Am I a good candidate for hair transplant?

[Ice_man]

Dear all,

Do you guys think I would be a good candidate for hair transplant? I have thick donor hair but the pictures are after I’ve had a hair cut.

Most places in the UK have said yes but a clinic in Belgium has said that my donor area does not have the density and due to the size of the area it might not be possible.

Any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated along with a clinic recommendation.

 

[Shadman]

@Ice_man how's your beard ? Are you on any medications right now ?

[Ice_man]

Got a quality thick beard.

Tried fin but ended up getting side effects.

Got a lot of tiny baby hairs on my scalp that if became thicker would be great enough for me.

 

[davidn]

Sorry Bro but you dont look like a candidate to me

[Berba11]

3 hours ago, Ice_man said:

Do you guys think I would be a good candidate for hair transplant?

A candidate? Probably, depending on which surgeon's hands you place yourself in and what your expectations and goals are. A good candidate? Probably not as you've got a lot of thinning in the donor area quite high up on the sides - advanced retrograde alopecia - and a lot of scalp to cover up top.

How old are you and what is your budget for this? If you want full coverage you have very limited options, however if you're just looking to improve the frontal third and some of the midscalp and compromising further back, you've liekly got many good options.

[Ice_man]

@Berba11 I am 37 and probably looking at around the £6k mark for which I have been quoted a few times.

During the consultation I do tell them that I am not after a full coverage but enough to improve the front & mid-scalp with some sort of coverage at the back. 

Who would you recommend for this type of procedure?

 

[Berba11]

6 minutes ago, Ice_man said:

@Berba11 I am 37 and probably looking at around the £6k mark for which I have been quoted a few times.

During the consultation I do tell them that I am not after a full coverage but enough to improve the front & mid-scalp with some sort of coverage at the back. 

Who would you recommend for this type of procedure?

 

Who have you consulted with so far? £6K sounds very cheap. In order to get you the frontal third and midscalp coverage needed, as well as address the crown at least a bit, you'd ideally need a minimum of 4,000 grafts and anything you can get above that number from scalp, beard or both would be a great benefit. FUT rather than FUE might be your friend here as well (or a combination of both). 4000 grafts into £6,000 = £1.5 per graft. I don't know exactly how much each of the best clinics in the UK charge, but most of them charge decently more than that, so I'm a bit concerned you might be speaking with the wrong clinics (or you're getting a bargain from one of the up and comers!).

For your level of hair loss, reduced donor and age I think you'd need to speak with Pittella and Hattingen. Both will blow your budget out of the water, but both are excellent and known for their ability to do very large sessions. Others will recommend Zarev, but again, budget + the 3 year waiting list just for a consultation probably isn't going to fly I imagine!

On the budget-friendly end of the spectrum, you have good options in Thailand who have experience with higher NW cases. You also have Eugenix in India; we've seen planning issues in a number of results and patient testimonials as they've grown their operation quite considerably, but at their best they do produce some of the most radical and transformative high NW cases you'll find anywhere.

I think as a minimum you want to get as many consultations from some or all of the surgeons best known for their work on high NW cases and gather as much info and as many ideas about what's possible for you as you can.

[Ice_man]

Thank you for being comprehensive - I have only been looking HT for a week after seeing a neighbour get one done in Turkey and seeing his results.

I have had a few quotes:

FUE clincs ~ £6250

Wimpole Clinic ~ £6300

Dr Mohammed Ditta (Harley St HT) - £6000

Farjo ~ £12k

MYWHTC ~£10k

I will have a look at you recommendations. I had assumed it would be around the £6k mark as that what majority were quoting.

Seems like I need to do more research...

[Berba11]

1 hour ago, Ice_man said:

Thank you for being comprehensive - I have only been looking HT for a week after seeing a neighbour get one done in Turkey and seeing his results.

I have had a few quotes:

FUE clincs ~ £6250

Wimpole Clinic ~ £6300

Dr Mohammed Ditta (Harley St HT) - £6000

Farjo ~ £12k

MYWHTC ~£10k

I will have a look at you recommendations. I had assumed it would be around the £6k mark as that what majority were quoting.

Seems like I need to do more research...

Farjo & Mwamba are the only ones from that list that I would remotely consider. Wimpole have a poor reputation and the others are unknown quantities as far as I'm aware.

Have Farjo and Mwamba said how many grafts they expect to get?

[Gatsby]

@Ice_man in all honesty with your retrograde alopecia I really think I would be looking at Dr Pittella, Dr Zarev or Dr Sethi. If this is blowing your budget then it’s probably best to pass on surgery. If you are not already then going on Finasteride and oral minoxidil would be my first choice (I’m not a doctor) to try and improve your donor. I wish you all the best. 

[laverita]

Forget surgery, your retrograde is very high, 3 - 4 cm on the side and the lateral humps can drop and you have a thin area of zone to take from on the rear and with a large surface area. Not sure of your goals but at least have a consultation to get real data but from these photos you are clearly not a good candidate and not sure of your age and meds...Ask to see results from people with these characteristics..All the best. 

[baddecisions]

No, you are not.

Get regular buzzcuts and enjoy your life.

[Stewie]

4 hours ago, Ice_man said:

Thank you for being comprehensive - I have only been looking HT for a week after seeing a neighbour get one done in Turkey and seeing his results.

I have had a few quotes:

FUE clincs ~ £6250

Wimpole Clinic ~ £6300

Dr Mohammed Ditta (Harley St HT) - £6000

Farjo ~ £12k

MYWHTC ~£10k

I will have a look at you recommendations. I had assumed it would be around the £6k mark as that what majority were quoting.

Seems like I need to do more research...

