24 (pics included) Hair restoration/transplant advice please!

[IdkWhyImHere]

Hi guys been lurking the forum the past few months and it’s been super useful overall. So thanks! 

I kind of excepted my hairloss and given that most men in my family suffer from it, I always saw it coming which made it kinda easier but also sucked as I’m sure most of you know it does take a hit on your confidence.  However I’ve come to realise I don’t have to just let it happen and now here I am.
 

my hairloss has progressed a lot and but I’ve recently hopped on finasteride and also began using topical minoxidil. Plan to continue this unless any side affects come up (let’s hope not!) 

I’m 24 years old currently and turning 25 after weighing up my options I’ve decided I don’t feel I need to wait till 30 and wish to go for it sooner rather than later. I’ve set realistic expectations in what I wish to achieve and understand should meds not do the trick I will need to go for a further transplant to “keep up” 

I hope to go for a transplant late 2023 or early 2024. 

so far I’ve been looking into Dr Pitella and also Eugenix (however the different packages/drs I’m unsure on) but was wondering if you guys have any other suggestions?  
 

also if you were in my position what approach would you take towards the transplant? 
I was leaning towards a conservative hairline somewhat of a widows peak (my hair was this way as a teen) and focus more on achieving density throughout that scalp
 

 

[Daniel A]

I think most members would say that you should wait a year taking the medication before considering a transplant. Just so you can see how your hair reacts. But I think while waiting you can have consultations with surgeons. There are many recommended surgeons here in the forum. You should have a consultation with a few of them. 

[Gatsby]

I'm not a doctor or a surgeon but you really should consider medication with your doctor for at least a year like @Daniel A stated. At 24 you could be a Norwood 6 by 30. MPB is progressive. I only say this so you are forearmed in your research. You need a plan for over the life span so that if you decided on undergoing a hair transplant it will look good at 32 and 62. Do not rush this. Take your time researching and I wish you all the best!

[IdkWhyImHere]

@Daniel A @Gatsby

thanks for the replies! 
 

understood. It’s partially why I decided on booking a Transplant for late this year/early next year as opposed to instantly. But I suppose pushing it slightly further so it’s a full year on meds won’t hurt! 

I’ll look into the forum recommended surgeons however any personal surgeon suggestions to keep in mind say if you guys were in my position? 
 

 

[Gatsby]

2 minutes ago, IdkWhyImHere said:

@Daniel A @Gatsby

thanks for the replies! 
 

understood. It’s partially why I decided on booking a Transplant for late this year/early next year as opposed to instantly. But I suppose pushing it slightly further so it’s a full year on meds won’t hurt! 

I’ll look into the forum recommended surgeons however any personal surgeon suggestions to keep in mind say if you guys were in my position? 
 

 

A full year on meds will give you such a better idea of how your hair might respond and researching that long will mean that excellent results are for more in your favour. All the best!

[Berik]

Make sure you can tolerate finasteride/dutasteride/etc. before even thinking about a transplant IMO... transplants for diffuse thinning are always more challenging and you could spend a lifetime of transplants trying to chase your miniaturizing native hairs. 

 

The positive side is most of the time diffuse thinners respond very well to medication, it's possible after a year of minoxidil + fin/dut you decide you are satisfied with your hair recovery and delay a transplant until you begin to lose more ground.

[Berik]

If I were in your position at such a young age, choosing Zarev would be a no-brainer for me. I would urge you to look more into some of Eugenix's recent cases, as some of them have been disappointing and alarming with regards to lack of a patient plan and their trend towards higher volume of patients. 

[Rawkerboi]

At the age of 24 my only advice is stay on medications for Atleast few years. Till then, research. 

You have quite aggressive Hairloss at 24, so please don't jump into Hair Transplant Atleast for few years. 

There are lot of good doctors who are recommended in this forum check their results and have an in person consultation if possible. 

Good luck 

 

[coolbreeze]

2 hours ago, Berik said:

If I were in your position at such a young age, choosing Zarev would be a no-brainer for me. I would urge you to look more into some of Eugenix's recent cases, as some of them have been disappointing and alarming with regards to lack of a patient plan and their trend towards higher volume of patients. 

