Am I a suitable hair transplant candidate?

[Winm]

Hi all, 

Have browsed these forums for a while, first time posting here. 

30 years old, I've been on finasteride & minoxidil for approx 2 years, I have some thinning and recession that seems to have slowed/stabilised. 

I'm wondering if I'd be a good candidate for a hair transplant to restore the recession at the temples? I'm hoping to address the thinning/fine hair on top also. 

Thank you for your help, 

[HappyMan2021]

1)Do you suffer from dandruff or what is that white stuff in your hair?

2) Are you good taking Finasteride the rest of your life?

3) Are any of your relatives bald, how badly, etc.?

My quick take is I see a lot of miniaturizing hairs. Without Finasteride I see a ton more hair dying and taking you to a NW5+ (I'd say you are borderline between a NW3/NW4 at the moment)

If your donor is suitable for a HT, I say you are qualified, but it is likely you will suffer further loss (even on Fin) that you will definitely require further HT's. 

I'm just seeing a lot of minitiarization and thinning. 

Edited December 19, 2021 by SadMan2021

[Winm]

 

Appreciate the response @SadMan2021

1)Do you suffer from dandruff or what is that white stuff in your hair? Yes, I do suffer dandruff which seems to be exacerbated by minoxidil 

2) Please take pictures of your donor region (the back of your head) I've attached  photos, hopefully this helps

3) Are you good taking Finasteride the rest of your life? I'm happy to continue finasteride, unfortunately shaved head isn't a great look for me. I haven't noticed any side effects with finasteride either luckily. 

4) Are any of your relatives bald, how badly, etc.? Father and grandfather both completely bald on top (dads side) Mums father kept his hair. 

From what you've said, my understanding is I'll need a number of hair transplants (perhaps 2-3 gradually) in addition to continuing the finasteride? 

[HappyMan2021]

I personally can't tell the donor's suitability bc it is buzzed down so can't see its density, texture or other characeristics. Perhaps others can. 

Regarding # of transplants, let me back up and say the vasy majority of guys need more than 1 HT to get their desired look. Some need 5 or 6 (extreme cases)

There is only so much density that can be acheived in one round. So even a minor hairloss sufferer Norwood 2 may be unsatisfied with density after one go. 

[Fabulous]

I think the best way to know if you're a good candidate is to submit your photos for review to different clinics (but let it grow a for few weeks first). Even from this photos I'd say you're a decent candidate, I've seen cases with pretty bad donor hair which ended up very good, but it will depend a lot on the doctor's skills.

Edited December 19, 2021 by Fabulous

[ciaus]

How partial are you to this hair style? I mean the buzzed sides particularly, looks like its been cut to military standards. Because if you do get hair transplants that's where the hair will be coming from and it will leave behind permanent scarring. Whether you do the FUT or FUE type, no way around it and you'll need to grow out the remaining side hairs longer than this to cover it. Though you can get some SMP done about a year after each procedure to help conceal the scarring so you can buzz it shorter again.

If you are in the military and plan on staying in until retirement, or taking some time off to get the transplant while you're in, make sure you're ok with being open about getting it done because you won't be able to conceal it.

[ciaus]

One more thing, since you are already wearing your hair very short, carefully consider just doing the buzzed/shaved look, with or without scalp micropigmentation (SMP) if you haven't already. The hair transplant journey can be a hard one, the meds usually don't perfectly stop hair loss, just slow it down over the years, hopefully a lot.  There's a link to the forum section at the link below.

https://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/forum/83-scalp-micropigmentation-smp/

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[Winm]

Thanks for your replies everyone, will take all into consideration, much appreciated.