Thinking of getting HT

[bosegrave]

Hello everyone!

 

I’ve been checking the forum for the last 1 and a half year from time to time as I’m also interested into getting an HT. I’m 31 now but I started balding quite early, probably around 18 yo. and  throughout my 20s the bolding was overall pretty aggressive specially into the crown area :(

Due to many reasons, ( like me reading about fin side effects and doctors not willing to prescribe it to me) I started taking medications quite late hence most of the damage was already done.
I started taking finasteride few years ago and took it for a year 1mg/ day, then I stopped as I didn’t see much regrowth and I kind of gave up to the fact that I would be bold and I shaved thinking I’d eventually come to term with it. Unfortunately it didn’t happened as I just hated the way I looked to the point that I basically don’t ever go out without a hat. 

Now I’m back on Finasteride again, did one year of 0,5/ mg every day and then switched to a topical daily solution that has 7% minox. and 1mg finasteride. I’m aware I need to get more consistent with medications…

I recently got assessed with NW 3V and now I’ve made up my mind and decided I want to get an HT.

 

So far I’ve got in touch with:

 

Bicer: which decided not to take on my case :(

 

De Freitas: which has estimated ~2.800 grafts for the crown area

 

Eugenix: which has estimated around 4.2k grafts (3k scalp and the rest from beard) . Probably the best shot I have? 👆🏻

 

Mwamba: 3-3500 for crown area 

 

Overall my donor area is kind of poor or so I’ve been told, so I’m not sure if another HT in the future would be an option so I’m trying to keep my expectations low. 

Also something that got me thinking is that the area that has an higher need in my case is the crown which I read is kind of the last part one should think of as you’d wanna focus on your hairline first. Right?

Now, my hairline isn’t definitely the best and for sure it would be nice to adjust it but isn’t bugging me as much as my crown is, meaning that If I’d manage to stop the hairloss with meds I could be fine with how it’s looking now.  

Am I being realistic? 

I surely don’t want to end up with having only transplanted hairs on my crown and nothing more. Are those clinics taking in consideration the balding progression or do they only care about selling?

 

Here some pics to give you an idea of how bad the situation is :D

I’d appreciate to hear your thoughts, suggestions or recommendations on the matter, since many of you have been through HTs and/or have seen lots of different HT stories here in the forum.

Thanks!

[A_4_Archan]

Higher grade baldness cases are handled very well by eugnix ..so u cn go with them ...but your donor area looks very average ..specially ur sides look very sparse and from ur pics ur beard even dont look tht dense ...so availability of grafts wud be an issue if u have high goals...so i feel dr bicer may be true in not taking ur case...so choose wisely ...and if u go for a transplant thn plz dnt keep high goals...best of luck 😊

[Rafael Manelli]

Norwood 3v?... Sorry but whoever did that assessment gave you some flattery. This looks like a Norwood 5 to me.

Donor looks good at the back, weaker at the sides. But you need proper assessment. 

Does your beard match the scalp hair? Can you post a picture of your beard with a few weeks of growth, especially the underside? Do you have body hair supplies?

You could still be a candidate, especially if you can use those. It will not be cheap. But if you think of yourself as a Norwood 6, you could consider the hair you have on top as like a free 2000 grafts. If you keep them with meds. 

[bosegrave]

2 hours ago, Rafael Manelli said:

Norwood 3v?... Sorry but whoever did that assessment gave you some flattery. This looks like a Norwood 5 to me.

Donor looks good at the back, weaker at the sides. But you need proper assessment. 

Does your beard match the scalp hair? Can you post a picture of your beard with a few weeks of growth, especially the underside? Do you have body hair supplies?

You could still be a candidate, especially if you can use those. It will not be cheap. But if you think of yourself as a Norwood 6, you could consider the hair you have on top as like a free 2000 grafts. If you keep them with meds. 

 Hey thanks for your reply Rafael.
Yeah truth to be told, it seemed a very generous estimation also to me 😅 But I’ve been told this twice from two different docs and I’m no expert 🤷🏻‍♂️

Beard isn’t exactly matching my hair, it’s a bit darker and a bit curly. It’s also not too dense either. See pics.

As for chest hair I don’t have many so I doubt they could be a reliable source

I know I cannot expect a miracle or to have high density. I’d be already happy to achieve a uniform result in terms of  density so that my crown kind of matches with what I already have ( or don’t have  ) and it’s not as exposed.

[Rafael Manelli]

I reckon your donor will do better than you might expect