Want an FUE on my hairline in London . PICS included

[Ad1987]

5 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

It's moreso about making an informed decision imo than scaring you away lol. 

As a person who looks Norwood 1 aka a normal mature hairline broaching maybe signs of a Norwood 2 around the temples, you can afford to try be more aggressive in your hairline goals than say somebody that's a Norwood 4 and beyond. 

I would argue the real stop point is anybody who is maybe Norwood 2.5ish when you think of front loading a hairline and you should be in your 30s and beyond with very slow hair loss progression and/or been stable on medication for a good while. 

I don't personally like the idea of guys having to wait till like their late 40s etc. to go for a hair transplant and be more aggressive with it. You then look like a man fully in "Midlife Crisis" mode lmao. 

I think Mid 20s to Mid 30s are probably the prime years for a guy and your individual situation of hair loss needs to be very stable. Particularly if younger than 30. Ideally in your early 20s being on medication and losing little to bo ground. By the time you hit 25 you could hopefully prove you're a good candidate. 

I’m 35 

[NARMAK]

24 minutes ago, Ad1987 said:

I’m 35 

Personally i think unlike some of the others here, if you want to go for it, are actively on medication like Finasteride etc. and fully aware of the potential risks of ant hair transplant procedure you go for, you could get a good result. 

Just make sure not to limit yourself to just London though imo. There's many great clinics in Europe a flight away and back. You also need to remember whether you have it in the UK or Europe, the post-op care is crucial and you will have to deal with the same situation as anybody else that undergoes a hair transplant regardless of where it's done. 

[John1991]

1 hour ago, NARMAK said:

Personally i think unlike some of the others here, if you want to go for it, are actively on medication like Finasteride etc. and fully aware of the potential risks of ant hair transplant procedure you go for, you could get a good result. 

Just make sure not to limit yourself to just London though imo. There's many great clinics in Europe a flight away and back. You also need to remember whether you have it in the UK or Europe, the post-op care is crucial and you will have to deal with the same situation as anybody else that undergoes a hair transplant regardless of where it's done. 

Fair assessment.  You just have to go to the right place.    This is a perfect example of a place that would be entirely wrong (for anyone, really), but in particular you.  They may give guys with significant loss more hair, but they make hairlines insanely lacking in density and you'd have a wispy nothing in front of your currently solid hairline.

Edited April 13, 2022 by Melvin- Moderator
Removed video

[NARMAK]

51 minutes ago, John1991 said:

Fair assessment.  I got a transplant (results not here yet) as a solid NW 2 and it would be reasonable to say that I didn't need it.  Even more so for this guy.  That said, you just have to go to the right place.    This is a perfect example of a place that would be entirely wrong (for anyone, really), but in particular you.  They may give guys with significant loss more hair, but they make hairlines insanely lacking in density and you'd have a wispy nothing in front of your currently solid hairline.

That video is weird. His frontal density does look a bit lacking too. 

I'm a Norwood 2 myself according to the clinic i reached out to and are planning to go with for my procedure in May. 

I've started Dutasteride and coming up towards my 11th month almost complete. It will be almost a year by the time i go for my hair transplant but i was fortunate to have slow and stable hairloss during my 20s but my primary goals my temple points. If i wasn't getting them restored at all, i wouldn't even bother with a hair transplant. I am planning to lower my hairline a bit and reinforce the frontal hairline as well as restore the temple points, so i'm hoping that will stay for a while. I am planning to continue Microneedling with a derma pen at some point but i'm keeping Minoxodil in my back pocket. 

I do think though it's best to as i said to OP, definitely research and not go into any hair transplant blind. Research, Research and then Research some more. 

[John1991]

13 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

That video is weird. His frontal density does look a bit lacking too. 

I'm a Norwood 2 myself according to the clinic i reached out to and are planning to go with for my procedure in May. 

I've started Dutasteride and coming up towards my 11th month almost complete. It will be almost a year by the time i go for my hair transplant but i was fortunate to have slow and stable hairloss during my 20s but my primary goals my temple points. If i wasn't getting them restored at all, i wouldn't even bother with a hair transplant. I am planning to lower my hairline a bit and reinforce the frontal hairline as well as restore the temple points, so i'm hoping that will stay for a while. I am planning to continue Microneedling with a derma pen at some point but i'm keeping Minoxodil in my back pocket. 

