FUT or FUE?

[Al - Moderator]

If you’re looking at FUT then another option is Dr Blake Bloxham. I don’t think he does mega sessions as I think he sort of maxes out at around 3500 grafts, but you’d have to ask him to be sure. The idea is you go and get 3500 and then go back in a year for another 2500 to finish it off. The good thing about Dr Bloxham is he usually leaves patients with extremely thin scars. I think one reason is because he doesn’t try to get too wide of a strip that would be needed for a 4000 and up procedure. Wider strips have more tension when stapled back together which can result in the scar stretching  

 

im not saying Dr Wong is a bad choice. They do some awesome mega sessions there. I’m just giving you another option to think about. 

Edited September 11, 2023 by BeHappy

[Trobs4]

17 hours ago, Judelaw said:

I worry that you’re rushing into such a life-changing commitment without even settling on medication yet. 

What else are you currently using, and are you 100% committed to continuous daily Finasteride starting in January?
 

 

100% I have no issues with taking finasteride. I took it for years. The reason I'm not taking it right now is because these fertility doctors told me to stop while we try to get pregnant. As soon as that happens, I plan to get back on finasteride (or dutasteride) as recommended by the Doctor. 

[Trobs4]

@BeHappy thanks I will look into Dr Bloxham. Other options are exactly what I'm looking for so that's helpful. 

[Kdegen]

On 9/11/2023 at 10:18 AM, rs525 said:

Depends on where you live, but I wouldn't do FUT if possible. Don't want to deal with a permanent scar and all that.

It's really not a big deal. Its very easy to hide and many doctors are so good that it's barely there. For the amount of grafts OP needs and the better coverage FUT gives you it's a no brainer. 

[Trobs4]

I have an opportunity to get the procedure done Oct 11 now in Vancouver with Dr Wong. Right now I’m trying to decide between Dr Wong or Eugenix FUE (they proposed 4500 grafts, 1200 of which would come from beard). 
 

I’m going to visit my wife’s family for Christmas and am a bit concerned about how I’ll look at that time if I do the surgery with Wong in October. I’m afraid I’ll be very self conscious. 
 

I think I will have a high likelihood of success with either clinic, but FUT does concern me more than FUE. Dr Wong would be more expensive (~$20-25k) vs Eugenix ($10-15k including travel). 
 

If anyone has thoughts on how goofy I’d look 70 days after surgery, or what you’d do in my shoes, I’m all ears. Thanks. 

[Trobs4]

Correction on Eugenix: 900 grafts would come from beard. 

[Cooper]

From my experience in consulting doctors in person and online for the coverage you want and require FUT is the method for a megassion over 3000 grafts.

You need to be concerned with your donor area.  If you do a 5000 graft FUT, it may be in the cards for you to do an FUE in the future.  To do a 5000 graft FUE

may result in donor over harvesting.  I did a 1250 graft FUT to the hairline 5 years ago and am happy with the result now I want to touch up the hairline and address the mid scalp and crown.  Several have recommended 2500 grafts FUE, original doc has recommended 3000 grafts FUT.  Hasson recommended 2500 grafts but will consider a 2 day procedure based on seeing my donor area in person and I could get another 1000-1500.  Im 59 this is the last procedure I want to have so I will go to the max as long as my donor area is not over harvested

 

[mrmajified]

2 hours ago, Trobs4 said:

I have an opportunity to get the procedure done Oct 11 now in Vancouver with Dr Wong. Right now I’m trying to decide between Dr Wong or Eugenix FUE (they proposed 4500 grafts, 1200 of which would come from beard). 
 

I’m going to visit my wife’s family for Christmas and am a bit concerned about how I’ll look at that time if I do the surgery with Wong in October. I’m afraid I’ll be very self conscious. 
 

I think I will have a high likelihood of success with either clinic, but FUT does concern me more than FUE. Dr Wong would be more expensive (~$20-25k) vs Eugenix ($10-15k including travel). 
 

If anyone has thoughts on how goofy I’d look 70 days after surgery, or what you’d do in my shoes, I’m all ears. Thanks. 

