now you have an age appropriate hairline and temple points, but if your surgery fails, you’ll end up looking worse and you’ll be kicking yourself for getting something done when it wasn’t necessary. 

Every surgeon has failed cases and even the best don’t get it right 100% of the time, ask yourself what’s worse your normal natural hairline? Or a failed artificial hairline? 

[JayLDD]

+1 I wouldn't recommend it. Not with any surgeon. Opening a can of worms for no reason at this point, your current situation would be considered aggressive and abnormally perfect density if it was a transplant (not achievable in a single pass imo) , and on top of that you already wouldn't appear to have any hairloss to anyone including those who are Norwood spotters. If it gets worse consider it but there are better ways to drop ten grand in the meantime.

Edited August 25, 2018 by JeanLDD

[Tressless22]

9 hours ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

You do not need a hair transplant in my opinion. There are far too many risks associated with surgery. The risks outweigh the reward. Even if you had a successful surgery, no one would even notice a difference except you. 

Right now you have an age appropriate hairline and temple points, but if your surgery fails, you’ll end up looking worse and you’ll be kicking yourself for getting something done when it wasn’t necessary. 

Every surgeon has failed cases and even the best don’t get it right 100% of the time, ask yourself what’s worse your normal natural hairline? Or a failed artificial hairline? 

Does implanting into an area with existing follicles make my potential surgery more risky than others, or do you mean the risk of worsening my current hairline?

If I notice a difference, and I can stop worrying about temple recession for the next 5-10 years, that will be hugely beneficial for me and worth the price tag. I feel like I am ok with the potential risk of worsening my hairline, however I recognize that is difficult to say for certain. I had planned that if the surgery did not meet my expectations then I would just shave my head which is a hairstyle I would probably adopt if my temples recede much further anyway.

Thanks for your response. I'll consider waiting or at least talking with other surgeons about how advisable this procedure would be for me.

[Tressless22]

7 hours ago, JeanLDD said:

+1 I wouldn't recommend it. Not with any surgeon. Opening a can of worms for no reason at this point, your current situation would be considered aggressive and abnormally perfect density if it was a transplant (not achievable in a single pass imo) , and on top of that you already wouldn't appear to have any hairloss to anyone including those who are Norwood spotters. If it gets worse consider it but there are better ways to drop ten grand in the meantime.

I have not had a transplant before. My left temple recedes faster than my right, but the right always follows suit in about 6-12 months, so I will have equally deep temple recession eventually.

I am somewhat concerned about density. My hair is somewhat dense and probably of medium thickness, and I am not sure if that density is achievable after one procedure. I notice that some people who don't have receding temples or only slight recession have less dense hair in their temples as compared to other parts of their hairline and scalp, so I brushed off that thought once before.

I appreciate the response. I may wait or seek out on this forum if there are any surgeons known for making dense hairlines in one procedure.

Edited August 26, 2018 by Tressless22

[JayLDD]

3 hours ago, Tressless22 said:

I have not had a transplant before. My left temple recedes faster than my right, but the right always follows suit in about 6-12 months, so I will have equally deep temple recession eventually.

I am somewhat concerned about density. My hair is somewhat dense and probably of medium thickness, and I am not sure if that density is achievable after one procedure. I notice that some people who don't have receding temples or only slight recession have less dense hair in their temples as compared to other parts of their hairline and scalp, so I brushed off that thought once before.

I appreciate the response. I may wait or seek out on this forum if there are any surgeons known for making dense hairlines in one procedure.

I know you haven't had one before, my point was that your current situation is better than what a single procedure can achieve in the sense that you already have very strong density and on appearance what looks like you don't suffer from androgenetic alopecia. You won't match native density with a single procedure no matter the surgeon. It's also correct the temple areas are naturally thinner and often have the appearance of recession despite the person not having male pattern baldness.

I would look at Keser in Turkey, he tends to pack at a higher density, also doing only 500 grafts per day to maximise yield.  But personally I think the risk/reward in your situation is not good. There are plenty others you'll find here who go to top surgeons from across the globe and end up with poor results. Not worth that risk when your current situation is still so strong imo.

[Gasthoerer]

I agree that you should not opt for surgery as benefit to risk ratio is poor. Maybe  a pic which tells us you facial proportions will give more insight.

