The Official Hair Transplant Thread

[epoxy]

Epoxy how you looking bro?

a little more growth but its still definitely ugly duckling stages. 10/27 will be 3 months exactly, as i've been told the majority (60-80%) of the growth happens in month 3-6 so time will tell. hoping by end of the year itll be looking pretty good, will post some pictures when i have more to show.

 

[Anubis]

I had no wait with Dr. Haber. One of the few perks of living in Cleveland.

there is no top fue doc anywhere that uses Artas. Most have tried it and passed on it quickly, you won't believe how many artas machines are sitting in transplant clinics collecting dust lol. I hope for your sake the result was a great one but if you saw the absolute mess of donor sites and pathetic growth yields ive seen with artas you'd have gone another route. In the end it's a tool so if the hand that wields it is good enough they can overcome some of the negatives but it's results will never match manual... please anybody looking to get fue done, stick to manual fue and at worst motorized fue but dont go anywhere near neograft or artas.

 

[Anubis]

a little more growth but its still definitely ugly duckling stages. 10/27 will be 3 months exactly, as i've been told the majority (60-80%) of the growth happens in month 3-6 so time will tell. hoping by end of the year itll be looking pretty good, will post some pictures when i have more to show.

You've survived the worst of it, it's only going to get better from here out. I'm 4 months into my crown transplant now, and they grow far slower than hairlines. By 4 months into my hairline I was looking good, the crowns a slow crawl, I knew that'd be the case but you always hope you're the exception and technically I am, my docs thrilled, I'm ahead of curve for sure but I miss the hairline growth timeline. Another month and you'll be happy but 2-3 months you're going to be thrilled.

 

[Anubis]

there is no top fue doc anywhere that uses Artas. Most have tried it and passed on it quickly, you won't believe how many artas machines are sitting in transplant clinics collecting dust lol. I hope for your sake the result was a great one but if you saw the absolute mess of donor sites and pathetic growth yields ive seen with artas you'd have gone another route. In the end it's a tool so if the hand that wields it is good enough they can overcome some of the negatives but it's results will never match manual... please anybody looking to get fue done, stick to manual fue and at worst motorized fue but dont go anywhere near neograft or artas.

I instantly assumed you went fue with Dr Haber ... this all moot if you went FUT with him as he is quite good with FUT. My apologies for not clarifying but anytime I know a docs using artas for fue my warning rant takes over lol

 

[poopdawg]

Went FUT with Haber. I never go lower than a 3 on clippers so no point for me to get FUE.

 

[poopdawg]

Question for pple here that have had hair transplants, when did you guys see the bulk of your growth?

 

[epoxy]

Question for pple here that have had hair transplants, when did you guys see the bulk of your growth?

Couldnt tell you yet personally but as I'm approaching the 3 month mark from what I've read and heard month 3 to 6 is where the bulk of the hair comes in. 6-12 will fill in the remainder and you can't expect much of anything beyond that.

 

[Anubis]

Question for pple here that have had hair transplants, when did you guys see the bulk of your growth?

individual physiology varies so it's never good to try to predict when it'll happen for you, it's just unnecessary stress but in general if you're talking hairline 3 months is around where you first start to see some hairs sprout but they're usually so thin and whispy that you won't really even notice them to significantly unless you're an early grower, month 4 they start to become a little more noticeable and the area starts to fill out some but months 567 is when you really feel like alright now I got some hair. It's growing before 567 but that is when it feels like it's actually something you can do something with and when you really notice the huge visual changes. so months 3-7 on average is the bulk of the hair growth...then your hair is just getting thicker and the characteristics of your hair start kicking in so 8-12 it's mostly getting better but not really growing too much more. Then again you could be a late grower and the timeline means nothing lol... if you're talking crown or midscalp then the growth timeline lags

 

[Deleted member 106824]

Anubis and others with experience, how long do you think one should wait for a hair transplant?

I remember seeing an article saying that there can be some detriment to getting it done too early because then you will need more later and it will look odd or limit your possibilities.

