Fear of hair transplant

[wprevil]

OK I got 2 questions as I never had a  hair transplant but want to get one for end of year i hope.

Ok so I'm crazy scared if something doesnt go right a year later post ops. I mean I know everyone has had this fear. but how did you deal with it at least psycologically?

I know theres no any stats on number of successful transplants. But with a top ten surgeon whats a rough estimates on how successful they can be to give me an idea for reassurance>?

[Melvin- Admin]

The honest truth is that every hair transplant will be a gamble. There's no perfect procedure. You should check to see if your expectations are realistic before considering surgery. Can you share some pictures of your hair loss with your goals? We will be able to help you more. It's possible that you shouldn't get an HT. 

[THE TRUTH]

The number one golden rule is DO NOT GET A HAIR TRANSPLANT...

Unless you have done your research extremely diligently, understand all the possible risks and limitations and have realistic/low expectations.

Hair transplants a always a gamble. Even with a top surgeons...

You have to accept and understand that before deciding to get one. 

I'd say with a top surgeon 

1/10 result is excellent 

1/10 is subpar 

8/10 are average to average +. 

Edited July 4, 2022 by Hope everything is nova

[sukh123]

1 hour ago, Hope everything is nova said:

The number one golden rule is DO NOT GET A HAIR TRANSPLANT...

Unless you have done your research extremely diligently, understand all the possible risks and limitations and have realistic/low expectations.

Hair transplants a always a gamble. Even with a top surgeons...

You have to accept and understand that before deciding to get one. 

I'd say with a top surgeon 

1/10 result is excellent 

1/10 is subpar 

8/10 are average to average +. 

Where did you have your hair transplant 

[THE TRUTH]

1 minute ago, sukh123 said:

Where did you have your hair transplant 

Dr. James Harris

Hair Sciences Center, Denver Colorado. 

[sukh123]

4 minutes ago, Hope everything is nova said:

Dr. James Harris

Hair Sciences Center, Denver Colorado. 

Oh Kool not heard of him are you from the states then , did yours turn out well if you don’t mind me asking because you seem to be well informed on transplants 

[HappyMan2021]

11 minutes ago, sukh123 said:

Oh Kool not heard of him are you from the states then , did yours turn out well if you don’t mind me asking because you seem to be well informed on transplants 

not the person you are replying to, but super coincidentally I've had work done both by Dr. Harris and his assistant Shelly Lovitt. 

Shelly Lovitt is a failed gynecologist turned amateur HT butcher. Horrible horrible horrible. 

Harris is very meh. His portfolio seems to mainly consist of guys in their 50s or 60s whose objective is to look "less balding" and would be happy as a NW3. I have not seen any killer results from him. Ever. 

His claim to fame is he is the inventor of the Artas robot. Its cool trivia, but no good doctor uses it anymore and being an inventor and going to a lot of conferences does not translate to surgical skill. 

Pass on him and especially pass on Lovitt. 

[sukh123]

2 minutes ago, HappyMan2021 said:

not the person you are replying to, but super coincidentally I've had work done both by Dr. Harris and his assistant Shelly Lovitt. 

Shelly Lovitt is a failed gynecologist turned amateur HT butcher. Horrible horrible horrible. 

Harris is very meh. His portfolio seems to mainly consist of guys in their 50s or 60s whose objective is to look "less balding" and would be happy as a NW3. I have not seen any killer results from him. Ever. 

His claim to fame is he is the inventor of the Artas robot. Its cool trivia, but no good doctor uses it anymore and being an inventor and going to a lot of conferences does not translate to surgical skill. 

Pass on him and especially pass on Lovitt. 

Hi thanks for that , yeh I can tell by the fact he didn’t reply , that he may have had a botch job too. Yeh i just realised he botched some YouTuber who you might know callled Kevin Mann, who basically never talks about his transplant since he had it from dr Harris. I’m from uk so will definitely be focussing on the top European ones

[HappyMan2021]

2 minutes ago, sukh123 said:

Hi thanks for that , yeh I can tell by the fact he didn’t reply , that he may have had a botch job too. Yeh i just realised he botched some YouTuber who you might know callled Kevin Mann, who basically never talks about his transplant since he had it from dr Harris. I’m from uk so will definitely be focussing on the top European ones

sure thing. yea I really really doubt Harris gets any international clients haha, let alone patients from other parts of the US. Harris is B-list at best.

Mwamba performed a repair on me last month (Harris kind of half-assed my repair - he really just dense filled in everywhere but didn't extract any of the bad angles)

I'm obviously still waiting on the results from Mwamba, but from my experience so far he has my endorsement. 

[Z--]

Whether a hair transplant is successful is very dependent on one's expectations. If you're a Norwood 5+ and expect a full head of hair (sub Norwood 2) (ESPECIALLY IN ONE GO), don't event bother. Just buy a hair system or shave it off. 

