I think my donor is weak. Am I a good candidate?

[balumbalum]

So here is the deal, after some consultations with clinics in Istanbul they told me I need 5k grafts cuz the hair that I have left will probably fall off at some point. 

Looking at some cases here, I am really worried that my donor area will not support 5k. Honestly I rather be naturally bald than having overharvested patch at the back of my head for rest of my life.

What do you guys think? Should I go for it, should I do it in 2 separate sessions or should I stay bald as everyone in my family?

 

Edited August 14, 2022 by balumbalum

[Vertexhairclinic]

Hi @balumbalum

This is Hala, working for @DrTBarghouthi

I tagged Dr Taleb so he could give you an advice regarding your case.

 

Kind regards,

Hala

[Ryan Daniel]

An overharvested patch is exactly what you will have if you let someone from Turkey take 5,000 grafts from your backside in one procedure 

Please be patient and make the right choice, you are in the best position right now

And what about medication? 

[balumbalum]

56 minutes ago, Ryan Daniel said:

An overharvested patch is exactly what you will have if you let someone from Turkey take 5,000 grafts from your backside in one procedure 

Please be patient and make the right choice, you are in the best position right now

And what about medication? 

I am not taking Fin because in Switzerland is not approved as a medicine and it is hard to supply for long term. I started using Min months ago, dont really see a change but I am happy to use it for the moment until I decide what I am going to do. 

Honestly I am also kinda ready to accept the fact that I am Norwood 5-6 with bad donor, have dense beard but almost 0 chest hair so I might go full Jason Statham if transplant is not possible. Its also cuz I dont wanna stay on medicine for years and years and putting my sanity and health on the line for keeping few hairs on my head.

I just wanted to ask you guys what you think cuz many one of you passed this stage in your life, I am still exploring options.. Thanks for tthe answer!

Edited August 14, 2022 by balumbalum

[LookMaxx]

1 hour ago, Ryan Daniel said:

An overharvested patch is exactly what you will have if you let someone from Turkey take 5,000 grafts from your backside in one procedure 

Please be patient and make the right choice, you are in the best position right now

And what about medication? 

Gross generalisation. This forum has many excellent Turkish clinics taking that many grafts without overharvesting.

 

[LookMaxx]

..

Edited August 16, 2022 by LookMaxx

[Ryan Daniel]

1 hour ago, LookMaxx said:

Not recommending this clinic ( idk much about them ) but this guy had 6k grafts taken from him and his result is something I would be very pleased with plus no overharvesting 

 

So yeah gross generalisation and the number of grafts taken doesn’t equal overharvesting 

- Yes it is true there are maybe 2 clinics in Turkey who are decent but it is extremely difficult to do 5,000 grafts in one session without a risk of patchiness.. 

 

And who are you trying to fool with your reply?  This guy has doubles and triples on his hairline. It's all pluggy. This is a result you would be pleased with?

This forum is about pointing people into the right direction, and you're sitting there saying that these type of results are acceptable.. tell that to all the people who upset and are repaired cases 

Regarding the guy in the video, he seems like a nice person and there is nothing bad to say about him... but he also went to VERA CLINIC.. and that is bad research

Very thick grafts chosen for the hairline

Random doubles were implanted in front of his hairline ? You would be pleased with this ?

[NARMAK]

2 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

Gross generalisation. This forum has many excellent Turkish clinics taking that many grafts without overharvesting.

 

There's actually comparatively few recommend clinics or positive reviews out of Turkey on this forum compared to how many actually are concentrated in Turkey as a whole. Its the reason people often cite as a hair mill capital. 

[LookMaxx]

..

Edited August 16, 2022 by LookMaxx

[Melvin- Admin]

How old are you? And are you on medication? 

[balumbalum]

40 minutes ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

How old are you? And are you on medication? 

Hey @Melvin- Moderator 

I am 28 now, as I mentioned in my previous comment, I use Min for some months now, dont see a big change but I am going to keep using it until I decide what I am going to do. Regarding Fin, it is not approved in the country that I live in so it is a bit hard to get supply from other countries for the long term... and honestly I am a bit afraid of using it cuz my body is really reactive to therapies like that as I suffered from gynecomastia before as a result of similar medical therapy...

