How do you evaluate my situation?

[Celli]

Hello everyone,

I would like to ask for your feedback.

I am 28 years old and I am interested in a HT.

I have temples for years and they became bigger after turning 21 I guess.

But as I can remember it stayed the same since I turned 23.

I take no meds and don’t want to if not necessary.

Could you please evaluate my situation? Is it too early for a HT?

Picture 1-4 were taken some days ago.

Picture 5 is 3 years old.

Picture 6 is 5 years old.

Picture 7 is some weeks ago with similar hairstyle.

Did it get worse?

 

UPDATE: sorry I think I forgot helpful information

I never noticed active hair loss. I don’t think that I am losing more than 100 hairs a day. For example when brushing my hair after taking a shower I see about 3-10 hairs in the washbasin. 
Nevertheless when looking at pictures that are about 10 years old (when I was 18) I see a better hairline than now.

I tried Minoxidil for more than 6 months (reason was to improve beard growth, but also used in in the temples) and I didn’t notice any difference (neither beard nor hair). Even not after stopping to use it.

 

And sorry, I am not a native speaker.

 

 

Edited August 25, 2022 by Celli

[StillAlive]

Very healthy hairline for a 28 year, a mature NW1.5/2, at this stage no one in their right mind can say that you are balding. Mind you, if you are shedding a lot, it could mean that your hair loss is just beginning. You can try using Nizoral shampoo once per week and starting some multivitamins as none of those will hurt or give you side effects.

If you are still worried, you could visit a dermatologist who'd check your hair for miniaturization but overall, things are looking good. Even if you are destined for hair loss, the fact that it just started at 28 means that in all likelihood, you will not end up becoming a very high NW, thus making restoration options available later on. 

[Celli]

26 minutes ago, StillAlive said:

Very healthy hairline for a 28 year, a mature NW1.5/2, at this stage no one in their right mind can say that you are balding. Mind you, if you are shedding a lot, it could mean that your hair loss is just beginning. You can try using Nizoral shampoo once per week and starting some multivitamins as none of those will hurt or give you side effects.

If you are still worried, you could visit a dermatologist who'd check your hair for miniaturization but overall, things are looking good. Even if you are destined for hair loss, the fact that it just started at 28 means that in all likelihood, you will not end up becoming a very high NW, thus making restoration options available later on. 

Thank you for your feedback.

I will have a look at your recommended shampoo. Currently I use shampoo and hair tonic with caffeine and RootBioTec daily. It is only 10€ per month and I imagine I lose about 5 hairs less when brushing my hair. 😅

So your advice is to visit a dermatologist before doing a HT? Or is it better to go to a hair loss specialized doctor? I booked a consultation with Dr Özgür from HLC in Berlin in two weeks. I think I will cancel it because I found some negative reviews here. I thought maybe Dr Özgür could help me. They charge 100€ for this.

I asked a dermatologist last week (reason for my consultation was something different) and she suggested to arrange a separate appointment for about 35€. What she can do is to send hair roots to a laboratory (is this helpful?) and she suggested to do a self observation. Maybe she was not a specialist for hair loss and it could be better to find one and pay more for a consultation.

 

I noticed that I missed some probably helpful information. Hence I updated my post:

 

UPDATE: sorry I think I forgot helpful information

I never noticed active hair loss. I don’t think that I am losing more than 100 hairs a day. For example when brushing my hair after taking a shower I see about 3-10 hairs in the washbasin. 
When looking at picture that are about 10 years old (when I was 18) I see a better hairline than now.

I tried Minoxidil for more than 6 months (reason was to improve beard growth, but also used in in the temples) and I didn’t notice any difference (neither beard nor hair). Even not after stopping to use it.

Edited August 25, 2022 by Celli

[1978matt]

It looks like you are just experiencing slow and gradual temple recession which may get worse over the next 10-15 years...or it may stay relatively stable.

I think it looks too good to get a HT and if anything I would just get on Finasteride as an insurance policy.

[StillAlive]

Man please save your money, particularly from crooks who charge 100 euros to just kinda...take a look and tell you that you are fine. Do not give in to paranoia.

Minoxidil is used to help regrow hair in the crown and mid-scalp areas, to the best of my knowledge it has no effect on temple hair. You are now going through that initial shock of 'Oh my God, I don't look 18 anymore' and you are panicking. If only most of us could go back to that stage and smack our younger selves upside the head a good one.