However, if (!) you opt for surgery it should be a hairline specialis and not someone like Erdogan who is dedicated to big FUE mega sessions.

[VicTNYC]

Dude, you have a great head of hair for your age, I’m my opinion, you should not do a HT now, wait until you are 35 and see how your hair loss has progressed, then if inclined, get an HT done, but with your hair and age I wouldn’t. 

If your concern is your hairline and temples and money is not an issue, then, Dr Diep is whom I would go to for hairline and temple work.

[Melvin- Admin]

12 hours ago, Tressless22 said:

Does implanting into an area with existing follicles make my potential surgery more risky than others, or do you mean the risk of worsening my current hairline?

If I notice a difference, and I can stop worrying about temple recession for the next 5-10 years, that will be hugely beneficial for me and worth the price tag. I feel like I am ok with the potential risk of worsening my hairline, however I recognize that is difficult to say for certain. I had planned that if the surgery did not meet my expectations then I would just shave my head which is a hairstyle I would probably adopt if my temples recede much further anyway.

Thanks for your response. I'll consider waiting or at least talking with other surgeons about how advisable this procedure would be for me.

Well, implanting hair follicles close to native hair can cause follicular death. This  is more risky when there is a high density of native hair. 

Furthermore, the fact that you’re saying shaving your head is an option leads me to believe you are even less of a candidate.

Let me explain, let’s say you went to Turkey, paid for a cheap procedure that caused a great deal of shock loss and left you with a sparse looking hairline that looks artificial. Now let’s say you want to shave your head, which by your own admission is a look you’re comfortable with, well now when you shave your head you’re going to see thousands of tiny dot scars scattered across your head. 

You will inevitably feel self conscious and will most likely live under a hat. Trust me if you’re self conscious enough to get surgery for this minuscule amount of hair loss, can you imagine how you’d be if it looked way worse and you couldn’t shave your head? Really think about it. 

We don’t sell hair transplant here, I’m giving you honest unbiased advice. 

[jjsrader]

Oh but wait!  I've seen at least 20 surgeries on here that were cheered on w/guys that have less hairloss than this guy - right into the frontal hairline and temple areas.

So he shouldn't have surgery 'cause he is only considering a doctor in Turkey?   So if he spent more with Rahal or Konoir or someone of that caliber - now he's magically a candidate?

One thing is obvious - if you have this miniscule amount of hairloss you better choose wisely and go with the best of the best.  It appears this is a case of body dysmorphia - based on the original posters replies, imo.

Let me emphatically state this guy has no worries - but in other threads I would be hearing from other posters let him do what he wants to do 'cause it's his own perception of hairloss.

I'm beginning to think the format of asking questions means nothing at this website.  Why not just have threads of before & afters and 'case studies' - since any answer is subjective at best.

[Tressless22]

42 minutes ago, jjsrader said:

Oh but wait!  I've seen at least 20 surgeries on here that were cheered on w/guys that have less hairloss than this guy - right into the frontal hairline and temple areas.

So he shouldn't have surgery 'cause he is only considering a doctor in Turkey?   So if he spent more with Rahal or Konoir or someone of that caliber - now he's magically a candidate?

One thing is obvious - if you have this miniscule amount of hairloss you better choose wisely and go with the best of the best.  It appears this is a case of body dysmorphia - based on the original posters replies, imo.

Let me emphatically state this guy has no worries - but in other threads I would be hearing from other posters let him do what he wants to do 'cause it's his own perception of hairloss.

I'm beginning to think the format of asking questions means nothing at this website.  Why not just have threads of before & afters and 'case studies' - since any answer is subjective at best.

Body dysmorphia is a mental illness. I don't think I've exhibited that. I recognize my hair loss is less than other users on this forum, and I have the capacity for rational thought when it comes to considering whether to proceed or not.

I am just now starting medical school at a later age than my peers, and I fear the additional stress of losing hair over the next 4 years and not being able do anything about it because the only time off I have for the next 4 years is next summer. Having an unnatural appearance following a hair transplant might be even more stressful than just losing hair. After having posted this, several users have brought to my attention the risk associated with transplanting into a region with existing hair. I initially thought this was a small risk but other posters have made me feel like the risk is significantly greater.

When you say I have no worries, do you mean I should not be worried about my current hair loss or I should not be as worried about the risks of a bad surgery with Dr. Erdogan?