I'm 26, I have a little recession on the sides and thinning in the front. I use hair fibers to cover it up so it's not very noticeable at all yet but I imagine in a few more years the hair fibers won't work as well. Additionally, it limits the hair styles I can have (I have very difficult hair so I'm kind of limited anyway lol). I would say the front 2 inches or so is about 80% as thick as the middle of my scalp and 60-70% as thick as the hair on the sides of my head

 

[epoxy]

Anubis and others with experience, how long do you think one should wait for a hair transplant?

I remember seeing an article saying that there can be some detriment to getting it done too early because then you will need more later and it will look odd or limit your possibilities.

I'm 26, I have a little recession on the sides and thinning in the front. I use hair fibers to cover it up so it's not very noticeable at all yet but I imagine in a few more years the hair fibers won't work as well. Additionally, it limits the hair styles I can have (I have very difficult hair so I'm kind of limited anyway lol). I would say the front 2 inches or so is about 80% as thick as the middle of my scalp and 60-70% as thick as the hair on the sides of my head

i would look at your family history and then also consider things like AAS use for the future. i had no MPB in my family, but i was receding from tren/mast and im sure some other androgenic stuff - i decided to throw all of it out the window when i got my transplant done so now im running LOW test and deca and that's pretty much it for me from here on out. i had mine done at 31.

if you're planning on continuing to run stuff that will cause more hair loss, or you have bald guys in your family, probably best to wait it out a bit longer and see what happens, as bad as that sounds. i have a receding hairline that i watched go back from about 23-28 or so and then it kinda stopped, or at least i stopped noticing it getting worse for a year or two and then i finally decided to go through with it. hopefully i won't end up needing a 2nd one done because ya it would look really weird having the front receding part all filled in and then it starts going bald mid way back. but at the very least i could grow out the front and slick it back and hide it lol, couldnt hide it when the front was missing.

 

[Deleted member 106824]

i would look at your family history and then also consider things like AAS use for the future. i had no MPB in my family, but i was receding from tren/mast and im sure some other androgenic stuff - i decided to throw all of it out the window when i got my transplant done so now im running LOW test and deca and that's pretty much it for me from here on out. i had mine done at 31.

if you're planning on continuing to run stuff that will cause more hair loss, or you have bald guys in your family, probably best to wait it out a bit longer and see what happens, as bad as that sounds. i have a receding hairline that i watched go back from about 23-28 or so and then it kinda stopped, or at least i stopped noticing it getting worse for a year or two and then i finally decided to go through with it. hopefully i won't end up needing a 2nd one done because ya it would look really weird having the front receding part all filled in and then it starts going bald mid way back. but at the very least i could grow out the front and slick it back and hide it lol, couldnt hide it when the front was missing.

My grandfather on my mom's side is bad, not sure what age he started. My dad started thinning pretty bad around 23 from what I hear. I think if I never used AAS I might be in a slightly better position but I really only noticed accelerated thinning from my usage when I used Mast, which I only used once.

I'm only on 80mg TRT now and just started 1mg adex per week, but definitely not using anything crazy. Adex has raised my DHT from 52 to 75 (top of the normal range) so that might have a bit of an effect.

I'm guessing I can hold out for until I'm 30 or so, but at the same time I feel like it's very unlikely a hair transplant at 30 when I'm still mostly just thinning in the front will keep me having a full head of hair until I'm 60+. Would think a second one is almost inevitable.

 

[Anubis]

Anubis and others with experience, how long do you think one should wait for a hair transplant?

I remember seeing an article saying that there can be some detriment to getting it done too early because then you will need more later and it will look odd or limit your possibilities.

I'm 26, I have a little recession on the sides and thinning in the front. I use hair fibers to cover it up so it's not very noticeable at all yet but I imagine in a few more years the hair fibers won't work as well. Additionally, it limits the hair styles I can have (I have very difficult hair so I'm kind of limited anyway lol). I would say the front 2 inches or so is about 80% as thick as the middle of my scalp and 60-70% as thick as the hair on the sides of my head

The best course of action is always keeping what you have so if you're not on meds, I would recommend starting finasteride as the first step. Slow down progression and that makes you a stronger surgery candidate as well.

