HT Expectations

[Hair4Days]

Hey everyone,

I, like many others are on here to educate myself & also see results on Hair transplants. Ive had a handful of consultations, in person and via phone. I do know who id be using if and when i decide to get a procedure done however, there are still a few areas that confuse me.

My biggest concern is future loss. Alot of clinics like to do the frontal zone first. I fear having the front done and being left with a wide open crown. Essentially having half a head of hair. I have heard clinics say you can obtain "full coverage" in a worst scenario (like a NW 5-6) but how likely is that considering graft availability. Basically, what is the best outcome for someone who is experiencing NW 5 or 6 loss? Is it even worth starting a procedure?

Another concern is obviously scarring and chosing FUE or FUT. I have heard opposite opinions from clinics in favor of their respective harvesting stratergy. Fue doctors bash FUT, FUT doctors bash FUE. Some say they do both, but lean towards one or the other. Some say you get more lifelong grafts via FUT, some say you get the same amount regardless of the strategy. Which strategy do you think gets more grafts? Does FUE deplete the donor as much as clinics say? Should i do Fut first then fue?

Thanks!

J

[Melvin- Admin]

If you want to maximize your donor supply, it's best to go strip first, but you CAN still have an FUE procedure. Just remember that it will take more surgeries, and yes the donor will be thinned slightly. A lot of strip surgeons pretend like strip doesn't thin out your donor when it does. Any time you remove follicular units you are lowering the density in the donor area.

[Hair4Days]

@Melvin-Moderator 

I get you can maximize your donor by doing FUT first then polish off with fue. But have you seen a Nw 5/6 have success getting full coverage front to back? I’m cut hair for a living  myself and every time i get a customer in my hair that has had a transplant, it’s always nothing in the back and spaced out hairs in the frontal zone. Never seen a good one in person to be honest. This type of stuff makes me second guess starting.

[Melvin- Admin]

6 minutes ago, James C said:

@Melvin-Moderator 

I get you can maximize your donor by doing FUT first then polish off with fue. But have you seen a Nw 5/6 have success getting full coverage front to back? I’m cut hair for a living  myself and every time i get a customer in my hair that has had a transplant, it’s always nothing in the back and spaced out hairs in the frontal zone. Never seen a good one in person to be honest. This type of stuff makes me second guess starting.

Do you mind posting pictures? 

This is a loaded question, and I will use it as a Q&A article because it really complex. The short answer is it depends. You should always enter surgery, expecting to improve, not to be healed of hair loss. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Can You Achieve Full Coverage With FUT and FUE?

[karatekid]

You said you had several frontal/phone consultation, did you ask them that? they should assess your donor and have some estimation. There is no general answer for that. Anyway, yes, I have seen several cases of patients who were nw6-7 and got full coverage, with good density.

[Hair4Days]

3 hours ago, karatekid said:

You said you had several frontal/phone consultation, did you ask them that? they should assess your donor and have some estimation. There is no general answer for that. Anyway, yes, I have seen several cases of patients who were nw6-7 and got full coverage, with good density.

@karatekid

Yea I’ve asked them that,  and got different answers every time. Some say you can harvest up to 6-7k grafts and get full coverage (lighter in the crown) for a nw 5/6. I have above average donor quality 

and others say you absolutely must be on preventative medications to hold onto  existing hair because you only have a limited donor supply.. I’m not a interested in medications and would just like to know if it’s possible to avoid 1 of 2 things : 1. Having hair in the front with a bald crown, and 2. Having my native hairs fall out and left with spaced apart transplants. 

Edited February 11, 2020 by James C

[karatekid]

You get difference answers because it's just estimations, nobody really knows how your hairloss progress exactly.  It's good you want to have precise plan, but eventually you taking risks. Just consider all the assessments you get, and think if you willing to take the risk you will end up in the bad scenario. Sorry cant help more than that...

But if you ask me, I would tend toward having a transplant, for 2 reasons: first, I think that some hair almost always better than bald. I think bald head is the worst option and should be avoided, if you can get some minimum hair coverage you can work with it (toppiks etc).   Second,  although it's smart to plan for future, I dont think that is the ultimate goal, you need to think about how it will effect your life now, and in the near future, not only about how you end up in 30 years, if anything I think your younger years should be more important, and who knows what will happen in the future.