I do think though it's best to as i said to OP, definitely research and not go into any hair transplant blind. Research, Research and then Research some more. 

That's pretty much exactly what I did for my transplant minus the temporal point (and I was a NW 2 also - age 31).  I don't know exactly how my results will end up, but I feel I gave myself just about the best possible chance for success.  That's all anyone can do.  That video is - IMO - one of there better results.  They're awful.  As for OP, he's 35 and a NW 1.5, so he's on the absolute cusp of doing this at all IMO.  If he does do it, it best be with someone who will make it dense because he has great hair.

Edited April 13, 2022 by John1991

[NARMAK]

32 minutes ago, John1991 said:

That's pretty much exactly what I did for my transplant minus the temporal point (and I was a NW 2 also - age 31).  I don't know exactly how my results will end up, but I feel I gave myself just about the best possible chance for success.  That's all anyone can do.  That video is - IMO - one of there better results.  They're awful.  As for OP, he's 35 and a NW 1.5, so he's on the absolute cusp of doing this at all IMO.  If he does do it, it best be with someone who will make it dense because he has great hair.

I have seen results from people like Dr Bisanga, Dr Couto and Dr Bloxham as well as a few other reputable doctors like Dr Konior etc. that are able to work within the areas of existing hair to add density and make the results look really good. 

I think a common misconception is that the "illusion of density" can mean that a hair transplants not going to look or blend as well with the native hair. The way that doctors can do this is by using multi grafts for example. 

A single hair graft planted 50 times for a density of 50cm/2 for example will not give as full of a look as say triple hair grafts carefully planted in even say 30cm/2 where the volume of hair is going to be 90 hairs vs 50 hairs. That's one of the beauty of hair transplants imo and we see this time again. I'd be perfectly happy with that outcome and until we can get an unlimited well of hair from like Stemson, i'm hoping my hair transplant will last me well into my 40s before i need to consider another. 

[John1991]

17 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

I have seen results from people like Dr Bisanga, Dr Couto and Dr Bloxham as well as a few other reputable doctors like Dr Konior etc. that are able to work within the areas of existing hair to add density and make the results look really good. 

I think a common misconception is that the "illusion of density" can mean that a hair transplants not going to look or blend as well with the native hair. The way that doctors can do this is by using multi grafts for example. 

A single hair graft planted 50 times for a density of 50cm/2 for example will not give as full of a look as say triple hair grafts carefully planted in even say 30cm/2 where the volume of hair is going to be 90 hairs vs 50 hairs. That's one of the beauty of hair transplants imo and we see this time again. I'd be perfectly happy with that outcome and until we can get an unlimited well of hair from like Stemson, i'm hoping my hair transplant will last me well into my 40s before i need to consider another. 

Illusion of density is a very fair term in the sense that someone with significant loss will not be able to restore their scalp to its original density and coverage.  It's also a cop-out used by Dr's who create hairlines that are insufficiently dense to make it seem like its not their lack of skill that prevented the patient from having genuinely good results.  The truth is the average male without pattern loss has a frontal hairline density of roughly 50 grafts/cm2.  That's achievable by the top doctors, which is why their hairlines look like the hairlines of people unaffected by MPB - especially in their patients who started off with more limited loss to begin with.  For a NW4 or 5 getting coverage and a frontal hairline density of 35-40 grafts/cm2 is probably a great result, but for OP or people lower on the NW scale that just doesn't do.  Everything here varies person to person.

Edited April 13, 2022 by John1991

[Ad1987]

My weakest temple 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Ad1987

[NARMAK]

1 hour ago, Ad1987 said:

My weakest temple 

Honestly, those shots are gonna just make people think you're posting "After" 12 month results lol

Like i said before, it's up to you if you do wish to proceed with hairline lowering and filling in temporal areas but just do your research and know what the post-op recovery period and timescale for results will be. 

You've probably not even broached a true Norwood 2 tbh. More like a Norwood 1.5 and with the hair down, it doesn't look anything but normal. 

I would say honestly put your homework in and choose carefully. Especially if it will involve working within existing hair. Try consult with Dr Bisanga. Apparently he's coming to London in May. There was a rep, Ian from BHR who mentioned contacting him but can't recall the Username off the top of my head. 

