Donor capacity, beard & batches: possibly 4500-5500 grafts needed here

[woojem]

Hi,

I've had a few quick assessments through email consultations, I was suggested from 3000 to 4500 grafts in these offers. See a pic of my head below. I made it on purpose to use the worst angle with direct artificial light - I guess it gives a good idea of what I'm headed (pun intended) towards in the years to come. Full baldness of the areas is to be expected and that's not a fairytale to me.

Assessment tools like seen hereafter suggest that my situation would require closer to 5000 grafts to just obtain 75% density - this considering full baldness being achieved of course. So if not needed now, the 5k grafts seem a reasonable amount in the years to come.

Am I naïve to believe "any" donor area could provide this much grafts? Of course, nothing will replace the specialist's advice, but I'd love some feedback from patients.

I also posted a pic of my beard, unshaven for 3 days. I feel like I am on the opposite of a spectrum where "desperados beard" is on the other end. Beard is not my friend as it make me look like an old teenager. The neck part of my beard is particularly boring to shave - so if it can be "scarified" for the greater good of my roof, so be it. Is the picture below any good at giving the slightest clue whether my beard could be used for FUE?

 

Regarding the timeframe...

Is it a common practice to work 3 days in a row on a patient's head? I've seen reputable doctors not performing more than 1500 FUE grafts per day. I wondered if there's a healing time recommended between batches, or if it's more an estimate based on a surgeon & team's daily capacity?

I see that some doctors have a price "for the first 1000 FUE" then it becomes much cheaper. Since I'm probably going for a local flavor at 5-6eur per graft (for the first batch of 1000), I'm facing quite a budget (I expect 20-25k for a full roof restoration considering the next FUE are 2,5-3,5eur / unit).

 

What about "preemptive strike" vs baldness?

Is it a common practice to perform a "preemptive strike", like to preventively restore the area that's still okay-ish? This for both the comfort of not re-shaving plus getting another surgery 2 years later AND also to benefit as much as possible from the "volume discount".

Thanks very much for the opinions & experiences!

 

 

 

Beard. Any good for BHT?

 

Graft (greffon) estimation given the damage forecast.

Edited February 26, 2021 by woojem

[champybaby]

If you could share a pic of the back of your donor that would be helpful. Perhaps most helpful is to know which doctors you are considering. Firing from the hip ... 4K+ would go to the front half, adding something like 500-600 in the hands of a skilled surgeon to the back would certainly help. You would, of course, require another procedure in the future to achieve full or near full coverage. If you're shooting for something like 5K for full coverage in one shot I'd argue you might be be spreading yourself too thin.

Nearly everyone here would also likely suggest you go FUT first to max out your donor supply; I'm unsure why you would be tapping into beard this early if your donor is solid.

The great surgeons guide you through this planning process. I did about 4,400 FUT in my first procedure, but I also responded very well to fin, minox. Regardless, you should hop on those if you already haven't; the hair you do have makes a significant difference post transplant.

 

[woojem]

Hey thanks for sharing.

FUT is not the best in my case due to my skin healing slowly and a has high tendency to cause scaring.

So far, meeting Dr Bisanga and having him handle the surgery is my goal.

A picture of the back; please note the missing hair strand on the lower right bit. That's just my wife trying to help with the covid haircut at home :)

[Britanium]

Just a thought but Bisanga does some pretty awesome combo cases, FUT/FUE 🤔

[Britanium]

With a high Norwood level you really do need to grab as many grafts as possible. FUT is a a good way of maximising your donor area. Especially when combined with FUE. And yes although your beard isn’t the strongest it may give access to at least 500 grafts. 

[woojem]

5 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Just a thought but Bisanga does some pretty awesome combo cases, FUT/FUE 🤔

I got an email from his assistant this afternoon, a first appointment shouldn't be to far now. He might indeed consider sharing that suggestion too 🙂

[woojem]

3 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

With a high Norwood level you really do need to grab as many grafts as possible. FUT is a a good way of maximising your donor area. Especially when combined with FUE. And yes although your beard isn’t the strongest it may give access to at least 500 grafts. 

That's great since the temple area alone might need about that! Good to know about the FUT maximising yields.

[Britanium]

I know you mentioned your not keen on taking Fin, but it’s something that MAY be suggested by some of the clinics you consult with. These days people are using topical fin, always another option ! Less chance of the usual sides. 
@Dr. Suhail Khokhar is a fantastic source of knowledge!