Not a Candidate for a HT?

[r132]

I met with an IAHS doctor about a year ago who said that he did not believe I was a candidate for a HT as I would eventually progress to a N6 and my donor area was not thick enough to fully cover everything that I would lose down the road.

I have found very little on the web about people who aren't candidates for HT, and was wondering if anyone could shed a bit more light. Has anyone ever undergone a HT that was not an optimal candidate for full restoration and had good results? Is bring deemed "not a candidate" the equivalent of the scarlet letter or is there still a chance for HT that won't be a thick head of hair but still provide decent lasting results? Has anyone had success with a "conservative" HT with an eye towards becoming a N6 and been pleased with the results?

I have to say I was somewhat surprised that I was not a candidate based on looking at other members HT pics and their before/after pics compared to my loss. I'm not a HT doctor but the one that commented that he didn't feel I was a candidate for a HT is well respected on here, so I do weight his opinion heavily given his experience and praise on here.

I'm 28 y/o and have been using propecia without much improvement for the past year, though it may have slowed things down a bit.

Would love to here any feedback about this. Feel free to post or shoot me a PM to discuss. Thanks a lot

[r132]

105 views and no one has heard of not being a candidate? Is my luck really that bad.

[chrisdav]

Hi R132

Your donor supply might have been below average density. If it is, then the surgeon might not believe that you can gain suitable coverage.

He might have also noticed that there maybe thinning in the donor supply or patches etc, indicating that the hair is not healthy,and would fall out after a period of time when transplanted.

Have you thought about having some online consultations with other surgeons, or face to face ideally.

If they all come to a similar conclusion, then the other alternative is body hair,hair piece or shave it off.

[vinnytr]

without putting some pics of your hairloss and donor areas its impossible to have any opinion to be honest .
Whats your beard like ??

I was not an ideal candidate for a HT which i have had over month ago . My donor wasnt the best but my surgeon used around 1000 beard grafts as well as 3000 hair grafts . I was a NW6 ,i think i will be a nw2 with a small bald area on my crown in 4-5 months time which is miles better than being an outright baldy (no offence) in my books

if i ever want to get the bald area sorted ,i will get my surgeon to use beard hair grafts again although he told me he could take another 1000-1500 grafts of hair from my hair donor .

[r132]

Thanks for the replies guys. My beard isn't really a beard at all, for some reason I got the short end of the facial hair gene in my family seeing as all relatives besides me can grow a thick beard, whereas I would take weeks (maybe months) to grow something that would resemble a beard.

However, if chest/leg hair were a possibility I would say have at it to put more hair on top. I will say that prior to looking at vinny's photos all the info I've heard on BHT transplants hasn't been exactly positive.

I took some quick pics with the cell phone for reference.

Vinny has me wondering if I would have an option with doing something conservative in the front with my current donor area and then possibly something in the crown area with a BHT. To be honest, I would rather have hair in the front and have a balding crown than be so receeding in the front area, but hindsight may be 20/20 with that decision.

I'm located in NY currently, but perhaps should try to have an online consult or two about other HT docs that may think something could be done?

[vinnytr]

bloody hell you are a real good candidate for medication before HT i would think although i am no expert .
Have used anything to tackle hair loss and thicken existing ones ?

[534623]

I have found very little on the web about people who aren't candidates for HT, and was wondering if anyone could shed a bit more light. Has anyone ever undergone a HT that was not an optimal candidate for full restoration and had good results?

Recently, I have found THE brand new story about good/bad HT candidates. In fact, I have NEVER EVER read anywhere on the web such a really crazy (?) story about this topic, written by a young HT patient. Unfortunately, the story is written in Swedish on a Swedish hair loss forum. So everything I can offer you is Google's translator (Swedish/English):

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lookgood.se%2Fforum%2Fviewtopic.php%3Fid%3D4544%26p%3D6&act=url

Sure, sometimes it's somewhat tricky to understand what the patient is saying, but basically, I understand everthing what he reports.

THE story in a nutshell:

The patient "Tobban" (in his early/mid 20s) recently underwent a HST procedure. [Unsubstantiated claims removed as per Dr. Gho's request] Now around 2 weeks after having the procedure, he CONFIRMS all the latter – including the promised donor hair regeneration. Furthermore, most 3rd parties agree, that he (according to his posted photos) got back a 1) a natural and nice looking hairline and 2) filled up temple areas. So everything looks really fine. But immediately after having the procedure (before, he has been extremely excited and motivated for the procedure), he REGRETS his decision …

So tell me why, and read the whole story (link above) …

[mattj]

You don't include a photo of your donor area, but on the basis of the recipient area it's clear that you don't have any greater hairloss than many patients who have successful HT work done.

It's possible the surgeon you consulted with wanted to see where your pattern progressed and if the medication helped.

[gillenator]

There are some good HT doctors where you live in NY so I would recommend that you get several more opinions "in person".

It is possible that based on your current donor density/supply that you have would not accomodate your present goals.

Even with outstanding donor density, it is unlikely to attain enough coverage both in the frontal area as well as the crown.

You may as you research further, want to reassess your goals, meaning higher hairline, less density to start with and forget about your crown for now.

[JJJJrS]

Recently, I have found THE brand new story about good/bad HT candidates. In fact, I have NEVER EVER read anywhere on the web such a really crazy (?) story about this topic, written by a young HT patient. Unfortunately, the story is written in Swedish on a Swedish hair loss forum. So everything I can offer you is Google's translator (Swedish/English):

http://translate.google.com/translate?sl=sv&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.lookgood.se%2Fforum%2Fviewtopic.php%3Fid%3D4544%26p%3D6&act=url

Sure, sometimes it's somewhat tricky to understand what the patient is saying, but basically, I understand everthing what he reports.

