Is it achievable for me? Number of Grafts per day? Consecutive days?

[Johnfodden5]

Hi All,

Long term viewer, but signed up this week as I am on the way to potentially getting a transplant.  
 

I’m nw7, got SMP but really would prefer to have hair.

My donor is low, but have been advised my beard hair is ample to harvest.  My research has taken me down a few rabbit holes for hours of who should do it, how many grafts, how many days.  So I thought I would post here and hopefully get some insightful comments to help me understand view points and logic.

I have been to many consultations locally and online,  opinions and mixed and advice has always been yes we can do it.  Just how much they can do and what type of coverage can be achieved.

From estimations and also advice I need approx 8500 grafts.

Clinic 1 say they can do only 3500 grafts in 1 day.  And then look to do another surgery in 12 months, unsure how many they could take.  Unsure if 8500 is achievable.

Clinic 2 say they can do 4500 grafts in 1 day and a following 4000 the next day.

Clinic 3 say they would need to be carried out over 3 surgeries. Split into 9 months segments.

What I am unsure about is... Why wait 12 months in between?  If the donor and beard is available to take, why would the process not be carried out over 2 days consecutively?

I have heard , the trauma to the scalp, the blood supply to the hairs, the survival rate of the grafts.

I see some results from India and Brazil with fantastic survival rates and fullness from 2 consecutive day treatments.  (Results to view on this forum)

Any input is appreciated.

J

 

[GoliGoliGoli]

Someone more knowledgeable can correct me if I'm wrong, but I think generally beard hair is really only meant to supplement donor hair in the transplant journey. Maybe your beard hair matches your scalp hair well in terms of texture and shape, but I'd be concerned with how it'd look if using too much beard hair. 

[pkipling]

I'm not in a position to give a full recommendation, but I have a few thoughts to consider: 

One advantage of splitting the procedures up with some time in between is to see how you respond to a hair transplant in the first place. If it were me, I'd want to be careful not to shoot my entire shot all at once - especially if I had advanced hair loss with limited donor. Getting a home run result would be tricky and not guaranteed - so I would rather be conservative and take my time making sure I get it right. 

And Goli is correct that it isn't ideal to use beard/body hair as a primary source of donor hair. They can really help you get more mileage out of a procedure, but due to the texture, it's best used as filler and to add density to the crown. It's important that you use actual scalp hair for the hairline/front portion, so make sure that's also a priority.  

I also think it's important for you to make sure you have realistic expectations for what you can achieve. That's one of the most important factors when it comes to having a positive hair transplant experience. We're all able to achieve different levels of coverage and density based on our own unique situation - and so you'll likely have to be okay with have a conservative, mature hairline. If you go into with that sort of mindset and don't rush the process, you could likely end up with a really satisfying result. 

Hope you get some other input as well! Best of luck. 

[MisterBreakfast]

I'm seeing a little bit of what might be retrograde alopecia (check with a doc), and a little diffuse thinning in the remaining donor (again check under a trichoscope).  Your challenge is that you will likely want a majority of your grafts to be scalp hair, and blend in a little bit of beard hair for a good cosmetic result.

I wish you luck my friend.  If there's a chance that alternatives like hair systems are an option for you, I'd say to also keep an open mind to that.   If you do move forward with HT, please choose a highly skilled surgeon who can make your grafts go the farthest.

 

P.S. I'm also super jealous of your, what looks like amazing facial hair!

 

 

Edited September 13, 2022 by MisterBreakfast

[Vann]

Its hard to tell but there are some areas where your hair is patchy and might be susceptible to hairloss (in the donor). I am not sure what kind of quality or texture you have for hair since it is kept short in the images. I am not a medical professional but some demographic information could help such as age, medication, when you started losing hair.

 

Additionally, were you considering doing FUT or solely FUE? Do you have expectations that a nw7 would be able to achieve with a very limited donor?

 

edit: also check with a derm to see if you may susceptible to an auto immunity issue. Sometimes, very rarely, could they look like mpb and make you lose hair. As long as you have scarring alopecia you may recover from it from medication.

Edited September 13, 2022 by Vann

[Johnfodden5]

Hi All,

thanks for the info so far, will be sure to keep yous up to date with my finding.

I would honestly only be interested in FUE, it keeps my future options available, for the unknown reason of a hair transplant not working for me, then it would allow me to SMP any FUE scaring and stick with shaved SMP look, going for FUT will prevent that.

I have started minoxidil and also looking at oral minoxidil.

I have sessions of PRP booked also for all over scalp, to see if this will help my donor area also.  Sessions booked for every 8 weeks.

I also have sessions of GFC PRP booked in every 8 weeks to work alongside.  

Every 4 weeks I’ll be in for PRP basically, alongside twice daily minoxidil.  I have tried finasteride before but it’s not for me, I noticed sides when using.

is everyone collective on splitting the hair transplants with a 12 month gap?

One clinic actually said to me my hair characteristics can change in 18 months of having beard hair put into the scalp?  Is this true?

 

Thankyou! 🙌

[Gatsby]

If you have any thoughts of rocking a shaved, SMP look then I really suggest that you think twice before surgery. You have a great head shape for a shaved head. Now one reason a gigga session is not to be advised is because you do not want to blow all of your grafts in one hit. If for some reason the growth is poor then you have spent all of your ammo with little to no options left. Also by transplanting a smaller amount first the surgeon and yourself will get a better idea of how your hair recovers and grows before committing all of your grafts to surgery which makes sense. One thing though is if your consultations were not in person then be careful with how many grafts are available. SMP has a great way of giving the illusion of having more hair in the donor than is actually there. If you are talking about 8,500 grafts then beard grafts would have to be used as a donor source to manage your scalp donor appearance. Wishing you all the best! 

[Johnfodden5]

I’ve been rocking the SMP look for years now.  I’ll be honest I see Dr Pittella’s results and I feel I have enough donor, beard and body to gain full coverage again.  My plan is to work with minoxidil, prp and GFc for the next 6-9 months, have a look under the scope again and see if there is improvement.

 

The minoxidil, prp and GFc will be into the donor also.  Hopefully we will see improvement and we can make a plan 🤞🏻🤞🏻

[mrmane85]

The only two surgeons I would look at in your situation would be Dr Sethi and Dr Pittella. 

If you had side effects from Finasteride then I would also look into low dose oral Minoxidil, which is what Dr Pittella generally recommends. 

I'd probably lean towards surgery split into two sessions, 6-12 months apart. 

[HHH]

21 hours ago, mrmane85 said:

The only two surgeons I would look at in your situation would be Dr Sethi and Dr Pittella. 

If you had side effects from Finasteride then I would also look into low dose oral Minoxidil, which is what Dr Pittella generally recommends. 

I'd probably lean towards surgery split into two sessions, 6-12 months apart. 

What about Dr Zarev? Seems to specialise and is consistently getting results with high Norwoods.

[Johnfodden5]

I’ve seen the lad Johns job from Dr Sethi, it’s growing so well after 5 months or so!  His work is for sure well!  And Dr Pittella’s work is unreal!  Of course comes with the price tag to match

[mrmane85]

10 hours ago, HHH said:

What about Dr Zarev? Seems to specialise and is consistently getting results with high Norwoods.

It's so difficult to find patient reviews of this surgeon (I think there is one single case on this forum). 

He also has not posted any cases since January on his social media.

I'm sure he is a top surgeon but I would personally choose Dr Sethi or Dr Pittella for this kind of case. Dr Bisanga is also a great option to look at.