Considering 3,500 FUT WITHOUT Finasteride!

[hairyharry]

I've met with several HT surgeons and have narrowed my choice down to an awesome world-class surgeon. He is recommending a 3500 FUT procedure.

A few years ago I started taking finasteride and had some bad side effects and stopped taking it and unfortunately don't intend to take it again.
My only hesitation about moving forward with a HT is that if I don't take finasteride am I just throwing my money away. 
Worse yet, as I continue loosing what's left of my native hair, will my hair look strange with just the transplanted hair once my native hair is gone?
If so, would a second procedure down the road resolve any concerns? I'm 55 years old.

I've included a photo for reference. Thanks in advance for your advice!

 

[SD1984]

The "good" news is you don't have much native hair left to lose anyway. I think as long as you are conservative with your approach and have realistic expectations, you can absolutely go forward with 3500 grafts. I would go with a very conservative hairline. Just understand that over time (likely a long time) even the trasplanted hair will thin slightly if not worse. (See Joe Biden)

Edited August 27, 2021 by SD1984

[Melvin- Admin]

Given your age and hair loss, I would say it is safe to proceed without finasteride. Check out @zaxter a guy who went to Hasson and Wong with a similar hair loss pattern. I don't think he took medication and he came out looking amazing.

[aaron1234]

Keep an eye on those lateral humps. 

[Gatsby]

I'm 54. To me the biggest advantage of taking finasteride is that it can (and does) strengthen your donor area. I took it for a while and I could feel that my donor hair felt thicker and that the bottom of my crown may have been growing in. This is certainly the case for zoomster in his own words. So yes it has benefits but when you are reaching NW 6 you have far less to lose by not being on it compared to if you are a Norwood 3. That is there is less hair to preserve from DHT.

[Kharmacoma]

Please post a picture of donor/ back side of  head. 

[Britanium]

I would be looking at “mega/giga” sessions via FUT. Hasson & Wong or Hattingen could both be considered. But yes be good to see a pic of your donor area. 

[hairyharry]

Thanks for the helpful feedback! Here is a pick of my donor area. 

[Britanium]

Looks good 👍🏽 your going to be able to get a really decent amount of grafts via FUT. 

Edited August 27, 2021 by JohnAC71

[Berba11]

I assume the 3,500 FUT procedure is for the frontal third? If so, if you have a decent beard that can be tapped into later, you'd probably be in good shape for an FUE+BHT for the mid-scalp down the road. As long as the 3,500 are used fairly conservatively at the front (ie, hairline isn't too low) and you have realistic expectations, I imagine you could get very satisfactory coverage over 2 HT's without really having to worry about Finasteride - you don't have much more native hair to lose. 

[Heathcliff]

I really do think you don't have to worry about not taking finasteride. As a matter of fact, given your age and hair loss pattern, you would be pretty satisfied.

Of course, it's such fundamental choosing a good Clinic.

 

[InTheSix]

On 8/26/2021 at 10:45 PM, Gatsby said:

I'm 54. To me the biggest advantage of taking finasteride is that it can (and does) strengthen your donor area. I took it for a while and I could feel that my donor hair felt thicker and that the bottom of my crown may have been growing in. This is certainly the case for zoomster in his own words. So yes it has benefits but when you are reaching NW 6 you have far less to lose by not being on it compared to if you are a Norwood 3. That is there is less hair to preserve from DHT.

Did you notice any initial shedding when you started taking finas (if so, when did it start/stop)... topical or oral ? .. Are you planning on re-starting after future HT (I recall you mentioned you were planning on a future HT)

I should be getting my topical finas soon (takes 3 months for prescription to fill), so trying to gauge what to expect when I start using it.

[InTheSix]

On 8/27/2021 at 8:27 AM, hairyharry said:

Thanks for the helpful feedback! Here is a pick of my donor area. 

your donor looks good. Pretty confident you will have a great cosmetic improvement via an HT should you choose to go with a good doctor.. lots of people here have had an HT and dont take Finas, and seem to be doing well..

best of luck..

 

[Britanium]

1 hour ago, InTheSix said:

your donor looks good. Pretty confident you will have a great cosmetic improvement via an HT should you choose to go with a good doctor.. lots of people here have had an HT and dont take Finas, and seem to be doing well..

best of luck..

 

Yup I have had x5 hts and don’t take Fin. Depends on the individual but I believe the OP should be fine considering his current situation. 

[mxm56]

Man FUT with no finasteride is not advisable in my opinion, or at least i would never dare doing that. I need to have the option for shaving my hair very short in the worst case scenarios.

[Gatsby]

3 hours ago, mxm56 said:

Man FUT with no finasteride is not advisable in my opinion, or at least i would never dare doing that. I need to have the option for shaving my hair very short in the worst case scenarios.

If you are considering or even toying with the idea of your shaving your head sometime in the distant future and having a hair transplant (and FUT in particular) then I would seriously hold off on surgery for a while. Once you are cut, either FUE or FUT, then there is no going back by shaving your head. You should hold off until you get to the point of shaving your head. You might even not only accept it but like the look. All the best!

[mxm56]

Man i have seen tons of photos of people shaving their head with FUE and even some in person, and it works, you can even have a SMP to make it even better. But what i saw was not SMP and there were no problems, the donor looked normal. Differently from that, i have also seen (in photos) the big scar from FUT megasession and they are far more visible and antiaesthetic than FUE with very short hair. Thats the whole point of having a FUE rather than FUT.