Then as Epoxy noted it is relevant to take into account your family history as that provides an idea of where your progression could be headed. Also as he said it's important to know if you're still losing or if the loss has slowed/ stabilized. MPB never stops but it does slow and you want to be in that holding steady pattern when thinking transplant. Your drug aas use is relevant as well, if you're going to continue to blast heavy dht drugs then you're going to see hairs fall around so might as well wait till your heavy dht days are over or reside yourself to the fate of many of us and live on test, a few orals, gh and say goodbye to tren and all the fun drugs lol

The major worry with transplanting too early is that it's easy for young guys to be too in the moment and not think long term with their hair loss. The sad reality is as I said hair loss never stops so anybody getting a hair transplant has to go into it thinking that I'm chasing hair loss and that I will eventually have to touch up any procedures I have and potentially do other big procedures depending on how far I project on the nw scale so its a balance of how to tackle your issues now and still be able to take on your future...a lot of young guys will fix right now and leave themselves fkd going forward. I've seen guys who were 25 get transplants and they were very realistic, their hair loss was stable their family history was limited hair loss no higher than nw3s, they were on meds, they had some minor recession and they went in and didn't want to lower their hairline to their teen years hairline just fill in what wasn't there and they put in 1200-1500 grafts and they were left with a very viable donor going forward. So it can be done. I've also seen guys who were very obviously going to be nw6s down the line who were currently nw3vs at 25 and no meds and they went in heavy to some unethical doc who shoved in 4500 grafts, trying to plug their crown and do the hairline same time and that's when you cringe because that hairloss pattern is just going to keep opening up and they have very little left to work with so it really depends on the individual. The general thinking is wait until you're into your 30s but I'm a realist, why waste years if your situation allows you to proceed ahead earlier but it comes down to you and your individual characteristics. I would get in front of a good transplant doc and have them go over your hair, they can tell you how many available donors you have, where you project on the nw scale, they'll tell you what percentage of your hair is in a minaturized state as well as all that other good info like caliber of your hair, density, etc...having all that info is invaluable in helping you consider your options.

 

[Deleted member 106824]

The best course of action is always keeping what you have so if you're not on meds, I would recommend starting finasteride as the first step. Slow down progression and that makes you a stronger surgery candidate as well.

Then as Epoxy noted it is relevant to take into account your family history as that provides an idea of where your progression could be headed. Also as he said it's important to know if you're still losing or if the loss has slowed/ stabilized. MPB never stops but it does slow and you want to be in that holding steady pattern when thinking transplant. Your drug aas use is relevant as well, if you're going to continue to blast heavy dht drugs then you're going to see hairs fall around so might as well wait till your heavy dht days are over or reside yourself to the fate of many of us and live on test, a few orals, gh and say goodbye to tren and all the fun drugs lol

The major worry with transplanting too early is that it's easy for young guys to be too in the moment and not think long term with their hair loss. The sad reality is as I said hair loss never stops so anybody getting a hair transplant has to go into it thinking that I'm chasing hair loss and that I will eventually have to touch up any procedures I have and potentially do other big procedures depending on how far I project on the nw scale so its a balance of how to tackle your issues now and still be able to take on your future...a lot of young guys will fix right now and leave themselves fkd going forward. I've seen guys who were 25 get transplants and they were very realistic, their hair loss was stable their family history was limited hair loss no higher than nw3s, they were on meds, they had some minor recession and they went in and didn't want to lower their hairline to their teen years hairline just fill in what wasn't there and they put in 1200-1500 grafts and they were left with a very viable donor going forward. So it can be done. I've also seen guys who were very obviously going to be nw6s down the line who were currently nw3vs at 25 and no meds and they went in heavy to some unethical doc who shoved in 4500 grafts, trying to plug their crown and do the hairline same time and that's when you cringe because that hairloss pattern is just going to keep opening up and they have very little left to work with so it really depends on the individual. The general thinking is wait until you're into your 30s but I'm a realist, why waste years if your situation allows you to proceed ahead earlier but it comes down to you and your individual characteristics. I would get in front of a good transplant doc and have them go over your hair, they can tell you how many available donors you have, where you project on the nw scale, they'll tell you what percentage of your hair is in a minaturized state as well as all that other good info like caliber of your hair, density, etc...having all that info is invaluable in helping you consider your options.

