Early 30's-Maintaining Norwood 3-Considering Future HT-General Thoughts

[AgainstThis]

Greetings my embattled brethren!

I have not posted in these boards for a great long while now.

Last I was here I was still trying to convince myself that snake oils like TRX2 might actually do something to restore lost hair. That was clearly a sham and I have since moved on and stopped obsessing over my slowly but steadily receding hairline and focused on being actually productive and living a fulfilling life, always being the first in the room to crack jokes about my ever expanding forehead dome.

So basically, it took me 5 or 6 years but I got over The Terror and the Constant Hairline Watch. I figured, **** it, what will be, will be. I still take MSM, Vit C and some Sea Buck Thorn Seed Oil, but I have no illusions that it is doing anything for my hair. Thing is, after getting a solid Norwood 3 around 2011-12, things have been pretty steady. There is never any dramatic hair loss, my temples are huge, empty and bald and I generally look like the lecherous old man I will surely become in future years.

Even though it does not really bother me, business has been good and for the first time in my life, I am actually saving money. So I was thinking if by the time I get to be 40sth, I'm still a Norwood 3 and no further loss has occurred, I wouldn't mind getting a FUE transplant to get my rockstar vibe on for the twilight years.

Propecia/Minoxidil are out of the question for me, since, after years of obsessing over pointlessly trying to maintain a few follicles, I simply do not wish to bother or become dependent on my "little travelling kit of wonders" ever again.

Does anyone have any experience with this? A mid life transplant from a NW3 back to NW 1.5-2 without taking medications or bothering with Minoxidil? Is it feasible? Because if it has to be the lotions and pills nightmare all over the again, thanks but no thanks, I'll gladly join the Kojak club when the time comes.

Weigh in my brothers!

[Notcoolanymore]

Personally I wouldn't waste time with a transplant without the use of finasteride, but that is just me.

[Munkynutz]

I am in the same boat as you. But then I never had a straight hairline to begin with, and only minor recession has occurred (looking at photographs from before) since I was around 20. Little bit thinner on top I guess but that in itself is not abnormal.

Still debating the fin myself, min is too much effort for me and with you on the shaved down if it gets to that point.

Fear of FUE (which I consider an option) is that further hair loss plus potential scarring would make the shaved head look less awesome than it would be now. So to roll the dice or not.

To answer your question many people have had successful hair transplants later on in life and it is possible that if you hit 40 and are relatively stable in terms of hair loss that you may have reached a relatively final pattern. I know a bunch of guys in their 50's and 60ms with the forelock gone and temples but hair in back of head is fine. How long that will last who can say. It's different for everyone.

Also over time different treatment options will surface. Or you could always use the normal donor and then do some bht and keep the hair quite short.

Good luck man!

[AgainstThis]

I actually have longish hair (more or less a Johnny Depp do) and it looks the right amount of lecherous with my current loss. If it gets worse, i'd definitely have to shave it down to a 1 or 2. BHT is not really an appealing notion for me, as I've had long/longish hair as far back as I can remember and I have one of those skulls on which the buzzcut looks just wrong.

Anyhow, thanks for the feedback dudes, good luck to us all!

[fred970]

Some misconceptions in the replies in my opinion.

No you don't need to be on finasteride to have a hair transplant, you can build a long term plan with your surgeon as you lose more hair in the future.

No you won't have trouble with scarring after FUE, seriously where does that come from? I see it repeated everywhere on the forums but never see examples? Here's my donor 6 months after my FUE: http://www.fredk.be/fue/6-months-donor.jpg Where are the scars seriously? Of course they are there if you look with a magnifying glass but there's no way you could see something from a social distance.

[35YrsAfter]

Greetings my embattled brethren!

I have not posted in these boards for a great long while now.

Last I was here I was still trying to convince myself that snake oils like TRX2 might actually do something to restore lost hair. That was clearly a sham and I have since moved on and stopped obsessing over my slowly but steadily receding hairline and focused on being actually productive and living a fulfilling life, always being the first in the room to crack jokes about my ever expanding forehead dome.

Weigh in my brothers!

Fake baldness cures persist. Last Friday, I clicked on one of those video ads that greets you with an "Are you sure you want to leave this page?" when you've had enough. The photos were impressive but most likely carefully shaved down in the appropriate areas in the before images. The guy selling his "cure" goes on about DHT being the poison that causes hair loss and prostate cancer. At the end, he's selling a book on hair nutrition and claims a combination of herbs and vitamins reversed his male pattern baldness.

35YrsAfter also posts as CITNews and works at Dr. Cole's office - Cole Hair Transplant, 1045 Powers Place, Alpharetta, Georgia 30009 - Phone 678-566-1011
The contents of my posts are my opinions and not medical advice

[AgainstThis]

Getting back to the Fin/Transplant thing, it's also what I have been led to understand. The transplanted hairs stay and have the donor area characteristics, so they're pretty much there for good. Fin is given to prevent further loss, correct? Also, shock loss happens regardless of fin taking and pretty much restores itself, in time.

So very theoretically, non aggressive Norwoods can get a transplant once stabilized and have a good result for that mid life crisis lifestyle, yes?

[Deal]

100% go for it. If your loss is stopped or very slow then why not? I think fin can reduce the chances of shock loss, and some shock loss may not restore itself. Shock loss can happen when the new hairs take the blood supply of the DHT susceptible hairs, if those hairs were just hanging on then they are more likely to be lost with any reduced blood supply. Working against this though is the new hairs will draw in more blood supply over time and increase overall blood supply to the balding area. Plus all of the wounding from the HT will drastically increase growth factors and blood supply for several months. Which is why I think some shock loss can be temporary, and some cannot, I think it's so specific to so many factors that no one knows.