I just looked up this Dr. He is doing 11k, 12k, even nearly 13k grafts.
Seems extreme.

[Berik]

1 hour ago, coolbreeze said:

I just looked up this Dr. He is doing 11k, 12k, even nearly 13k grafts.
Seems extreme.

I'd suggest you actually review some of his body of work and proprietary technique to understand why he is the best donor management doctor in the world. 

[mr_peanutbutter]

3 hours ago, coolbreeze said:

I just looked up this Dr. He is doing 11k, 12k, even nearly 13k grafts.
Seems extreme.

his cases look very good. however if yoi consider its 5 eur per graft you look into expenses of 50-60k euro

 

not every 24 year old has that money

[SoSoz]

7 hours ago, Berik said:

Make sure you can tolerate finasteride/dutasteride/etc. before even thinking about a transplant IMO... transplants for diffuse thinning are always more challenging and you could spend a lifetime of transplants trying to chase your miniaturizing native hairs. 

 

The positive side is most of the time diffuse thinners respond very well to medication, it's possible after a year of minoxidil + fin/dut you decide you are satisfied with your hair recovery and delay a transplant until you begin to lose more ground.

Somehow Melvin can't tolerate finasteride and done multiple transplants.

OP: Before, anyone would tell you that 25 is the good age for transplant, now for some reason it changed to 30, later maybe it will be 40.. 😅

[Doron Harati]

For age 24 your hairloss is aggressive, however your donor looks strong, do you have miniaturization over the donor in your family or everyone have a stable strong donor.

You can try meds first, because it's hard to determine how the progress will continue, notice for side effects and do detailed research before approaching HT procedure due to your young age.

[IdkWhyImHere]

14 hours ago, Berik said:

If I were in your position at such a young age, choosing Zarev would be a no-brainer for me. I would urge you to look more into some of Eugenix's recent cases, as some of them have been disappointing and alarming with regards to lack of a patient plan and their trend towards higher volume of patients. 

@Berik thanks for both your responses and noted! 
 

yeah that’s partially why I’ve been unsure with Eugenix due to their vast variety of packages and high volume of in and out cases lately. 

[IdkWhyImHere]

7 hours ago, SoSoz said:

Somehow Melvin can't tolerate finasteride and done multiple transplants.

OP: Before, anyone would tell you that 25 is the good age for transplant, now for some reason it changed to 30, later maybe it will be 40.. 😅

@SoSoz

true haha I recall people saying 25 one upon. Time too.  I understand their reasoning however as going for a transplant young one could have unrealistic expectations, go too heavy on the hairline and ultimately not leave enough donor for the crown etc etc.

BUT I like to believe I’ve set realistic expectations and fully understand what I’m getting into. should I have any issues with FIN I will ultimately require a follow up transplant in the future as my native hair will continue to thin. 
 

I’ve sat on this a while and truly believe with realistic expectations, a conservative hairline and anticipation of future loss going for one at say 25 makes no difference than going at 30 aside from you could probably go for a bigger one time session at 30. 

[IdkWhyImHere]

5 hours ago, Doron Harati said:

For age 24 your hairloss is aggressive, however your donor looks strong, do you have miniaturization over the donor in your family or everyone have a stable strong donor.

You can try meds first, because it's hard to determine how the progress will continue, notice for side effects and do detailed research before approaching HT procedure due to your young age.

@Doron Harati
Family wise I’d say donor hair doesn’t suffer from much miniaturisation. Usually also maintain relatively high sides. 
 

and noted, will do thanks 

[IdkWhyImHere]

19 minutes ago, IdkWhyImHere said:

@Berik thanks for both your responses and noted! 
 

yeah that’s partially why I’ve been unsure with Eugenix due to their vast variety of packages and high volume of in and out cases lately. 