Thanks for the detailed reply.

As I mentioned to Epoxy, I'm only on 80mg TRT weekly and 1mg Adex, that's it and probably all it will ever be. Current DHT level is 72 (top of normal range). I would say aside from that one time I used Mast my hair loss has been very slow and steady over the last 4-5 years or so.

I'm not sure what classification I am. I've attached 3 pictures here, one with my hair down and 2 with it pushed up. What do you think? The 4th picture is my dad at 35 years old, I do not believe my hair would be that bad at 35 but I obviously know it will be worse than where it currently is. The 5th and last picture is me at 21 years old, so 5 years ago. I had just started noticing a little thinning at this point

As for finasteride, I'd love to go on it but given the health issues I've run into with my AAS usage (dilated heart) I'm concerned about throwing more drugs into the mix, really trying to be as healthy as possible and looking at some of the side effects of fina/dut I was thinking it might be better to just get the hair transplant. Same reason I don't want to try rogaine and RU58841....some of the systemic risks.

 

[Anubis]

Thanks for the detailed reply.

As I mentioned to Epoxy, I'm only on 80mg TRT weekly and 1mg Adex, that's it and probably all it will ever be. Current DHT level is 72 (top of normal range). I would say aside from that one time I used Mast my hair loss has been very slow and steady over the last 4-5 years or so.

I'm not sure what classification I am. I've attached 3 pictures here, one with my hair down and 2 with it pushed up. What do you think? The 4th picture is my dad at 35 years old, I do not believe my hair would be that bad at 35 but I obviously know it will be worse than where it currently is. The 5th and last picture is me at 21 years old, so 5 years ago. I had just started noticing a little thinning at this point

As for finasteride, I'd love to go on it but given the health issues I've run into with my AAS usage (dilated heart) I'm concerned about throwing more drugs into the mix, really trying to be as healthy as possible and looking at some of the side effects of fina/dut I was thinking it might be better to just get the hair transplant. Same reason I don't want to try rogaine and RU58841....some of the systemic risks.

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your hair is showing significant loss thru zones 1 2 and 3...you haven't shown any pics of the back and it may not show any signs of thinning yet but in most cases i've seen with guys your age showing loss at this level, if it's not evident yet it's coming. You're an early level norwood 4 but 5 is coming and without meds sooner than later. Your family history seems to indicate that is a likely scenario as well. I understand the heart issues complicate things, I would reach out to your cardiologist and see what he says about fin usage, if he agrees it's a non starter then you do what you have to do but given your dht levels, it could really slow down your progression. Your current predicament is you have a lot of minaturized hairs in the frontal 3rd, that when you style it forward is providing some coverage, if you start transplanting into those zones you're likely to shock out many of those, only the strong natives will survive. When I mentioned earlier fin makes you a better candidate for surgery, fin will strengthen many of the minaturized hairs so that they hang around longer and survive surgery...so I would say for now hold off on a transplant, if you can use fin get on it and give it a year to steady your hair and strengthen your hair then you can revisit potentially getting your front done...if you can't use it then wait until you see those minaturized hairs in your frontal 3rd dying off and then think transplant. Right now you're probably needing in the range of 2500 grafts and you may well shock out 500-1k leaving you net positive of 2k-ish give or take it's throwing away money and you'll still need to address the area again because you're now out the natives that were shocked out leaving further gaps, let them die out and then patch it up. For your level of hair loss you would be better suited for FUT, I can't see your donor area but traditionally a no meds norwood 5 for full coverage needs in the range of 6k+ grafts and while a fue could handle that if the donor is strong, any missteps could mean lack of coverage so to maximize donors go FUT and then you can fill in spots by going FUE when stripped out. The good news is even without meds if you hit a full nw 5 you should be able to achieve full coverage if you go to good docs but you're not going to be a one and done case, but to be honest there are few one and one cases, they are the minority. I didn't really organize my thoughts well there just started going off your pics so if you need me to clarify anything just let me know or if you have any questions shoot.

