Asian Male, 20y, looking for hair transplant surgeon/clinic recommendations

[Melvin- Admin]

You are too young. These doctors are ethical and wouldn’t perform surgery on you. You need to give medication ample time to work. Hair transplants are highly emotional procedures. I don’t believe 20 year olds are emotionally stable enough to go through with the procedure and weigh out the pros and cons.

Also, this is a lifelong commitment. If you think this is a one-time-deal you’re wrong. Many young men your age are under the illusion that they won’t care what they look like at 40 or once they’re married WRONG. Maintain your hair with meds, give it time, if you still feel strongly in a few years and you haven’t lost more hair revisit the idea of surgery.
 

 

[Dillpickle123]

20 is way too young if your don’t want to take fin don’t even bother if you were on finasteride to stop any further balding and stable then maybe at 23-24 you could get a small procedure in the hairline, these two surgeons aren’t going to operate on you at that age and expect to pay 20k+ for Konior 

[Gatsby]

4 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

You are too young. These doctors are ethical and wouldn’t perform surgery on you. You need to give medication ample time to work. Hair transplants are highly emotional procedures. I don’t believe 20 year olds are emotionally stable enough to go through with the procedure and weigh out the pros and cons.

Also, this is a lifelong commitment. If you think this is a one-time-deal you’re wrong. Many young men your age are under the illusion that they won’t care what they look like at 40 or once they’re married WRONG. Maintain your hair with meds, give it time, if you still feel strongly in a few years and you haven’t lost more hair revisit the idea of surgery.
 

 

This ^

[GoliGoliGoli]

I don't believe you need to be on Finasteride to justify getting a transplant, and frankly I think it's smart of you to avoid Finasteride. However, when you combine your age with your rightful aversion to Finasteride, it is probably best to wait on getting a transplant. 

Give it 5 years and re-evaluate. 5 years sounds like forever when you're 20 but you'll be glad you waited. 

Also, if your plan is not to use medications then you will need to plan for 2-4 HT's over the course of your life depending on how your hair loss pattern shakes out. . So make sure you're willing and able to budget for not 1 but multiple HT's.

[MissMyLongHair]

You are too young OP, I am 21 so I know your pain. I have been on Fin/Dut for 4 years collectively, and I think you need to strongly consider hopping on Finasteride ASAP if you want to maintain your hair. I've done a lot of research on transplants myself and I'm still not sure whether I'd get one even at 25, surgery should always be last resort. There is a lot to consider and research. Surgery is always a gamble. That's why you need to maximise your chances of success in every way possible, meds, elite doc etc.

Take a look at this video, you do not want to end up like this:

 

 

Edited August 4, 2022 by MissMyLongHair

[mr_peanutbutter]

 

do you see the the smaller hairs in the front? they about to go too ..those hairs are miniaturized …thats another 1-2 centimeter of your hairline that will go soon

 

what norwood level are your relatives? obviously dont focus on the fullheads bc you dont have their hair genetics

[mr_peanutbutter]

6 hours ago, MissMyLongHair said:

You are too young OP, I am 21 so I know your pain. I have been on Fin/Dut for 4 years collectively, and I think you need to strongly consider hopping on Finasteride ASAP if you want to maintain your hair. I've done a lot of research on transplants myself and I'm still not sure whether I'd get one even at 25, surgery should always be last resort. There is a lot to consider and research. Surgery is always a gamble. That's why you need to maximise your chances of success in every way possible, meds, elite doc etc.

Take a look at this video, you do not want to end up like this:

 

 

i dont understand why the guy isnt getting smp

[GoliGoliGoli]

9 hours ago, mr_peanutbutter said:

i dont understand why the guy isnt getting smp

Eh, SMP can often be a mistake 

[mafpe]

On 8/4/2022 at 2:51 PM, mr_peanutbutter said:

i dont understand why the guy isnt getting smp

SMP still needs some sparse amount of hair in order to camouflage it, and it ages. if you SMP a perfectly slick bald head, it quite noticeable.