@Berik also I’ll look into Zarev. Similarly what’s your thoughts on Pitella? Also caught my eye due to high Norwood cases, work with diffuse thinners etc 

[Mike10]

you are onyl 24 and have aggressive MPB. the first step is try shaving.

[Rafael Manelli]

You have a good attitude and you could make a great candidate. If you’re comfortable with a conservative hairline and meds, you’ll probably get a good result from any doc you choose since you’re only looking at the quality docs.

Have you considered FUT?

[IdkWhyImHere]

@Mike10

Haha Been there done that 😅 I don’t mind it too much to be fair and have a decent dark beard too which helps 

however that was prior to realising I don’t have to just settle. Hence hopping on Fin and minoxidil. 
 

Also As for why I grew my hair out again if I didn’t mind it, the pics above are in the most unflattering light and style of course. 
Day to day with the with how I usually style my hair it’s alot less noticeable to the everyday person that I’m losing my hair let alone how “aggressive” it is. The slight waviness probably helps too.

Guess you could call it an illusion of density XD which isn’t that all a transplant really is? since you’re never going back to 16 lol 
 

[IdkWhyImHere]

3 hours ago, Rafael Manelli said:

You have a good attitude and you could make a great candidate. If you’re comfortable with a conservative hairline and meds, you’ll probably get a good result from any doc you choose since you’re only looking at the quality docs.

Have you considered FUT?

@Rafael Manelli

yeah I’m more than comfortable with a more conservative/widows peak hairline! and just adding density throughout the scalp to improve the illusion. Tbh looking back I don’t think I ever had a straight hairline to begin with even as a child lol 

I’ve started with meds and should I proceed with a hair transplant it’ll likely be for 2024 so a year out and I’ll be 25 by then. 
 

Very much just trying to go for the do it right first Time type approach so as to not waste any donor hair hence my leaning towards docs who have worked with higher norwoods currently! 
 

I’ve looked into FUT as I heard it can cover more with less? (Not sure if that’s true!) And you could also mix it with FUE. However the scarring is what causing my reservations towards it. Also I’m not sure on which doctors offer FUT? Rarely see FUT results on the forum at least since I’ve been lurking

 

[Berik]

8 hours ago, IdkWhyImHere said:

@Berik also I’ll look into Zarev. Similarly what’s your thoughts on Pitella? Also caught my eye due to high Norwood cases, work with diffuse thinners etc 

I have yet to see a bad case from Pitella either. From what I know, Zarev has a 2+ year waitlist, which you might want to get on now. Not sure about Pitella. I do think he's a little cheaper, around $2-4 per graft depending on package versus 5+ from Zarev. 

Also, just because Zarev has the capability to extract a large amount of grafts doesn't mean he does so for every patient. There's no way you would need more than 4,000 for your first procedure max assuming you respond well to dutasteride and minoxidil IMO. 

[Mike10]

4 hours ago, IdkWhyImHere said:

@Mike10

Haha Been there done that 😅 I don’t mind it too much to be fair and have a decent dark beard too which helps 

however that was prior to realising I don’t have to just settle. Hence hopping on Fin and minoxidil. 
 

Also As for why I grew my hair out again if I didn’t mind it, the pics above are in the most unflattering light and style of course. 
Day to day with the with how I usually style my hair it’s alot less noticeable to the everyday person that I’m losing my hair let alone how “aggressive” it is. The slight waviness probably helps too.

Guess you could call it an illusion of density XD which isn’t that all a transplant really is? since you’re never going back to 16 lol 
 

If you do not mind too much, rhen it is best  to shave your head. 

[A_4_Archan]

Your donor seems to be looking good at this stage but mpb can make it bad ...but its good that you are on medication ..this will really slow your progression of hairloss and will thicken your native miniaturised grafts...you can also try prp sessions which are effective in diffuse patter hair loss...it can make you hair fuller and thicker and than with your medication you can maintain that well...

As far as surgery goes i agree with you that you can book it for the next year and till than you will get an idea about how medication works on you...imo you can consider zarev and pittela and if you wanna think abt eugnix than only consider a package in which dr arika is performing the surgery