Hair transplant - is there any point?

[HairGuy11]

Hi,

I'll make this as short and sweet as I can, any advice would be appreciated. 

I'm 28. I've been told I have diffuse thinning from the hairline to the crown. From across the right to left lateral humps. The thinning seems to stretch far down my crown at the back to my Optical bone. No known medical condition that could be causing it. Mother's side all have hair loss from 40s, some reaching NW7 eventually. I think my doner is fairly average, I've been told this by a Dermatologist. Using Minixodil 5% at the moment for the past 6 months, it began with a really bad shed but then I got great results, the last few weeks I have shed all those gains back to baseline or possibly more. I tried Fin but got side effects and trying again is not an option, the sides were bad. Shaving my head wouldn't be the end of the world for me but I'd like to explore all avenues before giving in. 

If I'm ever going to get a transplant I want to do it soon and it would have to be done in a way that I could lose the rest of my hair and it would still look natural, I'm only willing to ever have 1 transplant. I think I'd be only willing to have FUE so I could avoid possibility of scars. With the hair I have now I'm almost thinking about shaving it so the transplant would have to improve things to the point that if the hair I have now fell out, I would have more coverage than I do now, otherwise I could get a transplant and what I have could fall out in the next year and I'd probably end up shaving it. I've been told by what seems to be an ethical clinic with good reviews that they could "correct the crown and frontal region,  this would be a two day treatment due to the scale of the area". I've been reading through a lot of posts here though and I don't think I'm a great candidate. 

I was wondering what you guys think.

Cheers,

HairGuy11

 

 

 

 

Edited December 17, 2021 by HairGuy11

[Gatsby]

It's quite possible but why only one transplant?

[Britanium]

Which clinic said that ? Always good to consult with at least a few. Have you seen the forums recommended list:

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

 

[HairGuy11]

2 hours ago, Gatsby said:

It's quite possible but why only one transplant?

Hi, do you mean quite possible to get a good result from 1 transplant in my condition?

I find the whole thing a bit of a drain in terms of having hair, losing hair, shedding, regaining, shedding, transplanting... I'd like to have a good head of hair but I don't think I'd be willing to go through multiple procedures. If I could get 1 transplant, keep the hair I have for a while along with the transplanted hair, then still having natural looking transplanted hair if the rest fell out I'd probably be older at that point and either embrace or shave   

[HairGuy11]

2 hours ago, JC71 said:

Which clinic said that ? Always good to consult with at least a few. Have you seen the forums recommended list:

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

 

Hi, thanks for the link, my county is not on that list unfortunately but the clinic here I was in contact with has good reviews, they do a DHI technique as well which I think might help me keep the hair I have and avoid shock loss, they didn't even mention the possibility of shock loss though but I think DHI might make it less likely.

[HappyMan2021]

7 hours ago, HairGuy11 said:

If I'm ever going to get a transplant I want to do it soon and it would have to be done in a way that I could lose the rest of my hair and it would still look natural, I'm only willing to ever have 1 transplant

IMO its extremely rare to only require 1 hair transplant and have it be a  good result for the rest of your life. Even guys who go to the top elite doctors more often than not get an additional surgery (or 2 or 3) down the road. 

I do think perhaps a doctor could position you for only having 1 hair transplant in life if you truly desire, but in that case it would be a NW 3 hairline, and little to no grafts in the crown. 

Being 28, I don't think you will like going through the major stress, risk, and cost of a HT just to end up with a NW 3 hairline. A guy in their 50s+ might be over the moon going from a NW 7 to a NW 3, but being pretty young I don't think you will find the same satisfaction. 

[HairGuy11]

15 hours ago, SadMan2021 said:

IMO its extremely rare to only require 1 hair transplant and have it be a  good result for the rest of your life. Even guys who go to the top elite doctors more often than not get an additional surgery (or 2 or 3) down the road. 

I do think perhaps a doctor could position you for only having 1 hair transplant in life if you truly desire, but in that case it would be a NW 3 hairline, and little to no grafts in the crown. 

Being 28, I don't think you will like going through the major stress, risk, and cost of a HT just to end up with a NW 3 hairline. A guy in their 50s+ might be over the moon going from a NW 7 to a NW 3, but being pretty young I don't think you will find the same satisfaction. 

