My crown loss - please let me know your thoughts on a HT (pics included)

[TommyLucchese]

I have been on minoxidil since I was 16 and fin since I was 20. I am nearly 32 and would like to fix my crown in the next few years.

Concealer and styling has worked well but I'd really like to not have to worry about covering it up anymore.

Dr Feller rebuilt my frontal third in 2012 and my loss hasn't progressed much, if any, in the last 11 years. I tried to get a pic of donor and scar.

Will post hairline in another thread soon. 

Please let me know how many grafts you think I'd need and whether you think I'm a candidate. As you may notice, I have fine blonde hair and light skin. Thanks!

Edited January 16, 2021 by TommyLucchese

[Curious25]

Nothing to be done. You are very fortunate with your hair colour - skin colour ratio, there is very little contrast. 
 

How much fin are you taking?

[TommyLucchese]

40 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

Nothing to be done. You are very fortunate with your hair colour - skin colour ratio, there is very little contrast. 
 

How much fin are you taking?

Thanks for your reply and for the kind words.

Eugenix said that too... I had trouble taking these pics and maybe they don't do it justice, but it's very noticeable in the back without concealer and hairspray. Some of the long strands in the middle are covering some areas of loss in these pics. 

I take topical fin/minox around 3 or 4 times a week... it isn't going to get any better, I've had some regrowth from topical and dermarolling.

I really am hoping for around 1,200 grafts to fix it so I don't have to style and worry about wind / rain exposing the crown loss.

[aaron1234]

Pics are little glarey/blurry, but from what I can tell you shouldn't get the crown transplanted just yet.  Wait it out a few years.  If you get FUE, you won't need 1,200 grafts to fill it up.  700 might do the trick.

[Britanium]

Hmmm... it seems to look ok under normal lighting. I can also understand why you would want to give it some attention in a few of the pics. 
Even a moderate amount of grafts should really be beneficial here. I would say no more than a 1000. 
Apart from Eugenix who else is on your possible Clinics list ? 

[TommyLucchese]

2 hours ago, aaron1234 said:

Pics are little glarey/blurry, but from what I can tell you shouldn't get the crown transplanted just yet.  Wait it out a few years.  If you get FUE, you won't need 1,200 grafts to fill it up.  700 might do the trick.

Yeah I found it tough to get good pics that showed the extent of the situation. I think it's worse than the pics show though especially when all my hair is brushed down normally. Does FUE require fewer grafts?

49 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Hmmm... it seems to look ok under normal lighting. I can also understand why you would want to give it some attention in a few of the pics. 
Even a moderate amount of grafts should really be beneficial here. I would say no more than a 1000. 
Apart from Eugenix who else is on your possible Clinics list ? 

I think the lighting in some of those pics is being very kind..... the ones where it looks worse is more of an accurate representation. Some of the longer hair is covering the loss out on the outer edges too. When my hair is brushed down, it's very noticeable at the back that there's no hair falling from the crown....without concealer and hairspray I'd be living under a hat.

Thanks for your opinion - 1,000 seems like a good number considering my age too. I sent these pics to Hattingen, H&W, Feller/Bloxham and Eugenix. Only had a response from Eugenix so far unfortunately.

Is there anyone else you'd suggest based on my preference for FUT and having crown loss?

[aaron1234]

2 hours ago, TommyLucchese said:

Does FUE require fewer grafts?

Yes, in that the surgeon can locate multi-hair grafts and grafts from healthier regions of the donor which go a longer way in building density.  That said,  @makehairgreatagain had Dr. Konior do FUT for his crown and it's as dense has one could hope for.

[Al - Moderator]

12 hours ago, TommyLucchese said:

I sent these pics to Hattingen, H&W, Feller/Bloxham and Eugenix. Only had a response from Eugenix so far unfortunately.

Is there anyone else you'd suggest based on my preference for FUT and having crown loss?

 

Where do you live? Since you were happy with your first procedure with Dr Feller, I think you should call Feller and Bloxham for a 10 year follow up and to see what they think of doing more work at this stage. They would probably really like to take some good pictures of a long term case of theirs. They should at least have your previous info and be able to know exactly what was done and can compare what you looked like then vs now.

 

Edited January 17, 2021 by BeHappy

[follically challenged]

On 1/16/2021 at 3:15 PM, TommyLucchese said:

Will post hairline in another thread soon. 

Any chance we could see pics of the FUT scar also? Thanks!

[TommyLucchese]

On 1/17/2021 at 1:26 AM, aaron1234 said:

Yes, in that the surgeon can locate multi-hair grafts and grafts from healthier regions of the donor which go a longer way in building density.  That said,  @makehairgreatagain had Dr. Konior do FUT for his crown and it's as dense has one could hope for.