There's obvious failures (e.g. low graft growth, bad angling), but great surgeons typically avoid those problems. Every surgeon has a flop or two which is posted on this forum. The best minimize these risks and have stood the test of time. Look for their failures and see how those failures were handled. Also helpful, look how often they get return patients -- hair loss will progress and a patient wouldn't typically return to their surgeon unless they were happy with their prior transplant. 

Probably best to avoid Turkey altogether -- there's maybe one (max two) solid surgeons there. Same deal with India, outside of one clinic. Do research and avoid being lured by low-cost hair mills. You have one donor and it's way more expensive to repair. Many clinics waste 1000s of grafts leaving you with a depleted donor and nothing to show for it, resulting in no future fix. 

[shiba1985]

2 hours ago, wprevil said:

OK I got 2 questions as I never had a  hair transplant but want to get one for end of year i hope.

Ok so I'm crazy scared if something doesnt go right a year later post ops. I mean I know everyone has had this fear. but how did you deal with it at least psycologically?

I know theres no any stats on number of successful transplants. But with a top ten surgeon whats a rough estimates on how successful they can be to give me an idea for reassurance>?

It’s devastating psychologically. 
probably > 90% satisfaction rate with top 10 in the world. 

[Adier]

Chances of HT going bad really depends on the surgeon doing the surgery and even then it can't be guaranteed. You can go to a good local surgeon and get a good result and at the same time you can go for internationally recognised surgeons and get a bad result or vice versa. HT is a always a gamble but with great surgeons chances of the gamble going your way is far greater. Secondly :- Your expectations. If your NW4 or above either the A or V variant. You should consider having your expectations low because you won't have a great head of hair with great density unless your donor is extremely good which is rarely the case with higher norwoods. Thirdly you need to commit to Medications to maintain your existing as well as your transplanted hairs. And lastly HT can bring a great change in your life do your research and then go for it if you are feeling confident about it. There are risks but without taking them nothing really good has happened. Cheers.

[NARMAK]

A combination of realistic expectations and going to a proper and reputable clinic with doctor involvement like some of those who have a multitude of patient reviews by independent people like on this site. 

Ultimately Hair Transplants are a risk and you have to firstly weigh up whether you are prepared for the possibility no matter how small it may seem with proper research and clinic selection, whether you are willing to deal with that consequence and trying to correct it. If the answer is no, then either live with things as they are for as long as you can or buy a hair system. 

Hair Transplants are not perfect and simply an "Illusion of Density" for the majority of people who get them. Hair loss is a right git, but with some acceptance of risk, it can be a battle that's fought. 

[wprevil]

4 hours ago, Z-- said:

Whether a hair transplant is successful is very dependent on one's expectations. If you're a Norwood 5+ and expect a full head of hair (sub Norwood 2) (ESPECIALLY IN ONE GO), don't event bother. Just buy a hair system or shave it off.

So I grade myself as a nw2 - nw3. I want to fill the temples and fill hair in the front which is thinning.

Is it possible to fill a part of the scalp that has hair but is thinning?

[wprevil]

3 hours ago, shiba1985 said:

It’s devastating psychologically. 
probably > 90% satisfaction rate with top 10 in the world. 

OK but >90% satisfaction rate is kinda good though. Dont you think?

[shiba1985]

3 minutes ago, wprevil said:

OK but >90% satisfaction rate is kinda good though. Dont you think?

Depends on how you look at it. You could be that 1 out of 10 that has a bad result. The thing is, if you go to a reputable surgeon, even the worse possible result wont leave you "scarred." The horror stories usually happen from non reputable clinics where patients get butchered, donor zone gets obliterated, and you are stuck in a limbo where you cant shave your noggin, nor can you grow your unsightly hair out. That outcome is highly unlikely at a reputable clinic. 

 

[Gatsby]

The true answer will never be known due to the explosion of surgery all around the world over the past 20 years, let alone the past two years. There are no guarantees and even the top ten surgeons in the world (which in itself is a rather elusive figure to measure) would (should tell you) that there are no guarantees except that they will do their best. But if you factored in all of the surgery (outside of hair mills) carried out around the world I would hazard a guess to say that more patients are dissatisfied with there results than are. I would be very confident that here in Australia the overwhelming vast majority are dissatisfied with their results. If you were to point out what the flaws are (doubles in the hairline, poor angle placement, poor candidate, etc ) then that figure would rise to 99% at a guess.

[wprevil]

3 hours ago, NARMAK said:

A combination of realistic expectations and going to a proper and reputable clinic with doctor involvement like some of those who have a multitude of patient reviews by independent people like on this site. 

Ultimately Hair Transplants are a risk and you have to firstly weigh up whether you are prepared for the possibility no matter how small it may seem with proper research and clinic selection, whether you are willing to deal with that consequence and trying to correct it.

Wow. I'm confused. Funny when you see great results by european docs then read stuff here that gets you scared and depressed that a transplant might do more harm than good.

But as I mentioned in a post above I'm about a nw3. I can get away with a comb over that doesnt look like i have hair loss. But I've been noticing for the past 2 - 3 months less hair. This is what I'm afraid of. That I'll reach a point where I wont have enough hair "to grab" to give me a good comb over. 