Edited August 27, 2018 by Tressless22

[Tressless22]

1 minute ago, brahmabull117 said:

OP is NW1.5 with excellent density considering surgery

 

so dumb

I just went through several posts written by users on this forum who had similar if not better hairlines than me, and no one raised these concerns or called them dumb for having gone through with the procedure. Their first post was several progress pics after the transplant had already been performed rather than an initial post about surgeon choice and design. Not sure if the post format accounted for the difference in response.

[Tressless22]

Just now, brahmabull117 said:

 

I didn't see the other people you are referring to but that's equally dumb also

just FYI, nobody thinks you're balding until you're NW3...and you're not even anywhere near a 2. Why spend so much money and go through an exhausting process when you obviously don't need it? 

I had a transplant done 8 weeks ago but I'm a NW2.5 with a terrible thinning patch in crown and diffuse thinning all over...I would murder a kitten to have your hair (I'm same age)

You probably don't need a hair transplant either because it is a cosmetic surgery and your starting point isn't baldness, but if it makes you feel better and you don't develop an unhealthy obsession with perfecting your entire appearance, I don't have an issue with anyone getting one. There are legitimate concerns like risk of infection or a design that would yield unnatural results either a year from now or when you are 60 years old. That's mostly what this post is about. Is Erdogan's design for me risky given that hair would be implanted in an area I already have hair? Is there a much better surgeon choice for my case? I appreciate the responses I've gotten.

 

[VicTNYC]

No need for some to call someone “dumb” or suggest they have a “mental illness” when it seems like a case of overly concerned worry, that may or may not be misplaced, to me, it does seem misplaced, but every individual is free to do what they want but should be aware of consequences that still may not please them down the road.

[California]

Hi Tressless22,

You are lucky to have a good head of hair. I agree with the majority of the responses here, who have suggested that you should not get an HT procedure done right now. If I were you, I would not overthink this and enjoy my hair. The pressures of med school might not necessary result in your hair loss getting worse. You should cross that bridge when you come to it.

Just my 2 cents.

I wish you all the best.

Regards,

California

[Melvin- Admin]

4 hours ago, jjsrader said:

Oh but wait!  I've seen at least 20 surgeries on here that were cheered on w/guys that have less hairloss than this guy - right into the frontal hairline and temple areas.

So he shouldn't have surgery 'cause he is only considering a doctor in Turkey?   So if he spent more with Rahal or Konoir or someone of that caliber - now he's magically a candidate?

One thing is obvious - if you have this miniscule amount of hairloss you better choose wisely and go with the best of the best.  It appears this is a case of body dysmorphia - based on the original posters replies, imo.

Let me emphatically state this guy has no worries - but in other threads I would be hearing from other posters let him do what he wants to do 'cause it's his own perception of hairloss.

I'm beginning to think the format of asking questions means nothing at this website.  Why not just have threads of before & afters and 'case studies' - since any answer is subjective at best.

What threads are you referring to? Also, you are insinuating that the forum has certain biases, while some members may have a bias for their own specific surgeon. The community itself does not have any bias. In addition, the surgeon that the OP is interested in is Dr. Erdogan, who is highly respected and recommended by this community. 

2 hours ago, Tressless22 said:

I just went through several posts written by users on this forum who had similar if not better hairlines than me, and no one raised these concerns or called them dumb for having gone through with the procedure. Their first post was several progress pics after the transplant had already been performed rather than an initial post about surgeon choice and design. Not sure if the post format accounted for the difference in response.

I apologize if someone called you dumb, that is certainly not what we encourage on this forum. Ultimately, the choice is yours, I have outlined some very real concerns that can occur and have occurred, even if you choose a highly respected surgeon such as Dr. Erdogan, these risk although minimized still exist. Again, we don't sell hair transplants on this forum and the doctor you are inquiring about is a recommended surgeon. So if we were truly as biased as some members insinuate I wouldn't be giving you my real opinion. It doesn't matter if you said your surgeon was Dr. Rahal, Konoir, Erdogan, Diep etc. My response is still the same, I think the risk outweigh the reward and regardless of the surgeon there is and will always be risks associated with surgery. Once you start there is no going back. This whole "I'll shave my head if my surgery fails" that is a fallacy and an outright lie. 

