Donor area strength for hair transplant

[Dave5432]

Worried about the strength of my donor area for a future HT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my hair 3 weeks after a skin fade btw. Thanks! 

[Big Rome]

1 hour ago, Dave5432 said:

Worried about the strength of my donor area for a future HT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my hair 3 weeks after a skin fade btw. Thanks! 

are you on any medication? 

[Dave5432]

I just recently started minoxidil and derma rolling, but for the crown/top area not sides/back. I also have been taking vitamin d recently as I have a deficiency about 17ng/ml on my last blood work. 

[hairman22]

Looks like retrogade alopecia

You would need an in person consultation though

 

[Dave5432]

6 minutes ago, hairman22 said:

Looks like retrogade alopecia

You would need an in person consultation though

 

Can people with retrograde alopecia still get hair transplants? 

[hairman22]

1 minute ago, Dave5432 said:

Can people with retrograde alopecia still get hair transplants? 

They can.

Just they have less donor. But you need to get donor checked.

You need to go an excellent surgron to come up with a long term plan. 

Zarev and Pittella the two best.

Mwamba excellent too

[TheDarkHour]

Your donor area looks similar to mine. I had a in-person consultation with Bisanga a few months ago and he advised me to take oral minoxidil to strengthen my donor before he considers surgery. 

[Dave5432]

4 minutes ago, TheDarkHour said:

Your donor area looks similar to mine. I had a in-person consultation with Bisanga a few months ago and he advised me to take oral minoxidil to strengthen my donor before he considers surgery. 

If I take oral minoxidil wouldn't I have to keep taking it after the transplant to keep the transplanted hairs? Meaning the transplanted hairs aren't "permanent?"

[Hair4Days]

9 minutes ago, TheDarkHour said:

Your donor area looks similar to mine. I had a in-person consultation with Bisanga a few months ago and he advised me to take oral minoxidil to strengthen my donor before he considers surgery. 

Did you have a lot of donor miniaturization?

[TheDarkHour]

7 minutes ago, Dave5432 said:

If I take oral minoxidil wouldn't I have to keep taking it after the transplant to keep the transplanted hairs? Meaning the transplanted hairs aren't "permanent?"

I assume so. Unless the surgeon can actually differentiate between the regrown hairs and existing hairs in the donor area. 

 

3 minutes ago, Hair4Days said:

Did you have a lot of donor miniaturization?

I was told my donor area was a little below average. 

[Hair4Days]

2 minutes ago, TheDarkHour said:

 

 

I was told my donor area was a little below average. 

Below average donor density is one thing, but to take medication to strengthen donor would probably mean he saw miniaturization in there. But even if you strengthened miniaturized donor hair i don’t see that as a reliable source to harvest. Should only go for strong follicles

[Gatsby]

Ideally if you were on a 5ari like finasteride it could improve your hair donor and hair loss for surgery. Oral minoxidil also can thicken and improve your hair. You really need to have an in person consultation to assess your donor capacity accurately. All the best!

[Bucky O Hair]

Photos are deceptive.

Nobody here is going to give you an accurate assessment, and any predictions may send you on the wrong path.

Everyone should always get an in-person assessment of their donor hair (with the surgeon) before committing to a HT.  They can measure your hair follicle shaft thickness, they can measure the size of your safe zone area, and they can analyze your graft density (per cm2) in your safe zone area.  They can give you an estimate of your lifetime grafts, and you should be able to make a decision based on the numbers.