You need to observe yourself. It is NATURAL for your hairline to develop into a NW2 as you mature, the exception and anomaly is to retain a NW1 juvenile hairline throughout your life. If however you notice deeper recession and you head to NW3 territory, then it may be time to take some more decisive action. 

TL;DR Your hair is great looking for your age. It's good that you are alert about this, but relax. 

[Celli]

2 minutes ago, StillAlive said:

Man please save your money, particularly from crooks who charge 100 euros to just kinda...take a look and tell you that you are fine. Do not give in to paranoia.

Minoxidil is used to help regrow hair in the crown and mid-scalp areas, to the best of my knowledge it has no effect on temple hair. You are now going through that initial shock of 'Oh my God, I don't look 18 anymore' and you are panicking. If only most of us could go back to that stage and smack our younger selves upside the head a good one.

You need to observe yourself. It is NATURAL for your hairline to develop into a NW2 as you mature, the exception and anomaly is to retain a NW1 juvenile hairline throughout your life. If however you notice deeper recession and you head to NW3 territory, then it may be time to take some more decisive action. 

TL;DR Your hair is great looking for your age. It's good that you are alert about this, but relax. 

I see your point and of course there are many with a worse hair loss situation than me. I am not really in panic, but obviously I don’t want it to get much worse.

For me it is only an aesthetic surgery and I would feel much better with a younger and better hairline. 🙂

My fear is to lose more hair behind the implanted hair after the surgery. This is why I ask for your feedback here and I really appreciate your feedback.

 

I don’t know how it is in UK but in Germany you have to pay for a consultation about topics that are not necessary for your general health..

 

[StillAlive]

If you go to a doctor, yes, you will pay.

Most HT surgeons offer free online consultations these days, an in-person consult is usually reserved for really difficult cases with extensive loss where a realistic estimate needs to be made. Anyhow, if worried about temporal recession, your best bet is to wait until you are 35 and stable with your hair loss, THEN get some work done. Because, as you correctly understood, if you go fix your NW2 now, you may continue losing behind it and need more surgeries down the line.

Keep monitoring the situation, as long as you are not shedding excessively, you are most probably fine. Also, what's your hereditary situation? Father, grandfathers, uncles? Is there a lot of baldness in the family or do you see for example a lot NW2's and 3's in old age?

[Celli]

8 minutes ago, StillAlive said:

If you go to a doctor, yes, you will pay.

Most HT surgeons offer free online consultations these days, an in-person consult is usually reserved for really difficult cases with extensive loss where a realistic estimate needs to be made. Anyhow, if worried about temporal recession, your best bet is to wait until you are 35 and stable with your hair loss, THEN get some work done. Because, as you correctly understood, if you go fix your NW2 now, you may continue losing behind it and need more surgeries down the line.

Keep monitoring the situation, as long as you are not shedding excessively, you are most probably fine. Also, what's your hereditary situation? Father, grandfathers, uncles? Is there a lot of baldness in the family or do you see for example a lot NW2's and 3's in old age?

I booked the consultation in Berlin because I almost decided to go to HLC in turkey. The consultation costs would have been deducted from final surgery costs and I would get an almost exactly number of needed grafts (and price). And additionally I thought in person they can give a better feedback about my current hair loss situation.

I am waiting for feedback from Dr Bicer and Dr Pinto. I would like to limit the costs at 2.5€/Graft or 5-6k€. Depending on needed graft amount.

 

Hereditary situation:

My father has a very good hairline and he is in his late 50s. Find a picture attached. Maybe it’s NW1?

His father had also good hair. Maybe it was NW2 in his last years.

His brother has no temples but a little bit higher hairline.

My mother has a little bit thinning hair (no temples or anything). But I would say nothing unusual.

Her father had a balding head in his last years. I remember he had some hairs left on his upper head which he placed over his balding head. There was definitely some left hair on his upper head but not a much as the father from my father.

My cousin (family side from my mother) has a good and normal mature hairline I think..

[StillAlive]

It sounds quite promising. Going from the pictures, you'll probably look like your father, an amazing head of hair. Come back to this forum in 10 years time or so  

[mafpe]

just a somewhat mature hairline.

if you want, you can use a HT to "renew" the hairline, but not needed imo, you look fine, maybe look a lil older than what your age usually looks like due to a bit of recession, but is rather normal looking. no one would think you're balding.

most likely you won't ever be in high NW scale, so you're pretty safe.

