Number of grafts and surgeon help please.

[scafellfun]

Hi all this is my first post, it might and up being a bit long, so I hope it’s here I ask these things. I am 58, been loosing hair in the temples since about 30 middle and crown the last 15, more pronounced in the last 5 to 10. See pics for details of my current hair loss. I will try and upload some proposed hairlines later.
Been on minoxidil foam for 5 years and just about to go on 2.5 oral as recommended as better by a UK surgeon. Only started Finasteride 8 weeks ago 0.5mg a day as 1 was a no go. I take biotin now and looking at Saw palmetto. Also advised Nizoral shampoo think it’s called that can help a DHT reducer, but unsure.The big question I am having trouble with is the amount of grafts I need for my level of loss if I stabilise it with Meds. Any advice from others would be invaluable, as the lack of consensus from providers has stopped me booking in as yet

Here are some suggestions rough quotes

Dr Bicer 3500 to 4000 for all areas 3 euro a graft the most expensive

WMG London dr Miln 3500 grafts £7450. Really liked speaking to him, but will 3500 be enough for all areas

Dr Gur 3500 front and most of the back, possible top of crown his best package about 6000 euros

HDC Cyprus interesting one stay 7 days either up to 4500 in two surgeries 2 days front and crown. Or 3 days surgery up to 5000 plus. This is whole head. The days in between are for cleaning washing by the technicians, includes accommodation and airport lifts. Approx 2.2 euros a graft.

HLC still talking to them looks like they prefer to break it down with using 3500 to 4000 on the front half and looks like a repeat visit for the crown not sure but about 2.7 euro a graft

Have looked at others but some in Spain too expensive. Also Belgium, but is difficult for me to get to consultations. A lot of UK surgeons I looked at wont go over 2300 to 2700 G in one sitting so again multiple visits and density concerns.

As I am not getting any younger I would prefer to get it done at once, see pics. Am I being over optimistic and graft number suggestions please. Otherwise I will end up being 61 to 62 before final results if I have 2 procedures.

Thanks in advance guys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited March 23 by scafellfun

[jjalay]

Your donor can give 3000-4000 grafts via fue without overharvesting. If you want to cover the crown you will have to utilize beard grafts for that. HDC in Cyprus, dr gur and dr bicer are good options. In your shoes i would go for an fut procedure though. This will allow you to harvest a big amont of grafts without thinning the donor area and probably you will be able to cover the crown in one sitting via fut or with a small procedure via fue in a second sitting. Hattingen hair in switzerland is a really good option for this kind of fut megasession and you should have a consultation with them too. If you only care about fue, you will have to utileze beard grafts in order to not cause any damage to the donor area. HDC in cyprus usually does this kind of megasessions with beard hair with great sucess rate.

[scafellfun]

Thanks jjalay, I must admit I didn’t realise that over 4000 fue would be over harvesting, very interesting. Nobody has suggested strip work so far, so I will have a look at that.Think I did look at Hattingen, but could not convert the site to English and was a bit too expensive for me. If I am honest I want to try to stay under£9000 for all areas if possible. My beard is a bit sparse to be honest, not sure if that might be an issue?

[wembley]

9 hours ago, scafellfun said:

Hi all this is my first post, it might and up being a bit long, so I hope it’s here I ask these things. I am 58, been loosing hair in the temples since about 30 middle and crown the last 15, more pronounced in the last 5 to 10. See pics for details of my current hair loss. I will try and upload some proposed hairlines later.
Been on minoxidil foam for 5 years and just about to go on 2.5 oral as recommended as better by a UK surgeon. Only started Finasteride 8 weeks ago 0.5mg a day as 1 was a no go. I take biotin now and looking at Saw palmetto. Also advised Nizoral shampoo think it’s called that can help a DHT reducer, but unsure.The big question I am having trouble with is the amount of grafts I need for my level of loss if I stabilise it with Meds. Any advice from others would be invaluable, as the lack of consensus from providers has stopped me booking in as yet

Here are some suggestions rough quotes

Dr Bicer 3500 to 4000 for all areas 3 euro a graft the most expensive

WMG London dr Miln 3500 grafts £7450. Really liked speaking to him, but will 3500 be enough for all areas

Dr Gur 3500 front and most of the back, possible top of crown his best package about 6000 euros

HDC Cyprus interesting one stay 7 days either up to 4500 in two surgeries 2 days front and crown. Or 3 days surgery up to 5000 plus. This is whole head. The days in between are for cleaning washing by the technicians, includes accommodation and airport lifts. Approx 2.2 euros a graft.

HLC still talking to them looks like they prefer to break it down with using 3500 to 4000 on the front half and looks like a repeat visit for the crown not sure but about 2.7 euro a graft

Have looked at others but some in Spain too expensive. Also Belgium, but is difficult for me to get to consultations. A lot of UK surgeons I looked at wont go over 2300 to 2700 G in one sitting so again multiple visits and density concerns.

As I am not getting any younger I would prefer to get it done at once, see pics. Am I being over optimistic and graft number suggestions please. Otherwise I will end up being 61 to 62 before final results if I have 2 procedures.

Thanks in advance guys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Between these options i would select Dr Gur. Dr Gur is a great doctor with consistent good results. FUECAPILAR also has other doctor (dr Turan) who charges 5000 euros for up to 4500 grafts in a two day session. DR turan is in the same level with dr Gur. Other good option could be also dr Demirsoy at 1.0-1.5 euro/graft or Dr Yaman at around 1 euro/graft. Finally at a bit higher price of 2 euro/graft you could go to Dr Laorwong and Dr. Ratchathorn in Thailand.