[TheDarkHour]

46 minutes ago, Hair4Days said:

Below average donor density is one thing, but to take medication to strengthen donor would probably mean he saw miniaturization in there. But even if you strengthened miniaturized donor hair i don’t see that as a reliable source to harvest. Should only go for strong follicles

Just re-checked my report from Bisanga and it states that there's "higher levels of miniaturisation in the donor". More details from the report below:

Hair Character - Slight Wave

Thickness - Medium Fine

Density - 50/50/60 (In 3 different areas)

Miniaturisation in donor - 20% / 10% / 15% (In 3 different areas)

Dermoscopy - AGA and dry scalp

• Low density within the donor - below average 
• Diffuse pattern of loss with a larger surface area of scalp experiencing decline
• Younger patient 
• Higher levels of miniaturisation present in the donor area which presents concern regarding candidacy of surgery and makes any potential surgery hazardous. When miniaturisation (decline in quality of hair in the process of loss) is present, this can have an effect in success of any transplant effecting yield and growth and also the longevity of the result. At most we would prefer this to be in the 10 - 15% range. As levels in some areas reach 20%, this presents concern for candidacy.

Edited May 8, 2023 by TheDarkHour

[Hair4Days]

10 hours ago, TheDarkHour said:

Just re-checked my report from Bisanga and it states that there's "higher levels of miniaturisation in the donor". More details from the report below:

Hair Character - Slight Wave

Thickness - Medium Fine

Density - 50/50/60 (In 3 different areas)

Miniaturisation in donor - 20% / 10% / 15% (In 3 different areas)

Dermoscopy - AGA and dry scalp

• Low density within the donor - below average 
• Diffuse pattern of loss with a larger surface area of scalp experiencing decline
• Younger patient 
• Higher levels of miniaturisation present in the donor area which presents concern regarding candidacy of surgery and makes any potential surgery hazardous. When miniaturisation (decline in quality of hair in the process of loss) is present, this can have an effect in success of any transplant effecting yield and growth and also the longevity of the result. At most we would prefer this to be in the 10 - 15% range. As levels in some areas reach 20%, this presents concern for candidacy.

This is what i figured. Density is lower than average with miniaturization present. If you take meds to strengthen those hairs in the donor it wouldn’t make sense to then harvest them. You’d be required to take the meds forever essentially. Alternatively he could harvest the non miniaturized hairs but if your density is 50 you’d probably only be able to take like 10 fu per sq cm. Anything below 40 it starts to look thin. 

[TheDarkHour]

3 hours ago, Hair4Days said:

This is what i figured. Density is lower than average with miniaturization present. If you take meds to strengthen those hairs in the donor it wouldn’t make sense to then harvest them. You’d be required to take the meds forever essentially. Alternatively he could harvest the non miniaturized hairs but if your density is 50 you’d probably only be able to take like 10 fu per sq cm. Anything below 40 it starts to look thin. 

That sounds worse than what Dr. Bisanga told me.  For the record, here are two photos of my donor area:

 

Edited May 8, 2023 by TheDarkHour

[Dave5432]

21 hours ago, Dave5432 said:

Worried about the strength of my donor area for a future HT. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. This is my hair 3 weeks after a skin fade btw. Thanks! 

Could this also be DUPA? I was thinking based off the nape I have retrograde alopecia but just want to be sure. 

[MisterBreakfast]

Looks like retrograde alopecia.  That looks like a 1 to 8 fade, so it's a little hard to tell but there is visible thinning on the bottom for sure. It might be easier if you grew everything out to the same length to tell.

 

For reference, here is my donor, without any retrograde alopecia:

 

This is cut to a #2 or #3

 

[Hair4Days]

On 5/8/2023 at 10:48 AM, TheDarkHour said:

That sounds worse than what Dr. Bisanga told me.  For the record, here are two photos of my donor area:

 

Yeah your donor actually looks good to be honest. I’m surprised that’s only 50 fu with miniaturization 

[Cory]

On 5/11/2023 at 3:43 AM, Hair4Days said:

Yeah your donor actually looks good to be honest. I’m surprised that’s only 50 fu with miniaturization 

Indeed. If this doesn't look like a dense, healthy donor, I don't know what does.

But I'm not an expert..

[MisterBreakfast]

3 hours ago, Cory said:

Indeed. If this doesn't look like a dense, healthy donor, I don't know what does.

But I'm not an expert..

I think you might not be commenting on the OP's hair.  A few different people posted follow up pics.