[SimpleLife]

Try a new hairstyle and comb your hair to the front to cover the temples if it bothers you

Check out the Paul brothers, their situation is worse than yours but they fix it easily by doing the above. Your hair looks perfectly healthy and normal, no need for a HT.

[SimpleLife]

@StillAlive Nailed it👌

[Celli]

3 minutes ago, SimpleLife said:

Try a new hairstyle and comb your hair to the front to cover the temples if it bothers you

Check out the Paul brothers, their situation is worse than yours but they fix it easily by doing the above. Your hair looks perfectly healthy and normal, no need for a HT.

That’s exactly what I’m doing. 

But sometimes I have like a bad hair day and it just looks messy. Then I am forced to style my hair to the side to have at least a clean look.

Sometimes I wish to have more options for hairstyles and to do clean looks. 
As I said it is an aesthetic surgery for me. But I think it is for everyone?

Edited August 25, 2022 by Celli

[HappyMan2021]

You are a good ht candidate. 28 is old enough. 

I disagree with those saying your hairloss isnt significant enough for a HT, or just to cope, etc. Your temples have visibly and significantly receded. 

[Mike10]

I strongly disagree with those suggesting HT where you're commited at only 28. The same goes for Propecia as you have bascially a full head of hair with some slight temple recession.You may consider a light treatment like PRP, MSM; vitamines or possibly Laser. This was right for me and my case is very similar to yours and I am 40 now. I hope you take the right decisions just as I did.   

Edited August 25, 2022 by Mike10

[Celli]

34 minutes ago, Mike10 said:

I strongly disagree with those suggesting HT where you're commited at only 28. The same goes for Propecia as you have bascially a full head of hair with some slight temple recession.You may consider a light treatment like PRP, MSM; vitamines or possibly Laser. This was right for me and my case is very similar to yours and I am 40 now. I hope you take the right decisions just as I did.   

Thank you for your feedback.

As I know my hair in the temples will not return with these light treatments, right? 
I don’t believe supplementing vitamins improves my hair except you have a vitamin deficiency.

Nevertheless I take multivitamin supplement, zinc and vitamin D everyday since years. Additionally I would say I have a good nutrition.

 

Why is it a wrong decision to do a HT now? If I want to keep my status, okay, maybe not necessary. But I don’t want these temples anymore .. 🙃

[Mike10]

16 minutes ago, Celli said:

Thank you for your feedback.

As I know my hair in the temples will not return with these light treatments, right? 
I don’t believe supplementing vitamins improves my hair except you have a vitamin deficiency.

Nevertheless I take multivitamin supplement, zinc and vitamin D everyday since years. Additionally I would say I have a good nutrition.

 

Why is it a wrong decision to do a HT now? If I want to keep my status, okay, maybe not necessary. But I don’t want these temples anymore .. 🙃

That is right. The things I recommend can improve quality of hair which however will have a visual impact. 

As to your question, I think you should look at the whole picture. You are 28 and not even a NW2.You already have a good head of hair.  So the objective should rather be to maintain and improve hair. If you achieve this, you will be in good position, compared to to your friends who  look worse than you during their 30s and so on. Your perspective will then likely change with time and you will be much more satisfied with your hair status. 

Now what else speaks against a HT? At 28 you will be committed for further surgeries. Even in the best hands, you can't rule out some temporary shockloss or a lack of density (prompting a touch up).And you will do surgery which barely anybody else will notice!  

So unless, you have some kind of obessional behaviour which inhibits you to function normally, I would stay clear of surgery and reavulate in 10 years.  

 

 

 

[Melvin- Admin]

You have very mild androgenic alopecia. Since hair loss is progressive you want to make sure that you're not too aggressive. To be honest, I think your hair looks good. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't do anything. There are several guys that had procedures with your hair loss. Check out @capillus incrementum @Maa I think for your hair type and style you need to look into Dr. Bisanga. 

P.S. Sweet Lederhosen 😁

[John1991]

You and I were in somewhat similar situation in terms of hairline height (though I had a bit less temporal recession) and I got a transplant - though I waited an extra 3 years.  I honestly don't think it's going to make a huge difference for you if you do get a transplant, but it could definitely be a marginal improvement to your appearance.  It's probably the most significant appearance improvement you could make outside of juicing yourself to the moon.   You'd hopefully end up slightly better off, but if it goes wrong you could be worse off.  And you'd spend probably the better part of 6 months just waiting to live normally again - if not longer. And you'll end up spending 10k+.  Obviously you care enough to post on a site like this, so that's a good (actually bad) start, I suppose.  It means you care a lot.  Honestly, if all of the above sounds like it's worth the trouble for a marginally lower and better hairline, then, yes, you "should" get a transplant.  Here’s a few of me prior just for reference. 

