Still debating a HT after good results from meds.

[Kdegen]

I'm 34 years old and have been dealing with gradual hair loss since my late twenties. Initially, it was falling out quite rapidly until I began using topical minoxidil back in 2018. Later on, I switched to oral minoxidil and finasteride after consulting with Dr. Pat in Bangkok around the middle of last year. I've seen some excellent results with the oral meds, and my hair has noticeably thickened up a lot. However, I still yearn for a thicker hairline, similar to what I had in the past, as well as a fuller mid-scalp.

When I visited Dr. Pat last year (before the improvement), he recommended around 1800 grafts, and at that time, I believed I was progressing toward a Norwood 5 or 6. But now, I'm uncertain about how my hair loss will ultimately progress, making it challenging to decide whether to get a HT now or wait.
I'm not necessarily seeking a definitive answer in this post, but rather, I wanted to share my progress with oral Min and Fin and see if anyone else has been in a similar situation, and what direction they took. As I am really up in the air on what to do. 


Before oral Min and Fin, (hair is wet in both photos, but slightly wetter in the first)


After 18 months


Current hairline:

Edited September 13, 2023 by Kdegen

[AhmadChaudhry]

Hi, frankly speaking, you do not need any hair transplant. Fin and Minoxidil tablets did wonderful and you got the same results as in hair transplant surgery. 

Do you have any plan to skip Fin or min and take three times per week instead of daily?

[TheDarkHour]

I'd get it to restore the temples. 

[gillenator]

Although you still have good hair volume, yes you could add a small amount of grafts to the temporal lobe points where there is obvious recessionary loss…overall, you have a diffused loss pattern and it’s great to hear that you are responding well to the oral meds however you are still young and only time will tell if you continue to sustain recessionary loss in your frontal zone.

[O Hare 57]

Its great  you responded so well to meds.  That said, Im 60 and I just had my fourth procedure.  I didnt start thinning until I was 48.  If your not happy with hairloss at 34, the same will be true at 44, 54 ad infinitum.  I would get doc to assess your total life donor amount so you know how much hair you can transplant when you get older.  I suspect your hair will slowly continue to thin the rest of your life.  You like like a norwood 5 at least.  You will need 6000-8000 grafts down the road if the meds effects start to wane.  I have been taking fin for 4 years and am still losing hair. 

Good luck..

[Turkhair]

Don’t bother. 

[TheGreatPretender]

No, absolutely not. You have a great head and you could easily go off without looking like you never had this desease in the first place, why go through stress while taking risks for a couple more hairs?

Try to stick to it for a year or two then revaluate. 

[Kdegen]

6 hours ago, AhmadChaudhry said:

Hi, frankly speaking, you do not need any hair transplant. Fin and Minoxidil tablets did wonderful and you got the same results as in hair transplant surgery. 

Do you have any plan to skip Fin or min and take three times per week instead of daily?

Thanks. I actually have recently started taking Fin 1mg every other day and haven't notice any changed in my hair, (haven't ever had sides from it either, luckily).

[Kdegen]

3 hours ago, O Hare 57 said:

Its great  you responded so well to meds.  That said, Im 60 and I just had my fourth procedure.  I didnt start thinning until I was 48.  If your not happy with hairloss at 34, the same will be true at 44, 54 ad infinitum.  I would get doc to assess your total life donor amount so you know how much hair you can transplant when you get older.  I suspect your hair will slowly continue to thin the rest of your life.  You like like a norwood 5 at least.  You will need 6000-8000 grafts down the road if the meds effects start to wane.  I have been taking fin for 4 years and am still losing hair. 

Good luck..

Thanks for that. Yes I am thinking very long term and I like your approach to this. 

[Kdegen]

1 hour ago, TheGreatPretender said:

No, absolutely not. You have a great head and you could easily go off without looking like you never had this desease in the first place, why go through stress while taking risks for a couple more hairs?

Try to stick to it for a year or two then revaluate. 

Thanks. My main issue is my hairline looks like trash sometimes unless I do my blow dry comb over, but equally don't want to rush into anything as I have seen people get it too early and then they are SOL later in like when it progresses. 

[Gatsby]

12 hours ago, Kdegen said:

I'm 34 years old and have been dealing with gradual hair loss since my late twenties. Initially, it was falling out quite rapidly until I began using topical minoxidil back in 2018. Later on, I switched to oral minoxidil and finasteride after consulting with Dr. Pat in Bangkok around the middle of last year. I've seen some excellent results with the oral meds, and my hair has noticeably thickened up a lot. However, I still yearn for a thicker hairline, similar to what I had in the past, as well as a fuller mid-scalp.

When I visited Dr. Pat last year (before the improvement), he recommended around 1800 grafts, and at that time, I believed I was progressing toward a Norwood 5 or 6. But now, I'm uncertain about how my hair loss will ultimately progress, making it challenging to decide whether to get a HT now or wait.
I'm not necessarily seeking a definitive answer in this post, but rather, I wanted to share my progress with oral Min and Fin and see if anyone else has been in a similar situation, and what direction they took. As I am really up in the air on what to do. 


Before oral Min and Fin, (hair is wet in both photos, but slightly wetter in the first)


After 18 months


Current hairline:

Nothing beats Mother Nature. I wouldn’t mess with this for a very small return (if all goes well). 

[Turkhair]

14 hours ago, Kdegen said:

Thanks. My main issue is my hairline looks like trash sometimes unless I do my blow dry comb over, but equally don't want to rush into anything as I have seen people get it too early and then they are SOL later in like when it progresses. 

You’ve enough grafts to pack the hairline densely and still have left over for future if your hairloss progresses which it won’t if you take medication. You can even go for a lower hairline of your dreams, densely pack it. 

When I said don’t bother, I mean don’t bother with the nonsense that are hair transplants, the waste of money, pain and all that goes with it. You’re a Norwood 2 and with hairs long, you can have great hairstyles to cover those missing corners ( look at Kevin from haircafe for example ). I didn’t mean don’t bother because you have any danger of going bald or anything like that. Filling those corners is easy with long hairs compared to expensive hair transplants and you will want to go to expensive hairline surgeons. 

There is a lot of unjust fearmongering against Finasteride. No, it’s not going to suddenly stop working. People like me go bald who don’t take medication watch themselves get bald and don’t do anything about it literally. I have yet to see one bald person who was taking Finasteride at NW0 and become bald, I haven’t seen one yet. So you’ve zero risk of that and shouldn’t be the reason you don’t get a hair transplant - money and pain are good reasons not to though for the amount of aesthetic benefit you will gain (not a lot)

[Rahal Hair Transplant]

@Kdegen,

it’s obvious that you are a tremendous responder to hair loss medication. The combination of both oral finasteride and minoxidil often have a synergistic affect and provide more benefit together, then either of them as a standalone treatment.

You are certainly one of the blessed where you don’t necessarily need to undergo a hair transplant, surgery to fill in any thinning areas since the medication seems to have done the job quite well. However, you could always undergo the procedure simply to refine the hairline, temple points, or address any areas that you feel require it.

At 34 years of age, I do feel that surgical hair restoration is a potential option for you if you decide you want it. In my opinion, however, keep up with a nonsurgical treatments to help maintain the hair that has recently regrown.

Best Wishes,

Rahal Hair Transplant

 

Edited September 14, 2023 by Rahal Hair Transplant

[Kdegen]

Thanks everyone for your replies. I appreciate you taking the time to offer your thoughts and insight. 

I think I will hold off on a HT for now and look into some hairline SMP and see if this is a good option for me to improve my hairline a bit without taking the big plunge. 

Edited September 18, 2023 by Kdegen