28 Year Old with a Norwood 3

[GetItBack]

Let me first say how grateful I am to have found this knowledgable community. It has been very helpful in educating me on this affliction.

Hello everyone,
I'm 28 years old and am experiencing a receding hairline, Norwood 3 pattern. My hairline has always been naturally high, so when I started to lose my hair it didn't have to go very far before it became rather severe looking. It was around age 24-25 that I began to notice that my hair was thinning and receding in the frontal hairline and temples. It wasn't until the early part of 2009 that I completely accepted the fact that I was really experiencing male pattern baldness, and not just stress induced hair loss or an "adult hairline".

I recently went to visit IAHRS surgeon Dr. Robert Haber and was prescribed Propecia. Dr. Haber also recommended topical Rogaine but I have chosen to forgoe that option as it will not fit adequately fit into my lifestyle. He also noted that I was a very good candidate for a hair transplant. I have been on Finasteride for just over 30 days now with absolutely no side effects. I wish I had started taking this years ago and saved some of my hair.

I am very seriously considering a FUT hair transplant procedure. How long should I allow the Propecia to work before I go ahead and get a transplant? Waiting another year at this point just seems like more unnecessary suffering and time wasted. I want to get on with my life.

At this point i am just trying to figure out which surgeon suits me. I am considering the following: Haber, Hasson & Wong, Rahal, and Shapiro Medical Group.

Out of pure practicality and local convenience Robert Haber is my preferred choice but his lack of reputation troubles me. Dr. Haber's credentials are certainly impressive but as we all know, transplants are equally about artistic touch and vision as they are about technical execution and precision. Dr. Haber most likely has these qualities but his catalogue of work seems less available to the Hair Transplant Community. All of the other doctor's I have listed provide endless amounts of testimonials, and examples or their prior work.

My goal is to fill in my temple areas, add density to my forelock patch, and recontruct a natural hairline. I would also like to recreate some temple points where they have faded out. Can anyone approximate how many grafts it would take to accomplish this on a typical Norwood 3 with wavy brown hair?

Any and all comments, opinions, and advice of any kind will be greatly appreciated.

[burntherug]

Hey "Get It Back" how are you? I first want to let you know how much I understand your situation and the uncertainty of choosing the right Doctor! I had two surgeries that were horrible and had I found this type of forum I would have saved thousands of dollars but more importantly thousands of valuable graphs! I had two bad experiences and actually had to wear a hair piece for 10 years to cover up the bad work by the two "butchers" that I delt with. Finally I got up the courage to start searching for a reputable doctor that could fix the bad work and give me a look that I would be confident in. I looked at the same docs that you are researching and I finally chose Dr. Haber over Hasson and the others. I am so happy that I chose him let me tell you! I can't express enough how incredible he is as a doctor, an artist, and a Hair Transplant expert! His pricing is fair and his staff is very experienced! I recently had a friend of mine go to him as well and he is equally excited about the results that he is seeing after only 7 months! I hope that this helps and if you would like to talk in person just e mail me at ronurbaninc@gmail.com and leave me your contact number. Have a great day and keep us informed on how everything goes!

Best regards,

Ron Urban

[mattj]

People are generally advised to wait to see that the propecia is working and that they aren't continuing to lose hair at a rate which would render any potential transplant a very temporary fix. The other reason for waiting would be to ensure that no intolerable side effects occur.
It doesn't sound like you're losing hair at a great rate though, and it's a good sign that you aren't experiencing side effects. However, I do believe that some users report side effects after more than thirty days use.

The best surgeons tend to have a long waiting list. It would be worth sending photos to the doctors who are producing results that you like to see what they say. With waiting times and your own preparation it will be some months before you can actually get into surgery, so it's probably best to give the propecia another month or so at least before committing to anything.

Just remember, life doesn't have to be on hold because of hairloss. You're still young, you don't need to let this stop you from living and having fun.