Newbie introduction and questions

[Vader_1]

Hi guys, I’ve been a long-time follower here, but first-time poster. Thanks to everyone on this forum for the invaluable information you’ve shared!

A brief intro – I’m 54 and have been gradually losing my hair over the last 12 years, and now I’m a NWS 4-5 (see pics). I’ve been using minoxidil foam for the last 6 years and topical finasteride for the last 2 years, which has slowed my hair loss. I have not taken any oral medications, but I am open to starting them to preserve what I have. The extent of my receding and thinning has really gotten to me mentally and emotionally. I'm feel great about all the other areas of my life, and I worked really hard on a major physique transformation recently (I might share a pic! 😃). But my hair loss is now really negatively impacting my confidence and happiness. And I'm definitely not a guy who's willing to shave it all off and go bald... So I am ready to do something about it and get my first FUE hair transplant! 👍

I am considering doctors in Mexico to balance cost and travel convenience. Ideally, I’d go with Dr. Nader, but getting info back from his office has been impossible due to his popularity, and I understand he’s scheduled a year+ out. I consulted with two US hair doctors (Florida), and they recommended 3500-4500 FUE grafts. But at tens of thousands of dollars for their procedures, that’s just out of my  budget.

As I have assessment calls with other docs, I have a few questions that I would appreciate your help with:

• What are the top things I should ask the doctor about during an intro call?
• Can donor hair follicles be harvested from areas other than your head? I’ve heard mixed feedback on this. I have plenty of healthy hair on my chest and arms that could be great donor follicles. I know I can't exclusively use those for the transplants, but can they be mixed in with head hair donor follicles, so I maintain donor regions for the future?
• What steps should I take to best prepare for my procedure 4-6 months out? Any oral meds or other protocols I should start with now?
• How would you recommend I think about hairline design/shape? I’m not looking to revert to my younger look and hairline from 12 years ago (see pic at 42), but I’d like to lower my hairline to a reasonable level that looks natural for my age.
• Any recommendations on doctors and clinics in Mexico other than Dr Nader?

 

Thank you kindly gents for your insight and feedback!

[Al - Moderator]

13 hours ago, Vader_1 said:

Can donor hair follicles be harvested from areas other than your head? I’ve heard mixed feedback on this. I have plenty of healthy hair on my chest and arms that could be great donor follicles. I know I can't exclusively use those for the transplants, but can they be mixed in with head hair donor follicles, so I maintain donor regions for the future?

 

Beard hair works best with chest hair being next best, however I wouldn't use chest hair unless your scalp donor wasn't good enough to get decent coverage and you needed a significant amount of body hair and didn't have that great of a beard that would yield enough grafts. For arm, leg, and back hair I wouldn't even consider using that in your case. I wouldn't touch that unless scalp, beard, and chest were already used up, so basically it would only be a very few extreme cases.

 

[Al - Moderator]

In addition to what I said about using beard and chest hair, you also need to make sure the Dr you are considering has good experience with using body hair grafts. Not all hair transplant Drs will use body hair grafts. It's harder to extract and usually takes a little bit longer. Now you may not need to use any of it all. It really depends on how good or bad your scalp donor is and what your goals are as far as coverage.