Did my hair transplant cause me to go bald?

[donna]

I am a women in my early 30's. I got a hair transplant to lower my hair line after the front was burnt and there was no regrowth. I received two transplants from Dr.Jones in Oakville which in my opinion I could not detect any visible grafts taking at all. My third transplant with Dr.Wong in Vancouver where grafts took but they are very spaced apart and make my appearance of my forehead look very awkward. It is very apparent now that I am going BALD, from the front travelling back. It has been difficult over the years to hide my forehead with bangs and trying to style my hair this way and that way. But there is no way of hiding whats happening now. I am full of shame and embarrassment. I put off dating for years waiting for my transplant to finally take. But now I am dealing with a even bigger issue. Lets be honest who really wants to date a women who is going bald in her early 30's. I wish everyone the best of luck with their hair transplants but for me its the been the biggest mistake of my life, which I deal with every day especially when i look in the mirror.

[Bill - Seemiller]

Hey Donna,

 

Wow. I know for women, losing their hair is especially difficult because it's much less common. I'm really sorry to hear what you are going through. I feel really sad for you because I can only partially know what you are going through from a males perspective, not a females. But if you decide to stick around on the forum, I think you'll find at the very least, you can have a group of people here that will support you and show tender care to you, even in the midst of your feelings of shame and embarrassment. The fact that you are losing your hair is not your fault. You have nothing to be embarrassed or shamed about, because you didn't do anything wrong. I know that gives you little comfort because you have to worry about how you look every day just as I have to worry about how I look every day when I look into a mirror.

 

But not all hope is lost. Perhaps hair transplants won't give you your looks back, but there are other alternatives, such as hair pieces that you might want to consider. Additionally, I don't know you, but perhaps, this thread might help...it has nothing to do with hair transplants, but it has to do with the value that lies deeper within all of us that has nothing to do with our looks. I wrote the post a few months ago at this point in hopes that even though we are all here to hopefully regrow some hair, that we'll keep the big picture in perspective:

 

http://www.hairrestorationnetwork.com/eve/showthread.php?t=145009

 

Regarding hair restoration...maybe there is still hope there too. I am not familiar with Dr. Jones...and I'm sorry the surgery didn't work out there...unfortunately a lot of people have been burned by doctors who didn't do a good job. Dr. Wong, however, is an excellent physician. Typically, however, one hair transplant is not enough to give someone the amount of coverage or density that they need. I myself had 3 so far...the last one with Dr. Hasson who works with Dr. Wong...that one is yet to grow in. But the first two, though they took beautifully, was still certainly not enough to cover my entire balding scalp and give me the density I'd want to achieve. In other words...perhaps future hair restoration may give you more of the result you are looking for?

 

Are you willing to share any pictures with us of your head? (front, back, sides). Since doctors also monitor this board, perhaps they can jump in to offer some feedback as well. Some people don't want to show their face and can use imaging software to blank it out. If you would like any help with posting pictures or picture editing, feel free to private message me and I'll give you my email address to send photos to.

 

Please let me know if I can be of any help to you.

 

Bill

[receding_rearguard]

Hi Donna

 

I'm sorry to hear what you are going through at the moment. I was reading your post and something you said struck a chord with me. I've also tried to avoid the dating scene for about 4 years now. If I go out on a date all I think is their looking at my great big balding head and so I become really uncomfortable. This intern affects my personality and they don't get to know the real me. I've always been highly sensitive about my looks and losing my hair has sent my confidence on a downwards spiral. I'm in my late 20's and all my friends have full thick heads of hair which doesn't help. Males really don't have any tact when it comes to hair loss; I get the bald jokes every time I'm around them and it does affect me. I just think to myself give it 10 years and see how you like it. I bet the jokes will stop when we're all approaching middle age and there are a few more receding hairlines in our group.

I'm sorry to babble on, I suppose what I'm trying to say is I know what you're going through and every male goes through it but there just to ??manly' to talk about it. I know its different for females as a high percentage of women dont experience hair loss but all is not lost. Dont give up hope, you can rectify your current situation. From what I have seen of Dr Jerry Wong's work on this forum I can only say great things. Maybe contact him again and see what he thinks, he really is excellent at what he does. Anyway best of luck, receding_reguard.

[nobuzz4me]

Donna, sorry to hear your HTs were not as successful as you liked. If you could give us some more info,(# of grafts, pics) it may help us help you. You will find the men on this forum very helpful and compassionate about your situation. Dr. Wong is world class so I would like to know the #grafts and why he would space them out?

[desperate for help]

Hi Donna,

I can definitely feel your pain. I started balding in the middle of my head during my teens. I wore weaves to thicken the front of my hair to cover the middle when wearing various hairstyles. Wearing weaves took out the front of my hair to wear I was totally bald. Hairloss causes low self esteem in women and men but I beleive more so in a woman. Men can be bald but for a woman it is unacceptable in our standards. Believe my however, that you will find a man that that does not bother and who like the real you. It took awhile but I did.