[Curious25]

There’s so many drama queens on here. 
 

Look I’ll give it to you straight, and you can make your own mind up based on this summary of points I’m going to put together from what I can remember reading on this thread. 
 

‘Your hair looks good as it is is now’ 

I agree, and to pretty much the entire world, they wouldn’t look at you as balding, let alone understand why you’d be wanting a hair transplant. However you have clearly recessed a little in your hairline, and without seeing your face, I am pretty confident a more youthful framing would make you look better.

‘you could look worse’

Yep, you could if you go to a shlt show of a clinic. However if you go to a world class surgeon, I’m 99.9% confident in saying, you will look a lot better.
 

‘you risk shock loss, which could be permanent’

Shock loss is a risk, of course. A lot less of a risk under a good surgeons hands. A lot less of a risk when taking finasteride. Permanent shock loss is only attributed to hair that is already heavily miniaturised (on its way out) and I don’t see much, if any miniaturisation on your photos, aside from potentially some of the frontal hairline hairs in the area of your recession. 
 

At the end of the day, people on here are dumb in how they think. They’ll tell users your age who are NW6 and not on medication that they’re good candidates to go to Eugenix if their donor seems ok, to achieve a much sparser coverage than what you’ll be able to benefit from, (which in my mind still looks better than a bald head) . . However someone like you, who is doing all the right things (finasteride, slow progression, no signs of aggressive loss) that you’re not a good candidate based upon the fear of looking worse now, or permanently shocking out your hair. I mean come on . . you’re on here asking for advice on surgeons - and all the names people have given you are at the top of their game, so again, without being able to say with 100% accuracy this wont happen to you if you go to one of these surgeons, I am saying that, without being able to say that. 
 

Ideal criteria surgeons tend to look for is that you are on preventative medication, and you’re not in your 20’s, showing obvious signs of high classification loss. 

The high end baldies forget that patients with lower levels of loss can still benefit from small yet impactful restorations, probably because they’re so far gone, they look at NW2’s with hair envy, which is understandable. 
 

If you were 25 and not on meds, I would tell you to hold off. But you’re not. So I would encourage you to research a world class surgeon, find out a lot more about what surgery entails, and write out a list of pro’s v con’s and make up your mind.  
 

@Gasthoerer has had some small surgeries on his hairline, and is thrilled with his results. @TorontoMan @Adam87 and @BjornBorg are other users who have had good hairline transitions and are obviously over the moon with their amazing results as well. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Curious25
Spelling

[Mountinvan]

Curious25 gave you great advice. A top-notch surgeon (probably someone like Bisanga in Brussels) can give you the hairline you desire. And why not? Risk is very low that you will not like results. You will probably be delighted with the hairline you have been wanting. That's the magic of HT restoration. If you are willing to cross the pond, I would check out Rahal and Konoir; both capable of amazing results. You are very lucky to have such minimum work needed. If you have the funds, what are you waiting for?

[Melvin- Admin]

1 hour ago, Curious25 said:

There’s so many drama queens on here. 
 

Look I’ll give it to you straight, and you can make your own mind up based on this summary of points I’m going to put together from what I can remember reading on this thread. 
 

‘Your hair looks good as it is is now’ 

I agree, and to pretty much the entire world, they wouldn’t look at you as balding, let alone understand why you’d be wanting a hair transplant. However you have clearly recessed a little in your hairline, and without seeing your face, I am pretty confident a more youthful framing would make you look better.

‘you could look worse’

Yep, you could if you go to a shlt show of a clinic. However if you go to a world class surgeon, I’m 99.9% confident in saying, you will look a lot better.
 

‘you risk shock loss, which could be permanent’

Shock loss is a risk, of course. A lot less of a risk under a good surgeons hands. A lot less of a risk when taking finasteride. Permanent shock loss is only attributed to hair that is already heavily miniaturised (on its way out) and I don’t see much, if any miniaturisation on your photos, aside from potentially some of the frontal hairline hairs in the area of your recession. 
 