 

[Deleted member 106824]

Well I hate to be the bearer of bad news but your hair is showing significant loss thru zones 1 2 and 3...you haven't shown any pics of the back and it may not show any signs of thinning yet but in most cases i've seen with guys your age showing loss at this level, if it's not evident yet it's coming. You're an early level norwood 4 but 5 is coming and without meds sooner than later. Your family history seems to indicate that is a likely scenario as well. I understand the heart issues complicate things, I would reach out to your cardiologist and see what he says about fin usage, if he agrees it's a non starter then you do what you have to do but given your dht levels, it could really slow down your progression. Your current predicament is you have a lot of minaturized hairs in the frontal 3rd, that when you style it forward is providing some coverage, if you start transplanting into those zones you're likely to shock out many of those, only the strong natives will survive. When I mentioned earlier fin makes you a better candidate for surgery, fin will strengthen many of the minaturized hairs so that they hang around longer and survive surgery...so I would say for now hold off on a transplant, if you can use fin get on it and give it a year to steady your hair and strengthen your hair then you can revisit potentially getting your front done...if you can't use it then wait until you see those minaturized hairs in your frontal 3rd dying off and then think transplant. Right now you're probably needing in the range of 2500 grafts and you may well shock out 500-1k leaving you net positive of 2k-ish give or take it's throwing away money and you'll still need to address the area again because you're now out the natives that were shocked out leaving further gaps, let them die out and then patch it up. For your level of hair loss you would be better suited for FUT, I can't see your donor area but traditionally a no meds norwood 5 for full coverage needs in the range of 6k+ grafts and while a fue could handle that if the donor is strong, any missteps could mean lack of coverage so to maximize donors go FUT and then you can fill in spots by going FUE when stripped out. The good news is even without meds if you hit a full nw 5 you should be able to achieve full coverage if you go to good docs but you're not going to be a one and done case, but to be honest there are few one and one cases, they are the minority. I didn't really organize my thoughts well there just started going off your pics so if you need me to clarify anything just let me know or if you have any questions shoot.

Thank you for such a detailed response. Looking here https://www.bing.com/images/search?...608012301169001521&selectedIndex=3&ajaxhist=0 I would have thought I was closer to a "III vertex" but you know better than I do.

I will ask my cardiologist about the finasteride. I just care about my cardiac health (and overall systemic health) far more than my hair and really don't want to risk much in that area. E.g. I would rather pay $10k + no drugs vs $5k + drugs if in theory the end result was the same.

Is there a reason you don't recommend Dutasteride? I was under the impression it was considerably more effective.

When you say I'm not likely to be a one-and-done case, you mean whenever I do get a transplant I'll likely need a second one at some point? Is that expected a few years later or like decades later?

 

[Deleted member 106824]

OK here is one from the back. Honestly that actually shows more thinning back there than I thought. I'm wondering if the Adex the last 2 months has accelerated things, as I don't recall being able to see my scalp at all from the back except for the very tip of the crown portion.

 

[Anubis]

Thank you for such a detailed response. Looking here https://www.bing.com/images/search?...608012301169001521&selectedIndex=3&ajaxhist=0 I would have thought I was closer to a "III vertex" but you know better than I do.

I will ask my cardiologist about the finasteride. I just care about my cardiac health (and overall systemic health) far more than my hair and really don't want to risk much in that area. E.g. I would rather pay $10k + no drugs vs $5k + drugs if in theory the end result was the same.

Is there a reason you don't recommend Dutasteride? I was under the impression it was considerably more effective.