Edited August 25, 2022 by John1991

[Celli]

14 hours ago, Mike10 said:

That is right. The things I recommend can improve quality of hair which however will have a visual impact. 

As to your question, I think you should look at the whole picture. You are 28 and not even a NW2.You already have a good head of hair.  So the objective should rather be to maintain and improve hair. If you achieve this, you will be in good position, compared to to your friends who  look worse than you during their 30s and so on. Your perspective will then likely change with time and you will be much more satisfied with your hair status. 

Now what else speaks against a HT? At 28 you will be committed for further surgeries. Even in the best hands, you can't rule out some temporary shockloss or a lack of density (prompting a touch up).And you will do surgery which barely anybody else will notice!  

So unless, you have some kind of obessional behaviour which inhibits you to function normally, I would stay clear of surgery and reavulate in 10 years.  

 

 

 

Thank you for your arguments. I will consider this.
Why do you think anybody else will notice that I had a surgery? I saw results even from cheap hair mills that looked incredibly good (of course I will stay away from hair mills). 
As I said my only fear is to have more recession only a few years later and this is mainly the reason why I ask for advices.

I wouldn’t be afraid of a second and also third surgery, if it would be after around 10 years and the third after another 10 years. And of course if my donor is good enough for this.

8 hours ago, Melvin- Moderator said:

You have very mild androgenic alopecia. Since hair loss is progressive you want to make sure that you're not too aggressive. To be honest, I think your hair looks good. If I were in your shoes I wouldn't do anything. There are several guys that had procedures with your hair loss. Check out @capillus incrementum @Maa I think for your hair type and style you need to look into Dr. Bisanga. 

P.S. Sweet Lederhosen 😁

Hi Marvin. Thank you for your feedback. What do you mean by ‚make sure that you‘re not too aggressive‘? Result from @capillus incrementumlooks very good to me 🙂 I would agree that his pre op situation is similar to mine.

To be honest Dr. Bisanga is a little bit too expensive. I considered Dr. Bicer, HCL or Dr Bruno Pinto. 
I have to figure out if it’s really necessary to go the best. I have an offer from Dr Gökhan Gür who charges 1,25€/Graft and I only see positive feedback about him.

When I started my research about Hair transplant I was almost sure to go with what you call hair mill in Istanbul. I didn’t know it is such a sensitive topic and there are many things someone can do wrong.

P.S. Photo was taken in Munich at the Oktoberfest. It is definitely one of the cheaper Lederhosen. 😃
 

7 hours ago, John1991 said:

You and I were in somewhat similar situation in terms of hairline height (though I had a bit less temporal recession) and I got a transplant - though I waited an extra 3 years.  I honestly don't think it's going to make a huge difference for you if you do get a transplant, but it could definitely be a marginal improvement to your appearance.  It's probably the most significant appearance improvement you could make outside of juicing yourself to the moon.   You'd hopefully end up slightly better off, but if it goes wrong you could be worse off.  And you'd spend probably the better part of 6 months just waiting to live normally again - if not longer. And you'll end up spending 10k+.  Obviously you care enough to post on a site like this, so that's a good (actually bad) start, I suppose.  It means you care a lot.  Honestly, if all of the above sounds like it's worth the trouble for a marginally lower and better hairline, then, yes, you "should" get a transplant.  Here’s a few of me prior just for reference. 

Hey, thanks for your feedback.

When did you get your hair transplant?
You said you waited 3 years and it didn’t make a difference. That’s also what I think of. Why wait when you can have that appearance improvement now and it won’t make a difference to wait? 🙂

To be honest, I don’t really care about the 6+ month until the results are visible. As I know you are allowed to wear baseball caps after a few weeks?

Why you think you have to pay 10k+? As I replied to Marvin above I considered to go to Dr Bicer, HLC or Dr Bruno Pinto. They are all at 2.5-3€ as I know. Feedback from HLC was I would need 2000-2500 grafts. 
I visited a surgery in Berlin (not the best one I guess). They suggested only 1800 grafts. Probably they would not achieve a high density with this assumption.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Celli

[Mike10]

1 hour ago, Celli said:

Thank you for your arguments. I will consider this.
Why do you think anybody else will notice that I had a surgery? I saw results even from cheap hair mills that looked incredibly good (of course I will stay away from hair mills). 
As I said my only fear is to have more recession only a few years later and this is mainly the reason why I ask for advices.