I was interested in Eugenix FUE but some have said that since I have done FUT that I should stick with it until I'm maxed out. Yeah his result is amazing I'd love to go to Konior for sure....probably a bit out of my price range though.

21 hours ago, BeHappy said:

 

Where do you live? Since you were happy with your first procedure with Dr Feller, I think you should call Feller and Bloxham for a 10 year follow up and to see what they think of doing more work at this stage. They would probably really like to take some good pictures of a long term case of theirs. They should at least have your previous info and be able to know exactly what was done and can compare what you looked like then vs now.

 

UK. I'd love to go back there, it was such a great experience and yeah I agree it would be good to give them that long-term case study. I've emailed them for their thoughts. I'd probably lean more to Hattingen for the 1 hour flight vs 7 hours but wouild be very happy to go to Feller and Bloxham too. We'll see what the online consultations come back with. 

13 hours ago, follically challenged said:

Any chance we could see pics of the FUT scar also? Thanks!

Very last pic was my attempt at a donor / scar pic. It's hard enough to get pics from the back let alone when you have hair as long as mine... apologies if it's hard to see. 

[TommyLucchese]

@UnbaldEagle here's the thread

[aaron1234]

4 hours ago, TommyLucchese said:

I was interested in Eugenix FUE but some have said that since I have done FUT that I should stick with it until I'm maxed out. Yeah his result is amazing I'd love to go to Konior for sure....probably a bit out of my price range though.

There's that... I strongly recommend maxing out on strip before FUE.  A smaller FUT session with Dr. K would be more affordable too.

[TommyLucchese]

Just an update on this...

I had a Skype consultation with Dr Muresanu of Hattingen this morning... I was very impressed with his thoughts and his long-term planning.

After seeing my crown on video he agreed it is worse than the pics appear but that there is a big need for caution due to my age, how bad my hair loss was 10 years ago at age 20, high NWs on my mother's side etc. 

Dr Murseanu suggested 1,500 grafts FUE in the crown. I was really happy with that number because I had estimated 1,200 and all the replies here suggested 1,000. So I'm very happy with 1,500 as it should give a better result without using too many grafts.

I was surprised at FUE but what he said made sense... he doesn't want to waste my elasticity on a smaller procedure, especially since I've had FUT before. Dr Mursesanu thinks I should save that elasticity for if my hair loss progresses and I need a 3,500 graft procedure further down the road.

As well as 1,500 for my crown there will be a few hundred grafts to refine my hairline a bit - so I'm budgeting for 2,000 FUE grafts.

I think its a very reasonable assessment that will address my concerns and still leave plenty of scope for future procedures if I need them. 

For comparison, H&W quoted 2,500 - 3,000 FUT and Eugenix quoted 1,400 just for my hairline with no work to be done on the crown at all. Those were just based on the pictures I've posted here but I think it's always interesting to hear different opinions. 

I'm sold on Hattigen 100% for the caution and long-term thinking. At 31 I'm not going to rush into this just yet, next step will be an in-person consultation later this year / early next year and then look to book a procedure with Hattigen in either winter 2022 or winter 2023. 

 

 

[kramer79]

5 hours ago, TommyLucchese said:

Just an update on this...

I had a Skype consultation with Dr Muresanu of Hattingen this morning... I was very impressed with his thoughts and his long-term planning.

After seeing my crown on video he agreed it is worse than the pics appear but that there is a big need for caution due to my age, how bad my hair loss was 10 years ago at age 20, high NWs on my mother's side etc. 

Dr Murseanu suggested 1,500 grafts FUE in the crown. I was really happy with that number because I had estimated 1,200 and all the replies here suggested 1,000. So I'm very happy with 1,500 as it should give a better result without using too many grafts.

I was surprised at FUE but what he said made sense... he doesn't want to waste my elasticity on a smaller procedure, especially since I've had FUT before. Dr Mursesanu thinks I should save that elasticity for if my hair loss progresses and I need a 3,500 graft procedure further down the road.

As well as 1,500 for my crown there will be a few hundred grafts to refine my hairline a bit - so I'm budgeting for 2,000 FUE grafts.

I think its a very reasonable assessment that will address my concerns and still leave plenty of scope for future procedures if I need them. 

For comparison, H&W quoted 2,500 - 3,000 FUT and Eugenix quoted 1,400 just for my hairline with no work to be done on the crown at all. Those were just based on the pictures I've posted here but I think it's always interesting to hear different opinions. 

I'm sold on Hattigen 100% for the caution and long-term thinking. At 31 I'm not going to rush into this just yet, next step will be an in-person consultation later this year / early next year and then look to book a procedure with Hattigen in either winter 2022 or winter 2023. 

 

 

H&W quoted you 2500-3000 FUT for your hairline?