Advice on grafts required & choosing a clinic

[bruce90]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Bruce - currently 28 years old and have been considering having a hair transplant for the last couple of years. I first noticed receding in my hairline by the time I was 20. At the time of writing this my hair loss has appeared to have stabilized and I haven't seen any major changes within the last 2-3 years. I am hoping to have a procedure done within a few months.

I have a couple questions that I am hoping some of you can help me with:

1) First of all I was wondering how many grafts would be needed to repair the hairline - basically to fill in the receded parts and any other touch ups such as temporal points. I have asked over a dozen doctors by email and there seems to be a big difference in the amount of grafts some doctors are recommending. I've basically gotten anywhere from 1500-3500 grafts needed.

2) Second question being would you recommend having work done on the temporal points - basically I've never really payed as much attention to my temporal points as my actual hairline so haven't really noticed if they receded or not but would want some advice if I should leave them as is or have them modified (basically I'm not sure what good temporal points look like and if mine needs any work).

Finally I was wondering if someone can recommend a hair transplant doctor to me: 

I live in Canada and ideally was looking at getting my procedure done with Rahal... however the cost is something I probably wouldn't be able to afford plus I wouldn't mind taking a trip to India or Turkey if I could get a reasonably priced surgery with a competent doctor. From both these countries I was considering Dr. Erdogan or Dr. Bhatti. The issue I'm having is that Erdogan's prices seem really expensive to me and I would pay it but the fact that the clinic runs multiple surgeries a day where the doctor isn't involved kind of troubles me. I also almost booked to have a procedure done with Dr Bhatti as his prices seem very good and I was impressed that he handles a large portion of the surgery himself but recently I'm seeing some not so good results that are making me second guess this decision. Wondering if anyone can provide some input. Thank you.

[TrixGlendevon]

It depends how conservative/aggressive you want the hairline. I would say 1500-2500 in your case. That said, at 28 you are still young and could recede further in the future. Are you on meds? What is your family history?

Regarding your temple points, maybe have some in-person consultations with top clinics and they will draw them on for you so you can see if you think it will add much to the overall effect. They will also tell you if they think it will add much to the overall effect (they have seen 1000s of cases).

Regarding a clinic, I would save more and go to a top clinic. Belgium is a good starting point. Top quality work and cheaper than North America. I personally wouldn't go to India or Turkey for this. You haven't mentioned if you want FUT or FUE but I am assuming the latter because of the clinics you are considering. I went with FUT but whilst I was researching I communicated with Dra Ximena Vila, an Argentinian doctor in Madrid. She used to belong to Lorenzo's clinic and has since branched out on her own. She actually did Lorenzo's transplant. She charges just 2.5 euros per graft for FUE and you can see her work on Lorenzo's site. Whilst I didn't see her in person as I was only considering FUT, the work from the clinic is very good and may be worth considering. I imagine her prices (and waiting list times) will shoot up once she establishes herself on the market.

[Corbinite]

I would look at Belgium: Bisanga, Mwamba, and Feriduni. Can't really go wrong with either. Just interview them and pick the one you feel is the best fit. I personally choose Bisanga, but I'm biased as my latest procedure was with him.

[Rawkerboi]

I hope you are on medications especially Finasteride.

I am also guessing you have finalised FUE as your HT procedure.

Dr Path in Thailand is well reviewed And recommended Doctor over here!

 

[bruce90]

Hi,

Thanks for the responses so far. I forgot to mention but I am only considering an FUE procedure as I cut the sides of my hair very short so I would not want a visible scar there. In terms of medication I have never taken finasteride or any type of hair loss medication and doubt I would - I just don't see the point in having to take medication for years. My family history shows that there is balding on both sides of my family however my hairline looks identical to my father who is now 50 years old and he hasn't lost anymore hair since his mid to late 20's. I would assume that I would not have anymore hair loss at this point and if I did then it would be very minor.

Edited January 13, 2019 by bruce90

[1978matt]

I would try finasteride or you may set yourself up for problems in the long term.  Try it for a year and in the mean time visit some local doctor's like Hasson & Wong and Rahal.  I'm not a fan of those other two you mentioned.

2500 grafts would seem about right to me.  I think you could probably get away without any temple point work and that would be advisable since you are still young.  Some doctors really aren't good at them either.

Edited January 13, 2019 by 1978matt

[TrixGlendevon]

 

3 hours ago, bruce90 said:

Hi,

Thanks for the responses so far. I forgot to mention but I am only considering an FUE procedure as I cut the sides of my hair very short so I would not want a visible scar there. In terms of medication I have never taken finasteride or any type of hair loss medication and doubt I would - I just don't see the point in having to take medication for years. My family history shows that there is balding on both sides of my family however my hairline looks identical to my father who is now 50 years old and he hasn't lost anymore hair since his mid to late 20's. I would assume that I would not have anymore hair loss at this point and if I did then it would be very minor.

Don't be pushed into taking meds but do be prepared to lower your expectations if you do not take them. There is really no need if you believe it is now stable. I do not take them and was even advised by Dr Feriduni not to. He was telling me there is apparently new evidence coming out of longer term side effects. I'll pass!

FUE also leaves scars, you won't be able to cut your hair really short with either procedure. FUE is still surgery and all surgery leaves scars!

[Raker]

10 minutes ago, TrixGlendevon said:

 

Don't be pushed into taking meds but do be prepared to lower your expectations if you do not take them. There is really no need if you believe it is now stable. I do not take them and was even advised by Dr Feriduni not to. He was telling me there is apparently new evidence coming out of longer term side effects. I'll pass!

FUE also leaves scars, you won't be able to cut your hair really short with either procedure. FUE is still surgery and all surgery leaves scars!

Interesting, are you saying that Dr Feriduni is recommending not to take Finasteride etc? 

[TrixGlendevon]

7 minutes ago, Raker said:

Interesting, are you saying that Dr Feriduni is recommending not to take Finasteride etc? 

It was a few months ago now but he asked me in my consultation with him if I was taking Finasteride and I said no and that I didn't want to take it because there are no very long term studies showing what its effects are and just because everybody online thinks they are doctor with recommendations to take meds, empirical evidence is important as it is your health. He laughed and said this was a good view to take. I then said I know if I got side effects, I could just stop taking it and then things would return to normal but he said this isn't correct and that he wouldn't advise patients to take it and to look up post-finasteride syndrome.

[Fozzie]

39 minutes ago, TrixGlendevon said:

It was a few months ago now but he asked me in my consultation with him if I was taking Finasteride and I said no and that I didn't want to take it because there are no very long term studies showing what its effects are and just because everybody online thinks they are doctor with recommendations to take meds, empirical evidence is important as it is your health. He laughed and said this was a good view to take. I then said I know if I got side effects, I could just stop taking it and then things would return to normal but he said this isn't correct and that he wouldn't advise patients to take it and to look up post-finasteride syndrome.

Hmmm very interesting coming from a well renowned Dr