Dr Mohammed Ditta did my first surgeries in Manchester, he is part of the HGC (Hair Growth Centre), big hair mill, Dr Ditta was great and made sure everything was explained well and a lot of checking on me etc, but I would not recommend them for anything that requires actual care and attention to how you want this to look on your head, HGC is more of a cheap in and out place, not a sit down and get a proper plan together type place

But I also echo other people with the retrograde stuff, you might be trying to fight a battle thats already lost with you hair, and unless you would rather maybe go down big body hair sessions and be happy with that, then maybe shaving it down and forgetting it might be to easiest path ahead? Unless maybe you could get a strong hairline and a bit behind it and be happy with that?

[Al - Moderator]

You have very little donor hair to use. You have severe retrograde hair loss with almost no hair on the sides above your ears and at 37 years old there is a lot of time to possibly get a lot worse before you hit mid 50s. The only way I can see you having any chance of getting a good result is if you have at least 5000 beard and chest grafts available to use. This is going to cost a lot more than your £6k budget. 

 

[Ice_man]

Thank you guys for the honest feedback - this is something I really needed to know from those who don't have anything to benefit.

I will have a one-to-one consultation to see what I can do to reduce any further losses but it does seems surgery is out of the question for me.

Ah well; money saved.

[laverita]

19 hours ago, Ice_man said:

Most places in the UK have said yes but a clinic in Belgium has said that my donor area does not have the density and due to the size of the area it might not be possible.

 

Be good to know who the only clinic was who said no..at least it seems they are putting patient above profit, but concerning so many said yes based on these photos.  Sorry it is not easy to deal with loss and more so if there are donor issues but you seem to have a good head on your shoulders for reason and just make sure you avoid a mistake that you will regret and most here seem to have that consensus. Meds will help you slow down or stabilise loss but ask yourself is it worth it also, especially if you do not have surgery...Take care.

[Ice_man]

Dr Basinga was the only who said no. With everyone saying yes that gave me the false impression that it was doable. 

With every consultation my main question was; Is my donor hair good and plentiful? and the answer was always yes. 

After Dr Basinga said no then I decided to post on here to get some independent views and thoughts.

[laverita]

Yes, always worth a consultation also with accurate data if you have doubts where they can read your density and miniaturisation so it is not just a subjective "yes you are a great candidate with tons of hair"  reply, but real data to analyze and base the decision on that. This is why also personal consultations are important and more so if doubts are there. As said from photos it looks very challenging and some photos can look also different with different light and cut etc so get real data if you have doubts. 

[Bandit90]

The important question is, did you have in-person consults with these doctors? When a doctor says ‘no’ to surgery, this doesn’t mean point blank you are not a candidate, it’s more their way of saying they are not confident enough to able to make enough of a difference to warrant cosmetic surgery. But If you curtailed your expectations, there is probably a case for surgery. If I were you, I’d take the finances out the equation, and just take the opportunity to consult in person with the doctors the users have posted in the thread, this will get you an understanding of what realistically could be achieved, which you can reflect on to see if you would be satisfied.

Edited May 9 by Bandit90

[Berba11]

3 hours ago, Ice_man said:

Dr Basinga was the only who said no. With everyone saying yes that gave me the false impression that it was doable. 

With every consultation my main question was; Is my donor hair good and plentiful? and the answer was always yes. 

After Dr Basinga said no then I decided to post on here to get some independent views and thoughts.

Dr Bisanga is an outstanding and experienced surgeon, but he is somewhat known for straight up rejecting patients. That's no bad thing, and it's not a criticism at all, but I reckon Dr Pittella or Dr Zarev would take a different view as these are the kinds of difficult and large cases they've built their reputation's on.

But the point is that your options really are limited to maybe no more than 3 or 4 excellent surgeons who can handle cases like yours, and it's going to cost significantly more than £6K to get you the kind of result you want. If the costs of going to one of the few surgeons that can handle your case are too great, then that's no bad thing either - at least you can move on knowing it's out of the question. As @Bandit90says, no harm in taking some consultations in the meantime to get a more thorough assessment with the select few surgeons best suited to dealing with your needs.

[Ice_man]

Some great information guys.

So I decided to go see Dr Farjo in person (closest to me) and I will let you know how that goes. Should be on the 28th of May.

 

[Al - Moderator]

3 hours ago, Ice_man said:

Some great information guys.

So I decided to go see Dr Farjo in person (closest to me) and I will let you know how that goes. Should be on the 28th of May.

 

 

That's good. In-person consultations are much better than pictures or video especially in tough cases.

 

[JohnnyR]

Sorry, no. But you look like a good candidate for a hair system.

[Shaba]

On 5/8/2024 at 12:58 PM, Ice_man said:

Dear all,

Do you guys think I would be a good candidate for hair transplant? I have thick donor hair but the pictures are after I’ve had a hair cut.

Most places in the UK have said yes but a clinic in Belgium has said that my donor area does not have the density and due to the size of the area it might not be possible.

Any help from you guys would be greatly appreciated along with a clinic recommendation.

 

I think you'd be a candidate for someone like pitella. Maybe get the front done and then get the scalp filled in on a later surgery using beard hair. 

I think the pictures look worse because of the way your hair is cut and the fact your pictures look like they're directly under a light bulb. 

 

You said you have a full beard so I guess you need to find a doctor who is happy to use a combination of both. 

 

All the best 

[Ice_man]

@Shaba Like others have said it is best to get in-person consultation. 

Eugenix did get back to me and they said that could do either partial to full coverage using a mixture of Scalp & beard donor. 

The technique that they use is once the donors are extracted then they are put in place within a short space of time thus they have a higher chance of growing. What do you guys think?