[Sean]

Tressles, you have beautiful natural hair to die for.  Playing with grafting at this stage is like playing with fire.  Ive known few guys who had similar hair and did a procedure.  The transplant hair looks unnatural and does not match the density of native hair behind recipient zone.  Trust me, you may end up chasing repairs if you start now.  If you have extensive loss and look like a solid norwood 2-3 and beyond then you may consider it.  In your case, if you even thought about proceeding,  You would need to consider a doctor that may do minimal grafts a day with a full manual punch and do extractions themselves to lessen risk of low yield.  Very few docs do this surgical approach.  But for right now, trust me, you definitely should save your money and it will definitely save you lots of headache.  I wasn’t that badly recessed or damaged before, but I am going through a very difficult time at the moment.  I really do wish you the best but definitely think this through very thoroughly.  If you are local, let me know.  I think any doctor that even gives a number over 500 grafts for you is not being fair to you right now.  Your best bet is to enjoy your hair and ride it out till you see some actual visible degree of loss.  You do not want to venture graft placement into thick native hair zones at all.  You will shock that area and no gaurantee it can return. Best best wishes and good luck.  This would be considered a high risk procedure due to all that existing native hair.  

[jjsrader]

4 hours ago, Tressless22 said:

Body dysmorphia is a mental illness. I don't think I've exhibited that. I recognize my hair loss is less than other users on this forum, and I have the capacity for rational thought when it comes to considering whether to proceed or not.

I am just now starting medical school at a later age than my peers, and I fear the additional stress of losing hair over the next 4 years and not being able do anything about it because the only time off I have for the next 4 years is next summer. Having an unnatural appearance following a hair transplant might be even more stressful than just losing hair. After having posted this, several users have brought to my attention the risk associated with transplanting into a region with existing hair. I initially thought this was a small risk but other posters have made me feel like the risk is significantly greater.

When you say I have no worries, do you mean I should not be worried about my current hair loss or I should not be as worried about the risks of a bad surgery with Dr. Erdogan?

Dude - you should have a great life!  You are way smarter than I am, so please disregard my comments as inconsequential and please, engage away with many other knowledgeable guys on a hair forum instead of um, I don't know - going to several well-regarded surgeons in America and get PROFESSIONAL opinions.

Haha!

[jjsrader]

Also, imho if you are spending 6 figures for Med School (likely) - why are you concerned with cost and flying to Turkey?  C'mon - you are a smart guy and for 2K of grafts if you spend top dollar with Konior or Rahal or even Devroye that's not even an extra 15K. 

This smacks of typical new poster with okay - not body dysmorphia but massive OCD and instead of going to IN-PERSON consults w/top surgeons, basically does a probably email consult w/Erdogan (who would never turn down any patient w/alot of hair) and then comes and posts here.

If you are going to be a physician why would you not further consult w/experts in their field, in person w/ALL the facts before coming here and being verbally chided by a poster like me (which is inevitable)?

I'm sure you believe you have enough hairloss to warrant elective cosmetic surgery but even after being told by the most knowledgeable posters in this thread (not me, btw) that you are not a candidate - you continue to engage.  I wonder why that is.

Finally, you are just neurotic about your hair - every single person in this thread and website are as well - so you are among friends.  Even if I am a humorless bore when dumping ice water in this thread.  Good luck!

[Tressless22]

4 minutes ago, jjsrader said:

Dude - you should have a great life!  You are way smarter than I am, so please disregard my comments as inconsequential and please, engage away with many other knowledgeable guys on a hair forum instead of um, I don't know - going to several well-regarded surgeons in America and get PROFESSIONAL opinions.

Haha!

Joining a forum to talk with other individuals considering hair transplants has been really valuable. It's all part of the process. You're right--I should also talk to other surgeons to figure out if their approaches are different from Dr. Erdogan. I'm glad I made this post because I am really leaning towards not having this procedure done anymore.