It's not going to look great after 2 months. But really, it would be silly to base your decision off something like being self-conscious for a few days. I personally found it easier to be open about it than try to hide it around friends and family. You'd be surprised how interested people are to hear about the decision and journey. 

Whatever your decision, I wish you the best of luck!

[Al - Moderator]

19 hours ago, Trobs4 said:

I have an opportunity to get the procedure done Oct 11 now in Vancouver with Dr Wong. Right now I’m trying to decide between Dr Wong or Eugenix FUE (they proposed 4500 grafts, 1200 of which would come from beard). 
 

I’m going to visit my wife’s family for Christmas and am a bit concerned about how I’ll look at that time if I do the surgery with Wong in October. I’m afraid I’ll be very self conscious. 
 

I think I will have a high likelihood of success with either clinic, but FUT does concern me more than FUE. Dr Wong would be more expensive (~$20-25k) vs Eugenix ($10-15k including travel). 
 

If anyone has thoughts on how goofy I’d look 70 days after surgery, or what you’d do in my shoes, I’m all ears. Thanks. 

 

Does the wife's family know you are getting a hair transplant? If they do then it makes it much easier. If you are only staying for the day you can probably just wear a Santa hat all day and get away with it without anyone thinking anything.

 

[JoeD]

19 hours ago, Trobs4 said:

I have an opportunity to get the procedure done Oct 11 now in Vancouver with Dr Wong. Right now I’m trying to decide between Dr Wong or Eugenix FUE (they proposed 4500 grafts, 1200 of which would come from beard). 
 

I’m going to visit my wife’s family for Christmas and am a bit concerned about how I’ll look at that time if I do the surgery with Wong in October. I’m afraid I’ll be very self conscious. 
 

I think I will have a high likelihood of success with either clinic, but FUT does concern me more than FUE. Dr Wong would be more expensive (~$20-25k) vs Eugenix ($10-15k including travel). 
 

If anyone has thoughts on how goofy I’d look 70 days after surgery, or what you’d do in my shoes, I’m all ears. Thanks. 

Hair on the sides and shock loss maybe such that the scar can be hidden, but may not be at 2 months.  Top of head may still be red, fully shaed all the grafts. Could potentially use some skin tone concealer and/or dermmatch to help in one or both areas…… but probably still hat territory for formal affairs if it’s important to not have anyone know you had something done. 

[Trobs4]

@mrmajified thanks for the input. I saw your most recent post, it's coming in nicely and you're going to have a great result. That gives me a lot of confidence in Dr. Wong. 

I plan to be open about it, but my wife has a HUGE family and they'll all be there at Christmas. I'd just rather avoid being a topic of conversation if I can avoid it, but I agree that it's silly to base my whole decision off of that. If I do decide to wait until afterwards, it seems likely that they'll have another cancellation sometime in Jan - March, which would be better for my work schedule too, but obviously not a sure thing... 

[Trobs4]

@BeHappy and @JoeD I'm comfortable with discussing it with the immediate family, the issue is that she's got a huge extended family that will all be present, and I'm just concerned about feeling self conscious about how I look or feeling like I need to explain it to everyone. Ultimately, waiting another 3-4 months won't be the end of the world, plus I'll be able to be back on fin/dut at that point. Thanks for your insight!

[UKLad81]

@Trobs4 did you manage to get in touch with Hattingen?

[Trobs4]

@UKLad81 I traded a couple emails but we were having a hard time finding a time that worked for both of us for a video call, so still haven't connected. I think if I'm going to do FUT, I'll probably stick with Dr Wong since it's a 3 hour flight for me vs 12 hours to Zurich, and I'm a lot more familiar/comfortable with hanging out for a few days in Vancouver than I would be in a small Swiss village. 

[GeneralNorwood]

I would go Wong too in your position. You better start doing scalp laxity exercises : 

 

[johhn]

 If you are planning to cut hair short, I will avoid FUT even if they say that the scar will be very thin.  I had 3 hair transplants, my  FUT was done in NY.  I had to do SME and also FUE over the scar.