HT recommendations Southeast USA/India? Norwood 6

[harryhouston]

Hello all,

I am a 34 years old male with gradual hair loss since age 28 yrs. 

Have been pining to some day get some of my hair back with HT, and recently started to look seriously into it. 

Anyone have any recommendations for good surgeon in Southeast USA? I'll be meeting Dr. Anderson next week, but hoping to see more surgeons, and will be traveling to India in a few months so thats a possibility too (although due to visa issues, cannot travel anywhere else such as Turkey, and the cost is not a barrier anymore). I've tried minoxidil off and on but did not see good results so gave up on that.

Also, I believe I am a norwood 6, but I'd be happy even if I get could back to norwood 3. 

Attaching some pics here, and thanks again for any advice in advance!

 

Edited June 8, 2021 by harryhouston
adding more photos

[Britanium]

Hi

Welcome to the forum ! With a high Norwood already at a relatively young age I have to ask if you have considered meds ? Fin/minox in particular ?

Please consider the following which the forum recommends:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/hair-transplant-surgeons.asp?sr=HRN-MOB

Eugenix are a standout choice for such cases ! How is your beard ? You may need to supplement your scalp hairs to give adequate coverage. 

 

[harryhouston]

8 minutes ago, JohnAC71 said:

Hi

Welcome to the forum ! With a high Norwood already at a relatively young age I have to ask if you have considered meds ? Fin/minox in particular ?

Please consider the following which the forum recommends:

https://www.hairtransplantnetwork.com/Consult-a-Physician/hair-transplant-surgeons.asp?sr=HRN-MOB

Eugenix are a standout choice for such cases ! How is your beard ? You may need to supplement your scalp hairs to give adequate coverage. 

 

Thanks! I couldn't find any recommended surgeons in the southeast, but I'll see if I can find someone in the south in general who can do a virtual appt.

I have tried minox off and on, but did not see much benefit so gave up on that.

And I believe my beard/chest hair are good (uploaded more pics to show that), so hopefully that can supplement my probably decent donor area on head. 

[Britanium]

What I would also suggest is plenty of research on the forum for any Dr/Clinic your considering. I don’t think Dr Anderson would be on anybody’s list.

Eugenix @Abhinay SinghDr Bisanga @sl HDC @Doron Haratiand Vertex @DrTBarghouthialways come to mind when considering the higher Norwood levels. 

[Britanium]

You would give yourself a much better chance of getting the right Clinic/Dr if you can travel. 🙏

[deeznuts]

Man, your donor is see-through. I would go in with muted expectations. You may not be a good candidate as usually people who are overharvested have that kind of appearance in their donor.

[Britanium]

Seeing your updated pics I have some major doubts your donor area will be able to give enough grafts to be honest.

Ok so your beard looks pretty good. But we also need a decent amount of scalp grafts. With what appears to be a dipping crown and a not so great donor it’s going to be very tough indeed to get any kind of adequate coverage. 
 

As Deeznuts mentioned you really don’t want to thin out that donor area, it will be over harvested easily. And you will then have FUE or A FUT scar which would be quite noticeable. 

Edited June 9, 2021 by JohnAC71

[harryhouston]

Gotcha, thanks guys. By the way I normally keep my hair trimmed down very low, could that possibly make my donor area look thinner than it really is? 

Also to be honest I'd be happy with even a norwood 3 result where I just get some form of coverage up top. I can still keep my hair trimmed short if it's not thick coverage, but at least it won't show shiny bald terrace up top like it does now... But I see your point of overharvesting my sides... 

[Britanium]

Just now, harryhouston said:

Gotcha, thanks guys. By the way I normally keep my hair trimmed down very low, could that possibly make my donor area look thinner than it really is? 

Also to be honest I'd be happy with even a norwood 3 result where I just get some form of coverage up top. I can still keep my hair trimmed short if it's not thick coverage, but at least it won't show shiny bald terrace up top like it does now... But I see your point of overharvesting my sides... 

consult with someone like Bisanga/Eugenix and they will reinforce the advice we have given. A ethical Clinic will have your best interest in mind. A lot of unreputable places will be happy taking your money. 