I wouldn’t be afraid of a second and also third surgery, if it would be after around 10 years and the third after another 10 years. And of course if my donor is good enough for this.

Hi Marvin. Thank you for your feedback. What do you mean by ‚make sure that you‘re not too aggressive‘? Result from @capillus incrementumlooks very good to me 🙂 I would agree that his pre op situation is similar to mine.

To be honest Dr. Bisanga is a little bit too expensive. I considered Dr. Bicer, HCL or Dr Bruno Pinto. 
I have to figure out if it’s really necessary to go the best. I have an offer from Dr Gökhan Gür who charges 1,25€/Graft and I only see positive feedback about him.

When I started my research about Hair transplant I was almost sure to go with what you call hair mill in Istanbul. I didn’t know it is such a sensitive topic and there are many things someone can do wrong.

P.S. Photo was taken in Munich at the Oktoberfest. It is definitely one of the cheaper Lederhosen. 😃
 

Hey, thanks for your feedback.

When did you get your hair transplant?
You said you waited 3 years and it didn’t make a difference. That’s also what I think of. Why wait when you can have that appearance improvement now and it won’t make a difference to wait? 🙂

To be honest, I don’t really care about the 6+ month until the results are visible. As I know you are allowed to wear baseball caps after a few weeks?

Why you think you have to pay 10k+? As I replied to Marvin above I considered to go to Dr Bicer, HLC or Dr Bruno Pinto. They are all at 2.5-3€ as I know. Feedback from HLC was I would need 2000-2500 grafts. 
I visited a surgery in Berlin (not the best one I guess). They suggested only 1800 grafts. Probably they would not achieve a high density with this assumption.

The answer seems obvious. Because nobody gives a fXXX whether you're NW1,5 or NW0,5. Especially not women. 

[Axel]

On 8/26/2022 at 1:45 AM, Celli said:

Thank you for your arguments. I will consider this.
Why do you think anybody else will notice that I had a surgery? I saw results even from cheap hair mills that looked incredibly good (of course I will stay away from hair mills). 
As I said my only fear is to have more recession only a few years later and this is mainly the reason why I ask for advices.

I wouldn’t be afraid of a second and also third surgery, if it would be after around 10 years and the third after another 10 years. And of course if my donor is good enough for this.

Hi Marvin. Thank you for your feedback. What do you mean by ‚make sure that you‘re not too aggressive‘? Result from @capillus incrementumlooks very good to me 🙂 I would agree that his pre op situation is similar to mine.

To be honest Dr. Bisanga is a little bit too expensive. I considered Dr. Bicer, HCL or Dr Bruno Pinto. 
I have to figure out if it’s really necessary to go the best. I have an offer from Dr Gökhan Gür who charges 1,25€/Graft and I only see positive feedback about him.

When I started my research about Hair transplant I was almost sure to go with what you call hair mill in Istanbul. I didn’t know it is such a sensitive topic and there are many things someone can do wrong.

P.S. Photo was taken in Munich at the Oktoberfest. It is definitely one of the cheaper Lederhosen. 😃
 

Hey, thanks for your feedback.

When did you get your hair transplant?
You said you waited 3 years and it didn’t make a difference. That’s also what I think of. Why wait when you can have that appearance improvement now and it won’t make a difference to wait? 🙂

To be honest, I don’t really care about the 6+ month until the results are visible. As I know you are allowed to wear baseball caps after a few weeks?

Why you think you have to pay 10k+? As I replied to Marvin above I considered to go to Dr Bicer, HLC or Dr Bruno Pinto. They are all at 2.5-3€ as I know. Feedback from HLC was I would need 2000-2500 grafts. 
I visited a surgery in Berlin (not the best one I guess). They suggested only 1800 grafts. Probably they would not achieve a high density with this assumption.

No way you'd need that many grafts. My recession is the same pattern as yours and was much, much deeper. Took 2,600. Don't get ripped off. Below is before and after. 

[WhereIsMyMind]

I think if you like longer hairstyles with combover its not worth to go for high density transplants and waste a lot of future grafts.
One day in your 30s, your crown will start balding and you will wonder why do you have no graft left to salvage your hair loss.
This is a marathon, not a sprint, think wisely!