[mr_peanutbutter]

5 hours ago, mafpe said:

SMP still needs some sparse amount of hair in order to camouflage it, and it ages. if you SMP a perfectly slick bald head, it quite noticeable.

yes ok but he still has his front hairline (the front looks the most obvious in smp) if there is no hair and maybe he could go for a second ht with very low density for midscalp and crown to add a 3d effect to smp

[BDK081522]

Neither H&W or Dr Konior would operate on 20 year old who isn't even willing to try a DHT blocker. You may think your hairline has stabilized but it truly has not. As others have mentioned, all those short thin hair at the front of your hairline were once thick mature hair. They are showing signs of miniaturization and will be gone soon. Get on medication and revisit hair restoration in 5 years. 

[SoSoz]

On 8/4/2022 at 3:40 AM, MissMyLongHair said:

You are too young OP, I am 21 so I know your pain. I have been on Fin/Dut for 4 years collectively, and I think you need to strongly consider hopping on Finasteride ASAP if you want to maintain your hair. I've done a lot of research on transplants myself and I'm still not sure whether I'd get one even at 25, surgery should always be last resort. There is a lot to consider and research. Surgery is always a gamble. That's why you need to maximise your chances of success in every way possible, meds, elite doc etc.

Take a look at this video, you do not want to end up like this:

 

 

This is bad example, this guy was balding since 14 because of medical condition. And yeah OP you're too young for HT, it doesn't even look like you need one.

Edited August 12, 2022 by SoSoz

[MissMyLongHair]

40 minutes ago, SoSoz said:

This is bad example, this guy was balding since 14 because of medical condition. And yeah OP you're too young for HT, it doesn't even look like you need one.

Did you watch the video? The man himself said that doctors told him it was just genetics. I started losing mine at 13-14 too, we exist. The whole point of the video was that his hair was ruined due to stopping Finasteride and losing the native hair due to male pattern baldness.

[Al - Moderator]

On 8/12/2022 at 7:17 AM, SoSoz said:

This is bad example, this guy was balding since 14 because of medical condition.

His medical condition was he was losing hair just like everyone on these boards. He was just going through it earlier than what is generally considered normal. But a good question that I always asked... if it's not considered normal then perhaps it is a medical condition ??  I was balding since 14 too and I was a NW 5 by 19 and NW 6 by 22.

 

 

[stephcurry30]

I was in the same shoes as you OP.

As someone who joined this site at the age of 21 and is not 28 going to be 29, holding off on a transplant was the best decision. I first hoped on medication that helped me stabilize my hair loss and re grow my hair. Any good/great doctor would of not done any surgery on me either way meaning that I would of chose an awful clinic that would of provided a lack luster result. 

I'm 28 turning 29 soon and now I'm finally going to get a hair transplant next year. With my stabilized hair loss I can finally get the hairline I always wanted. It sucks that both you and I didn't get to live confidently in our 20's with the hair line that we wanted but life is unfair. I have a lot of regrets in my 20's and decisions I made BECAUSE of my lack of confidence (not going out, not learning to talk to people/girls). Right now you are 20 years old and you need to find a career path, have fun, find a job, etc. Don't let a transplant be the number one thing that worries you. Try finasteride and minoxidil and don't think about either medications and side effects don't come up. 

 

Short story is that don't let hair loss dictate how happy you are and live your 20's. You still need to live life to the fullest. Please hold off on a transplant and try some medication. Only thing worse that having hair loss is having a botched hair transplant with continued hair loss and damaged donor. Imagine that scenario. 

 

And again best thing I ever did when I was 21 was hold off on a transplant and let medication stabilize my hair loss. 

[HairRun]

If your hairloss is really recent, there's a good chance you can regain with microneedling, min, and fin. With fin if it gives you sides, you can try topicals. 