At the end of the day, people on here are dumb in how they think. They’ll tell users your age who are NW6 and not on medication that they’re good candidates to go to Eugenix if their donor seems ok, to achieve a much sparser coverage than what you’ll be able to benefit from, (which in my mind still looks better than a bald head) . . However someone like you, who is doing all the right things (finasteride, slow progression, no signs of aggressive loss) that you’re not a good candidate based upon the fear of looking worse now, or permanently shocking out your hair. I mean come on . . you’re on here asking for advice on surgeons - and all the names people have given you are at the top of their game, so again, without being able to say with 100% accuracy this wont happen to you if you go to one of these surgeons, I am saying that, without being able to say that. 
 

Ideal criteria surgeons tend to look for is that you are on preventative medication, and you’re not in your 20’s, showing obvious signs of high classification loss. 

The high end baldies forget that patients with lower levels of loss can still benefit from small yet impactful restorations, probably because they’re so far gone, they look at NW2’s with hair envy, which is understandable. 
 

If you were 25 and not on meds, I would tell you to hold off. But you’re not. So I would encourage you to research a world class surgeon, find out a lot more about what surgery entails, and write out a list of pro’s v con’s and make up your mind.  
 

@Gasthoerer has had some small surgeries on his hairline, and is thrilled with his results. @TorontoMan @Adam87 and @BjornBorg are other users who have had good hairline transitions and are obviously over the moon with their amazing results as well. 

Curious,

I’ve noticed your posts are getting reported a lot more, as of late. You’re taking a @JayLDD approach, which comes off as offensive to many. I have messaged you privately before. I think there’s a way to make a point without calling others dumb. I look forward to you participating here, but be mindful. 

[Ryan Daniel]

4 hours ago, Ad1987 said:

My weakest temple 

Either you stop worrying about your hair because it looks fine to me or else you have to be 100% you are going to a doctor that is willing to fill out the hairline to strengthen it and straighten the curve better.

You will be able to go with a non shaven method too . I can't see you needing more than 500 grafts 

Go to someone who knows how to plant soft singles, you don't want to plant any thick follicles that are taken from the donor area, those buggers are coarse and thick. Make sure they take them from nape area or around the ear. Make sure they are singles and not doubles. It would be the end of the world having doubles everywhere ruining your perfect rest of the hair behind it..  

[Ad1987]

Thanks everyone . Some food for thought … 
 

500 grafts would allow me to afford a highly rated surgeon in the UK… however I wonder how many surgeons would go with this amount as they could earn alot more by going for 1000.

 

[NARMAK]

3 minutes ago, Ad1987 said:

Thanks everyone . Some food for thought … 
 

500 grafts would allow me to afford a highly rated surgeon in the UK… however I wonder how many surgeons would go with this amount as they could earn alot more by going for 1000.

 

I still think you need to potentially look outside of the UK and Dr Bisanga is probably a good bet for you. 

He's gonna do consults in May in London and is a quick flight away on Belgium. 

In the UK, Dr Ball from the Maitland Clinic is reputable but he's not based in London always and he's usually very picky about what he is willing to do, so might be worth getting a consultation but also an idea of whether they'd take you on. 

[Curious25]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

Curious,

I’ve noticed your posts are getting reported a lot more, as of late. You’re taking a @JayLDD approach, which comes off as offensive to many. I have messaged you privately before. I think there’s a way to make a point without calling others dumb. I look forward to you participating here, but be mindful. 

Apologies if offence was caused - I didn’t call people dumb per say, Rather the logic that is used is ‘dumb’ . . In the UK dumb thinking is different to someone being dumb. It’s an expression similar in tone as calling someone forgetful or clumsy. 

Edited April 16, 2022 by Curious25

[Curious25]

Apologies for the awful drawing, and it probably comes across more aggressive than you want or than I intended , however using this as a baseline . . . as a very rough guess , you would be looking at between 1500-2000 depending on your choice of surgeon.
 

Someone like Dr Hasson would be potentially willing and able to dense pack this highly, which would subsequently increase your grafts required. 

[Ad1987]

43 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

I still think you need to potentially look outside of the UK and Dr Bisanga is probably a good bet for you. 

He's gonna do consults in May in London and is a quick flight away on Belgium. 

In the UK, Dr Ball from the Maitland Clinic is reputable but he's not based in London always and he's usually very picky about what he is willing to do, so might be worth getting a consultation but also an idea of whether they'd take you on. 

