Assessing donor.

[bonkling]

Hey all,

Does anyone have any tips, tricks, or help regarding their donor?

There isn't anywhere near me, or even remotely close that could check my donor for suitability. 

Should one invest in something like a USB microscope? Or are the standard photos good enough for a surgeon?

Cheers.

[Al - Moderator]

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but something you should keep in mind is no matter what your donor looks like today, it may not be the same some years down the road. You should definitely try to get some kind of idea where your hair loss is going by looking at some older relatives who had a similar pattern as you at your age and also see how much and where your hair loss is occurring the most and the fastest.

Many Drs will give you an estimate of how many lifetime grafts they think you have, but that is based on what your donor looks like at the time he is giving you his estimate. If you were to wait 10 years and then get a new donor estimate, it may be much lower, so don't really rely on that too much. I think many people make the mistake of thinking they can use up a certain amount of grafts because they are led to believe they will always have x amount of extra grafts that they can use later in life if they need to, but that is not always true. As you age and your hair loss expands, your donor may eventually thin out as well. Those 2000 extra grafts you thought you had may only end up being 500.

 

[LaserCap]

My recommendation is to schedule a couple of consultations.  Go to two or three different doctors and see what they say.  Make sure they truly look at the donor area. Touch it, move the hair around, check for elasticity, etc.  Just "looking" is not doing a proper job.

You purchasing a USB microscope is not going to do anything other than to show you a close up look of the scalp, hair, etc.  A true professional, however,  can tell you how many hairs are in a CM2 by looking at an image.

The first thing I would do is scalp stretching exercises.  This can ultimately help the elasticity of the donor area.  The second thing i would do, is to get on medical therapy ASAP.  This will help save your donor.

Lastly, take photos every 3-6 months and keep a record.

[bonkling]

11 hours ago, LaserCap said:

My recommendation is to schedule a couple of consultations.  Go to two or three different doctors and see what they say.  Make sure they truly look at the donor area. Touch it, move the hair around, check for elasticity, etc.  Just "looking" is not doing a proper job.

You purchasing a USB microscope is not going to do anything other than to show you a close up look of the scalp, hair, etc.  A true professional, however,  can tell you how many hairs are in a CM2 by looking at an image.

The first thing I would do is scalp stretching exercises.  This can ultimately help the elasticity of the donor area.  The second thing i would do, is to get on medical therapy ASAP.  This will help save your donor.

Lastly, take photos every 3-6 months and keep a record.

 

18 hours ago, BeHappy said:

This doesn't exactly answer your question, but something you should keep in mind is no matter what your donor looks like today, it may not be the same some years down the road. You should definitely try to get some kind of idea where your hair loss is going by looking at some older relatives who had a similar pattern as you at your age and also see how much and where your hair loss is occurring the most and the fastest.

Many Drs will give you an estimate of how many lifetime grafts they think you have, but that is based on what your donor looks like at the time he is giving you his estimate. If you were to wait 10 years and then get a new donor estimate, it may be much lower, so don't really rely on that too much. I think many people make the mistake of thinking they can use up a certain amount of grafts because they are led to believe they will always have x amount of extra grafts that they can use later in life if they need to, but that is not always true. As you age and your hair loss expands, your donor may eventually thin out as well. Those 2000 extra grafts you thought you had may only end up being 500.

 

Thanks for the advice, Laser and Be happy, you are both some of the most knowledgeable and helpful on this forum, and have helped me a tonne with every reply. 

I was wondering if you could share your opinions on my situation. 

I'm late 20's, NW3, and on both main medications.

My older brother is 8 years older, and is a NW 5/6. Looking at him, he simply doesn't have the donor to facilitate a HT, and neither does my father. 

Given finasteride and people with aggressive loss, and donor changed, would taking finasteride potentially keep enough hair to warrant a transplant? I'm just concerned with getting one, only to have my hair fall out in a few years.

Thanks a lot. 

 

[LonelyGraft]

2 hours ago, bonkling said:

 

Thanks for the advice, Laser and Be happy, you are both some of the most knowledgeable and helpful on this forum, and have helped me a tonne with every reply. 

I was wondering if you could share your opinions on my situation. 

I'm late 20's, NW3, and on both main medications.

My older brother is 8 years older, and is a NW 5/6. Looking at him, he simply doesn't have the donor to facilitate a HT, and neither does my father. 

Given finasteride and people with aggressive loss, and donor changed, would taking finasteride potentially keep enough hair to warrant a transplant? I'm just concerned with getting one, only to have my hair fall out in a few years.

Thanks a lot. 

 

I believe that’s part of the reason why treatments like finasteride are recommended by many surgeons for younger patients with aggressive hair loss.  It can likely help preserve your donor better and if you are destined to be a higher Norwood, the biggest thing you want to achieve is trying to stop the lateral humps from dropping.

[bonkling]

8 hours ago, jj51702 said:

I believe that’s part of the reason why treatments like finasteride are recommended by many surgeons for younger patients with aggressive hair loss.  It can likely help preserve your donor better and if you are destined to be a higher Norwood, the biggest thing you want to achieve is trying to stop the lateral humps from dropping.

That's very true. I've been on it for a couple of years now (finasteride that is) - I just hope it can stop my loss enough to have a long-lasting transplant.