[Iceee222]

On 8/1/2022 at 11:18 PM, mafpe said:

There aren't many good doctor that would operate on you because of your age.

Have you tried meds to prevent further loss? Most doc wants you to be on meds as well.

Asians are rarer on their work spectrum, but what i saw from thai recommended docs here, most of their clientele is australian and asian, so you might want to take a look at them. Dr path, dr laorwong, for example.

There is a good doc in SG but i can't recall his name. His pricing is pretty expensive though.

How do dr path and dr laorwong compare to top surgeons ?

[mafpe]

42 minutes ago, Iceee222 said:

How do dr path and dr laorwong compare to top surgeons ?

hard to say, but for asian hair pattern, i'd think they are above average, and are very good.

if you see results of many top patients, asian are in minority usually, and korea is one of the go to for asian cosmetic surgery, while most of the forum users and the recommended docs are in EU, as most agree EU is the place to go.

asian hair is both easy and hard to do, easy due to how straight and coarse the follicles usually are, hard due to difference in the typical hairline pattern. most of EU doc, including mine designed a recessed hairline that is... worse looking in asian. depending on ethnicity and facial structure, we have differing hairline, unlike how it's usually M shaped for caucasians, and slight curved U or straight line for afro. our hairline range from slight curved n shape, to M shape, with most commonly being straight _ line with slight curvature depending on family history. we also have very low hairline compared to the rest, meaning what people think is a juvenile hairline, is usually adult hairline for us, and recessed hairline? add +8 to +15 aging for asians. what people think is natural for us is usually considered advanced, that people know immediately you're balding, or will think you're at least a decade older.

so to say, it's not due to the difficulty, but that most of the docs here don't handle enough asian patients, and some, due to the experience of handling other races would just design their usual hairline, and think if asian patient ask for more, it's just greed and will say it's unnatural.

for my case... while i'd rather have a slightly lower hairline and more straightneded hairline, knowing the possibility i would be most likely a NW 6 in the future... am just coping with it since if the new HT hairline is what i "want", then in the long run, later when i need another HT, i wouldn't have any hair left to cover my head.

that said, if you're asian, korea does do a lot of HT, but i can't tell which clinic are worth their price since they... are rather good at marketing and i have no idea which have great actual reviews and which doesn't

[Iceee222]

2 minutes ago, mafpe said:

hard to say, but for asian hair pattern, i'd think they are above average, and are very good.

if you see results of many top patients, asian are in minority usually, and korea is one of the go to for asian cosmetic surgery, while most of the forum users and the recommended docs are in EU, as most agree EU is the place to go.

asian hair is both easy and hard to do, easy due to how straight and coarse the follicles usually are, hard due to difference in the typical hairline pattern. most of EU doc, including mine designed a recessed hairline that is... worse looking in asian. depending on ethnicity and facial structure, we have differing hairline, unlike how it's usually M shaped for caucasians, and slight curved U or straight line for afro. our hairline range from slight curved n shape, to M shape, with most commonly being straight _ line with slight curvature depending on family history. we also have very low hairline compared to the rest, meaning what people think is a juvenile hairline, is usually adult hairline for us, and recessed hairline? add +8 to +15 aging for asians. what people think is natural for us is usually considered advanced, that people know immediately you're balding, or will think you're at least a decade older.

so to say, it's not due to the difficulty, but that most of the docs here don't handle enough asian patients, and some, due to the experience of handling other races would just design their usual hairline, and think if asian patient ask for more, it's just greed and will say it's unnatural.

for my case... while i'd rather have a slightly lower hairline and more straightneded hairline, knowing the possibility i would be most likely a NW 6 in the future... am just coping with it since if the new HT hairline is what i "want", then in the long run, later when i need another HT, i wouldn't have any hair left to cover my head.

that said, if you're asian, korea does do a lot of HT, but i can't tell which clinic are worth their price since they... are rather good at marketing and i have no idea which have great actual reviews and which doesn't

Wow this was very helpful thanks I appreciate clears a lot up and gives me much to think about. 
 