Is that this dr on their website ? Dr Bisanga . Does he come highly recommended then ? Also how much would he charge roughly in British pounds for the job I’d need .

 

Thanks again .

 

[Ad1987]

22 minutes ago, Curious25 said:

Apologies for the awful drawing, and it probably comes across more aggressive than you want or than I intended , however using this as a baseline . . . as a very rough guess , you would be looking at between 1500-2000 depending on your choice of surgeon.
 

Someone like Dr Hasson would be potentially willing and able to dense pack this highly, which would subsequently increase your grafts required. 

Thanks  .

 

I’d worry bringing the hairline down that far where hair isn’t growing it would create a wispy appearance , no? 
 

from what I’ve read, to create a dense  natural looking hairline you have to have a ht very close to your existing hairline ?

 

thanks for your advice so far 

[Curious25]

2 minutes ago, Ad1987 said:

Thanks  .

 

I’d worry bringing the hairline down that far where hair isn’t growing it would create a wispy appearance , no? 
 

from what I’ve read, to create a dense  natural looking hairline you have to have a ht very close to your existing hairline ?

 

thanks for your advice so far 

No it would just require more grafts. The larger the balding area to be covered, the higher the number of grafts. 
 

I agree - I don’t think your hairline should be lowered, I think the main concern is the levelling of the right hand side, and to sharpen the angle of your temple closures (the right hand side is particularly rounded) and potentially bring out your temple points to balance the reinforced hairline. 

[NARMAK]

12 minutes ago, Ad1987 said:

Is that this dr on their website ? Dr Bisanga . Does he come highly recommended then ? Also how much would he charge roughly in British pounds for the job I’d need .

 

Thanks again .

 

That is in fact Dr Bisanga but he's primarily based in Belgium at a clinic called BHR. 

Dr Ball also is in the UK and i believe has a place in Harley Street if you definitely are not willing to go out of London although i and others would strongly urge you when going for a hair transplant to not restrict yourself geographically or your end goals and result might not be as good as it can be. 

[Melvin- Admin]

This is Bisangas website 

https://bhrclinic.com

[Ad1987]

1 hour ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

This is Bisangas website 

https://bhrclinic.com

Thanks 

[Ad1987]

1 hour ago, NARMAK said:

That is in fact Dr Bisanga but he's primarily based in Belgium at a clinic called BHR. 

Dr Ball also is in the UK and i believe has a place in Harley Street if you definitely are not willing to go out of London although i and others would strongly urge you when going for a hair transplant to not restrict yourself geographically or your end goals and result might not be as good as it can be. 

Just looking up dr bisanga and the work he has carried out on similar hairlines to mine , and he doesn’t appear to do anything less than 2500 grafts 

[Raphael84]

I was directed to this thread by a former patient who detailed that Dr. Bisanga was potentially being considered.

@Ad1987 Completely understand the minefield that hair restoration presents and you have received some good advice  throughout. Some if its may be conflicting and therefore adds confusion but the very fact that you have created your thread and now understand the pros and cons to any potential surgery is invaluable in itself, and being as informed as possible is key for any patient regardless of starting status.

With that being said, as alluded to above, you clearly do not NEED any restoration surgery and therefore if you were to proceed your choice in doctor will be defining so take things slow, reach out to several clinics and meet for in person consultation when possible to really get a feel for the doctor and their potential approach and if they recommend and agree to proceed with surgery.

As has been detailed previously in the thread, Dr. Bisanga is in London for consultation at the end of May (29th and 30th) and so if you may have any interest and those dates may be feasible by all means reach out and we can explore appointments for you.

My main motivation to post was based on reading you mention 500 grafts. The below video jumped to mind to really present an idea of graft numbers and soft delicate hairline work that requires mother nature singles. 

Dr. Bisanga performs surgery based on candidacy and graft requirements and is more than happy to proceed with smaller sessions when appropriate. 
The clinic commonly schedule patient of 1500 +/- grafts. In all honesty, less than this is less common as most individuals who may be motivated for surgery have more significant demands, but when less than 1000 grafts is the optimal approach and graft number, then surgery will be scheduled as normal.

Many thanks and I wish you the best in your onward research.