So honestly I am really not sure what to do now cuz I know I have Norwood 5 pattern of baldness as all the males in my family, I am expecting to lose everything in the thinning area in the next 5 years...

Edited August 14, 2022 by balumbalum

[asterix0]

In my opinion you get on finasteride or shave your head when the time comes.

[TommyLucchese]

20 hours ago, Ryan Daniel said:

An overharvested patch is exactly what you will have if you let someone from Turkey take 5,000 grafts from your backside in one procedure 

In over 10 years on this forum I have never heard of grafts being taken from butt cheeks...?

[mister_25]

balumbalum,

The photos seem to be in harsh light against a short haircut. I can't really give my opinion but a weaker donor usually has over 5000 grafts and I don't think yours looks as bad as others I have seen. Although the photos seem to indicate retrograde alopecia but that could be super harsh lighting. If you're that concerned get your hair checked out by a trusted and skilled trichologist.

I would avoid Turkey/Istanbul altogether due to you being a High-Norwood case. If you can't afford the right doctor for your situation then I wouldn't get surgery at all.

I've seen a significantly worse donor than yours and they claimed that they could get 8000 grafts out apparently (surgery didn't happen, it was on a in-person consultation/donor analysis by Dr Zarev who is known for mastering usage of donor area). 

As others have mentioned you need to be on Preventative medication to even be considered a candidate. Hair Transplants don't stop Hair Loss. Medication can.

 

 

LookMaxx,

 

16 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

First you generalise a whole country clearly being very racist.

He wasn't being racist, its a statement that has merit. Browse other forums and look at the doctors they recommend. ASMED is still recommended and their results have declined as of recent and I am seeing more failures and poor growth cases then I am successes. ASMED was considered one of the better clinics in Turkey. Until they moved into a more "hair mill" like structure and their quality dropped. Turkey has hundreds of Hair Transplant Clinics and only about two-three of them have merit on being consistent.

 

16 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

You lie ( out of ignorance or intentionally? ) about the number of grafts taken being linked to overharvesting - heard of Zarev? Eugenix?

Zarev and Eugenix routinely do High Norwood cases and have experience in managing donor areas to the absolute maximum. Its a skill that is required and needs to be refined. 

I sent in a consultation and was told that my donor is dense where it is strong. But factoring in the possibility of me having retrograde alopecia (which is common) my donor capacity is reduced and judging by the photos I can get 5500-6500 harvested. If that 5000 wasn't harvested in a correct extraction pattern my donor would like patchy/moth eaten in some areas. 

He's not lying first of all, and he isn't ignorant on the subject either.

16 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

When I point out your biased generalisations and false information and give example of a random YouTuber who had HT from a random Turkish clinic, you accuse me of fooling people and nitpicking the HT.

The example you clearly gave shows common hair transplant errors that make a hairline look artificial and not natural. The point of a hair transplant is to give you hair on your head and make it look like you never lost hair to begin with. By having a result like this you are asking for someone to stare at your hairline cause it looks artificial. Almost like his hairline is saying "Look guys I had a hair transplant! look at me!"

 

16 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

What do you mean tell that to all the people who are upset and are repaired cases. 

Multis in the hairline is not natural. People will tell that something is up in your hairline and anyone that has a small inclination on hair transplants will know that they had a hair transplant. A lot of people on this forum, on other forums, etc. will definitely consider this a repair case on a second hair transplant.

 

16 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

Let’s put your post into perspective 

 

An overharvested patch is exactly what you will have if you let “someone” from ( India / Bulgaria / Spain / Canada / US / Brazil / Belgium ) take 5,000 grafts from your backside in one procedure 

Turkey is known as "The place to go to get your hair back." which couldn't be further from the truth. The countries you listed don't have reputations for hair transplants to the general public. When I think "Cosmetic Procedure" I think of Thailand and Turkey. When I thought of "Hair Transplants" before I knew anything I thought "Turkey". Its a unfair comparison/perspective considering your way more likely to get botched in Turkey than other countries. There are so many hair mills to choose from. Hundreds maybe even thousands. No other country has more "hair clinics" than the amount that Istanbul alone has. Also the laws in Turkey heavily favor hair mills rather than the victims. Otherwise this practice would of died years ago.

