Thinking about hair transplant

[Yossarian]

So i'm very new to even thinking about this, but it's worth exploring.  

My hairline is a mess with both a crown thinned and at the front with the corners as well.  At the front i do a bit of a comb-over and sometimes it doesn't look that bad, but a bit of wind or water soon reveals the truth.

I think i'm either Norwood 5 or 6 based on looking at the images.  

I think if i do this it'll be by going to Turkey for a FUE transplant as it's more economical, and it seems that's where the expertise is.  Obviously i'd prioritise quality about cheapness, but i'm looking for a good price.

I understand that I need to have a donor area to take hairs from.   I do think I have decent coverage on the sides and back, but i'm not technical enough to know if it would be sufficient.  My hair is generally quite fine, and isn't thick.  

Can anyone guesstimate just:

• how many grafts would be necessary to fix this, and
• just how much it would cost?
• Is there a directory of turkish surgeons / clinics that people know of that can be consulted.

Any help would be appreciated.

 

[hairlossPA]

easy bro. get the 5k graft ASMED special

[paddyirishman]

@Yossarian You still have a lot of Hair on your frontal 1/3. A lot of your hair in this area has been lost as well. There is a very good chance you will continue to lose more hair in this area.

Now that you are considering a HT it's really important you plan for a second or third HT as you will certainly want to replace the Hair you have now on your frontal 1/3 After you lose it.

Your priority is to hold onto your native hair for as long as you can  . When you lose it , you will be forced into chasing your hair. That means another HT.  Your amount of doner you have for potential HTs is critical in your plan for the long term. It's all about supply and demand. 

 It is of the utmost importance to have your doner evaluated to see how many grafts you might have for potential HTs. It's best to meet a reputable Doctor in person .  Keeping future hair loss in mind also will be important . When you know how many grafts you have in your doner you will be in a position to understand what is achievable and what not is achievable to improve your look.

If you are looking at Turkey be really careful, as you don't want to go to a black market FUE clinic, or end up with a sloped hairline that resembles a woman's hairline.

Do plenty of research and don't make any decisions made in a panic. Take your time.

Paddy

Edited February 25, 2020 by paddyirishman

[1978matt]

Donor is not great and you may get a better result with strip.  An 'affordable' and ethical strip surgeon would be someone like Dr Saifi in Poland.

If you must look at Turkey then consider the doctor only places like Kaan, Demirsoy and this place called HLC.  I don't know much about them but they seem ethical from what I've seen.

You should also try finasteride to see if it thickens things up, although it is unlikely to grow any hair back in your crown.

[1978matt]

...and spend some time on here searching for high norw00d cases like your own.  Most will likely focus on the frontal area with a mature/high hairline and work back as far as possible.  Unfortunately you will unlikely get full coverage.

Maybe look at Bernstein's results as he has a patient demographic with more extensive hair loss.

[gillenator]

Another option would be to consider wearing a partial system for the entire crown and saving grafts for the frontal third.

You would be amazed at the transformation with the end result.

[Yossarian]

1 hour ago, hairlossPA said:

easy bro. get the 5k graft ASMED special

It's a bit late in the game but i've bought some finasteride  and i'll see how that helps.

I'm going to do some research over the coming months and decide if a hair transplant is worth it or if i'm too far gone.

Just a bit of FYI, my hair has been like this for some years now.  It doesn't seem to be getting substantially worse than it already is.  Obviously it's a crap situation already.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Yossarian

[Yossarian]

4 minutes ago, gillenator said:

Another option would be to consider wearing a partial system for the entire crown and saving grafts for the frontal third.

You would be amazed at the transformation with the end result.

What does a partial system mean?  

[gillenator]

It's a hair system that does not cover the entire head...only the posterior area (crown).

This option would save such a large amount of your donor because your crown loss would demand thousands of grafts leaving little for the front.

[Portugal25]

@Yossarian from looking at your pictures you seem to have around 160cm2 to fill in which is massive and it means you would need at least 6000 grafts to rebuild the hairline and get a decent density (6000/160 = 37.5cm2 average density but the hairline will need 50cm2 to be good so you will have less than 37.5cm2 in the crown). 

Turkey is not where the expertise is but rather the world capital for botched hair transplants.
There are amazing doctors in Turkey doing the whole surgery using manual FUE and implanting with stick&place like Pekiner (2.25€/graft) and HLC Ankara (2.7€/graft) but that’s about it and then there’s low cost Doctors like Demirsoy (1.25€/graft) that also just do 1 patient per day but he opens all the holes/slits at once (big no for me) and then has the techs implanting the grafts on holes that were pre-made thus  accumulating blood and fat (pre-made slits is actually the most common technique because it’s much less consuming and precise than DHI or stick&place).
In Turkey there are also hundreds of all inclusive tech run surgeries where the results depend on the tech team available on the day if your surgery.

For a mega session such as yours that will surely require beard grafts I would advise you to go to the best clinic in the world for mega sessions - Eugenix - and chose the package with Dr. Arika (1.8€/graft with tax) rather than a tech only package because you will need a top doctor to properly rebuild your hairline and your case is not a easy surgery. 
You can check @paddyirishman report on Eugenix and the many high Norwood patients that achieved a full head of hair in just 1 surgery at Eugenix.

If you want to have two surgeries to maximize results then I suggest you to request a diagnosis to Dr. Bruno Ferreira (2.5€/graft), HLC and Pekiner (if you have miniaturized hairs you are not a candidate for Pekiner and should go to Bruno Ferreira that has experience with patients that have DUPA or miniaturized hairs).

Almost all doctors will recommend you to start on finasteride (so it’s good you have already started) plus minoxidil spray or foam and a Biotin supplement.

Edited February 25, 2020 by Portugal25

[Yossarian]

Thanks for the tough but fair advice.   I don't think a trip to India works for me cost wise at this moment.

Although I can grow a crazy thick beard.  If only I could do the same on the top of my head.

I'm thinking it could be worth fixing the front of my hairline as that's what most people see in any case.

I suppose my question would be: if i do have the front fixed and this uses the donor area, would this prohibit a future operation on the crown?  

Edited February 25, 2020 by Yossarian

[Portugal25]

29 minutes ago, Yossarian said:

Thanks for the tough but fair advice.   I don't think a trip to India works for me cost wise at this moment.

I'm thinking it could be worth fixing the front of my hairline as that's what most people see in any case.

I suppose my question would be: if i do have the front fixed and this uses the donor area, would this prohibit a future operation on the crown?  

@Yossarian the hairline is something that requires a highly skilled surgeon because it’s the first thing people notice so if it’s not natural then you won’t be happy with your results.
In the hairline surgeons will use single hair grafts and may add doubles behind the hairline.
In the crown surgeons usually use any type of graft but triples and quadruples are the best to add density along with beard grafts that are thicker thus providing even more density.

If you have a surgery to rebuild the hairline with around 3000 grafts you might still have enough scalp donor area for a second surgery but it will depend on your physiology which is something the doctor may not be able to determine looking at pictures and videos of your donor area. 
If your beard is acceptable for transplanting (same color as your hair and not curly) then you will have this option available when you rebuild your crown vertex in your second surgery (also not easy and many surgeons reject crown rebuilts). 

If you chose to have a +3000 graft surgery to just rebuild your hairline then I again advise you to request a diagnosis to @Dr. Bruno Ferreira, HLC and Pekiner.

Wish you all the best and let us know the feedback from the diagnosis you get.

 

Edited February 25, 2020 by Portugal25