Let me ask you this. If you were a nw3 would you consider getting a transplant even with a top surgeon?

[Gatsby]

3 minutes ago, wprevil said:

Let me ask you this. If you were a nw3 would you consider getting a transplant even with a top surgeon?

Yes. But after spending a good two years on a forum like this asking plenty of questions and doing lots of research. I would also look at options to save the hair that I have also. All the best.

[wprevil]

14 minutes ago, shiba1985 said:

Depends on how you look at it. You could be that 1 out of 10 that has a bad result. The thing is, if you go to a reputable surgeon, even the worse possible result wont leave you "scarred."

Right, with a top surgeon your chances of a bad result are higher than one from a hair mill.

Quote

That outcome is highly unlikely at a reputable clinic.

That one statement of yours is giving me confidence to go for it with a top surgeon. But I'm a nw3 now. I'd like to get at least a nw2 with temples filled and thinning front filled in too. But I'm stuck in decision.

[Vann]

Surgery should be your last resort in my honest opinion. Unless you exhausted all your medical options and find that there are no improvements... then you should consider a hair transplant. If you have aggressive hair loss even on those medical options you should by no means get any surgery done since you could potentially do more harm than benefit from.

Now if you have a head full of hair and still want to have surgery you may potentially cause more harm. But if you have an empty field of grass its going to be harder to do more damage but unless you know your future you cannot really predict anything.

For example, Jeff Bezos, the richest guy in the world still cant grow hair. Even with all the money he has Bezos cant even do anything about it. Whether that is to medically farm new hair in a lab (which his body may reject even if its autologous) which doesnt even exist [today] or get a hair transplant with hair that we dont even see in his donor. Even if he did have some donor it isnt enough to cover enough ground. Assuming that Bezos did, there arent many doctors that would take his case to successfully cause them reputable harm in their name to take a patient who would harm them for poor results. Nonetheless, the man has all the money in the world to get him the best results but if you were in his position... how would you treat it. Who would you ask to get you the best results and what would you realistically want?

[wprevil]

18 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

But if you factored in all of the surgery (outside of hair mills) carried out around the world I would hazard a guess to say that more patients are dissatisfied with there results than are.

But dont you think your rough estimate is a too overboard? I mean youre saying most patients are dissatisfied with their transplant than are. How can that be? If that were true, more and more people would be turned off by getting a transplant and clinics would be closing shop?

[wprevil]

2 minutes ago, Vann said:

Now if you have a head full of hair and still want to have surgery you may potentially cause more harm. But if you have an empty field of grass its going to be harder to do more damage but unless you know your future you cannot really predict anything.

So as mentioned before I have thinning hair in the front which still has hair but is thinning. And I want to to fill in the space in the temple area. I guess my temple area would be as you put it, "an empty field of grass." So in that sense I think I wouldnt be risking anything. But whats worrying me is the thinning front which is worrying me as I want density there.

[NARMAK]

32 minutes ago, wprevil said:

Wow. I'm confused. Funny when you see great results by european docs then read stuff here that gets you scared and depressed that a transplant might do more harm than good.

But as I mentioned in a post above I'm about a nw3. I can get away with a comb over that doesnt look like i have hair loss. But I've been noticing for the past 2 - 3 months less hair. This is what I'm afraid of. That I'll reach a point where I wont have enough hair "to grab" to give me a good comb over. 

Let me ask you this. If you were a nw3 would you consider getting a transplant even with a top surgeon?

My post was mainly to make you understand that hair transplants are a surgical procedure and as such, there's an opportunity for complications. When you go with a top surgeon, you reduce the risks imo but you can never ever eliminate them. If you were unlucky to be in that position then you need to have a backup plan to deal with it. 

Generally speaking, if you choose well, do your research and go with a top doctor, it's unlikely things go wrong but not impossible. 

I have my thread linked in my signature. I was classed as a Norwood 2, but i literally had no temple points at all and the only reason i decided to get a hair transplant was if i could get them done. My hairline was arguably by some people's view very aggressive. However, i'm 32 and on Dutasteride now for over a year and my hair loss wasn't massively aggressive it seems so i'm hoping this can be maintained for a longer while. 

[wprevil]

8 minutes ago, NARMAK said:

Generally speaking, if you choose well, do your research and go with a top doctor, it's unlikely things go wrong but not impossible.

Appreciate your feedback! Yeah thats what I hope for. I've done my research for about 2 years now and plan on seeing a top notch doctor in europe.

Quote

I have my thread linked in my signature. I was classed as a Norwood 2, but i literally had no temple points at all and the only reason i decided to get a hair transplant was if i could get them done. My hairline was arguably by some people's view very aggressive. However, i'm 32 and on Dutasteride now for over a year and my hair loss wasn't massively aggressive it seems so i'm hoping this can be maintained for a longer while. 

So I cant take meds like dust or fin since I have a medical issue. My doctor strongly advised against taking any. 

What do you by your hairline is aggressive? Like youre losing hair in that area?