 

Although generally speaking your statement hold some truth. Every country has more bad clinics than good ones. People should be thinking that "BHR Clinic is the place to go to get my hair back, H&W is the place to go to get my hair back, Freitas is the surgeon I should go to get my hair back." Its not Belgium/Canada/Spain that is the best country for hair transplants. Its Belgium/Canada/Spain has some of the best choices of surgeons/clinics to get your hair back.

16 hours ago, LookMaxx said:

When you admit your false information and generalisation then let’s talk about the YouTuber front and what I like.

No False Information was given. Out of the thousands of clinics/technicians and "surgeons" doing hair transplants in Turkey. Three of them are worth considering. FUECapilar, Bicer and Maybe HLC although some threads as of recent open up some questions on HLC. No one else is even a consideration. Other Turkish doctors that are recommended on this forum and others have been having more poorer/subpar/mediocre results on average compared to the successes of both Bicer and FUECapilar. Overall though as good as Bicer and FUECapilar are, I wouldn't call them "Elite". If your a higher Norwood like OP is, your better of going to a doctor with a track record that can create "more with less". This skill isn't found in Turkey, its found in the very bests hands, Any clinic can take out 5000 grafts, but that's pretty much borderline the average persons 70-85% whole donor. If some technician does it sloppily they can make a 5000 graft extraction look like a 15000 extraction.

 

 

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by mister_25
punctuation and grammar

[LookMaxx]

..

Edited August 16, 2022 by LookMaxx

[Z--]

Agreed with @Ryan Danieland @mister_25. Ignore any and all suggestions of going to Turkey for a hair transplant. There is only one clinic there that one can recommend in good faith at the moment (Bicer). She's solid and won't ruin your donor, but I haven't been that convinced regarding her work with higher Norwoods in the same way I have been of Hattengen or Zarev. Worldwide, there are at most around 30ish clinics that are worthwhile that won't play Russian Roulette with your donor region; understand that the vast majority of clinics (99%+) are run by charlatans or lesser doctors. If you end up there, you'll likely have an awful hairline like in the posted video with no remaining donor to fix it. The recommended doctor list on this forum is okayish -- it doesn't distinguish between the quality of doctors and there are some doctors who have been removed from there, so take it with a grain of salt and instead focus on documented patient cases here.

Truth is you are a difficult (but not impossible) case. IMO, you are young, diffuse thinning, weaker donor (retrogade alopecia?) and not on finasteride/propecia. That's fine, but you need to have expectations in check. The safest way to play this is as follows: opt for FUT first with a moderate session (3k or less). Do another FUT if you can and then switch to FUE. You'll probably need 3+ surgeries, but you'll max out the number of available grafts in exchange for a scar doing this. If you want short hair and don't want to opt into FUT (which is reasonable given your hair length in the photos), do FUE in smaller sessions (2.5k or so) with an elite surgeon to mitigate the risk of overharvesting and to plan around your loss pattern, which will be more apparent over the years. Do you have beard hair? That might be necessary to pull from in the future for maximum coverage.

