Help for Norwood 7

[wallie12345]

Thanks for everyone's help.  I'm a new member and I hope I replied to everyone and my apologies if I missed you.  I'm still getting used to using this forum and know that if I missed replying to your comment/help, it wasn't intentional.  

[Rasputin]

When you mean "no beard" it's like nothing is growing at all ? Like just a mustache and a bit of goatee or even less ?

In that case, considering your donor is fully depleted, then yes, your only hopes to have natural hair would be that Verteporfin works and you could somehow revise your scars.

Pittella has done a case (I saw on his instagram profile, post of 3rd of March) with the same level of depletion than you, (results to come, he just showed the grafts placement) but he for sure used a lot of body hair (and most likely only body hair).

Did you have any side effects when using medications?

Still curious about your beard. If you don't mind sharing pictures of your "no beard" we would give you our final thoughts...

However, I can also, if you tolerate minoxidil, recommend you to give a shot about using it on your beard for few months and see if you are a responder. Keep in mind though, minoxidil is not recommended for this use, but only on scalp.

Edited May 17 by Rasputin

[Rasputin]

I forgot to add that I feel sorry for these bad results you had.

I hope you're able to live normally without too much inconveniences due to that.

[Berba11]

2 hours ago, wallie12345 said:

As hard as it would be to accept, it looks like I'm going to have to give up any hopes of having more hair.   I've attached my donor pics in my other comments.   

Ok thanks. Your donor certainly looks spent I’m afraid. 
 

Sometimes being told you’re not a candidate for further surgeries can be liberating; it’s the hope that kills us usually. If you can’t get your hair back then it’s nothing gained, nothing lost. Life goes on regardless. 
 

No harm in reaching out to the likes of Pittella or Zarev in the meantime of course. 

[Gatsby]

6 hours ago, wallie12345 said:

I had either 5 or 6 hair transplants starting in 1992 until around year 2000.  They didn't work and they used up all of my donor area.

@wallie12345 those procedures would have been plugs or mini plugs. Did they not grow at all? Is there any hair from these surgeries that took in the frontal area? 

Edited May 17 by Gatsby

[JohnnyR]

i think its over brother, shave the rest, move on and enjoy your life without hair. Thats what millions of men doin everyday. Go hit the gym, find some hobbys and activities that fulfill your life.

Edited May 17 by JohnnyR

[Melvin- Admin]

10 hours ago, wallie12345 said:

I had either 5 or 6 hair transplants starting in 1992 until around year 2000.  They didn't work and they used up all of my donor area.

You should NOT get surgery, there is simply not enough hair, the donor is extremely poor quality and getting surgery will be expensive and not worth it IMO. I feel you will be disappointed and you will spend probably over 20-30k. I would suggest shaving. 

[Shouldashavedit72]

Man I’m really sorry about how this all has turned out for you! I also had 2 FUT’s with just ok results. AND, they left me with a pretty significant scar that I had to have repaired by a plastic surgeon. Then a few years ago I had SMP- at first just to disguise the scar (which absolutely worked) but then for the remainder of my scalp.

My humble advice to you is, at the very least SMP the scar in the back of your head. That will lessen those feelings of deformity that you mentioned. Beyond this, you’ve gotten lots of great advice from the rest of this community, so I think you have what you need to make the best decision for your situation.
 

Hair loss can be frustrating, depressing, and demoralizing! BUT, don’t believe the lie that it constitutes your whole self worth. Our outer image is only a fraction of who we are. There’s so much more to you, and to life. I hope this helps. God bless!

[Gatsby]

[wallie12345]

23 hours ago, Rasputin said:

I forgot to add that I feel sorry for these bad results you had.

I hope you're able to live normally without too much inconveniences due to that.

Thanks so much for your help and empathy.   I can't grow a beard at all and only have leg hair for donor hair, which isn't recommended.  It looks like I'm going to have to just live with what little I have now.  It's difficult since I lost most of my hair by age 21 and I'm now 55 and having more hair has been a dream of mine since, sadly.  

[wallie12345]

22 hours ago, Berba11 said:

Ok thanks. Your donor certainly looks spent I’m afraid. 
 

Sometimes being told you’re not a candidate for further surgeries can be liberating; it’s the hope that kills us usually. If you can’t get your hair back then it’s nothing gained, nothing lost. Life goes on regardless. 
 

No harm in reaching out to the likes of Pittella or Zarev in the meantime of course. 

Thanks, it's been my hope for well over 30 years for more hair and although disappointing nothing can probably be done, I see your point in it being liberating.  I need to think more along those lines, even though it's depression and I've developed clinicial depression because of my baldness.   As my last slim hope, I will reach out to Drs. Pittela and Zarev.  Thank-you!

[wallie12345]

19 hours ago, Gatsby said:

@wallie12345 those procedures would have been plugs or mini plugs. Did they not grow at all? Is there any hair from these surgeries that took in the frontal area? 

I think they grew for a time but not well and the doctor performing it was horrible and promised me a full head of hair but I ended up with very little and he used up all my donor hair in the back and sides.  Thanks for your help and concern.

[wallie12345]

3 hours ago, Gatsby said:

 

13 hours ago, Shouldashavedit72 said:

Man I’m really sorry about how this all has turned out for you! I also had 2 FUT’s with just ok results. AND, they left me with a pretty significant scar that I had to have repaired by a plastic surgeon. Then a few years ago I had SMP- at first just to disguise the scar (which absolutely worked) but then for the remainder of my scalp.