[Berba11]

8 hours ago, scafellfun said:

Thanks jjalay, I must admit I didn’t realise that over 4000 fue would be over harvesting, very interesting. Nobody has suggested strip work so far, so I will have a look at that.Think I did look at Hattingen, but could not convert the site to English and was a bit too expensive for me. If I am honest I want to try to stay under£9000 for all areas if possible. My beard is a bit sparse to be honest, not sure if that might be an issue?

I don’t agree with jjalay’s assessment, which is far too certain of itself based on these slightly blurry pictures. 
 

You don’t have much hair loss given your age really, and look like you could easily get good coverage in the crown as well as a nice, age appropriate and conservative hairline reconstruction for a fairly modest “one and done” number of grafts ( upwards 4000 grafts sounds about right). I don’t think you’d need to use beard grafts for the crown at all and if you’re on finasteride & minoxidil as well then as I said, I think you could get an improvement that you’d be happy with in one go. 
 

Probably no need to consider FUT. If you were young and staring down the barrel of needing multiple surgeries over time to chase down future hairloss then FUT would be a fair consideration for life-time graft supply. But at 58, with a lot of hair on top still & taking finasteride, that seems largely redundant and FUE should serve you just fine (as it does for people with significantly worse hair loss than you have!). 
 

As long as you’re realistic about the density in the crown and opt for a nice, conservative hair line, 3-4K grafts from scalp donor alone should be absolutely fine. 

Also, I think your timelines for when you’d see results from a two-step surgical approach is off base. If you concentrated on the frontal third first, then a second pass into the midscalp & crown could be easily scheduled 6-12 months later (and you’d likely see improvements by the 6-8 month range. That means you could have two surgeries and see decent results from each before you’re 60 quite comfortably. You seem like a good candidate for a one shot pass but just wanted to point out that if you did want to de-risk matters over two surgeries, you’d see results much earlier than your 62nd birthday!!

Edited March 24 by Berba11

[jjalay]

16 hours ago, scafellfun said:

Thanks jjalay, I must admit I didn’t realise that over 4000 fue would be over harvesting, very interesting. Nobody has suggested strip work so far, so I will have a look at that.Think I did look at Hattingen, but could not convert the site to English and was a bit too expensive for me. If I am honest I want to try to stay under£9000 for all areas if possible. My beard is a bit sparse to be honest, not sure if that might be an issue?

With hattingen an fut megasession will cost you aroung 12,5K for 4000 grafts and you might be able to get full coverage. They are a little bit above yor budget but they are world class. Be sure to check them out or have an online consultation with them.

[Lenzman]

18 hours ago, scafellfun said:

Have looked at others but some in Spain too expensive. Also Belgium, but is difficult for me to get to consultations. A lot of UK surgeons I looked at wont go over 2300 to 2700 G in one sitting so again multiple visits and density concerns.

As I am not getting any younger I would prefer to get it done at once, see pics. Am I being over optimistic and graft number suggestions please. Otherwise I will end up being 61 to 62 before final results if I have 2 procedures.

Thanks in advance guys

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think 3500 grafts would do the job if you keep a higher and age looking hairline. That’s still around 7000 hairs. Some FUE surgeons are super skilled at managing the safe zone area and making best used of the grafts numbers harvested and planted. If you get braver later on you can always bring the hairline down a touch…

[Al - Moderator]

Hello @scafellfun. Welcome to the forums. Thank you for posting your pictures and questions.

I think you should be able get a very good result with 3500 grafts if you concentrate on the front half. You just started on Finasteride 2 months ago and you switched from topical minoxidil to oral, so you may get some improvement in the crown over the next few months without putting any grafts there. I'd wait to see how that turns out before specifically planning on putting grafts into your crown.

 

[scafellfun]

Hi all 

Many thanks for all the replies. I am not so good with forums. Facebook is hard enough, so embarrassingly I am not sure how to reply to individuals, think I did it once now forgot !so please bear with me Anyway I seem to be taking away good advice so far 

Could opt for front first maybe 3000 ish ! Return for say 1500 for top crown or see how meds go first while the front is settling in

Front, top and crown is more tricky. This would be my ideal,if safe and realistic based on my hair loss and donor. I am realistic and don’t expect a wall of hair at the front. A slight recession is ok and some coverage on the crown would be nice as I am a singer and the lights don’t do me any favours! It’s the numbers game that  I am unsure about. Based on what I have been told by providers, could I get your options as the best choice

1. One pass one day 3500 most of all areas, with possible crown top 6 months to a year

2. 3500 only temples front and dense hairline with slight lowering back 6 months to a year middle crown

3. 4000 two days surgery with accommodation and 7 days on site looking after. Mainly front to the middle, some possible crown work

4. 4000 to 5000 giga session  three days surgery everything done if donor allows, might be revised on site if not realistic as above care between sessions.

If I said my favourite is to try to get the most done in one pass, that said I am looking at this very subjectively and sometimes need a reality check.

I have some retirement funds that limit it to around £8500 tops for everything 

thanks again guys.

 

 

 

[Bundles123]

£7450 for 3500 grafts for Miln?, thought prices per graft in uk were £5 or more?

[scafellfun]

Hi Bundles 123.

Yes. That was my quote. To be honest it's the best one I found for the Graft numbers, and I got on really well with him. They have sent examples of work, but albeit most are lower Norwood cases, so its hard to compare.

[Bundles123]

2 hours ago, scafellfun said:

Hi Bundles 123.

Yes. That was my quote. To be honest it's the best one I found for the Graft numbers, and I got on really well with him. They have sent examples of work, but albeit most are lower Norwood cases, so its hard to compare.

You’ve been in touch with some very good clinics mate, I travelled to dr bicer from uk but dr Gur and Hdc Cyprus also great option, jope it goes well whoever you chose mate 👍