Advice on potentail hair transplant

[Orion2]

Hi everyone!

I am 30 years old and have been balding quite a lot since I was a teenager (life is unfair but everyone here knows that ahah). I am a Norwood 5-6 and I have recently started researching a good Hair transplant clinic (aren't we all?). I don't take any drugs at all and am not willing to, besides the fact that I am not sure they would bring much given my current condition.

Because my baldness is quite advanced, I am skeptical that any doctor can do anything that will yield satisfactory results. By satisfactory, I am realistic with the potential outcome, but I would love to get your views on this.

 

I have a couple questions for the experts here  :

1. What do you think about my donor area?
2. What would be the best strategy to adopt? One mega session over 2 days? Several transplants over 2 years?
3. What would be the best outcome for me? Focus on the front hairline, and mid scalp and completely ignore the vertex? Or get a more standardized density across the entire scalp and let my hair grow a bit more to hide the lack of density?
4. Last but not least, if I have a budget of around 10k€, what clinics would you recommend?

Regarding the clinics, I have found the names below. I have already requested a quote from some of them

• Turkey: 
  • Acar with Cosmedica: I felt super inclined to go to this one but got scared because of all the discussions about hair mills in Turkey. I fear for my donor area and don't want to be handled by 20-year old students. 
  • Pekiner: his work seems to be consistently good but I am afraid he won't treat such an extended Norwood. 
  • HLC: I have no specific comments about this one, apart that they are supposed to be mid-high end in Turkey.
• Belgium:
  • Bisanga: really stands out for reasonably priced HT. I mean we are in Belgium in Europe and it's normal that he charges more. In this case, I would most likely need to increase my budget to almost 15k€ to get a decent result it seems (4000-5000 graphs)

Are there any others that you recommend I look into?

My photos are below.

 

Thank you so much for your kind answers and support!

 

Orion

 

 

 

 

 

[Gatsby]

Their are many surgeons who specialize in high Norwood 6/7 patients and turn out great results on a regular basis. Have a look at @Zoomster results for example. There is a list of recommended surgeons by members from the forum where you can look at. Their have definitely been worse patients than yourself that have achieved great results however you need to spend some time researching and asking lots and lots of questions. All the best!

[Fue3361]

I’d say you’re easily looking at multiple surgeries.  In your shoes, I’d probably do midscalp and frontal, and leave the crown for a later date.  Heaven forbid you have subpar growth on first surgery, you don’t want to waste precious grafts on crown before you have the front sorted.  Crown can always be filled in with other methods like Body hair.  
 

You could also have it all done at once (probably 2+ days), but personally, I’d do it in steps.

 

Id probably consider Eugenix because of their great work with high Norwood cases.  Have you looked at Pittella from Brazil?  He was just on a livestream with Melvin and he has some nice results.  He might possibly be in your budget range

[Orion2]

Thank you both for your answers! Eugenix looks great indeed, but I am slightly scared as it is in India and the trip to go there is 12+h alone. Same for Brazil. I do realize though that I might not have the choice if I want the coverage AND the budget. 

 

Fue3361, yes I agree with your strategy. I will probably look at that. I'd rather have a first surgery on what is clearly visible by the people I talk to (front and mid-scalp) to test my reaction to the transplant (survival rate, growth, redness and shedding etc ...)

[Gatsby]

You really need to put cost and geography aside when initially researching. You only get one chance at getting this right and so often we see people who are having a procedure as a result of a bad procedure, etc. Also remember you grafts are finite! Eugenix would be my pick as they have a large volume of work of Norwood 6/7 patients with excellent coverage by utilizing beard hair. They have this down to an art. Also other surgeons like Dr Pitella that @Fue3361 mentioned have knocked out some fantastic results on cases other surgeons wouldn't touch. The very short time spent in the air to travel compared to looking into the mirror for the rest of your life at your results is no brainer. All the best!

[Orion2]

I understand and would tend to agree. I see that Eugenix has clinics all over India. Are there any specific surgeons that you would recommend and where are they located?

[Eugenix Hair Sciences]

2 hours ago, Orion2 said:

What do you think about my donor area?

You have retrograde alopecia. This means that you are losing hair from your donor area also. Consumption of finasteride can help in controlling the progression of baldness in the recipient as well as the donor area. Your donor density is average.

2 hours ago, Orion2 said:

What would be the best strategy to adopt? One mega session over 2 days? Several transplants over 2 years?

You shall require:

Frontal zone: 3000 grafts

Mid scalp: 500

Crown: 1500

This would cover your entire scalp with adequate density. Your entire procedure would take two days, 8 hours each day.

2 hours ago, Orion2 said:

What would be the best outcome for me? Focus on the front hairline, and mid scalp and completely ignore the vertex? Or get a more standardized density across the entire scalp and let my hair grow a bit more to hide the lack of density?

We would take donor grafts from the beard donor area also. Hence, you can achieve a full coverage on your entire scalp with adequate density.

2 hours ago, Orion2 said:

Last but not least, if I have a budget of around 10k€, what clinics would you recommend?

We have different packages to choose from. You can inbox us your contact number and email id and we will send you all the package details.

2 hours ago, Orion2 said:

Eugenix looks great indeed, but I am slightly scared as it is in India and the trip to go there is 12+h alone. Sa

We get multiple patients from outside India. It is safe to travel after your surgical procedure. In fact most of our patients travel immediately after the procedure.