When you say I'm not likely to be a one-and-done case, you mean whenever I do get a transplant I'll likely need a second one at some point? Is that expected a few years later or like decades later?

I definitely agree, hair is nothing if you don't have heart health so I'm not suggesting sacrificing one for the other, I'm just saying see if there is any real worry before writing it off. If there is then you know, but if your cardiologist clears it then that's a bonus. Dutasteride is significantly stronger than fin but with strength come sides, fin is relatively side free for the overwhelming majority of the population but with dutasteride you're also getting type 1 dht inhibition and while there is a model for complete inhibition of type 2 dht there isn't a model for what happens when you inhibit significant amounts of type 1 so I suggest what is safer and known...I have just started dutasteride myself, but at a dose where it inhibits more than fin but doesn't shut down my type 1, sort of a best of both worlds approach but given that you haven't tried fin, you may find it does a great job on it's own and don't need stronger. Guys have used fin going on 15 years no issue and seen limited regression in their hair so no need for the flame thrower if a lighter will work lol. In the end it is your choice... if your cardiologist clears it and you still don't want to use fin then that is your prerogative. you can stick to just transplants. Ethically a doc can't remove hairs so he can only plug up what's lost, so your crown no doc would even touch right now, and the front a few of the unethical might but the top docs would tell you to wait so lets say in a couple years your hairline opens up enough that a doc will do it, your crown may still be early stages of opening up, or maybe it'll be a small hole but there is further progression coming in the crown which means you can't operate cause you'll end up with a halo effect as it does open further... you're going to probably have to do the surgeries in stages, hence why I said you won't be a one and done...and as hair loss is progressive unless you wait until your progression hits absolute rock bottom, natives will keep falling out and new loss will emerge, leading to more potential surgeries...as for the time frame between surgeries, that all depends on your rate of loss. I hate to keep harping on meds but that is the upside, you're on meds you get your hairline done next year it may be 5-10 years + before you need to do anything to your mid scalp or crown or it could be a year later you'll need to do midscalp if it falls quickly and then you might have to do crown some time shortly after that. It is also possible that you may need to have a 2nd surgery on a spot you've already had done as loss in that area gets worse or if you want to increase density, you'd be surprised at how often 2nd passes happen, very common. You are right that you will end up in the same spot regardless its the time in between that meds buy you.


As for being 3v vs 4, in a 3v you traditionally have temple regression and have a noticeable V shape developed (how wide a v varies)...but the hair stays stronger inside the V and you are losing in the top part of the V, it's early but eventually as that continues to thin you'll be left with an island tuft in the front and loss around it which is more of a 4/5 progression pattern. You see it more in the pushed up hair style than the flat. Irregardless of whether you want to call it a 3v today or an early 4 today, the progression is headed towards a 5.

 

[Deleted member 106824]

I definitely agree, hair is nothing if you don't have heart health so I'm not suggesting sacrificing one for the other, I'm just saying see if there is any real worry before writing it off. If there is then you know, but if your cardiologist clears it then that's a bonus. Dutasteride is significantly stronger than fin but with strength come sides, fin is relatively side free for the overwhelming majority of the population but with dutasteride you're also getting type 1 dht inhibition and while there is a model for complete inhibition of type 2 dht there isn't a model for what happens when you inhibit significant amounts of type 1 so I suggest what is safer and known...I have just started dutasteride myself, but at a dose where it inhibits more than fin but doesn't shut down my type 1, sort of a best of both worlds approach but given that you haven't tried fin, you may find it does a great job on it's own and don't need stronger. Guys have used fin going on 15 years no issue and seen limited regression in their hair so no need for the flame thrower if a lighter will work lol. In the end it is your choice... if your cardiologist clears it and you still don't want to use fin then that is your prerogative. you can stick to just transplants. Ethically a doc can't remove hairs so he can only plug up what's lost, so your crown no doc would even touch right now, and the front a few of the unethical might but the top docs would tell you to wait so lets say in a couple years your hairline opens up enough that a doc will do it, your crown may still be early stages of opening up, or maybe it'll be a small hole but there is further progression coming in the crown which means you can't operate cause you'll end up with a halo effect as it does open further... you're going to probably have to do the surgeries in stages, hence why I said you won't be a one and done...and as hair loss is progressive unless you wait until your progression hits absolute rock bottom, natives will keep falling out and new loss will emerge, leading to more potential surgeries...as for the time frame between surgeries, that all depends on your rate of loss. I hate to keep harping on meds but that is the upside, you're on meds you get your hairline done next year it may be 5-10 years + before you need to do anything to your mid scalp or crown or it could be a year later you'll need to do midscalp if it falls quickly and then you might have to do crown some time shortly after that. It is also possible that you may need to have a 2nd surgery on a spot you've already had done as loss in that area gets worse or if you want to increase density, you'd be surprised at how often 2nd passes happen, very common. You are right that you will end up in the same spot regardless its the time in between that meds buy you.