Avoid falling for bs claims and advertisements, claims of sapphire blades, DHI superiority over FUE, etc. For a good result you have to avoid making mistake of going to a clinic that advertises this nonsense. Anything less and you risk permanent thinness. You may find some solid options around the 3ish euro per graft range like Pinto, Mwamba, Ferudini, or Eugenix who are ethical and more budget friendly. 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Z--

[balumbalum]

4 hours ago, Z-- said:

Agreed with @Ryan Danieland @mister_25. Ignore any and all suggestions of going to Turkey for a hair transplant. There is only one clinic there that one can recommend in good faith at the moment (Bicer). She's solid and won't ruin your donor, but I haven't been that convinced regarding her work with higher Norwoods in the same way I have been of Hattengen or Zarev. Worldwide, there are at most around 30ish clinics that are worthwhile that won't play Russian Roulette with your donor region; understand that the vast majority of clinics (99%+) are run by charlatans or lesser doctors. If you end up there, you'll likely have an awful hairline like in the posted video with no remaining donor to fix it. The recommended doctor list on this forum is okayish -- it doesn't distinguish between the quality of doctors and there are some doctors who have been removed from there, so take it with a grain of salt and instead focus on documented patient cases here.

Truth is you are a difficult (but not impossible) case. IMO, you are young, diffuse thinning, weaker donor (retrogade alopecia?) and not on finasteride/propecia. That's fine, but you need to have expectations in check. The safest way to play this is as follows: opt for FUT first with a moderate session (3k or less). Do another FUT if you can and then switch to FUE. You'll probably need 3+ surgeries, but you'll max out the number of available grafts in exchange for a scar doing this. If you want short hair and don't want to opt into FUT (which is reasonable given your hair length in the photos), do FUE in smaller sessions (2.5k or so) with an elite surgeon to mitigate the risk of overharvesting and to plan around your loss pattern, which will be more apparent over the years. Do you have beard hair? That might be necessary to pull from in the future for maximum coverage.

Avoid falling for bs claims and advertisements, claims of sapphire blades, DHI superiority over FUE, etc. For a good result you have to avoid making mistake of going to a clinic that advertises this nonsense. Anything less and you risk permanent thinness. You may find some solid options around the 3ish euro per graft range like Pinto, Mwamba, Ferudini, or Eugenix who are ethical and more budget friendly. 

Thanks for the answer! @Z--

I would def consider your recommendation of surgeons and do a extra research.

The photos of the donor area were taken under a direct light so maybe it looks like weak cuz I thought its better that way when you people judge. I think that my donor is not that weak, its not strong also, maybe falls under the average category...  I have same balding pattern as all males in my family (my father, 3 uncles and grandfather), for my age I am still doing good compared to their hairfall throughout the years.. they dont have retrograde alopecia and I dont believe that I will have too, we all kinda have similar head shapes so I am kinda sure about it. 

My dad 50+ and my granddad 80+ are still Norwood 5 almost same like mine (sides are still high and crown is not completely gone)... Since I received many suggestions, I am thinking to opt out for a transplant of 3500+ grafts covering the front and mid scalp, wait for the donor to recover, maybe consider SMP for the crown meanwhile or beard transplant cuz I have a thick beard also. If the donor area is still good for another 1000 grafts or so in the future Ill try to fix the crown or maybe increase the density in general and accept the fact that this is maximum that I can do. I will not go for my teenage hairline, Ill agree to something high, similar to the one I am having now so I can save up some grafts...and probably go back on the medicine that I can supply. As I mentioned Switzerland is a strict country and Finestride is not allowed here so I will do some exploring also on that one.

I am def not going to give any clinic to do what they want with my head. I kinda have a plan now but also open to hear opinions and suggestions when it comes to planning, the only thing that I am worried is donor area management so I am trying to find the best option in that field.

 

[Melvin- Admin]

On 8/14/2022 at 11:53 AM, balumbalum said:

Hey @Melvin- Moderator 

I am 28 now, as I mentioned in my previous comment, I use Min for some months now, dont see a big change but I am going to keep using it until I decide what I am going to do. Regarding Fin, it is not approved in the country that I live in so it is a bit hard to get supply from other countries for the long term... and honestly I am a bit afraid of using it cuz my body is really reactive to therapies like that as I suffered from gynecomastia before as a result of similar medical therapy...

So honestly I am really not sure what to do now cuz I know I have Norwood 5 pattern of baldness as all the males in my family, I am expecting to lose everything in the thinning area in the next 5 years...

Can you get topical finasteride? Honestly you need to stop DHT from attacking the hair follicles, min is only part of the equation.