1 hour ago, Orion2 said:

I understand and would tend to agree. I see that Eugenix has clinics all over India. Are there any specific surgeons that you would recommend and where are they located?

You would be most comfortable to come to the Gurgaon clinic. It is the twin city to Delhi and is 45 minutes from the Indira Gandhi International airport. We have Dr Pradeep Sethi, Dr Arika Bansal and the Eugenix trained doctors such as Dr Priyadarshini Days that you can choose from.

You can check the suitability of finasteride by taking it for a couple of months and observe whether it gives you aide effects or not. Thereafter you can choose to take the medication accordingly. This medication prolongs baldness as long as you take it.

[Ajamilo]

You should first give finasteride at least one year before any surgery. It looks like you have DUPA in your donor area and i would not recommend any surgery without using any DHT-blocker such as finasteride or DUT. in the meantime i strongly advice you too shave of your hair. It's better aesthetically than holding on to hair that does no good to your look. You will look better  with your head shape and possibly like it with your beard grown out too

[Orion2]

Thanks for your answer. What gives you the impression that I have DUPA? I have looked again closely and I don't notice any patches. My photos were taken with my hair a bit dirty/greasy which makes it seem that they are stuck together leaving some areas uncovered but I don't feel like I have actual missing hair from the sides and the back.

 

I agree with you with the haircut, I need to cut my hair much shorter and that's what I will do ASAP. I don't think I will take finasteride, I love the idea of having hair but am not looking to take hormone changing drugs just to keep it. If that would be preventing a surgery, then I would probably reconsider the hair transplant and would go with the close cut look rather. 

 

Thank you !

Edited June 20, 2022 by Orion2

[Mike10]

Have you tried shaving? It is way cheaper and you would avoid the whole hassle

[Orion2]

I have never tried but honestly that's what I might end up doing. Shaving not too close and growing a beard might be more enough instead of butchering what I have left of hair to get a mediocre density and a weird result. If I do have DUPA, it means that my donor is not good without any medication and going through drugs just to keep my hair seems excessive, especially given all side effects coming from finasteride.

 

I am starting to get some replies from clinics but I am more than skeptical: Acar is suggesting 4000-5000 FUE, not sure I have that given the comments above and my donor area might get awfully depleted and full of holes. 

[THE TRUTH]

Stay away from Acar. He is a hairmill. 

I've seen great results from Cosmedica but I've also seen disasters and permanently damaged donor areas. It's literally russian roulette and your donor area is limited.

There is no possible comeback for a Norwood 5 if you get your donor area destroyed. 

I highly recommend you look into the following clinics. 

Zarev, Hattingen, Pitella, Bruno Pinto, Ximena Vila, Bisanga 

They are much better at treating advanced hairloss then turkish clinics even the better ones...

Also you need to get on oral Finasteride/Dutasteride.

[civic]

On 6/20/2022 at 11:54 AM, Orion2 said:

Thanks for your answer. What gives you the impression that I have DUPA? I have looked again closely and I don't notice any patches. My photos were taken with my hair a bit dirty/greasy which makes it seem that they are stuck together leaving some areas uncovered but I don't feel like I have actual missing hair from the sides and the back.

 

I agree with you with the haircut, I need to cut my hair much shorter and that's what I will do ASAP. I don't think I will take finasteride, I love the idea of having hair but am not looking to take hormone changing drugs just to keep it. If that would be preventing a surgery, then I would probably reconsider the hair transplant and would go with the close cut look rather. 

 

Thank you !

I also did not notice signs of dupa in your photos, have you tried to see local dermatologist for scalp exam? 

[MAIZE1694]

On 6/20/2022 at 7:24 AM, Orion2 said:

• What do you think about my donor area?
• What would be the best strategy to adopt? One mega session over 2 days? Several transplants over 2 years?
• What would be the best outcome for me? Focus on the front hairline, and mid scalp and completely ignore the vertex? Or get a more standardized density across the entire scalp and let my hair grow a bit more to hide the lack of density?
• Last but not least, if I have a budget of around 10k€, what clinics would you recommend?

It looks below average. The back is thinning and the area behind the ear is also thinning. 

Your sides are still intact so it should be easy to frame the face aiming for the hairline/frontal 3rd.

Honestly I would reach out to eugenix. You mentioned bisanga but seeing your donor I don't think he would accept you. Be sure to reach out anyway. With eugenix, it's not that they are anything special compared to the other elite doctors recommended here, it's the fact that they are highly vetted with a LOT of patient stories plus the forum admin, Melvin, has a direct line to the founders if something were to go wrong. With 10k you have a few options also at eugenix.

[Gatsby]

On 6/21/2022 at 4:45 AM, Orion2 said:

I have never tried but honestly that's what I might end up doing.

If if you have any thoughts at all in your mind about shaving your head then I would seriously forget about surgery. If it were not for the scars that I had I would have remained clean shaven (admittedly with my SMP). If you are unhappy with the hair transplant results it will be too late to shave as you will have a head full of scars. Don't rush into this as you can always have a hair transplant 'tomorrow.' Wishing you all the best!

[Orion2]

Thank you so much all for your precious answers. I am going to see with a dermatologist (potentially with Dr Bisanga directly) and I will make a decision after but honestly, it just seems I was really unlucky with the lotto of mother Nature. Sometimes in life we just need to accept what we have and move on! I might rock the short hair/beard look so I need to try it first