As for being 3v vs 4, in a 3v you traditionally have temple regression and have a noticeable V shape developed (how wide a v varies)...but the hair stays stronger inside the V and you are losing in the top part of the V, it's early but eventually as that continues to thin you'll be left with an island tuft in the front and loss around it which is more of a 4/5 progression pattern. You see it more in the pushed up hair style than the flat. Irregardless of whether you want to call it a 3v today or an early 4 today, the progression is headed towards a 5.

Yea I was pretty surprised with that one pic of my hair propped up, that's the worst I've seen it. The hair fibers (like Caboki) do a decent job of covering it up for the time being at least on the tops, harder in the front.

I just emailed 2 cardiologists, so we'll see if they get back to me.

This is probably a very basic question, but if they are just taking hair from one area on your head and placing it in another, why doesn't the donor site become thinner especially in those who were completely bald on top?

Secondly, if nearly everyone's hair continues to thin and fade away as they age (which seems to be the case) how is it that anyone get's by with one transplant? Or do they just accept that at 60+ it will start to fade again? I would imagine most who get a transplant are not entirely bald but rather 25-75% bald and if they never did anything to prevent it would eventually become 100% bald....so if they get a transplant, won't nearly all of them eventually just keep losing the rest of what they would have lost and then need another one?

I mean if I have to get one at 30-35 and then another at 50-55 that's fine but hopefully I'm not looking at 3+ procedures.

 

[Anubis]

Yea I was pretty surprised with that one pic of my hair propped up, that's the worst I've seen it. The hair fibers (like Caboki) do a decent job of covering it up for the time being at least on the tops, harder in the front.

I just emailed 2 cardiologists, so we'll see if they get back to me.

This is probably a very basic question, but if they are just taking hair from one area on your head and placing it in another, why doesn't the donor site become thinner especially in those who were completely bald on top?

Secondly, if nearly everyone's hair continues to thin and fade away as they age (which seems to be the case) how is it that anyone get's by with one transplant? Or do they just accept that at 60+ it will start to fade again? I would imagine most who get a transplant are not entirely bald but rather 25-75% bald and if they never did anything to prevent it would eventually become 100% bald....so if they get a transplant, won't nearly all of them eventually just keep losing the rest of what they would have lost and then need another one?

I mean if I have to get one at 30-35 and then another at 50-55 that's fine but hopefully I'm not looking at 3+ procedures.

Regarding donor sites. The surgery where they remove individual grafts and place them into another location is FUE. The safe area of a donor site has a total number of grafts in it. If you remove them all you'd be bald in that safe zone. To the human eye a certain amount of loss is unnoticeable, what that number is varies person to person based on their individual characteristics, but based on your characteristics the docs will determine how many grafts you could move before your donor shows depletion. So for example you may have a total of 15000 grafts in your safe zone but only 6000 of them can be taken before your donor looks sparse. Now in FUT, they remove a strip so the overall density of the safe zone is not lowered, the scalp has a certain amount of laxity, they will cut out a strip and the grafts within in, and simply close it up. The result leaves a scar across the back of your head that can be covered by growing your hair longer. You only have so much laxity so you can only remove so many strips. To maximize graft usage for guys with higher norwood cases, its suggested to strip out as much as you can and then remove what you can via fue once you can no longer strip further. This is the problem with high norwoods, if the surgeries dont go well, they often run out of grafts, or if their donor isnt large they may not get enough coverage or get the density they wish...a transplant is an illusion of density more than actual density it will never match up to your real hair pre loss.