[Melvin- Admin]

Can you post a picture of hair you'd be happy with? A Norwood 3 is basically full coverage. I don't see you ever having full coverage. If your expectations aren't realistic you could end up unhappy. 

[Domino]

I’m sorry this doesn’t answer your question. But please consider minoxidil again with finasteride and micro needling. You’re not slick bald and have a lot of miniaturized hair on top. I have similar loss and regained a lot of hair where I’m pushing off surgery to see where my hair ends up.

[harryhouston]

13 minutes ago, Melvin-Moderator said:

Can you post a picture of hair you'd be happy with? A Norwood 3 is basically full coverage. I don't see you ever having full coverage. If your expectations aren't realistic you could end up unhappy. 

Here's a picture I found online of norwood 3 I was hoping for, and actually even slightly thinner coverage than this would be okay as long as a buzz cut (like how I am keeping my hair now) won't show up as shiny bald top. But thanks for any advice, does help me tame my expectations to stay realistic

[harryhouston]

16 minutes ago, Domino said:

I’m sorry this doesn’t answer your question. But please consider minoxidil again with finasteride and micro needling. You’re not slick bald and have a lot of miniaturized hair on top. I have similar loss and regained a lot of hair where I’m pushing off surgery to see where my hair ends up.

Thanks for the advice, I did get a year's worth of dermarollers last year (thats microneedling right?) but few months of use showed not much benefit so gave up on that. But maybe I'll just finish up my current remaining stock while starting minox/fin as well and see if I can grow back some hair that would help make HT more amenable 

[Domino]

2 minutes ago, harryhouston said:

Thanks for the advice, I did get a year's worth of dermarollers last year (thats microneedling right?) but few months of use showed not much benefit so gave up on that. But maybe I'll just finish up my current remaining stock while starting minox/fin as well and see if I can grow back some hair that would help make HT more amenable 

Yeah it’s the same thing. I just see your miniaturized hair and don’t think you’re too far gone to make a possible come back with the drugs. Best of luck

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, harryhouston said:

Here's a picture I found online of norwood 3 I was hoping for, and actually even slightly thinner coverage than this would be okay as long as a buzz cut (like how I am keeping my hair now) won't show up as shiny bald top. But thanks for any advice, does help me tame my expectations to stay realistic

If that guy grew his hair, he would look like he had a full head of hair, that level of density is extremely hard especially with short hair. I doubt you could ever get that close with surgery. Take a look at @BlackPanther result, he went to Eugenix, one of the best in the world. So did @Zoomster he was also very similar. I think these are great examples of what can be achieved, but keep in mind no two people are the same, and these are just examples. There's no guarantee you would get the same results.

[Gatsby]

In all honesty, unless you are able to stay on finasteride successfully long term, I wouldn't consider having surgery. You need to stabilize the hair you have now. Otherwise the transplanted hair will miniaturize over time. You run the very real risk that you will be transfering one bald area for another. It is possible to get results augmenting your hair with beard grafts but I wouldn't recommend chest hair due to the low growth rate. Remember you want to achieve a 'natural' result so that it looks like you never had surgery in the first place. I would only look at consulting with the recommended surgeons here who specialize in high Norwood 6/7 cases such as Eugenix. You really have to look at traveling for this too and keep very conservative expectations. If you are rejected as a candidate then see that as a golden ticket to avoid ruining your scalp with scars..

[DrTBarghouthi]

Hello @harryhouston

I agree with others in saying your donor is quite low in density. The numbers that can be safely removed from it will not be enough to give decent coverage on top. I tend to put patients in a similar situation on finasteride for 6-12 months. I then reassess the donor and the improvement in hair which can in some cases change the initial plan. Nonetheless you have to be realistic in your approach.