[Tressless22]

22 minutes ago, Sean said:

Tressles, you have beautiful natural hair to die for.  Playing with grafting at this stage is like playing with fire.  Ive known few guys who had similar hair and did a procedure.  The transplant hair looks unnatural and does not match the density of native hair behind recipient zone.  Trust me, you may end up chasing repairs if you start now.  If you have extensive loss and look like a solid norwood 2-3 and beyond then you may consider it.  In your case, if you even thought about proceeding,  You would need to consider a doctor that may do minimal grafts a day with a full manual punch and do extractions themselves to lessen risk of low yield.  Very few docs do this surgical approach.  But for right now, trust me, you definitely should save your money and it will definitely save you lots of headache.  I wasn’t that badly recessed or damaged before, but I am going through a very difficult time at the moment.  I really do wish you the best but definitely think this through very thoroughly.  If you are local, let me know.  I think any doctor that even gives a number over 500 grafts for you is not being fair to you right now.  Your best bet is to enjoy your hair and ride it out till you see some actual visible degree of loss.  You do not want to venture graft placement into thick native hair zones at all.  You will shock that area and no gaurantee it can return. Best best wishes and good luck.  This would be considered a high risk procedure due to all that existing native hair.  

I'm sorry to hear that you're going through it right now, but I really appreciate your advice. You and others who responded have really changed my thinking about going through with this. I think I am going to wait a few years before reconsidering a transplant again.

[JayLDD]

Sounds like you're coming around a bit OP but just on a few points to address,  JJsrader said there are 20 others with equal loss who have been recommended transplants on this website, I totally disagree.  Especially when looking at the front on photo which appears to show zero hairloss or forehead issues, there are a very small select number of patients that went more aggressive than this and they are all people who started off with heavier loss than OP so the risk/reward paradigm was skewed in the other direction. Also agree that it isn't related to the doctor, I've seen poor growth/unnatural results with every surgeon that has more than 15 results online so I wouldn't change my mind based on that.

[HairLossMentor]

Hey Tressless22.

I can relate... I had my HT at 27 - I'm 42 now and glad I did. Others didn't agree with me at the time.

You're 29 and depending on your family history and use of meds - a candidate by definition. But that doesn't mean you should take the leap.

Yes your hair loss is limited - and a lot of guys would kill for that hair and more will not achieve that results after a ht. 

Some good advice here... and for what it's worth... the best advice I can give...

Do everything you can to keep that awesome head of hair! That's your #1 goal right now.

Sure your hairline bothers you. I get it. But you can "live with it." It's not the end of the world. You know what I mean. 

Stop your hair loss with the big 3 (Propecia, Rogaine, Nizoral) and you will feel better . Why? You're taking control of your hair loss... you're taking action.

And that's worth something.  

 

 

Edited August 27, 2018 by HairLossMentor

[pkipling]

Hey dude! Not here to call you dumb or anything remotely close to that. I completely understand that certain "flaws" we see in ourselves are naturally heightened and more severe to our own eyes than they are to anyone else's. I don't think that's "body dysmorphia"... I think that's called being human. Personally, I've been wanting to have a septoplasty for years because when I look in the mirror, all I see is that my nose is uneven (also I do have a hard time breathing properly)... But anytime I talk to a friend about it, they look at me like I've lost my mind and insist they've never noticed what I'm talking about... And no matter what they say to reassure me, I still have the desire to have the septoplasty, but finances are keeping me from it. Sometimes I realize that they're right and I'm making it out to be a much bigger deal in my head than it is in reality, but I do think it's something I'll have done eventually, to help my breathing and fix the cosmetic issue in the process. 

That said, I echo what most of the other guys have said: I don't think you need to go down this road. And that's not from a "you should be grateful that your hair loss isn't as bad as so-and-so's..." This is from a place of "I genuinely don't think you need it, and the risk - particularly implanting into existing hairs - is not worth what would be, AT BEST, a very small reward. 

I don't know of the other cases you mention where people had minimal hair loss and were applauded for having a procedure anyway. Maybe that's because they came here after the fact and just showed the results, and the results were good and people wanted to acknowledge that. But you're coming in here before the fact, and it seems that the overall consensus is that this isn't necessary for you or even a good idea.

Take that for what it's worth. Ultimately, you'll make the decision that you think is best for you, as do we all.... But I think it's worth heavily considering the possibility that maybe you simply don't even need a hair transplant. 

Best of luck. 

[LonelyGraft]

I wouldn’t even consider it at your level of loss. Imo you only have a mature hairline (I may be wrong however). If it’s really,bothers you I’d try treatments and you may be awarded with some thickening. Your hairline is perfectly normal for someone nearing 30.

 

again, this is my opinion but if a surgeon agrees to do surgery on you then they are not an ethical surgeon. Good luck bro