THE story in a nutshell:

The patient "Tobban" (in his early/mid 20s) recently underwent a HST procedure – currently it’s THE best and extremely less invasive HT procedure at all on the market. Now around 2 weeks after having the procedure, he CONFIRMS all the latter – including the promised donor hair regeneration. Furthermore, most 3rd parties agree, that he (according to his posted photos) got back a 1) a natural and nice looking hairline and 2) filled up temple areas. So everything looks really fine. But immediately after having the procedure (before, he has been extremely excited and motivated for the procedure), he REGRETS his decision …

So tell me why, and read the whole story (link above) …

Interesting story. I was very impressed with the results he showed originally, from both the recipient and donor side, so it was a big surprise to me to see tobban's sudden change in enthusiasm. There's much more of a psychological aspect to a hair transplant surgery than gets discussed on these forums.

What people have to understand is that getting a hair transplant is not like getting a different hair style. The results are permanent and you can never undo it. No matter how large your donor supply is, it is impossible for surgeons to place the hair at the exact same density, angle, and configuration as nature intended. Unless you're prepared to deal with this, then hair transplant surgery should not be an option.

This is why I feel procedures with minimal scarring and donor regeneration are so important going forward. For example, people who get a strip procedure and are not happy with the results are shit out of luck. And there are much more unhappy results then these clinics and forums report. I'd say that the great majority of people who speak candidly seem to regret their decision to get a hair transplant. At least in Tobban's case, if he remains unhappy with his decision, he can continue to cut his hair short with no major scarring.

All of the above is multiplied in cases where the patient has unrealistic expectations, body dysmorphic disorder, perfectionism, buyer's remorse etc. Hair transplants should always be a last resort and you should give yourself time, make sure you're absolutely confident with your decision and prepared to deal with any consequences.

[JJJJrS]

An interesting thread from a couple of months ago:

Link

[inspects]

Would love to here any feedback about this. Feel free to post or shoot me a PM to discuss. Thanks a lot

I have thinning hair from temples to crown, actually its been like this for about 15 years.

One day I got sick of looking at myself in the mirror, I didn't know the first thing about transplants until I began looking on the internet, and also knowing the results my brother had after ten years post-op.

My brother is five years younger than me, has a full head of hair now, has been on minox and fin since his procedure, no problems whatsoever.

I had the same procedure done 4.5 months ago by the same doctor, I'm in my fifties, my hair is coming in nicely, and I couldn't be happier.

Been using Minox and also taking 1 mg Propecia, my hair loss has stopped entirely and I have no side effects.

I have been taking pictures monthly, when I hit the one year mark I'll post my results.

The way I try to always think, nothing is impossible.

And I only Wish the best for Everyone here...!!

[win200]

I'll echo what others have said: it's all about managing expectations. You have fairly advanced hair loss that appears to be pretty likely to head to a NW6-7. You could have the best donor density ever recorded, and you still couldn't come close to covering a NW6-7 balding pattern. If your density is sub-par, you could mitigate the problem a bit, but not extensively. If you do decide to go through with surgery, it's incredibly important to find a surgeon that is honest with you about what is and is not achievable. Should you consult with someone who promises a head of hair that will approximate what you had, look in another direction. And if a surgeon says that there's a problem with your donor hair, pay attention--you don't want to undergo surgery only to have the transplanted hair fall out or have a visible scar. Some patients are too thin in the donor region to undergo surgery, and if they went under the knife, they potentially couldn't disguise the scar through the sparse donor-area hair. That's the nightmare scenario.

[inspects]

Ask, think, search, read, study, as much as possible about your particular circumstance.

No one person is the same, furthermore, one doctor will not explain to you the same as another doctor, in-fact, possibly the complete opposite.

The one problem with having a transplant at a young age is losing the hair in back of the transported follicles, possibly looking worse than prior to a procedure.

Use the search function on this forum, write down the good and bad experiences, then ask those questions to several different surgeons.

Hopefully you will find satisfaction with your decisions.

Like others said, and we all know after being here a while, you won't have your original hairline back, but you have the possibility of achieving dramatic results in the care of a great surgeon.

Best to you....!

-Dale-

[534623]

This is why I feel procedures with minimal scarring and donor regeneration are so important going forward. For example, people who get a strip procedure and are not happy with the results are shit out of luck. And there are much more unhappy results then these clinics and forums report. I'd say that the great majority of people who speak candidly seem to regret their decision to get a hair transplant. At least in Tobban's case, if he remains unhappy with his decision, he can continue to cut his hair short with no major scarring.

Exactly. This is what Tobban wrote – besides about his “unrealistic expectations-, body dysmorphic disorder-, perfectionism-, buyer's remorse- etc” problems:

“Blessing in disguise is that I have made an HST with minimal scarring and further regeneration in donor.”
[…]
“I can be glad it was a HST after all so I can keep the hair short. Just hope the recipient area heals up a little better. Know those who get a lot more trouble than I have with strip scars and so. No one will be able to see that I have done something in the back of the neck anyway, and it feels good.”

Try to imagine how he would feel now if he got, in addition to all his problems thereafter, a long strip scar from ear to ear and/or a moth-eaten donor with lots of white dots - as "being a perfectionist" …