I think based on what you explained here the 1 time hair transplant might be a good option for me but it would be risky. What I mean is that I still have some hair in all areas so if I was to get 1 transplant similar to what you mentioned I'm thinking it could top up the hairline and crown a bit, while adding most of the coverage around the middle. The risk is like you said, I wouldn't be happy with NW3 hairline so if I lost all my original hair I would shave it. In saying that though if I were to get the transplant it seems like it I could be very happy with it as long as I keep my original hair. I'm wondering if this is a silly way of thinking though or if that might be common for guys going in for a transplant 

Edited December 13, 2021 by HairGuy11

[LaserCaps]

On 12/12/2021 at 6:34 AM, HairGuy11 said:

This one is a great example, let's take it step by step, (and make corrections along the way).

Diffused, Donor, Occipital notch.

Yes, you are thinning diffusely through the pattern but you are dipping in the donor and only have a fringe worth of hair.

If you've shown the propensity to lose, you will continue losing.  If you experienced side effects with Fin, why not try the other modalities? I don't think you are going to gain a lot by doing Rogaine alone.  PRP, Laser, and perhaps topical Fin may not be a bad idea.

No one with an advanced pattern has enough donor to allow for a full set of hair throughout the entire pattern.  It would be a good idea for you to go to the mall and start looking at the way people lose their hair.  A class 6, for example, tends to keep a bit on the forelock, little density in the mid scalp, and nothing in the crown.  If you are planning on only one procedure, this is what would look the most natural, (you are mimicking mother nature).  Oh, make sure to keep a very conservative hairline.

When it comes to FUE/FUT, the first thing I like to point out is your styling options.  If you are military and use a 0/1 guard, FUE is in order.  Those guys can't afford to have a linear scar as everybody would be asking, "what happened?" consistently.  It does get tiring after a while.  With FUE, the punch needs to be .9mm so the remaining scars are not visible to the eye. (Since the instrument is so small, so will the graft.  You may get 1 and 2 hair grafts only which provide less coverage).  If you wear your hair longer, however, FUT may be a better choice.

It is important to keep in mind, each time you do an FUE, you are diluting the donor area.  With FUT, you are having less of an effect.  It takes a single segment, (which can be re-excised in the future).  Under a microscope this segment is then divided into the individual follicular units.  Grafts can have multiple hairs which allows for greater coverage. This technique would allow for multiple procedures until you run out of elasticity.  You can then move on to FUE - and actually put grafts on the scar.

(I do have a concern.  You are dipping.  If you do choose FUE and the doctor harvests from the area you are destined to lose, you will potentially lose the grafts that were harvested from there.  Just something to consider).

You mentioned front and crown.....When you consider the limitation we all share in the donor area, it is important to understand why most doctors always want to work from front to back.  When you look at yourself, what do you see? How about when others interact with you, what do they see? The front.  Having hair there will not only frame your face, it will serve you well now and down the road.  Now the crown.

The crown area is a sphere.  It takes tons of grafts.  If you end up putting all your donor there, you will have nothing left for the front.  With the limitation you are experiencing, I would dissuade you from making that mistake.  Once happy with the front, and confirm that the meds are working, you can then start putting some grafts back there.  I guess a "dusting" is better than nothing.

 

On 12/12/2021 at 6:34 AM, HairGuy11 said:

I'll make this as short and sweet as I can, any advice would be appreciated. 

I'm 28. I've been told I have diffuse thinning from the hairline to the crown. From across the right to left lateral humps. The thinning seems to stretch far down my crown at the back to my Optical bone. No known medical condition that could be causing it. Mother's side all have hair loss from 40s, some reaching NW7 eventually. I think my doner is fairly average, I've been told this by a Dermatologist. Using Minixodil 5% at the moment for the past 6 months, it began with a really bad shed but then I got great results, the last few weeks I have shed all those gains back to baseline or possibly more. I tried Fin but got side effects and trying again is not an option, the sides were bad. Shaving my head wouldn't be the end of the world for me but I'd like to explore all avenues before giving in. 

If I'm ever going to get a transplant I want to do it soon and it would have to be done in a way that I could lose the rest of my hair and it would still look natural, I'm only willing to ever have 1 transplant. I think I'd be only willing to have FUE so I could avoid possibility of scars. With the hair I have now I'm almost thinking about shaving it so the transplant would have to improve things to the point that if the hair I have now fell out, I would have more coverage than I do now, otherwise I could get a transplant and what I have could fall out in the next year and I'd probably end up shaving it. I've been told by what seems to be an ethical clinic with good reviews that they could "correct the crown and frontal region,  this would be a two day treatment due to the scale of the area". I've been reading through a lot of posts here though and I don't think I'm a great candidate. 

I was wondering what you guys think.

Cheers,

HairGuy11

 

[HairGuy11]

51 minutes ago, LaserCaps said:

Diffused, Donor, Occipital notch.

