Am I a bad candidate for a hair transplant? What norwood am I?

[NorwoodWhore]

Hi everyone,

 

I’ve been a long time lurker and need some help. I first noticed hair loss at age 22, and at age 23, I hopped on Min followed by topical Fin and keto shampoo. I couldn’t tolerate oral fin unfortunately but topical is fine. I saw an improvement and stabilisation of my hair loss since then, and am now 25. 
 

I was looking to get a hair transplant next year when I’m 26 just to increase density in the existing hairline (not lower it) as I’m a norwood 2 and quite okay with remaining a norwood 2.

 

I shaved my head as I’ve seen Melvin advise we should always do so before getting a HT and to my shock, I think I might be a diffuse norwood 7.

 

Am I ineligible to get a HT now? I don’t want to commit to a hair line that my donor won’t be able to keep up with. Will my hair basically continue to fall out at some point? I’m really worried now that I don’t have any options. I am not against using concealer but just too worried about how extreme my loss might be. When my hair is long, it is impossible to even tell I am losing hair behind the hairline. I’ve attached some photos at the link below:

 

https://imgur.com/gallery/hZNHj2K

[squarepatch]

Hey mate, definitely looking like heading towards nw6 if not nw7. 

You gotta head to a local HT surgeon to assess your donor capacity. You should have enough donor for the hairline and mid scalp and if lucky, the crown. You have to keep as much native hair as possible now via min & fin. 

Your donor doesn't look outstanding so doubt it will cover the whole top of scalp down the track, very unlikely with FUE

 

[Niko1]

hey

 

Unfortunately it looks like you're heading towards a NW6/7 like me, I had my first FUE hair transplant at 25 thinking it was going to be a one and done procedure, but that wasn't the case, looking back now my 1st HT was poorly planned out and the density was not there. I had 2 more corrective but successful fue procedures to give me the natural looking result I was after.

You're 25 years young, so In other words you have to plan wisely !

 

In Relation to your case I would Continue using the medication to stabilise you Hair Loss.  email/contact as many Reputable HT Doctors that are recommended on this Site.

Consider contacting doctors that utilize Body Hair/Beard Grafts as you could progress to a NW6/7.    Your donor isn't very good and the chances of future Hair loss are high.

 

Your hair currently looks good grown out. No need to rush. Also the possibility of shock loss in your native hair, is a concerning issue.  Bring this up with doctors you contact.

 

 

 

 

Edited April 8, 2020 by Niko1

[giegnosiganoe]

This is very interesting. What length did you cut your hair down to? I wonder what your recipient area graft density is, because grown out it looks very thick...

Try to get a miniaturization assessment of your donor/recipient areas. I think you should be a good candidate, but just do it in incrementally and stay conservative.

I really wonder what long-term fin outcomes look like, I wish there was more data on that.

[Hair4Days]

I legit just did this myself too. I shaved my hair down to a number 4 and now i notice my entire head looks like a diffused nw 6. With it grown out you’d think i just need hairline work. It’s like an optical illusion and makes no sense. One thing i can say is that Our donor hair and sides are  naturally thicker so they could be contributing to an exaggerated thinner appearance. But i relate to your pain. Do we even begin surgery if were destined to be a nw6/7. Some doctors say you can achieve full coverage front to back with 2 large FUT procedures then some FUE after to fill in any gaps... but then i read out there that there’s too much demand and limited supply meaning not enough grafts to treat advanced hair loss patterns. It’s confusing 

@Melvin-Moderator any thoughts ?

Edited April 9, 2020 by James C

[NorwoodWhore]

Thanks everyone for your input so far.

 

I’ve been in contact with a few clinics and they seem to think I am still ok to do a HT as long as I remain conservative with hairline placement and remain on meds. I live in Australia so unfortunately I don’t have access to good dermatologists/HT clinics to assess my donor. H & W seem to think that I would progress to a NW6 Rather than 7, and are recommending I do FUE if i choose to do surgery. 
 

i actually shaved with no guard, so a 0, and only noticed the difference as it’s been growing back. I actually don’t mind how I look bald with stubble and I have a good head shape but I definitely look a lot better with hair as I’m sure most men do.

 

I am lucky that my hair characteristics seem to come from my mothers side as they all had really thick hair, and my dad’s side all had thin hair and eventually all men became nw6-7.

Edited April 9, 2020 by NorwoodWhore
Adding further information

[Hair4Days]

H&W put out good results. Consult with Feller and Bloxham in NY as well. They have probably one of the best results ive seen. check out their youtube channel. As far as FUE or FUT, ive heard FUT yeilds more lifetime amount of grafts. FUE is supposedly only good for moderate hairloss, but if your on track to be a nw 6 i would start with fut, get as much as you can that way and then move onto fue, maximizing your donor

[Sean]

I’d definitely proceed with high caution when it comes to surgery.  If you are indeed likely headed towards a nw6, then Even with body hair and other hairs it will look unnatural.  And you will never be able to use finasteride again.  Sometimes it is better to have a healthy untouched scalp then to be scarred and chasing repairs.  I am actually suffering due to what happened and now trying to get an ethical repair done.  Try to maintain what you got with meds and see how long you can go.  I saw your in australia but based on Similar hair type, i could  show you in person what can happen and go wrong if things are dine wrong.

Have you been able to contact H&W office?  I thought they were closed?  I tried to call but no one picked up.  

 

best of luck

[paddyirishman]

@NorwoodWhore  establish what your family history is for hair loss, your parents and grandparents. This will give you an idea if they were high norwoods you could and most probably eventually end up a norwood 6 at least.

A good plan would be to research and make a plan to try and  hold onto your existing hair , when its gone its gone forever. 

You have still plenty of hair especially when your hair is grown out, so don't rush and make a decision to have a HT yet, hold off for as long as you really can. By holding off you will actually be planning for the future and you will know to a good degree what pattern your hairloss is heading and you can make a more calculated decision on coverage and potential doner availability over the long term.  If you pull the trigger now it will be a long chase when you see your native hair continuing to fall and fall.

Paddy

[NorwoodWhore]

Thanks for sharing @Sean, I’m sorry you’ve had to go through that. I I am going to leave this until 27 at the very least. If my hair at this point hasn’t thinned any more using treatment, then I’ll reconsider a transplant. I emailed H & W and they got back to me within 2 days, haven’t tried calling sorry. 
 

@paddyirishman thank you for your advice, I am going to increase the amount of fin I use topically to start and see if that improves my crown/lower crown area as this seems to be the thinnest. I use 0.5mg every second day but will change that to every day. My mother’s father was a nw2 most of his life until his 50s/60s where he was a nw3 until he died, my uncle was also the same (currently nw3 in his 60s). My dad was probably a bald norwood 5/6 at 24/25 so I’m already doing a lot better than he was at my age. He went on to become a NW7 with basically no donor either.