22 yo Considering HT (Looking for Advice)

[Locke]

Hello everyone,

I'm a 22yo male and I've been experiencing hair loss since I was about 18. Initially one side of my frontal hairline was receding and I believed at the time I was just born that way. Then it just kept moving farther and farther back until the point I'm at now.


This is what I looked like when I was 19. 1st year of university.


This is me at 20. 2nd year of university

Back then I had enough hair in the front that I could part it to the sides and cover my receding hairline. Thus, it looked like I was not losing any hair at all.

In my 3rd of university I decided to try rogaine and finasteride. I was on them for about 6 months and it seemed like my hair was still falling out. I think the meds may have slowed down the pace at which I was losing my hair but I had a huge problem with them...

The problem was that I would apply the rogaine (5%) in the night then go to sleep, which was fine, but then when I applied it in the morning it made my hair feel all sticky, thin, and gross. So for the 6 months I was doing this I wore a hat all the time to cover this up.

Now I'm at the point where I'm seriously considering a hair transplant.











In terms of styling my hair, I can't do anything at this point. From the medical opinions I have sought so far here is what I'm looking at....

Prices
Dr. Armani = 3,040 grafts at $21,280

Dr. Wong = 3,000 grafts at $13,650 (have to pay for flight on top of that with $500 reimbursed by H&W)

Dr. Rahal = 2,500 grafts at $9,975

My Thought/Fears
Ideally I'd like to have an FUE transplant done but the price is really putting me off. Let's assume I have unlimited funds. FUE will leave me with no scar which is a big plus for me but does it yield results as good as strip? I've also heard that Dr. Armani has a tendency to place to many hairs in the frontal hairline which may mean not enough donor hairs left for other areas. Seeing as how all the Dr's quoted me the same number of follicles, I'm not sure how true that is.

Dr. Rahal and Dr. Wong both seem to produce amazing results as well. Dr. Rahal is the closest to me after Armani (I'm from Toronto). However, I don't really want to have a scar on the back of my head for the rest of my life. I like to keep my hair short and I'm not sure how the scar will impact that. With that being said, if I could get my hair to look like it did when I was 19 or before that, I could bear living with the scar.

What is everyone's opinion on the matter given this information and knowing the surgeons?

Questions about Hair Transplants
How long does it take to heal? I will be traveling in Asia in June 9 through August 1st. Is it a bad idea to have a hair transplant done early or mid-May?

A hair transplant will fill in the hair I'm missing but the hair behind it will continue to recede. At what point do you go in for a 2nd hair transplant? I don't want to have a nice hairline then big patches behind it.

How do you cope with the post-surgery look? Do you just wear a cap? If I'm traveling I would be fine wearing a bandanna 24/7.

In Addition
I first sought an opinion on a hair transplant from an Alvi Armani representative when I was 20 and he said to wait until I was older. At that point my hair looked fine though. I hope no one replies telling me to not have a transplant done because I'm "too young". As I see it, I have much worse hair loss than many pictures I've seen for men 30yo and beyond.

Once I'm done university in a week I will be buzzing/shaving my head to see how it looks. If I do not like it, then I'm going to schedule a hair transplant immediately.

If you'd like to hear more about my story/motivation for doing this I will post it in the 'Introduce Yourself' thread.

Thank you to everyone who replies!