Yes, you are thinning diffusely through the pattern but you are dipping in the donor and only have a fringe worth of hair.

If you've shown the propensity to lose, you will continue losing.  If you experienced side effects with Fin, why not try the other modalities? I don't think you are going to gain a lot by doing Rogaine alone.  PRP, Laser, and perhaps topical Fin may not be a bad idea.

No one with an advanced pattern has enough donor to allow for a full set of hair throughout the entire pattern.  It would be a good idea for you to go to the mall and start looking at the way people lose their hair.  A class 6, for example, tends to keep a bit on the forelock, little density in the mid scalp, and nothing in the crown.  If you are planning on only one procedure, this is what would look the most natural, (you are mimicking mother nature).  Oh, make sure to keep a very conservative hairline.

When it comes to FUE/FUT, the first thing I like to point out is your styling options.  If you are military and use a 0/1 guard, FUE is in order.  Those guys can't afford to have a linear scar as everybody would be asking, "what happened?" consistently.  It does get tiring after a while.  With FUE, the punch needs to be .9mm so the remaining scars are not visible to the eye. (Since the instrument is so small, so will the graft.  You may get 1 and 2 hair grafts only which provide less coverage).  If you wear your hair longer, however, FUT may be a better choice.

It is important to keep in mind, each time you do an FUE, you are diluting the donor area.  With FUT, you are having less of an effect.  It takes a single segment, (which can be re-excised in the future).  Under a microscope this segment is then divided into the individual follicular units.  Grafts can have multiple hairs which allows for greater coverage. This technique would allow for multiple procedures until you run out of elasticity.  You can then move on to FUE - and actually put grafts on the scar.

(I do have a concern.  You are dipping.  If you do choose FUE and the doctor harvests from the area you are destined to lose, you will potentially lose the grafts that were harvested from there.  Just something to consider).

You mentioned front and crown.....When you consider the limitation we all share in the donor area, it is important to understand why most doctors always want to work from front to back.  When you look at yourself, what do you see? How about when others interact with you, what do they see? The front.  Having hair there will not only frame your face, it will serve you well now and down the road.  Now the crown.

The crown area is a sphere.  It takes tons of grafts.  If you end up putting all your donor there, you will have nothing left for the front.  With the limitation you are experiencing, I would dissuade you from making that mistake.  Once happy with the front, and confirm that the meds are working, you can then start putting some grafts back there.  I guess a "dusting" is better than nothing.

 

 

Cheers for the info. Based on everything you said only FUE would be an option and I'm once again thinking that I could go for a transplant which would fix up a small area like the front but would still leave me in a position that when I lose the rest of my hair I would end up shaving it all because there would still be a bald/untransplanted areas left over. It seems like I could get a transplant like you mentioned and 1 of 2 things would happen.

1) I keep the rest of my hair for 5 or 10 years and with the transplanted hair along with my original hair that's left it will probably look pretty good for them years and I'd think the transplant was worth it. At the point my original hair falls out I could try a bit of "dusting" as you mentioned or I could shave it all.

2) I lose the rest of my untransplanted hair soon after the transplant and end up shaving my head so the transplant becomes a waste.

I wouldn't use Fin even the topical version but I've been reading about the likes of Pyrilutamide and Breezula which I'd be up for trying if approved. They might help me if I don't go for a transplant or with option 1) above.

Edited December 13, 2021 by HairGuy11

[Melvin- Admin]

On 12/12/2021 at 7:24 AM, HairGuy11 said:

Hi, thanks for the link, my county is not on that list unfortunately but the clinic here I was in contact with has good reviews, they do a DHI technique as well which I think might help me keep the hair I have and avoid shock loss, they didn't even mention the possibility of shock loss though but I think DHI might make it less likely.

Watch this about DHI

 

[HairGuy11]

On 12/13/2021 at 5:54 PM, Melvin- Moderator said:

Watch this about DHI

 

Cheers Melvin

[HairGuy11]

Hi,

I was wondering if you guys could advise please. I had a consultation and took what you guys said into account. I made a plan with the clinic that I haven't 100% confirmed yet, it is:

Day 1: 2500 DHI transplant from doner to the front and middle. The clinic reckon this will about double what I have in this area already and they said it will look good.

Day 2: 1000 graft body hair transplant for the crown to add a small amount of coverage there.

The price is fine with me so I'm not too worried about that either way, I liked the clinic and the guy was very honest. He's confident there'll be no shock loss to what's there. It will be making the most of my doner and he says it will look natural even if all else falls out.

Was wondering what you guys think? Any advice would be appreciated.