The people who get by with one transplant are usually cases where loss was very minor, a guy who was going to top out at a nw3, or a guy who had lost the majority of his hair before he got any work done, he may have even been a higher nw case but he started with a pretty blank canvas, those rare situations people can sometimes get by with one but even then, they're usually back in the chair to fine tune. If someone gets a transplant they need to know realistically they're going to likely be back in the chair again so if they're not prepared to keep going down this road, don't scar your scalp up, just shave it off cause once your transplant you're committed. So if someone is a 30 yr old nw 3 now and progression is headed to nw 6 lets say, and they plugged up the hairline now then that hair is there to stay but what lies behind will continue its progression...how fast varies but it'll keep going so they will need further procedures. The older we get the less dht in our system so our hair loss will slow as well over time, well it would if we werent on trt lol.

I couldn't begin to predict what ages you'd have your surgeries but 20-25 years in between is a long shot if your first ones in your early 30s

 

[Deleted member 106824]

Regarding donor sites. The surgery where they remove individual grafts and place them into another location is FUE. The safe area of a donor site has a total number of grafts in it. If you remove them all you'd be bald in that safe zone. To the human eye a certain amount of loss is unnoticeable, what that number is varies person to person based on their individual characteristics, but based on your characteristics the docs will determine how many grafts you could move before your donor shows depletion. So for example you may have a total of 15000 grafts in your safe zone but only 6000 of them can be taken before your donor looks sparse. Now in FUT, they remove a strip so the overall density of the safe zone is not lowered, the scalp has a certain amount of laxity, they will cut out a strip and the grafts within in, and simply close it up. The result leaves a scar across the back of your head that can be covered by growing your hair longer. You only have so much laxity so you can only remove so many strips. To maximize graft usage for guys with higher norwood cases, its suggested to strip out as much as you can and then remove what you can via fue once you can no longer strip further. This is the problem with high norwoods, if the surgeries dont go well, they often run out of grafts, or if their donor isnt large they may not get enough coverage or get the density they wish...a transplant is an illusion of density more than actual density it will never match up to your real hair pre loss.

The people who get by with one transplant are usually cases where loss was very minor, a guy who was going to top out at a nw3, or a guy who had lost the majority of his hair before he got any work done, he may have even been a higher nw case but he started with a pretty blank canvas, those rare situations people can sometimes get by with one but even then, they're usually back in the chair to fine tune. If someone gets a transplant they need to know realistically they're going to likely be back in the chair again so if they're not prepared to keep going down this road, don't scar your scalp up, just shave it off cause once your transplant you're committed. So if someone is a 30 yr old nw 3 now and progression is headed to nw 6 lets say, and they plugged up the hairline now then that hair is there to stay but what lies behind will continue its progression...how fast varies but it'll keep going so they will need further procedures. The older we get the less dht in our system so our hair loss will slow as well over time, well it would if we werent on trt lol.

I couldn't begin to predict what ages you'd have your surgeries but 20-25 years in between is a long shot if your first ones in your early 30s

Ah, very interesting. I wonder if in the future they will ever make it work with donor grafts from another person so there's no limitation.

Just curious since you said no doctor will touch someone with my current hair loss, https://www.bing.com/images/search?q=lebron+hair+transplant&FORM=HDRSC2 seems like lebron had the same or less loss than I did but got his hair restored to a perfect hairline. He's got more money than me though

So if someone is getting FUT they can essentially never have their hair very short again it seems

Oh, lastly, when someone gets these procedures done, it appears to be give a very harsh look of bloody scabs afterwards. I guess people are just wearing hats or taking off from work for the time being? lol