I will definitely look into docs that suit my hair type and hair loss pattern best. Idk y didn’t think of this before. 
 

so I’m caucasian and have receded hairline and diffused hair in front. You think laorwong  or path would be a good fit for me one should I look elsewhere?

I’ve been looking at the Eu docs bicer Pekiner Nader bansal 

[mafpe]

1 hour ago, Iceee222 said:

Wow this was very helpful thanks I appreciate clears a lot up and gives me much to think about. 
 

I will definitely look into docs that suit my hair type and hair loss pattern best. Idk y didn’t think of this before. 
 

so I’m caucasian and have receded hairline and diffused hair in front. You think laorwong  or path would be a good fit for me one should I look elsewhere?

I’ve been looking at the Eu docs bicer Pekiner Nader bansal 

there isn't much reason to go to path or laorwong compared to EU docs then unless you're in aussie or NZ? since mostly aussie people goes to these two because they are nearby, saving both money and time.

both handles a fair amount of aussies due to the factor above, so it should be safe.

otherwise, if you're not from aussie or aren't limited due to distance or other factor, the EU doctors here are more popular. that also means their waiting list is way longer though, so if you're "in a hurry", the two docs are still a valid choice due to circumstances.

[Iceee222]

9 hours ago, mafpe said:

there isn't much reason to go to path or laorwong compared to EU docs then unless you're in aussie or NZ? since mostly aussie people goes to these two because they are nearby, saving both money and time.

both handles a fair amount of aussies due to the factor above, so it should be safe.

otherwise, if you're not from aussie or aren't limited due to distance or other factor, the EU doctors here are more popular. that also means their waiting list is way longer though, so if you're "in a hurry", the two docs are still a valid choice due to circumstances.

Oh OK why do you say that are his results that much worse than the EU doctors? I have seen great things from him online and patient reviews. 

[mafpe]

6 hours ago, Iceee222 said:

Oh OK why do you say that are his results that much worse than the EU doctors? I have seen great things from him online and patient reviews. 

EU docs are more popular here, not that the two thai docs are worse than them.

It's just easier to see the work and pitfall of a doc or clinic when you have a bigger sample, especially review posted by patients instead of the clinic representative since they will always pick out good result to post and never the bad ones. With patient, bad, decent, and great results are all posted. The ratio will be skewed but at least we can consider them ourselves how to view it.

Edited September 28, 2022 by mafpe

[Iceee222]

25 minutes ago, mafpe said:

EU docs are more popular here, not that the two thai docs are worse than them.

It's just easier to see the work and pitfall of a doc or clinic when you have a bigger sample, especially review posted by patients instead of the clinic representative since they will always pick out good result to post and never the bad ones. With patient, bad, decent, and great results are all posted. The ratio will be skewed but at least we can consider them ourselves how to view it.

OK gotcha that totally makes sense thank you for explaining that. I’ve been doing some additional research and found good things on path and Laorwong to be honest. I like how they are both very involved in the surgery. 

[Gatsby]

5 minutes ago, Iceee222 said:

OK gotcha that totally makes sense thank you for explaining that. I’ve been doing some additional research and found good things on path and Laorwong to be honest. I like how they are both very involved in the surgery. 

I think Dr Path and Dr Kong are both excellent surgeons. My only reservations would be if you needed a lot of real estate covered (Norwood 6/7). All the best!

[Iceee222]

12 minutes ago, Gatsby said:

I think Dr Path and Dr Kong are both excellent surgeons. My only reservations would be if you needed a lot of real estate covered (Norwood 6/7). All the best!

Great thanks! I im Norwood 3 with thinning on front scalp so I should be good to go! I’ve done additional research and they have done plenty of transplants with caucasian hair which also made me at ease. Never heard of Dr. Kong I will look into him. What do u think about  Dr. Laorwong  is he as good as the two u mentioned?