NW5a/NW6 and problems with Fin?

[affensalto]

Hello,

I think I am looking at NW 5a or even NW6 in the future. Most men in my family have Norwood 5. I am currently at norwood 2 with ALL areas thinning at the same time.

So I think I'll make a jump from NW2 to NW5/NW6.

I tried Finasteride oral, the sides were terrible and decided to drop that. I just buzz my head to 0.5mm and does not look that bad.

My Hair transplant goals are "pretty simple" - I would be happy with hair like leonardo bonucci:

https://www.sportschau.de/fussball/uefaeuro2020/finale-italien-england-118~_v-HDready.jpg

I wouldn't like to grow out my hair but a 0.5mm - 2mm buzzcut at NW0 - NW2 looks better than one at NW5.

Pictures with my hair "grown out" (I don't grow out my hair past that, I normally give it the 0.5mm treatment every 3 weeks) - see attachments

I read that:
-> If you transplant hair from a "non-DHT-affected" area to a DHT affected area, the transplanted hair is not affected because the follicles are not DHT-sensitive

My idea was as follows: Get "dense(r)" NW2 (ideally NW1) from a hair transplant, keep the hair short and consider SMP to give the illusion of NW1 (or NW0 if NW1 can be done by HT).

Keep in mind:
-> I'm planning to hop on TRT in a few years. It'll max out any hair loss I'll have in my life anyway. 
-> I got terrible sides with Fin so I'll just say "I'll go bald forever before I supress my DHT". 
-> I'd be cool with Minox
-> I have A LOT of body hair and a very dense beard, you could probably get grafts from there too.
-> I'm planning to keep my hair short after the HT.(see link above)
-> If I shave my hair off to 0.5mm it looks like I have NW2. If I let it grow for ~3 weeks, see pics attached

My questions are:
-> Since my hair loss is already across my scalp and nobody in my family has worse than NW5, do you think I the areas affected areas (see my pictures) are probably the "only" areas that are affected? (The areas that are light already)
-> How achievable would this be? (NW6 -> NW2/NW1 with HT, NW2/NW1 -> NW1/NW0 with SMP)
-> Is topical Fin as bad as oral fin? Oral fin is what fucked me up, would I have the same sides from topical fin?
-> Oral fin fucked me up, typical sides. No chance I'll touch Ru58841
-> What Norwood scale will I bet at with hair loss maxed out?

Anyway, is what I want to get achievable?

Clinics I was looking at are HLC and Pekiner.

[JDEE0]

Hi,

Your goals might be simple in principle, but your example in Leonardo is a guy with a NW1-ish hairline of native density. It's going to impossible to recreate that in essentially all cases, but especially in yours as you are indeed headed straight towards NW6-7 in the future without fin. Also, shorter hair styles with transplanted hair make the lower density more visible which further presents issues to your goals, it is usually best to have some length to provide the illusion of density. This isn't to say you couldn't have a shorter haircut after a transplant and supplement with SMP and look decent, just that your hair isn't going to look like his. 

It's hard to say for anyone if their currently visibly thinned out (in your case here a clear emerging NW5 pattern) will be the only areas ever affected, but I would argue that no, it will in fact very likely progress further as I assume you're fairly young and you plan to hop on TRT. To be honest, your donor seems a bit thin and I'm pretty sure I can see a NW7 pattern emerging below your current clear crown loss; if you look on your second picture there is a clear demarcation line below the crown which outlines this quite evidently. I'm sorry to say that I actually think that you will undoubtedly progress into this area and become a NW7 in time without meds and exogenous testosterone supplementation. You also have retrograde above the ears and some at the nape by the looks of things which further reduces your donor capacity. 

There are little studies on topical finasteride systemic absorption, but from my own research into them, they do indeed reach very similar plasma levels as orally dosed fin. Many people argue that they get less sides etc because it goes less systemic, but I call BS that this is the case (that there is less systemic effect) from the studies I have seen and personally I generally attribute this phenonmenon to the nocebo effect. However, I would still recommend trying it for sure as lots of people say they successfully switched over to topical and had no issues.

Sorry, I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I don't think you're a suitable candidate due to the fact I see your pattern reaching NW7, you're not on meds, you have clear retrograde/thin donor from what I can see in areas, and you plan to use TRT in the future.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Curious25]

2 hours ago, affensalto said:

My questions are:
-> Since my hair loss is already across my scalp and nobody in my family has worse than NW5, do you think I the areas affected areas (see my pictures) are probably the "only" areas that are affected? (The areas that are light already)
-> How achievable would this be? (NW6 -> NW2/NW1 with HT, NW2/NW1 -> NW1/NW0 with SMP)
-> Is topical Fin as bad as oral fin? Oral fin is what fucked me up, would I have the same sides from topical fin?
-> Oral fin fucked me up, typical sides. No chance I'll touch Ru58841
-> What Norwood scale will I bet at with hair loss maxed out?

 

-You look to be a diffuse NW6 with relatively high sides

-If you accept the reduction in density, there is no reason why a surgeon couldn't restore you with a NW 1 hairline, and homogeneously place your grafts around the recipient zones in as an aesthetically pleasing way as possible

-No one will know until you try it out for yourself

-From your pictures - you present a classic NW6 pattern of loss at current. How old are you ?

[affensalto]

I'm 26
 

Quote

Sorry, I know it's probably not what you want to hear, but I don't think you're a suitable candidate due to the fact I see your pattern reaching NW7, you're not on meds, you have clear retrograde/thin donor from what I can see in areas, and you plan to use TRT in the future.

All good man. I always buzz my hair off. Anyway. Realistically, nothing changes for me right now. 

Maybe Leonardo was a wrong example, all I really wanted to pull off is a buzzcut looks like I got NW1 "underneath". 

Right now, as described, I just buzz my hair off. 

Maybe the way for me to go is to just go SMP and not fuck around with a transplant, anti-androgens etc. Tried fin, didn't work for me the way I hoped.

I took a closer look at SMP. It works for me on paper. The only "downside" is that if someone were to go through my hair, it would feel completely shaven. The ones that would do this would know though.

I think everyone needs to decide for himself.

[Portugal25]

@affensaltoyou will surely evolve to at least NW6 if you don’t take Finasteride. 
Minoxidil doesn’t really make that much of impact compared to Finasteride. 
Your donor isn’t great so you will most likely have to compensate with beard grafts further down the line. 
Since you are very young at just 26 years old with a diffuse donor area and progressive hairloss without taking Finasteride to stop it you might find that really good and ethical Doctors might not accept you as patient. 
This is because they will giving you a result that will look totally different in 5-8 years time when you will have  lost your existing native hairs. 
If you can afford HLC then spend just a tad bit more and go to Dr. Bruno Ferreira who’s in a whole other league.   Dr. Bruno Pinto and Dr. Ximena Vila cost the same as HLC and are much better options just check the dozens of real patients posting their results with them on the Spanish forum. 
Hope it all works out and wish all the best.
 

Edited October 9, 2021 by Portugal25