My humble advice to you is, at the very least SMP the scar in the back of your head. That will lessen those feelings of deformity that you mentioned. Beyond this, you’ve gotten lots of great advice from the rest of this community, so I think you have what you need to make the best decision for your situation.
 

Hair loss can be frustrating, depressing, and demoralizing! BUT, don’t believe the lie that it constitutes your whole self worth. Our outer image is only a fraction of who we are. There’s so much more to you, and to life. I hope this helps. God bless!

Thanks so much for your empathy and kind words, that means a lot.  I think you look great and I'd be happy with even half of what you have.  I'm glad you had the SMP and hope it makes you feel better.   That's a great suggestion about SMP for the scar at the back of my head.  I'm not a fan of that whole shaved head look with SMP so your suggestion is a better one for me.  Unfortunately, since I lost most of my hair by age 21 and my subsequent unsuccessful surgeries, I became clinically depressed as a result.  I think having hair defined my self worth because I lost it so young and it's was my only wish above all others.   Thank-you and God Bless as well!  

[wallie12345]

4 hours ago, Gatsby said:

You look great and they did a great job!

[wallie12345]

15 hours ago, Melvin- Admin said:

You should NOT get surgery, there is simply not enough hair, the donor is extremely poor quality and getting surgery will be expensive and not worth it IMO. I feel you will be disappointed and you will spend probably over 20-30k. I would suggest shaving. 

Thanks, although it difficult to hear, I know you're right.  I'm just in denial.  Part of me would risk the expense just to know that I tried but that would foolish.    

[hairman22]

20 minutes ago, wallie12345 said:

 

Thanks so much for your empathy and kind words, that means a lot.  I think you look great and I'd be happy with even half of what you have.  I'm glad you had the SMP and hope it makes you feel better.   That's a great suggestion about SMP for the scar at the back of my head.  I'm not a fan of that whole shaved head look with SMP so your suggestion is a better one for me.  Unfortunately, since I lost most of my hair by age 21 and my subsequent unsuccessful surgeries, I became clinically depressed as a result.  I think having hair defined my self worth because I lost it so young and it's was my only wish above all others.   Thank-you and God Bless as well!  

you should consider a hair system

[Shadman]

31 minutes ago, wallie12345 said:

Thanks, although it difficult to hear, I know you're right.  I'm just in denial.  Part of me would risk the expense just to know that I tried but that would foolish.    

At the end, it actually depends on what will make you happy. At the same time you need to also think about the investment and what you're getting.

I think as everyone suggested reach out to Dr. Zarev, Pittella also Dr. Sethi and you'll get to know about the available options 

[Al - Moderator]

If you don't want to be completely shaved and would like to at least have the horseshoe ring of hair around the sides and back without having ugly scars showing, then you may be able to use some of your leg hair to transplant into the scars. You would at least have hair growing and covering the scars. That may be the best you're able to get. Leg hair has been used before in some cases, so it's not entirely out of the question to use it for a specific purpose depending on how your leg hair is. 

 

[wallie12345]

16 hours ago, Shadman said:

At the end, it actually depends on what will make you happy. At the same time you need to also think about the investment and what you're getting.

I think as everyone suggested reach out to Dr. Zarev, Pittella also Dr. Sethi and you'll get to know about the available options 

I agree, it depends on what will make me happy and it's something I wanted for over 30 years.  But at the same time, I have to be realistic about expectations and cost.  Thanks, I'm going to reach out to those doctors.  

[wallie12345]

12 hours ago, Al - Moderator said:

If you don't want to be completely shaved and would like to at least have the horseshoe ring of hair around the sides and back without having ugly scars showing, then you may be able to use some of your leg hair to transplant into the scars. You would at least have hair growing and covering the scars. That may be the best you're able to get. Leg hair has been used before in some cases, so it's not entirely out of the question to use it for a specific purpose depending on how your leg hair is. 

 

Thanks so much, that's a great idea to use leg hair to be transplanted into the scars.  Either that or SMP in the scar.   I really regret having had those HT's in the 1990's.  I see photos of surgeries now with Norwood 7 patients with excellent results and it just makes me really depressed.   

[wallie12345]

18 hours ago, hairman22 said:

you should consider a hair system

I've had them in the past and they were good ones from reputable companies too but I felt self-conscious wearing them and two people had the nerve to ask me if I was wearing one because they were sure it wasn't real.  That was so rude and I was so embarassed that I stopped wearing them and started to wear hats instead.   

[Gatsby]

From reading what you are willing to accept (and if you don't have scars that worry you in the recipient area) I think having SMP and some grafts (moustache, chest, other body hair) into your donor scars is a strong start. 👊

[YodaHead]

I empathize with you…but I am afraid, HT isn’t really an option for you at the moment. There just isn’t enough donor available to give you any meaningful result. 

[wallie12345]

5 hours ago, Gatsby said:

From reading what you are willing to accept (and if you don't have scars that worry you in the recipient area) I think having SMP and some grafts (moustache, chest, other body hair) into your donor scars is a strong start. 👊

That sounds like good idea and I have to decide on SMP and/or grafts.   I'm leaning more to SMP and it'll be less invasive than transplanting hairs.  Thanks!

[wallie12345]

4 hours ago, YodaHead said:

I empathize with you…but I am afraid, HT isn’t really an option for you at the moment. There just isn’t enough donor available to give you any meaningful result. 

Thanks, I think I knew deep down inside of that but I've been desperate and hopeful.